Chapter 55 Opposing Vote

Chapter 55: The No Vote

Jiang Huaiyan only glanced at it once, then calmly folded the paper in half and slipped it into his pocket, as if he’d known this would happen.

"I'll help you check into the hospital; you need rest right now..." The nurse immediately turned toward the nurse's station, intending to handle the admission.

"No need to hurry," Jiang Huaiyan said with a normal expression, stopping her with a smile. "Let me take care of a few things first, then I'll come back and check in myself, okay?"

The nurse ventured to protest: "But your health is the most important thing. You should be..."

"I also have a medical license. We both know that early gland atrophy is incurable."

"You're still young, probably new to this. After a few more years, you'll understand—you can't save everyone."

The nurse's eyes dimmed. Her lips parted, as if she wanted to ask more, but she was afraid he'd lose patience and brush her off.

"Mr. Jiang," she said, "medical science is so advanced now. Severed arms can be reattached, people who've nearly bled out can be saved. Why is it only gland atrophy... that has no cure?"

Jiang Huaiyan fell silent. He looked at the nurse for a long moment, then gave a smile that was almost gentle.

"You're still very young. Why dwell on that?"

She was still young—young enough to wait until the Resistance develops its own cure for gland atrophy, until everyone can afford good, high-quality inhibitors, until this disease gradually fades from this land.

Just then, his phone rang. It was his secretary. Jiang Huaiyan answered, listened, then frowned slightly.

"Alright, I'll be right there."

"I've got some things to take care of," he said to the nurse, whose expression had soured. "Go ahead, do what you need to do."

He was unusually talkative today—even he found it odd, like a middle-aged man rambling on with life advice to a younger generation.

He already knew the outcome long ago. Why was he using his impending death to dish out chicken soup for the soul to a child?

Jiang Huaiyan thought it was funny. He waved at her, then turned and left quickly.

The military hospital was not far from the command center. It took Jiang Huaiyan about ten minutes to reach the conference room, which was already packed.

He walked in quickly, his eyes scanning the empty seat at the head of the long table. Tao Juan was at the front commanding the battle, so that seat should be his.

According to protocol, the Resistance Joint Civil-Military Committee had the authority to decide on temporary strategies. In the absence of an immediate response from Tao Juan, the meeting’s outcome could stand as the final decision.

He pulled out the chair and sat down on the left side, across from Zhu Shinian.

"Let's begin the meeting," Zhu Shinian said flatly.

Jiang Huaiyan nodded, his eyes falling on the papers spread across the table. "Emergency meeting now. Something urgent?"

The officer next to him slid a thin dossier in front of him.

"Director Jiang, here's the situation: the Empire developed a new drug specifically for early gland atrophy," the officer explained. "Major General Zhu interrogated a prisoner and got the exact location. We need you to confirm if there’s really a secret lab there."

The officer flipped to the first page of the dossier. Jiang Huaiyan glanced at the marked location and nodded.

Seeing his nod, everyone in the room got excited.

Almost everyone in this room had relatives or comrades with low pheromone levels or gland atrophy. The disease hung over them like an eternal cloud, making them worry whether the comrades they fought with today, or the family they laughed with, might be lying in a hospital bed tomorrow, their lives hanging by a thread.

If a drug like this really exists...

"Please take another look," the officer beside him said, barely able to hide his excitement. "Major General Zhu has drafted three plans. Can you see which one’s most viable?"

"I don’t think any of them will work."

The room went quiet. After a moment, the officer next to him stammered, "But... you barely looked at them. How can you know they won’t work? Major General Zhu worked hard on these. They affect the lives of so many patients..."

Others murmured in agreement, shooting disapproving looks at Jiang Huaiyan.

The room was mostly military. Even the few provisional government members naturally sided with Zhu Shinian, who came from the 26th District and had shed blood on the battlefield, than with Jiang Huaiyan, who was born into the Empire's aristocracy.

"Enough." Jiang Huaiyan pushed the dossier back, cutting off the discussion. "Has anyone considered why such a miracle drug is only being developed now?"

"And how would someone like Xiao Jin—an idiot—come to know about such a top-secret matter?" Jiang Huaiyan's gaze swept across every face in the room.

"Does everyone know what Xiao Jin really is? It might be hard to spot a smart person, but anyone can see a fool. Why would the Empire entrust a secret of this level to him?"

Zhu Shinian looked at him without a word.

"It's a trap," Jiang Huaiyan said.

Murmurs rippled through the room. Some nodded, some frowned, and some, unsure what to think, instinctively looked to Zhu Shinian.

Zhu Shinian slowly stood up.

"Yes," he said.

Jiang Huaiyan raised his eyes.

"It is a trap," Zhu Shinian said calmly. "But so what?"

