Scapegoat

Alex III looked at himself in the mirror. 

He has serious doubts.

"Did I time travel to the future?" he asked himself as he grappled with two sets of contradictory memories. 

In one, he had traveled to the future using Dave's ability. 

In the other, he had lived all these 17 years and did many things, including annihilation of spikes. He recently ordered his subordinate to arrest all people with supernatural abilities, like Dave.

After clearing his mind and contemplating, he nodded. 

The most likely scenario is that both are true. 

The him on the alternative timeline traveled to the future and, combined with him, the Alex of the future.

"Does it mean I am now immortal?" his eyes widened. 

He took a knife and slowly cut his index finger. 

This time, he isn't sure if he is immortal, as it isn't certain whether the immortality was transferred when he time-traveled. 

The knife cut through the skin, and his finger began bleeding. 

Alex III closed his eyes with great regret; the immortality didn't transfer. 

The type of immortality medicine he asked Dave to produce was the indestructible immortal type. It wasn't like a vampire, which only has an infinite lifespan.

"Maybe I should have remained and not time-traveled?" he thought regretfully. 

He time-traveled because he wanted to have access to this timeline.

From the mouth of Dave, Alex III understood about the Star world, the dream fog, and people with abilities in this timeline. 

Even after drinking the immortality medicine, Alex III of the alternative timeline didn't completely rest easy. 

He got immortality from Dave and could lose it because another person with a different ability might attack him again.

So, he immediately time-traveled to the timeline Dave came from to meet himself and find a way together. 

However, it was unfortunate that time travel didn't work as he thought. The future world merged with his past self instead of traveling separately.

"None of these appeared in any of Dream Fog's predictions! It looks like Dream Fog's predictive ability has some limits," he thought.

He called Jack and ordered, "I have checked those with abilities and determined that they are all con artists! Spread the news to all soldiers and palace workers that we, Alex III, have declared that they are all liars!" he ordered. 

As long as nobody around them believes them, then their ability won't work.

This way, he wouldn't have to be worried so much about them running or causing trouble.

Alex III himself, though, is in danger. 

He does believe in their ability, as he has already witnessed it. 

So, he would never get close to them. 

Jack listened carefully and nodded.

He was already nearly sure that those people were liars.

"Your majesty! What should we do to them?" he asked.

Alex III stroked his long beard and said, "Torture them! How dare they lie and cause trouble? Record everything they say. And bring those records for us to read. Also, we think they are mostly insane people, so expect them to insist on them 'having abilities' even during torture."

Jack smiled and left; he had met with many insane people before and knew how to handle them.

...

Rob was busy with foreign affairs. 

It takes work to maintain diplomatic relations when committing atrocities like what he did with the 5-star country. 

Fortunately for him, his neighbors were all tyrants, so they were not clean themselves. 

He had to maintain a balance, not alienating foreign countries too much, and at the same time, keep his outward look of being a ghost.

"I need a scapegoat!" he thought. 

A prime minister is a good choice. 

In history, many kings did this. 

If things go wrong, they blame the prime Minister and fire them, and if things go well, they take the credit. 

In matters of state relations and foreign politics, he must keep the appearances as if the foreign leaders aren't dealing with him but with a popular prime minister. 

This way, those leaders could maintain relations with USIEC and simultaneously condemn him because of his horrendous acts for their internal consumption.

Rob isn't trying to deceive himself.

In general, there are two types of evil people.

1- those who don't think what they do is evil may even think they are doing good, that crimes they do are for the greater good.

But, aside from themselves, most other people recognize their evil acts.

2- Those who know what they do is evil; they just don't care.

Rob is the second kind.

Rob knew what he did was evil for his selfish reason of immortality and power, and he didn't care.

Not spending any time thinking about the atrocities he committed, he began thinking of someone suitable for the position of prime Minister. 

"It should be an old woman," this is his first requirement. 

Even with all the gender equality in the last 30 or so years in the five-star country, which USIEC was part of, some stereotypes remain. 

Women, in general, look far more harmless than men, even though both men and women can be as dangerous. 

It solely depends on the person, not the gender, and not appearance.

There have been many cases in which a man who looks like a mass murderer is actually a kind person and a beautiful woman who nobody thinks of as a threat is a murderer. 

It is not possible to judge based on appearance. 

However, most still have implicit biases. 

People aren't perfect.

Ron isn't trying to fix people's behavior; he is just trying to exploit this implicit bias.

Looks are important. 

Appointing an older woman to be prime Minister would be ideal. 

Most instinctively think of old women as harmless. Still, she shouldn't look dull and lost.

"A mentally sharp, old woman; someone people want to admire, and someone who is at least not hostile to me, and preferably loyal," he thought. 

Finding someone loyal is easy, but finding an old, loyal woman qualified to be the prime Minister is hard. 

In the parliament, 90% are men, and the remaining 10% are primarily young women. 

There are only a few old women, none particularly loyal. 

Feeling a headache finding a suitable candidate, he put the matter aside for now and diverted his thought to the recent matter with Alex III.

He, of course, knew about people with ability. 

He tried to find them here but could not find anyone with supernatural abilities.

Still, it was not necessary for his plans. 

If the matter with rumors goes well, he would become immortal regardless. 

It might be good that people with abilities are not in this world.

People with those abilities can be very dangerous.

