Empire of Shadows

Fernandez said with a smile, ”Is it that you don’t interfere, so we can’t interfere either?”

He didn’t hide the barbs in his words at all, just showed his sharpness so nakedly!

However, these arguments were not very useful against Lance, because Lance was not yet a politician, and his skin was also thick enough.

Or rather, as long as one was a politician, they could ignore these sarcasms and mockeries. If they couldn’t even pass this test, then they were not qualified to be a politician.

Lance responded with a smile. He didn’t speak. This question was actually not very suitable for a clear verbal statement.

”What a domineering Federation!” Fernandez sighed. ”Are my wife and children in your hands?”

Lance did not deny it, nor did he admit it. ”Your two children are very sensible. They haven’t done anything they shouldn’t have along the way, which has saved us a lot of trouble, and also saved them unnecessary trouble.”

This sentence had already made it clear that his family was in Lance’s hands.

The more it came to this critical moment, the more stable Fernandez’s emotions became. Everyone had already ”shown their cards.”

There was no unknown, no need to scare oneself. The best outcome and the worst outcome were placed together. The rest was choice.He pondered for a moment. ”What if I say ’no’?”

Lance showed a very regretful expression. ”People will not remember the contribution you and your family have made to world peace, Mr. Fernandez.”

”This world is forgetful. Maybe it won’t be long before your president, your country, will also stand on our side.”

”You will become a ’stubborn element’ that hinders us from achieving a beautiful tomorrow. You can’t even be called a hero.”

”People will spit on everything you have done in front of your grave, if they can find your grave.”

He crossed his legs, leaned his body slightly to one side, and his elbow pressed on the armrest of the sofa. ”This is the tide of history, Mr. Fernandez.”

”Anyone who resists the tide of history will eventually be crushed to powder under the wheels of history.”

Lance’s words had made Fernandez feel a kind of power that he had never felt before, the power hidden in the language.

He seemed to be able, at this moment, to see history as a huge wheel that was constantly rolling forward. Everything that stood in the way of its progress would be crushed by it.

He thought of many things, for example, the conservatives of the Jede Republic, who were also the former vested interest group, the privileged class.

They were the most opposed to reform, because reform had touched their core interests. After their persuasion had failed, they had directly launched a coup.

But it was a pity that the coup had not been successful, because this was the power of the ”tide of history.”

The development trajectory of the world is just like this. No one can resist it. Those extreme conservatives were almost completely cleaned up.

There were still some conservatives left who had not been dealt with. It was the decision of the former president.

Absolute power not only brings absolute corruption, but also brings absolute decay. He didn’t want his children, his family, to usher in a fool in a certain generation, to let the efforts of their many generations be reset to zero.

So to leave a voice of opposition was to warn the people behind them that they still needed to be careful, and still needed to be vigilant.

Recalling the entire development process of Jede, it was as if there was a force that was pushing them to do everything, everything that, from the present point of view, was incomparably correct.

Then what about the future?

Will it be as Lance had said, that he, these people who were trying to fight against the Federation, would become the extreme conservatives of the past, and would become the people who were hindering the arrival of the correct era?

And then be crushed to powder?

He didn’t know. He remained silent. Lance did not rush him to make a decision.

Now the bargaining chips were in his hands, and he had the initiative, so to ”respect” the opponent was to raise his own status.

After a long while, Fernandez seemed to be trying to find the crack between ideals and reality. ”She and the children are innocent.”

Lance nodded. ”I don’t deny this, but when you joined this game, you should have understood.”

”The winner takes all. Not just you who are sitting at the table, but also everything behind you.”

He shook his head slightly. ”I thought you had already had an awakening the moment you sat at this gambling table, but I didn’t expect that you had no awakening at all.”

”But you are not completely without a choice.”

”Is it to, for your friend’s ambition, his desire, to maintain his power, to offer up you and your family?”

”Or to return to your family, to go back and reunite with your family, and then to run in the direction of the tide of history, instead of being a person who goes against the current.”

”Or, you can consider joining the Federation. Now there are many people in the Federation who are very interested in the people and things of Jede.”

”You are the president’s best friend, a high-level government official. You know much more than we can gather.”

”Three choices. Don’t say you have no chance!”

Lance’s words had dispelled his last thoughts. His original idea was that he had been worthy of his friendship, worthy of his country, worthy of his ambitions, his ideals, and his persistence.

As long as Lance had said that he could let his family go, then he would have fought against the federal people to the end.

But now, it seemed that there was no more meaning. His whole person had, from a straightened back, become hunched.

Perhaps seeing his hesitation, Lance’s hands were on his own thighs, in a very stable posture. ”Then what is your choice?”

”Mr. Fernandez?”

Half an hour later, Fernandez had returned to his own office. He had locked himself in his office for a long while. His whole person was lying on the sofa, looking at the ceiling, his mind in a daze.

