Empire of Shadows

When Diego directly pointed out that he was helping Jede to fight against the Federation’s invasion, but Jede still refused to give him any economic aid, he knew that although some things had not yet ended, the outcome was already very clear.

He could only call Lance, because he didn’t want to die.

Not wanting to die had become the most urgent thing he longed for at this stage.

It was just that he didn’t know that Lance was attending Arthur’s wedding at this time, and didn’t know about his call.

The two finally spoke after Lance had attended Arthur’s family dinner—

Mayor Williams had bought him a new villa in New Golden City, which had cost about 55,000.

He also complained to Lance that a little over two years ago, a villa in the same community only cost about 30,000. If the location or layout was not so good, you could buy it for over 20,000.

But in just a little over two years, the comprehensive economic recovery brought by the war economy had made the price of these houses return to where they should be.

However, this amount of money was actually nothing to Mayor Williams. He was just complaining about the huge fluctuations in the federal real estate industry.

Spending more money to buy this house gave him a feeling of being ripped off, a feeling that people didn’t like.Dinner was jointly prepared by Arthur’s mother and his wife’s mother. Logically speaking, a foreigner like Lance should not have been present at this dinner tonight.

But both sides didn’t mind Lance being here, and they had also warmly invited Lance to stay. Lance had no choice but to sit on the sofa and chat with the gentlemen about politics, military affairs, and the things that were happening worldwide.

”I recently heard a very interesting saying,” the person speaking was Falman, Arthur’s wife’s father, Falman Edwards.

He didn’t look like a mid-level cadre of the Socialist Party at all. For example, he wasn’t aloof, but was very enthusiastic, and very talkative. He was completely different from the aloof, unkind mid-level politicians reported in the news.

Their best side is never shown to the people below them. Those people are not worthy.

This might be why the higher-ups are the ones who feel that the world is full of beauty. Because he is like a sun hanging in the sky, radiating infinite power.

And those below him are like sunflowers, always facing him with their best side.

Lance and Mayor Williams both showed a listening expression, which made Falman a little proud.

The reason they inquired about all kinds of messy news in the political arena was not just to bring it out at a time like this, when he needed to bring up some topics to prove certain things?

”They say that the Federation’s current comprehensive economic recovery is entirely dependent on the world being in a mess—war, destruction, people losing their homes, losing their grain, losing everything.”

”The more the world suffers, the happier the Federation is!”

When Lance and Mayor Williams heard this saying, they were visibly stunned, and then fell into a deep thought.

This was a short phrase that, at first glance, didn’t seem to have much content, but after careful thought, one could discern the meaning hidden behind these words.

The Federation was like a terrifying vampire, lying on the wounds of this world, sucking blood. The Federation’s current economic recovery, the comprehensive increase in productivity, and the unprecedented easing of social unemployment problems, were not because the federal government and the federal people were working hard enough.

It was merely because the world was suffering, and the more severe their suffering, the more wealth and benefits the Federation gained from it, and the happier the people naturally were.

”The Federation is like a malignant tumor, affecting this world!” Lance summarized Mr. Falman’s words.

Mayor Williams, listening, kept nodding. ”That’s very apt. We are harming the entire world!”

Mr. Falman was also very satisfied that his topic could resonate with the two. ”So these big shots don’t really want to stop this war.”

”Look, once the war stops, it means that the arms industry groups that are turning into monsters won’t have so many orders. Many newly opened assembly lines will lose production and stop. The unemployed population will increase again.”

”The reduction of all kinds of international orders will make a large number of factories close down in clusters. Even if the Federation’s economy does not decline, it will enter a stagnation phase. It won’t advance, and it won’t retreat. But for a constantly progressing world, not advancing is retreating!”

This view was very popular among the mainstream war-hawk politicians, because the changes that the war had brought were truly visible. Otherwise, why would the people support the war?

Just because the federal government said... we want to maintain world peace?

So the people would support sending their children to the battlefield to fight a life-and-death war?

No!

The people of the Federation are not that great. The reason they support the war is that the economy has begun to recover quickly, and the factories, running at full capacity, still can’t complete all the orders.

The Federation, which had not had a wage increase for three years, had seen incomes increase by nearly fifty percent in the past two years. This was a huge growth!

And behind the huge growth was an innumerable number of orders and a higher profit margin.

All of this was because of the war.

The reluctance to stop the war was merely to better and continuously suck the blood of those countries affected by the war.

”The war will eventually end,” Lance stated his opinion softly. ”No matter what benefits it can bring us, the war will eventually have an end.”

