Shadow Empire

Chapter 916 Different Focus and Assistance to Civilians
From December to early January, the unrest near Zhuolan was completely stabilized.

The starving Lapa people also realized that the possibility of asking the president to save them was almost zero.

Some of them who still had some strength or had some food stored began to move towards the surrounding countries.

Those who have not left have begun to form new "tribes" around certain people, just like their ancestors did.

It is definitely impossible to stay in the city, as only the privileged class in the city can have sufficient food reserves.

The middle class had no ability to resist risks during this food crisis and began to join these tribes and move out of the cities.

Cities that are almost like deserted towns make people feel strongly uneasy.

Diego sat on his overstuffed couch to make it less uncomfortable on his butt.

He picked up the newspaper at hand and began to read.

This is the newspaper printed by those federal people in Lans. It looks clearer than the local newspaper itself, and the pictures are clearer too.

These printing devices are obviously more advanced than Lapa's printing devices, and they use better inks, so you won't easily get your hands covered in black ink when you hold the newspaper in your hands.

The photo of Diego on the front page was enlarged and printed in the most conspicuous position. He looked in great shape and very majestic.

The photographer used a lower angle to shoot, which makes Diego look very tall.

He was dressed in decent clothes and holding a golden wine glass in his hand. Although this was a black and white newspaper, people could still vaguely realize that the wine glass was not simple.

Either gold or silver.

He was very pleased with the photo, which made him look very impressive.

Then he began to read newspapers, which talked about a series of cooperation between the Federation and Lapa, including the mining of mineral resources, and the recruitment of at least 20,000 to 30,000 miners from the society.

They were willing to pay the miners a monthly salary of twenty-five federal soles, which was roughly equivalent to two thousand paras. This was definitely a high income for a place where the per capita income was only a few hundred dollars.

Federal investors will also open factories and build economic projects such as rubber plantations, which will also require the employment of a large number of workers.

The entire project will employ approximately 100,000 workers, and the number will continue to increase with subsequent expansion.

The newspaper mentioned a lot of things about Diego, and also had photos, and every photo brought a smile to Diego's face.

Luxurious, solemn, and with a heavy sense of history, this is what a real journalist should do!

"Ask Lance if he can get the negatives of these photos. I want to hang one in my study."

He even wanted to print this photo of himself on currency because it sets off his image so well!
The butler bowed slightly and said, "I will contact him later."

Diego glanced back at the butler, "Has the commotion stopped now?"

The butler nodded and said, "The military has begun to clear out the refugees gathered around. They are returning to their homes and waiting for rescue."

It’s not that they really believed what the government said, it’s simply because they are no match for those weapons and soldiers, otherwise they would still try to enter Zhuolan and look for some chance to survive.

For today's refugees, the concept of "food" has been lowered a lot.

They picked the leaves on the roadside and boiled them in water to eat as food, but some of the leaves were really not tasty, they made the throat irritated and were difficult to swallow.

Some plants also contain various toxins, and many people have had accidents while trying them.

There are always some unexpected situations in the tropical jungle.

There was nothing Zhuolan could do, they could only move to other places.

Now many cities have become empty and smelly.

It is empty because almost all people have gone to the wild. There is nothing to eat in the city, and staying in the city is a dead end.

It's not just the lower class people who are facing this problem; a small number of middle class people are also facing the same problem.

Only the privileged class and the ruling class can avoid starvation.

Once people leave, it is difficult for them to come back in a short period of time. Every city and village is almost empty, with only a few people with food still holding on.

As for why it stinks?
Because there were many corpses of people who died of hunger on the roadside and in the houses.

Although it is winter now, the temperature has not dropped to zero degrees or below zero, and it still maintains a temperature of more than ten degrees.

Although the temperature is indeed not high, it is enough for bacteria to multiply in the human body - the metabolism of bacteria and microorganisms will generate heat, so each corpse becomes a heat source.

If someone is brave enough to touch the corpses that are beginning to swell and insert their fingers into them, they will find that most of the corpses are still "hot" even if they have been dead for many days.

A sticky heat, like the heat produced by fermentation!

Coupled with the relatively closed environment, the stench quickly spread throughout the city.

The more elderly people gather in an area, the more obvious the stench is. In addition, there is no one who can clean the city now, so every city is empty and stinking.

Some people can't stand it anymore and have begun to move to Zhuolan's side. Of course, we are talking about rich people or privileged classes here.

Once they leave, the city will completely become a paradise for wild animals and plants.

