Empire of Shadows

”Lance’s men... are working all over the streets. I don’t know how to describe this.”

Zhuolan’s mayor appeared in the presidential office. His expression looked a bit strange, because what had happened today had made him, a man who had been mayor for more than twenty years, also feel that it was incredible!

Because those federal people were not destroying, or plundering, or doing anything else. They were actually maintaining order on the streets.

President Diego stood by the window. He was also observing this city. Similarly, the place where he was allowed him to see the houses in Lance’s manor in the distance.

Maybe Lance is also looking at him?

Sometimes he would think so, but then he felt it was unlikely.

He had his back to the mayor, and was a little distracted. After a while, he finally came back to his senses. ”If you don’t know, then tell me in a language you can explain.”

The mayor quickly began to explain. As President Diego heard more and more, he also became a little confused.

The federal people have done so much, just to help them maintain order?

Zhuolan only had a little over 3,000 police officers. Apart from those on regular leave and those recently used to maintain security near the Presidential Palace, the number of police officers who could be on duty was probably only a few hundred.After all, those in the ruling class also needed the police to protect their property.

Just like those ministers. Although they had their own bodyguard teams, who could protect themselves and their families 24/7, what about their industries?

Shops, warehouses, various business premises. Don’t these places need the protection of the police?

At this time, if you saw on the streets of Zhuolan that there were one or two police officers standing outside some shop doors, either bored and not knowing what to do, or simply standing together chatting, then without thinking, this industry must belong to the gentlemen.

A considerable portion of the industries in the city center of this city belonged to the gentlemen, so the police simply couldn’t manage it all.

The city was also in a state of laissez-faire. The police would only be responsible for the safety of the prosperous blocks in the city center. As for the slums outside these areas, they wouldn’t even go.

But now, Lance’s men were actually spontaneously maintaining the security of these places. What on earth did they want to do?

Diego, who was looking down at this city, had thought for a long time with his not-so-useful brain, but he couldn’t come up with any answer. In the end, he could only temporarily give up on continuing to think about this problem.

He then asked some questions related to the defense of the Zhuolan area, and the mayor had answered them one by one.

Just as the Federal Ambassador had said, for him now, to do his best to solve the anti-government armed forces was what he should do, not to do anything else.

As for Lance... from what they were currently doing, as long as they didn’t mess around, then just let them be!

The silence of the Presidential Palace, the silence of the City Hall, and the silence of the police station. It seemed that the people within the territory that Lance had demarcated had also begun to accept this.

Anyone who dared to commit a crime, to do something illegal, had to be prepared to be caught by the Lance Family, and to be punished!

In the Federation, Lance’s methods of dealing with those gang members were not completely suitable for use here. After all, some people might not be gang members, and the mistakes they had made were not so unforgivable.

For example, theft, or robbery that had not brought serious consequences.

These criminals, who had not committed any vicious crimes, after they were caught, certainly couldn’t be given a burst of bullets. This was not conducive to Lance’s management and control of the people on his turf, so here, there was a new method of punishment.

All the people who had committed non-vicious crimes, if they were caught during or after the crime, they would all have to accept the caning!

From one lash, to twenty lashes, and it was not just the Lance Family’s men who would do it. They had also selected some of the locals as executors to be in charge of those who were punished with the cane.

These methods were very effective. Compared to directly killing them, it was clearly more gentle, and also more easily accepted by the locals.

In just two days, people’s fear of the members of the Lance Family, their curiosity, their common-sense contact, and then their acceptance of them, was just that fast.

Lance, in his car, was moving slowly on the street. Now some people had also realized that the entire Rapa was undergoing a huge change.

The huge changes outside the city, the huge changes in the anti-government armed forces, they might not have felt it yet, but the huge changes in the city, for example, the ”red armbands” of this Mr. Lance White, who had begun to appear in large numbers on the streets, they had already felt.

The vehicle was slowly passing an intersection. Lance had the driver stop, because a caning was being carried out at the crossroads.

They had, overnight, made some tools for the execution. In this aspect, the members of the Lance Family had a certain talent.

They had used some of the discarded door panels and some wood, and had soon made an instrument of torture.

The person who was being punished needed to face the door panel and lie prone, and then they would use a leather strap to fix the person’s hands and feet, and then to take off his clothes and pants, and then they would start to flog him with a whip.

The whips were all woven from rattan, very soft, and had been soaked in salt water. When they were swung, they would be very powerful, and also very painful!

The street was full of people who were all watching the caning. Along with the ”papa” sound from inside, the people who were watching the fun were also constantly counting.

After a few lashes, people had begun to applaud, and a smile had appeared on their faces that they themselves might not have been aware of.

A guy, who could hardly stand up, was released from the instrument of torture. He was being supported by his family. His back and his butt were all covered in skin that had been split open by the lashing, and also constantly flowing blood.

It looked very serious. In fact... these injuries also just looked scary. It had served its purpose of deterring crime.

