Another War

Alex III and his group went to the capital of the Purple Empire as' guests.' 

The capital, named Purple City, was a large city with 2,000,000 people living in it. With Alex III relocating there, it became evident that he intended to utilize the Purple Empire's army to attack the Candle Dynasty. 

Additionally, Purple City was the closest to the Candle Dynasty, making it an excellent position to be used as headquarters.

...

Rob has been witnessing the war on Alex Kingdom's side with concern. 

Fortunately, most casualties were from the Candle Dynasty, and very few were associated with the UISEC. Moreover, the army of the Alex Kingdom was primarily conscripted from its newly conquered territory rather than from the population linked to UISEC. 

Despite these factors, it remained a cause for concern.

After extensive research, it was discovered that not having a link would have severe consequences for one's health. 

The anxiety would be persistent, with no practical way to alleviate it, even with modern drugs. 

It could significantly reduce productivity and the ability to concentrate, sleep, and think. Its impact was highly destructive.

Unfortunately, Rob has not been able to convince Alex III to consider minimizing casualties in the war effort.

...

Ten people were present in a meeting room. 

On the highest seat was Rob, the president, who had maintained his power throughout the years. 

Technically, elections for choosing presidents were held every few years, but the candidate qualification commission never allowed anyone to run against him. 

He didn't believe he could lose an election even if someone ran against him. 

But even with that, he still didn't let anyone run.

No media criticized him for anything, and any negative events were always attributed to Rose.

Most people believed that the prime Minister controlled everything. However, this was false; Rob exerted significant control over many parts of the government, though his influence wasn't as visible as the prime Minister's. 

Rose, the prime Minister, occupied the second-highest seat. 

Over the years, her position had become increasingly influential. Nowadays, with Rob not interfering much, Rose had near-total control. Of course, if the president wanted to intervene, he could.

The president wasn't interfering much because Rose's economic and foreign policy views aligned with his. The president did not need to intervene when Rose handled everything appropriately without interference. 

In the last few years, opposition parties aggressively campaigned to dethrone her, but she managed to hold on with billionaires supporting her. 

Rob had not used the candidate qualification commission to prevent the opposition from running.

Rose didn't want him to do it; in her view, the people must feel that they are represented. 

Currently, parties supporting her have 53%, and the opposition has 40%, with the remaining 7% unaffiliated. She has little margin; if, in the next election, they lose just 3.1% of their 53%, they would lose a majority and have to deal with the unaffiliated, which would be a headache. 

Therefore, she has been trying to prop up the economy for the next year's election. 

The economy has been booming, but mostly for the rich.

The World Alliance did have downsides for UISEC. 

Billionaires could now conveniently move and travel to many countries, and large corporations could open factories in much cheaper countries. 

For ordinary people, however, it means losing jobs and money. 

Of course, those ordinary people could also travel to other countries. But, with many corporations building less in UISEC, the jobless rate is now higher than ever. 

The World Alliance has been a success. 

The president, Rob, is the chief counselor of the World Alliance and has significant influence over all the countries that became members. 

Other prominent countries also became members of the council. 

The alliance benefited other countries a lot. Their economic condition improved by leaps and bounds. 

The third person in the room was the Minister of Defence. 

Rob personally appointed the Minister of Defence; the Minister was responsible for military weapons, supplies, military bases, the location of bases, and cooperation with other countries. 

The Minister of Defence is the ministry with the least interference from Rose.

The following person was the Minister of Economy. 

The Minister of Economy regulates corporations, the stock exchange, and large businesses. 

In theory, it holds significant power, but it rarely takes action. Rose is a free-market person and regards regulations with disgust; thus, the Minister of Economy has very few regulations. 

However, Rose has recently ordered the Minister to limit corporations' ability to move out of the country for cheaper labor.

The next was the Minister of Labour and Workplace. 

This ministry is responsible for ensuring that workers have a safe workplace. However, Rose has allowed very few regulations because she is a free-market advocate.

Following that is the Minister of Welfare and Charities. This ministry is responsible for assessing and auditing welfare plans to ensure they spend money as intended. 

Under Rose, welfare has been allowed only for the well-being of poor children and schools, as well as caring for the elderly who cannot take care of themselves.

Next is the Minister of Justice, responsible for law and justice and appointing prosecutors throughout the country. 

