Empire of Shadows

Ever since Mr. Gomez had heard from Ambassador Cassia a month ago that the Federation had the idea of invading Yalan, he had been busy with this matter for the whole month.

Not to dispel the ambition and desire of the federal people to invade Yalan, but to join in this ”revolution.”

He believed that this was a revolution in the true sense, one that could shatter the existing class, a revolution that would sweep through the entire Yalan!

Almost all the ruling classes of Yalan would face a choice between survival and extinction. The rulers were no longer safe. They were no different from the ordinary people, and would be crushed under the army of the Federation!

The opportunity for ordinary people to change their own destiny had come. He could foresee that at that time, many people would stand on the side of the federal people, especially the people at the bottom.

Because they truly longed to change everything that existed, so even if they would die, they would also try to fight once!

There would be no situation worse than their current one. No matter what the result, it would only be better, not worse, and they would not live to experience a worse time.

As an enlightened member of the privileged class, Mr. Gomez had always been engaged in foreign trade. He had come into contact with many foreigners, and had also been to many countries. He had discovered some things from these countries, from their history.

For example, whenever a ”revolution” occurred, it meant that the ruling class, the privileged class, would be subjected to a major purge.

He was a member of the privileged class. He could not resist this great force like a tsunami, so the only thing he could do now was to stand on the crest of the wave before this storm had formed a tsunami, earlier than anyone else!He had also, through Ambassador Cassia, obtained the contact information of some of the big shots in Congress, but these big shots had not given him a face-to-face opportunity at all, but had just had one of their own aides see him, and even the aides were rare.

Many were people he didn’t even know what they did. They would sit with him, with an indifferent look on their faces, and have him state his own ideas. They would pass them on to the congressman.

These people did not value him. Without a doubt, they did not even have the idea of listening to what he had to say. It was just a kind of understanding, to find someone to dismiss him.

After hitting a wall everywhere, Mr. Gomez had also realized one thing. Even if he was now eager to sell out his country, not everyone would be willing to accept him!

This was the most tragic part of being a minor character. You have to have value.

If you don’t even have a little value, even if you are about to make a decision that goes against the decision of your ancestors, people will not even give you a second glance.

Ambassador Cassia was valuable. As an ambassador to the Federation, he could talk to the high-level officials in his own country, and could help the Federation to understand some of the situations among the high-level officials in Rapa, for example, whether there was friction between the great president and some of the aristocratic families.

To say it was an aristocratic family, in fact, it was the family of the former tribal chiefs.

Most of the countries in Yalan were gradually formed by the merger of multiple tribes. The original chiefs of these tribes had become the ruling class of the new country, which was also one of the reasons why these countries had been class-stratified from the very beginning.

They had never opened the door at all, so how could they talk about locking the door?

Originally, Mr. Gomez still had a little... pride in his heart. After all, as the president of the Rapa Chamber of Commerce, a prominent figure in the privileged class, he felt that he should have some value.

But now it seemed that he had overestimated himself.

After hitting a wall repeatedly, he had had another talk with Ambassador Cassia. This time, Ambassador Cassia had pointed him in a direction, to go and find Lance.

In fact, Mr. Gomez knew Lance. The last time he had come, Alberto had received him, and Lance had also been there.

He had not thought that Lance’s hand could reach so far, that it could reach into Congress, and it was said that it was Lance who was pushing this matter from behind the scenes.

A gangster boss pushing for a war of invasion. What was his purpose?

Ambassador Cassia did not know, and Mr. Gomez did not know either, but it did not prevent him from coming into contact with Lance now.

This was the reason why he was here. He was eager to sell out his country, and at the same time, he hoped to have a suitable buyer, to accept his sincerity!

Mr. Gomez, who had been in business for his whole life, suddenly felt that selling out his country might have been the most difficult thing he had ever done!

”I’m sorry, I was just at an exciting part,” Lance apologized for having been reading the newspaper.

In fact, Mr. Gomez had been here for two or three minutes, but he had been reading the newspaper. He didn’t want to put it down halfway, so he had had the other party wait a little.

As a person with many things to do, sometimes, if you put something down halfway to do another thing, it means that there is a high probability that this matter will be forgotten.

How could he have a chat with Mr. Gomez without finishing the newspaper? Maybe by the time the chat was over, he would also have forgotten that he hadn’t finished the newspaper.

This was equivalent to him having wasted the time of reading the first half, and having done a useless work, so it was better to finish reading it first, and then to have a chat.

Mr. Gomez smiled amiably. ”It’s alright. I came earlier than our agreed time. It was me who disrupted your schedule.”

Lance didn’t dwell on the issue any further. “Then…” His hands, resting on the desk, naturally clasped together into a fist. “What do you want to talk about?”

”Ambassador Cassia has already given me a call before, and has talked to me about you.”

”He said you have a more complicated social network in Rapa than he does, from the president to a military officer in the army. You know many such people.”

