Cao Zhenxu quickly set the arrangements in motion, and people started gathering funds to bribe everyone eligible to vote.

Meanwhile, others rushed to Jiangzhou to relay Cao Zhenxu's demands.

As long as Cao Zexu joins the parliament, he will prioritize Jiangzhou's interests, which essentially means siding with Zheng Jinnan.

With a two-pronged approach, he believed that the parliament position would ultimately be his.

......

Inside Ye Fan's villa.

The renovations had been ongoing these days because the villa was severely damaged, and now it was being urgently repaired.

The repairs didn't involve Ye Fan; instead, it was the property management of the community taking charge.

Not only would they repair the villa for free, but they would also gift an additional one.

The reason was simple: during the conflict between Ye Fan and Shanshen Country, the property management leaked information about Ye Fan.

Ye Fan seized on this to heavily extort the property management.

The property management, being Luzon People, thought Chen Bufan was doomed this time. Revealing the information seemed harmless, and they might even reclaim the villa for free.

Little did they know the Shanshen Country's people were so incompetent; more than 500 of them failed to handle Chen Bufan, proving their actions foolish.

Lacking justification, they had no choice but to accept Ye Fan's extortion, repairing for free and gifting an additional new villa.

Inside the new villa, Ye Fan urgently arranged for two electronic warfare personnel from the Military Intelligence Bureau to stay.

Due to a lack of manpower, Ye Fan focused on monitoring the Qinghong Gang.

This move turned out to be correct; he soon received news from the Qinghong Gang.

"Sir, Cao Zhenxu of the Qinghong Gang has contacted Jiangzhou's Zheng Jinnan, requesting Zheng Jinnan to dispatch an aircraft carrier here. If you are elected as a parliament member, he will use this aircraft carrier to pressure the parliament to overturn the election result and reselect him."

Hearing this, Ye Fan was taken aback: "Jiangzhou has an aircraft carrier?"

"Yes, but according to Cao Zhenxu, it should be a modified one."

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Aircraft carriers have existed since the early last century, and many countries have them.

They are not nuclear-powered but conventionally powered, without electromagnetic catapults, and not supercarriers, yet indeed capable of launching and recovering aircraft.

Thus, Jiangzhou's aircraft carrier should belong to the category of those from the era of the Second Global War in the last century.

Such aircraft carriers, Ye Fan wouldn't equip his army with, but he remained wary of their existence.

"An aircraft carrier coming... it shouldn't just be an aircraft carrier alone, but rather an entire carrier battle group. After all, an aircraft carrier doesn't travel alone; it requires escort ships."

"And since it's meant to deter, there shouldn't be a shortage of accompanying ships."

"Even if I do get elected, the international parliament likely would consider the factor of Zheng Jinnan's intervention."

"Cao Zhenxu is quite vicious, already pledging allegiance just to get elected."

Ye Fan pondered for a while and made up his mind.

Since he wants to play this game, Ye Fan also decided to prepare.

......

In the ensuing days, the subordinates of both Ye Fan and Cao Zhenxu began to take action, winning over eligible voters on the island.

Cao Zhenxu was throwing money, and so was Ye Fan.

This time, Ye Fan brought a full billion to Wanguo Island, and he wasn't afraid of spending it.

You see, all the New Coins from Ice City had been collected by him, and he even had the production line for making new coins.

If the billion wasn't enough, Dawn City could airdrop another plane full; let's see who could outspend the other.

Soon, Cao Zhenxu's people noticed something amiss.

This Chen Bufan truly was wealthy; if one side offered 200,000, the other would offer 500,000.

If one side offered 500,000, the other would offer a million.

Cao Zhenxu's over a billion investment didn't yield any results. According to his men's investigations, Ye Fan's support rate was already 18 percentage points higher than his.

This was an overwhelming advantage, almost irreversible.

Cao Zhenxu became anxious and resorted to assassination.

Ye Fan wasn't about to let this slide; as Cao Zhenxu assassinated, Ye Fan sent people to assassinate the staunch supporters of Cao Zhenxu.

For a while, chaos ensued on the island, and eligible voters were increasingly worried about their safety.

Eventually, the international parliament intervened, demanding both sides cease assassination activities, and international forces were dispatched to protect eligible voters.

This left Cao Zexu helpless, watching events turn increasingly unfavorable for him.

Finally, by Thursday evening, good news came.

......

"Boss! Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan has sent a telegram!"

"Quick, quick, quick! Receive it!"

The people from Qinghongmen began to receive the telegram, and soon a telegram was sent out.

"Brother Cao, rest assured and boldly run for election. I have dispatched two aircraft carriers, equipped with a hundred fighter jets, two battleships, two cruisers, four frigates, and over a dozen other types of ships. They will set sail tomorrow for Wanguo Island. I believe your parliament will recognize my strength and make the right choice."