Many things, many people, many voices and images were constantly switching. He didn’t even know what he was thinking, what he was thinking about.

It was as if a storm had broken out in his mind, until after a considerable period of time, the storm had gradually subsided, and his thinking had also returned to normal.

He sat up again, came to his desk, and dialed the Jede president’s number.

”Fer?”

”It’s me. I’ve already spoken with Lance.”

”My wife and children are in their hands. He has proposed a condition, to have me take my men and return to Jede, and not to come over again.”

”Only by doing this will he return my family to me.”

After he had said these words, there was no feedback from the receiver. It had remained silent.

The longer the silence lasted, the sadder he felt in his heart.

Although he knew that this was Lance’s ”open conspiracy,” and that Lance had even predicted the result, when it had really happened at this moment, he still felt some pain.

Yes, a country, a nation, is indeed much more important than a few people in a family. But what about even a false concern?

He thought of the words Lance had said. All the reforms in the Jede Republic were built on the basis of maintaining the power of the president’s family.

They were not really delegating power to the people. That was just a little trick that the rulers used to fool the people.

If they really wanted to become more advanced, they should have completely handed over the power to the people, instead of always holding it in their own hands.

Wouldn’t it be good to let the president also be elected?

Although the Federation had many problems, at least the mayor, the governor, the president, were all elected by the people.

Although there might be some small problems in this, the overall direction was not wrong.

Power comes from the people. The people are the masters of the country!

The seemingly progressive Jede Republic was, in fact, a more hypocritical country than the Federation, because as long as it involved the interests of the ruler, they would become another person.

Just like at this very moment, how much Fernandez had wanted to hear the president, his best friend, be able to tell him, to give up all this, to bring the children back, and then to think of other countermeasures.

Even if it was fake, was hypocritical, he would have felt very comfortable, and it was possible that in a moment of impulse, he would have gone to the extreme.

But he had said nothing, and had just remained silent.

After about two or three minutes, the president had finally asked, ”You should come back first.”

In fact, Fernandez also knew very well what this ”come back first” meant. He knew his classmate and best friend too well.

He would arrange for others to come over. This time, the people he arranged, including his family, would be protected even more strictly, or he simply would not give Lance and his group a chance to solve the problem in this way.

In Jede, there were some who were already in their thirties or forties and were not yet married. It was as if they had dedicated their lives to the construction of the country. Of course, in fact, in the places that people could not see, they were living a happy life that people also could not imagine.

These people, if they wanted to get more opportunities to climb higher, would definitely come to Rapa.

Fernandez did not refuse. He agreed. ”Alright, I’ll pack up, and I’ll be back soon.”

Not long after he had hung up the phone, there was a ”bang bang” knock on the door of the office. Diego’s voice came from outside. ”Fernandez, I want to talk to you!”

He had heard from people that Fernandez had, in Lance’s car, left the Presidential Palace, and then had, in Lance’s car, returned to the Presidential Palace. Without a doubt, this presidential consultant from Jede, whom he had trusted, had not lasted for long before he had been ”corroded.”

At least, that was what he thought.

In the screening process that Fernandez had pushed, he had already found many people in the Presidential Palace who had been bought.

Although Fernandez’s opinion was to continue to keep these people, after all, as long as he controlled these people who had already been discovered and had been proven to be traitors, even if there were many, it would be very difficult for them to know the news that they did not want to be leaked.

And if they wanted to reveal some wrong intelligence, they could also pass it on to the federal people or other forces through these people.

But Diego had not been able to hold back his temper, and had had all these discovered, bought people killed, and it was almost a clean sweep. It was only at his strong request that two or three had been left.

He could imagine how angry Diego was at this time.

But this was what Lance had wanted to do, to make the presidents of both sides find it very difficult to trust him.

He came to the door and opened it. Diego had, very impolitely, pushed the door open and had entered. The door that had been pushed open had almost hit him.

”I hear you left the Presidential Palace in Lance’s car?” Diego had swayed and had walked a few steps in the room, and had suddenly turned his head to look at Fernandez and had asked this question.

Fernandez did not deny it. ”That’s right. My family has been kidnapped. It was Lance who had kidnapped them. I had no choice, I had to go and talk to him.”

Listening to his so frank and honest confession, Diego was, on the contrary, a little at a loss.

He had actually been more hopeful that Fernandez would refute him, would quibble, would not admit it. This way, he could have fiercely taken out those witnesses and material evidence and had slapped him in the face, and had questioned him why he had done such a thing.

But Fernandez had, in one go, said everything, and had also admitted to having seen Lance, which had made him, for a moment, not know what to do.

After a while, he had finally asked, ”What did you talk about?”

”We talked about...” Fernandez looked at Diego, who was still standing. ”Are you sure you don’t need to sit down and listen to me?”

Diego glanced at the sofa and sat down.

”We talked about some things. I want to get my family back. He has given me some conditions, which include the condition of leaving Rapa.”

