Darkstone Code-Chapter 897 - 895: All for Work

While the representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the military were waiting for Lynch to wake up, Congressman Landon was already in the Congress Building.

He was waiting for a senator, a key member of the Military Appropriation Committee, a senator in Congress.

Lynch’s "list" has been stuck here, even though the President used his privilege to allocate some funds to Lynch, Congress is still holding it up.

The President’s privilege is indeed his privilege, but if the President could compel various committees in Congress to compromise just by using his privilege, these committees wouldn’t need to exist.

Moreover, the funds allocated through the President’s privilege will ultimately have to be reviewed by a separate committee for content evaluation.

Only the funds approved through this review process are deemed appropriate.

If they find it inappropriate, next year they might reduce the scope of the President’s fiscal privilege.

Many times, some countries find the Federation’s rules... hard to describe.

Being President here must feel as uncomfortable as having eaten shit, because even as President, many people and matters can restrict the President.

Congress is the most typical example, along with committees within the ruling party and the party leader; these people can all influence the President’s power, which is why many feel there’s no point in being President in the Federation.

But they don’t understand, the purpose of being President in the Federation may not always be about power, sometimes it’s about money.

Just like Congressman Landon at this moment, as a Representative in the House of Representatives, he was engaged in activities unrelated to his official duties.

"...Senator!"

In just this brief moment, he spotted one of the core members of the Military Appropriation Committee and immediately approached him.

This senator seemed to not even have time to stop and shake his hand, though he wouldn’t show it blatantly.

"Sorry, I can’t free up my hands right now," his left hand holding a briefcase, right hand holding a cup of coffee, indeed leaving no hand for a handshake with Congressman Landon, an excuse quite reasonable.

"No worries,... Senator, I want to discuss something with you," Congressman Landon stayed close to the senator’s side, who kept walking briskly towards the elevator.

Senators and Representatives... you can’t say there’s a gap or a class difference between them, but relatively speaking, senators hold more power.

Power classifies people and assigns different labels, compared to Representatives, senators are just a bit more remarkable—

At least in the three hundred-year history of the Federation, not one President has ever come from the Representatives in the House of Representatives, enough to prove who’s on top and who’s on the bottom.

Seeing a senator rushing towards them, the people inside the elevator proactively reopen the closing elevator door, smiling and greeting the senator, waiting for him to enter.

The tight space inside the elevator crowded with people is not suitable for conversations, especially about special topics.

After several elevator door cycles, Congressman Landon followed the senator out of the elevator area.

This was the upper floor of the Congress Building, where only senators had their own offices.

"Senator, the issues I mentioned to you last time..."

"You mean the appropriation for that airplane thing?" The senator asked casually while walking.

Congressman Landon confirmed.

The senator chuckled, in front of a door, he handed his coffee and briefcase to Congressman Landon, then took out the key to unlock the door.

There used to be people thinking that with so many legislators in the Congress Building, if each had three to five secretaries, there would be at least hundreds or even thousands of secretaries serving these individuals.

This was a shameless waste of taxpayers’ money, a humiliation to taxpayers, and the nation!

Under public opinion boiling over, the Congress Building adopted a public secretary system, with one secretary office per floor, each staffed with ten secretaries responsible for the daily work of all legislators on that floor. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Clearly, this was nonsense; legislators dealt daily with many confidential documents involving different fields, and it was impossible for them to let public secretaries handle these, so they simply didn’t use secretaries.

The secretary office remains, with ten people whose daily job includes cleaning and, when necessary, picking up takeaway meals for everyone—there’s no coffee room in the Congress Building.

If they don’t want to drink terrible coffee, they must order takeaway.

This is also why many legislators are unwilling to work here, it’s too inconvenient.

After unlocking the door, the senator entered first, followed by Congressman Landon, the senator opening the curtains and windows, he said, "Our evaluation of the aircraft isn’t as high as you think."

"You know every year many people try peddling useless things to the Ministry of Defense, but the Ministry isn’t a research-focused institution, their understanding of cutting-edge technology is nearly non-existent."

"Which makes them feel many projects have value and significance when actually, they don’t."

"Our job..." he tidied his things then stood in front of his chair, "...is to prevent taxpayer money from being wasted on unnecessary budget expenses, do you understand what I mean?"

