Two hours before the meeting began. Just as Strange was happily collecting equipment across the cosmos, Nick walked into Shiller's office with a heavy expression.
"What's wrong?" Shiller's typing stopped, and he asked.
Nick let out a heavy sigh, plopped down on a chair, and sighed again without saying a word.
"Speak up. I'm busy here."
"It's almost time, and you're still occupied with other things. There's only two hours left before the meeting; if we can't decide today, we'll have to hand over the councilman's seat."
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Shiller continued to stare at the computer screen and then said, "We still have two whole hours, don't we?"
"You make it sound easy. Just two hours to find a sucker willing to be the councilman? I've faced more rejections this past month than in my entire life!" Nick was clearly brimming with resentment.
Shiller finally stopped what he was doing and turned around, then said, "We approached the Mutants too, didn't we? They don't want to do it either?"
"Of course, we did. Professor X was polite enough, but all the English tea I drank couldn't persuade him. As for Magneto, I didn't even get to see him, sigh."
"If no one wants to take the position, then just leave it be."
"Don't talk nonsense," Nick said, flaring his nostrils in irritation, "that's the councilman of the interstellar council! Even if it's a tough job, it has to be a human, absolutely can't let those aliens have it. Besides, this could be the biggest elevation of humanity's interstellar status in a century; someone has to do it!"
"You just said, it's a hard job." Shiller shook his head and said, "It's not just balancing humans and aliens, but also aliens and aliens, and even humans and humans. The person who takes it will go crazy."
"But it does come with power," Nick said, "Though most major matters require a full council vote, the councilman can still decide on minor issues."
"Like what?"
"Uh, like some security matters."
"Can he dismiss Thanos?"
"Thanos's Interstellar Security Committee is under the Security Department, only the Security Minister has the authority to appoint or dismiss its members."
"Can the Security Minister be dismissed?"
"No need to dismiss. When the new councilman takes office and reorganizes, he'll naturally be replaced."
"Can the new Minister dismiss Thanos?"
"Probably not. The Interstellar Security Committee is a standing body, and the head of administration is a permanent member of this standing body. To dismiss him would require a vote by all permanent members of the standing body."
Shiller spread his hands and said, "There you have it. Can't even appoint or dismiss a staff member, what else can we expect him to do? I advise you, don't think you can entice someone to take the position by painting grand pictures."
"So, do you have any other method to entice someone to take it?"
"What do you mean by entice," Shiller rolled his eyes, "If you tell someone they're going to be the interstellar council's councilman, of course they won't take it."
"But everyone knows we're looking for a sucker to be the councilman, no matter how I dress it up as another position, they won't believe it."
"No, no, no. It's just the people who have been staying on Earth recently that know we're looking for an interstellar councilman. There are still those who aren't here, right?"
"You mean..."
"Moreover, from the perspective of interstellar politics, we're electing the councilman of the interstellar council. But from the human perspective, aren't we also electing a political leader of humanity?"
"Are you trying to play tricks on concepts? Although the interstellar councilman is indeed also a human political leader, considering they're the highest-status person in interstellar politics, in terms of actual power, it's almost like having none. Moreover, it comes with a lot of trivial and annoying things to handle, and if not handled well, it can cause a lot of trouble. The smaller the power, the greater the responsibility, which is why no one wants to take it!"
"Fine, as long as you promise me one thing, I guarantee to find you a suitable councilman, how about it?"
"What is it that you want me to promise first?"
"We've made such a commotion, heavily impacted the Three Great Empires, and messed with all the somewhat advanced civilizations, not for a nominal position, don't you think?"
Back at the venue, sitting down, if Strange didn't understand by now, he would be clueless! He had been duped by Shiller again!
First, he was urged to write an opinion piece, then subtly given hints about Greed, followed by some philosophical analysis, then a twist on concepts, and finally overwhelmed with pressure, resulting in him being tricked!
Looking back now, there were no competitors at all. No one wanted to be this leader, and he foolishly volunteered himself, taking on this hot potato.
Strange truly wished he could smack himself. During the conversation with Shiller, Shiller already said that everyone lost to their own greed. The answer was right there on the surface, and yet he got it wrong! Got it wrong!
This perfectly reflected what Shiller had said. As long as he chose to step back in torrents, it's not like there weren't other choices. But given a thousand or ten thousand chances again, that devil named Greed would still make him pick the apple, press the button, choose the option of no other choice.
Strange covered his forehead and sighed in his heart. Greed, oh greed.
As expected, the subsequent proposal barely mentioned anything about a human leader. Those so-called candidates wrote serious suggestions, like: How to manipulate interstellar opinion? How to restore human reputation? How to deepen cooperation with Asgard, and so on.
This further convinced Strange that the so-called human leader position was just a hot potato no one wanted to touch, and he had willingly rushed forward and put it on his own head.
As the meeting adjourned, everyone passing by him showed a face of admiration, wanted to say something but just patted him on the shoulder, sighed, shook their heads, and walked past him.