...

As Alex III ordered, torturers began torturing all those with abilities. 

Alex III read the torture confessions for a long time and, after a few days of straight reading, sighed in amazement. 

Abilities included making dreams come true, granting wishes, time travel, dream travel, etc. 

The most interesting one was dream travel. 

But, no matter which, none was as good as Dave's ability. 

Dave's ability sounded only like making medicine, but the medicine could have been anything: immortality medicine, wish fulfillment medicine, time travel medicine. 

Unfortunately, Dave is stuck in an alternative time seventeen years ago. 

"Does that alternative time even still exist?" thought Alex III, wondering. 

If it does, then he might take a risk and go there to bring Dave to this side. 

But after some time, he gave up. It's too risky. 

"I have to do with what I have," he thought. 

Then, he looked at Dream Travel's ability. 

"Can this ability send people to other worlds?" he thought. 

There are a lot of problems with testing it. 

To begin with, the person must believe in it completely. 

It's not that hard to find random people who believe in the supernatural, but to make someone believe that those arrested by Alex III for being con artists are the real deal is difficult. Especially because one can ask, 'If you can travel in a dream, why are you sitting in a jail cell?' 

It's challenging to find a loyal and not crazy person who believes in that. 

And, Alex III doesn't even want to make his subordinates believe in it. It can be very dangerous. 

The powers of those people only work on people who believe, so if he makes his subordinates believe, in effect, he is giving them the keys to jail cells. 

With so many problems and dangers, Alex III decided to stay cautious. 

Acting hastily would bring disaster. 

So, he just ordered his soldiers to tighten security in the prison and decided to give it time to devise a plan. 

None of these were in his original plan, as the appearance of people with abilities didn't appear in any alternative reality displayed by the dream fog. 

His plan was very detailed and flexible, but even with his fantastic plan, there was a limit. 

The appearance of people with abilities changed too much. 

"I have to work on my plan again!" he closed his eyes, tired. 

Planning the whole world is very intense. 

He called Jack again, who has become his right-hand man after Sebastian IV. 

"Start over with Project Dream Fog as we did last time," he ordered. 

Jack looked with surprise. 

They have spent years sending people into dream fog, taking them out, torturing them, and recording everything. 

The last time, they spent a lot of resources on it. 

Last time, Alex III got very tired, staying awake for days at times. 

Ultimately, he was so tired that Jack thought he would never do it again. 

He bowed and said, "Consider it done, your honor!" 

Then, he left. 

Alone in the room, Alex III started talking again, "Rob, accelerate your plan! Spread the rumor as far as possible! The situation on this side is getting dangerous!" 

Being a vampire wouldn't guarantee much, but it's at least better than being a mortal human.

...

Rob nodded. 

"Let's do it!" he stood up. 

He called the Minister of connections and communications to come.

After a few hours ...

He looked at the Minister of Communications, who was looking at him. 

"Put out the rumors," he ordered. 

"Understood, Mr. President." the Minister nodded and left.

His plans regarding spreading rumors are all with the internet; his Minister of connections and communication has substantial influence over the internet. 

Rob directly appoints the Minister of Communication. 

As for the Prime Minister, he has already chosen her. 

He ended up choosing one of the members of parliament. 

Initially, he ruled out members of parliament, but after interviews with many people, he finally decided to go with an MP. 

She is named Rose and is not hostile to him. 

She is not loyal but a pragmatist and has a few children and many grandchildren. 

People with children have more to fear. Rob can always use them as a form of pressure.

In addition, the woman herself was a corporate attorney who defended many of the horrible acts they did, and she pledged allegiance to Alex's party.

With that background, Rob felt at ease; at least she was not one of those righteous people. 

Despite that, Rob is not giving her any military or police power. 

The military near the capital would continue to be controlled by a general he appointed, and the capital police chief was also his loyalist. 

Essential institutions, such as the Supreme Court and the Candidate Qualification Commission, will also be controlled by him. 

She couldn't threaten his power. 

If she tries, he can order the candidate qualification commission to disqualify her for some bogus reason and then, as the president, call for a new election.

Still, Rose will have power. 

She would control Ministers of foreign affairs, economy, interior, trade, and most other organs of the government except the politically sensitive ones. 

Rob couldn't weaken the prime Minister's position too much because he didn't want her to look like a placeholder. 

At the moment, the low-regulation, low-taxes, low-social-services parties have a majority of seats, and Rose is from one of those parties. 

Rob would prefer it this way. 

It would be a headache if high regulation, taxes, and social services parties win a majority.

He wouldn't let them increase taxes and start plans such as healthcare, etc., in any event, but he wants to avoid overruling the prime Minister in public, so it's best if they don't get a majority. 

Rob believes high taxes are bad for the economy and would stifle growth. 

For his plans, the county must be economically strong.

...

"Just raise the taxes!" said Alex III. 

He continued, "Raise as much as you want, and raise it on the rich, especially on rich people who are government workers." 

Alex III doesn't like allowing people to get too rich; when they get too rich, they might have the power to threaten him. 

And, in any case, taxing the rich is popular.

With all his 'greatness,' Alex III still has to think about what people think of him a bit.

Just a moment ago, the Minister of Treasury informed him that the country lacks funds for the plan with the dream fog. 

The Minister heard this and said, "Yes, your majesty," then left.