Empire of Shadows

”He is extorting us!”

The President of Jede said this to Fernandez over the phone. He spoke his truest inner thoughts, his tone carrying a hint of anger.

”He can’t just use this method of extorting us to solve every problem he runs into. This is not a healthy problem-solving attitude, Fer.”

”Fer” was Mr. President’s abbreviation for Fernandez, which could also be called a nickname. Only very close friends would do this.

If the relationship was very ordinary, omitting a part would be seen as an impolite act.

Fernandez also agreed with the President’s view. ”Actually, Diego has money himself. I’ve heard through some channels that after they sold their grain last year, the money was all deposited in federal banks.”

”He has a lot of grain in his hands, at least twenty or thirty million. Adding his previous savings, he can actually come up with this money himself.”

The President continued his words, ”But he separates public and private affairs very clearly.”

”Yes, that’s exactly it!”

”He refuses to use his own wealth to pay for the country’s affairs. This is the most ridiculous joke I’ve ever heard, but I can’t laugh. Instead, I feel a bit stifled.””How did such a stupid person become president, and not be overthrown?”

”I still can’t figure this out!”

The President of Jede laughed heartily and said, ”Actually, you’ve already said the answer, haven’t you?”

”He’s stupid enough. That’s the reason.”

Fernandez sighed, ”Yes, who wouldn’t want a stupid president?”

”Do you think so too?”

The two started joking. Fernandez laughingly admitted, ”This way, at least I can be at home with my family now, instead of being partnered with a fool thousands of kilometers away!”

The President knew what he meant. Fernandez was already married and had a son and a daughter.

His wife was a star in Jede, with outstanding performance in singing and dancing.

Her family background was also good. Although it could be said that the family was in decline, this kind of family background was precisely the best background.

This marriage was secretly arranged by Mr. President.

This way, Fernandez’s wife’s family background could help Fernandez make up for his shortcomings, that is, his birthright was not enough.

Any place, country, civilization, society, in fact, all have layers of classes, and in some matters, they are very old-fashioned and conservative.

If Lance didn’t marry Patricia, it would be very difficult for him to integrate into the circle of federal people. They would treat Lance as an outlier different from them.

Not to say that they would take the initiative to deal with him, but at least they would not engage in some relatively sensitive cooperation with him, and would not become his friend in business or career.

Just because he himself was not a federal person.

But after having Patricia, the situation had changed a lot, because every federal person knew one thing.

That is, his and Patricia’s child possessed half of the purest federal bloodline, and this child, who could inherit everything from Lance, was also half federal.

When he gets married again in the future, and finds a federal woman, Lance’s bloodline will only be one-quarter left, then one-eighth, one-sixteenth, one-thirty-second...

Until it is so diluted that people can hardly find the ”mixed-blood” part in his bloodline. As for Lance, he will also become an ancestor that his descendants don’t mention much.

The one who will truly be often mentioned by people is Ace. As Lance’s eldest son, people will generally believe that the Lance Family has truly prospered because of him!

Ensuring this point is very important, because the federal people also have their own pride and rules.

Look at the proud achievements that the Federation has made in these years. How many of them were achieved by foreigners?

In fact, there are many, including various scientific inventions. At least half of these scientific research achievements were developed by foreigners or laboratories led by foreigners.

But all the achievements are attributed to the federal people, because it is not allowed.

Like the few ”inventors” in the Federation who are relatively famous now, they can invent two or three small things every day, and register four or five hundred technical patents every year, and almost cover all scientific categories.

This person is either a madman, or a god.

He even has time to go to the opera, to watch movies, and there are also reporters who have photographed him entering a hotel with two girls at the same time for the night.

He himself is playing and enjoying every day, and will only occasionally go to the laboratory, the research institute, the company, or something. Most of the time, he is socializing, and enjoying.

Then how does he manage to have one or two, or two or three inventions every day?

It’s very simple. As long as those foreigners contribute their research results to him, he can become the master of these research results.

This is the truest side of the Federation, but there will never be any reports to report these things.

The person who plays the good guy is, to a large extent, not a good person.

Fortunately, Lance has a solution. By marrying Patricia, people will think—anyway, after he dies, this property will still remain in the Federation, and will be in the hands of the federal people.

If Ace is a smart child, then a new financial magnate may be on the rise.

If he is not a smart, and a bit of a stupid child, then he will be chewed up by capital and swallowed into its stomach.

The situation Fernandez had encountered before was similar to Lance’s, but he didn’t need to find a solution himself, because the president had taken care of it for him.

With a wife who came from a privileged class, whose family was in decline, his background was settled.

