Shadow Empire

Chapter 912 Changes in Situation
For several days, more than a week, new "anti-government thugs" were sent to the execution rack every day.

The central square of Zhuolan was filled with a strong smell of blood. Even though the cleaners cleaned it every morning and evening, it was difficult to dispel the fishy smell.

Even spraying disinfectant would not work, because the blood had already seeped into the cracks between the bricks and into the soil.

There is no way to get rid of this smell in a short period of time.

Diego was really angry. He put the severed heads in cloth bags, carried them on poles, and placed them on both sides of the road into the city.

The entire Zhuolan, and even the entire Lapa, calmed down a little during this execution which could be described as a massacre.

Federal reporters also went to see it. There were tall wooden poles standing on both sides of the road, probably four or five meters high or even higher.

They are wrapped in a piece of linen, the bottom of the linen is black with a hint of bright red, and some birds are resting on the linen.

They don't care about the occasion or the people on the road, they just keep pecking at food with their beaks.

This horrifying scene caused many reporters to feel severe physical discomfort, including some who had been to the front lines of the battlefield.

They didn't feel this kind of discomfort on the battlefield full of corpses and body fragments, but here, they felt uncomfortable.

Death is the main theme on the battlefield. No matter how the soldiers die, it is a kind of "respect" of war to them.

Although they are divided into many pieces, a piece here and a piece there, it only makes people feel the cruelty of the war.

But here, it gives people a disgusting feeling.

Power overrides people’s basic rights!
Lance was holding the latest copy of the International Observer in his hand. The headline on the front page used the title "Whose Hell" to describe the tragedy that was happening in Zhuolan at that time.

Reporters used large-scale photos to make readers feel as if they were there. After reading this issue of International Observer, some readers called and scolded the reporters and editors, saying that they "made them feel sick and want to vomit."

They felt that these pictures should not appear in newspapers. The impact they brought made the federal people shudder, but also produced a stronger sense of happiness!

Being born in the Federation is the luckiest thing that can happen to a human being in his or her life, no doubt about it!

The mainstream media also reprinted these articles, and the reporters also included a lot of personal opinions in their reports.

If they say that this is only a barbaric and backward part of the Asian Blue Region and the Asian Union, the entire Asian Blue Region is made up of such countries.

Power is hereditary, and the ruling class arbitrarily deprives people of their lives as a means of ruling.

This makes many people have a bad impression of Yalan's ruling class.

The federal government showed people what they wanted to export and gained their recognition, which turned the annexation from a "shameless invasion" into a "redemption of human rights."

Congress was very satisfied with the entire plan, so even core political newspapers such as the Federal Post reprinted the news and pictures, and also published two freelance commentaries.

Lance flipped through the newspapers in his hands, which were actually from yesterday.

"Some organizations conducted a poll yesterday and 31 percent of people think the federal government should intervene or speak up for the people of Lapa."

Albert sat next to Lance, stirring the cup of fine coffee and chatting about some situations in the country.

These days Diego is still instructing the military to arrest the rioters. As to whether those they arrested really participated in the riots, no one can tell.

The military may have their own ideas. It is said that many local residents of Zhuolan were also captured and imprisoned by them.

Of course, their assets naturally became the target of plunder by the military.

But who can tell for sure about this kind of thing? Maybe... this is just a rumor. I believe the Diego government will come out and refute it soon.

Lance savored the delicious breakfast, today's breakfast was a food with local style and flavor.

They strung the beef cubes, which were less than one centimeter thick, eight parts fat and two parts lean, together with thin iron wires and grilled them on a barbecue rack without an open flame.

In this way, the fat will drip down, but it will not cause a "fried" effect. After processing the beef cubes, they will have shrunk into small veal cubes that are slightly larger than soybeans and are very crispy.

When you put it in your mouth and chew it, you can smell the strong aroma of beef fat, but it doesn’t seem greasy because the fat is no longer in the meat.

At the same time, it has the flavor of barbecue, and the lean beef part is not too dry, so it is delicious even if you eat it directly.

They would mix it with some onions, some diced apples, some diced local fruit, and a little bit of vegetables.

Mix it with a sweet and sour sauce and then put it into a fried wheat semi-circular, bowl-shaped noodle shell.

Sprinkle some spices on them. Each one is only slightly bigger than a ping-pong ball and can be eaten in one bite.

Very delicious!
The flavor variations are very unique and varied, and the taste, in every aspect, is top-notch, with almost no flaws to be found.

Although Lapa is very poor and backward, they, the privileged class and the ruling group, are not behind the federal masters in terms of enjoyment.

