Empire of Shadows

In the early morning, Diego woke up from his wide bed. He rubbed his eyes and sat up.

After a while, he looked back at the pillow, which still had some drool on it, and stood up with a bit of annoyance, supporting his thighs.

He had a bit of a problem, his body.

His private doctor had told him that he needed to diet, that he couldn’t continue to consume so much food, and that he needed to control his habit of drinking fruit juice.

But he just couldn’t help it.

He liked to drink fruit juice.

Rapa is in a tropical region, and the hot and humid environment allows many tropical fruits to grow here.

Some, people couldn’t name, but they all liked to eat them.

This kind of fruit, which has ripened under the sun for a long time, has a higher sugar content. The more wonderful sweetness and the taste of the sun make everyone who has been to Rapa fall deeply in love with these fruit juices.

Diego, as the ruler of the country, owned everything here, including those fruit juices.He had liked to drink fruit juice since he was a child. Starting from when he was a few years old, he would drink several bottles of fruit juice every day, maybe two or three liters, or even more.

This had also led to his weight gain being completely out of control. If it weren’t for the fact that he had controlled himself a little during his adolescence, and that his father didn’t really like his size, he might have been even bigger.

The word ”fat” is used to describe a person, and ”large” is used to describe a thing. He was large.

Obesity also made him feel uncomfortable, his whole body was uncomfortable, suffocated, headaches, cervical spine problems, and also the situation of drooling in his sleep and poor sleep.

But he just couldn’t quit, and there were all kinds of delicacies.

For a ruler of a small country like him, the limit of what he could enjoy was probably just these things.

The enjoyment of taste, the increase in wealth, the brief pleasure brought by sexual behavior, and the alternative pleasure brought by cruelty.

In fact, sometimes it can’t be said that his cruelty was entirely his problem, because he was always uncomfortable, so his temper was very bad. Once someone angered him, he would execute that person.

No matter if this person was a stranger, or someone by his side.

Most of the time, he would appear in front of people with a strong appearance. Only when he was alone would he slightly show his fragile side.

He thought of the words his doctor had said to him. If he wanted to live a few more years, it was best to follow the doctor’s plan.

It’s just... if he could do it, it wouldn’t be the doctor’s turn to warn him multiple times.

He got up and came to the toilet. After relieving himself on the golden toilet, he pulled the rope on the side of the toilet.

Soon, two young girls came over to help him wash his buttocks. He couldn’t reach it himself, but he also didn’t need to.

He just walked to a washing chair nearby, naked from the waist down, and then the two young girls would help him get clean, and would also wipe his body, and change him into brand new, comfortable, and soft clothes.

Looking at himself in the mirror, who had once again become what a great president should be in his mind, Diego’s mood improved a little. ”What have those federal people been doing recently?”

It had been a while since Lance and his group had come to Zhuolan, Rapa. At first, Diego had still been a little vigilant.

But as they had wandered around, and had begun to engage in some scientific research and exploration, he had not paid much more attention.

The Yalan League, which had been urgently established to counter the Federation, had also begun to show some problems.

Jede was constantly squeezing the surrounding countries to give it a blood transfusion, which had already caused some dissatisfaction within the alliance. Although these matters were still very far from Rapa, as one of the members of the alliance, Diego’s attention would also be shifted to this aspect accordingly.

The great president of the Jede Republic believed that they needed a force that could deter the Federation, a hard stone that could crack their heads, not a handful of sand.

A stone is very hard. To go head-to-head with a stone requires a certain amount of courage, but sand is very soft. As soon as you let go, it will collapse.

Even if it does not immediately collapse in a short time due to the dampness, after a long time, and the moisture has dried, in the end, it will also, with a light touch of an external force, completely collapse.

So they needed to come up with a stone. The president of the Jede Republic believed that the Jede Republic was the only candidate to become a stone.

They were superior to other countries in all aspects, and they could become a stone faster.

Although every member state of the Yalan League knew that what they had said was right, and also very reasonable, no one wanted to do this.

To send one’s own nutrients to others to strengthen them, in the end, no one knew whether they would be able to raise a guardian, or a father.

The latter’s possibility would even be a little greater.

So Diego was also busy observing the situation in the Yalan League, contacting the leaders of some countries, and talking about how to deal with the demands of the Jede Republic, thus he had not paid much attention to Lance and his group.

The butler stood on the side, looking at Diego, who had already stood up, had walked to the front of the mirror, and was looking at himself in the mirror. He said calmly, ”They have built several factories and are recruiting people.”

”What for?”

Diego opened a glass cover of a plate in front of him, and took out a few medals and pinned them on his chest.

In fact, he had never participated in any war, but he liked to get some good-looking medals to hang on his chest. This would make him feel that he was a ”hero.”

A hero’s chest will always have many things to prove their past glory. He could not be without.

He turned and swayed out of the room as he spoke, and came to the main hall, and sat on the sofa, which made him let out a sigh of relief.

The butler followed closely behind. ”Some are for making dried fruits, and there is also a factory that is said to be producing wine.”

”Wine?” A glint flashed in Diego’s eyes. Of course he knew how high the price of liquor was in the Federation.

The thought of Lance being able to, just by selling that worthless wine, to make countless wealth, made his eyes red with jealousy!

”Do you think we should impose a tax on him?”

He looked at his butler. The butler bowed his waist. ”Maybe the ministers know more about these than I do. I am just an old man, a butler.”

Diego looked at him for a couple of times, and he nodded, a nod that was almost imperceptible. ”Yes.”

Whether this ”yes” was good, or not good, no one knew. Only the butler knew that he had muddled through another day.

The butler, who had breathed a sigh of relief, immediately thought of trying to please Diego. He said with a smile, ”Speaking of which, there is another interesting thing. This Lance might be a fool. He is giving the workers he has hired a very high salary.”

”Now many people are saying he’s a fool.”

Diego became a little interested. ”Very high?”

”How high is very high?”

The butler recalled the rumors he had heard. ”In Federal Sols, it’s thirty dollars a month for each person.”

When Diego heard this, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. ”Those mud-legged dogs, to give them three dollars is a gift to them, and he’s giving them thirty?”

”He’s really rich.”

But as he spoke, his laughter faded, including his smile. ”How many people has he hired?”

”Or rather, how many people is he planning to hire?”

It was actually not easy for Diego to make money. Don’t be fooled by the fact that he had a mountain of gems in his hands, but these things could not be sold all at once.

Now, the main thing in the whole country that could provide him with blood to suck was the grain trade, the gold and silver, and a small amount of gems.

Once the number of gems on the market increased, the price would plummet.

Before, there had also been federal jewelers who had come to buy gems, but the price they had given was too low, and they did not look at the size, or the color, but bought by volume.

One liter for 150. They wouldn’t give a cent more!

This had made Diego so angry that he would rather not sell than to let these treacherous merchants have it.

He knew that in the Federation, an emerald could be sold for at least a few dozen, and the larger, purer, and more correct in color ones could be easily sold for a high price of several hundred or a few thousand.

To sell grain could make a lot of money, but this money was not his alone. He still had to share it with the other price families.

Last year, Rapa’s grain output was about 2.7 million tons. It might sound like a lot, but in fact, if it was evenly distributed to all the people of Rapa, they themselves would not have enough to eat!

About 70% of it belonged to the ruling group, which was 1.7 to 1.8 million tons.

According to the current trend of international grain prices, the price of wheat was about 27 a ton. The total value of these grains was over 45 million.

It might sound like even more, but the problem was still the same. There was not enough grain to eat.

If they sold all these grains, then soon a famine would sweep through the entire Rapa, followed by a huge population loss and population death, and it might also trigger other riots, for example, an uprising, or a plague.

And if a large group of people really starved to death, the days of these rulers would not be too good either.

These few years, grain was still very scarce. Last year, Diego and his group had sold a total of 300,000 tons of grain, which added up to just a little over 7.5 million.

After a few families had divided it, Diego himself only had about 2 million in his account.

Is this a lot of money?

A lot!

A part of this money would be used to support Diego’s daily expenses, and another part would be deposited in his account in a federal bank.

But to say that it was really that much, so much that it could not be counted, in fact, not necessarily.

At this time, he had heard that Lance could give an ordinary worker thirty Federal Sols a month. He was a little... had a different idea.

The butler was indeed not clear about this matter. He could only say vaguely, ”Probably, there could be a few thousand?”

”Or ten thousand?”

Diego only chose to hear what he wanted to hear.

”Ten thousand. In a month, his expenditure on wages will be 300,000. In a year, that’s 3.6 million.”

He took a deep breath. ”I didn’t even earn 3.6 million Federal Sols last year, but he can let those ordinary people earn so much in a year...”

To have him directly plunder the wealth in Lance’s hands, he didn’t quite dare. Now the Yalan League was putting a lot of pressure on them, demanding that they protect the legitimate rights and interests of the federal merchants in the local area.

Whoever dared to mess around, the Yalan League, headed by the Jede Republic, would launch a military strike against them.

Of course, they would not be so reckless. They all knew very well that if they gave the Federation an excuse, they would not mind taking the opportunity to launch a military operation against Yalan.

You know, although Yalan is said to be a continent, it is more like a huge island. It is a country that is not very evenly distributed around this island.

The entire periphery is within the strike range of the federal navy. If they were to send in the army, no one thought that they could resist the federal army, which was constantly sending back good news from the Tanfit battlefield.

So Diego had not considered making a move on Lance.

Although he couldn’t make a move on Lance, he could make a move on those civilians, to find a reason, and to find a way to get the money they had earned back, even if he didn’t get much, half, that would still be a large sum of money.

The thought of him possibly being able to get extra wealth had made his mood even better. Along with that, he also hoped that Lance could open more factories and hire more workers.

In fact, he didn’t have to ”wish.” Lance would do it.

He had already begun to build factories on the outskirts of Zhuolan, for dried fruits, furs, timber, mineral resource extraction and basic smelting, and also brewing.

Rapa’s brewing technology was not very good. If you wanted to brew a whiskey that was sufficient to be sold directly, it was basically unlikely.

You can only produce a base wine, and then you have to transport it to the Federation’s side for flavoring and thickening, and only then can it be sold.

Lance didn’t really want to transport some equipment here. Who knew if in the implementation of the plan later, this equipment would be smashed, or would be snatched away.

Anyway, what he needed was just to give a portion of the workers here a high salary. What they did was actually not so important.

Almost every entrance of Lance’s factory’s recruitment office was full of people. There were also many young girls who came to ask if there were any jobs suitable for them.

To be able to find a decent job here was almost the dream of everyone!

Even the young girls, they were also pushing forward, hoping that the recruiter could see them.

Lance had ordered some of the steel-structured house frames from the Federation. They were in the process of being transported, and it would still take two days.

After these frames were transported, in less than a week, the factory could start to consider production.

At this time, Lance was not worrying about the matter of hiring workers. With the price he was giving, he would not have to worry that no one would come.

He was in the hotel, talking to the members of the chamber of commerce about some of the subsequent business matters.

”...Gold and silver are the main purchasing materials. The war is still ongoing, and after Golden Port was ambushed, the Dantra’s navy has gained more initiative on the East Ocean.”

”The future development direction and trend have become blurred.”

”The more at a time like this, the more gold will appreciate. Rapa has several gold mines. President Diego’s side also has a certain reserve of gold. We can talk to them.”

”Furs, special plants, timber. You handle these businesses as you see fit.”

”If it’s cheap, and there’s a profit, then do it.”

”If there’s no profit, and you can’t make money, then you don’t have to consider it.”

”The main thing is to make money.”

”Besides these, we also have to buy grain.”

When Roger heard this, he asked in a low voice, ”I have also done some investigation and research on the local area during this period. Although Rapa’s grain is its main economic pillar, they themselves actually don’t have enough to eat.”

”And the local grain price, compared to the international grain price, is even a little more expensive.”

”Yesterday’s international grain price for wheat was only twenty-five and seventy-something, but here it’s twenty-seven a ton.”

”Is it... a bit unreasonable?”

”I think we can actually get some grain from the outside and sell it. After deducting the transportation costs, there is still about a 3% net profit.”

”Although it’s not very high, this place is very close to the Federation, and the shipping costs are not high, and the market is still very large.”

A market of several million tons. Even if you only earn seventy-five cents a ton, that’s still a profit of over two million.

And this business can be done all the time.

Lance, however, shook his head. ”We are not here to do charity, gentlemen. We don’t sell things to them, we only buy.”

”We’ll use Federal Sols to buy, and have Diego come at the normal exchange rate, around sixty-seven or eight.”

”However much grain there is, we’ll buy that much.”

”Selling grain is not for making money, you understand?”

Everyone in the Empire Chamber of Commerce actually knew that Lance had connections with Congress. The media had also reported on this, and then it had been left unresolved.

Who the fuck is tired of living and wants to dig into the secrets of Congress? Isn’t that because you think you’ve lived for too long?

So at this time they had guessed that perhaps this business was related to the mission that Lance was hiding.

Roger did not say any more, and agreed at once.

”Besides these, if there are any suitable businesses, just go ahead and do them boldly. Remember, when you hire local workers, you can give them a little more salary. I will have the federal government’s side give you a preferential policy on tax rebates.”

In fact, even if he hadn’t mentioned this tax rebate, the people of the chamber of commerce would have agreed. They didn’t think that Lance would deceive them.

Now that there was a guarantee of a tax rebate, they were even more willing.

Although they were not clear why they were being so good to Rapa, giving their people a high salary, and also buying their grain, but since these were all instructed by Lance, they just had to do as they were told.

Rapa and the Federation are not far apart. By taking a fast boat, it is also a day’s journey.

In early September, he had returned to the Federation and had talked with Senator Cleveland about some of the subsequent work, because there were some things that he couldn’t handle alone, and he still needed the interference of the Federation’s power.

This time he had gone directly to New Golden City. Because he had given notice in advance, Senator Cleveland had arranged for a congressman to pick up Lance, which was also a kind of a protection for Lance from the side.

No matter who it was, as long as they attacked Lance, it would be tantamount to attacking a congressman, tantamount to slapping Congress in the face.

In this country, you can point at the president’s nose and curse him as an idiot, and even sue him in court, and he can only be cursed by you, and then respond to the lawsuit.

Of course, you have to be careful of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They are known as the president’s number one attack dog, and they might come after you.

But if you mess with Congress, then congratulations to you. You will either inexplicably disappear one day, and there is a high probability that you will never be found again.

Or, you will be thrown into prison. They will find a random reason, for example, your driving speed was too fast, and they will throw you in.

In prison, they have plenty of ways to properly deal with you.

So Lance had a congressman by his side. Even if the ”large army” of the Perez family was here, they would have to endure it!

(End of a Chapter)

This chapter was translated by Nightjar Reads. For advance chapters and the newest releases, visit nightjarreads.com