This outcome was completely unacceptable to the Rockefellers, especially since the three big bosses within the consortium were all consuming the Taiyin Lingji.
In the second month after the Rockefellers lost their share, the three big bosses began to age rapidly at a visible rate. One of them, whose son was only about 60 years old, looked almost 70 after just one month. The elderly man, who was already close to 90, was now at the stage where he needed life support.
Therefore, upholding the principle of retaliation, the Vice President, who had only been in office for just over a month, was electrocuted by a high-voltage wire while fishing. By the time the guards managed to pry the fishing rod from his hand, half of the Vice President had already turned into black carbon.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, therefore, naturally became the next President according to the succession system.
This was the first time in history. Previously, only Vice Presidents had succeeded to the presidency. This was the first time a Speaker had succeeded, causing a sensation among the public.
However, the Speaker, who had become the President, was clearly not happy. He didn't even attend the inauguration speech, citing a relapse of his angina. He then spent his entire time hiding in a hospital controlled by the Rockefellers for treatment.
As for various daily matters, the Speaker fully delegated them to his team. After succeeding to the presidency, he never even visited his office and remained in the hospital to recover.
This move baffled all the citizens. Those in the know all lamented that the Speaker was a cunning old fox who had mastered the art of self-preservation. Otherwise, if he continued to roam about, he might have met the same fate as the previous two presidents, dying from various bizarre reasons.
However, although the new President never went to work, he still met with Jobs once a month to receive ten drops of Taiyin Lingji from him. He consumed two drops himself, and the rest were all given to the Rockefellers.
Indeed, this Speaker was a spokesperson cultivated by the Rockefellers all along.
After regaining the Taiyin Lingji, the Rockefeller big bosses quickly revitalized themselves, and their physiological indicators also rapidly recovered. Of course, they couldn't help but marvel at the magic of the Taiyin Lingji.
But the other three major consortiums were at a loss. They had also experienced a month of Taiyin Lingji and were deeply addicted to the significant improvements and the extended lifespan brought about by consuming it. They absolutely could not accept the Taiyin Lingji being so suddenly monopolized by the Rockefellers.
However, the Rockefellers had learned their lesson this time. They protected the new President like a hawk. Every aspect of his surroundings was filled with Rockefeller people. Every meal was subjected to the most meticulous inspection, which meant the food would be cold by the time it was served, but at least it was absolutely safe.
But the other three major consortiums were not to be trifled with. Since quick methods were not feasible, they resorted to conventional means. Under the control of the three major consortiums, an impeachment case was successfully initiated.
The reason was readily available. After all, where else could there be a President who did not go to the office for two months? Such a President must be impeached. Thus, the entire country plunged into a chaotic election campaign.
This chaos lasted for nearly half a year, and the entire nation watched in stunned silence. The national machinery was in disarray. It was at this time that a certain country, without anyone noticing, quietly took back several lost small items in less than a day.
This should have been a world-shattering piece of news. However, due to the immense internal drama in a certain country, and the President continuously hiding in the hospital and being unable to make timely decisions, there was no reaction at all.
However, the news did cause a stir afterward, with public opinion in the country raging. The three major consortiums seized the opportunity to launch a public relations offensive, demanding the President, who had been hiding in the hospital, to step down.
Considering the gravity of the situation, the President reluctantly chose to leave the hospital. However, he did not opt for a public speech. Instead, he planned to inspect certain bases to express his stance.
Everything went smoothly at first. But unexpectedly, as he was encouraging a young soldier, a soldier accidentally discharged his weapon, and thus the President, who had only stepped out of the hospital for the first time, was gone.
Good heavens, this was truly astounding.
This news utterly shocked the entire nation. In just a few months, three consecutive Presidents had died, each with a more bizarre cause of death than the last, and finally, they resorted to open violence.
The Rockefellers were furious. They had initially assumed that releasing him just once would not be a problem, and with the impeachment process underway, they would have at least another six months to enjoy the Taiyin Lingji before the impeachment was formally initiated, making the probability of assassination low.
However, the other party was completely unreasonable and refused to wait even six months, resorting to the most brutal method.