Mr. Gomez nodded repeatedly. ”I am the president of the chamber of commerce. I am mainly responsible for selling the goods of Rapa for money, and then buying some products from foreign countries, for example, the Federation, and bringing them back.”

”So it’s inevitable that I will get to know many people. You know, Rapa is very backward, with no industrial facilities. Almost all of our things are from imports.”

This was also a problem that most of the countries in Yalan were currently facing. This world had not left them too much time to catch up with the countries that had already completed their industrial and technological accumulation. The world has always been very cruel.

While they were still holding simple bows and arrows and preparing to go and see this world, the factories in the Federation could already produce precise industrial products.

Chariots, tanks, warships, and even small reconnaissance planes.

Yalan had once become a dumping ground for various countries. A large amount of cheap light industrial products had directly destroyed their local industrial buds, which was also something that all backward countries had experienced.

When the cost of producing a product is higher than importing a more advanced, more beautiful, and more functional similar product from a foreign country, no one will go to promote the development of industrial technology.

Because capital is profit-driven. If the state does not provide industrial subsidies for them to do these things, then these capitalists, they cannot possibly bear the huge annual losses to do any research and development.

As it happened, Yalan was still a primitive place. The ruling class here had not even entered a feudal society before they had directly entered a civilized society.

To expect them to formulate a plan to promote industrial development, it would be better to think about how to teach an ape to work in a factory.

So the goods of most of the countries in the Yalan region all depended on imports.

As the largest chamber of commerce in Rapa, and also the officially designated one, Mr. Gomez was indeed qualified to know many people.

Large and small, anyone with a little ability or a little money, when they wanted to get some of the most advanced goods from the Federation or other countries, they had to find him or his men.

This had allowed him to quickly build a large network in his ordinary daily work.

Lance nodded slightly. He knew this kind of person. With the import and export indicators in his hands, besides the ruling class, they were the most comfortable!

In a country like Rapa, which had not yet evolved into a feudal society, the power was in the hands of a few people.

They did not allow others to covet their power, their wealth, but they also did not have any relatively advanced means of rule.

Unlike those countries with a larger land area, where the speed of social development was very fast in the process of war and cultural integration, so they could only, through some rigid rules, to restrain this society.

Every quarter, how much is the import quota, how much is the export quota, are all completely set. Only in this way can they bring stability to their rule.

This kind of person is very profitable!

Lance sized up Mr. Gomez’s attire again. A suit of a few hundred dollars was not very expensive, but it was not bad either.

He was wearing a watch that cost more than three thousand. The reason why Lance knew the price of this watch was because someone in the family had bought one.

In that place where the per capita annual income might only be a few dozen dollars, this set of his was a family’s whole life.

His gaze returned to Mr. Gomez’s face. ”So?”

Ambassador Cassia had told Mr. Gomez that in the Federation, they were just at the bottom of society, even if he had money.

The federal government and the people in society had dealt with many rich foreigners. When he communicated with Lance, he had to be honest.

Lance was very smart, and his reaction was also very fast. If he deceived Lance, then it would be equivalent to him cutting off his own path.

At this time, Mr. Gomez’s mind was invoking the rhetoric he had been preparing before he had come to see Lance.

He took a deep breath to give himself a boost. The apprehension in his heart at this time was unprecedented.

”I want to do business with you, Mr. Lance.”

Lance laughed twice. ”That’s fine, no problem. If you have any good products to sell, you can give them to me. I have channels on my side to help you sell them. But the specific details of this matter, you have to talk to Roger.”

”Roger is the current president of the Empire Chamber of Commerce. He is in charge of many business matters.”

He took out a cigarette. Mr. Gomez immediately took out the pure gold, gem-encrusted lighter from his pocket, bent his waist, and with his butt sticking out, he walked over, lighting it.

Lance glanced at him, and then smiled and lit his cigarette with his fire. Then he patted his hand, signaling for him to take it back.

The newly seated Mr. Gomez simply straightened his attire and pulled his collar. ”Mr. Lance, you may not have quite understood my meaning.”

He licked his lips. ”My goods are a bit special.”

Lance raised his eyebrows, signaling for him to continue.

”Land, mineral resources, rubber, renewable and non-renewable resources, population, and even political power, are all within the scope of my transactions!”

He had finally said these words. After he had said them, his heart was pounding wildly!

It was pounding so hard that he felt his mouth was dry, and his forehead was sweating.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and wrapped it around his mouth, forcefully secreting some saliva and swallowing.

Lance looked at him with a half-smile. ”Interesting.”

”Mr. Gomez, your product catalog is really quite special, but I am indeed a little interested in these goods. How do you plan to sell these things?”

Mr. Gomez’s body was trembling slightly. He knew that he had taken the first step towards success. ”Mr. Lance, I like the Federation very much.”