Not to mention that in the middle of winter, there is freshly squeezed ice juice with ice cubes. It is said that this is the same as Diego’s, and the strong sweet and sour taste makes people’s appetite open.

"It's still too little." Lance swallowed the delicious food in his mouth. He rarely had any strong desire for food.

However, this local food is really delicious, and most importantly, it is not greasy at all. The sour fruits in it can effectively eliminate any greasiness.

He picked up another one and put it in his mouth. "Only 20 to 30 percent of the people support us doing something. It seems like a lot, but in fact, 70 percent of the people do not support us doing this."

“It’s about continuing to expand and also making people aware of the benefits that this place can bring to us.”

"For the government, and for the ordinary people."

He swallowed the food in his mouth again, picked up the coffee and took a sip. "Lapa is very suitable for growing coffee beans, but they are not taking advantage of it."

"There are also rich mineral resources here that can meet domestic production needs, and workers are also needed."

Lapa's labor costs are very low, even lower than federal refugee workers, which can increase wages for federal employees by exploiting the labor of local workers.

For some workers who are willing to work abroad, they are the actual beneficiaries, and Lance intends to make these workers mainly federal native workers, rather than immigrants or refugee workers.

After several rounds of legislative reforms, the federal government has granted voting rights to immigrants and people of color, while also passing a series of other bills to deprive them of their voting rights.

For example, the most typical one is the Hernandez Act, which stipulates that naturalized people (immigrants) and people of dark races must pay a fixed fee each year from the date of naturalization and the time they obtain federal citizenship to obtain the right to vote.

This amount of money is not a lot, but not a small amount either, just about ten yuan per year.

But for poor families, especially those imperial immigrants like those in the Imperial District, they may only save 20 or 30 dollars a year.

It is obviously not cost-effective to take out half of your savings and voluntarily pay a tax that you don't have to pay, just to be able to legally check a name on the ballot.

So many immigrants and dark-skinned people don't have any voting rights.

Including federal natives, if they don't have their own house, don't have a stable job, they don't have the right to vote -

Capitalists use the slogan "If you love this country, you should participate in political activities" to promote the benefits of buying a house, linking buying a house with patriotism, which seems to make sense.

There are indeed many people who take out loans to buy houses in order to obtain voting rights which are actually useless, only to find out in the end that they are only one in millions.

Their votes cannot affect the final result. Sometimes, if the result does not satisfy the masters, they will even modify the result artificially.

But overall, this is a win-win situation for all three parties.

The capitalists sold those unsalable properties, the people had a strong patriotic desire and qualifications, and the politicians gained more voter support and won completely.

The masters need these voters, and Lance needs these voters too. Let’s not discuss whether the way they get the votes is… a loan to themselves. At least they have the right to vote, and they are the real voters! These people have political rights, which are really useless to useless people.

But for those who can do justice for themselves, like Senator Cleveland and his small group, voters are useful.

If we bring these voters with political rights to Lapa and Alan and provide them with high welfare and high income, they will become more dependent on the invasion of Alan.

When people with voting rights are "trapped" on this land, all it takes is a public vote for the federal government and Congress to obtain the "people's will" and take some actions in the Alan region.

He had discussed all of this with Senator Cleveland, who also supported his plan.

But he didn't tell Albert in detail, even though his name was the same as one of Patricia's three grandfathers.

Sometimes Lance was a little uncomfortable with the fact that the names of people in the Federation and the whole world were always the same.

He glanced at Albert and said, "After the New Year, you can try to contact those people."

During this period, two "students" were arrested and their heads were hung on the main road in and out of the city. There was still some time before the Chinese New Year.

After the Chinese New Year, the current high-intensity alert should be relaxed.

Albert nodded, "I see."

After seeing Albert off, Lance returned to the study. He rested his chin on the armrest of the chair, thinking about a letter that had been delivered to him along with today's newspaper.

The letter was written by Senator Cleveland, telling him that the Czech Republic had decided to provide Lapa with a batch of food.

According to their understanding, the first batch was about four thousand tons.

This batch of food has been able to solve some of the problems that Rapa is currently facing.

They are not sure what the deal behind the aid is. On the one hand, Congress wants to know what conditions Lapa agreed to with Jed, and this needs to be clarified.

On the other hand, because they use trains for land transportation, even if the federal government wants to intervene, it will be difficult to do so.

Among the "non-governmental organizations" currently operating on Yalan's side, only Lance is in Lapa and has the power to disrupt this deal.

What the Cleveland Senators meant was to make their deal as unsuccessful as possible.

To be honest, it's a bit embarrassing.

Lance has burned the letter. He doesn't even dare to talk about these matters with people back home over the phone. He also doesn't know whether Lapa will tap his phone.

