"Yes, Supreme Magician."
Everyone let out a sigh of relief together, some even slumped into their chairs in exhaustion. The reason was simple: although they were elites, they were not the decision-makers of the civilization. They would have to report back to their big bosses, and the phrasing was a problem.
If they said it was serious, the big bosses might have a stress reaction, and if something really went wrong, the Supreme Magician might not spare them. But if they said it wasn't serious, and trouble did arise later, they would take the blame.
Since the Supreme Magician was willing to take the blame, that was the best outcome. At worst, they could blame their misunderstanding of the English language. After all, humans were a niche civilization and it was normal to mishear a word or two.
"Now, tell me how you're going to conduct the review work," Strange said again.
The people below had a brief discussion in low voices, then sent someone to explain. He said, "Personnel for the functional departments are appointed by us, so there's no shirking or questioning. But the executive agency is a big problem, as those civil servants never like reviews and will certainly have many objections."
Strange, however, held out One Hand and said, "I'm asking how you plan to conduct the review work, not how you'll get all the reviews approved. I want real opinions, the views of everyone in the interstellar council on this environmental review. Do you understand?"
"Oh, I see," the person looked enlightened and said, "Then just post it online."
"What?"
"Just find someone well-informed and post online saying the interstellar council is going to conduct an environmental review, that way we can see the most genuine reactions. If someone goes after the person who posted, then they probably agree with it. If someone informs their civilization to conduct self-checks, then they definitely disagree."
This left Strange somewhat bewildered. He asked, "Why?"
Another person said, "People who want to block the news usually support the policy because they want it to proceed without early leaks causing trouble. But those who don't block the news and take advantage themselves generally don't want the policy to go through, so only they can benefit, leaving others in the dark."
Strange was a bit speechless, so he said, "We need to follow official procedures and can't use such means."
The person who spoke earlier hesitated before saying, "So you want to use official methods?"
"Yes, how do you generally conduct it officially?"
"We usually post a paper on the announcement board in the first-floor lobby, stating that we're about to begin some review work."
"Then what?"
"If you want everyone to agree, have those who disagree come to your office; if you want everyone to disagree, have those who agree come to your office. This usually gets you the result you want."
Strange held his forehead and said, "I don't want to manipulate opinions; I want genuine opinions. Can't you create some voting website with official means?"
"Do you want genuine opinions or the opinions of the Three Great Empires? If it's the latter, then a website might work." The director spoke very tactfully.
"This can't work, that can't work, what exactly should we do?" Strange's patience was running out.
"We need to study this back home," another director said, "We may be able to give you an answer tomorrow, is that okay?"
Strange was unwilling but had no choice, because he couldn't really beat them up, so he just waved and said, "Dismissed."
Back in his office, Shiller was already waiting for him. Strange pulled out a chair, sat down, and sighed deeply, "These interstellar council people are really useless, they can't even figure out a way to collect opinions for a review."
"Do you really think they can't figure it out?" Shiller asked.
"Are they deliberately going against me?" Strange squinted his eyes. He thought about it and was sure that was the case, which made him even angrier.
Shiller, however, shook his head and said, "From your perspective, it's certainly easy to handle this work, since you are the Supreme Magician and the interstellar chairman. Who would dare disobey you? But for your subordinates, there's an insurmountable mountain."
"The Three Great Empires?"
"Exactly, emphasizing genuine opinions to them is like telling them: 'You need to confront the Three Great Empires, break their monopoly on opinion within the interstellar council, escape their control, and truly achieve freedom of speech and smooth governance.'"
"Uh, is that what I meant?" Strange also felt a bit awkward.
"Of course. You're a human, from your viewpoint, wanting genuine opinions cannot mean the opinions of the Three Great Empires. And didn't they finally ask you?"
Strange thought about it; indeed, the last director did ask if he wanted the opinions of the Three Great Empires, and he denied it. It sounded a lot like emphasizing that this opinion-gathering cannot be controlled by the Three Great Empires.
But considering the current state of the interstellar council, achieving this is very difficult. And these people claimed they could give him an answer by tomorrow morning; thinking of this, Strange was also a bit nervous.
"Oh no, I might have messed up," he said, "They won't go and fight the Three Great Empires, will they? That would cause trouble, wouldn't it???"
"Yes." Shiller gave him no hope, stating very certainly, "Trouble is bound to happen, but don't you think that's a good thing?"
"After all, they're not part of the human race, I wouldn't be heartbroken if they suffered losses, but if they can't deal with the Three Great Empires, wouldn't that also hurt my reputation?"
"You must trust your subordinates. They're not foolish and certainly wouldn't confront the Three Great Empires head-on. These folks are full of crafty ideas. Moreover, you can completely use this incident to see who's truly loyal to you and who intends to brush you off. First filter out the central subordinates, and the subsequent work will be easier."
"You mean I still have to figure out who's sincere?" Strange was in a state of helplessness. He said, "I don't have Mind Reading Skills; I can't tell, so you go, watch them for me, see who's working hard and who's trying to sit on the fence."
"If I go to watch, what will you do?"
The two of them stared blankly at each other.
"Alright, I'll just fill out this quarter's psychological evaluation," Strange said helplessly.
Shiller took out the psychological evaluation form and placed it in front of Strange with a smile, saying, "Yes, Supreme Magician."