Chapter 376 The Hesitant Navy Minister
Glass Island, White Queen.
The residence of Navy Minister Dewes Ramos is located here.
As both are founding families, Ramos Manor and Moriarty Manor are not far apart.
Their ancestor was Lanmaroc, a hero as brave as Lancelot. He fought to the bitter end in the fiercest war against the giants and died gloriously. After the crown master completed his ascension, he became one of his knights.
If there were nobles in Avalon, then the Ramos family would be considered the top nobles.
Because of the bravery of their ancestors, the Ramos family has controlled the navy or army for centuries. Their heads of families always become military commanders - even the previous generation's Grand Guardian of Avalon was Dewes Ramos' uncle.
Old DeWeese was walking in the garden, tending to it with gardening shears.
He had white hair, a straight back, and a stern face full of wrinkles. Although no one had provoked him, the corners of his mouth were still slightly curved downwards, making him as frightening as an angry lion.
It wasn't that he couldn't hire a good gardener, but he always felt that the gardens designed by those people didn't suit his taste. Although he couldn't put forward specific requirements himself, he just felt that the gardens they trimmed were not good here and there. In short, no matter how they changed it, he was still not satisfied.
In the end, I had no choice but to do it myself - it was far from perfect, but at least it wasn't awkward.
"I suddenly have a bad feeling, Sheldon."
The old man spoke slowly.
Following behind him was Chief Secretary Sheldon, also a strong and tall man. He looked much younger than old Dewes, but at least in his forties or fifties, with obvious wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes.
Sheldon thought for a moment. "I think... you're talking about the recent incident at the ministry?"
His words were obscure enough, but clear enough for old DeWeese to understand.
“I sometimes wonder if this is the right thing to do.”
The old man, his back to the secretary, spoke slowly, "When Tommy was in power, I didn't cooperate with him because I saw him as a bastard orphan with impure blood, no parents. When that fat pig Charles invited me to work for the Star Antimony people, I also disdained to associate with him... I can't really say why, I simply looked down on him."
Perhaps they looked down on him because he once had a tall and strong body, but had become so fat that he could barely walk; perhaps they looked down on him because he once dreamed of changing Avalon, but gave up immediately when faced with difficulties...
Or perhaps he simply felt that Charles Droste was chosen by the Star Antimony people because he was the cheapest. Working with him would lower his own standards.
He is not a pedantic knight, nor is he incapable of becoming a "noble".
But that would require the Xingti people to invite him personally and offer a high enough price - the title of Earl would be nice.
Instead of not showing up at all, he just let Charles recruit him.
Who do you think he is? A henchman of that fat pig Charles?
On the other hand, it was precisely because Charles had caused himself trouble that he was forced to act radically now.
When he was recruited by Charles, he did not report the matter in order to leave himself a way out.
After all, Star Antimony was furious, targeting Avalon directly, and the Iris people seemed uneasy. Meanwhile, the royal family of Avalon was constantly cursed, seemingly defenseless. Alchemy had been open for so many years, despite enormous investment, but ultimately yielded no positive results. The future monarchs looked hopeless, and old Meg seemed near death.
Seeing that the broken ship was crumbling, he had to prepare to change jobs.
——Who would have thought that Charles was captured alive in the blink of an eye!
He even gave in and was willing to give up the secret information in exchange for his survival.
Can you please just die, you fat pig?!
Old Dewes keenly judged that there must be a reason why the Star Antimony people's diplomatic attitude suddenly improved significantly and Iris suddenly showed goodwill to the extent of almost betraying national interests.
This is most likely because the Star Antimony people failed to assassinate Droste, so he was secretly imprisoned safely.
This means that the entire intelligence network of the Star People inside Avalon may be dug out, and the Star People must show goodwill to buy time to evacuate.
It is impossible that old Deweis did not confirm this information with other colleagues, but he was sure that Minister Droste could not have invited only himself at that time.
The Inspectorate has been arresting people during this period, and those who were arrested did not resist fiercely. It must be that they really had some evidence against them.