This gave him a bit of a headache, because some information could not be updated in a timely manner, which might lead to delays in processing.

Fortunately, this matter will not be carried out until after the New Year.

Senator Cleveland also told Lance in the letter that Congress and the federal government would focus on the war during this period and would not be able to take care of him for the time being.

So he mainly relies on himself - mainly in terms of manpower.

If he needs some supplies, such as weapons, food, or anything else, these can be given to him in full.

But if he wants some government officials to help, he probably won't be able to do anything, including launching covert military operations in the Yalan region.

Because in the past few months, the Federation Navy has deployed its main naval forces in the Federation mainland in order to ensure that the Dantra Navy will not attack important ports and coastal cities of the Federation again.

There were only a small number of warships to escort merchant ships traveling between the two continents, which resulted in the transportation of supplies being interrupted from time to time.

Of course, this is what the federal government said to the outside world. In fact, they sometimes just make up a freighter and then claim that the freighter was sunk during transportation.

When waterways are threatened, increased risks will inevitably increase transportation costs.

They are definitely not doing charity work by taking huge risks to transport the goods back and forth, so it is normal to ask for a little more.

Now, except for the Federal Army's supply ships escorted by the Navy, free trade among the people is basically ignored.

This caused some supply problems for Slade and his allies.

In fact, they also know that this is a despicable tactic used by the federal government. The federal government is seeking to gain more initiative and power and is strangling them with these despicable means.

They want to become the dominant force in war within the military alliance, or even the power to dominate the entire military alliance and the future of these countries.

And they have good reasons. In the words of Congress, they should be given "respect" commensurate with their strength.

The Slads were beaten so badly that they had no choice but to retreat and defend. It was the Federals who invested a large number of troops to push the front line back to the border between the two countries, and paid a heavy price.

According to specific statistics that were not disclosed to the federal government, the number of soldiers killed on the front lines exceeded 300,000.

With so many lives lost and so much wealth invested, it seems only natural that the federal government would want to take control of the war.

It was they who prevented the war from getting worse and made it a good performance.

However, the Slad government does not think so. If the federals are allowed to lead the war, they will lose all their current status.

Moreover, they were not sure whether the greedy appetite of the federals could be satisfied. If it could not be satisfied, it would be a big trouble for them.

The Slad country hopes to obtain a large amount of war dividends from Dantra through victory in this war.

On the one hand, it is used to resolve the escalating class contradictions in their country. In fact, they are the same as the Federation or other countries that actively participate in the war. They all need to export troubles.

On the other hand, they also hope to establish their position on the Tanfit continent through this war and at the same time restrict the development of the Dantra Republic.

If the leadership is handed over to the federation, will they gain less benefits?
Is there any chance for their strategic plan to be realized?

Also, in military alliances and international camps that may be formed in the future, will the Federals also have to hold a dominant position?

Taking into account many factors, both parties have been "negotiating" around this issue, and the negotiations have not been going smoothly. No one wants to give up their own interests, nor does anyone want to let the other party gain benefits.

The tug-of-war negotiations eventually exhausted the patience of the federal government. In October, the federal military completely stopped and stayed in place, which made Dantra feel relieved and greatly reduced the pressure.

They seemed to realize that there might be a problem between the Federation and Slad, so they suddenly began to intensify their offensive and the front line was pushed back into Slad territory.

The federals used money and their fearlessness of sacrifice to beat them up, and they were beaten badly. If they couldn't beat them, how could they beat the Slads?

Moreover, more small units began to infiltrate and carry out sabotage in the rear. They blew up many bridges, roads, railways, factories, etc., causing part of the industry to almost come to a standstill.

If it were normal times, it would be fine, but now it is wartime, even the factory producing screws cannot be shut down, as this means that the weapons are damaged and cannot be repaired.

They are very, very passive now!
Sometimes the Slads doubted how they could find the destination so accurately. Did the Federation leak some information to the Dantras? Otherwise, how could they be so accurate in their bombings?

Under such circumstances, Slade's industrial production and transportation capacity dropped to another level. What made them even more uneasy was that it was said that the Dantra people had sent a new delegation to visit the Federation to restart negotiations on the war.

Therefore, the issue that has been deadlocked for more than half a year has finally seen the light of day and a turning point. The Slad people have also begun to continue negotiations with the Federation on the issue of "who is the father", and are likely to make concessions.

Congress’s focus is all here, and it cannot take Lans into consideration for the time being.

Of course, there are benefits to not being able to take care of others. At least they don't have time to care about what Lance does, nor will they stop him.

So some of his plans could become a little bolder!
In the evening, Alvin called.

(End of this chapter)