Shadow Empire

Chapter 921 You Can't Refuse the Clay Seal
When Vargas first heard Lance say, "I want to buy your Horseback Mountain Silver Mine," he had a "you're so fucking funny" smile on his face and looked at Gomez.

What he meant to ask Gomez is, is your friend so... funny?

Who doesn’t know that the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine is Diego’s property? Why would anyone want to acquire the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine?
Isn't this the same as reaching out of Diego's pocket and putting money into your own pocket?

what is this?
This is courting death!

But he didn't see the expression he wanted to see on Gomez's face. On the contrary, Gomez looked very serious and earnest.

This made Vargas' smile gradually fade, and then he frowned and looked at Lance, "Mr. White, are you kidding me?"

Lance spread his hands, "Do you think there's a single cell in my body that looks like it's kidding you?"

He didn't understand the teasing, but he knew what Lance was trying to say.

This made him even more uncertain. He looked at Gomez again. He was a little unclear now. Did Gomez know or not?

He must have known, but why would he do it?
Kill the federal people?

In a trance, he suddenly thought of this possibility, and the words that were about to come out of his mouth were taken back. His brows relaxed and the expressions on his face were all restrained.

He glanced at Gomez again and quickly went over the recent events in his mind.

He didn't quite understand, and all he could do now was to figure out the situation first.

"Mr. White, can I talk to Gomez alone?"

Lance did not refuse and made a "please go ahead" gesture. He gave Gomez a look, stood up and walked to the door.

Gomez glanced at Lance, then stood up as well, walking towards the door.

The two left the room and stood outside the door. The moment the door closed, Vargas couldn't help but ask, "What the hell are you doing?"

He also took a special look at the closed door, as if trying to sense whether there was anyone behind it.

He took a few steps to the side and continued to lower his voice, "We all know that the mine belongs to the president. You are so tall, have you ever considered what consequences it will bring to you and me?"

The title documents were in the company's office, and as the manager of the company, that was his office, and he also knew the combination to the safe.

Like… he just said to Lance, in Lapa, no one would make fake title documents because there was no point.

Likewise, no one cares if the title documents are lost because there is no point in doing so.

Anyway, as long as the resources are worth some money, they will either belong to the ruling group or be related to the ruling group.

Ordinary people want to open mines?
Don’t even mention the next life, the next next life, or the next next next life, there’s no hope at all!

Here everything is decided by the ruling group, so whether or not there is a property right document has no direct relationship with whether mining can be carried out or the ownership of the mineral deposits.

Gomez smiled and calmed him down. "Mr. Lance is a big shot from the Federation. He plans to invest a lot of money in this area. You should have read the newspaper."

Vargas nodded and said, "I know he has opened several factories, but I heard that they haven't started production yet."

The construction of the factory is almost complete, and what remains is training. The people here have never been exposed to the federal advanced equipment.

They have no way of working on the assembly line without training.

In fact, it was only after Lance invested in several factories that he discovered a problem that he had not considered before, or a problem that most people had not considered.

Although the labor force in Lapa is cheap, it is typical low-end and low-value labor.

If we classify the value generated by a person's work, it is obvious that some people have higher value.

For example, technical workers.

They occupy an important and irreplaceable position in the production process.

Others are low-value laborers who can only perform the simplest repetitive work.

These people in Lapa are the lowest-value among the low-value laborers. They have no experience working on an assembly line at all, so when the assembly line starts running, soon some of them start to look at each other in confusion, not knowing what to do.

Several factories are now conducting training.

It was called training, but in fact it was just low-speed production. With the reduction in wages, the production efficiency could not meet the production standards of the assembly line. Instead, Lance gave them more wages but only got a small number of products, which was not what they expected.

Gomez obviously knew some inside information. In the short term, within two or three months, there was no hope of a normal production.

We can only hope that we can get all the machines running smoothly in the second half of the year.

He looked at Vargas and said, "It's good that you know these things. Mr. Lance is a big shot. He wants to buy the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine. You should sell it to him."

Vargas frowned again. "I thought you were going to cheat him out of some money."

Gomez shook his head. "You and I are both small people. Let's not worry about the big people. I know what you are worried about. It has nothing to do with you."

"You sold him the stuff, and then you took the money and left here to live a free life in the Commonwealth."

"Whether Mr. Lance can take over the silver mine smoothly, whether it can be mined normally, and how the president responds, it has nothing to do with you, understand?"

Gomez pulled out a cigarette and handed one to him, "He makes hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit every year, so I'll give you 60,000 parra a year."

