This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 539: The Invisible Struggle (Sorry, I’m late)
Quintus's expression was upset for a moment. He didn't expect Qinglong's reaction to be so intense.

After all, it's not Qinglong's fault, so he shouldn't take the blame alone.

But the entire board of directors, even if they curse at each other, it will only last for a period of time.

Although the third person named Qinglong with a somewhat vengeful mentality, Gustave and Anatoly already agreed.

It’s just two words: “I agree”. Is it that difficult to say?

Although they were blocked this time, they can still amend the rules after the board members are replaced, but it will cause a greater impact.

Quintus was somewhat annoyed, but he heard Qinglong continue, "I have a simple proposal."

"Those who have engaged in crimes such as human trafficking and organ trafficking, which violate human rights, are not allowed to join the Higher Life Forms Alliance."

“In addition, if more than five board seats of the entrant raise objections, a board meeting can be held to decide whether to stay or leave.”

"Who approves?"

This proposal was much more reasonable, and it provided an explanation on every level. Everyone couldn't help but nod secretly, but remained silent.

"I agree."

Anduin gritted his teeth and looked at him several times.

"I agree too." Bellamina was the second to speak.

"I agree too..." The third one was actually Perkins. Now that three people have spoken out, it would be unreasonable for others to be timid.

They all spoke up in agreement, and even though Gustave and Anatoly remained silent, they already had the majority vote.

Tandin and Alvis looked at each other with frowns.

If they were the ones to preside over the meeting, they would definitely put Qing Long last. By then, they would have a majority vote, and it wouldn't matter whether Qing Long agreed or not. This Quintus...

Quintus watched coldly, clapping his hands expressionlessly, "Your Excellency Qinglong really takes interstellar stability as your own responsibility. I hope everyone will learn from you."

"Okay, next is the third proposal." Quintus said in a deep voice.

Tandin looked at him in surprise, and Alves narrowed his eyes. Where did the third proposal come from?

"Regarding the duel rules for the replacement of board seats."

Quintus narrated to himself: "In the proposal for the first regular meeting of the Higher Life Forms United Organization, it has been decided that the replacement of the board seats will be determined by duels."

"But this proposal is too rough. There are many details that have not been decided, such as the number of people who will accept the duel at the same time, the interval between duels..."

At this point, he paused, "And the most crucial point, during the duel, can you use weapons and other non-self-meaning means."

Suddenly, all eyes were focused on Qinglong.

There is no doubt who this proposal is aimed at.

Quintus looked down at the crowd and said, "I think that in a duel, one must be comparing one's own strength, so one cannot use any means other than one's own strength. Who objects?"

Everyone's eyes were still on Qinglong, wanting to see how he would react, but they saw that he had an indifferent expression, his eyes slightly closed, and he didn't seem to care.

Tandin frowned. This proposal was not part of their plan. Adam told him that it would be better to keep Qinglong's seat on the board.

Therefore, they had no plans against Qinglong this time, but Quintus acted on his own, and he knew the reason.

Their three major civilizations have already divided the seats on the board of directors. Except for Gustav and Anatoly, the remaining eight seats can all be replaced.

Since the empire had already occupied many interests in the early stage, it only got two seats.

The Federation and the Star Alliance divided the remaining six seats, the most noteworthy of which was the vice-chairman seat. The Federation refused to send anyone to challenge Qinglong.

After some tug-of-war, the Star Alliance took over Qinglong's seat, so the vice-chairman seat also belonged to them.

Alves looked calm. He didn't have any special thoughts on this matter. Anyway, he had already given the Qinglong seat to the Star Alliance, and how they dealt with it was their business.

"I object."

This time the silence did not last long. Anduin spoke up. "This proposal is pertinent and unfair. It should not be discussed at the board meeting."

Quintus' eyes turned cold.

"Yes, I object too." Bellamina agreed, "This involves many aspects and cannot be decided in just one or two sentences."

“This matter needs to be discussed in more detail.”

To everyone's surprise, the person who spoke this time was Tandin, who was sitting in the supervisor's seat.

The Empire and the Covenant failed to reach an agreement?

Everyone's hearts moved slightly.

"I object." The third person to speak was the Dwarf King, who had a sturdy build and seemed to have a good relationship with Reynolds.

"I object…"

"I object…"

Next, everyone, including Gustave and Anatoly, opposed the proposal.

