Empire of Shadows

Lance stood behind the podium on the high platform. His hands rested on the edge of the podium, his gaze falling on the low-level people of Rapa in front of him.

There were also some local middle-class people around. They were characters like supervisors in the factories, and there were also a very small number of Rapa rich merchants.

Behind them was the Rapa ruling group.

These people were all gathered here today. They stood together, their gazes firmly fixed on Lance behind the podium.

After Lance’s gaze slowly moved over these people, circulating, and then returned, he finally spoke slowly. ”Man, and man, are no different.”

”Even if the color of our hair, the color of our eyes, and the color of our skin are different, our accents are different, and our religious customs and social habits are different,”

”Humans are still humans. You are human, and so am I.”

”I know that some people outside think that I represent the aggressors, led by the federal interest groups. The purpose of our coming here is to invade your poor country, to occupy your poor people, and to try to squeeze oil out of this equally barren soil!”

Immediately, some people in the audience laughed, mainly the middle class and rich merchants, and also some ordinary workers.

They all felt that what Lance had said was very interesting. Lance himself also found it so. He had a not-too-prominent smile on his face, looking at those who were smiling.”I can understand the reason why they think so. It’s like someone breaking into my house. I would definitely think that this person has bad intentions towards me, but I overlook the possibility that he might only want to bring me something.”

”In this moment, with so many attacks on me, on the federal people, on the federal government, what have we actually brought to Rapa?”

He paused again. Every word, every character he spoke, was said relatively slowly. His voice was also very standard and clear, allowing everyone to clearly understand what exactly he was saying.

So much so that at this very moment, the New Federation Center radio station was also broadcasting Lance’s, which was not considered a public speech, to other places.

His question had made many people fall into thought.

Of course, it was not excluded that some people with deep-seated prejudices would, after hearing his words, directly curse him, believing that this was the aggressor’s sophistry. But more people were thinking, and reflecting.

Those who were truly impulsive, who had deep-seated prejudices, and who had the ability to execute, most of them had already joined the army. They wanted to save this country by executing their own ideas.

So, the ones who were left were mostly those who were not extremist.

After about ten or so seconds, Lance continued, ”We have brought stable order, brought a large amount of investment, brought advanced technology, and brought the breath of freedom, from the Federation to Rapa.”

”After the establishment of the New Federation Center, the residents who live here have their own houses.”

”They can live in their own bright, clean, and tidy rooms, instead of living on the roadside. They have a home, a home in the true sense.”

”Besides having a home, they also have a stable job. Six or seven hundred Paras a month. This is almost twice their past per capita income.”

”And, it is very stable.”

After a short pause, Lance’s tone became even more impassioned. ”We have also brought education!”

”We have established six primary schools and four high schools in the New Federation Center, and we promise.”

”Students with excellent academic records in high school will receive a free opportunity to go to the Federation to study at university. The New Federation Center Management Company will bear all the expenses.”

”We have also brought many things, those factories that are in production, those movies on the streets. I am simply unable to describe all the changes that have been brought here.”

”Too many!”

”The free public transportation buses on the streets have made people’s movement more rapid and effortless.”

”The sanitation workers who clean the streets have given us a clean and tidy block and city.”

”We have brought a large number of changes here, all of which are positive and upward changes.”

”I do not believe that this is what an aggressor should do!”

After he had finished speaking, he remained silent. He needed to give people time to think. In a region with a low level of education like Rapa, he needed to give them more time to think.

These words were not fabricated. Anyone who came here and took a tour would find that what he said was true.

Everything that was happening in the New Federation Center, which was the federal concession, had also been spontaneously spreading to the surroundings among the people.

Here, there is no hunger, you can find a stable job, and there are hospitals, schools. This place has almost become what a country should be like in the hearts of all the people!

Before, they might not have noticed these changes so clearly, but now that Lance had said it, the overall feeling had become even clearer.

”I look at you all, and at everyone here, and I ask myself.”

”Am I an aggressor?”

He shook his head. ”I don’t have any answer. Yes, or no, none.”

”Because some things don’t need an answer. They need to be discovered, to discover what I am doing, and what life is like here.”

”If letting you live a decent life, letting you have dignity, having a family, having an income and the ability to spend it, is the aggression in the mouths of some people,”

”Then I believe that if someone in this world were to rank the aggressors, I would definitely be at the bottom.”

”I am an unqualified aggressor. I have not brought destruction, devastation, or slavery.”

”All I have brought you is happiness and freedom!”

The people at the scene began to slowly applaud. Soon the applause had become a continuous wave, and the listeners in the farther places had also fallen into a deep thought.

