Homo Sapiens

「September 27th.」

「Germany.」

「Berlin.」

「Bismarck Mansion.」

”This just came in from the Baltic Sea patrol,” a man with a long face and glasses said grimly, handing over a file.

The balding old man behind the desk took the file. The moment he opened it to the first page, a vein throbbed on his forehead, and his body began to tremble slightly.

Secretary-General Williams watched the balding old man with concern, afraid his boss would get too agitated and suffer a stroke or a heart attack.

SLAM! The balding old man slammed the file down on his desk, his face contorted with uncontainable rage. ”This is outrageous! Pirates! Bastards! Thugs!”

Both the Secretary-General and the intelligence officer who delivered the report lowered their heads, pretending not to hear.

”Harley, have the damages been assessed?”

Intelligence Officer Harley wore a bitter expression. ”They have. Even if we start emergency repairs now, it’s uncertain whether the pipeline can be fixed before the end of the year. Especially since the shadow of the Black Ship looms behind this incident...”

”Damn those New Continent upstarts! A bunch of pirates...” the balding old man cursed again. He raged for several minutes, but it did little to quell the hatred in his heart.

But he soon tired himself out. He sat back down in his chair and rubbed his temples, trying to relieve the stress and his headache.

After resting for a moment, the balding old man suppressed his rage and near-madness and called several cabinet ministers to his office.

Less than an hour later, the core cabinet ministers had arrived in his office.

Orlando, the Minister of Economic Affairs, looked panic-stricken. ”Just now, the price on the natural gas futures market skyrocketed by 84%...”

”That was to be expected,” said Minister of Industry William, his face devoid of expression.

”Our only option now is to purchase natural gas from North America to replenish our reserves, and the price for North American gas has already climbed to 250 million US dollars per shipment.” Minister of Economic Affairs Orlando could sense a catastrophe brewing. He continued anxiously:

”An economic crisis. The stock market crash in North America has already spread across the globe. Now our stock market is plummeting as well, and it’s even worse for us.”

Minister of Industry William’s poker face showed only numbness and resignation. ”The major chemical, metal smelting, and glass manufacturing companies are already complaining to us. Electricity and fuel costs are climbing sharply, and they’re nearing their breaking point.”

The balding old man looked at the situation before him, and his head felt like it was about to explode.

The war in Kyiv, soaring gas costs, a global stock market crash, the loss of the Southeast Asia market, and on top of it all, global competition from the Homo Sapiens Company and America’s financial reaping.

Not a single event in this chain was good news.

He couldn’t help but lament internally, ’Why me? Why did so much have to happen on my watch? Why am I so unlucky? I just want to walk away from it all...’

But he still had a shred of reason left. He forced himself to calm down and, along with the other cabinet members, bit the bullet and continued the discussion.

Bailing out the market and stabilizing industry were absolutely necessary.

If they didn’t act, the consequence would be the forced deindustrialization of Germany. For a nation built on industry, losing its industrial base would be like losing its legs.

However, the balding old man was also keenly aware that with America’s military bases right there in Germany, his room to maneuver was far too small.

Difficult!

Too difficult!

At that moment, the balding old man suddenly found himself envying West Asia’s position.

If Germany were located in West Asia right now, America would never dare to reap its wealth so brazenly, because the Homo Sapiens Company was right next door.

With the Homo Sapiens Company and America pulling in opposite directions, the various powers in West Asia could now play both sides. America was afraid that if it pushed them too far, the Homo Sapiens Company would take advantage of the opening.

But Germany was too far from the Homo Sapiens Company’s home base, and the company had no real interests in Europe.

...

「In Lucia, where the weather had already turned cold.」

The heat had already been turned on inside the Kremlin.

Caesar, warming himself by the fire, listened to the report from the Cossack leader, flipping through several documents with a blank expression.

After hearing the report, he waved his hand. ”Let them be. Once winter arrives, they’ll naturally realize our importance.”

”Should we continue to monitor the situation in the Baltic Sea?”

Caesar thought for a moment. ”Continue monitoring.”

The Cossack leader nodded. ”As you command.”

He put down the document regarding the Far East gas pipeline, on which he had already signed his name. Caesar then looked up at the oil painting on the wall—a portrait of Empress Catherine the Great.

Rubbing his temples, he too felt a hint of fatigue. Although the war in Kyiv had descended into a quagmire, Caesar did not see it as an unsolvable problem.

He rested his chin on his hand, glancing sideways at the world map to his left.

The vast expanse of Southeast Asia had been colored a light purple.

”Homo Sapiens Company... your timing couldn’t be better!”

Looking at the Homo Sapiens Company in Southeast Asia, Caesar grew more and more pleased. Without the emergence of the Homo Sapiens Company, Lucia’s current situation would undoubtedly be far more difficult.

Caesar picked up another document. It was an application from the Homo Sapiens Company requesting permission to open a branch in the Far East Region.

Although he was wary of the Homo Sapiens Company’s ability to infiltrate and its high-welfare policies that could sway the hearts of the people, Caesar understood that everything had its pros and cons.

Since he had already decided to open up the Far East Region to the Khitan people, he could naturally open it up to the Homo Sapiens Company as well.

This was also a reluctant choice for Caesar. He was trying to find a balance within this opening, and by bringing in the influence of the Homo Sapiens Company, he aimed to create a perfect equilibrium between the three parties.

Of course, Caesar was also on guard against the Homo Sapiens Company. He would not allow it to independently recruit employees in the Far East Region; all locally hired staff would have to be approved and vetted by the Lucian side.

Furthermore, he restricted the Homo Sapiens Company from operating supermarkets and schools.

For now, the Homo Sapiens Company was only permitted to invest in farms, timberlands, hospitals, mining, transportation, warehousing, and finance.

These sectors were the result of discussions between Caesar and his advisors, after weighing the pros and cons.

Lucia desperately needed the Homo Sapiens Company right now, which was why it had no choice but to open up so many industries.

Whether it was the Homo Sapiens Company’s medicine, daily necessities, electronics, or cars, all of it effectively filled the gaps in Lucia’s demand.

In return, by exporting large quantities of refined raw ore, oil, and natural gas, Lucia earned a significant amount of Jin dollars.

Aside from an overlap in the grain sector, the two parties had virtually no other overlapping industries.

Of course, this was merely Caesar’s wishful thinking.

The Homo Sapiens Company was currently importing vast amounts of various ores, oil, and natural gas not because it lacked them, but to maintain a trade balance and conserve its own resources by deliberately not exploiting them.

Otherwise, with the Homo Sapiens Company’s bio-mineral enrichment, ultra-deep-layer extraction, and bacterial cracking technologies, it could be completely self-sufficient in minerals, oil, and natural gas from its own territory.

Currently, the onshore and offshore oil and gas fields near Borneo, Java Island, Sumatra Island, and Divine Island were all under protected extraction.

The deep mineral veins in various locations were similarly under protected extraction.

And as the Homo Sapiens Company’s exploration efforts intensified, its reserves of various mineral resources continued to grow.

Therefore, Caesar’s belief that Lucia and the Homo Sapiens Company had complementary industries was, in fact, an illusion deliberately crafted by the company.

If they ever had a true falling-out, the Homo Sapiens Company could grind Lucia’s oil, natural gas, and mining industries into the dust in a matter of minutes.

As for Caesar’s self-satisfaction, the Homo Sapiens Company had no intention of bursting his bubble.

Now was the perfect time to cultivate path dependency. Once its economy was thoroughly infiltrated by the Homo Sapiens Company, Lucia could never hope to break free.