The minority had already overwhelmed the majority, and they finally expressed their agreement.

"Very good..." Quintus said expressionlessly, "Then everyone should think about how to defeat Reynolds and Mikhail."

Both of them?

Everyone couldn't help but think that with the background of those two master craftsmen, no one could guarantee that they would win.

"I'm afraid there are more than just two challengers who believe in us. How can we defeat the others?" Anduin asked coldly.

Everyone understood what Anduin meant. The news that the three major civilizations wanted to replace their seats was no secret.

Instead of worrying about Reynolds and Mikhail, we should worry about the people from the three major civilizational factions.

"Actually, this is a very simple matter." Anduin said, "As long as we make sure that the two Godsmiths do not participate in the rotation of the chairmanship, this proposal will not appear again."

Quintus's face darkened slightly, and he interrupted directly, "In that case, let's discuss this matter later."

Li Ming didn't care and he didn't want to make any promises.

This meeting was not like the first one, when everyone was ready to go, feeling that competing with the three major civilizations was just around the corner.

But when it comes down to it, it's still in the same shabby state, and everyone feels sad in their hearts.

However, fortunately, he did not end up with a bad reputation this time. If the draft of the three major civilizations really gets passed, I wonder how many nicknames he will have.

Cowards, weaklings and the like will probably have this put on their heads.

However, the crisis of rotation of board seats is still imminent.

If possible, they naturally want to retain their seats on the board of directors.

After the meeting, everyone went offline with heavy hearts, and the virtual projection in front of them gradually dissipated.

Li Ming's face was calm. The seat on the board of directors was something he could keep or not. If he was not allowed to use the mechanical body, then he would just give it up.

He certainly couldn't go into battle with an S-class body.

The Interstellar Alliance acted quickly, and soon after the meeting ended, many detailed rules were announced to the universe.

Simple proposals have also been made here, as well as more detailed supplements. The crimes that are not allowed to be committed are basically serious crimes that are abhorrent to both humans and God, and there is no possibility of being forced to do them.

Coupled with the second level of objection system for board seats, a large number of people finally felt relieved.

"I said that the three major civilizations and the Interstellar Alliance would never accept truly evil criminals..." "Haha, why did I hear that the original proposal of the three major civilizations was not this..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Where is the specific source? Just listen to the nonsense of a few stupid anchors..."

For higher life forms, the "ultimate road" that the three major civilizations are jointly preparing to open is even more tempting.

This is just a rumor and will not be released on public channels, but it has already made many X-level life forms that were originally not planning to join eager to join.

They don’t care whether they can become the knives of the three major civilizations or not. What is most important is their own evolution.

There are constant quarrels among the stars, and the specific expansion time of the United Organization of Higher Life Forms has also been announced along with a number of details.

Just one month later.

.........

Mechanical Royal Court, Heavenly Palace.

Anduin's virtual projection hovered in front of Li Ming and said worriedly: "It's troublesome..."

"The Interstellar Alliance has formulated more detailed rules for challenges. After each challenge, a dedicated person will carefully check the physical health of each board member to ensure that they are able to accept the next challenge."

"If you refuse the challenge, it will be deemed as a waiver and you will automatically give up your seat on the board. Ordinary members can challenge members of the board at any time. If the challenge fails, you cannot initiate a second challenge."

There is no interval between each challenge and as long as you are healthy you have to accept the challenge, which seems bizarre.

But in reality, there can't be too many ordinary members. Even if everyone takes a turn, there will only be a few dozen games at most.

What's more, there are those who know they can't win, so if you count them all, there will be too many games.

Anduin sighed repeatedly. The Interstellar Alliance had patched the loophole, making his plan to exploit the bug ineffective.

He was quite helpless: "Moreover, the rules were made more detailed, indicating that weapons cannot be used during the challenge. Although there was no mention of mechanical bodies, it should be aimed at you."

"Your seat was allocated to the Star Alliance, so they specifically targeted you last time."

"Don't worry." Li Ming shook his head and didn't care about it.

A seat on the board of directors doesn't mean anything. Strength is what matters most. Alves and Tandin, aren't they members of the board of directors? They still suppress everyone else and make them unable to raise their heads.

Anduin was speechless, feeling that he couldn't understand the Azure Dragon.

There are three major civilizations above, including Quintus, Tandin, and a large number of X-level life forms hidden by them.

He couldn't figure out where the other party's leisurely and contented attitude came from.

