Empire of Shadows

In the congressional conference room, Senator Cleveland sat in his seat, smoking a cigarette, looking at some of the intelligence gathered from the Yalan region.

Since they had decided to make a move on the Yalan region, it was impossible for them to not do any preliminary investigation and just rush over foolishly.

Starting last year, Congress had begun to infiltrate the Yalan region through the Department of Defense and the Federal Intelligence Agency. Some intelligence personnel had already entered the Yalan region.

Yalan, as a poor, backward, and very chaotic place on the planet, had all kinds of ethnic groups here, so it was not strange for federal intelligence personnel to lurk in.

According to unofficial statistics, some of the countries in the Yalan region were actually considered by tourists from developed countries to be a must-visit country in their lifetime.

Of course, it wasn’t that the scenery here was so beautiful, but simply because the girls here were not worth much. You didn’t have to spend money, and you could take one or several girls back to your hotel with just a simple chat-up.

They called this place the ”Land of Romantic Encounters,” but some also called it the ”City of Carnal Desire” or ”Nature’s Delivery Room.”

So, it was not strange for some foreigners to be out and about here.

Senator Cleveland looked at the intelligence in his hands, his brow slightly furrowed.

From a portion of the content, it seemed that after the New Year, there had been signs of contact between these countries, but so far, the intelligence department had not given any substantial report.This might be related to the fact that it was very difficult for these federal intelligence personnel to get close to the high-level of Yalan.

The ruling groups in Yalan all originated from the initial roles of tribal chiefs, and it was a hereditary system. They only trusted their own people.

Among the eleven countries in Yalan, you could basically not see the faces of outsiders, and the political power was also firmly in the hands of the local prestigious families.

For an outsider to want to enter the ruling group was basically an impossible matter.

In the process of him flipping through the materials, some government officials began to enter this room.

The last one to come in was Mr. President’s chief of staff. Mr. President was also very concerned about this issue.

If he could, during his time in office, expand the territory for the Federation, then maybe his head would also be printed on the federal banknotes!

The top politicians of the Federation, occasionally, after satisfying their greedy appetites, would also have the aspirations that a politician, or rather, a statesman, should have—to change the world!

So he had his chief of staff come over. If it weren’t for the fact that he was very busy now, and it was not very suitable for him to appear here, he would have come over himself.

After everyone had sat down, people’s gazes turned to Senator Cleveland, because this meeting had been initiated by him.

”The documents are in front of you. We just got a piece of news. The eleven countries of Yalan are going to form a ’United Alliance of Yalan Nations’ to counter some of our upcoming actions.”

”You all take a look at the documents first.”

He just gave a brief introduction, and the others then began to read the documents in front of them.

Everyone had a copy, and the content was also the same.

In the documents, some of the key points had been highlighted with different colored pens, which could make it more effective and convenient for people to read.

For example, green represented a small amount of reading value, yellow represented a certain reading value, orange represented a need to read, and finally red—must be read carefully.

With these marked paragraphs, the contents that had no value would be ignored.

To read all of these few documents would take at least half an hour, but with this kind of assistance, it could be read in seven or eight minutes, and it was a very deep, getting-what-they-wanted kind of reading.

After everyone had put down the documents in their hands, Senator Cleveland finally began to speak, ”The United Alliance of Yalan Nations will have a great impact on our subsequent strategy in Yalan. Before the Yalan League officially appears, we need to confirm some things.”

The president’s chief of staff nodded. He casually flipped through a few pages of the document. It was more like a casual action than him wanting to find some content.

”Is there any way to stop the establishment of this United Alliance of Yalan Nations?”

”For example...” he let go of his hand, letting the documents rustle and stack together again, ”through some man-made interference, so that they can’t reach an agreement?”

Senator Cleveland shook his head. ”I’m not sure if it can be done, and how to do it.”

”It’s mentioned in the documents here that besides a few countries, the political power of more than half of the countries in Yalan is in the hands of the ruling group, not the ruler.”

”This means that even if we find a way to get rid of one ruler, there will still be a second, a third ruler who will appear and disrupt our plan.”

He flipped to a certain page of the document, said the page number, and then everyone had flipped to this page and had seen the list of the ruling groups of the eleven countries.

Just as Senator Cleveland had said, for a country like Rapa, on the surface, its ruler was the great president, but in fact, a total of four families controlled Rapa, not the great president alone.

”I have actually considered this problem, to cross these people’s names off this list, but this also has a problem.”

”As long as we cannot get rid of all of them in a very short period of time, then for a country with four or five, five or six rulers, the power in the hands of the remaining rulers will get a huge increase.”

”They will be more determined to oppose us, to be more determined to protect their own interests!”

”This is not a good idea that can be solved by just using some means to directly kill them. To do so will only anger the Yalan people.”

”Even if we don’t like our Mr. President, I also believe that no one wants to see others come and kill him!”