Upon seeing the telegram content, Cao Zhenxu jumped up in joy.

"Great! The Grand Duke is truly powerful!"

"Sending over twenty ships, how strong can the Grand Duke be?"

His subordinate reported, "The overall strength of Jiangzhou is even stronger than ours, and the Grand Duke is the one calling the shots there. Our energy is all spent on internal strife, so the development of our navy lags behind Jiangzhou."

"According to the latest intelligence, Jiangzhou has already refitted five aircraft carriers, with over four hundred fighter jets. This time, it's the Jiangzhou Navy's First Fleet coming over, which is their strongest fleet."

Cao Zexu nodded, "That's right. Our navy is fragmented. Although we may have over a hundred ships combined, we don't even have a single aircraft carrier. No single party has the capability for independent development, which is Wanguo Island's Achilles' heel."

"This time, with the support of Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan, I trust those in parliament will see the situation clearly. Only by electing me as a council member can peace be achieved here; otherwise, they may face the wrath of Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan."

His subordinate worriedly said, "Boss, does this mean we will follow Duke Zheng Jinnan from now on?"

Cao Zhenxu sneered, "Not necessarily. Once I secure the council member position, I'll gradually gain control over Wanguo Island. Once I become the Speaker, I'll inevitably consolidate the forces on the island, and then even Zheng Jinnan will merely be my partner."

As he spoke, ambition and resolve were reflected in Cao Zhenxu's eyes.

"What a pity! If only this aircraft carrier formation could arrive immediately, there would be no suspense in this election."

......

On Friday, the Qin Han People conducted a council election on Wanguo Island.

Three hundred Qin Han representatives from across the island voted for the two candidates, Cao Zhenxu and Chen Bufan.

With countless witnesses and live broadcast on Wanguo Island, the final voting result was Cao Zhenxu receiving ninety-five votes, Ye Fan receiving one hundred eighty-two votes, and the rest abstaining.

It was an overwhelming result, with almost everyone believing that Ye Fan was qualified to become a council member. They were eager to replace the days of serving under Cao Zhenxu, as they desired a new leader.

After the vote count was announced, the person in charge submitted the results to the parliament.

Today was Friday, and it was already late, so the final result would not be announced today.

Only until Monday, when the parliament discusses the issue of the Qin Han candidates, will they announce who was elected, marking the end of the suspense.

However, in everyone's eyes, it was simply a procedural matter.

Because the parliament generally respects the choices of electing citizens in the country, rarely opposing the elected candidate.

Now that Chen Bufan was elected, it ought to be Chen Bufan.

........

After the election, Cao Zhenxu directly sought out the Speaker of Parliament, James, from White Eagle Country.

He showed James a piece of footage.

"Mr. Speaker, this was filmed by my people today in Jiangzhou. Please have a look."

James looked at the footage and felt uncontrollably angry.

This damned Cao Zhenxu, how dare he threaten me!

Deep down, he was unwilling to see the rise of Qin Han People on Wanguo Island. Zheng Jinnan's actions clearly showed disregard for him.

Yet, he had to cautiously consider the consequences of offending Zheng Jinnan.

"Mr. Cao, your blatant threat makes me very uncomfortable."

Cao Zhenxu chuckled, "Mr. Speaker, I'm left with no other choice. I've been waiting for this council position for too long."

"But you can't resort to such means. Let these two aircraft carrier battle groups leave."

Cao Zhenxu shrugged, "I can't do it at the moment, unless I can assume the position of Vice Speaker. Then maybe I'll have the capacity to do so."

James, breathing heavily, looked at Cao Zhenxu, amazed by his audacity in wanting to become Vice Speaker.

Yet, he truly had no alternatives, as Wanguo Island wasn't prepared for war.

He also had aspirations of transforming Wanguo Island into a private kingdom, not allowing any unexpected incidents at this moment.

After considering it deeply, James finally nodded.

"By Monday, before the parliament begins, you must stop these two aircraft carrier battle groups from advancing eastward, and I'll announce you as the elected Vice Speaker."

"It's a deal!"

Cao Zhenxu was delighted, realizing that he had made the right move.

Chen Bufan, maintaining the interests of Qin Han People, what of it?

Even if you are elected, how does it help? You'll still be rejected by the parliament.

He wouldn't notify the Jiangzhou fleet to stop advancing just yet, he'd wait two more days.

Wait until Sunday when the Jiangzhou fleet approaches Wanguo Island; it would be a strategic advantage to make his move then.

However, he was unaware that his telegram conversations with Zheng Jinnan had been intercepted by Ye Fan's electronic warfare troops.

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