Chapter 6243 Political Test

Chapter 6243 Political Test

Red humanity was like a small pie that had already been divided between many different powers. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The most ideal situation was that red humanity was able to launch a successful counterattack against the native aliens and continue to gain lots of resources and territory.

Since no human groups previously owned all of the conquered territories, it was not as painful to 'donate' them to the Red Collective.

Even though this was hardly a perfect solution as it would take a lot of time and money to properly build up and develop all of the colonies, the Red Collective should eventually be able to grow stronger than any individual state.

Unfortunately for Ves and everyone else, red humanity was not gaining territory. It was losing it as the Red Tide Offensive continued to pound the frontlines!

This made the problem a lot worse. The small pie was shrinking as insects continually gnawed at the rim. People would grow even more possessive of their territories and assets.

The more territories that fell into alien possession, the more desperately the existing groups valued whatever they had left!

This was basic human behavior. It was impossible to defeat it as no one was self-sacrificing enough to willingly relinquish a part of their core strength to beef up the Red Collective.

Even though it should be clear to many councilors that their individual strategies would lead to a collective failure, these people mostly had no choice as they needed to stand up for the interests of their own states or organizations first!

Unlike the Red Association and the Red Fleet, the Red Collective did not possess a core of powerful cadre that could truly fight for its interests.

Since this was the case, it was unlikely that the Red Collective could actually reach parity with the Red Association and the Red Fleet for quite a while.

After all, the latter two relied on their god mechs and dreadnoughts as absolute deterrents. Nobody dared to push the Red Two too far because they possessed the overwhelming might needed to annihilate any enemy that crossed their way!

So long as the Red Collective lacked the same capacity, there was no way for it to throw its weight around to the same extent.

It was not so simple to create a good counterweight against the Red Two. Ves already began to press his fingers against his temple as he struggled to find a good resolution to this massive problem.

"I think I get why the Evolution Witch made no effort to remain in touch even though a god pilot like herself should easily be able to do so. She just wants to pass off all of the most controversial and difficult problems to me. No matter how many people I will upset with my decisions, she won't have to bear the taint of public indignation."

Gavin sighed. "That is one of my theories as well. She has certainly chosen an excellent time to make herself scarce. As far as I am concerned, you cannot escape any blame, so you better resign yourself to making a hard decision."

So what do you expect me to do in the next session of the Interim Leadership Council?"

"That is up to you. Most councilors will oppose any heavy-handed initiatives. The easiest and frankly most predictable choice you can make is to avoid any extensive expropriation. This will keep everyone relatively happy, but it will cripple the growth of a promising new superorganization."

That was not an acceptable outcome in Ves' eyes. He fully recognized that it was the most politically palatable decision out of all of the options, but trying to keep everyone as happy as possible was not the goal of the Red Collective.

It needed to be able to possess enough weight to gain the respect of the masses. It was not his intention to turn the Red Collective into a giant paper tiger that struggled to establish its authority over human space.

"So what other choices do I have, Gavin?"

"Well, you can request all of the stakeholders to make increasingly greater contributions to ensure the Red Collective starts off on a stronger footing. The greater the offerings, the stronger the Collective will become at the start. However, you will have to find a threshold that enjoys just enough support to gain everyone's cooperation. Unless you have a way of reading the minds of some of the most powerful and high-ranking dignitaries across human space, it is impossible to be certain about the most optimal percentage of contributions. Will you insist on 0.5 percent? 1 percent? 3 percent? Even though it doesn't sound like much on the surface, we are talking about trillions of MTA credits and dozens of star systems, along with many other kinds of contributions. If you ask for 0.1 percent too much, you will raise such a strong storm that you will lose all of your respect and authority as a deputy chief councilor."

Where should Ves set the limit?

That sounded rather different than the other suggestions.

"Give me a few examples."

"Well, the aforementioned Hunting Association is a clear option. It officially answers to the Huntsman, but it does not directly have anything to do with mechs, so it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Red Association. Since the hunters who practice the mysterious Code are technically cultivators, they are naturally aligned with the Collective."

"You are right, but the hunting community alone cannot prop up the Red Collective by itself."

"That is why we need to find hundreds of other smaller groups and subgroups like this, Ves. Sure, no one will take us seriously if we have five or ten of these minor powers behind our back, but what about a hundred? What about two-hundred?"

Now that was beginning to sound interesting. Ves leaned forward.

"I am not sure a colony of ants can command the attention of a pack of lions, but I guess it is worth the attempt. I like your suggestion. It is more proactive than the alternatives. What sort of other groups do you want to pull into this coalition?"

"Churches."

"What?"

"I am being serious about this, boss. Think about it. The mechers and the fleeters have never favored any form of religion since their inception. They have instituted many policies that have either suppressed or ignored the existence of different faiths, organized or otherwise. In the past, these religions have no effective means to resist this bias against their beliefs and practices, as the leaders of the Big Two and now the Red Two have always maint an uncompromising attitude."

It did not take much effort for Ves to understand why this was the case. The mechers and the fleeters had become so traumatized by the Five Scrolls Compact that they sought to eradicate anything that remotely resembled that once-dominant cult!

The Red Collective did not come with all of this historic baggage. This meant that it had the potential to become the official representative and standard bearer of all human religions!

Even if the Red Two no longer feared the resurgence of the Five Scrolls Compact, they were unlikely to lift their animosity towards churches. They were too set in their ways.

Ves looked thoughtful as he contemplated this possibility.

The Red Collective did not come with all of this historic baggage. This meant that it had the potential to become the official representative and standard bearer of all human religions!

It was the only member of the theoretical 'Big Three' that could stand up for the rights and interests of so many churches!

"Your suggestion sounds good in theory, but... don't you know that a lot of different churches hate each other's guts? Their dogmas contradict each other so egregiously that wars have been fought around the correct interpretation of scripture!"

Ves should know, as he once exploited religious strife to engineer the total collapse of the Vulcan Empire!

"This is why you need to step forward and use your famous Devil Tongue to string all of these different religious groups together, Ves. Only you possess the reputation, credibility and personal charisma to unite a hundred disparate enemies and rivals around a common cause. If you can do this and make all of the cooperating churches abide by their agreements, then I can promise you that the Red Collective will definitely acquire a foundation that is at least a fourth as strong as that of the Red Association!"

Gavin's suggestion was definitely sound, but Ves was reluctant to embrace this bold suggestion.

He did not question its viability.

He instead questioned the risks of this initiative!

Was it really a good idea to empower and give a strong voice to all of these diverse and chaotic faiths?!