Homo Sapiens

The Homo Sapiens Company invested heavily in building infrastructure on the Seven Sisters Islands and the Moon Islands.

「Elsewhere.」

「In the harbor of French Saint-Denis Island.」

Governor Selin and Charles Russell, the head of France’s African Intelligence Department, wore ashen expressions.

Charles Russell clutched the intelligence file in his hand. ”The first three companies dispatched to Mad Island lost contact around 6:00 PM last night.”

”Also, Federer, the man we were backing, died last night in his Morondava villa, apparently from a sudden heart attack.”

Selin scoffed. ”Heh, a sudden heart attack? Does the Homo Sapiens Company take us for fools?”

”What’s America saying?”

Charles Russell shook his head. ”Those upstarts from the New Continent are completely unreliable. They say they’ll continue holding exercises with the Tianzhu Navy and press ahead with the Ceylon Ocean security treaty.”

Selin could already see what America was thinking. ”Bastards! Is America trying to use us as their pawns?”

Although America’s goal was to contain the Homo Sapiens Company’s expansion, at this stage, its military was in no position to confront them head-on.

Therefore, as long as the Homo Sapiens Company didn’t cross America’s red lines, they were unlikely to react strongly.

The Maldives Islands were within Tianzhu’s sphere of influence.

The Seven Sisters Islands were a member of the Commonwealth.

The Moon Islands, Mad Island, and the Maxlin Islands were in France’s sphere of influence.

None of these regions were directly within America’s sphere of influence. America was currently more focused on the areas around the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. As long as the Homo Sapiens Company didn’t stir up trouble in West Asia, America wouldn’t react strongly.

On the contrary, the clash between the Homo Sapiens Company and France was a relief for America. It gave the Pentagon and the City of the Council the idea of diverting the threat elsewhere.

After much thought, Selin realized there was nothing he could do about the Homo Sapiens Company. In fact, he now had to guard against them making a move on Matena Island. After all, Matena Island was part of the Moon Islands, and the Moon Islands had never renounced its sovereignty over the area.

Additionally, French Saint-Denis Island and the Maxlin Islands would also become targets for the Homo Sapiens Company.

He sighed. ”Halt reinforcements to Mad Island. We’ll send troops to Matena Island instead. Also, have the mainland transfer some nuclear warheads for deployment on Saint-Denis Island and Matena Island.”

Selin clearly understood that if a conventional war broke out with the Homo Sapiens Company now, France would undoubtedly be defeated. Only by deploying nuclear warheads could they hope to deter the aggressive corporation.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Through Black Ship’s intelligence channels, the Pentagon had learned that Fa Ji didn’t dare to strike back in the face of the aggressive Homo Sapiens Company.

After listening to Reid Van’s report, a sneer appeared on the face of Edward, the chief of staff in charge of countering the Homo Sapiens Company.

”Waving the white flag again. A bunch of spineless chickens.”

”According to our intelligence, the Homo Sapiens Company has established fully-authorized subsidiaries on the Maldives Islands, the Seven Sisters Islands, and the Moon Islands. Mad Island, however, is still in chaos. We’ve discovered that Federer, the man the Gauls were backing, is dead.”

Edward studied the map, his brow furrowed in thought.

Since Africa had historically been the sphere of influence for France and Britain, America didn’t have many proxies there.

Now, facing the Homo Sapiens Company’s sudden aggression, it would certainly be difficult for America to send enough personnel over.

Edward had another concern as well.

He worried that Mad Island could be a trap. After all, there were people of East Asian descent living on the island, making it easy for Homo Sapiens Company employees to blend in.

That combination of tropical rainforests and mountainous terrain always left a bad taste in his mouth. If they were dragged into a quagmire of war there, the losses could easily outweigh the gains.

After all, over the past few months, the Pentagon and Black Ship had repeatedly joined forces to try and uproot Three-leaf Oak in Central America.

But faced with the Amazon Rainforest and the Andes Mountains, they had not only failed to eradicate Three-leaf Oak but had been led around in circles by them instead.

Now, the mere sight of tropical rainforests and mountains made Edward’s head ache.

’The rainforests and mountains of Central America are a big enough headache already.’

’If we get involved with Mad Island now, the City of the Council will never approve sending troops.’

Under pressure from the Homo Sapiens Company, the City of the Council had set aside some of its internal conflicts. It was trying to restore America’s industrial chains while also levying higher taxes on the wealthy to fund the fight against the company.

But that money didn’t grow on trees, and even the Federal Reserve System’s ”nuclear-powered money printer” came at a cost.

The City of the Council was now more inclined to use its funds for researching and developing weapons that could either compete with or counter the Homo Sapiens Company.

As for getting into a proxy war with the Homo Sapiens Company right now, Edward wasn’t optimistic about the United States Army’s chances. The technological gap in their weaponry was just too large.

After long deliberation, Edward abandoned the idea of intervening on Mad Island.

”Reid, we don’t have the resources to intervene directly on Mad Island.”

Reid Van readily agreed. ”I agree we should stay out of it. However, I think we can continue to support France and let them stay bogged down fighting the Homo Sapiens Company in Africa.”

”Alright. You make the arrangements.”

...

Unlike the great powers like America and France, the small coastal nations on the East Coast of Africa were all trembling with fear. Even the Transvaal Republic, known as the top dog of Southern Africa, was deeply worried.

The Homo Sapiens Company was simply too ruthless.

Soon, Wu Wei began a business tour of these regions on behalf of the Homo Sapiens Company.

His first stop was the Monomotapa Kingdom, which lay across the sea from Mad Island.

The capital of the Monomotapa Kingdom—Maputo Port.

Inside the city’s largest business hotel.

A dozen or so local dignitaries, their faces plastered with smiles, were drinking and chatting merrily with Wu Wei.

Wu Wei swirled the red wine in his glass, glanced at a portly, dark-skinned man, and said with a grin, ”Mr. Gatling, our company’s subsidiary has a lot of unprocessed paperwork in your country. This is seriously hindering free trade between our two parties, you know!”

Gatling broke out in a cold sweat. He knew full well why the Homo Sapiens Company’s subsidiary hadn’t gotten its paperwork processed—it was because he had been obstructing it.

The thought of the Homo Sapiens Company’s methods made him quickly reply, ”Haha, Mr. Wu Wei, you misunderstand! It’s an oversight on our part. I’ll go back and have someone process all the paperwork for your company immediately.”

”I see. In that case, here’s to a successful partnership!”

”A successful partnership! A successful partnership!” Gatling repeated, as if he’d just been granted a pardon.

Wu Wei added with a smiling reminder, ”The Homo Sapiens Company is always very friendly to its friends. I hope our friendship will be an everlasting one.”

”To an everlasting friendship!” the others echoed, raising their wine glasses with forced smiles.

By the end of the meal, the two parties had signed a free trade agreement.

That same night, Wu Wei departed for his second stop.

He was set to conduct a comprehensive business tour of all the regions throughout Southern Africa.

Wu Wei’s mission this time was to bring a series of cooperative free trade agreements to all of Southern Africa.

Of course, whether or not to cooperate was entirely up to each party’s own discretion. The Homo Sapiens Company wasn’t forcing them.

But Wu Wei was confident they wouldn’t refuse the Homo Sapiens Company’s offer of free trade.

Especially the regions on the East Coast of Africa. After all, the Homo Sapiens Company had dispatched an escort fleet, a security air division, and three security marine divisions to the Moon Islands, all for the sake of protecting the security of their trade.

He was sure they would appreciate the Homo Sapiens Company’s painstaking efforts.