Lance had observed for a while, and only then had the convoy continued to move.

Every time they brought a new person to be punished, someone would read out the crimes they had committed, and also how many lashes they would get.

This was like an alternative public trial, which had given people a greater sense of participation, and at the same time, the warning to them was also more effective!

From the slums, to the city center, it was almost all like this. After taking a tour of these places, Lance had gone to his factory again.

The factory had not stopped working, and was still maintaining its production.

Large, large piles of wine were piled up like a mountain. This wine would, in the end, all be loaded onto a ship, and then transported to the Federation.

Of course, it was in the name of military supplies. After all, Lance was also a national defense provider.

If it were in normal times, the containers involving military supplies might be inspected, but in wartime, as long as they were marked with the seal of military supplies, no one would dare to inspect.

Everything was just so magical. Reality is just like this. Sometimes, the more unreasonable it is, the more likely it is to be true.

At the end of April, the federal army in Saige City had been completely driven out by Pedro’s men. Not only had they suffered heavy casualties, but more importantly, they had lost the few field cannons they had in their hands.

The commander had attributed the failure of this battle to the federal people.

Now in Rapa, there was a very interesting phenomenon. As long as something went wrong, as long as it was pushed onto the federal people, the people above would not say anything more.

For example, some of the imported monopoly businesses had gotten worse. This was the fault of the federal people.

Because the federal people had brought those cheap imported goods here, which had made the imported goods monopoly very difficult to sell. This was the federal people’s fault.

For example, the federal people, in Rapa, had, by default, had some privileges. This was the result of the federal government’s excessive toughness and military deterrence. This was the federal people’s fault!

Then for the Rapa government army to be unable to defeat Pedro’s anti-government armed forces, was clearly also within reason. They believed that Pedro and his group, among them, had federal people who were helping them.

To help them to establish an advantage, to expand their advantage in the city’s street battles, and in the end, to drive them all out of the city, and also to lose their field cannons.

These were all the federal people’s fault. The federal people had rich experience in street fighting, but they did not, so this was not their problem.

The commander had reported his statement of evading responsibility to his superiors. Just as he had thought, no one, including President Diego, had blamed him, but had instead had him quickly take the remaining field cannons and his army and to return to Zhuolan, because the trouble was even bigger.

Up to now, 19 anti-government armed forces had already appeared in the territory of Rapa. They had, from the federal people’s side, obtained a large amount of military supplies, and had begun to expand their own influence, to seize territory, and to snatch resources.

The largest group was Pedro’s. According to the commander who had fled back, Pedro and his group had at least more than 10,000 anti-government armed forces.

Of course, in fact, it was impossible for them to have so many people. If you added the residents of the entire Saige City and their families together, perhaps there would be this number.

But this number was definitely an exaggerated one, just to evade responsibility.

And the smallest group also had a few hundred people.

All these people added up, there were about a hundred or so thousand. Of course, this number was inflated.

However, Diego and his men believed that even if this was inflated, it would not be too much. There were still 70,000 to 80,000 anti-government armed forces.

This had made them have to face a problem that they did not want to face, which was that the Rapa government army only had 50,000. The army that was directly under Diego, after deducting this batch that had been defeated, he now had less than 30,000 that he could control.

On one side, there was an anti-government armed force that was two or even three times the number of the army in his hands. On the other side, there were the federal people who were continuously supporting them with all kinds of supplies. Now the situation had actually undergone a huge change.

Outside the Zhuolan region, in many regions and among some of the local people with ideas, they had all begun to try to walk on another, different path.

So much so that some of the city’s mayors had even taken the initiative to call the Federal Ambassador, to ask if they were to stand up and to clearly oppose the Rapa government, could they get some aid from the federal government’s side?

The speed of the development of the situation was faster than Lance, than the congressional side had imagined, but everything was so reasonable.

This had made Rapa, and his ruling group, all feel a deep sense of unease!

On the weekend of the first week of May, the temperature in Rapa had already warmed up, to about 27 or 28 degrees. The members of the Lance Family who were patrolling the streets were wearing uniform short-sleeved shirts. The left sleeve had been changed to red, and it also looked more natural.

People had already begun to get used to these people appearing on the streets, and at any time, to stop criminal acts.

In the area controlled by the Lance Family, the public security had been greatly improved, and Lance’s factories were also mainly recruiting workers from the areas under his control.

This had raised the local employment rate.

In fact, whether it was the Federation or Rapa, the essence of society was the same, all the same.

The low-level working people need to, by means of selling their labor, to realize their ”human value,” and then to take this money to support themselves or to consume.

As long as there are stable job opportunities and an environment, to let people, in addition to supporting themselves, to also have a little ability to consume, then society will tend to be stable.

Now, in what was called the ”Federation Control Zone” by the people, this piece of land had begun to attract people to come here on their own initiative.

Lance had also had Roger and his group to build factories, to recruit workers in this Federation Control Zone, which had also made the entire area visibly stable and prosperous.