This scene reminded Strange of a farewell to the deceased. He even felt a bit terrified, wondering what the human leader was supposed to do that made everyone react like this?
You must know, while Shiller may coax him, he would never deceive him. When they say he is the human leader, he truly is the human leader. And everyone sitting there was ambitious. Who wouldn't want to be the human leader?
Unless, the greater the honor, the greater the responsibility. Or more accurately, the greater the honor, the bigger the pit; even the highest honor couldn't fill this pit. What is he supposed to do?!
Less than half an hour after the meeting ended, an invitation from the interstellar council appeared on Strange's desk. As he opened it, it read, "Hello candidate."
What candidate? What was he a candidate for?
Strange didn't know, so he continued reading. It stated: "Friendly reminder from the executive secretary of the interstellar council chairman's office, the chairman election will be held tomorrow. Candidates must attend on time, thank you!"
Strange slammed the invitation on the desk, his expression as if he had seen a ghost. Who signed him up for the chairman election?!
No need to think; it's obvious this whole thing was predetermined. Otherwise, how could he have just volunteered, and the candidate invitation was already in his hands? Isn't it just that humans decided first, and the voting is just a formality?
Strange collapsed into his chair, utterly heartbroken. Doesn't he already know how hard being the chairman is?
The interstellar council is practically a place where the Three Great Empires have the final say because they established it. Although they have since absorbed members from some advanced civilizations, their influence is minimal. Even if all advanced civilizations united, they might barely match one Great Empire. On most important matters, the Three Great Empires are in agreement, leaving no chance for others to object.
So over the years, while there have been chairpersons from other civilizations, they mostly remain puppets, going along with whatever the Three Great Empires say behind the scenes.
Now, it's clear, the Three Great Empires want to play for time with the humans, so they've promised this practically useless position of chairman, and the humans have no choice but to accept it.
While this position doesn't hold much real power, the title is still ranked first interstellar. Even being a puppet, the civilization from which the chairman hails can enjoy some prestige, at least signaling that they're valued by the Three Great Empires, and others wouldn't dare touch them.
Humans are fearless, but they crave reputation too. Besides, they just turned the cosmos upside down, so they have to create some positive events to restore their reputation.
Additionally, after this incident, the relationship between humans and the Three Great Empires is beyond repair. When the other side makes moves, humans can only react accordingly. Avoiding it would be akin to admitting defeat before the battle, and continuous evasion isn't feasible either.
Moreover, upon becoming chairman, even for appearances' sake, the Three Great Empires wouldn't target humans overtly, and humans couldn't attack them, thereby putting up a peace sign. The Three Great Empires want to use this time for recovery and future plans, and humans are no different. Given their development speed, a year or two of ceasefire would be enough to commence interstellar exploration.
So one way or another, humans must accept this position. But in reality, once accepted, it'll be met with constant challenges. The Three Great Empires would never let any human sit comfortably in this role, deny access to real power, and try their best to prevent them from gaining honor. It's easy to imagine the numerous unresolved old cases they'll dump on this human chairman.
If you don't deal with them, they'll start spreading rumors, publicizing human incompetence, and suppressing human status. Should you choose to address them and fail, that's even worse, as the Three Great Empires couldn't let you succeed.
Upon learning he had to serve as chairman for the interstellar council, Strange's head was buzzing. He truly wished to snap out the self that listened to Shiller's persuasion, but at this moment, the only person he could turn to was Shiller.
Strange stormed into Shiller's office, slammed the invitation on his desk. Shiller turned his head and glanced at him, then said: "What's wrong, Mr. Chairman?"
"Look at the mess you've made!" Strange gritted his teeth.
"You chose this yourself. I didn't grab your hand and help you write the proposal," Shiller shrugged, "Besides, don't act like you didn't know me from day one, why did you think those case records I supplemented for you were for nothing?"
Strange's expression froze. He already knew Shiller wouldn't be so kind as to supplement case records for half a year without strings attached. Nothing comes for free; fate's gifts had their price tagged all along.
But as things stood, without dragging Shiller into the water, he couldn't be chairman. So he gritted his teeth and said: "You're coming with me."
"Why?" Shiller turned back, typing on the keyboard, "I'm no fool. The Three Great Empires have operated for a thousand years; the interstellar council is definitely a lair of dragons and tigers. I'm not going to suffer for nothing."
"And you just let me go?!" Strange lamented.
"Anyway, you're the Supreme Magician; they wouldn't dare do anything to you. It's just a couple of insults at worst."
Suddenly, Strange had an epiphany.
"You're right; I'm the Supreme Magician. If I don't attend the election tomorrow, who can do anything to me?"
Shiller finally turned back, saying, "That's true. So, you plan on just standing them up?"
"No!" Strange's grievances soared sky-high. Rather than being spared, he wanted Shiller to pay the price. So he said, "I've already said, you're coming with me!"
Shiller seemed as if he'd been waiting for this, suddenly smiled and said, "Sure, Supreme Magician."