The situation in Oriana that had been deteriorating ever so slightly every day since White Deer Corporation’s impromptu withdrawal from the country finally stabilized after a few weeks of the government obtaining full control of the Black Tiger’s assets, and the president couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, everything turned out well in the end.”
Just thinking about how much damage those ungrateful and treacherous morons had caused, he couldn’t help but grind his teeth hatefully. He almost couldn’t wait till the thorny seeds he had planted in Blue Dawn finished taking root, and that audacious couple’s whorish daughter finally entered his hands.
Of course, as punishment for their crimes, simply feeding her to the wolves would be too lenient. Only after he forced them to give up everything they had voluntarily would he allow them to choose an appropriately agonizing death.
Naturally, the idiot couple would first have to watch their children bear the humiliation and agony that they deserved to properly atone for their sins, but that went without saying.
But while most of his hatred was directed at the White Deer, the president obviously wasn’t unaware of Mr. Black and his son’s ‘departure’ from Oriana. Since he already had the Black Tiger under government control, however, he felt that it was fine to let the two of them leave with their tails between their legs.
Many people working in the Black Tiger were still the same as they had been under the two of them, and if they somehow learned that their previous leaders had been killed by the government, it simply wouldn’t be worth it to trigger their rebellious spirits and face unexpected losses in any way.
Not while he still hadn’t dealt with White Deer properly, at least.
Although his people had failed to track where the two of them had fled to, which was a bit worrying, the president felt confident that it wouldn’t be long before he found out.
Without their previous financial influence, these so-called bigshots were no better than rats in a jar, anyway, and he had no doubt that they would end up exposing themselves sooner or later. What he needed to focus on now was to continue integrating the huge amount of resources and personnel he had ‘acquired’ properly into their existing system.
It wasn’t easy, by any means, and the president encountered more than a few tough nuts to crack along the way. But with an iron fist and uncompromising attitude from the top, those idiots down below had no choice but to be flexible.
One could either bend, or break. The choice was theirs.
Of course, while both the stock and job market were showing a positive trend, the road to complete recovery was still long and arduous, and the president had no doubt that it would require many, many more sacrifices from the people if he wanted them to get to a satisfactory position anytime soon.
Anyone who had dared scoff at or written their Oriana off as a country on a downward spiral was already forced to revise their opinion, however, including the ever so arrogant prime minister of Phoenix.
Even if the attitude she had shown just a while ago had rubbed him the wrong way, as the president of Oriana, he still knew when he had to look at the bigger picture and smile, no matter how reluctant he was.
At least the woman’s attitude was quite sincere this time around, though. She even laughed along creepily when he criticized the empress of Blue Dawn to her face, which was a complete turnaround from her previous stance.
From someone who offered shelter to that treacherous couple and gave such special preference to their daughter during the Golden Crown, the prime minister had clearly spent some time facing cold hard facts over the past few weeks.
How much of it was the influence of the ‘enlightening’ campaign he had been backing ever since the girl shot her own foot off publicly, and how much came from the woman’s own instinct, the president wasn’t quite sure.
But clearly, even if she was stubborn, the woman knew which side was more worthy of siding with in the long run, and the president couldn’t help but be pleased when he finally got the news of her ‘apology’ gift’s arrival.
“Bring it in.”
It didn’t take long before the staff carefully wheeled the ‘gift’ in, and although the centerpiece was still covered in red silk, the president couldn’t help but take a deep breath from the sheer majesty and ferociousness he felt from the rest of the ‘artwork’.
The small glass figurines on the pure silver base might be only a fourth the size of a regular human, but the wild aura of terror they made him feel truly made him realize just how skillful and talented the person who created it must be.
After all, while he didn’t know much about whatever process was used to create this artwork, it definitely had to be much harder than working on and sharpening features on materials like stone or ivory, right?
Even for someone at his level, having seen countless precious things, he felt like he could proudly display this piece in front of foreign dignitaries whenever they came for a meeting, and watch their gazes turn green from envy every time.
The feeling of achievement and power gave him a rush that the president hadn’t quite felt in a couple of years now, and he couldn’t help but feel a little melancholic.
Maybe the wake-up call he got from that stupid and treacherous couple was a good thing. Even if it ended up costing Oriana quite a bit, it was what made him recall how ambitious and willful he used to be, and also made him realize what needed to be done to really continue leading the country to a better place.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before those other ignorant fools also bowed their heads and apologized to him for not supporting him when they should have, finally realizing what they had missed out on. After all, compared to offending Blue Dawn and the White Deer, wouldn’t a favor from Oriana be worth far more in the future?
Although quite pleased already, the president was also quite curious about the centerpiece of the artwork that was still covered. Of course, the whole thing had already been carefully inspected and cleared by the security teams, even if there really wasn’t much to inspect considering most of it was supposedly see-through.
The longing gaze from some of the staff made it clear that whatever it was, it was far from disappointing.
It had been a long time since he felt like a child unwrapping his present on his birthday, and combined with his already good mood, the president quickly made up his mind as he waved all the staff and security away.
He felt like he might want to savor the next moment for the rest of his life.
Once everyone had reluctantly left and closed the door behind, the president pulled off the red silk covering the centerpiece in one smooth motion.
As it turned out, the thing in the center of all the ferocious, beastly demons made of glass was a girl. Or a goddess, to be exact.
Even surrounded on all sides by clearly bloodthirsty enemies, her eyes still conveyed a confidence and majesty that made the president’s heartbeat accelerate involuntarily, and he couldn’t help but believe that if the scene in front of him were able to burst into motion, the one to perish would definitely not be this goddess.
The material of her body was seemingly the same as that of all the beasts that surrounded her, yet, for some reason, he felt as if only her body contained a vitality, a glow that the others didn’t have, which gave the ‘goddess’ a unique attraction.
Even her spear that glinted coldly felt like it could come alive at any moment, ready to pierce through her enemies at her will. And strangely enough, the president almost felt like he wouldn’t mind if he were to be stabbed by such a beautiful goddess.
In a way, it would almost be like salvation, wouldn’t it?
Laughing at himself at the strange thought, he couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. “It’s been a while since a work of art made me feel like this—?!”
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