Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1147 - 1140: The Title of Lipei

Chapter 1147: Chapter 1140: The Title of Lipei

"General Zhang, calm your anger. If you’re dissatisfied, just say it. There’s no need to take it out on a pen," Lin Wei consoled.

The Major General referred to as General Zhang turned to glance at Lin Wei, then looked around the room. Everyone was subdued by his presence, and no one dared to speak, including the host who was supposed to be in charge.

"About the sovereignty of Lipei, I have something to say. There are a few heartfelt words that I’m eager to get off my chest," General Zhang took a deep breath and then said angrily, "I want to ask all of you, how did we acquire the sovereignty of Lipei, and what price did we pay, hmm? We helped the Church of Light from the Otherworld in their campaigns to the south and north, paying a tremendous price. Moreover, we even waived the enormous war indemnity that the Church of Light should have paid to our nation, and only then did we get our hands on the sovereignty of Lipei."

"Now, there are actually people who suggest that we should give away the sovereignty of Lipei, merely because of international public opinion... What the hell is international public opinion, and are we supposed to abide by it? International public opinion must be fought for. What nonsense! Oh, if international public opinion tells us to cede the sovereignty of Lipei, we should just do it. Then if international public opinion tells us to die, should we all commit suicide immediately? What a joke, right? Do you not have any idea what international public opinion is really about?"

"What is this thing called neocolonialism, what are these so-called concessions? Should we just parrot whatever international public opinion calls them? If international public opinion thinks it’s wrong, should we also consider it wrong? What a joke! The benefits that we fought so hard to gain, should we just let go of them because of so-called international public opinion and hand over Lipei’s sovereignty to people from the Otherworld? Has anyone considered this: If we can control the people from the Otherworld, then others can too. Oh, we indirectly manage Lipei, but what if these Otherworlders listen to someone else? Then don’t we essentially lose the sovereignty of Lipei? Who can afford that cost, hmm?"

"This one, this Captain Luo’er. I’ve heard a little about the Advance Team from the Otherworld led by Captain Luo’er, so I know that your team has paid a significant cost in terms of the sovereignty of Lipei and the opening of the Otherworld Gate. Now some out-of-touch mongrels within us, just because of so-called international public opinion, propose to give away the sovereignty of Lipei to the Otherworlders, what a joke, these people are nothing but traitors!"

General Zhang grew angrier as he spoke, and finally, out of nowhere, he pulled out a pistol, slammed it hard on the table and pushed it towards Luo’er, then pointed at him and said, "Luo’er, I’m giving you this gun. If anyone says to cede the sovereignty of Lipei, you shoot them. Don’t worry about the consequences; I’ll take full responsibility!"

"Elder Zhang, don’t make it difficult for the young ones," Lin Wei said with a smile, speaking to the uneasy Luo’er, and then discreetly pocketed the gun.

After that, he surveyed the crowd, cleared his throat, and said loudly, "Regarding the sovereignty of Lipei, my views align with Elder Zhang. We absolutely cannot relinquish the sovereignty of Lipei, no matter what happens, it must always remain in our hands. Unless, of course, the Church Court wishes to reclaim sovereignty and transfer it to others; otherwise, there is no such thing as us giving Lipei’s sovereignty to the Otherworlders."

"As for international public opinion, terms like... neocolonialism, concessions, and the like, if you don’t like hearing them, make them change it. Because these terms are fundamentally incorrect. What is neocolonialism? Nowadays, can Earthlings permanently settle in the Otherworld? No, they can’t. Then how can we talk about neocolonialism? You don’t fight for a favorable public opinion, but instead let your own people change, what kind of behavior is this, bullying the weak and fearing the strong? Oh, if our own people are easy to bully, then just keep bullying them, is that the logic?" General Zhang angrily took over.

"Some among us still hold onto the notion of western superiority. Half the 21st century has passed, how can there still be such subservience to foreigners? Oh, we must do whatever the western big shots tell us. If we had followed what they said from the start, we would have been screwed long ago!" With that, General Zhang angrily slammed the table again.

