Empire of Shadows

Early the next morning, Diego woke up early.

With his awakening, the butler led the maids into the room.

Some of the maids went to open the curtains, while others helped Diego into the golden bathroom to wash up.

He was too fat. Not only could he not reach his own shit, but he hadn’t seen his own brother in a long time. What was even more troublesome was the parts below his navel; he couldn’t touch them at all.

If he were an ordinary person, it would probably be just like that. No one would help him do anything, including his parents, wife, and children.

But he was the great president of this country, so he had the right to enjoy everything that ordinary people could enjoy.

He stood in the shower, and the water droplets fell down. He didn’t need to do anything, just stand there.

Four maids began to take brushes to solve his personal hygiene problems. As a president, he needed to maintain his own cleanliness, and also have no strange smell.

After twenty minutes of cleaning, with the help of the maids, he changed into brand new, comfortable, and soft clothes, and swayed as he walked into the dining room.

Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and he attached great importance to it.After all, as a president, life always had to have a little sense of ritual.

Like the most important meal of the day, the simplest but also the most exquisite meal of the day, and the most sumptuous meal of the day and a summary of the day—a midnight snack.

On the table were all the things he liked to eat, including a large glass of iced fruit juice.

After he had sat down, while putting the toast, which was spread with that sweet and sour, thick what-not sauce, into his mouth, he casually asked, ”Have you found the grain?”

He was looking down and eating, as if he was really just asking casually.

The butler, however, would not, just because he had asked casually, answer casually. He bowed slightly. ”We’ve found it, but a lot of grain was lost. And the people on the train have all been killed.”

”All killed?” A thoughtful smile appeared on Diego’s face. ”Who did it?”

”It’s not clear, but they all died of close-range gunshots.”

”In addition, the news from the people who surveyed the scene is that the grain might not have been robbed by the people who attacked the train. A lot was still left at the scene, and the traces of the grain spread out in all directions. It’s possible that the people around had picked up a part, and the people who had attacked the train had picked up a part.”

Diego had eaten two slices of toast with a lot of sweet and sour sauce, and then he had put a piece of steak on his own plate. ”Then go and check. See which little rats have stolen our things.”

”I have a premonition that this matter is not as simple as it appears.”

Diego then summoned the ministers of his cabinet. He didn’t really want to admit this loss—

To put it bluntly, he felt that this loss should not be blamed on him. It was the Jede Republic’s side that had not delivered the grain into his hands. The loss in the process of transportation should not be borne by him.

This was a very typical self-serving thought. As for whether they could settle this issue with the Jede Republic’s side, perhaps it would still require a few phone calls of cordial mutual greetings.

How they planned to solve the follow-up to this matter, Lance was not clear. He was busy talking business.

”The Horseback Mountain Silver Mine has been mined intermittently for more than ten years. The experts I know have told me that it can continue to be mined for at least another twenty years.”

”If we use the advanced mining technology of the Federation, the duration might be a little shorter, but its total reserves will not change.”

Lance looked at some of the reports in his hand, and then handed them to his entourage, a leader of a geological scientific expedition team from the Federation.

Starting from last year, the federal government had sent many scientific expedition teams into the Yalan region to conduct a complete exploration of the natural resources here.

On the surface, the federal government had said that it was to study nature, but everyone knew very well what the purpose was. This was also one of the reasons why the Jede Republic was strongly opposed to the stationing of troops by the Federation.

They had too obvious an ”invasion” thought.

Once the federal people really stationed troops in the Yalan region, it would be very difficult to drive them away again.

And with the deterrence of the army, maybe some small countries would take refuge with them, and in the end, it would form a troublesome situation.

So it was better to just unite everyone first. Perhaps there was still a chance to seek development in this chaotic era.

The team leader, after receiving the document, Gomez had stopped talking.

He had flipped through these documents for a while, and then had returned them to Gomez. ”Actually, last year we had already come here for an inspection. The reserve assessment of the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine in this document does not meet the scientific assessment standards.”

”In other words, we feel that the authenticity of this report is not reasonable.”

”According to some of our own preliminary exploration results, its reserves should be a little more than on the report.”

”To want to know the specific, approximate reserves, we still need to conduct a more detailed exploration.”

”However, from the currently known data, to expand the mining scale, and to use scientific mining methods and equipment, it can produce at least 50 tons of silver a year.”

A meaningful smile appeared on the face of the leader of the scientific expedition team. ”Of course, it could also be more. After all, this is Yalan.”

After all, it’s Yalan!

”In the Federation, the cost of mining a silver mine is about eighty cents an ounce of silver, but here, maybe it only takes twenty to thirty cents an ounce.”

”Recently, because of the war, the price of silver has risen. Before I came to Rapa, the international silver price had already risen to 1.10 an ounce.”

”To be precise, the profit per ounce, after deducting the costs of storage, transportation, and taxes, is 40 to 45 cents.”

Lance frowned slightly. ”It sounds like the profit is not very high.”