”I really haven’t heard of the federal people doing anything bad. Since they came, they have been building factories, investing, and hiring locals.”

”I also hear that they have renovated the slums of Zhuolan, allowing the poor people to all live in apartments!”

Under the broadcast of the radio in the farther cities, some people gathered there. After listening to the broadcast content that came from the large loudspeakers, they couldn’t help but discuss these matters with the people around them.

Everyone’s eyes were filled with a longing and a desire for the New Federation Center. They also wanted to go to the concession, wanted to have a stable and decent job, wanted to gain respect and dignity, wanted to gain... many things!

Those who were not very familiar with Lance and the federal people had begun to think along these lines. Is Lance an aggressor?

It was difficult for people to make a judgment. So much so that some had even taken the initiative to find reasons for the concession—

”He just didn’t want his achievements to be destroyed by some of the bastards in the Rapa government, so they took that piece of land!”

When a person’s actions make people unable to find a reason to attack, they will begin to defend this person.

Just like at this moment!

Reporters were continuously pressing the shutter buttons. The flashlights were continuously blinking. At the moment the flashlights lit up, the silver light illuminated him, making him, in that instant, and the countless subsequent moments, exceptionally sacred!

The thunderous applause at the scene, under his raised hand, gradually subsided. He said with a smile, ”So, I don’t think I am an aggressor. I have only brought happiness and freedom.”

”Today, we are standing here to celebrate the official completion and start of production of our new factories.”

”This place will accommodate more than 5,000 workers, allowing at least 5,000 families to return to a normal life.”

”In the future, we will continue to invest more factories here, build more buildings, and recruit more workers.”

”Thank you very much for patiently listening to me say some possibly not-so-interesting things. Thank you.”

”Now, I announce that... the factory is officially starting production. Please, our workers, enter the production workshop!”

Lance also began to applaud. On the side, the ribbon leading to the factory’s production workshop was pulled open, and colorful ribbons fluttered down.

The workers, with a longing for the future on their faces, had walked into the factory with their heads held high.

They would be working here, producing goods with a high intensity, for at least twelve hours a day. Sometimes, it might be fourteen hours.

Even in the Federation, the capitalists would exclaim ”incredible.”

Because even with such long working hours, there was no exploitation, no oppression. Everything was voluntary.

They would not complain because of the long hours of physical labor and low income. So much so that no union organization would proactively contact them, help them with various aids, or even proactively ask for increased benefits.

No one would think that working long hours was exploitation and oppression. For them, not having a job was, not having one.

Those federal people, those moral saints, might find it hard to understand the situation of these people, because they had always been in a state of happiness.

If one day they were also in a hell like Rapa, as long as they were given a little chance, even just a little.

Let alone fourteen hours of high-intensity work a day, even if you added two more hours, they would still be happy!

The local reporters in the Federation and Rapa had faithfully recorded all this. Soon, Lance’s speech and some photos had appeared in the federal and local Rapa newspapers.

The federal media, such as the ”Federal Post,” had used ”The Aggressor’s Reflection” as the title, and had opened a special section to explain to the federal people the things that Lance and the Empire Chamber of Commerce had done in Rapa.

They had also used many sets of data, for example, the employment rate, the happiness index, the per capita income, and the like, to explain to the public that the local people of Rapa who were working and living in the New Federation Center were, in all aspects, many times better than the Rapa people outside the New Federation Center.

Their income, or something else.

The federal people were very interested in this aspect. Whether it was the federal government or the federal people, they were all seeking more international recognition and a sense of honor.

Without a doubt, bringing federal civilization to the barbaric and backward Rapa, and helping the local people to live a happy life, was indeed something that could make the federal people feel very honored.

In the country, the things about Lance and what he had done in Rapa had begun to be gradually paid attention to by public opinion.

People had also begun to discuss Lance even more.

Because the gang was also an indispensable part of society in this era, an important symbol of the era, these media had not avoided Lance’s identity and the things he had done in the past.

It was just that most of it was glossed over, so people couldn’t be said to dislike him or be dissatisfied with him.

In Rapa, this kind of propaganda was even more exaggerated. Lance had, overnight, become like the savior of Rapa.

Many people were, with a kind of pilgrimage mindset, heading from all over Rapa towards Zhuolan.

They wanted to, with their own eyes, to see everything that was happening in the New Federation Center.

They wanted to, with their own ears, to listen to their compatriots who were living in the New Federation Center talk about their current life and work situation.

At this time, it was actually not long before the New Year, but Rapa was in a state of high pressure. It was precisely because of this situation that people wanted even more to find a dreamland that could allow them to escape reality.