He extended his hand and took the coffee cup and briefcase from Congressman Landon’s hands before sitting down.

Senator Landon wanted to say something, but was stopped.

"I know you and Lynch are from the same place, and I’m willing to offer you some conveniences within a reasonable scope, after all, we’re colleagues. But you can’t hold onto something that’s obviously..."

He shook his head and casually threw the two documents he took out of his briefcase onto the table, producing a "snap" sound.

"...Do you understand what I mean?"

The two exchanged glances for a moment, and Senator Landon ultimately had to nod, "I think I understand."

The Senator immediately smiled, "See, it’s not difficult. Do you have any other matters?"

"If not, remember to close the door when you leave."

Senator Landon nodded again and turned to leave.

Watching the closed door, the Senator shook his head.

Of course, he knew the aircraft was valuable, otherwise the President wouldn’t have given special approval, but that doesn’t mean he has to agree with the President’s idea or vote in favor.

Of course, he wouldn’t want to miss out on receiving some money from both Senator Landon and Lynch; it’s just that his supporters want him to continue blocking Lynch on this matter.

Even if it ultimately has to pass, they would delay as long as possible.

Lynch’s planes immediately made domestic military industrial groups aware that the future landscape of military equipment is set to change. When the plane resolved its biggest drawback, what remains are advantages.

While others haven’t noticed yet, Lynch has already solved the problem and presented a prototype. If his budget gets approved, it seems it won’t be timely for others to catch up.

Actually, they’re already too late; this effort is merely doing what they can.

As for offending Lynch?

That’s not an issue at all. Business competition has always existed, and anyone who wants to make money through business methods has to face competition.

For Lynch, these people’s obstructions are part of business competition. Meanwhile, Lynch’s sudden cross-sector entry into the military field is also a form of competition for them, isn’t it?

The Senator has always reaped benefits from these people; it’s impossible for him to easily switch to Lynch’s side because of a budget worth tens of millions. Lynch’s appeal isn’t that great yet.

He shook his head and began preparing for work, and at that moment, the phone at the corner of the table rang.

The red button was lit; it was either from the President’s Mansion or the Ministry of Defense.

He pondered, waited until the phone rang the sixth time before picking up the receiver.

There’s a little trick here: if the call isn’t very urgent, generally after three rings, the caller will start considering whether to hang up.

If it keeps ringing, it means the call is important and can’t be avoided.

The Senator generally didn’t want to get too close to the President’s Mansion or the Ministry of Defense; getting too close is never good and tends to bring trouble upon oneself.

"Sorry, I spilled my coffee, it soaked my pants, and the phone started ringing just as I was changing them," the Senator immediately found an excuse for taking so long to answer the phone.

The person on the other end apparently wasn’t thinking about pursuing whether the excuse was genuine, either, "I sent a videotape to you, please take a look later, and additionally, this morning, the Ministry of Defense plans to increase orders for Lynch’s planes."

"Increasing from the original two hundred aircraft to six hundred, the total budget exceeds one billion, with the possibility of further additions later."

It’s like the Military Appropriation Committee and the Military Budget Review Committee, many of the committee members related to the military have several good friends in the Ministry of Defense.

Only in this way can they more quickly learn some information from the Ministry of Defense, understand what’s going to happen, and prepare a response.

The Senator’s eyebrows immediately furrowed, "What happened?"

"Yesterday, Lynch’s Darkstone Security showed people the future of aircraft through a small-scale armed action. The Ministry of Defense and the Military are considering establishing a third branch independently."

"Don’t reach into this matter, understand?"

"Currently, if you reach into it, you won’t just offend us; you’ll directly offend the high-ranking military officials. Their temper isn’t as good as ours."

The words were already very clear, and the Senator immediately stood up, supporting his forehead; he couldn’t sit still.

He paced back and forth, his expression somewhat serious, "I at least need a ruling on whether it conforms..."

"You don’t need a ruling; I’m simply notifying you. I don’t want to change to a new unfamiliar partner. You know, I’m a person who holds onto old sentiments."

"I still have a meeting later, hanging up."

Looking at the already hung up receiver, regardless of whether the videotape had arrived, the Senator immediately ran out of the room, rushing towards the elevator.

He saw Senator Landon standing in the elevator, the elevator door slowly closing, and couldn’t help but shout, "Wait a minute!"