Shadow Empire

Chapter 922 Pedro's Decision
As the famine continued, the entire Lapa had entered a state of "countdown to hell", with people constantly dying of hunger.

The elderly, children, the sick, and those who need nutrition.

Hunger is a rusty, blunt knife that kills humans bit by bit in the most cruel way.

Although Lapa was poor, backward and uncivilized in the past, people could feel the breath of life and the presence of people around them when walking on the roads in the city or the countryside.

But now, it's different.

Pedro and his companions had passed two villages, and there was no one in the villages.

There were only corpses lying on the road, eaten beyond recognition.

The air was filled with a strong stench, and he had to lift up his clothes to cover his mouth and nose.

But even so, the stench continued to erode his sense of smell.

"Another empty village."

There was sadness in the eyes of the people around him. A good country had turned into this terrible state just because of the greed of the ruling group.

People already knew about it, and some people spread it intentionally, and Lans' newspaper also published this news before -

"Thank you President Diego for your contribution to world peace!"

“He sold millions of tons of food and helped many people in need!”

Yes, he helped people in other countries who needed food and made sure the Lapa people were completely forgotten.

The newspaper also published a photo taken from an upward perspective.

President Diego shook hands with a person off-camera, holding an agreement on the sale of food, with a smile on his face.

He seems to be glowing in the photo!

If anyone reads the content of the newspaper, they can feel the light radiating from him when he generously sold food to help people in other countries!

This is hilarious.

On one side is Diego, a shining new role model of humanitarianism.

On one hand, the country was littered with corpses of people who had starved to death, and the air seemed to be filled with the smell of death.

This is funny!

Pedro's emotions were constantly churning. Before this, he just felt that he could do this.

Then at this moment, he felt that he had to do it!
He wants to save this country and its people from the hands of that greedy dictator!

The group walked a few more steps, and he saw the scene happening on the side of the road, and couldn't help but curse out loud, "This bitch deserves to die!"

On the roadside, seven or eight wild dogs were gnawing on some corpses.

It is difficult for people to survive in this humanitarian disaster, but small animals seem to survive easily and better than before.

Looking at the fat and strong stray dogs on the roadside looking at them with red eyes, a desire to kill arose in his heart for the first time.

Not far from the stray dogs, there were some bones that had been chewed up by them. From the round little bones, it could be seen that this was probably just a child.

There were some messy marks on the ground around him, and he didn't know if they were left by a struggle.

Maybe he was not dead when he was taken out, but was just too hungry to move, so he was eaten by them.

Pedro didn't really believe in God before, but he respected God.

But at this moment, he only believes in himself!

And the weapon in your hand!
He took off the simple bow hanging on his back, pulled the string to its full extent, and with a "beng" sound, a stray dog ​​let out a "woof" and bit the place where it was shot.

It kept shaking its body, trying to bite the arrow off or pull it out of its body, but it couldn't do it.

Its mouth was not flexible enough, and it could only watch helplessly as a long arrow pierced into its body.

And with its violent movements, the wound was constantly torn bigger, and the blood went from dripping at the beginning to flowing rapidly.

This sudden change caused the other wild dogs to retreat far away, and at the same time they began to bark wildly at Pedro and his men.

Pedro kept pulling the bow and shooting arrows, but in the end he only hit two stray dogs.

The group of stray dogs didn't dare to act so recklessly anymore and quickly left with their tails between their legs.

A young man walked toward the two wild dogs that had been shot, and Pedro couldn't help but ask loudly, "What the hell are you doing?"

The young man looked at him at a loss, "I just think... it shouldn't be wasted."

"Fuck, don't you know what they eat?"

This sentence made everyone silent. Pedro pointed at the young man and said nothing more, but everyone knew that he strongly opposed it.

He will feel sick.

He doesn't want to eat it, and doesn't want others to eat it either. This is not food that humans should eat.

The group continued walking towards the village. Perhaps they were beginning to get used to the stench here; it didn't seem as strong as before.

Walking in the village was like walking in hell. Even though Pedro had witnessed such a tragedy before, at this moment, he was still shocked by everything here.

