"Okay... I'll go back first. I'll go arrange your entourage in advance."

Hut stood up, supported the desk with his right hand, stretched his old waist slightly, and then slowly walked out of the study.

…

Afternoon of April 20, 1993.

Strasbourg, France.

When you hear these place names with the suffix "Fort X", people often think of Germany.

This place did belong to Germany in the past, but... it's not absolute. Anyway, Strasbourg, located on the left side of the Rhine River, is adjacent to Germany on the right side.

Historically, the two countries have been fighting over this region, but now it belongs to France.

This is the headquarters of the European Parliament and the headquarters of many EU organizations. It is also the only region in France where EU administrative agencies are concentrated.

As for why we sometimes see the European Parliament meeting in Brussels on TV, there are certain special reasons for this.

First of all…the predecessor of the European Union, the European Coal and Steel Community, had six founding countries.

I won’t mention France, Germany and Italy, the other three are the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Not to mention France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, these four countries were large in size and their international status was not low at the time.

But Belgium and Luxembourg are a little special.

Belgium is a kingdom with a slightly different political system, and Luxembourg is even weirder.

Luxembourg is actually a Grand Duchy.

There are certain differences between the Grand Duchy and the Principality.

For example, Wales is a principality, it is the territory of the prince, that is, the prince Cha.

But the Grand Duchy is different. It is the territory of the Duke. Luxembourg is the only existing Grand Duchy in the world, which was formerly known as a principality.

As for Monaco, Andorra and Liechtenstein, they are principalities. The highest nobles in their countries are princes, not dukes, and they are also called royal families.

As one of the earliest member states of the European Union, France, Luxembourg and Belgium have set up EU offices in three cities in three countries in order to compete for their respective presence in the EU.

One is Strasbourg, France, which is the headquarters of many EU departments and they hold meetings here every month.

The city of Luxembourg is of course called Luxembourg, and the European Union usually holds meetings here.

Brussels, which is best known to the outside world, is a city in Belgium.

The three cities are located in a diagonal line. In order to take care of the interests of the three parties in the EU, many departments of the EU, all members of the European Parliament and civil servants below, have to hold meetings in these three places in turn every month.

…

"Oh? So troublesome? In other words, I will not only come to Strasbourg in the future, but also go to the other two places? Your Highness told me that I only need to go to Brussels occasionally for meetings, right?"

Alan listened to the secretary beside him giving him some knowledge about the place with a look of surprise, while visiting the hotel that had been prepared for him in advance.

"Uh... Your Excellency, to be precise... these three places hold meetings for a few days every month, but your permanent office is in Strasbourg."

“…”

Alan finally realized the sinister intentions of Boss Cha. He had said at the time that it would only take a few days of meetings each month and it would be very easy.

But Alan didn't expect that the so-called meetings would be held for several days every month in three different places.

Let's assume four days in each place and each month, plus the time he spent traveling back and forth, he spent nearly half a month on the road and in meetings.

What the hell...plus he has some other stuff to do during normal times, doesn't this mean he has to go to administrative classes?

How many days off do you get every month?

I am a great British Earl, but I am just hiding in the interior of Europe and going to work every day?

Such hard work, isn't this going to drive him to death?

How can he go out and play after this?

ah?!

Alan was panting heavily. He was ready to leave this lousy hotel. Whoever wants to come to this lousy European Parliament can come. I'm done with this...

…

Seeing Alan walking away without saying a word and with a sullen face, the secretary who came with him to introduce him to a job was so scared that he quickly pulled Alan's sleeve and said, "Sir! Sir, please listen to me! Sir, please don't leave... Sir... If you leave, I'll be finished..."

Alan shook his hand vigorously and got rid of the damn bald man.

"explain!"

"Your Excellency... these are all theoretical working hours, all in theory. If you are busy, you don't have to come... These meetings are not mandatory for every member of parliament to attend. Just like our domestic parliament, except for the opening and closing ceremonies, the rest of the time is free, really! Your Excellency, you have to believe me!"

The secretary started to feel a little less confident as he spoke. It was the first time that he had openly imparted his experience of "slacking off" to others. Unspoken rules like these generally could not be spoken openly. If anyone dared to say so, how would the European Parliament function in the future?

So... these things are the privileges of old hands. After staying here for a while, you will slowly understand them.

But the gentleman in front of him had a bad temper. When he saw the poor conditions here and the long working hours, he turned around and wanted to leave!

If he were to leave, how would he explain himself when he returned?

The only thing he could do was to quickly explain all the unspoken rules to Allen and calm him down first.

The Minister of the British House of Lords was so happy to hear that Alan was coming to the European Parliament!

If they knew that Allen had only been there for a day and then quit his job and went back to messing around in the House of Lords because his secretary didn't explain things clearly, then one can imagine the fate of this secretary who failed to keep Allen in check.

…

"real?"

Alan was a little skeptical.

"Absolutely true, sir!"

"Then let's continue. This room in the hotel will be where I will stay from now on?"

"Well...if you are not used to living here, I suggest you buy a property here. However, the parliament will give you some subsidies for staying in a hotel...You know, because you need to travel between the three countries, you will get subsidies every time you go out for a meeting. Now the European Parliament subsidizes all staff's commuting and accommodation costs every year, which has reached 40 million pounds."

“…”

Alan doesn't care how much money he makes, but he hates this kind of roving way of working. If he wants to stay comfortably here according to his lazy personality, he has to buy a property in three cities in these three countries. In this way, he won't have to stay in a hotel every time he goes to a place.

But in this case, the cost of three properties...

Shit, to go to work, not only do I have to fly here, but I also have to buy three houses first?

What kind of class is this? Spending millions of pounds before earning a penny?