”I believe that our Mr. President and our congressional gentlemen already have a good enough countermeasure to deal with the problems and pain points we will face in the post-war economic period.”

”The slowdown of economic growth, and the changes in international social relations.”

Mayor Williams’s thinking pattern on this kind of grand issue was not as good as Lance’s. He merely echoed Lance’s view. On the contrary, Mr. Falman had some of his own insights.

”Actually, if we had to say that there is still a direction that is a good choice, I think we can consider going to war with the Empire.”

Mayor Williams looked at him with some surprise, then turned his head to look at Lance.

For most people, Lance was a native-born federal person, and had a very legendary and adventurous childhood.

Being trafficked, being a black worker, being rescued, and then embarking on the pinnacle of his life.

The things he had experienced in his short twenty-plus years couldn’t be captured in one movie; it would take several. This was one of the reasons why the common people regarded him as an idol.

This was perhaps the most primitive form of ”wishful thinking.” A person whose background was more miserable than their own could, through his own efforts, rise higher. Bringing themselves into the story was like a mental painkiller, which could let some people sleep more sweetly at night.

But Mayor Williams knew that Lance had Imperial blood. He felt that the topic Mr. Falman had raised was a bit sensitive.

Lance actually didn’t have such thoughts. Although he had Imperial blood, when he ”woke up,” he was on a ship. Everything that happened in the Empire was only in his memory.

Whenever he recalled those things, it was like watching a movie, having a dream; it wasn’t real.

He also didn’t have any strong sense of belonging to the Empire. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have supported the little count’s resistance in the Empire.

As long as there was a benefit to going to war with the Empire, he was supportive.

He thought for a while and said, ”This is a good direction, but if we go to war with the Empire, either the intensity of the war may not be as high as the current war.”

”Or it will be an all-out war.”

”A collision between two powerful nations will shake the very foundation of the world’s political landscape. It can indeed bring about the kind of war economy growth we have now, but it may also bring about something uncertain.”

”For example, destruction.”

Mr. Falman nodded after listening. ”You have a point. This idea still seems too naive for now.”

He accepted Lance’s view. Lance smiled and continued, ”And now we don’t have any actual conflict with the Empire, so it’s not an easy matter to want to start a war.”

”And even if we wanted to launch this war, the Emperor of the Empire might not even take up the challenge. Many of their domestic crises haven’t been resolved yet!”

...

Men always like to chat about these things. Whether it’s Mr. President and his aide friends, or the gentlemen senators sitting together, or even the homeless people sitting on the street.

The things they discuss are often inseparable from politics, and things related to politics.

Everyone loves to discuss these!

The four men sat in the living room, chatting about topics that were completely irrelevant. Just now they were discussing some of the positive effects that the war had brought to the Federation. Later, they began to talk about the privacy and scandals of some politicians.

These were all topics that strongly attracted people to discuss and explore. It wasn’t just the homeless and the street gossipers who liked it; the politicians here also liked it.

Dinner was very sumptuous. After the three women and Arthur had jointly bustled about in the kitchen, the chef they had brought made a sumptuous dinner.

Of course, the food they had made themselves was also kept in a small portion, just a small portion, as a kind of... garnish, or decoration.

For them, making dinner, and a sumptuous feast at that, was too difficult.

Because this house was Arthur’s villa, after dinner, they all took the initiative to leave. They all had to go back to their own homes.

By the time Lance returned to the villa, it was already past ten in the evening. In Rapa time, it wasn’t late; it was still eight in the evening.

They told Lance that Diego had called. Lance immediately called back.

Diego was actually a little groggy and about to fall asleep. Recently, he had been particularly sleepy. Especially after eating lunch or dinner, he couldn’t help but doze off.

When he was extremely sleepy, he would lie down on the bed for a while.

Sleeping wasn’t a problem, so he hadn’t sought a doctor. Moreover, he felt that the reason he had lost so much weight recently must have been because he hadn’t rested well.

Coupled with the fact that sleeping itself was indeed a very comfortable thing, he wasn’t averse to sleeping after eating.

He was about to fall asleep, and was awakened by the butler. Naturally, he was a little angry and dissatisfied.

As the president and ruler of this country, no one had disturbed his rest like this for a long time.

”If you can’t give me a reasonable reason, you know me!” He rubbed his cheeks and looked at the butler with a sidelong glance.

The butler, without haste, bowed. ”Master, Mr. Lance White’s call.”

Diego was stunned for a moment, and quickly stood up. ”Transfer the call to the study.”

Soon he was in the study. The study was not far from his bedroom, about a minute away.