"According to the current exchange rate, it's only about 800 federal soles."

"You work for fifty years, and it's only 40,000 yuan."

He took out a lighter, and the two of them lit cigarettes at the door. "Mr. Lance told me that he is willing to pay you one hundred thousand dollars, federal sol, and help you get a federal identity, so that your whole family can live in the federation."

"Even if the president gets angry, there's nothing he can do to you."

“In Lapa, he is the president.”

"In the Federation, he is just an ordinary person, even worse than an ordinary person!"

Gomez understands these people very well, he is part of them himself, and he knows how to convince them.

Vargas was obviously tempted. Just like Gomez said, he would only earn that little money after working all his life.

Now this master from the Federation can give him two lifetime incomes at once, all in one lump sum, and help his whole family immigrate to the Federation. This is indeed quite tempting.

However, he did not agree immediately. He still needed to think seriously for a while, and Gomez did not rush him.

While thinking, Vargas kept looking up at Gomez, and Gomez kept responding with a smile.

After a while, he suddenly asked, "Why?"

Gomez was stunned for a moment, "Why?"

“Why betray the president?”

"Betraying Lapa?"

Two questions, but the same question, which made Gomez silent for a few seconds, "I didn't betray anyone, I just wanted a better life."

"Although he is the president, he has no right to decide my future!"

"No one can do it!"

Gomez suddenly became a little excited. He took two steps back and forth. "Diego, that guy, has no rules at all!"

"One day he might put his arm around your shoulders and call you brother, and the next day he might give you your head to see him!"

"Just because I went to the Federation twice more, he already had doubts about me."

"And how long do you think he can last under these circumstances?"

"The federals are already here, who will come next?"

"Federal officials, or federal troops?"

"If he can't hold on, then neither can the Asian Alliance!"

After hearing his sincere words, Vargas' attitude softened a lot. "So you joined the federals?"

Gomez pinched the cigarette butt between his index finger and thumb, took a final puff, and then slammed it to the ground.

The moment the cigarette butt touched the ground, the vibration made its red light brighter and sparks flew, but they were quickly extinguished and fell silent.

He exhaled the smoke that swirled in his lungs, "I didn't defect to the federals. I just chose the best path for me."

"If there are other better options, then I will choose it!"

"Think about it carefully, think about the recent unrest, I have always treated you as a friend!" "After this unrest, Diego's control over the areas outside Zhuolan will gradually decline..."

Vargas hesitated for a moment, then asked a question that concerned him, "Aren't you afraid that I will tell the president about this?"

This may seem like a stupid and meaningless question, but it is precisely the key factor in concluding the entire transaction.

It's like those bad boys on the street, some of them may actively blackmail you when you pass by them.

Asking you to give them some money or do something else.

What really makes you surrender is not that you can't beat them, but that you know they have plenty of ways to deal with you!

They can cause trouble for you, cause trouble for your family, go to your workplace or school to cause trouble for you, and make your life a mess!

That's the core threat, not them standing there telling you that if you don't give them two dollars, they're going to beat you up.

Vargas wondered what recourse they had against him if he did not comply?

This is critical.

Gomez showed a disdainful smile on his face, "You have been a Lapa for too long and forgot that Mr. Lance is a federal and a big shot in the federation."

"Even if you call Diego now and tell him what happened here."

"Diego will just pretend that nothing happened, but do you know what you will face next?"

"Think about it, would anyone who dares to deal with Diego in Lapa be a pure businessman?"

This is indeed a question worth pondering. At this moment, Vargas's eyes changed a little.

A few minutes later, the two men walked in from outside. Vargas still had a smile on his face, but it was much more natural than before.

"Mr. White, can I hear how much you are willing to pay for the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine?"

Lance looked him up and down and said with a smile, "One hundred thousand dollars, Federal Sol, this is a huge price for you!"

It was indeed a sky-high price. According to the current exchange rate, it was eight million paras. He would never be able to earn that much money in his entire life!

But Vargas said, "Not enough, Mr. White."

"After I sell the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine to you, it will be difficult for me to gain a foothold in Lapa. I need to leave here and go to the Federation."

"I heard that the cost of living there is very high. A meal can cost dozens of dollars. If you have to buy a house with 100,000 dollars, it will be gone very quickly."

He stared at Lance, not hiding his greed, "I still have an iron mine, add up to three hundred thousand, all for you!"

Iron ore is not very valuable, and the Federation itself has no shortage of iron ore. However, as the leader said, when the number of mines he owns reaches a certain level.