This is just for buying a very ordinary house. If you want to live more comfortably, you have to spend more money!

The more Allen thought about it, the more he felt that Boss Cha had screwed him over badly this time.

…

Not every member of the European Parliament is a person of high status, but most of them have a relatively high social status.

For these congressmen, necessary offices and meeting rooms need to be allocated.

The current headquarters of the European Parliament is not the fried egg-like parliament building that became well-known to the outside world, but a very ordinary building complex.

The main feature here is that it has a large area and many rooms.

Although there are only more than 500 members of the European Parliament at present, plus hundreds of civil servants, the office space required for these thousands of people is not small.

Now, there are more than a thousand small rooms in the European Parliament headquarters, in addition to nearly a hundred meeting rooms of various sizes.

Each member of parliament will be assigned at least a separate office, as well as shared rooms such as meeting rooms.

…

Alan was also assigned two rooms. One was an office with a suite where he could take a temporary rest. The other was a small meeting room that could accommodate ten people. It was not very big, but if he formed a small team, it could be temporarily converted into a public office.

The purpose of coming here today is to follow this secretary to take a look at my future office space here and get familiar with it, and then come here for a formal meeting tomorrow to feel the atmosphere of the European Parliament.

The decoration and furnishings in the office can only be described as ordinary... full of the atmosphere of the times. Alan curled his lips at this shabby place. The office environment here is not even as good as the servant's room in his home. This European Parliament is not good. It gets so much budget every year, but it doesn't know how to build a building? Improve the office environment?

This shabby place looks like a street office at first glance, so unclassy.

Seeing the disgust on Allen's face, the secretary who had been following Allen in fear quickly said, "Sir... the conditions are limited, but the year before last, France commissioned the best design firm in Europe to design the latest European Parliament headquarters. It seems that the design drawings came out some time ago. It is said that after the budget is prepared, construction can start as early as the end of this year or the beginning of next year."

"Oh? Are we going to tear this place down and rebuild it?"

"No, no, no... We will move to a place with better office conditions, near the Rhine River, with a very nice view. The parliament headquarters will then cover a larger area. You are not the only one who thinks the conditions here are shabby. Many parliamentarians have long had opinions about it. But you know, we still need to apply and go through the process if we want to build a new parliament headquarters."

The secretary shrugged... In terms of the efficiency of the European Parliament, a new parliamentary headquarters can be completed from project establishment to approval and final construction within ten years, which is already "lightning speed". At present, this progress has been going on for three years, and victory is just around the corner...

"Okay, there's nothing to see here, let's go."

Alan didn't even want to visit the suite inside. He should come here more often in the future. He would have plenty of time to see it.

…

As I walked out of the office, a group of people passed by the room next to Allen's office.

This was also an office, and it seemed to belong to a certain congressman. After hearing the noise at the door, before Alan walked far away, the door of the office opened, and an old man with a messy hair, who looked like Frankenstein, walked out.

When the old man saw Allen and his group, his eyes lit up and he greeted Allen enthusiastically, "I heard that a new congressman has come to replace him. Is that you? What's your name? I'm your 'neighbor' Wright. You can call me Professor Wright."

…

“…”

Looking at this warm and generous old man, Alan frowned, and his right hand was naturally grabbed by the old man and shook.

"Alan Hill."

"Oh, I know you. Aren't you the noble who loves making movies? So it's you who came this time?"

The old man seemed to have discovered a new world. When he heard Alan's name, he became even more enthusiastic.

but……

To Allen, his expression seemed very fake.

Alan likes watching movies himself. Although he is not a professional when it comes to acting, he has seen a lot. He can't say that he can tell whether the other person is acting or not, and whether the acting is good or not, but he can tell at a glance if the acting is poor. The old guy in front of him is such a poor actor.

He glanced at the secretary next to him with a slightly questioning look, and the other party shrugged at Alan as usual with a helpless expression.

This probably means that the other party has no hostility towards him, but is so enthusiastic...what is the purpose of this?

"Just tell me what you have to say!"

Alan was not the kind of person who would waste time. He squeezed slightly with his right hand, and Professor Wright, who was shaking hands with him with a smile on his face, suddenly bulged his eyes.

"It hurts, it hurts... Sir Allen, I have something to talk to you about... Please listen to me, I have a research result that I want you to see, and by the way, I want to tell you about the core concept of our organization."

"?"

It's so flashy...it would have been better if it was like this earlier.

Alan flicked his right hand slightly, shook off the old man's right hand, raised his chin slightly and said, "What do you want me to see?"

"Please come this way, sir. I'm in a hurry and the things are in my office."

Professor Wright awkwardly opened the office door behind him and wanted to invite Alan in.

Although this is the headquarters of the European Parliament and security should be guaranteed, Alan is not stupid enough to enter a room whenever someone invites him. There is a lounge in the apartment. What if there are a dozen executioners lying in ambush in there to murder him? Wouldn't he be doomed if he went in now?

He nodded slightly to the secretary next to him, and the secretary went into the office to take a look. After coming out, he nodded to Alan, and Alan walked into the office with confidence.

…

The logo is a blue circular logo with an elliptical earth map at the bottom, three stars of different sizes in the upper left corner, and a small sun pattern in the upper right corner.

That’s the logo.

Alan looked at the document with this pattern for a long time. He always felt that the pattern looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

It wasn't until I finished reading the contents of the document that I realized it talked about the entire universe from the origin of the earth to modern times, and it also explained many very detailed examples.

The main idea is that the earth is not actually round, but flat, which is the famous "flat earth theory".

"???"

Looking at the document, Alan was full of questions. This old man approached him on purpose just to let him see this document?

The earth is an elliptical celestial body. Isn’t this something even children know?

Are there still people who believe that the earth is actually flat these days?