"There is no particular theme for this morning's regular meeting. I have gathered you all here mainly to inquire about the progress of the work transition and whether you are adapting to the work in the new department. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, and I will do my best to help you solve them."
Strange sat at the front of the conference room, looking at the people below, and said: "I understand that you are not entirely inexperienced in political affairs, but the work in the new department is still a challenge for you. You may be puzzled as to why I assigned you, who have no experience in this area, to a new department. But please believe that I have my reasons for doing so, and it's not to make trouble for the Three Great Empires, as you might think."
The expressions of the people below froze instantly. In fact, after the list was announced last night, these people had been complaining about it all night.
Given their experience and resumes, it would not be surprising for them to become ministers, but unfortunately, they were assigned to departments they were completely unfamiliar with. It was as if Strange had drunk too much and decided ministers by throwing dice.
Of course, that was impossible, so many people speculated that Strange was purely there to create chaos. He was not fond of the Three Great Empires, nor of the interstellar council they controlled, so he deliberately placed people who were not good at certain tasks in those positions to create chaos in the interstellar council.
Although everyone believed this, they didn't dare to say it publicly, because besides being a councilman, Strange was also the Supreme Magician, capable of slapping them into the neighboring universe. Most people only dared to complain softly in private.
No one expected Strange to be so open. At this moment, a bold person spoke up: "Supreme Magician, we absolutely do not intend to question your motives, but frankly speaking, maybe it's my lack of knowledge; I have never studied anything related to interstellar relations, and I don't know how to deal with so many civilizations. Can I really do well as this Minister of Foreign Affairs?"
The crowd turned their eyes to the person who spoke. Such words indicated that he no longer wanted the position and was trying to provoke Strange into firing him. Given the Supreme Magician's temper, he indeed should have been angry.
Strange wanted very much to say, "Whether you want it or not," but remembering Shiller's advice before the meeting, he sighed and said, "I said, I know you all are not adapting well to the new work. How could I not be the same, but I can promise everyone here that the work model and direction of the interstellar council under my leadership will be completely different from before. After all, you also know that, I am a human, from Earth. The Nine Major Kingdoms where Earth is located just fought a battle with the Three Great Empires. We have never got along, and I will not follow their old ways. So your previous work experience is useless; I don't let you take positions in departments you're familiar with for your own good."
"After all..." Strange dragged his words, then said, "As a human, I can't stand the practices of the Three Great Empires. Anyone who follows their ways is very annoying."
He deliberately glanced around, and the people below immediately sat up straight. They were about to adjust their collars, only to realize they were wearing Empire uniforms. It was as if they were sitting on pins and needles; sitting was uncomfortable, standing was uncomfortable.
"Since I am human, I will follow human ways. Today, there was no notification, so you are excused, but from tomorrow onwards, everyone must wear a suit to work. Don't let me see anyone wearing these flamboyant Empire uniforms again, understood?"
The crowd exchanged confused glances. In fact, they were unwilling; they didn't even know what a suit was. It sounded like some kind of human specialty clothing. Surely they wouldn't have to wear tights to work, right?
But due to the Supreme Magician's formidable presence, they dared not refuse. Defying the Three Great Empires might mean death next week; defying the Supreme Magician would mean getting boxed up today.
Before Strange became the Supreme Magician, his silhouette gleefully collecting parcels across the cosmos was a vivid memory; surely he wouldn't mind collecting a few more boxes.
"Yes, Supreme Magician," they replied through gritted teeth.
"Alright, you don't need to be so nervous," Strange softened his tone, and then said, "You have to understand my feelings. Not long ago, the Kree Empire and Skrull Empire amassed large armies and launched a full-scale invasion of the Nine Major Kingdoms. Humans and Asgard fought desperately, and the battle was brutal. Both sides suffered great losses. Now you're wearing the uniforms of their robots, strutting in front of me. The fact that I have tolerated you until now shows that I have a good temper. If my teacher were here..."
Strange left his words unfinished, allowing everyone's imagination to fill in the blanks. In the universe, the human race is among the few with such short lifespans; most races can conservatively live two to three hundred years, so everyone present experienced the era of The Ancient One.
Let's put it this way: Strange, at least, still exchanged a few words with them. The Ancient One, who had dominated the universe for years, rarely spoke. She wouldn't say anything, she'd just start fighting; and the Demon God's screams were so miserable that the onlookers couldn't hear what The Ancient One was saying at all.