”Your side can also start to push your plans,” Lance sat in the warm room. The low-key and luxurious decoration and furniture here allowed any small item to be exchanged for several, or even dozens, or hundreds of Rapa people’s lives.

The faces of the ministers and the patriarchs of the major families in the room were all filled with a fawning smile.

They had already defected to the Federation, and had no way out. At this moment, they could only follow Lance, and go all the way to the end.

However, fortunately, this path was visible. It had no fog, and it was not dark night. They could see the end of the road at a glance—a magnificent, huge building called the ”Federation.”

That was their final destination.

These gentlemen, who, in the eyes of ordinary people, often represented authority, were much younger in front of Lance, and were as careful as grandchildren.

The purpose of having President Diego promulgate the law allowing regions to have a high degree of autonomy was to establish more ”New Federation Centers.” And these people, these local forces who had defected, the cities they controlled, would become one after another of ”voting blocs” that longed for the Federation.

Lance would arrange for the federal government and some capital to invest in their territory. This kind of thing did not require any consideration of whether anyone would be willing.

Here, they did not need to pay taxes. Labor was cheap, and there was also a relatively complete railway network. They had no reason not to come here.

Some capital groups were already in negotiations. Once the negotiations were finalized, these enterprises would quickly start to invest in and build factories in these regions, and would recruit local workers.

These local people, who had begun to get used to stable work and life, would eventually become the Federation’s most staunch supporters.

”Mr. Lance, on our side...” Minister Rabour’s face showed a trace of a probing expression.

Lance had previously promised them that they would be given a part of the shares in the investments that were landed in the Federation. This was also one of the reasons why they fully supported Lance.

Who doesn’t want to live a better life?

The Federation’s industrial level had already been fully displayed in the war. It was absolutely world-class. If they wanted to get more benefits, and a more stable income, they would definitely have to find a way to join these federal investment projects.

The local Rapa projects would eventually be eliminated by these outside projects. If they could not finalize this now, then soon they would also be eliminated.

Business competition is very cruel. In the past, they could rely on the advantage of power to interfere in market behavior, but in the future, it was unlikely that they would be able to do so.

Lance nodded. ”I have already talked to those enterprises about this. They will give up a part of the shares to you, but!”

He emphasized his tone. ”You only have the right to dividends, and you do not have the right to interfere in the operation of the enterprise. I need to make this clear to you first.”

The others’ faces immediately showed smiles. They all expressed their understanding of Lance’s request. After all, they did not understand at all how those factories operated, and also those high-tech things that came from the Federation.

The sumptuous dinner had not yet been served. These gentlemen were already eager to sit at the dining table, and they were still in the capacity of ”masters.”

”Mr. Lance, how long will this civil war roughly last?”

Someone asked this question. The attention of the others was also focused.

Lance thought for a moment. ”It will be completely over before the first half of next year. The time left for them is not much.”

The promulgation of the autonomy bill actually meant that the Rapa government and the anti-government armed forces had already reached the end. Besides continuing to fiercely tear at each other to escape the cage as soon as possible, they had no other choice.

If they did not move, the increasingly tightening cage would only strangle them, instead of giving them freedom.

Whether it was Diego or those anti-government armed forces, the time left for them was actually not much.

In the next period of time, Lance continuously consolidated his and the Federation’s new image in the hearts of the Rapa people. One after another, the regions began to, around the ”New Federation Center model,” to build city centers with local, special characteristics.

More and more federal enterprises began to try to invest locally. More factories, more job opportunities, and more Rapa people had the opportunity to enjoy the happiness brought by stable work.

They also seemed to, in this kind of happiness, gradually feel the ”goodwill” from the Federation.

They would even develop a very special emotion—

Even if Rapa is really annexed by the Federation, it doesn’t seem to be a bad thing.

At least under the rule of the federal people, they are happy, but under the rule of the Diego government, they are not.

The thoughts of the people are sometimes actually very simple. They simply long for happiness.

The New Year had arrived in this kind of tense yet soothing atmosphere.

Lance had returned to the Federation in advance. He would spend the New Year in Golden Port City this year. Although the environment in Rapa was not bad, compared to the Federation, it was still much worse.

Patricia and Ace had also returned from the Lawrence Farm. They would spend the New Year with Lance, and then after a while, they would return to the farm.

Little Ace was still a little unfamiliar with Lance. After all, the time they were apart far exceeded the time they were together, but children are still very easy to get along with.

Ace was still very young. He had not even formed an independent personality and memory. The him now was just a ”chaotic” individual.

After a few days of contact, he had again become fond of sticking to Lance, and always wanted to be held by him.

For his eldest son, Lance still reserved some patience.

Although he had it, it wasn’t much.