Lance’s one sentence had made the team leader stunned for a moment. He quickly explained, ”Mr. Lance, the true reserves of the Horseback Silver Mountain, we estimate, are more than their exploration results. If we use our advanced mining technology, and carry out large-scale, centralized mining and smelting,”

”It can produce at least 70 to 80 tons of silver a year, with an annual net profit of one million!”

”This is not a small sum of money!”

Looking at the team leader’s wide-eyed, serious look of ”correcting a mistake,” a few more smiles appeared on Lance’s face. ”The profit from a bottle of wine I sell is more than ten dollars.”

”Every day I can sell 70,000 to 80,000 bottles.”

Hearing this quote, the team leader fell silent.

In his inherent understanding of the world, mining precious metal mines has always been a hugely profitable industry.

No matter in the Federation or in other countries, in a place with cheap labor like Yalan, it was even more so!

A profit of one million a year was enough to make many of the silver mine owners in the Federation cry!

They were mining the same silver mine, but their annual profit might only be a hundred or so thousand, because the labor in the Federation was too expensive!

This was also the reason why, even though it had been fifty fucking years since the slavery emancipation movement had had any real results, in the resource extraction industry of the Federation, there was still a large amount of slavery!

Without slaves, the mine owners would not have so much profit. And now, with the number of slaves getting smaller and smaller, many of the small mines had gradually begun to shut down.

It wasn’t that they weren’t making money, but that they were making too little, not enough to support them in becoming rich.

A million a year was almost the limit of the team leader’s understanding of ”profit.” If it were any higher, it would have been beyond his cognition.

Although he also knew that there were many financial groups that were raking in money like crazy, for example, thirty years ago, someone had almost become the ”richest man in the Federation” with an asset of one billion Federal Sols, almost!

He didn’t understand how those profits were generated, nor did he know how these assets were operating now. He only knew the ways of making money that were related to his own industry.

But just like this, a business that he thought was hugely profitable was being disdained by Lance. And the reason he gave had left the team leader speechless.

In the face of a private liquor business that had a daily profit of hundreds of thousands, he had no temper at all.

He was silent for a moment, and was still making a final struggle.

”Mr. Lance, the private liquor business... I don’t know much about this industry, but it can’t always be so profitable. It will always have a day when it stops.”

”Maybe it’s because the overall competition has intensified, or maybe because the bill has been cancelled. It can’t always be so profitable.”

”But this silver mine can, at least, bring you a stable income for more than ten years. It cannot be destroyed, and can continuously generate profits. And there is a key point!”

He had added some emphasis to his tone, wanting to attract more of Lance’s attention, and he had indeed succeeded.

Lance showed an expression of listening with a hint of doubt. He licked his lips and said, ”It can also bring you a higher status!”

”I shouldn’t be saying this.”

”The private liquor business is, after all, illegal, but this is legal. And after you have mastered this silver mine, it can bring you a certain reputation and authority in the international silver price market.”

”In the future, when the world’s silver price is set, there will also be a seat for you, and they will need to respect your opinion!”

Lance listened and nodded slightly. ”Actually, I just feel that it doesn’t have much profit, not that I don’t plan to invest in this silver mine.”

”Not just this silver mine. All the mineral resources in the territory of Rapa, I will buy.”

When the team leader had heard this sentence, a look of shock had appeared on his face again. He knew very well that in the territory of Rapa, there were also other silver mines, gold mines, gem mines, all kinds of mines.

These mines, when calculated separately, were indeed not as profitable as Lance’s private liquor business. Of course, even when they were accumulated together, they were not as profitable as Lance’s private liquor business, but these things brought not just profits, but also interests.

Rather, it was the right to speak in the industry, the status in the precious metals and gems industry, and also the control over the local area!

If he could mine all the mines, including some of the sealed, and not-yet-planned-for-mining ones, he would have to hire at least several hundred thousand people.

When he held the lives of several hundred thousand people in his hands, and the lives and the stomachs of the millions of people who might be affected by these several hundred thousand people.

Even if he was not a president, not an official, in Rapa, he would have an influence that surpassed that of the president!

The team leader had graduated from a proper alliance university, a proper top student. If it weren’t for the fact that he had lacked some recommenders, he would also have had a chance to join the Ark.

He knew very well what Lance’s doing this would bring.

This had also made his emotions become a little fiery. This was a rare opportunity.

While Gomez was still shocked by Lance’s terrifying ability to make a profit, the team leader had taken the initiative to talk about his future work plans.

”Mr. Lance, I want to work for you.”

Lance said with a half-smile, ”Aren’t you working for me now?”

The team leader’s face was a little tangled. He didn’t know how he should behave, to be more fawning, or a little more independent?

However, before he could make a decision, Lance had smiled and patted his shoulder. ”After this job is over, then you can come and find me.”

He also needed some people who understood this industry. Of course, if he wanted to be put in an important position in his place, the team leader had to show his own value.

Since it had already been confirmed that the profit of this silver mine was barely okay, and was also considered a leader in the industry, Lance had had Gomez contact the mine owner.