All this happened outside of Zhuolan, and officials in some cities did not dare to report this to Diego easily.

If no one else reports it but you do, it means that you are the only one who has a problem.

So whose fault is this?

First, let’s rule out one correct answer: it certainly couldn’t be the fault of Diego’s government.

That's obviously a problem with local officials.

So if there is a problem, don't report it, it means there is no problem.

Whether it's here, in the Federation, or anywhere else, this principle applies universally!
If people don't report it, then there is no problem. The housekeeper naturally bent over and lowered his head. "I haven't heard of any riots happening anywhere else."

"Sir, your public speech worked. It prevented the situation from getting worse."

"What they could do with the army, you did with just a speech. You are an amazing person!"

A smile appeared on Diego's face that he was obviously trying to control, but he couldn't control it. The smile on his face became bigger and bigger, and finally he couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Do you know why I like you?", he asked.

Without waiting for the butler to answer, he took the initiative to give the answer, "Because you are smarter than others and know how to speak better!"

"Do a good job. Your family has served me, my father, and my grandfather for their entire lives. I also hope that your children can continue to serve my children."

Although he had no children, it might be his own problem that he was too fat.

But that didn't stop him from making that promise.

The butler is naturally very grateful to be able to continue serving the ruler, but in the eyes of some people he may just be a butler.

But in the eyes of some other people, and in the eyes of most people, he is also a master and a big shot.

Diego threw the newspaper on the table. He was not interested in the news and comics at the end, so he didn't continue reading.

In his opinion, Lapa at this moment is great!

Meanwhile, Pedro took the free newspaper in his hand and read the articles. He was not surprised that the federals were going to make a large-scale investment here.

Capital is always pursuing profits. Federal people invest here not for charity, but because they see the benefits.

However, what concerned him was that in the enlarged photos, mountains of food could be seen everywhere, and some scenes of food dumping were also released.

This may not be a problem for Diego, and they used a very clever splicing method to make the dumped food just in the corner of the picture and not attract attention.

But people who read newspapers, especially those who read newspapers on an empty stomach, will always be keenly aware of these things.

Apart from this news, apart from a few relatively professional news articles, the rest of the main content is comic strips.

These comic strips were very interesting. Pedro even saw some people's shadows in them. They reflected the current social situation in Lapa.

There was a comic strip in it that he found very interesting.

A group of pig-headed people in formal suits and bow ties sat at the table and ate their food like crazy. A group of dog-headed people dressed like waiters served them food continuously.

The scene changes to a factory where humans are working tirelessly to produce food for the pig-headed people, but soon the raw materials for the food are used up.

At this moment, the factory director, another slim-looking pig-headed man, threw the humans directly onto the conveyor belt of the assembly line and used their bodies as raw materials for food.

So plates of bloody food were brought to the table and chewed by the pig-headed men, who chewed them into pieces and swallowed them into their stomachs.

The workers in the factory could no longer bear the fate of becoming food, and the remaining ones began to rebel.

They used their intelligence to defeat the factory owner and the dog-headed men and rushed into the restaurant.

They wielded those sharp weapons and easily killed all the pig-headed men!
From then on, all the workers lived a happy life.

There is not a single word in the entire comic strip, but Pedro can fully understand what it means, and even feel something further that it does not express.

As a high school teacher and also a scholar, he incorporates his understanding of the world into this comic strip and explores his thinking at a deeper level.

He thought of another possible development -

Once the workers killed the pig-headed men, was it possible that they would be able to sit down at the chairs at the dining table?
Will new dog-headed people bring new food, feed them until they are fat and white, and eventually turn them into new pig-headed people?
Power is the most terrible poison. It corrodes people's souls rather than their bodies.

In a situation like that, with absolute power in hand, absolute corruption is sure to flourish.

He shuddered inexplicably at the thought.

There are several similar comic strips full of satire and awakening meanings. If you don't read them carefully and think about them seriously, some people will indeed ignore them.

But once someone explains it, almost everyone can understand it.

Pedro couldn't help but sigh at the strength of Lance and his gang. Regardless of whether the people could understand or not, they first made a deep impression on them.

One day, at a certain time, when they come into contact with this information, they will immediately transform these impressions into certain power!
This is a seed that is being planted silently in people's hearts without them even noticing.

There are currently more than a thousand people around Pedro, and the number is still increasing.

In addition to those people at the beginning, many people also came to seek refuge in the area where he lived.