Diego’s emotions at this time were complicated. He, on the one hand, had hoped that Fernandez would tell him that he and Lance had reached an agreement.

And he had hoped that he would say that he and Lance had not reached any agreement.

The former was that he had hoped to be able to find a suitable, and proper, reason to directly not to use this person. He was very suspicious. Once he had a suspicion about a person, it was very difficult to change this view.

Now that he himself had admitted that he had some agreement with Lance, then he had enough reason to inform the president of Jede that he had to change this person, and that he would not continue to keep him by his side.

At the same time, he had also hoped that Fernandez would say that he had refused all of Lance’s conditions, which would have made Diego feel a little better. At least not everyone would, in the face of coercion and inducement, give up their persistence.

They should stand firmly on his side.

He was very conflicted. He was staring straight at Fernandez’s eyes, as if he were trying to find the answer he wanted from his eyes.

But it was a pity that Fernandez’s eyes were very firm, and he couldn’t see those fluctuating emotions.

He sighed. ”I’m sorry, Your Excellency President. It is very difficult for me to continue to serve you and the Rapa government.”

”The Jede side has already requested me to return as soon as possible to report on my work, so...”

”And you don’t have to worry too much, Mr. President. If there are no accidents, someone will soon come to replace my work.”

Diego looked at him, and in the small eyes in the slits of his eyes, there was anger. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. In the end, he could only stomp his foot, and then had swayed and had left.

He had transferred all his dissatisfaction with Fernandez to the federal people. At least on this point, he was still behaving like a normal person.

With the news that Fernandez was about to leave Rapa, the morale of the government army had also had some problems. Some of the soldiers among them had begun to suspect that the Yalan League had already abandoned Rapa.

This had made them unable to fully concentrate on the battle, and had also caused some attrition.

What was worse was that the news about the Rapa government army not having much ammunition had also begun to spread. Now, a huge pressure was on Diego, making him breathless!

When Fernandez was here, he had felt an unprecedented relaxation. He didn’t need to do anything, and Fernandez could handle it well.

Now that he had lost this traitor, he, on the contrary, was a little at a loss.

At the same time, there were also two, who could be called ”old friends,” who had already, with their whole families, gone to the Federation to travel. When they had come back, it was only themselves.

More and more people had begun to be not optimistic about Diego. His performance was truly disappointing. On the contrary, there were a few in the anti-government armed forces who were attracting more of people’s attention.

This had also given Diego an impulse to want to show off. He now urgently needed a huge victory, to boost the morale, and at the same time, to make people realize this.

He was the ruler of this country. He was in the past, he is now, and he will be in the future.

He had to choose an opponent for himself, for example, Ross, for example, Pedro.

Fernandez had, after he had quickly packed his things, left. Having lost him and some of the Jede’s military officers, the government army had become a lot stupider. Originally, they could still press down on some of the anti-government armed forces and fight, but now, it had become an evenly matched.

Perhaps to be unable to defeat these anti-government armed forces was just a matter of time.

It only took three days to get from Rapa to Jede by train. After Fernandez had returned to Jede, he had, as agreed, to prove to Lance that he had already returned.

Not long after, he had seen his wife and two children.

When the husband and wife had met, they had naturally had a sense of luck, of having survived a disaster. The children, seeing their father had returned, had also taken the initiative to come and hug his legs.

At this moment, he also seemed to be a little relieved. Perhaps his family was what he should be paying more attention to.

After he had returned to Jede, he had only seen the president once. The two, who had been able to talk about anything, and who could, by just finding a topic, to chat for a good half of the day, were now, besides the most basic greetings and work reports, actually unable to find any other topics to talk about.

The get-together that day was particularly uncomfortable. For both of them.

When Fernandez had finished saying everything he had, the two had just looked at each other, and had sat on both sides of the desk, until the president had said that he had to work, and only then had Fernandez taken the initiative to stand up and had taken his leave. Their wording was just like that of strangers!

They had not lost to time. They had lost to their own identities.

From that day on, he had never seen the president again. And there was also a very special thing, which was that the president had not arranged any more work for him, whether it was highly confidential, or some miscellaneous work, none.

However, he was not too concerned about this. He now just wanted to return to his family.

In his nearly forty years of life, most of his time had been spent on his ideals and pursuits. The time he had actually spent on his family was pitifully small. He had to make it up to his family!

The words that Lance had said to him, in the end, had still played a role. He also seemed to be able to see a little of something like the ”trajectory of history’s advance.”

Perhaps, the Federation is really the ”great trend”!

During this period, because the anti-government armed forces had learned that the Rapa government army’s ammunition reserves were not large, they had, from a passive confrontation, to taking the initiative to seek more battles, in order to consume the ammunition in the hands of the government army.

This approach was very effective. The number of exchanges of fire had become more, and more frequent.

The ammunition consumed every day was getting more and more, which also meant that the time and the opportunities that were left for Diego to choose were not many.