Shadow Empire

Chapter 887 Discussion
The convoy was driving on the road in Zhuolan. People did not pay much attention to Gomez's luxury convoy as they saw it often.

Instead, they were somewhat curious about Lance's fleet of cars. They had never seen these gray, square box cars before.

The locals do not find the luxury fleet strange because almost all ruling groups have such luxury fleets and they often drive on the roads.

For example, Diego has an imported car with a gold shell, which is said to have cost him about hundreds of thousands of federal soles.

The entire shell of the car is made of pure gold, not the kind of low-purity gold, but pure gold!
People may be shocked at first, but after being shocked so many times, they will gradually become numb.

The rich people in this city live a life above the clouds, while beneath the clouds is mud mixed with dog shit and people struggling to survive in the mud.

In fact, the whole Zhuolan does not look that poor. There is an established commercial ecosystem on both sides of the street, and people buy things in these stores.

The development here is definitely not as good as the Federation, but it is not particularly bad.

People were watching this strange convoy, just as the people sitting in the cars were also watching them and the country.

The convoy soon stopped at the Lapa Hotel in Zhuolan, a hotel named after the country.

Judging from its magnificent appearance, this must be the most luxurious hotel in the country.

When Lance got out of the car, his men had already checked the surroundings. Gomez and his team were waiting for Lance early.

As Lance and Roger got out of the car, these people came over again.

"Mr. Lance, this is the highest-level hotel in Lapa. I have already applied to them and they will open the top floor suite for you."

"Other accompanying personnel will also be properly arranged."

"plz follow me."

Lance nodded and entered the hotel with Gomez.

If you just look at this hotel, it is actually no worse than those big hotels in the Federation and is very luxurious.

The mirror-like marble floor reflects the huge crystal chandelier on the ceiling. The wall skirts and corner lines are all embossed with gold-plated craftsmanship, giving people the feeling of entering a luxurious palace.

The waiters in the hall are all very young, pretty or handsome, and their image, temperament and all aspects are outstanding.

There were also quite a few non-Lapa natives here, and they were all accompanied by escorts, either female or male. When they saw Lance and his group coming in, they all showed some curiosity or surprise.

Some people knew Gomez, these were locals, and they knew what kind of status Gomez held in Lapa.

At this time, they saw Gomez's attitude, treating the young man behind him as if he were a big shot. This made them very curious about who the young man walking behind Gomez was?
There were two other people who knew Lance.

Lance actually has quite a reputation in the Federation, but not many people know him. The only people who are really familiar with him are the people in Jingang City.

These two people are from Jingang City, and they mainly do some foreign trade business.

However, their scale is very small, and they will face many problems if they want to expand production, the first of which is the problem of stable orders.

In fact, any manufacturing industry faces this problem, which is the inability to stabilize orders.

Once the production line is expanded blindly, there is a high possibility of bankruptcy, loan, labor and site costs.

These factories will only expand if they can get stable, long-term orders.

Factories that expand just for a single order generally don't end up well.

In the foreign trade market, larger companies are more likely to obtain larger orders because their production costs are lower than those of small factories and they have more advantages.

This may be another reason why "the rich get richer", and the advantages are always rolling.

So some people, who are a little adventurous, are willing to come to Yalan to try their luck.

Some people went to other countries, while others came to Lapa. Being backward does not always mean there are no benefits.

They were also surprised when they saw Lance appear here.

Another reason for coming to Lapa is that I don’t want to continue competing with those big companies.

Lance didn't notice them, mainly because he didn't know them. The group entered the hotel and all four elevators were open and ready.

Lance and the others walked into the first elevator. The elevator car was very spacious, capable of accommodating more than a dozen people, and was also very stable.

Gomez began to introduce the hotel.

This hotel has been built for more than ten years. It is mainly used to receive foreign guests and provide a place for the ruling group and privileged groups to hold various formal business meetings or celebrations.

They live a life no worse than the federal middle class, and in some places even better than the federal middle class.

People like President Diego can hold it in his own estate, but what about the ordinary privileged class?
So the Grand Hotel Lapa came into being.

The designer of the hotel is from the Federation. In fact, Yalan is a region that has been severely invaded by Federation culture. They are too close!

As they were talking, the elevator slowly stopped. After the elevator door opened, an extremely luxurious "presidential suite" appeared in front of Lance.

The traditional design of a corridor connecting to the rooms is not adopted here. Instead, the living room of the suite is right outside the room.

The extremely luxurious decoration can be said to be of the highest quality even in Federal.

