Empire of Shadows

Ethan sat there, deep in thought. He wasn’t stupid; he simply sometimes trusted his fists more than his mind.

He listened to Lance’s words. Ever since they came to the Federation, Lance had always been able to point him toward the future direction.

”I will consider it,” he gave a thoughtful reply.

If anyone else had said, ”I will consider it,” Lance would have dismissed it as a mere formality and would never bring up the subject again, not even asking how they were getting along with their ’consideration.’ There would be no need.

But he knew that when Ethan said he would consider it, he genuinely meant he would seriously think about it, or even try it.

Some people are complex, and you can’t simplify them; when they tell you they are busy today, they might not truly be busy, but just don’t want to be with you.

But some people are simple, and when dealing with them, you shouldn’t overcomplicate things, because what they say is what they mean.

Ethan accepted Lance’s advice. The scientific advancement of sports competition was a recent trend.

Apart from giving athletes performance-enhancing drugs, this primarily manifested in scientific training, scientific stamina allocation, and scientific competition management.

Thus, two schools of thought arose: the Traditionalists and the Scientists.Change in any industry is never gentle or silent; this was inevitably going to be a massive transformation.

The Scientists would certainly send representatives to prove that their method was the most scientific and rational way to manage sports.

Regardless of how honorable their victory was, the most important thing in sports competition was always the championship, not the process.

Lance didn’t press him further. Ethan was already an adult, only a couple of years younger than Lance. If he chose not to change his current fighting style, Lance would respect his decision.

After all, this was his current comfort zone. It was not only comfortable but allowed him to constantly progress. As for whether he would develop diseases later in life due to the heavy blows his brain took in his youth, that was a problem for his old age.

Given his current earning power and the security Lance provided, he would be comfortable for life, even if he ended up bedridden.

Lance chatted with him about things outside of boxing, such as Morris’s wedding, and how other former friends were now on the verge of marriage.

”Sean is already married, Corinna recently got a new boyfriend, and even Gerald has dated several girls.”

Listening to Lance share news about his former friends, Ethan was occasionally lost in thought.

He had dedicated most of his energy to training. When he looked back, three or four years had passed; he couldn’t even recall clearly.

During those years, he was constantly fighting, training, and improving himself, sometimes causing him to neglect the people and events of the past.

He focused wholeheartedly on his career because both Lance and Elvin wanted him to go far in this industry.

Therefore, he had to work even harder to achieve that.

”If you meet the right person, you can consider getting married too,” Lance said seriously.

”You’re not that young anymore, and it’s time to get married. A wife can sometimes help you relieve some stress.”

”A person can’t be tense all the time; it’s good to relax occasionally.”

Ethan listened and nodded. ”I will consider it.”

Right, ”consider it” again. But he was likely genuinely going to think about it.

Lance and he talked extensively. Ethan hoped to win the heavyweight title this year or next. That way, he could slow down a little and have more time for personal life.

He was currently full of drive, and he couldn’t allow himself to slacken, because he didn’t know if he could return to his current state once he relaxed.

People have inertia. When you get used to enjoying life, being asked to exert even a little effort can feel like a disaster.

They talked for a long time. That night, Lance offered to let Ethan stay over, as there were many rooms in the mansion, but Ethan insisted on returning to the gym. It was not time to relax yet.

Lance somewhat appreciated Ethan’s ”naive” self-discipline. It was certainly better than those who told themselves to stop but always ended up jerking off the next day.

”Do you drive?” Lance asked.

Ethan shook his head. ”I know how to drive, but I rarely do, and I’m not very good at it.”

Lance planned to give him a car. The gym’s cars looked old and run-down, hardly fitting for a future boxing champion.

People often say that substance is more important than appearance, but people often overlook substance and focus only on appearance.

A luxury car often brought not only envious glances but much more besides.

But it didn’t matter. Lance was confident someone at the gym would be able to drive, and drive well.

He ordered someone to select a car worth over ten thousand dollars from the garage and had it sent over with the motorcade, along with Ethan.

Over the next few days, Lance focused his attention on the negotiations between the Federal government and the Rapa Provisional Government. Progress was visible to the naked eye. It could be said that the entire Rapa Provisional Government was merely a shell.

Aside from the president and the high-ranking officials who were Rapan in name, the entire new government had been willingly hollowed out by Federal personnel.

However, just as Lance told Pedro, the happiness of the people does not depend on whether the president, or any de facto supreme ruler, shares their race or ethnicity.

It depends on whether that ruler, that government, that nation, truly places its people in an important position.

If the Rapan people could achieve happiness under Federal rule, would they still care who ruled them?

No, they wouldn’t.

In addition to Lance’s focus on these matters, many people in Deterland’s financial district were also following the negotiations between the Federal government and the Rapa Provisional Government.

As negotiation progress was disclosed, stocks of companies related to Rapa began to rise to varying degrees.

This was particularly true for Hope Mining. Based on the publicly available information, the relationship between the Rapa Provisional Government and the Federal government was far better than people had imagined. Moreover, the head of the Rapa delegation stated they would re-examine and reconfirm past agreements signed between the Federal government and the Diego government.

