Chapter 1891: Chapter 1884: Nepotism

“Good, good, well-reasoned!”

The old man nodded constantly, his eyes filled with approval as he looked at Luo’er.

“So, what do you plan to do?” the old man asked with interest.

“First, we should establish autonomy for Lipei through an agreement to prevent Earth’s forces from intervening and escalating the war. Secondly, we should nominally sever ties with the Church, using them to attract the attention of Gudelv, so he doesn’t focus all his efforts on Lipei.”

Luo’er explained.

“But, if we cut off ties with the Church…” the old man hesitated.

“We can first contact relevant personnel in the Church to reach a mutual understanding—cut off ties nominally, while secretly providing the Church with all the support they need to contain the expansion of Odelanqi…”

Luo’er paused, then continued, “The headquarters of the Church and Lipei are both within Odelanqi’s territory; they survive or fall together. If we ignore the Church, once they’re conquered, Lipei will not be safe. In such a case, we’d have to intervene personally, leading to war escalation.”

“Hmm…”

The old man nodded seriously.

“If Odelanqi wants to expand, then their enemies are surely not just the Church. There are also the neighboring countries once part of the Aud Empire. Though I haven’t investigated it yet, I’m not quite sure of these Aud countries’ attitudes towards Odelanqi. But it’s safe to say not all Aud countries are willing to give up their independence and integrate into the Aud Empire’s domain…”

“The Fiolonte family is not enough to win over the masses, and even if the Alafasia family of Masya is willing to co-rule with them, we still have cards to play. Princess Melia Alafasia will never agree to merge with Odelanqi,” Luo’er analyzed.

“This Princess Melia, I’ve heard you have a good relationship with her?” the old man asked.

“Yes, we’re old acquaintances.”

Luo’er nodded.

“Hmm…”

The old man nodded again, lost in thought.

“A great person once said that the core of politics is having more friends than enemies. We have many enemies, but they will never outnumber our friends. The Church of Light, Princess Melia, the Ronisca Kingdom… these are all friends we can rely on. The threats from our enemies have never been more severe than now, but our friends have also never been this reassuring.”

“Good, good, well-analyzed,” the old man seemed very pleased, came over to pat Luo’er on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Just by virtue of your understanding of the Otherworld, it’s enough to entrust you with an important task.”

After saying that, he withdrew his smile, stepped back solemnly, and asked, “Now then, Luo’er, are you confident in leading Lipei to withstand Odelanqi’s million-strong army?”

“I am confident,” Luo’er replied resolutely, “I have such faith and I believe I have the capability.”

“Good, good…” The matter settled, the old man had nothing more to say, licking his lips and nodding constantly, a pleased smile reappearing on his face.

“Luo’er, have a meal with me before you leave. There are many things I want to discuss with you,” the old man said sincerely.

“Uh, well, then it would be my honor…”

After hesitating for a moment, Luo’er gently nodded.

The meeting lasted for more than two hours, including meal time. When Luo’er left the hotel and arrived at the rooftop, he found Lin Wei waiting there the whole time and greeted him with a smile as soon as he saw him, showing no sign of impatience.

“Judging by your expression, the talks went smoothly, right?” Lin Wei asked with a smile.

“It went alright, we discussed a lot about Lipei,” Luo’er replied truthfully.

“I knew I could rely on you,” Lin Wei nodded.

“Now then…”

“Let’s go, time for personnel handover, since the higher-ups have already been reassured, Lipei’s autonomy is now a certainty,” Lin Wei called out.

They took a helicopter back to Shenghua Academy, went to a meeting room, and those generals attended once again.

Halfway through the meeting, Lin Wei handed a document to Luo’er for him to open and check.

When Luo’er opened it, he immediately saw his name on the first page, followed by a paragraph of text.

Luo’er, recommended rank: Major General…

“They’re giving me the rank of Major General?”

Luo’er was dumbfounded and turned to look at Lin Wei.

“Yes,” Lin Wei, seemingly anticipating his question, nodded and said, “After Lipei’s autonomy, the military-political system has to be separated. Naturally, the granting of ranks is not our decision. You have to confer yourselves.”

“But, but, I’m the only one…”

Luo’er glanced down the list and saw many familiar names, but the highest rank was Colonel, with only him being above that rank.

“We discussed this, since we need to establish a Lipei Defense Zone Command, the highest leader should at least be a General. Having a Colonel lead a war zone Command seems unreasonable,” Lin Wei explained.

“What makes me worthy?” Luo’er said, somewhat embarrassed.

“No need for modesty. If you aren’t suitable, then who is?” Lin Wei said, looking at him, “Luo’er, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Besides, setting all that aside, you’re already over forty this year, and with your hard work and outstanding achievements, becoming a General is not excessive.”

“Alright, then I’ll proceed according to the suggested list.”

Luo’er lowered his head, reviewing the list again.

According to the list’s provisions, only those who had participated in related military operations or been part of the Advance Team were qualified for ranks.

In fact, besides Luo’er’s First Vanguard Team and Murong’s Second Vanguard Team, the Commander’s Office later formed over two hundred Advance Teams, with the numbers exceeding thousands.

The remaining majority of subspecies didn’t join the military after graduation. Although they received military training in school, most of them took ordinary positions post-graduation, mainly responsible for running the Lipei district government.

About two days later, Luo’er saw on the news that the UN Security Council had passed a treaty prohibiting Earth’s military forces from intervening in the world of Aers.

Triggered by this news, Lipei’s autonomy process began to speed up. As Lipei’s highest military and political leader, Luo’er was responsible for reorganizing the Lipei district government and the Commander’s Office.

He held a meeting in the square of Lipei, summoning all the subspecies to announce Lipei’s autonomy and began the commissioning ceremony.

The main military personnel were awarded ranks, among which only Luo’er was awarded the rank of Major General. Within the Advance Team, Cheng Ziang and Tangmo were awarded the rank of Colonel, Baiyue was awarded Lieutenant Colonel, and Hu Daoke was awarded Major.

As the Captain of the Second Vanguard Team, Murong was also awarded the rank of Colonel. However, during the commissioning ceremony, Luo’er formally announced that Murong would serve as the head of the Lipei district government, responsible for its formation and operation.

Murong was anxious about this, nervously asking, “Is this okay? Should we reconsider?”

But Luo’er patted his shoulder, comforting him, “I trust you with the tasks. I have many matters to handle, so I must focus on military affairs.”

Luo’er hoped to manage Lipei’s military threats while leaving Murong in charge of all administrative matters.

Of course, such appointments also drew criticism. Some subspecies believed Luo’er practiced cronyism, placing all his trusted associates in the military, ignoring others’ feelings.

Luo’er himself served as Commander-in-Chief of the Lipei Defense Zone Command, with Cheng Ziang as Chief of Staff, Tangmo as Staff Officer, and Baiyue as Head of Intelligence and Communications, responsible for intelligence gathering and communication.

Even Hu Daoke, who was about to retire, was appointed as Chief of Security, responsible for Lipei’s security and internal stability.

Luo’er placed the Advance Team personnel within the military system, while Murong organized his people into the Lipei government.

Such an approach couldn’t really be justified as not being cronyism.

However, a key point was that these individuals were recognized for their ability and loyalty by the two Captains, so they preferred assigning their own people over outsiders.

For Lis, who had transitioned from Office Director to Observer, this practice was unsurprising. After all, when they decided to entrust Lipei to Luo’er, they had already expected this outcome.