This marriage, which could be regarded as a political marriage, was much happier than imagined. A capable, humorous, and good-looking man who was heavily relied upon by Mr. President was sought-after anywhere.

His relationship with his wife was good; having two children was proof.

As soon as he mentioned his wife and family, Fernandez had an impulse to go back and see them.

”Consider it my debt to you, Fer. After your work is over this time, I will give you a long vacation. You can take your wife and children anywhere, and the government will pay for all the expenses!”

Fernandez sighed, ”You said the same thing last time, and as a result, I’m in Rapa now.”

The president laughed heartily. ”I promise this. I’ll keep my word!”

He paused for a moment as he spoke. ”If we don’t agree to Diego’s request, what will he do?”

Fernandez was a little troubled. ”This is why I’m calling. His attitude is very ambiguous.”

”The feeling he gives me is that if our side doesn’t agree, he will cooperate with the federal people and sell a piece of land to the Federation.”

”This way, the Federation will be able to smoothly station troops in the Yalan region, which will have a great impact on us.”

”At that time, all the countries in the entire Yalan will have to act according to the Federation’s face. It will have a great impact on our development plans.”

The president, after listening seriously, also sighed. ”These damn federal people, their words are like farts!”

It could be heard that his mood was not good now, and he was also helpless. ”Let’s discuss it.”

”You can talk to Diego first. Even if our side discusses and approves it, it’s impossible for us to really pay him 90 million Federal Sols at once. We may not even have that much foreign exchange.”

”And even if we do, it’s impossible to use it on this.”

The currencies of the Yalan region, because of their limitation of not circulating in the international market, their value in the international currency market is very low.

If, by selling things to them, they get their Paras, but are unable to spend it anywhere, then their currency is no different from waste paper.

With poor international circulation, if you want to buy things internationally, the best way is to use the commonly accepted, centralized currencies. The Federal Sol is one of them.

In these years, all aspects of their development have been good, and they have many customers internationally, so the Federal Sol has many use scenarios, and its value is very firm.

To want to get these foreign exchanges is not an easy matter for the people of Yalan. This means that they must at least sell 90 million Federal Sols’ worth of goods to the Federation, or to other countries or forces that also use Federal Sols for settlement.

Yalan doesn’t have much to offer, just tobacco, coffee, and young women.

To get 90 million from these things is really not an easy matter.

Fernandez also knew about the shortage of foreign exchange in the country. He made a suggestion, ”I’ll go and ask Diego, to see if he is willing to let us use the foreign exchange he has in the bank first. This way, we can use other currencies or valuable things to exchange with him.”

Mr. President immediately agreed. ”You go and talk to him.”

This was clearly a very favorable matter for Jede.

After hanging up the phone, Fernandez did not immediately go to find President Diego to talk about this, but gave his wife a call.

It was July now, and the children were also on vacation. They should be at home, or have gone on a trip.

In the summer, people all like to go to the seaside, or to a cooler place. When he was in Jede, he would take his children on vacation every summer and winter. This time, because he had work, he couldn’t participate. He also didn’t know if his wife had made any arrangements.

The call was quickly answered. ”I thought you would take the children on a trip.”

The thought of his wife being on the other end of the receiver made an uncontrollable smile appear on his face. ”Are you okay?”

His wife’s gentle voice came from the receiver. ”Very good.”

”Except that you are not at home.”

”What about the children?”

”They are also very good. They are just too noisy, and are always asking me when you will be back.”

To be able to feel the fervent feelings and emotions hidden in her voice, Fernandez even had an impulse to go back immediately.

But he held it back. He knew what was important, and what was not so important. He also knew that if this matter was not handled well, they would not have a good life in the future.

These people of Jede, him, the president, the cabinet, why would they, time and time again, satisfy Diego’s seemingly very rude requests? Is it because of... benevolence?

Of course not!

It was because if they couldn’t handle this matter, their days would not be good either.

As the ”vanguard against the Federation,” once Yalan fell into the hands of the Federation, the high-level of the Jede Republic would definitely be purged, and it would be a bloody and cruel purge.

The president, the ministers, and also him, and their families, I’m afraid they would have no future. That’s why they were treating this matter so seriously.

After the two had chatted for a while, Fernandez’s mood had gradually eased. ”I will try to get back as soon as possible. At that time, I will bring you some gifts.”

”I love you!”

His wife, with her arms around the two children who had run over in the middle and had insisted on talking to Fernandez, said with a laugh, ”I love you too, dear!”

”Take care of yourself, and if you can, come back occasionally, or early.”

After they had blessed each other, Fernandez had directly hung up. He was a person who was focused on his work. This could also be considered a very special quality of his.

