Vol-2: 072. How Can You Do Politics with a President Like This Insect?

072. How Can You Do Politics with a President Like This Insect?

"This is suffocating,"—thought the Frost-Plated air force.

It had always been other small countries' air forces that cowered before Frost-Plated's "Vulture," never daring to take off to engage—because they knew sending their precious pilots into battle would be sending them to their deaths. Even the Red Arrow Empire regarded the "Vulture" as a near-perfect fighter jet worthy of study.

For a long time, Frost-Plated pilots were hailed as the "gods of the sky," and their Vultures slicing through the air were seen as unbeatable.

However, Li Aozi not only shattered the myth of the Vulture's invincibility but, in one swoop, destroyed 29 heavy transport planes, 55 armed helicopters, 13 reconnaissance helicopters, 18 attack aircraft, 14 fighter jets (including two Vultures), 6 heavy bombers, and 2 early warning aircraft.

Even for a superpower like Frost-Plated, such catastrophic losses nearly drove the air force to madness overnight.

Beyond the deaths of ground troops and the destruction of logistics and supplies—the losses sustained by the air force alone amounted to over 6.3 billion Derbies. The air force command directly informed Mai Dewei: if you send us to face Li Aozi again, we will drop bombs on the Twin Palaces ourselves.

This was no joke. Mai Dewei couldn't possibly think pilots could be harvested like potatoes from the ground, could she?

Especially not for the Vulture jets—God, those two pilots were Beta-tier [Rangers], a rarity among rarities, and finding individuals with top-tier psychological resilience and flying skills from a pool of the nation's elite, who also possessed at least a university-level education—these were the best of Frost-Plated's best, priceless beyond measure!

Even if Mai Dewei's reign collapsed, these elite pilots would pass down their genes and skills, ensuring a brighter future for Frost-Plated.

As a result, Li Aozi's strike had nearly sparked a mutiny within the air force.

Mai Dewei, showing some rare rationality, decided to stay silent in the face of Li Aozi's blatant crossing of Frost-Plated's airspace, allowing the air force to handle it as they saw fit.

However, this inaction sparked outrage among the public, and soon the citizens of Frost-Plated were furiously venting their anger online, denouncing Mai Dewei and the air force for their weakness.

"What a joke! I saw that red-black figure flying over the city barrier of Forward City! What is the air force doing?"

"If President Mai Dewei doesn't make a statement soon, we'll feel very uneasy. I don't want a dangerous enemy flying over my head at any moment."

"Today, Frost-Plated's industrial sector stocks crashed. President Mai Dewei must immediately issue a statement to restore investor confidence!"

"Fight! Why aren't you fighting?! You just let a traitor to our nation fly right over us!"

"The military has betrayed us Frost-Plated citizens! You're all just spineless cowards! Mai Dewei is a softie—Frost-Plated is finished. Goodbye, I'm immigrating to Red Arrow."

Li Aozi, always keeping an eye on the online landscape, noted Mai Dewei's administration playing dead and refusing to respond. He decided to up the ante, giving the people of Frost-Plated a clear view of Mai Dewei's government's true nature.

He wasn't worried about Mai Dewei resorting to nuclear strikes—without Granat's grain as a cheap food supply, Frost-Plated might starve to death within the year.

So, Li Aozi lowered his altitude, warping the light around him with gravity, and flew directly through the shield of a Forward City. He landed in front of the city hall, perched atop a 20-meter-high statue of a heroine. With a flick of his hand, he uprooted the statue and hurled it down to the ground.

Boom——

The massive crash and tremors jolted the city's citizens awake. Soon, the media was broadcasting news of the statue's collapse, and near the fallen heroine statue, bright red graffiti read:

"Equality is not privilege. Men and women are both members of the people."

While the citizens of the city were still reeling in shock, it was quickly discovered that other cities had experienced similar acts of vandalism and slogans.

In Frost-Plated's financial capital, Jafflin City, Mai Dewei's statue was violently toppled, its head shattered to pieces. On the ruins, a coldly critical message was left:

"Those who preach ideology only have business on their minds."

In Frost-Plated's industrial stronghold, Axiso City, the "Women First" statue was overturned and impaled upside down on its pedestal. The red graffiti scathingly mocked:

"They act in the name of hunting witches as men once did, only to redo what men did to men—they've just become the new oppressors. This is no progress."

Even near Frost-Plated's highest political center—the Twin Palaces—just two streets away, the entire mirrored surface of a skyscraper had been illuminated with fiery words:

"Know who your real enemies are! The truly oppressed are all poor Frost-Plated citizens, not men or women."

After these incidents, not only was Mai Dewei's government's credibility severely damaged, but the people of Frost-Plated, who had long lived under the protection of great power peace, began to wake up.

For the first time, they began to realize what it must feel like for those civilians, hospitals, and factories bombed by Frost-Plated's air force.

The threat from the sky, accompanied by the piercing sonic booms, brought with it a fear beyond words.

"We once bombed small countries to secure our own interests and power… Did they feel the same fear as us? Or worse? Could our wars have been unjust and caused immense destruction?"

Under Li Aozi's graffiti slogans and air raids, the citizens of Frost-Plated began to reflect.

Meanwhile, down in the Twin Palaces' underground bunker, Mai Dewei, upon hearing that Li Aozi had left unscathed, refused to reflect and instead erupted in fury:

"Unbelievable! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!"

She pounded her fists on the table like an enraged lioness, screaming in a hysterical, broken voice:

"The air force has betrayed me! Those cowards! From today on, the air force will patrol daily, with at least two planes per mission—one to supervise the other. And take away their drone control rights! How dare they threaten me with bombing the Twin Palaces! That's treason!"

Blinded by rage, she ignored military protocol and immediately ordered:

"Get me Governor Lariel Southlake! Have her lead the Law IV Agency to thoroughly investigate the air force! There must be extremist patriarchists among them!"

"Madam President, that is absolutely not possible." Her secretary trembled at the command, cold sweat dripping down his back as he hurried to dissuade her. "The air force is composed of only the most elite personnel. If Law IV starts meddling, they might strike, and we wouldn't be able to replace them quickly."

"Aren't civilian pilots pilots too?" Mai Dewei glared at him. "As far as I know, there are plenty of female captains in civilian aviation. Let them fly fighter jets!"

The Frost-Plated officials in the bunker were stunned by this statement, turning to Mai Dewei in disbelief.

"Madam President, are you thinking clearly?"

"You will destroy Frost-Plated's military this way."

"If you keep this up, I will have no choice but to resign."