The value of a mine itself and its social value are two different things.

"I don't really like bargaining. It's pointless."

"Two hundred thousand, and I'll help you get your federal identity. If you run into any trouble, I can help you solve it, too."

Vargas didn't hesitate for long before agreeing.

He thought clearly, Gomez was once Diego's closest subordinate, but now he has defected to the Federation. What does this show?
This shows that they have already felt that Diego’s government may not be reliable.

Vargas is a distant relative of Diego, a very distant relative, but there is some connection.

He has no loyalty to Diego or Lapa, he just wants to live a good life.

After they agreed that Vargas would hand over the title certificate to Lance the next time they met, he took the initiative to leave.

He came here only to "escape", so he had to make all the preparations before the whole thing was exposed.

Let the family be prepared, he will leave immediately as soon as he gets the money!

After Gomez sent Vargas away, the team leader asked curiously, "Mr. Lance, there are two more gold mines being mined in Lapa..."

He didn't finish his words, but he was asking Lance why he didn't attack the gold mine first, or maybe it was a reminder.

Lance shook his head. "The gold mine is too sensitive. Diego must have placed his confidants there."

"The current situation cannot pry these people apart. We have to wait a little longer."

The leader was a little puzzled, "Mr. Lance, there is something I don't understand."

Lance motioned for him to continue, and he continued, "Mr. Gomez mentioned that these properties have little value. Why did you spend so much money to buy it?"

In the team leader's opinion, since these things are actually Diego's private property, and Diego is the ruler of this country.

Then even if Lance bought these property certificates, the Diego government could take back these assets and nationalize them at any time, or deny the legitimacy of these property certificates.

After all, here, he is the one who keeps his word.

Lance smiled and shook his head. "When you are in a superior position and you are trying to reason with someone who is stronger than you, and it will hurt his interests, he will only fight you with his fists."

"But when you have more power than your opponent and you don't want people to think you are a barbaric person, you need a reason to hit him."

"That property certificate is the reason!"

The team leader seemed to understand a little bit, but not completely. He just nodded subconsciously and thought slowly.

The property Lance wanted to buy was not just a silver mine, but also some other mines.

At the same time, he has too much money that needs to be laundered, and these mines are also a good channel for money laundering, and they are simple, clean and pure.

From ore to smelted product, how much metal is sold is entirely up to the company itself.

Once taxes are paid on this money, it becomes legal income.

Hundreds of thousands of profits generated every day can be laundered through these methods, and its value is not just here, there are more ways to play and benefits!
When Gomez came back, Lance waved to him and pointed to the sofa next to him and asked him to sit down.

"There's something you need to do."

Gomez nodded without hesitation and agreed, "You go ahead."

"I want you to report some people..." He handed a list to Gomez, "These people are suspected of looting the food aided by the Republic of Czech Republic to Lapa. Diego is looking for them, but he doesn't know who they are."

"You don't have to report it yourself. You should find a way to let Diego know that these people did it. Do you understand what I mean?"

Gomez's brain was already not working enough, and he only just found out at this moment that the food aid from the Czech Republic had been robbed!

But he quickly responded, "No problem, I will arrange for someone I can trust to report these people."

Lance nodded slightly, "Work hard, and there will definitely be a place for you on the ship leading to the next era!"

Gomez acted quickly. That afternoon, someone reported these people, saying that they saw them carrying food through the jungle. Someone else said that some of them were found selling food privately. It was obvious at a glance that they were not right.

Diego's people were also collecting information in this regard, but it turned out that they found nothing.

Lapa has a population of tens of millions, and we know for sure that those people stole the food.

But now that someone has reported it, it means that their work has made "progress", whether it is something they found out themselves or something others said, at least there is a goal.

Diego soon saw the information of these people and became even angrier after reading it!

If the people who hijacked his food were some privileged class or even other people in the ruling group, such as a minister.

He can accept it all.

This is equivalent to someone on the same level giving him a punch, and they are evenly matched.

"But who the hell are these people?"

“These are untouchables!”

"How dare they hijack my food?"

"It seems that people have already misjudged me. Who does this country belong to?"

He was so angry that his chest was pounding. It was so embarrassing!
He could feel the mockery behind the ministers' expressions!
These lackeys jumped up and slapped him. The slap didn't hurt him, but it left a mud handprint on his face.

This mud handprint made him more angry than the pain from the beating!
"Let the army go, find these people, and bring them all to Zhuolan. I want to watch them die in front of me!"

He said this with red eyes!

(End of this chapter)