”I have been keen on listening to stories about the Federation since I was a child. Ambassador Cassia is my good friend. We are very much in agreement with everything about the Federation, and we also believe that the system of the Federation is the most advanced in the world.”

”In Rapa, my hometown, the people are suffering from the brutal rule of a dictator. They can’t eat their fill, they can’t dress warmly, and they live in fear.”

”I don’t plan to sell these things to get money, to get anything else. I just want to bring freedom, to the Federation.”

Lance said with a half-smile, ”But sometimes, freedom is not necessarily what people think it is, nor is it necessarily happiness!”

Mr. Gomez directly made a choice on behalf of his compatriots. ”But at least they have gained freedom!”

Lance nodded slightly. ”I will convey your thoughts to the senator. As for whether it can move them, I cannot guarantee.”

”However, your attitude and efforts will certainly not be in vain.”

He thought for a moment. ”This time you came to the Federation, did you bring any local specialties from your hometown?”

Mr. Gomez, for a moment, did not react. ”The ’local specialties’ you are talking about... what do they refer to?”

Of course, it referred to those pure gold, gem-encrusted agricultural products. What else could it be?

Vulgar banknotes?

It was clear that Mr. Gomez had not thought of this before he had come. It was just a trip, and he had firmly embarked on the path of becoming the ”Father of Freedom of Rapa.” So he certainly had not carried these sincere local specialties.

However, he had money. Sometimes money could also achieve these things, and he managed the accounts of his brother-in-law and some of the dignitaries. There was also money in there.

A little later, Lance gave Tom a call and told him about this.

After listening, Tom confirmed this point. ”I have heard that there is such a person who has been very active during this period. To be honest...”

He stood there and rubbed his forehead, because he was very speechless now. ”I don’t know what to say. Why would there be such a person who is so eager to sell out his country?”

Lance laughed out loud. ”Because not everyone believes that will can conquer everything. I think this is very normal.”

”And I think we can consider getting in touch with a portion of such people first, regardless of whether we will do so... in the end, we all need to export our values and culture to the Yalan region.”

”We need some people, the privileged class, with a representative, to stand at the forefront of the tide and set an example for the people.”

”For these people to come over, whether it’s a soft invasion or a hard invasion, it will be of great help.”

”You mention it to the senator. If he has anything he needs to know, he can give me a call.”

The two chatted for a while more. Lance had even specially said that Mr. Gomez had also prepared some local specialties. This, Lance could feel the smile on Tom’s face even through the phone.

Ever since he had gotten to know Lance, Tom’s days had become much better.

After hanging up the phone, Tom reorganized what Lance had said, sorted out his thoughts, and only then did he come to the outside of the senator’s room.

During this period, the senator and his group had been very busy, busy with all kinds of things.

The Federation’s outstanding performance on the battlefield had made the Presidential Palace and Congress very tough in front of the allied forces. On the one hand, they wanted to bear more responsibility—this might sound like a very stupid choice.

War is not a joke. People will die, and this war, as some people have said, actually has not a single cent to do with the Federation!

To this day, there are still people who are investigating the incident of the Federation’s cargo ship being sunk. They do not believe that this was done by the Dantra people. They believe that this might have been done by the Federation itself.

To bear more responsibility on the battlefield is to pay more casualties, but behind bearing more responsibility is the more power that the federal government is demanding!

Now the congressional side wanted to lead this war, from a little brother participant to the real leader, the decision-maker, and ultimately the biggest beneficiary of the war.

They had been firing all along. The ambassadors of various countries had also been constantly visiting these congressmen, trying to find a new balance through diplomatic means.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, the senator’s chief aide pushed open the door with a smile and led an ambassador out. The two of them were walking and talking as they went outside.

Only then did Tom stand by the door and knock.

The senator, who was standing by the French window and holding a cup of coffee and looking at the scenery outside, turned his head. He asked, ”Is there something?”

Tom walked in and recounted what Lance had said just now. After listening, the senator thought for a moment. ”This matter... you follow up.”

Just a simple sentence, which made Tom’s heart jump. He suddenly realized that something must have changed!

However, it was not very good for him to ask. If the senator did not say it himself, it would not be very appropriate for him to ask.

He nodded. ”Lance is currently in charge of this matter. My idea is to leave it to him.”

The senator considered for a moment and then nodded again. ”Alright. It is indeed not very appropriate for us to do some things.”

After all, the federal government never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, nor does it fund the anti-government forces of other countries.

As for the spontaneous actions of the public?

What the fuck does that have to do with the federal government?

The senator took a few more sips of his coffee. He frowned. ”I’ll give him a call.”

”There are some things he may not be very clear about,” he then glanced at Tom.

Tom was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood and said, ”Then I’ll go and do my work.”

The senator nodded. ”Close the door.”

He then walked to the side of the desk, picked up the phone, and dialed Lance’s number...