591: A show of force?

The weight in his heart lifted, but he couldn't help but feel a new sense of gravity. A plan that required the personal presence of two ministers was certainly no small matter... Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the once somewhat empty conference room was now packed.

Though it was said to be "packed," there was a subtle, deliberate emptiness.

The head seat and the adjacent seat remained vacant; those were the exclusive seats for the Minister of the Personnel Department and the Minister of Energy.

The gilded nameplates shimmered under the lights, making the two empty chairs appear particularly conspicuous.

The timer on the wall ticked precisely, the red numbers showing the exact start time of the meeting, not a second off.

"Looking at this, this meeting is going to be difficult..."

Li Yang's fingertips unconsciously rubbed the edge of the table, a trace of gloom crossing his heart.

He looked up and scanned his colleagues in the room; the faces of many Galaxy Speakers were written with gravity, and the low murmurs of conversation gradually faded.

One minister being late might be an accident, but both ministers being absent at the same time carried a meaning that invited reflection.

Li Yang's mind raced, and he instantly grasped the situation; this was clearly a blatant show of strength directed at them, the Speakers of the subordinate Galaxies.

But why put on such a display? Li Yang's brow furrowed slightly, the answer almost staring him in the face.

Nine times out of ten, the plans and arrangements concerning the Galaxies in this meeting would be anything but good news for them, the Speakers who governed their respective regions.

Most likely, the terms were harsh or would touch upon the core interests of each Galaxy, so the higher-ups were adopting such a strong stance first, intending to seize the initiative.

With these speculations, Li Yang simply closed his eyes and concentrated, pressing his fingertips against his temples in deep thought.

His seat was uniquely advantageous among the Galaxy Speakers, located in almost the very front row.

A few seats further forward were the seats for the various Vice Ministers of the Personnel Department and the Ministry of Energy. Currently, those people sat upright with inscrutable expressions, clearly harboring their own thoughts.

The hand of the timer on the wall steadily completed half a rotation; a full half-hour had passed since the scheduled start time of the meeting.

Just as the silence in the room was almost about to solidify, the heavy door of the conference room finally made a soft sound.

Two figures walked in one after the other, neither fast nor slow.

The person in front wore a uniform, the star emblem on his chest intricate and eye-catching, his gait carrying the composure of someone long in a high position. The person following closely behind was in a light gray formal suit, possessing a gentle temperament that nonetheless failed to hide the majesty in his brow.

Seeing this, everyone quickly stood up. The two walked straight to the head and adjacent seats at the front of the long table and sat down as if no one else were there, their movements unhurried, seemingly completely oblivious to the gazes of everyone waiting in the room.

Only after the two ministers were seated did everyone else sit back down.

Li Yang's eyes landed precisely on the figure in the head seat—the position of the Minister of Energy.

The small suspicion in his heart was instantly confirmed.

As expected, the selection of the Vice Speaker was merely an insignificant smokescreen; the real main event would inevitably revolve around the tough nut of energy.

The person in the head seat raised a hand to signal for silence, and all eyes in the room immediately focused on him. He cleared his throat, and though his voice wasn't loud, it possessed a penetrating power that clearly reached every corner of the conference room.

"comrades, welcome to this meeting. Many of you are here at the Administrative Center for the first time and might be unfamiliar, so I'll introduce myself first. I am Comrade Zhou Ren, the Minister of Energy of the Wali Long Domain Supercluster Administrative Center."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Minister of the Personnel Department beside him nodded slightly and took over, his tone calm yet solemn.

"Minister of the Personnel Department, Li Li."

The moment their voices fell, a wave of orderly and enthusiastic applause immediately broke out in the conference room.

Li Yang also raised his hands, the sound of clapping palms echoing in his ears, while his gaze discreetly swept across the room.

He saw clearly that among those present, besides the two ministers and the several Vice Ministers sitting beside them, the rest were almost all Speakers from various subordinate Galaxies.

Comrade Zhou Ren lightly tapped the table twice, and the whispers in the conference room vanished instantly as all eyes snapped toward the head seat.

"In this meeting, there are mainly two points to discuss."

His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

"The first point concerns the candidates for Vice Speaker of each Galaxy present. On this point, comrade Li Li will discuss it with everyone."

As the words fell, Minister Li Li nodded slightly and gestured toward several staff members standing in the corner of the conference room.

Those people immediately came forward holding thick folders, walking briskly along both sides of the long table to distribute neatly bound documents into the hands of each Speaker.

Li Yang reached out to take his copy. The moment his fingertips touched the paper, he casually flipped open the first page. As his eyes scanned the few lines of text, his brow instantly knotted into a deep frown.

In this document, where was there any list of pre-selected candidates for Vice Speaker, or any details on selection criteria? The entire page contained only a single line of bold text, directly finalizing the choice for the Vice Speaker of the Longlan Star Cluster.

What made Li Yang's heart sink even further was that the name following that line was one he had never heard of.

It wasn't a candidate recommended from within the Longlan Star Cluster, nor a familiar colleague from a neighboring Galaxy, but a complete stranger—a name marked as "Appointed by the Supercluster Administrative Center."

A Vice Speaker... Li Yang's fingertips unconsciously gripped the paper, his knuckles turning slightly white.

This was no insignificant idle post, but a right-hand man who could share the heavy responsibilities of the Speaker at critical moments.

The candidate had to be someone he trusted and knew thoroughly to truly feel at ease entrusting them with tasks.

He couldn't help but think back to when the higher-ups had assigned him a mission not long ago.

If he had a trusted Vice Speaker by his side at that time, he could have fully delegated the daily affairs of the Longlan Star Cluster and led his troops to complete the mission, instead of having to look after both sides and exhausting his mind and energy.

Although according to the Galaxy Cluster's regulations, while the Speaker is in office, the Vice Speaker nominally holds the position but lacks much actual power, this didn't mean Li Yang could tolerate a stranger being planted in his core circle of power.

An indescribable sense of resistance spread through his heart like a tide.

Not just Li Yang, but the other Galaxy Speakers on both sides of the long table also had expressions that were each more unsightly than the last.

Almost at the same moment they flipped open the documents, they all furrowed their brows in unison.

The name printed on the paper was as strange as if it had appeared out of thin air. It wasn't a candidate recommended from within their Galaxies, nor a colleague they had heard of in neighboring Star Domains; it was entirely someone forced upon them by the Supercluster Administrative Center.