Others would always procrastinate, but what he said, he could do.

Fernandez’s wife, with some reluctance, hung up the phone. She was only in her thirties, not yet forty, and was at an age where she loved her family very much.

A sigh was enough to show the truest feelings in her heart at this time.

She placed the receiver on the phone’s base, and then smiled and looked down at her two children. ”Alright, Dad has already gone to work. Shouldn’t you also go and finish your homework?”

Hearing the word ”homework,” a painful expression appeared on the two children’s faces.

They were very reluctant, but under the effect of the home tutor, they still, with their feet dragging, had said a ”okay,” and had left this place together.

Jede did not, like the Federation, implement universal education. In the Jede Republic, education was a very sacred, and very influential matter.

Because the educational resources, compared to the Federation, were still very limited, it was impossible for them to, like the Federation, have a primary school, a middle school, and a high school on every street.

It was even more impossible, like some of the towns with only 20,000 or 30,000 people, to also have a complete education system up to high school or even a ”town university.” The Jede Republic did not have so many people.

So they had adopted a ”five-entry” system.

That is, five exams, to decide the future of one’s life.

After three years of schooling, there will be a first exam, to filter out those students who, for various reasons, for example, their attention cannot be concentrated, they have an aversion to learning, or for some other reason, are unable to study well.

These students would lose the opportunity to receive a free education. If they still wanted to go to school, it was not impossible. They would have to spend money to go to a private school, and the fees were very high.

After five exams, which would take about thirteen years, they could enter a university and begin their advanced studies.

Each of the ”entry” exams was a huge event in Jede. The further you went, the more so. Like the ”fourth entry” and the ”fifth entry,” almost the entire society would be in an uproar!

Because everyone knew that to have completed the last exam meant that they had embarked on a fast track in life.

After graduating from university, they could immediately be arranged for a government job, or to continue their advanced studies. Then after graduation, it was possible that they would directly start to work as a cadre.

This was an opportunity for an ordinary person to change their destiny. Even for a family like Fernandez’s, they attached great importance to their children’s studies.

If they could graduate from Jede university regardless of whether they went abroad to study, in the future, it would be very easy for Fernandez to arrange for them. After all, they were university graduates!

The two children also knew that this was not a joke. Although they were not very willing, they still left this place.

At this time, they missed the time when Fernandez was still at home. If he was still at home, now they should have been on their way to a trip, or already on a trip.

Fernandez’s wife, after she had arranged for the children’s matters, had come to the garden. They lived in a villa, not a manor.

The manor was a little far from the center of the city. For Fernandez himself, there was no problem as he had a car, but his family would have some trouble in commuting, so they had just directly lived in a villa in the urban area.

She picked up the watering can and began to water the flowers and plants that were planted in the yard. She liked these plants. To watch them grow from a seed to a blooming flower or something, would give her a full sense of accomplishment.

Just as she was taking care of these things, suddenly, a guy who looked like a plumber was standing outside the yard. He had pressed the doorbell, which had attracted the attention of Fernandez’s wife.

She put down the watering can, wiped her hands, and walked over, but she did not get close to the yard gate, but kept a certain distance.

”Who are you looking for?”

The plumber outside the door, holding his baseball cap, said with a smile, ”Ma’am, I’m here to check the boiler line. A gentleman named Fernandez has booked the service.”

Every villa has a boiler. In the winter, these boilers have to bear a very important work.

Heating, hot water, all kinds, all rely on this boiler.

And once the boiler is lit, it basically won’t be extinguished for a whole winter. But this thing is both water and fire, so it needs to be checked and repaired regularly, generally in the summer.

In the past, every one or two years in the summer, Fernandez would have someone come to repair these boilers, so she did not feel that there was anything strange.

She walked to the door, and took the initiative to open the door, which could only stop a gentleman, but not a scoundrel, and welcomed the other party in. ”I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

The plumber smiled, revealing his white teeth. He looked very sunny, not at all like a bad person.

He was carrying a toolbox, and walked into the yard. ”Ma’am, can you tell me where the boiler is?”

The woman looked back at the villa she lived in. The boiler room was at the back of the house. She hesitated for a moment, but it was broad daylight, and besides her two children, there were also four maids in the house. There shouldn’t be any danger.

”Please come with me, sir.”

The plumber followed behind her with a beaming smile. ”Then I’ll have to trouble you, ma’am.”

More than ten minutes later, two maintenance vehicles from the pipeline company had entered the villa area. The community service company had already received the registration information from one of the villas. Their boiler had a little problem, and needed to be replaced and repaired...