Luo’er looked sympathetically towards the young man standing and hosting the meeting. He stood there, uneasy, listening to General Zhang’s tirade, not daring to utter a sound. He was merely conveying the contents of the documents, but he was rebuked so fiercely by the General that it seemed rather unwarranted.

"Alright, let’s conclude the topic on the sovereignty of Lipei for now. Our consensus is that we absolutely cannot let go of Lipei’s sovereignty. I assume no one has any objections. If not, let’s move on to the next agenda item," fortunately, Lin Wei stepped in just in time to smooth things over.

"Uh, yes, okay. Well, if no one has any objections, then let’s move on to the next topic," the host gratefully glanced at Lin Wei, then said with a forced smile, "The next topic is more relaxed; we will focus on discussing the naming issue of Lipei. Since the name Lipei itself is a transliteration, if we are to establish a city there, the transliteration of Lipei may need to be reconsidered for something more elegant, or replaced with other terminology we are familiar with."

In contrast to the previous topic, this one indeed seemed more relaxed; at least there was no longer a monopoly on who could speak. As soon as the host finished speaking, people began to discuss it animatedly.

"Let’s call it Liper, ’Li’ as in ’benefit’ and ’Bo’ as a type of cypress tree, both with multiple pronunciations," one officer suggested.

"That feels odd, and it doesn’t have an elegant ring to it," another officer countered, "How about we use meaningful translation instead? What does the meaningful translation of Lipei stand for?"

"Luo’er!" Hearing his suggestion, Lin Wei looked towards Luo’er and called out softly.

Although most of those present were from headquarters, not everyone spoke Tasta. As things stood, Luo’er was the only one in the entire meeting room who was fluent in Tasta.

"Uh, oh," faced with Lin Wei’s gesture and everyone’s gaze, Luo’er hesitated, then stood up nervously and said, "Well, that, I don’t recommend using a free translation, because Lipei’s free translation is a religious term, which might not be appropriate."

"Yes, indeed, if it’s a religious term, it really isn’t suitable." Several old generals nodded again and again, quite satisfied with Luo’er’s performance.

"Since Lipei is a religious term, then I think the transliteration of Lipei shouldn’t be used either. How about we change it to a name we are familiar with? Like, since it has two rivers, why not call it Double River City?" an officer suggested.

"Lipei will need to be accessible to all Otherworlders, not just specifically for Earth people. It doesn’t matter if it sounds elegant to us; it’s best to keep its original name and play around with the transliteration. Changing the name arbitrarily could easily cause a sense of cultural disconnection among Otherworlders, which is not conducive to our activities in the Otherworld. We shouldn’t go from one extreme to the other," Lin Wei suggested.

"Yes, Old Lin is right, it’s best to play around with the transliteration and not change it randomly," another officer nodded and said.

In fact, the accurate pronunciation of Lipei is LeePo, not LeeBo, so according to the normal pronunciation, it should be read as Liper, not Lipei. So if changes are to be made, in fact there could be many word combinations to choose from.

After some discussion, everyone came up with several options for the host to record, and finally they were put up for a public vote. After settling on the name, the debate over the suffix became even more intense.

Because Lipei was not just Lipei City, but included the surrounding area as well, with a total area of over 200 square kilometers, there had to be an appropriate name for this region.

"How about calling it Lipei Central District?" an officer asked.

"That’s not appropriate!" another person replied.

"Why is it not appropriate?" the officer asked, puzzled.

"Hah," that officer gave a cold laugh, then looked around and asked profoundly, "How many ’centrals’ are there in the world?"

"Then, how about Lipei Autonomous Region?" another officer proposed.

"Autonomous region, who’s autonomous?" Not wanting this name to pass, General Zhang expressed his dissatisfaction again, slamming his hand on the table and asking.

"Looks like it can only be called Lipei Special Administrative Region then, should there be no objections to this, right?" another officer inquired.

"Hmm, we can make do with that for now, and change it if we think of something better," a number of people nodded in response.

"What a joke, once it’s decided, we won’t change it. What do you mean ’think of something better and change’? Is this like children playing house?" another general expressed his dissatisfaction, hitting the table as he spoke.

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