Jiang Huaiyan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Zhu Shinian stood to his full height, looking down at Jiang Huaiyan.

"How many people can this drug save, Mr. Jiang? Have you calculated that?"

Jiang Huaiyan did not answer.

"In the Resistance, more than two thousand people could be directly saved by this drug. We haven't even counted the civilian patients in non-military hospitals, but I'm sure it's a significant number. This would massively boost our manpower and labor force."

Jiang Huaiyan's gaze flickered.

"Moreover, the contrast with the Empire would produce a very positive impact," Zhu Shinian continued. "It would encourage more soldiers and civilians in occupied territories to defect to us."

When wealth is distributed equally, there is no poverty; when society is harmonious, there is no scarcity; when the state is stable, it is not easily overturned. If distant people do not submit, cultivate virtue and attract them.

War is never just about the battlefield. Superior equipment, greater numbers, and more experienced command alone do not guarantee victory.

Zhu Shinian straightened up, picked up another document from the table, opened it, and slid it to Jiang Huaiyan.

"I provided three plans. Since Mr. Jiang was unwilling to look, let me introduce them in order. The first: use agents embedded in the Empire to steal the formula from within. The downside is that it might expose the Governor's decade-old sleeper agents, and these agents communicate on a single channel and require the Governor's authorization."

He flipped over two pages.

"The second: send a raid team of fewer than a hundred glider pilots to assault the Empire's R&D center and directly seize the formula and samples. Personally, I prefer this option. I can lead the team myself."

Of course there were downsides, though Zhu Shinian didn't say them out loud—everyone knew them all too well.

This strike team might come back empty-handed, or they might never come back at all.

Jiang Huaiyan's gaze fell on the page, lingering for just a moment.

Zhu Shinian turned to the last page.

"Third, negotiate with the Jiang family. We just discussed it, and most of you prefer this option. The Jiangs developed this drug purely for short-term gains, or to maintain their power after we establish the Republic—we can approach them for negotiations..."

"No."

Before Zhu Shinian could finish, Jiang Huaiyan cut him off.

He slid the file back, even faster than before. "Especially options two and three. I strongly oppose them."

Zhu Shinian gave him a cold glance, as if he had anticipated this opposition.

He should have known—for Jiang Huaiyan, lives were merely numbers, and sacrifice was inevitable.

He knew Jiang Huaiyan had ideals, lofty ambitions to save more people. But once he weighed the costs and deemed it not worth it, he would unhesitatingly refuse to put important things on the line.

"Mr. Jiang only glanced at it," he said. "Did you actually read it carefully?"

Jiang Huaiyan looked up, meeting his gaze.

"I don't need to read it carefully," he said. "I know Jiang Mingyuan's character very well. You won't gain any advantage from him. Your first two options might be feasible, but there will be casualties, and success isn't guaranteed. It's not worth taking such risks in this matter."

"Neither you nor the agents the Governor deployed in advance should be sacrificed here. As for negotiations, I don't think you can satisfy Jiang Mingyuan's appetite."

He paused, his voice deepening. "This vote—I will never approve it."

For an instant, the air in the conference room seemed to freeze.

In Tao Juan's absence, the Civil-Military Joint Committee required a two-thirds majority vote, but four people—Committee Director Jiang Huaiyan, Major General Zhu Shinian, another Major General, and the Deputy Governor of the provisional government—each had veto power.

As long as one of the four voted no, the mission could not be officially greenlit.

Zhu Shinian glared coldly at Jiang Huaiyan.

One was Governor Tao's most trusted protégé; the other was an ally Governor Tao had personally invited.

Seeing the two in conflict, the others in the room became noticeably uneasy.

Some lowered their heads and drank water; others exchanged glances with those beside them.

"I know Mr. Jiang has weighed the patients' lives against the price we'd have to pay, and decided it's not worth it," Zhu Shinian said quietly.

Jiang Huaiyan's brow twitched slightly.

"But shouldn't you also think about yourself?" Zhu Shinian said. "You're a C-grade alpha too. You've used low-quality strong suppressants. You know better than anyone what that stuff does to your gland."

Jiang Huaiyan looked at him without answering. For a moment, he was dazed, recalling the expression on Zhu Shinian's face months ago when he discovered Jiang Huaiyan using cheap suppressants, and the words he had spoken.

*You shouldn't use these suppressants anymore.*

*Really... they're harmful to your health.*

*If you keep using them, you'll end up like those low-grade alphas in District 26...*

*...dying young, just like they do.*

*If you die young, would you shed a single tear for me?*

"Even if you're being selfish and want to sacrifice these patients," Zhu Shinian's gaze fixed on his face, slowly and deliberately, "you should think about yourself."

"How do you know a disease like this won't happen to you?"

Author's note: