Empire of Shadows

As the famine continued, the entire Rapa had begun to enter a ”hell countdown” state. People were constantly dying of hunger.

The elderly, children, sick people, people who needed nutrition.

Hunger is a rusty, dull knife. It uses the cruelest method to kill humans, bit by bit.

In the past, although Rapa was poor, backward, and uncivilized, when people walked on the roads of the city, or the countryside, they could feel the breath of life, and could feel that there were people around them.

But now, it was different.

Pedro and his group had already passed through two villages. There was no one left in the villages.

There were only the corpses lying on the road, which had been gnawed beyond recognition.

A strong stench permeated the air. He had to lift the hem of his clothes to cover his mouth and nose.

But even so, that stench was still constantly eroding his sense of smell.

”Another empty village.”The eyes of the people around him were filled with a kind of sadness. A perfectly good country, just because of the greed of the ruling group, had made everything become this ghostly appearance.

People already knew. Under the intentional spread of some people, and Lance’s newspaper had also published these news before—

”Thank you, President Diego, for your contribution to world peace!”

”He has sold over a million tons of grain, helping many people in need!”

Yes, he had helped the people in other countries who needed grain, ensuring that the people of Rapa were completely forgotten.

The newspaper had also published a photo, taken from a low-angle shot.

President Diego and a person outside the camera were shaking hands, holding an agreement for the sale of grain in their hands, their faces full of smiles.

In the photo, he seemed to be glowing!

If anyone had read the content of the newspaper, they could feel the light that was radiating from his body when he had so generously sold the grain to help people in other countries!

This was very comical.

On one side was Diego, shining with a myriad of lights, a new model of humanitarianism.

On the other side, the country was full of corpses that had starved to death. The air seemed to be filled with the smell of death.

This was very comical!

Pedro’s emotions were constantly churning. If before this, he had just felt that he could do this.

Then at this moment, he felt that he must do this!

He had to save this country, the people here, from the hands of that greedy dictator!

The group of people had taken a few more steps. He saw a scene happening on the side of the road, and couldn’t help but curse, ”This son of a bitch really deserves to die!”

On the side of the road, seven or eight wild dogs were gnawing on some corpses.

It was very difficult for people to survive in this kind of a humanitarian disaster, but small animals, it seemed, could survive very easily, and were living even better than before.

Looking at the well-fed stray dogs on the side of the road, staring at them with red eyes, a desire to kill had, for the first time, risen in his heart.

Not far from the stray dogs, there were some bones that had been chewed and left by them. From the small, round bone, it could be seen that this should have been just a child.

There were also some messy traces on the ground around. He didn’t know if they were left by a struggle.

Maybe he had not yet died when he had been dragged out, but was just so hungry that he couldn’t move much, and had just been gnawed by them like this.

In the past, Pedro had not really believed in God, but he would respect God.

But at this moment, he only believed in himself!

And the weapon in his hand!

He took down the simple bow that was hanging on his back, drew the string to its full, and with a ”beng” sound, a stray dog had, with an ”aowoo,” bit at the place where it had been shot.

It was constantly swaying its body, wanting to bite the arrow, or to pull it out of its body, but it couldn’t.

Its mouth was not flexible enough. It could only watch as a long arrow was stuck in its body.

And with its violent movements, it was constantly making the wound be torn even wider, and the blood had also, from the initial dripping, turned into a rapid flow.

This sudden change had made the other wild dogs, with a ”huala” sound, all retreat to a distance. At the same time, they had begun to bark wildly at Pedro and his group.

Pedro was constantly drawing his bow, and shooting arrows. In the end, he had only hit two of the stray dogs.

This group of stray dogs did not dare to be so presumptuous anymore, and with their tails between their legs, they had quickly left.

A young man had walked towards the two wild dogs that had been shot. Pedro couldn’t help but ask loudly, ”What the fuck are you doing?”

The young man looked at him, a little at a loss. ”I just feel... it shouldn’t be wasted.”

”Fuck, don’t you know what they’ve been eating?”

This sentence had made everyone fall silent. Pedro pointed at the young man, and did not say anything more, but everyone knew that he was strongly opposed.

He would feel disgusted.

He didn’t want to eat, and he didn’t want others to eat. This was not food that humans should eat.

The group of people continued to walk into the village. Perhaps they were beginning to get used to the stench here. The stench did not seem to be as strong as before.

Walking in the village, it was like walking in hell. Even if Pedro had seen such a human tragedy once before, at this moment, he was still shaken by everything here.

His scalp was tingling, and he had goosebumps all over his body. Fear and anger were side by side!

The group of people was silent. They were constantly rummaging for all kinds of condiments in the village.

Salt, sugar, and other things.

It had taken the group about forty or fifty minutes to leave this place. The village was not large, and there were no more living people.

After returning to the temporary camp, the mood of the group was all very dejected. They had, along the way, grown a little more. Now there were about 1,200 or 1,300 people.

The population of the three villages, added up, was definitely more than two or three hundred.

This terrible era.

”How is it?”

As soon as he had entered the temporary camp, his colleague had taken the initiative to come over and ask. The others had also looked at them, as if they were wanting to get some good news.

In fact, they were not really so hopeful that a village could still maintain its normal operation. What they were longing for was that the last bit of order had not yet collapsed.

Pedro shook his head and briefly recounted what he had seen. Everyone became silent.

Soon someone had begun to curse Diego and the ruling group. This was like it was contagious. More and more people began to curse these people.

Pedro had, in the past period of time, also cursed Diego and those ministers with their greedy faces, but recently he had begun to think about another question.

Why, did all this happen?

Where is the root of all the disasters?

Maybe the people around would say that this was all Diego and the ruling group’s problem, but Pedro, on the contrary, believed that this was not just their problem.

There was also the problem of the federal people.

If it weren’t for the fact that the federal people had wanted to station their troops, if it weren’t for the fact that the federal people were full of greed for the Yalan region, even if the current days were not good, they would not have been as bad as now!

This could be said to be the darkest moment in the history of Rapa!

Just because of the appearance of the federal people!

Just as he was pondering the inevitable relationship in this, another team that had been scouting the vicinity had returned. The leader of the team was also Pedro’s colleague, a high school physical education teacher.

His face looked very serious. The village in the direction he had gone to, the people inside had not all run away, but there were only about twenty or so left.

From these people, he had gotten something that had made him feel uneasy.

”I want to talk to you alone,” he said to Pedro.

Pedro stood up, a little puzzled, and walked with him to the edge of the camp. Then his colleague took out a poster from his pocket and handed it over.

Under his colleague’s gaze, which was signaling for him to open it, he had slowly opened this poster. On it, his photo had appeared, in the second place.

His expression became serious. The people on this were almost all of the people who had participated in Lance’s seminar, and also some he didn’t know.

”Diego is putting a warrant out for you, and also these people. They have identified you as an ’anti-government criminal,’ and have also mentioned that you have stolen grain.”

Pedro looked at the arrest warrant in his hand and was silent for a long time.

From a high school teacher, to a wanted anti-government force, he suddenly felt a little like laughing.

Real life is really more magical than the most magical novel he has ever read!

”What are you planning to do?” his colleague asked him, his expression somewhat serious.

If it was said that everyone was just, in order to survive, doing a little something that might have crossed the boundaries of morality and law, it was still within his acceptance.

Then this arrest warrant had made him unable to continue to accept it.

He just wanted to live, not to oppose the government!

Pedro, on the contrary, was very open-minded. ”Do we still have a choice?”

He shook his head, took the arrest warrant and walked to the outside, and gathered the people, and showed the arrest warrant in his hand.

”Diego has already identified me as the leader of an anti-government force, and has also put a bounty on me.”

”Let me see how much I’m worth...” he hadn’t thought of this part just now. At this time, he glanced at the number under his photo on the arrest warrant, and showed a somewhat embarrassed expression. ”I’m worth 50,000 Paras!”

”To be honest, I think they are looking down on me a little!”

Some laughter came from the crowd, which had eased the somewhat tense atmosphere.

”Now, we, these people, are facing two problems.”

”The first problem, I know someone wants to leave. Then those who want to leave can tell me. I will let you leave.”

”The second problem, do we pretend not to know about this arrest warrant, or do we confirm this identity!”

”Of course, the second question is only for those who are willing to stay. Now let’s first proceed with the first.”

”Is there anyone who wants to leave? We are in great danger now. I am the leader of an anti-government force, so to continue to stay with me, you will be members of an anti-government force.”

”To be caught by the government army, there is only a dead end!”

”If you leave now, maybe you can still... clear your own suspicions.”

As soon as he had finished speaking, someone had immediately, on their own initiative, walked to a place a little further away, and then some more had followed.

Not everyone has this kind of determination and courage, and not everyone has really been forced to this dead end.

For some people, they just didn’t want to starve to death. They didn’t necessarily have to oppose the government!

At this time someone in the crowd said, ”If we leave here, how much food can we be given?”

The people looked at the person who was speaking. It was one who had joined later.

Pedro pushed his glasses. ”On what basis should you take this food?”

”Have you put in any effort for this food?”

”Or, was this food brought by you?”

”You have done nothing. You are not qualified to share this food!”

The person, after hearing this, was suddenly anxious. At a time like this, to have no food, and to leave this group of people, was no different from seeking death. He immediately shouted, ”This is not fair!”

”The food should be distributed evenly to everyone. I demand to be given my share!”

The people’s gazes were all focused on Pedro. He pointed at that person. ”Get him out of our camp!”

Immediately, some young men had come over to push and shove him. He had wanted to resist, but was soon beaten up.

The ones who wanted to leave Pedro were all the timid ones. The ones who had stayed, were often the bold ones, and had some of their own ideas.

Soon that guy had been beaten so much that he couldn’t move, and was then thrown outside the camp. Pedro looked at the surrounding people. ”Is there anyone else who is planning to leave?”