Roger had his own room on the lower floors, where only Lance and some of his closest people, such as Madore, lived.

Mador brought the entire instructor group and followed Lance here. Others will come to Lapa one after another, not all at once.

Lance plans to send a thousand members to Lapa first, and this number will increase as subsequent recruitment and work proceeds.

If he needed more people, he would talk to Senator Cleveland, who was very supportive of his work.

When he left the Federation, he even mentioned that if necessary, he could put some pressure on the Asian Alliance from diplomatic and military aspects.

Of course, these are not needed for the time being.

Led by Gomez, Lance went around every room and finally stood by the glass curtain wall of the living room.

A double-layer glass curtain wall, outside is the entire Zhuolan, the capital of Lapa.

The city, which looks lively but not prosperous, forms an ironic contrast with the decoration here.

On one hand, people enjoy extravagant life, while on the other hand, people have incomes that are barely enough to feed themselves. They deserve to be overturned in their plans.

After looking at the city for a while, Lance turned to Gomez and said, "Let's go to the study and talk."

This was what Gomez wanted to hear the most. He quickly extended his hand towards the study and invited him, "This way, Mr. Lance."

After entering the study, Lance walked to the chair that looked very expensive and sat down, patting the armrest of the chair inlaid with emeralds. This chair might be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

"Sit down," he said.

Gomez quickly sat down opposite Lance with a look of longing on his face.

If selling out his country was not his only way out before, then with the establishment of the Asian Union to develop the market for the Federation, his value to Diego will be greatly reduced.

Maybe because of his sister, this "care" may continue for a while.

But his sister can't stay young forever. One day she will grow old and lose favor.

At that time, their family will fall from heaven to hell.

Don't expect Diego or other ruling groups to be kind and benevolent. The rulers in such an absolute dictatorship are often either tyrants or lunatics.

Diego is not a madman, but he is certainly a greedy tyrant.

If you are lucky, this period of time may be three to five years, but if you are unlucky, it may only be one or two years.

For Diego, the entire Lapa is his toy, including the men and women living here. Changing a woman is not even as good as changing a piece of clothing for him.

Because changing a piece of clothing costs money, but to change a woman, he only needs to move his fingers.

In fact, in a sense, Gomez's betrayal is also a kind of "awakening." Lance is younger than Gomez, but at this time Gomez is like facing Diego, sitting cautiously and not even daring to speak.

He lowered his head and looked at his toes, his heart filled with torment and anxiety.

After a while, Lance finally spoke, "Actually, before this, I have been thinking about how to make your dream come true."

As soon as these words came out, Gomez raised his head suddenly and looked at Lance with a gleam in his eyes.

But soon, the light went out.

Lance pretended not to notice his excited expression and continued, "But the emergence of the Asian Alliance made this plan fail."

"Simply changing the leader of a region will not realize your ideas, but will make you the enemy of the entire Asian Alliance and eventually be eradicated by the Asian Alliance."

"This alliance of national forces is more like an insurance policy that Diego or other national leaders buy for themselves."

"They consult with each other and decide who will be the successor if the ruler is overthrown."

"It's not easy to deal with these people. The federal government doesn't want to cause too many negative impacts. We are not invaders."

Lance took out a cigarette case, the ivory one that Luigi, that damn guy, had given him.

It’s not that he likes this cigarette box so much, but he’s used to using it.

Sometimes habit is a powerful force, and Lance will keep using this one until he finds the next box of cigarettes he likes.

Gomez immediately stuck his butt out, took out the jeweled lighter from his pocket, and moved closer.

Lance took two puffs of the cigarette and exhaled quickly. This is why he doesn't like kerosene lighters.

There is a smell of kerosene in these two puffs of cigarettes. Although some people say they can't smell it, he can feel it.

Matches, on the other hand, have a strong smell of burning gunpowder except for the moment they are lit. Once they really start to burn quietly, there is only the smell of the match stick itself.

For example, matches made of pine wood will emit a unique pine wood aroma when burning, mixed with the smell of cigarettes, and one or two puffs are really good.

Aren’t federalists looking for complex flavors?

This is!
Lance patted his hands and looked up at him. Gomez immediately withdrew his hands and sat back obediently, sitting like a Boy Scout.

"So the plan to directly push you to power is very likely to fail."

Gomez became visibly lost and depressed. He looked up and wanted to say something, but Lance raised his hand to stop him.

"Gomez, I know that your heart is on the side of the Federation, that's why I'm here."

"Rapa, other countries, and the entire Alan are all an inescapable part of the Federation's plan for the next ten years."