But the other three major consortiums had no choice.
Then came the Secretary of State, who was even more formidable and directly announced his resignation. This continued down the line, with everyone who was supposed to succeed refusing the position for various reasons. No one was willing to take on the role.
After all, everyone was smart enough to realize that whoever took this position would die. The four major consortiums could not accept someone from their opponents occupying this position.
So, in the end, it was the Minister of Education, the well-known Madame Versailles, who succeeded.
Yes, our Madame Versailles was about to ascend to the presidency.
When the current President was running for office, he had made every effort to invite Madame Versailles, who was the most famous and widely supported figure in the country, known as the Black Madonna, to serve as his Secretary of State.
Madame Versailles stated that she was willing to take on this position to benefit her countless Black compatriots.
However, after successfully winning the election, Madame Versailles transitioned from Secretary of State to Minister of Education. She did not say much but diligently worked in her position.
In just two years, she opened many new universities and presided over the compilation of a large-scale curriculum, incorporating content that had never appeared in textbooks before.
It heavily featured extensive details on how the United States had persecuted Black people and Native Americans, and how tens of millions of Native Americans had been reduced to only a few hundred thousand. All of this was included in the textbooks.
This action garnered significant support from Black people and the left-wing, who believed it was an important step in facing history and reflecting on oneself, further enhancing Madame Versailles's reputation.
When the numerous politicians before her successively refused the presidency, Madame Versailles, without hesitation, declared her willingness to accept the presidential position. She also delivered an inspiring inauguration speech, showing none of the cautiousness of the previous President who had hidden in the hospital for months. This also baffled the four major consortiums.
This was because Madame Versailles was backed by the America First Consortium, and the origins of this consortium remained unknown to them to this day. This consortium had hidden itself too well from the beginning, making it impossible to identify the powers behind it.
"It's probably a front for one of the other three major consortiums!" The godfathers of the four major consortiums all speculated this, as they could not imagine any other opponents capable of mobilizing such immense power besides their three rivals.
However, no matter how they probed, no one revealed any clues, so to this day, they could not determine who the person behind it was.
Originally, Versailles would never have become President, as the four major consortiums would not allow someone of unknown identity to succeed. But who would have thought things would escalate to this point, with the presidency skipping over more than a dozen people and finally falling to Versailles, the Minister of Education? This could only be considered the will of heaven.
If they could not determine who was behind Madame Versailles, they could not know her stance, nor how to deal with her.
Furthermore, leaving the position of the Commander-in-Chief vacant for so long was also problematic, at the very least, someone had to collect the Taiyin Lingji for the month.
Therefore, for the time being, the four major consortiums did not make a move. Madame Versailles, along with her cabinet, smoothly took over all the work. After collecting the month's Taiyin Lingji, instead of waiting for the four major consortiums to approach her, Madame Versailles invited them to her office for negotiations.
"We cannot continue this chaos!" Madame Versailles began resolutely. "Look at what has happened to our great nation. Someone has touched our bottom line, yet we have not reacted at all, instead allowing them to clean up the mess. Must we really unchain the dragon?"
Madame Versailles's opening statement made the representatives of the four major consortiums a bit embarrassed, as they had almost violated all the unwritten rules during this period.
But there was no other choice, as this concerned the Taiyin Lingji and their own lives.
"First, I state my position. I do not need any Taiyin Lingji. All ten portions belong to you!" Madame Versailles stated. "However, it is impossible for one party to take all the shares. If you do that, you will continue to fight. I think it would be better for the four of us to divide it equally."
"How do we divide it equally?" the representative of the DuPont Consortium coldly snorted. "Can ten be divided by four?"
"I don't care about anything else. We, Boston, must have four portions!" the representative of the Boston Consortium stated very firmly.
"Indeed, ten cannot be divided by four, but twenty can!" Madame Versailles said calmly. "I will divide the ten bottles of injection into twenty boxes. Another twenty boxes will contain pure saline solution. Each of you will choose five boxes to take. As for how many boxes you will actually obtain, that will be up to God!"
Good heavens, this was directly selling blind boxes!