In the room, including Mr. President’s chief of staff, everyone couldn’t help but laugh out loud, because what Senator Cleveland had said was the truth.

Mr. President was indeed not likable. His first term could be said to be the result of a political compromise.

In the years that the Socialist Party had been in power, the Federation’s economy had been continuously declining, and all aspects had been getting worse, so his approval rate was not very high.

He had used some means to last until now. There were many in Congress who did not like him. Some felt that he was a lucky clown, and some felt that he was a fool who was pretending to be smart.

But if at this time, someone from another country were to say, ”I’ll help you get rid of this fool!” then the person who had said this, and the person who had really implemented it, he and his country would all become the enemies of the Federation.

Just as many of the people of Yalan did not necessarily like their ruling group, if the Federation really, through the means of force, invaded their homeland, occupied their land, and killed their rulers, they would also be filled with hatred for the Federation, thus forming a long-term hatred and confrontation.

This was not what the Federation wanted. What they wanted was a stable Yalan, rich mineral resources, and an obedient human resource.

These gentlemen in the room were not the amateur politicians on the factory assembly line who were getting paid 43.50, but were worrying about Congress all day. They could read into a lot of things.

So Senator Cleveland’s words had gotten the approval of some.

Just as people were talking in low voices, discussing, the Speaker of the House had made some small movements. He had shaken his head, and his shoulders were a little raised, which had made people notice him.

”If we don’t consider using force directly, then can we, through our own methods, let some of the pro-Federation politicians come to power, and have them play an important role?”

”By letting them become important officials of the United Alliance of Yalan Nations, or even the chairman, to create a split in the opinions within the Yalan region?”

”If some people don’t like us, then there must be some who like us, and I believe that the number of people who like the Federation, who like us, must be more than those who don’t like us.”

”We actually have a good foundation. It’s just that we are short of some people to guide the people, to release the emotions and energy of the people!”

”It’s too bad for us to make a move on them. Then let them make a move on themselves. What do you think?”

This proposal was very constructive. Senator Cleveland had also discussed it with the Senate Majority Leader by his side for a while, and both of them felt that there was some possibility of operation.

The main reason was still that they had learned of this news too late.

If, at a time when a ruler who had proposed to form a whole Yalan community had just had this idea, this sprout, they had used the means of force to solve them, and had not let this ”dangerous” thought spread, then there would have been no problem.

Now this thought had already spread, and it should also have gotten a certain degree of support and a market. To make a move on any one person now would be tantamount to making a move on the entire Yalan region.

The price to be paid would be too great, and the harvest would be too small.

Now the Federation’s main focus was still on the war on the Tanfit continent, and the struggle for power behind the war.

They did not have so much energy to take care of the Yalan region. After all, compared to the layout of the whole world, this small piece of land at their doorstep could not occupy their main energy now.

In addition, the federal government did not intend to let its ugly face be exposed to the whole world. They had to think of other ways.

Senator Cleveland held a positive attitude towards this idea of the Speaker of the House. ”The person who provided me with the information this time is the Rapa’s diplomatic ambassador to the Federation.”

When they had heard the senator say this source of intelligence, they all felt a little incredible. After all, to be able to become a diplomatic ambassador, one was often the kind of person who was relatively ”loyal” to the country.

At least, in a period of time in the past, their hearts had been filled with this country, and also responsibility.

For an ambassador to take the initiative to come over, was indeed a little unexpected.

As he spoke, he looked at the chief of staff. ”This may require you to help a little, to help him and his family to get naturalized as soon as possible.”

The chief of staff was stunned for a moment, and then he nodded and agreed. ”This is very easy.”

The senator then continued, ”The idea of the Speaker of the House just now was very good. On top of his idea, I have some new ideas.”

The others all stopped their conversation and all looked at him.

”Our energy now is still mainly on the Tanfit continent, and on the matter of the leadership of the Slad military alliance.”

”Even if we are to free up our hands to deal with Yalan, we still need to wait until the war is over, and we have eaten our interests, before we will consider shifting our focus.”

”And Yalan is too close to our homeland. It only takes a day to arrive. Once the conflict between our two sides continues to escalate, it is very likely that they will harass our sea transportation and coastal areas.”

”So my idea at present is to let them establish this United Alliance of Yalan Nations.”

”And then we try to find more people like Ambassador Cassia, and to support them to a high position.”

”After they have occupied a high position in the ruling group, and in the Yalan League, when we decide to make a move on Yalan, not only can they provide us with a lot of confidential intelligence, but they can also help us to appease the emotions of the people.”

”In the end, what we need is to turn them into new states of the Federation, not to let them become our enemies.”

”What do you think?”

The others had a low discussion for a while and believed that there was no problem with this idea of Senator Cleveland’s.

The fact that these countries in Yalan had formed an alliance had indeed exceeded the Federation’s expectations, which had also caused a great deal of trouble for the annexation.