”After a while, if you want to leave, you won’t have a chance!”

Some more people had left the group and had come to the side. After confirming again and again that no one else wanted to leave, Pedro nodded and looked at the people over there. ”You can leave now.”

Those people had looked at each other, and in the end, had slowly left the camp.

Only then did Pedro begin to talk about the second question. ”Now let’s solve the next problem.”

”Do you think it’s better for us to now to become the ’anti-government force’ in Diego’s eyes, or to continue to be a group of ’refugees’ who are looking for a chance to survive everywhere?”

”This is very important to us, because it will decide the path and the situation we are going to take.”

”You all know me. I have always been in favor of the social system of the Federation, and at the same time, I also hate dictatorships. So every choice we make should be democratic.”

”I will tell you the future direction, and then you will choose.”

”To choose to confirm this identity, then I will go and contact some of the people who are willing to sponsor us. They will provide us with grain, intelligence, all kinds of resources we need, and even weapons!”

”If we don’t confirm this identity, then we can only continue to wander around, because the government army will soon be on our tail!”

”Under the stimulation of the bounty, there will be people who will constantly betray us, until we are caught.”

At this time someone asked, ”Who will help us?”

What Pedro was thinking of was the ”International Human Rights Investigation” special commissioner from the Federation, Mr. Andy.

But in his mind, it was Lance’s face that had appeared.

These two people should be in cahoots.

”The federal people,” he said. ”The federal people are full of a greedy desire for Yalan. The Yalan League is just...”

He had originally wanted to explain a little, but seeing the confused look in those people’s eyes, he had suddenly realized that perhaps this was the formidableness of the federal people, of Lance and his group.

Because people want to live!

They had just put some factors together, and had forced the government to find trouble with them, and at the same time, had forced them, in order to survive, to have no choice but to constantly fight against the government.

He had thought of a key point that the Yalan League had mentioned when they were negotiating with the federal government.

As a high school teacher with a certain level of education, he was actually also very concerned about politics, just like the voters of the Federation, but there were also some differences.

The voters of the Federation were concerned about politics, because they had a sense of participation.

Pedro was concerned about politics, just to know what the future would be like.

In the negotiations, the Yalan League had expressed their hope that the federal government could respect the internal government affairs of the Yalan League, and to ensure that the politics of the member states of the Yalan League were independent and autonomous.

The federal people had said it very beautifully at that time. They had said that they would respect the political sovereignty of the various countries of Yalan, and would not interfere in the internal affairs of these countries!

Yes, they had not interfered. They had just used some small tricks to let Rapa fall into an internal turmoil!

He still didn’t know what the other countries were going through, but it certainly wouldn’t be too good.

He had originally wanted to explain these matters, but now he realized that there was no need.

They would not try to understand. They just wanted to live, even if it meant taking up arms!

His guess was correct. No one had asked questions like ”why would the federal people help us.” They were just asking how the Federation would help them, and how the Federation’s supplies would be delivered to them.

In fact, Pedro also didn’t know, but he knew one thing. The federal people would definitely send the things over, because they needed these rebels to be active in various places.

Soon, after a simple discussion, everyone had decided to confirm the identity of an anti-government force, and to work hard to rebuild a beautiful Rapa homeland!

This result had actually not exceeded Pedro’s expectations. After the continuous tossing and turning, and the hunger, the older people had basically all been eliminated. The rest were all young and strong, and were also in their most emotional age.

Their hatred for Diego, their impulse to realize some of the ideas in their hearts, and the power contained in their bodies would not allow them to kneel and beg for survival.

The result was predictable. Then next, it had become simple.

Originally, he had been planning to find a way to contact that Mr. Andy, to talk to him about the supply and transportation of supplies, and also the issue of more aid.

But he had not expected that the gunshots from a distance in the evening had forced them to hit the road again.

”It might be those people who had left during the day.”

There were also speculations among the people. Everyone was a little uneasy now, and did not have the excitement of when they had decided to oppose Diego and his government not long ago.

Pedro did not say anything, but just urged everyone to pack up as soon as possible, and to leave as soon as possible.

Although they had not seen what on earth had happened at the scene, everyone had a premonition that the ones who had been discovered were the group of people who had left during the day.

And this had also continuously strengthened their determination to oppose Diego’s rule!

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed. Vargas had already handed over the property rights of the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine and a an iron mine that was currently being mined to him.

And the money he had promised had also been given to Vargas, in cash.

Lance had smuggled a large amount of cash here, and if there were no accidents, this process would continue.

So much so that he was even considering whether to do a similar business. You know, money laundering in the Federation has always been a hugely profitable industry.

Because there was too much black money in the Federation that could not see the light. In the past, this situation might have been a little better. After all, most people did not need to pay taxes.

But now, with the tax reform, ordinary people also had to pay taxes. The Federal National Tax Service, this terrifying organization, was about to step onto the stage of history in a brand new posture.