After he had sat down and had a glass of iced fruit juice, he picked up the phone.

The stimulation from the iced fruit juice at this time had, to some extent, dispelled his sleepiness. He put the receiver to his ear and asked, ”Lance?”

”It’s me. I was out on business and just got back.”

”What happened?”

When President Diego heard Lance’s voice, he sighed slightly with relief. This meant he could at least live until after the New Year.

But at the same time, he also felt some hatred. If it weren’t for these people, his life wouldn’t be so hard now.

The appearance of the anti-government armed forces, those who called themselves rebels, and the strategic and tactical advantages they had now gained, were rapidly forming a storm, an ideological storm!

In the past, in the hearts of the Rapa people, the ruler was sacred and inviolable. The reason why they could become rulers was all God’s will!

Although theocracy had long since fallen in Rapa, people’s minds hadn’t changed much. Because they were born with the right to rule the people, they were the rulers.

As for the people themselves, they were born with the fate of being ruled, so they were the people. The reason they didn’t resist, didn’t struggle, was because everything was already destined.

Perhaps some people had resisted before, but in the end, facts proved that resistance was futile.

The Rapa people had firmly believed this for many years, until this time, when a large number of rebel armies had risen with the support of the federal people, and were able to directly confront the government army and began to gain the upper hand.

This had created a huge ideological gap for the people. They began to think, is the ruler’s power truly innate?

Is it truly inviolable?

What if these rebel armies go a step further?

What if they really fought their way to Zhuolan, captured Diego, put a noose around his almost invisible neck, and activated the mechanism, would he die?

Would his rule, the rule of the Ravila family, completely end here?

In the past, they might have thought that no one could do this, but now, they were thinking about what they should do when this day arrives.

This ideological storm had made the ruling class no longer revered by the people. The way they looked at the ruler had also become uncertain, confused, and even greedy!

These were all terrible changes. Diego had a feeling that even if he could survive this crisis, he would die in the next one.

The arrival of the federal people had changed everything.

But now he had no choice but to rely on the federal people to solve the immediate trouble. The federal people’s help was like bowls of highly poisonous water.

You will die of thirst if you don’t drink, but you will also die if you drink the water.

”We recently suffered a defeat in a battle. The losses were heavy. They are approaching Zhuolan.”

”I need help.”

”Weapons, ammunition, medicine, money, everything.”

He even used a tone of request. ”I can use the money in my own account...”

Sometimes he would be very annoyed, regretful, regretful about why, because of a momentary greed, everything had collapsed to this point.

If he hadn’t been tempted by the federal people at that time and hadn’t sold all the grain, such a terrible famine would not have happened.

Without the famine, people would still be able to endure everything they had experienced for generations. There would be no rebel armies. They would not be heading towards Zhuolan with weapons, and he would still be the ruler of this country.

Unfortunately, there is no ”if.”

Lance smiled after listening. ”What money of yours?”

”Those accounts involve some legal and moral risks and have been temporarily frozen.”

”As for when they can be used, there is no point in asking me. You have to ask the federal bank, or ask Mr. President.”

Diego was silent. He actually knew that no matter how he spoke, he wouldn’t get what he wanted, but he still couldn’t help but ask.

”I need money, Lance, and also weapons, ammunition, everything to deal with the impending crisis.”

It was back to the original topic. Lance also didn’t continue to talk about things unrelated to this matter, and directly asked, ”How much do you want?”

”I want at least 200,000 weapons, and enough ammunition for them. Preferably also some other equipment, medicine, and grain.”

”The total budget is about 100 million.”

He felt he had asked for too little last time, so this time he took the initiative to ask for a little more.

Anyway, he had already paid the price.

Lance did not immediately agree, nor did he refuse. ”I need to report this to Congress. After all, 100 million is a sum I can’t take out all at once.”

Actually, he could, but this money would clearly not be coming from him. It had to be allocated from the federal treasury.

Diego, after listening, couldn’t help but urge, ”Then you have to be quick. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

Lance put down the phone and rubbed his temples. He had drunk a little wine in the evening, and was a little tipsy now, but since the matter had already happened, he couldn’t pretend not to know.

He dialed Senator Cleveland’s number. Senator Cleveland had not yet returned home.

It wasn’t until more than an hour later when he contacted him again that he got through to Senator Cleveland.

After he had relayed some of Diego’s demands, he also mentioned some of his own thoughts. Senator Cleveland indicated that he would bring up this matter in Congress as soon as possible.

After all, it involved an allocation of 100 million, which had to go through a process, a formality.