While in America, the system says Roosevelt was an emperor.

Chapter 186 The Lehman Family's overtures

1942 6 Month 22 Day.

A rural area within St. Lawrence County, New York State, United States.

There is no cathedral in the countryside, and Tom is giving his "campaign speech" in a field that is on leave for the holidays.

With the support of a massive army of four thousand iron bars, "MNYG!", Tom once again performed a "miracle".

With his attributes improved once again, Tom now possesses [Astartes]-level attributes, allowing him to perform even more exaggerated "miracles".

He could cleave granite with his bare hands, lift a raging adult male bull, and kill a wild, hungry tiger with a single punch.

Sometimes, Tom felt like a clown in a circus, performing acrobatics.

The four thousand ironclad "MNYG!" army are their most loyal brainwashed fans.

Wherever Tom performs, the 4,000 MNYG! fans come to the scene to cheer him on.

The only difference between them and the brainwashed fans of later generations is that the four thousand ironclad "MNYG!" army were not holding light sticks, but "cheering guns".

Light sticks and cheering guns are actually not that different; both can light up and make sounds.

As with his usual "miracle" performance, Tom left the venue after the show, amidst cheers of "MNYG!" from the four thousand iron poles.

After Tom leaves: The army of four thousand iron bars, "MNYG!", will tirelessly describe Tom's greatness to the other new recruits:

Recruit more people to join the ironclad "MNYG!" army.

As soon as Tom stepped out of the performance venue, he saw dozens of state and county police officers, as well as hundreds of National Guard troops.

But this time, they weren't there to arrest Tom; they were there to help him maintain order.

They euphemistically claim that the government should be responsible for the safety of the public during large-scale gatherings.

Tom knew immediately that it was a lie; Herbert had only pulled this stunt to please him and ease their tensions.

When Tom gave speeches in New York City, rallies often drew more than 100,000 people, and the government never stepped in to maintain order.

But one shouldn't hit a smiling face, so Tom couldn't just drive them away.

Moreover, Herbert is still the governor and has not actually resigned. Instead, he is enduring the criticism to prepare a way out for the Lehman family.

Now that Herbert has taken the initiative to offer a way out and show weakness, Tom's acceptance of this gesture is more in line with the "superficial harmony" of American politics.

At worst, Tom can slowly settle scores with the Lehman family after Herbert officially steps down.

Politics is disgusting; it's not as satisfying as the real, bloody fights between the mafia.

Besides maintaining at least a semblance of "surface harmony," another major reason Tom couldn't kick them out was that the government representative was Sheriff Karena.

Karina brought along the state police officers who had been on good terms with Tom and chatted frequently, to "maintain order."

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With these state police officers involved, Tom had even less chance to retaliate.

Putting aside everything else, Karena and the others all contributed their efforts and helped Tom when he mediated the conflict between the state police and the MNYG! army.

But there was one person present who Tom didn't want to see, yet had no choice but to see.

Carl Morgan, that dog of a reporter, also came to the scene of Tom's "miracle" performance!

When Carl saw Tom looking at him, he waved excitedly, then pointed at Karina, picked up his pen and paper, and began to write furiously!

Tom was furious. It was all because of you, you damn reporter, that Dani was angry with Tom.

This resulted in Tom only having one "absence makes the heart grow fonder" battle in New York, instead of a "bitter farewell" battle!

Now that the [Four Wastes' Attention Level] is no longer an issue, the Warp Battle has become a pure enjoyment game for Little Tom.

It's all Carl's fault, because Tom and Little Tom didn't get to enjoy themselves.

How could Tom not dislike Carl?

Before Tom could question Carl, Carl rushed up to him excitedly and said, "Mr. Tom, are you satisfied with the report I wrote?"

Tom gritted his teeth and glared at Carl, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse, but Carl's next words made Tom swallow his rant.

Carl continued, "You have no idea, now the whole of New York State has heard the gossip about you and Karina."

"Several tabloids have been calling our editor-in-chief non-stop, hoping we can quickly follow up on the latest gossip."

"Of course, don't worry, I will definitely be careful with my words."

"Because I know that there's no possibility between you and that stupid sheriff."

"I won't let her really jeopardize your future."

As Carl spoke, he handed the notebook to Tom, as if to say, "Please inspect it."

Tom took the notebook, intending to just glance at it and see what Carl had written.

But as Tom watched, he became quite interested.

It has to be said that Carl's gossip stories are very captivating; even Tom is hooked.

But Tom and Karenina's story is not a true love story.

In the story, Tom becomes a cold and aloof male god, while Karina is a persistent female admirer.

The real reason Karena licked Tom's lips wasn't because she liked him, but because she admired him.

Although it looks like a love story of a woman pursuing a man, everyone knows that "admiration is the most like love, but also the furthest from love."

In Carl's story, Tom has absolutely no feelings for Karenina, while Karenina continues to pour her heart out to him.

Tom also saw through Carl's "tactics": using a fake love story to attract attention while leaving Tom room to back out at any time.

Following Carl's story, it would be more reasonable for Tom to say to Karina, "You're a good person, let's be friends."

Tom finished reading and returned the notebook to Carl with satisfaction, almost blurting out, "Update regularly, try to update daily!"

"More than 10,000 words".

But Tom held back. After all, this wasn't a web novel set before time travel, so how could he expect the author, Carl, to write 10,000 words a day?

Tom pointed to the camera on Carl's chest and said, "You should know that you can only write gossip stories; there are some things you can't photograph."

"You understand?"

Hearing Tom's half-joking, half-warning tone, Carl immediately became serious and replied, "Don't worry, I won't take any photos during your campaign speeches."

"All the photos were taken for the purpose of creating 'gossip stories.'"

Carl understood that Tom was warning him not to take pictures of "miracles".

Seeing that Carl was sensible, Tom stopped asking questions, waved his hand, and led the team away from the farmland on rest.

The group headed towards the train station, preparing to rush to the next "miracle" performance.

As for the "gossip" story, Tom's behavior can be seen as tacitly approving of Carl's actions.

After all, it was Tom himself who taught Carl to cross the line with journalists and use "fake stories" to gain attention and exposure.

Carl's choice of a "gossip" storyline, though absurd, is indeed the most effective method in the short term.

Tom has to continue using the propaganda machine he chose, even if it brings him tears.