You might say Strange is too domineering, and he is, but compared to The Ancient One, he is just starting to take form. If it had been The Ancient One, after a war with the Three Great Empires, seeing someone wearing their uniforms would certainly treat them as enemies, destroying them without a look. Strange even explained to them, how reasonable!
In any case, these people adjusted themselves and returned to their previous state. Some even secretly searched for images of human suits under the table. Even if it were tights, they'd want to pick a color that looked nice.
"Alright," Strange knocked on the table again and said, "The reason I'm not letting you go to the department you're best at is that we won't fight alone next. Departments need to cooperate with each other. I picked you out because you have more cooperation experience. Some people's resumes are similar to yours, but basically have never collaborated with others, so I don't want them either."
Everyone likes to hear compliments, especially when it comes from the mouth of the Supreme Magician. The crowd was immediately attracted, and Strange took advantage of the situation.
"The summary of the first task has been sent to your personal terminals. Some of you may have already seen it. The Environmental Department is a newly established department. Like you, the minister has no experience, but environmental work must not be neglected. It will also be the main task for a long time to come. I hope you can work sincerely and unite as one to do a good job in environmental protection."
These people had obviously seen the summary already. They are seasoned veterans and probably understood what to do, but someone still raised a question. The Minister of the Commerce Department raised a hand and said, "Are we seeking opinions on environmental review, internally, or widely?"
"What do you think?" Strange tossed the question back.
The Minister of the Commerce Department looked around and then said, "Internal collection is more accurate, but wide collection has a larger sample size, each with its benefits. The main thing depends on what the purpose of the environmental work is."
This actually threw the question back again, implicitly asking Strange why he wanted to do environmental work. Actually, Strange himself didn't know, but it didn't stop him from never falling behind, and he could even make up a reason.
"Standing from different perspectives, one can naturally see different landscapes," Strange said calmly. "The Three Great Empires indeed have a high status in the interstellar society. Under their rule, the economic and social aspects indeed went through a stable and prosperous period. However, any development comes with a cost."
Those present were shrewd people. Although the latter half of the sentence had a lot of information, the most important part was the first sentence Strange just said.
Most of the Three Great Empires consist of robots, and Strange is naturally different from them. By saying this, is he implying that he indeed sees some different landscapes, perhaps has some sources of information unknown to the Three Great Empires?
"Supreme Magician, we know you are the most powerful being in the cosmos, the First Mage. Excuse my ignorance, coming from a mechanical civilization, I neither understand magic nor the mage. I wonder what kind of beautiful scenery you can see from the mountain peak. Would you mind telling us in detail?" said the minister of the Resource Department.
"Before the election, I went to the Temple of Eternity," Strange lightly tapped on the desk with a pen, "Considering most of you are unaware of the existence of cosmic entities, I can briefly tell you. The cosmos has a very complex structure, but in general, it's supported by several pillars. These personified entities of the pillars are the abstract entities. The most important and powerful five are called the Five Gods, with Eternity being the head of them, and his temple is located deep in the vast cosmos, unseen and unreachable to those who haven't touched the universe's rules…"
Talking about his specialization, Strange was naturally not as direct as when dealing with political affairs. His wording was very professional, even somewhat philosophical, and some races' translators could not perfectly translate certain terms, making his words seem more mysterious and profound.
The vast majority of civilizations, including even the Three Great Empires, cannot reach things at the level of cosmic rules. They can create superluminal engines, build huge star ships, but these are merely utilizing cosmic laws. To touch the laws of entities is as difficult as reaching the sky.
Many civilizations among them are very curious about this deeper world. Unfortunately, without a guide, they cannot progress further until the day their civilization meets Oblivion.
A very few civilizations can touch that deep and mysterious world, but they have always kept it taboo, unwilling to reveal even a word more. Therefore, any knowledge related to cosmic rules is extremely precious and can even become a civilization's heirloom, written in their Bible, passed down through generations.
No one expected that the Supreme Magician would casually utter words directly pointing to cosmic truth like this. They immediately opened their terminals to take notes, afraid of missing a single word.
Some without built-in translation software, or with translation software that translated inaccurately, had to frantically ask people around them to understand certain terms, wishing they could slap themselves for not learning English well enough.
Even those with better translation tools or internal translation systems felt some regret, as no matter how good the translation software is, it's not as good as learning English themselves. Perhaps these words in the Supreme Magician's language have deeper meanings?
"Alright," Strange appeared quite impatient and said, "You should also learn more cosmic knowledge. Don't always ask me to explain such common knowledge. Otherwise, I would have to give you a lecture before assigning any task. Let's continue discussing Eternity."