The owner of the Horseback Silver Mountain was, in fact, a shell company.

The purpose of doing so was just to let this asset be controlled in Diego’s hands, but not to belong to the state-owned assets.

It might sound a little complicated, but it was actually very simple.

This was Diego’s private property, not the country’s.

If it were the country’s, its income would have to go into the state treasury. Although for Diego, the money in the state treasury and his money were about the same, there were still some subtle differences.

These subtle differences would make some things very troublesome, and would not look good. He was a person who did not have much decency but wanted to have it.

So the Horseback Silver Mountain was registered under the name of a private company. This way, the profits generated by the Horseback Silver Mountain every year could directly enter his pocket.

No one would say anything about him because of these.

The current ”owner” of the Horseback Silver Mountain was very familiar with Gomez. In a certain sense, they were the same kind of person. They were both tools for Diego, and the ruling group, to turn the state’s property into private property.

Before last year, Gomez still had a little ”market price.” His older sister was still in the stage of being favored. Maybe she had her own unique skills on how to shell fava beans, and to please the fava bean.

He and many people were good friends, because he could provide some value.

Soon, the owner of the Horseback Silver Mountain had been invited to the place that Gomez had agreed on. He didn’t have to worry about the management of the Horseback Silver Mountain. He just had to sign a few documents every month.

The mine was all managed by Diego’s men. He was just a puppet.

However, this puppet was not without its merits. Every month, he could get an income of 5,000 Paras, and he didn’t even have to go to the mine. He had no complaints.

Not everyone could be as comfortable as he was now.

5,000. As long as he didn’t mess around, it was enough for him to squander.

When this guy had pushed the door open and had entered, and had just shown a smile when he saw Gomez, before he had had time to shake hands with Gomez, he had noticed the other people in the room.

Lance was sitting on the sofa, his legs crossed, and was smoking. There was a guy next to him who was holding a map and was saying something to him.

In the corner of the room, there were also a few young men who were standing separately. Their eyes were as sharp as the hawks in the sky!

He looked at Gomez with some confusion, and also understood that the reason why he had been invited here today was not because Gomez himself had something, but because of these people.

Gomez took the initiative to walk over and grab his hand, and shook it. ”Long time no see. Let me introduce you!”

He, without giving him a chance to refuse, had pulled the nominal owner of the Horseback Silver Mountain to the side of the sofa.

Lance raised his hand. The team leader timely closed his mouth. He first glanced at the other party, and then he smiled and stood up.

”This is Mr. Lance White, a big shot from the Federation!”

”Didn’t you always ask me about some of the things on the Federation’s side?”

”It just so happens that we have met you. Let me introduce you to Mr. Lance.”

Gomez, after he had finished speaking, had quickly turned his head to introduce to Lance, ”This is Vargas, the general manager of the Horseback Silver Mountain.”

Lance extended his right hand.

He did not extend it very far. Compared to saying ”extending his right hand,” it was actually more like raising it a little.

Although Vargas was a little confused about the situation, as a ”decent man,” he had quickly and enthusiastically extended his hand and had shaken Lance’s, and had even shaken it twice. ”It’s a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. White.”

Lance also responded with a smile, ”Me too. Please sit.”

Then Vargas, with a look of confusion and incomprehension in his eyes, had looked at Gomez, and had sat down on a separate sofa on Lance’s left.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to open his mouth, but he also didn’t have to worry about this, because Lance, after sitting down, had asked, ”I hear that the Horseback Silver Mountain is registered under your name.”

”I’m not very clear about the business matters of Rapa. Do you have any legal documents for your registered company or assets?”

Vargas couldn’t help but look at Gomez again. Gomez, on the contrary, was very direct. ”We do. We have a property rights document, but it’s not in the same format as the one in the Federation.”

”It’s issued by the local government, and it’s basically all handwritten. In the end, it’s signed and thumbprinted by the local government’s administrator, the applicant, and the witness.”

Lance was a little curious after hearing this. ”Doesn’t this mean that it’s very easy to forge?”

A meaningful smile appeared on Gomez’s face. ”In Rapa, no one dares to forge, at least not before this!”

Lance had immediately understood, or rather, he had reacted. The whole fucking country was the private property of Diego and the ruling group. These mines, or what resources, even a fish in a river, were all their private assets.

It was impossible for an ordinary person to own these assets, unless they had their permission, so whether it was forged or not, it was meaningless.

Let alone forgery, even if the thing you took out was real, as long as the ruling group wanted your thing, then the thing you took out was fake!

When all the resources belonged to the ruling group, it had already put an end to the possibility of forgery—whether you are real or fake, how can I not know?

Lance couldn’t help but laugh. A huge, makeshift operation.

He then looked at Vargas. ”You must be very curious why Mr. Gomez has invited you over.”

Vargas nodded. ”I am, a little.”

Lance leaned back. ”Because I want to acquire your Horseback Silver Mountain.”