Upon returning to Washington, Myers immediately convened a meeting of high-ranking government officials.
Without exception, these key government figures had all previously served as high-level executives at Militech.
It could be said that the entire New America and Militech were, in fact, two sides of the same coin.
And the orchestrator was naturally the New America government.
After all, only a former CEO of Militech was qualified to serve as the President of New America.
A hierarchical relationship naturally existed between them.
Myers looked at the assembled crowd; everyone who could come was there, and those who couldn't were present in the conference room via remote projection.
Myers took a deep breath and then spoke, "Everyone, I've called you here today to announce something important."
The high-ranking officials began to murmur among themselves.
They assumed Myers was about to launch an internal investigation into the recent attack, preparing to unearth the mastermind behind it, which caused some unease among them.
After all, this incident might very well lead to a major internal purge, and none of them wanted to be implicated.
They all pondered how to best align themselves to protect their own interests while also gaining more.
However, Myers's next words shocked them.
"From now on, we will engage in full-scale cooperation with the Mechanicus."
Myers said calmly.
"What? Cooperate with the Mechanicus?"
Everyone's eyes widened, looking at Myers in disbelief, wondering how he could so easily gloss over the fact that he had almost died.
"Yes, it's our only option," Myers explained, projecting a document in front of everyone. "This is the contract I signed with Pope Lana!"
"How is this possible? Is the Pope crazy? Just to spread faith? And she accepts New America's military control? Is there some trap here?"
Upon seeing the contract, everyone immediately paled, and the conference room fell into silence, everyone looking at each other, their hearts filled with worry.
In this capital-controlled world, they never believed in free lunches, always feeling that some conspiracy or trick was hidden within.
"I didn't believe it at first either; I thought Lana was crazy, but the contract is right here, and I can't see any trap. For the sake of great interests, I had no choice but to sign this contract without consultation,
because I was truly afraid that if I thought for even one more second, the Pope would go back on her decision~"
Myers first explained to everyone why such an important contract had been signed without their prior notification.
"Moreover, as long as we hold this contract, no matter what trap the Mechanicus has, we possess absolute legitimacy. Even if we go to war with them, we will be on the side of justice, and by then, it will be useless for them to back out!"
"Do you think Xiao was led astray by Yorinobu Arasaka, that prodigal son, and accepted Yorinobu Arasaka's idealistic notions!?" someone suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the conference room.
Everyone was startled, turning to look at the speaker with various expressions.
Myers's heart also swelled with joy, thinking this was truly a good opportunity to push his own narrative.
He scanned the crowd, wanting to see who understood him so well, but upon seeing Elizabeth Kress, his expression instantly darkened.
Elizabeth Kress had once served as the President of New America; after being ousted by Myers, she now served as Vice President.
However, she still disagreed with Myers's political views and constantly coveted the presidency.
However, she also understood that sometimes their ideas were identical, such as in making NUSA great again.
It was only due to their differing governing philosophies that led to disagreements.
Elizabeth Kress's governing plan had once failed, but Myers firmly believed his path would certainly succeed.
"Alright, let's not worry about the Mechanicus's reasons for now. What we need to discuss is whether New America should accept this windfall and whether we have the capability to take over the entire Mechanicus!"
Myers pounded the table, suppressing his dissatisfaction, silencing all discussions, and asked loudly.
However, Elizabeth suddenly stood up, her beautiful face flashing with anger, and she glared at Myers:
"What do you mean 'do we have the capability'? Forget a Mechanicus— even if Arasaka came, we could take them on!
Myers, you are truly too timid!
With our strength, never mind whether the Mechanicus has a trap; even if they truly have ulterior motives, so what?
New America has given us enough confidence to disregard all conspiracies and tricks!"
Hearing Elizabeth's radical remarks, Myers couldn't help but secretly roll his eyes, thinking:
"This little bitch is truly a genius. She clearly knows there's a trap but still jumps into it, truly resorting to any means to suppress me."
But Myers also knew that Elizabeth didn't care whether there was a trap in this contract; Elizabeth was simply trying to undermine his authority.
After all, whether there was a trap or not, Militech wouldn't go bankrupt; at most, it would be a severe blow, requiring some time to recover.
But if this matter truly succeeded, then Myers's prestige would undoubtedly soar.
In that case, Elizabeth would never be able to recover in this lifetime.
Therefore, Elizabeth had to show an even stronger attitude to highlight Myers's indecisiveness.
Only by creating a clear contrast between the two could Elizabeth claim a portion of Myers's credit, preventing herself from having no chance of recovery.
Even if Militech truly fell into a trap and suffered heavy losses, it wouldn't have much impact on Elizabeth, who strongly supported it. At worst, she would be demoted; in short, it wouldn't be worse than now.
However, since Elizabeth had actively jumped in, he had even more reason to object; otherwise, if he agreed too readily, how would Elizabeth be determined to oppose him?
So, he began to refute her ideas:
"Sit down. Stop spouting nonsense. We cannot only look at immediate benefits; we must also consider long-term implications. If the Mechanicus truly has some conspiracy, we must tread carefully.
Of course, I'm not saying we can't take over the Mechanicus, but the problem is we need to carefully consider the pros and cons and risks involved. This is not a game; if we act blindly, we might fall into unforeseen difficulties."
Elizabeth scoffed at Myers's words, mocking him:
"Myers, you are always so cautious, afraid of taking risks. But only by daring to try can we gain greater rewards. We cannot shrink back because of a small risk."
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