Darkstone Code
Chapter 185 - 0183 Contradictory and Complex

Chapter 185: 0183 Contradictory and Complex

"Your Excellency, the President, Frank has been killed!"

Outside the conference hall used for press conferences at the President’s Mansion, the Chief of Security, dressed in a stern formal suit, whispered the situation into the President’s ear as he was reviewing his speech.

The President slowly put down the speech in his hand, glanced at his Chief of Security, and wiped his face, "This is really bad news, but are the hostages safe?"

The Chief of Security nodded solemnly, "According to reports from the scene, Frank refused to communicate and attempted to harm the hostages. Our men had no choice but to open fire, and the hostages are safe."

The President nodded with satisfaction, "That’s good; protecting the safety of Federation citizens is my duty..." After saying this, he picked up the speech again. After glancing at it, he nodded at the Chief of Security and the Chief of Staff, and stepped into the conference room.

As he entered the conference room, the flashing lights almost turned it into a silver world, and the suddenly bright lights were somewhat disorienting even for the media-savvy President.

He squinted slightly and walked to the podium, lowering his gaze, which made him feel slightly better.

From the outbreak of events yesterday morning until now, it has been twenty-four hours. No matter what others think, the media will first go crazy, followed by public opinion.

The matter has already spread, and it’s clearly unrealistic to try to cover it up, which would make people think the President and his cabinet are incompetent. They must find a way to solve it, at least calm down the ordinary investors blocking the banks or exchanges.

A few seconds later, the frequency of flashlights decreased slightly, but all the reporters raised their arms high. The voice of his Chief of Staff came through the President’s headphones, "The lady in the second row, fourth seat, wearing a blue scarf..."

The President looked up and indeed saw a lady wearing a blue scarf in the second row. He pointed casually, "The lady with the blue scarf..."

As the female reporter stood up, everyone else who had their hands raised immediately withdrew them, grabbing their pens, ready to write something at any moment.

After the room quieted a bit, the female reporter who was called upon asked, "Mr. President, since yesterday, people have discovered that war bonds issued abroad cannot be redeemed. What can we do about it? What can you do?"

Some reporters frowned; this question was not sharp enough. It was so ordinary that it could be said to have little value since, even without asking, the President or his press secretary would eventually mention it, making it a wasted question opportunity.

However, since it was asked, it still needed to be recorded.

The President demonstrated his calmness and steadiness, responding almost immediately, "We have urgently contacted the bond-issuing nation, and the Federation’s embassy abroad is conducting emergency negotiations with the local government."

"So far, we have not come up with any effective solutions, but I can assure the public that not a single second has been wasted, and our ambassadors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not rested since yesterday."

"If there is any new development, it will be announced to the public as soon as possible!"

A standard answer, nothing spectacular; some reporters gave up continuing to record midway through this answer, as it could directly use the press release.

Press conferences like this usually come with a press release, which contains official responses and key ideas, and mainstream media typically respect the content of this release, making minor adjustments without changing the core.

However, some less mainstream media are bold in their speech, often turning a serious press conference into a conspiracy press conference of sorts, gaining more readers and subscriptions this way.

More lucky reporters were subsequently named and questioned, but their questions were too standard, leaving many reporters disappointed, as the Q&A session of this press conference became a one-man show for the President.

This has become increasingly common since the President took office; at first, he did not orchestrate these planted questions to maintain a smooth press conference. Back then, he was passionate, but look at him now.

Almost every press conference he personally attends unfolds this way, filled with official questions and answers, with not a hint of unexpected occurrences.

Don’t those "official media" themselves find it nauseating?

In reality, whether it’s nauseating is not important; the important thing is how to avoid awkwardness in the current uncertain situation.

Half an hour later, the press conference ended, and the President left quickly, with his press officer taking over.

Reporters still didn’t need to think about getting valuable answers from the press officer because when the questions become sharp, he would claim he is just a press officer who can only provide pre-prepared answers, leaving people helpless and deeply frustrated.

After leaving the conference room, the President removed some uncomfortable electronic devices weighing several kilograms, which were not a pleasant experience to wear.

He returned to his office and summoned the Chief of Staff and his advisory team. He needed some suggestions and strategies to resolve the current issues.

Some matters simply cannot be stalled forever.

"Mr. President, we deliberated all day yesterday and finally reached a conclusion, but..." he glanced at the others, then at the President, "but you may not like it."

The President frowned, "What kind of answer?" he joked in a tone that clearly wasn’t joking, "Maybe I should submit my resignation to Congress?"

This was obviously not a funny joke. The Chief of Staff gave a dry laugh, "We believe the best course of action now is to let things develop naturally, offering necessary simple answers, which aligns more with our current situation and stance."

The President’s frown deepened, and he even dug his ear a bit, "Sorry, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying; can you be more specific?"

The Chief of Staff began explaining in more detail, "We should temporarily do nothing, because whatever we do, it’s difficult to change those countries’ attitudes, and they cannot possibly redeem the bonds, especially the victorious nations."

The war bonds that cannot be redeemed mainly come from the victorious nations, while the defeated countries are willing to redeem these bonds and have announced on behalf of the state that they will postpone redemption of the pre-war bonds in the international community by a year, and increase the redemption ratio by fifteen percent based on the original.

But everyone knows that by the time they can be redeemed, the money, the currencies given, will long have lost their value.

The President nodded; he understood this, "So your solution is to do nothing?" He leaned back, showing no change in attitude or expression, "Then how do I explain this to the citizens?"

The Chief of Staff timely corrected some minor errors in his words, "It’s not you explaining to the public, it’s those countries refusing redemption explaining to the ordinary international public!"

"In fact, the advisory team unanimously believes this is actually a good thing, as we have inadvertently resolved some critical issues, shifting the conflict from differing stances between two governments to one between a national government and ordinary citizens worldwide."

"Previously, the refusal of the victorious nations to redeem the bonds could be considered a state act targeting Bail Federal as a nation, but now their opponents are ordinary citizens, and doing so is somewhat disgraceful."

"We can unite some countries facing the same issue as us, even the defeated nations, to create momentum in international public opinion. Privately, if we can persuade one or two small countries to redeem some bonds, it can undermine trust within the Victorious Nations Alliance."

"More importantly, we can use ’protecting the legal rights of the populace’ as an excuse to rally certain forces internationally. It has been proven that complete isolation is inadvisable!"

The President listened and thought seriously; undoubtedly, the Chief of Staff’s suggestions had merit. As the strongest proponent of isolation policies, the President was now aware of its disadvantages.

When Bail Federal faces trouble, no one stands to offer even the slightest help. Internationally, due to isolation, he has no status, allowing victorious nations to manipulate Bail Federal at will.

His thoughts ran deep and fast, and he unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, "A Neutral Countries Alliance?"

The Chief of Staff nodded slightly, that was his underlying idea. Since isolationism has proven ineffective, another relatively moderate approach should be used to change Bail Federal’s position in the international community.

Considering how the President rose to power through this policy, they could unite some neutral countries without altering the neutral stance. This way, citizens wouldn’t perceive isolationism as a failure, while utilizing citizen power to solve issues, making for a perfect solution.

"What about those causing trouble outside, how do we deal with them?" The President quickly made a decision and asked another pointed question.

The Chief of Staff meaningfully stated, "Some people will surely have to bear responsibility for this matter..."

Scapegoats, fall guys, this approach has been used countless times, so simple that almost everyone knows such situations, yet people still fall for it.

The President nodded, "If there’s no other way, let’s proceed with this. Hopefully, we will see results soon."