Since they couldn’t swallow it now, then there was no hurry to annex it. They would first fatten themselves up, and then come and annex it.

This plan had originally been proposed by the Speaker of the House, and had been added to and perfected by Senator Cleveland. He certainly would not object.

The Senate Majority Leader also had no thought of objecting, because this method was indeed very stable.

The chief of staff also did not object, and the others would not object even more so.

”Then let’s just settle on this for now. You need to have a written document. It will be easier for me to take it to Mr. President.”

This kind of a national strategy would certainly involve a lot of resource and personnel mobilization, and would require Mr. President’s signature.

Although the congressional side could also, without going through Mr. President, execute this plan themselves, to do so was, after all, not very good.

As long as there was no irresolvable conflict between the two sides, they should respect each other.

Soon the discussion had come to an end. The main reason was that even if they interfered, there was no good way to do so. On the contrary, to not be so radical at a time like this would not trigger an anti-Federation wave in the Yalan region.

After the meeting was over, and he had returned to his own manor, Senator Cleveland thought for a moment and decided to give Lance a call.

In the original plan, he had arranged for Lance to go over, but now the situation might have some changes. He had to let Lance know.

Lance’s phone was certainly very easy to get through. It had just rung twice, and the call was answered.

Lance’s voice also appeared in the receiver, steady, and powerful. ”This is Lance.”

”It’s me.”

”Senator?”

”Yes, you’re not mistaken. My voice shouldn’t be so easy to be mistaken!”

He paused for a moment. ”Have you contacted Cassia?”

”That Rapa friend of yours.”

For a moment, Lance didn’t know what had happened. ”We haven’t been in contact during this period. What’s wrong?”

The senator recounted what had happened. ”So now some of the plans may change. Originally, my idea was to have you go over and do some ’business,’ but now it seems that this plan is not feasible.”

Without the Yalan League, if they had remained in chaos, Lance might really have had the chance to subvert a country’s regime, and then to push it to the Federation.

But now the appearance of the Yalan League had changed all this. Even if the ruling group of Rapa were all finished, as long as the Yalan League was still there, they could, through their own methods, interfere in the internal affairs of the Rapa region, to achieve a stabilizing effect.

Lance, and the choices of the others, their role in these matters was actually not so great.

Lance listened seriously to what he had said, and after a careful analysis, he did not show any disappointed emotions.

”Senator, actually I feel that this is no different from the past. It’s just that the things we need to do also need to be upgraded accordingly.”

”In the past, my idea was to let that guy Gomez become an ambitious coup-plotter, but now it is clear that this plan is no longer suitable.”

”Once Gomez shows his ambition, he will be suppressed by the eleven countries.”

”The United Alliance of Yalan Nations can suppress any ambitious man, but they cannot suppress the people, Senator.”

The sound of a lighter came from the receiver, and also the slight crackling sound of dry tobacco being lit. Then, after a ”whoosh” of an exhale, the senator’s voice came through—

”Tell me in detail.”

Senator Cleveland vaguely realized that Lance had once again grasped the ”correct answer”!

To be honest, this was very astonishing.

He was often unwilling to admit that there were geniuses. The main reason was that he had not seen anyone who could always amaze him, until he had seen Lance.

”Mr. Senator, the people are like the ocean, boundless, and the rulers are the ships that are sailing on the sea.”

”When the ruling groups of the eleven countries of Yalan have formed a fleet, any single small boat, an enemy boat, that appears around them, will only have a silent end.”

”But they are no match for the sea. They are on the sea. The seawater supports them, but it can also swallow them!”

”The one who opposes them is an ambitious man like Gomez. They have a clear target.”

”But what if the ones who oppose them are their own people?”

”When their people are eager to overthrow them, the more they kill, the higher the anger of the people, and the stronger the desire to overthrow them!”

”If you don’t resist, you will be overthrown.”

”If you resist, you will only be destroyed faster. This is my idea, Mr. Senator.”

Senator Cleveland took another big drag on his cigarette. He did not immediately exhale, but fell into a deep thought.

After a while, while exhaling the smoke, he asked, ”Then what are you planning to do specifically?”

Lance thought for a moment. ”When people can’t eat their fill, can’t dress warmly, have no job, have no hope, but the people who rule them are, through oppression and exploitation, living a life they don’t even dare to imagine, then people will despise him.”

”And then you just need to give them a little push, to push them, the ruling group, to the opposite side of the people, and the people will overthrow them!”

”Of course, this is not something that can be done in a day or two. This is a long-term job and strategy. One or two years?”

”Or even longer.”

”But I believe that its effect will be very good.”

The senator took another puff of his cigarette. ”It sounds great. Does it have a name?”

”If I am to introduce it to others, I need to have a name.”

”Yes, Senator, it has a name—”

”The Awakening Plan!”