A convoy of three luxury cars and some motorcycles was, in the Federation Control Zone, not moving so fast. Rapa’s Foreign Minister was sitting in his car, observing everything here.

”What is that?” he pointed at a tilted instrument of torture at the crossroads and asked.

His secretary, who was sitting in the passenger seat, took the initiative to introduce, ”This is a whipping post. Lance and his group have set the rules here. If someone commits a crime, and it’s not a vicious crime like a murder case, the person will be whipped.”

”Generally, it’s two lashes to start with. For women, it’s one lash to start with, but so far, I haven’t heard of many women being whipped. It’s basically all men.”

The Foreign Minister nodded. He looked at the small stalls and vendors on the side of the road. ”Are these goods all from Lance’s side?”

The secretary nodded. ”They have gotten a lot of goods. Some are transported from the Federation, and some are produced locally by them.”

The Foreign Minister’s expression became a little serious. ”They have already started to produce locally?”

The secretary nodded again. ”They have built many factories. Some of the simple-craft goods or parts are all produced locally by them. Only the relatively complex, or the complex industrial products that they have no production capacity for, are produced in the Federation and then transported here for assembly.”

The Foreign Minister’s expression was constantly changing, in a constant transformation between serious, heavy, and also an indescribable feeling of relief and greed.

Rapa, starting from the last century, the ruling group had begun to consider the matter of industrialization, but after several decades, not only had they not achieved any development in their industrial technology level, but they had also lost the last, little bit of their industrial foundation.

The reason was actually also very simple. To research and to produce themselves, was not as good as to buy a batch from the Federation. It was not just that it was cheap, but it was also more beautiful and durable.

”To make is not as good as to buy” had already been deeply ingrained in the bones of this generation of rulers. As for the independent research and development that the previous generation of the ruling group had wanted, there was already no market for it.

Some of them were even very sure that it was impossible for industry to appear on this land of Rapa. It seemed that with this judgment, the break in Rapa’s industrial development had no relationship with them.

But at this very moment, when the Foreign Minister had heard that they had achieved a part of their own production of industrialized goods, he had an indescribable emotion that was churning.

”These things... are they expensive?”

The secretary shook his head. ”The price is very cheap, even cheaper than the imported ones.”

This sentence had made the Foreign Minister fall silent. If it could be cheaper than the imported ones, it would mean that they already had the possibility of a complete localization of production.

He knew very well the profits of these things and the value behind them.

The reason why Rapa had always been very poor was that this place had always been a semi-agricultural society. The human resources simply could not be put into operation, nor could they produce more wealth.

Why is the Jede Republic rich?

Because they have completed the construction of their industrial foundation. They can let their citizens go to the factories to work, to produce goods, and then to sell them to the poor brothers around them.

They use the money they have earned to pay the workers, and the remaining profits are used to continue to develop their industrialization, to continuously iterate. Now the Jede Republic has become the most powerful country in Yalan, bar none.

Is this an opportunity to overtake on a curve?

He was considering, if they could achieve a complete localization of production, it would mean the maturity of the technology.

They had never gotten these assembly lines and the equipment for production. The federal people had never sold these things to them.

He had considered a lot, a lot. Many ideas were, like lightning, appearing in his mind, and then were quickly fleeting.

Unconsciously, he had arrived at Lance’s manor.

Cassia, as the ambassador of Rapa to the Federation, for him to be able to go to the Federation, was also because the Foreign Minister had personally nodded.

He and Cassia had a good relationship. After all, under his hand... there had to be a few who could do the work. They couldn’t all be good-for-nothings.

Cassia had contacted him, and had talked to him about some matters, which had given him some inspiration and ideas. He felt that it was time to come and have a talk with Lance.

The recent situation was very bad. Outside, cities were constantly losing control. Overnight, it was as if the entire Rapa was in chaos. Out of 12 million people, at least 11 million were anti-government armed forces.

Diego was in his Presidential Palace every day, smashing things. Although the Rapa government had already decided to expand the army to 200,000 as soon as possible, and had also, with the Jede Republic, agreed on a batch of military aid, the Foreign Minister, on the contrary, believed that this might be a turning point for the situation to get worse.

What they should be seeking now was a peaceful solution, not to continue to escalate the conflict through means such as war.

If it could be solved, then it would be fine, but the problem was that they definitely couldn’t.

The government army is expanding. What about those anti-government armed forces?

Don’t they know to continue to expand their own power?

And he had, from Cassia’s side, vaguely heard some of the inside story. With the continuous strengthening of these anti-government armed forces, the federal government’s aid to them would also gradually increase, so that they would always maintain a huge deterrent and threat ability to the Rapa government!

So the core of this trouble was not how to solve those anti-government armed forces, but how to solve the federal people.

The Foreign Minister did not think that with their current backward society and technology, they were a match for the federal people. Then, as a not-so-top-level ruler, he still had another way—

If you can’t beat them, join them.

This trip, was to test the waters, to see if he had a chance to become the next federal person.