The current public information confirmed this, which was extremely positive news, suggesting the state-owned asset commission agreement signed by Diego and Hope Mining should also be approved.

This meant Hope Mining’s stock would soar again!

The effect of this ”landing to pick up passengers” was excellent. The stock’s trading volume in the market increased significantly, and confidence in Hope Mining returned.

People were willing to support the stock, which would ensure better performance. For those who had re-boarded the plane after the landing or invested additional funds, it was now time to open the champagne bottles at halftime.

Cooper and his stockbroker returned to their former life of extravagance. Because the stocks he held were highly valuable, and the market was currently favorable, the bank maintained an exceptional tolerance toward him.

Nearly seventy percent of his current consumption was done through credit notes (signing the bill). The bank would cover the cost first, then settle the total account with him and charge a service fee.

When a person spends money without any actual ”expenditure”—meaning cash is not handed over in the transaction—they gradually develop a misconception about consumption, becoming increasingly extravagant.

Because these purchases feel like they have no ”loss.”

Normal transactions, involving cash payment upon delivery, involve a loss: the loss of personal cash, which is transferred to another party during the exchange.

But signing a bill involves no such loss. Often, he didn’t know or care exactly how much money he had spent; as long as the price wasn’t outrageous, he would simply sign his name.

Cooper had now become part of Deterland’s fabric. A successful investor always attracted the attention of many aspiring investors.

Cooper, thanks to his high-value stocks, began frequently attending various investor events in Deterland.

Cooper had once heard a joke that suggested if you just had a good suit, you didn’t need to work and could live happily in Deterland.

This was because there were so many investor events.

Some investor events conducted a qualification check for attendees, but a significant portion did not.

People could easily sneak into various events to eat and drink, and perhaps even leave with some gifts.

These gifts had specialized recycling centers in Deterland. From a pack of cigarettes to a whole ship, as long as you had it and accepted their price, they would buy it back.

These things were once very distant to Cooper. He used to listen to them as a joke and often repeated them to others as one.

But now that he was in the industry, he felt his past self was ridiculous.

One could never truly understand the charm of money without coming to Deterland.

He even heard a saying he’d never heard before:

If you wish a person happiness, send them to Deterland.

If you wish a person to go to hell, send them to Deterland.

Here, heaven and hell stood side by side!

In early May, all issues between the Federal government and the Rapa Provisional Government were fully settled. The two parties signed the cooperation agreement inside the Presidential Palace, exchanging documents, posing for photos, and commemorating the event.

The current President selected by the new government, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, personally traveled to the Federation to shake hands and take photos with the Federal President.

People praised the new Rapa government for making the right decision, asserting that the Rapan people would gain immense benefits from their proactive and open attitude.

However, many people, the vast majority, did not know that the former Minister of Foreign Affairs was already a legal Federal citizen.

In fact, his naturalization had been fully resolved as early as late last year. He was now a 100% Federal citizen, enjoying everything that Federal citizens were entitled to.

A group of people were watching this scene in a room, watching the television.

Television was rapidly spreading in the New Golden City, and related industries were developing quickly. Cable and wireless television were both growing, giving TV owners more choices.

Cooper sat on the sofa, watching the screen, his brow furrowed.

He wasn’t the only one; everyone else in the room was frowning too.

Even at this point, the state-owned asset commission agreement between Hope Mining and the Diego government had not been raised in the negotiations, let alone resolved.

One man in the room looked visibly distraught. He was chewing his fingernails, his voice squeezed out between barely open teeth. ”This is a massive issue. The Federal government and this new Rapa government shouldn’t be ignorant of it.”

”And I find it strange that Hope Mining’s people didn’t approach them, requesting this clause be included in the negotiations.”

”After all, the agreement they signed with the Rapa government is reasonable and legal. What is reasonable and legal should be protected. Moreover, some far more unreasonable items were kept in the negotiations with the Federal government. Why was our reasonable one not even mentioned?”

He was referring to the ”New Federal Center.” Both the Federal government and the new Rapa government recognized the existence of the concession and its one-hundred-year lease.

The Federal government also addressed this in the negotiations: they planned to build an economic special zone in Rapa around the New Federal Center.

They would subsequently contact Lance and use the concession as a pilot project for promoting Federal policies and plans in the Yalan region, ensuring that policies that worked well in the Federation would have the same effect locally.

This also meant that the concession might become a barometer for Rapa’s future domestic policy. If people wanted to know what their future lives would look like, they could simply take a trip inside the concession.

If such demonstrably ”unreasonable” items could be upheld, why wasn’t the matter of commissioning state assets to Hope Mining discussed?

Someone commented, ”Perhaps Hope Mining didn’t try hard enough on this matter?”

”Does anyone have the phone number for their board or CEO?”

”Let’s ask what exactly happened, and why this matter wasn’t discussed!”

The people gathered here were all invested in Hope Mining stock; they were all investors, which made them highly sensitive to this issue.

They had all met the CEO at a previous event, so someone had the phone number for the CEO’s office.

The person with the number immediately stood up. ”I have their number. I’ll give them a call.”

As he walked to the phone and picked up the receiver, the attention of everyone in the room fixed intently upon him.