"So you don't have to worry about this place remaining the same. We will soon bring about some changes, and in the process of change, you need to contribute to us and to the Federation!"

Gomez nodded repeatedly, "No problem, Mr. Lance, what do you need me to do?"

Lance twisted his neck, "First, help me understand this country and the people who rule here."

Gomez is worthy of being the president of Lapa’s official chamber of commerce. He knows Lapa very well and has penetrated into all aspects of society, mainly the economy.

Although he has not received higher education, he is a man of some intelligence.

Lance sees him as a fool, but from Lance's own perspective, Gomez is indeed a fool.

But this kind of idiot is actually the state of most people. After all, people like Lance are still very rare.

In addition to possessing sufficiently high wisdom, he also possesses an understanding of the development of the world that is not from this world and is ahead of its time.

Lance listened carefully to what Gomez said about Lapa. At the same time, Diego was also talking about these people from the Federation.

Diego did not join the AAU himself. He entrusted his younger brother to attend the AAU and become a representative of the AAU member states.

Lapa can only be considered lower-middle in the entire AAU, so according to their current statement, they will have to wait for 32 years before it will be their turn to serve as the chairman of the AAU.

Thirty-two years later, it was uncertain whether Diego would still be around, so he didn't take it to heart.

"Just now Gomez told me that a merchant group from the Federation has arrived. They have already moved into the top floor of the Lapa Hotel. They say it's called the 'Imperial Merchant Group'. Do you know what kind of merchant group this is?"

He was asking about his "Foreign Minister", who of course was his brother-in-law and also a member of another ruling family.

The entire Lapa is under the control of these ruling groups. Without their family blood flowing in your body, you can't squeeze into the ruling group at all.

But as long as you have their family blood flowing in your veins and are willing to do something, you will definitely be able to become an official.

At least he is a city official.

The Foreign Minister shook his head. "Among the business groups and chaebols that I know about, this is just a small and not very well-known group."

"But I know some things about them. They have a large amount of scarce medical resources. They received some attention some time ago, but later I heard that those medical supplies had been dealt with privately, so the attention has dropped again."

"On the contrary, I know Lance White who came this time better."

Diego changed his sitting position. He was not very tall, but he weighed more than 200 pounds, and his weight had exceeded the standard by many times.

If he sits in one position for a long time without moving, his buttocks will hurt, and he has to move his body from time to time to relieve the pain.

Some people privately called him "Fat Penguin". This nickname was popular for a while, but later it became unpopular.

The reason it's not popular is that anyone who has called him that nickname, whether or not they called it to his face or said it as a joke, has been dealt with by him.

So this name became a taboo.

Then again, when he rocked back and forth and changed his sitting position, he did look like a rocking penguin.

"How well do you know him?", he asked.

The foreign minister thought for a few seconds and said, "Our wine cannot be sold because of him."

Lapa's main core export commodity is grain, which can also be made into wine. The price of wine is much higher than that of grain, so even though Diego is not a smart man, he knows that he can make more money by turning grain into wine.

They did make money at the beginning, but as Lance began to clean up the smugglers in the entire Jingang City, Lapa's liquor could no longer be delivered to Jingang City.

Later, due to the intensified confrontation between Lans and Gold Label in Indno, a large number of smuggling groups were eliminated.

As for South Ya'an Prefecture, the fierce Sumuli people have begun to clear the area. Except for some local big smugglers who are still fighting against them, some small smugglers have completely lost their chance.

Now if these small-scale wineries in Asia still want to sell their products to the Federation, they either have to take huge risks and force smuggling.

Otherwise, accept Lance's conditions, give up most of the profits, and sell the wine to Lance.

Lance keeps the price of wine very low, and he doesn't buy all kinds of wine.

This has resulted in a lot of wine having no sales.

Lapa did not have the talent in this area. In fact, they could have continued to move north and tried to sell the liquor in areas further north on the East Coast, but they did not have such talent, so the business of smuggling liquor had to stop.

Diego showed an unhappy expression when listening to the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. "It seems that he is an unwelcome guy."

He had no intention of getting rid of Lance. The federal government was worried that it had no reason to cause trouble for them. If he gave the reason to the federal people now, the Asian Alliance would probably sacrifice him directly in exchange for continued peace.

He is indeed not a smart man, but he does have some political sensitivity.

His brother-in-law had a somewhat different view of him.

"Whether he is an unwelcome guy or not, as long as he comes with investment, we can actually welcome him."

"After all, as long as he is willing to invest, won't the money end up in our pockets?"

(End of this chapter)