Humans are social animals, especially in dangerous environments, people prefer to stick together.

Compared with small groups of three to five people or twenty to thirty people, Pedro's group is obviously larger.

The bigger the scale, the more attractive it is to others.

As more people are attracted to join, the scale will further expand.

This is the so-called "first-mover advantage". The older brother is always one year older than the younger brother, unless he dies young.

It’s too early to say whether he died young or not, but he is developing well anyway.

He put the newspaper down so that more people could see that they lived on the edge of the jungle, eating tree bark and some nutritionless leaves every day. Many of them were so thin that they looked unrecognizable.

But their president dumped all kinds of food into the trash can.

Everyone who saw this photo was filled with hatred. They were eating leaf cakes here, but the president was wasting the food unscrupulously. Everyone was filled with hatred in their hearts.

"time to eat!"

There were some people shouting in surprise in the distance. For people nowadays, eating is the most important thing.

Pedro was also very hungry. In fact, he was not full. He was not the only one who was not full. Everyone was not full.

Many people only maintain the minimum food needs every day, so you can see people lying motionless everywhere in the camp on the edge of the jungle.

This is also the reason why they don’t return to live in the city. It is too far and would waste their already limited physical energy.

For people nowadays, the best way to live is to eat something, lie down, and muddle through the day.

Today's lunch is still leaf cakes, a kind of food invented by the chefs.

They didn't bring much food back and had to use it bit by bit, so the cooks ground the wheat into flour.

They made a paste using some flour, some soil, mixed with some grass stalks, crushed wood chips, and some wheat tree powder they found in the wild, and pasted it behind a palm-sized leaf.

The leaves are then dried and stored.

When you need to eat them, put them in the pot and steam them. After the leaves and batter absorb water, each leaf cake weighs about 200 to 300 grams, which can make your stomach less hungry.

The elderly, children, and women can only eat half a leaf cake. Only men who go into the jungle to find food can eat a whole leaf cake.

Although this stuff tastes terrible and it is a bit difficult to poop after eating it, eating time every day is still the happiest time for people.

As the "boss" of the group, Pedro also had to queue up to receive the leaf cakes, and there was nothing special about the size.

Just as he received a leaf cake and found a place to sit down and eat the disgusting food, another younger teacher came running over and said, "Someone is looking for you."

Pedro was stunned for a moment. He took the leaf cake in his hand and stood up. "Who?"

The younger teacher had an expression of disbelief on his face, "Federals!"

Yes, the federals are here!

Pedro looked into the distance and saw some people gathered there. Was it Lance?
He handed the leaf cake in his hand to his wife, then straightened his clothes and strode over.

When he got closer, he realized that the person who came was not Lance, but someone he had never seen before.

"Pedro?" The man who came was a little arrogant. He didn't even use the word "Sir", but called him by his name directly, which was very impolite.

Pedro nodded and pushed the frame of his glasses with his hand. "Who are you?"

The arrogant guy handed over his business card and said, "I am the Commissioner of the Federal International Human Rights Investigation. I came to Lapa to conduct a human rights investigation."

He looked around and said, "Obviously, you are facing some problems, and I can help you solve them."

Pedro looked at the business card for a while. He was not blindly optimistic. "What do you want from me?"

He lowered his head again and looked at the name on the business card. "Mr. Andy?"

Andy still had that damn arrogant look on his face. "You and your people right now are not good enough to be of any help to me."

“So it’s gratuitous!”

Pedro didn't believe this. After coming into contact with Lance, he knew very well that if one day someone wanted to give you a huge benefit and he wanted nothing for it.

So what he actually wants is something that you definitely cannot or will not give him, so he won't mention it.

Pedro didn't say anything, and Andy didn't bother to "compete" with him. "If you are willing to accept our assistance, then we will provide you with a sum of money, about 20,000 federal soles."

"And a batch of medicines, worth about five thousand yuan, all of which are relatively common medicines."

"And food."

When the federal man said the word "food", more people around him focused their attention!

You give them money, you give them medicine, they really need it, but they won't be very excited.

Because money is useless nowadays. No matter how much money you spend, you can't buy a full meal. So in some ways, money is not something that people need.

The same goes for medicines. Although some people get sick, they won’t die from these diseases.

But hunger will!

Food is the hard currency nowadays.

So when he said the word "food", even Pedro was moved.

"How much food can you provide us?"

Andy pursed his lips, "It depends on how much you can take!"

(End of this chapter)