45: Grand Ceremony

Order Seat V01.01,

the third planet here,

had undergone a complete transformation.

Mountains were leveled, and oceans were reset.

Everything,

was done simply to transform it into a likeness that only existed in humanity's ancient memories:

seven continents, four oceans,

the towering Himalayas and the unfathomable Mariana Trench.

That's right, that was the recorded

appearance of the Mother Star.

On that azure blue planet,

on the easternmost plain of the largest continent,

stood humanity's most important structure—

the Order Sanctuary.

Of course, the name does not imply a connection to religion,

but rather proves that the sacred Order

continues from this place:

Every year,

when the first ray of sunlight passes through the circular aperture in the dome

and enters the interior of the hall,

the Order Grand Ceremony, attended jointly by all signatory regimes of the Alliance, is convened here.

"Dong—"

"Dong—"

"Dong—"

A deep and ethereal bell chime sounded.

It was a retro bronze bell connected to a Cesium Atomic Clock,

announcing to the over 300 representatives in the hall—

that it was 6:00 AM Standard Time.

"Claire, didn't you notice that there are many more guards in the venue this year than last?"

On the tiered seating arrangement,

a representative of a small regime looked at the guards wearing golden yellow powered armor,

and quietly asked the assistant beside him.

"Minister of Foreign Affairs, this is recent news,"

"A Joint Patrol Unit was attacked in the outer ring area,"

"From the cruiser down to the escape Shuttle in the patrol unit,"

"not a single person survived."

"To prevent this year's Order Grand Ceremony from being disrupted,"

"security has been temporarily increased at the venue."

His assistant replied softly.

"Zzz—"

Just then,

a crackle of electricity sounded over the broadcast,

and the entire hall instantly fell silent—

On the podium,

the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Haivier Federation, Mr. Miroslav, who was responsible for presiding over the ceremony this year,

gently tapped the microphone.

One second, two seconds... "Om—"

Amidst the silence,

a beam of light from the heavens slowly shone upon the Order Alliance emblem in the center of the Sanctuary.

The seated crowd, the pure light, and the emblem representing order and unity,

for a moment,

made the scene appear incredibly sacred.

"The dawn of Order has already broken."

"Fervent hope envelops civilization."

"In the name of the unity of all humanity, I hereby announce,"

"the Eighth Hundredth Order Grand Ceremony,"

"is now open."

Miroslav, who was not skilled at public speaking, announced the opening of the ceremony straightforwardly.

Regarding the procedure,

on the first day of the opening,

several particularly important topics would first be discussed and conclusions reached,

followed by each regime proposing motions in sequence and initiating partial or full-floor votes.

Therefore—

before Miroslav could even turn around,

the representative of the Claude Military-Political Consortium pressed the proposal button on the table,

submitting the aid modification plan that the Six Great Giants had already discussed privately:

in the strategic material transport for the Civilization Garrison Military Agreement,

the share originally borne by the Haivier Federation, the Claude Military-Political Consortium, the Xila Republic, the Democratic Alliance, and the Lakere Interstellar Empire would be reduced by fifty percent;

this fifty percent responsibility would be equally distributed among all small regimes present.

Five of the Six Great Giants passed the proposal without hesitation,

The Military Alliance representative, Lagrange, let out a soft snort, then placed his fingertip on "Abstain."

Below the stage, the crowd instantly erupted:

"What's going on?"

"The resources allocated to us have increased by more than half?"

"The treasury of Jiamilan was already on the verge of collapse..."

"This... it was only increased five years ago!"

"You bunch of parasites sucking the blood of all humanity!"

The last sentence seemed to have been heard by Lagrange,

who sneered and muttered softly,

"Not so restrained, are they?"

The microphone precisely captured a slight echo,

and the hall immediately became even more boisterous.

In less than five minutes, the voting results were displayed—

343 secondary member states, 343 votes against.

The voting results were quickly projected onto the large screen.

The representatives of the other five major regimes, excluding the Military Alliance, stared at the expanse of red,

the color representing "Against."

Facing the schadenfreude displayed by Lagrange,

the five quickly exchanged glances.

The representative of the Xila Republic pulled the microphone toward himself,

and stated directly:

"The Xila Republic exercises the one Absolute Decision Right it possesses for this Grand Ceremony,"

"to make this proposal bypass the general vote stage and take immediate effect."

"Everyone below the stage, please understand your position clearly,"

"We are informing you, not negotiating."

Subsequently, ignoring the curses coming from below the stage,

he grimly pushed the microphone back.

"Alright,"

"The previous proposal has passed unanimously,"

"Therefore, our side will put forward the next proposal for this Grand Ceremony."

The uproar below the stage had not yet ended,

when the representative of the Claude Military-Political Consortium impatiently pressed "Proposal" again—

He was initiating the fight.

"Aid to the Military Alliance,"

"is the obligation of every protected regime."

"All those present simply believe that the resources they provide are not being used effectively."

"Therefore,"

"Our proposal is:"

"To change the image of the Military Alliance and supervise the movement of materials,"

"each regime shall send representatives to form a Supervisory Delegation,"

"to enter the territory of the Military Alliance along with the aid materials,"

"to supervise the movement of materials and the actual utilization status of the Military Alliance."

As soon as the words fell,

Lagrange immediately slammed the 'Against' button and declared loudly:

"The Military Alliance exercises the Absolute Decision Right!"

"This proposal is rejected!"

He looked at the representative of the Cloud Consortium.

What were this guy's intentions!

If the so-called Supervisory Delegation were allowed to enter the Military Alliance,

his secret plan would be severely hampered!

This was unacceptable!

"The Haivier Federation also uses the Absolute Decision Right to reject the Military Alliance's application."

At this moment, another voice came through.

Why was this guy interfering?

"The Lacray Empire uses the Absolute Decision Right to reject the Haivier Federation's application,"

"Our side advocates giving the Military Alliance sufficient trust,"

"and refraining from excessive interference."

The Empire was currently the only regime that could obtain firsthand intelligence from the Military Alliance.

If this proposal passed,

the Empire’s competitiveness in intelligence would drop significantly!

But as expected,

the Claude representative also threw out his Absolute Decision Right,

causing the proposal to re-enter the voting stage.

Now, the eyes of the five representatives all turned toward the Democratic Alliance representative:

Of the six people present, only this guy still held his Absolute Decision Right!

"Uh..."

Seeing all eyes in the hall focused on him,

the Democratic Alliance representative smiled politely yet awkwardly.

That hand, watched by all,

was placed directly on "Abstain."

The hall erupted once again:

This was the first time!

Four Absolute Decision Rights had been used on one proposal!

Moreover!

Whether this proposal passed or failed now,

the voting power had actually been handed over to the floor!