Old DeWeese didn't know how many times Charles would betray him, but it was only a matter of time before he would reveal his intelligence.
Then he actually only has two paths to choose from.
One option was to die quickly, before he was betrayed, and pass the Ramos family title to his descendants. Now that he was dead, this mistake, simply a matter of attitude and alignment, could be forgiven. After all, he hadn't really made any major mistakes.
The other is to hold on to the end.
Try to find some leverage over the other party, or if you can't get it, create some, and eventually form a balance of power - I won't mess with you, and you don't mess with me.
In fact, some people chose the first one.
This winter, some old knights of his generation died, not because of the cold weather... but because they committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
——All this is a chain reaction triggered by the arrest of Minister Droste.
But some people still have a lucky mentality.
Old Dewes didn't do so simply because the Ramos family currently lacked a successor. Few of his descendants were promising, and the most talented and likely to succeed him was his grandson. He was still too young to be head of the family, let alone a minister.
The position of Secretary of the Navy is not a random minister like the "Minister without Portfolio" who can be appointed as long as the Queen authorizes him. It is also not a position like the Agriculture and Trade positions where anyone can be appointed, or even officials who do not understand the field are specifically selected to take the position.
If he wanted his grandson to inherit his position as minister, he had to at least be promoted to the rank of rear admiral. This was the minimum requirement.
However, this was peacetime, with no war at all—promotions in peacetime were solely based on seniority. Yet, Her Majesty the Queen was still encouraging "non-authoritarian paths to join the military." This meant she had to give up some promotion slots to non-authoritarian transcendents, ensuring they held a certain proportion of the Admiralty's senior ranks.
And if he failed to pass on the position of minister while he was alive, he could only pass it on to the generals under him according to the rules.
Although it may only be temporary in name...
But once it is transmitted, when I die... it will depend on my descendants, these useless people who have a hard time reaching the third energy level. If the other party can keep it safe, then it may never be transmitted back.
The position of Grand Guardian has been lost, and if he can't even keep his position as a military minister, the Ramos family will be dead in name only - even the Moriarty family at least has wealth preserved by generations of business, while the Ramos family only has connections in the military.
If even this is gone, then they will only have a fixed seat in the Round Table Hall.
That's why he had to take action.
"According to our discussion, after obtaining this intelligence, we should choose to immediately disclose part of it—the part about Aleister being a Star Antimony spy. This way, we can reduce the influence of Aiwas Moriarty."
Old DeWeese said slowly: "But I'm wondering...is there any other way?"
Her Majesty Sophia is nearing death. The Arbitration Chamber has ordered the ministers to remain at home, meaning their time is limited to the next few days.
Once they got the story into the newspapers and spread it throughout Avalon, there would be a week of mourning.
Meanwhile, Aiwass couldn't afford to argue with them about the details in the newspapers—that would only be annoying. After all, the evidence they held was solid, sanctioned by the intelligence agencies of three countries. He wanted to refute it one by one; the evidence provided by the Inspectorate alone wasn't enough to convince them.
After a week, the matter was basically settled. People had formed a fixed impression and would not tolerate him talking back.
Then they could negotiate with Aiwass... just let the Ministry of No Return hang there and do nothing. That way, they wouldn't do anything.
"But I'm a little nervous today. It feels like something's going to happen... I don't think this plan is safe enough."
Old Dewes frowned. "Because, ultimately, this matter is nothing more than driving Aleister away and making people suspect that Minister Moriarty is selling out Avalon's interests for love, making people think that this young minister is unreliable. But if we can't get more evidence against him, it will be difficult to completely stop his actions. At most, it will only increase public opinion resistance to his actions. If he really doesn't care about his own reputation and the Moriarty family's assets, it may completely infuriate them.
"So, I'm thinking... is there a possibility that we can just give this letter to Minister Moriarty? We can just keep a copy... and then sell it off to those old guys who are looking for work."
The old man narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering dangerously. "This way, we can save the Ramos family and make the others vomit something..."
"...Sheldon, what do you think?"
(End of this chapter)
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