Rob appointed this Minister, who is technically under the prime Minister. 

While she cannot refuse to follow Rose's orders, Rob's appointment makes her one of his trusted individuals. 

Under Rose, criminal laws have only become more brutal. 

A shoplifting incident could now result in decades in prison, discouraging anyone from daring to commit petty crimes.

Under Rose, the surveillance cameras exploded in number; now, there is one camera in every public place. 

Rose loves smaller government, except when it comes to surveillance, police, and the military. 

Many crimes are punishable by the death penalty, including all sexual assaults and associated crimes. 

She doesn't believe in people being reformed. 

Rob mostly agrees with her, except for the last part. He does think people could reform and get better. However, his belief is not intense enough to change the policies. 

Today, there are lots and lots of prisons filled with people who shoplifted once. It's very cruel, but it works in reducing crimes. 

Unless somebody is suicidal, they never think of committing any crimes.

The next Minister is the Minister of Treasury. 

The Minister of Treasury keeps the money of all government departments safe. No government department can invest or put their money in the bank; all must place all money with the Minister of Treasury. 

The Minister would give the money if the authorized persons request it but will keep all the records.

Next is the Minister of Government Personnel. This ministry is responsible for auditing all expenditures by all agencies, investigating any violations by government employees, and handling matters related to hiring, firing, retirements, and all issues regarding rank-and-file government workers.

The last Minister is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Treaties. This ministry is responsible for maintaining a diplomatic presence in other countries and supervising compliance with all international treaties. 

In effect, however, this is a very weak position. Rob and Rose are very interested in foreign policies and usually make all the calls; the Minister himself has little to do.

The other ministries, like the Minister of Interior, Development, Roads, Connection, and Health, were not in the room.

...

Rob opened the meeting by saying, "Let us begin the 6th cabinet meeting of the year with a minute of silence for the recent earthquake victims." 

Recently, there had been an earthquake in rural parts of the country that killed hundreds. 

After a minute, Rob calmly said, "There are two important matters on today's agenda: one is relief for the victims of the earthquake, and the other is the matter with our neighbor to the west."

After a few seconds, Rose said, "The Minister of Health, Roads, Connection, and Development all visited the disaster area and are still there; we are doing all we can to address the issue. I have issued permission for 10 billion to be withdrawn from the treasury and be distributed among all the population whose homes have been damaged or who lost someone." 

Rob nodded; with all the relevant ministers in the disaster area, there was no need to spend much time on this.

Then he said, "The next matter, regarding our neighbor to the west, requires more attention."

The WestFire Empire, ruled for hundreds of years by the Westfire family, has collapsed recently. The Westfire Empire was one of the countries supposed to join the World Alliance, but there was much debate. One faction wanted to join, and another didn't. In the end, the faction favoring joining won, but those who opposed it attempted a coup, collapsed the government, and killed the emperor. 

Now, it's all a mess. 

Royal forces and rebels have been fighting for months. 

But, the big news came recently. 

A group from the rebel forces attacked one of the border cities of UISEC.

It caused a lot of concern; Rob already sent 20,000 troops to the border. 

The Minister of Defence said, "Mr. President, this incident could not go without a firm response! We should attack positions of rebel forces and aid the royal forces in suppressing the rebellion," she said. 

On the opposing side, the Minister of Treasury said, "Mr. President, we won't be able to afford it with our current reserves; we must raise the taxes." 

They all call him when talking, but in fact, they are talking to all; it's tradition for all to call him when they talk.

Rob was deeply thinking about this matter.

The war on Alex kingdom's side had already caused lots of headaches, and another war on this side was brewing.

Rob hated wars.

But when going in, he wanted to be through.

If he decides to intervene, he will do it with maximum power.

Rose started talking after some thought." This is an opportunity, Mr. President! Let's use our influence in world alliance and form a force comprised of an army of all countries! We can use them to bring peace to WestFire Empire," she said.

Rob nodded but was reluctant.

A force from the World Alliance wouldn't be as easy to order around as UISEC's forces.

He is the chief counselor of World Alliance but doesn't have nearly as much power as he has in UISEC.

Still, this is an opening to integrating the world's alliance members more, so why not?

He ordered, "We will do it through world alliance!"