If Qinglong really didn't care about other things, there would be no need for him to contact the interstellar world. Wouldn't he just stay at home?

He hasn't shown up in so many years. Now that he has appeared, he must have some purpose.

No matter what you want to do, a seat on the board of directors is an extremely convenient channel. Are you going to give it up so easily?

But Qinglong himself didn't care at all. He could only sigh helplessly.

After the major reshuffle of the board of directors, he will also have to consider his future plans.

After Anduin's virtual projection disappeared, Li Ming opened the smart terminal and scanned Blackbeard's reports and messages.

He was doing this before Anduin contacted him out of the blue.

"...had several conflicts with the Empire...found traces of space-time condensate again..."

Blackbeard's recent reports all seem very excited, as if the Star of Eternal Silence is really just around the corner.

"..."

……

A month passed in the blink of an eye. The headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance was located in an independent galaxy, without any civilization. After extremely high-standard transformation, the headquarters of various subordinate organizations were also located here.

In the past, there were many people coming and going here.

And today, it is even more astonishing. A large number of unique and noble interstellar spaceships have arrived. They are all customized spaceships for various X-level life forms. They are not ordinary people, so naturally their travel is grand.

For this reason, the Interstellar Alliance even suspended its other operations and only served the United Organization of Higher Life Forms during this period of time.

Unlike the original invitation, ordinary members must come to the headquarters to register and verify their identity.

Various interstellar media also set up their cameras to broadcast this event live.

A united organization of higher life forms is spread across a planet. Silver-grey metal buildings cover the entire area, with a light blue energy barrier flowing on the surface.

A circular platform is suspended on top of the octagonal main building, and the ground is paved with active alloy plates that can absorb impact. Whenever an aircraft lands, liquid ripples will appear on the plate surface.

Due to the different sizes of each Class X life form, the main rooms are built extremely spacious.

"…Sir Zed, long time no see…"

Acquaintances greet each other, and higher life forms have many opportunities to interact with each other.

Some have a good relationship, while others are hostile to each other.

The X-level life forms that came came to the hall under the guidance of the staff.

"Tsk... isn't that Reynolds and Mikhail's carrier? Are they here too?" When someone came in, he saw two extremely abrupt mechanical bodies and couldn't help but be surprised.

"Hugo, do we have to tell you this?" Reynolds heard their conversation and shouted.

“No need…no need…” Hu Ge laughed awkwardly.

"There are so many people here. It's a rare opportunity to see so many X-level life forms." Reynolds snorted coldly, retracted his gaze and looked around.

"The knowledge resources related to the opening of the Ultimate Path are extremely tempting." Mikhail said lightly.

At this moment, the number of X-level life forms in the hall has exceeded seventy.

This does not include those who are still on the way and those who have no interest at all.

Of course, there are restrictions that prevent you from joining.

"No wonder the three major civilizations have been suppressing them. When the Mechanics Association was established, the three major civilizations just turned a blind eye." Reynolds couldn't help but sigh.

Mikhail sighed: "So, when we attacked the Machinists' Association, we had almost no power to resist. But if we wait for this organization to form, what will happen?"

Reynolds sneered: "The board seats are all occupied. There's no point in getting up. They've become the dogs of the three major civilizations and have been caught in one fell swoop."

He spoke without reservation, which attracted the attention of many people. Enemies who had had friction with him in the past looked at him with obvious disgust in their eyes and whispered to each other.

"Keep your voice down, we're not here to cause trouble." Mikhail frowned.

"Yes, yes..." Reynolds suddenly realized, "I am here to support Qinglong, where are the others?"

"It's not about holding up the scene, it's about acting according to circumstances." Mikhail emphasized. Seeing that Reynolds disagreed, he said helplessly:
"Ordinary members need to come here to join, but members of the board of directors naturally don't need to. They should come in the form of virtual projections later."

"Is that so? Then I'll give him a surprise later." Reynolds muttered.

"Surprise? What do you want to do?" Mikhail looked at him suspiciously.

"Nothing." Reynolds shook his head again. Mikhail frowned and stared at him, reminding him: "Remember, we are not here to cause trouble. There are too many people here."

"Don't worry, don't worry, stop nagging." Reynolds waved his hands impatiently, and a flash of lightning flashed in his mechanical pupils.

In the distance, the screen of a smart terminal operated by a staff member suddenly flashed.

(End of this chapter)