My scalp is tingling, my whole body is covered with goose bumps, and I feel fear and anger going hand in hand!
The group remained silent as they continued to search the village for various seasonings.

Salt, sugar, and other things.

It took the group about forty to fifty minutes to leave the place. The village was not big and there were no living people left.

After returning to the temporary camp, Hu Sihou and his group seemed very depressed. Their team had grown a little bit along the way and now had about 1,200 to 1,300 people.

The combined population of the three villages is definitely more than two or three hundred people.

This is a terrible time.

"How about it?"

As soon as he entered the temporary camp, his colleagues came over to ask questions, and others also looked at them, as if they wanted to get some good news.

In fact, they don’t really hope that there is a village that can still maintain normal operation. What they desire is the final order that has not collapsed.

Pedro shook his head and briefly recounted what he had seen, and everyone fell silent.

Soon people began to curse Diego and the ruling group, and it seemed like it was contagious, and more people began to curse these people.

Pedro also cursed Diego and those greedy ministers some time ago, but recently he began to think about another issue.

Why, all this happened?
Where is the root cause of all disasters?
Maybe people around him would say that this is all Diego and the ruling group's problem, but Pedro believes that this is not just their problem.

There is also the issue of the Federals.

If the federals had not wanted to station troops there, if the federals had not been so greedy for the Yalan region, even if life was hard now, it wouldn't be as bad as it is now!
This can be said to be the darkest moment in Lapa's history!

Just because of the appearance of the Federals!
Just as he was pondering the inevitable relationship here, another team that was exploring nearby came back. The team leader was also Pedro's colleague, a high school physical education teacher.

His face looked very serious. Not all the people in the village he was heading to had run away, but there were only about twenty people left.

From these people, he got something that made him feel uneasy.

"I want to talk to you alone," he said to Pedro.

Pedro stood up with some doubt and walked with him to the edge of the camp. Then his colleague took out a poster from his pocket and handed it to him.

At the signal from his colleague, he slowly opened the poster, and his photo appeared on it, in the second position.

His expression turned serious. The people listed here included almost most of the people who had attended Lance's seminar, as well as some he didn't know.

"Diego is looking for you and these people. They have identified you as a 'criminal of anti-government nature' and mentioned that you stole food."

Pedro looked at the wanted poster in his hand and was silent for a long time.

From a middle school teacher to a wanted anti-government force, he suddenly felt like laughing.

Real life is really more magical than the most magical novel he has ever read!

"What are you going to do?" his colleague asked him with a serious expression.

If everyone did something that might cross the moral and legal boundaries just to survive, it was still within his acceptable range. But this wanted order made it impossible for him to accept it.

He just wants to live, not to rebel against the government!
Pedro was quite open-minded. "Do we have any choice?"

He shook his head, walked outside with the wanted poster, gathered people together, and showed the wanted poster in his hand.

"Diego has identified me as the leader of the anti-government forces and has offered a reward for me."

"Let me see how much I'm worth..." He hadn't thought about this just now. He glanced at the number under his photo on the wanted poster and showed a somewhat embarrassed expression, "I'm worth 50,000 Para!"

"To be honest, I think they look down on me a bit!"

There was some laughter in the crowd, which relaxed the tense atmosphere a little.

"Now we are faced with two problems."

"First question, I know some people want to leave, so if you want to leave, you can tell me and I will let you leave."

"The second question is, should we pretend that we don't know about this wanted order, or should we confirm this identity?"

"Of course the second question is only for those who are willing to stay. Now let's proceed to the first one."

"Does anyone want to leave? We are in danger now. I am the leader of the anti-government forces. If you continue to stay with me, you will be members of the anti-government forces."

"If we are caught by the government forces, we will die!"

"If you leave now, perhaps you can... clear yourself of suspicion."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone took the initiative to walk to a slightly farther place, and then some people followed.

Not everyone has such determination and courage, and not everyone is really forced into this desperate situation.

For some people, they just don’t want to starve to death, they don’t necessarily have to be anti-government!

At this time, someone in the crowd said, "If we leave here, how much food can we get?"

People looked towards the person who was speaking, who was a latecomer.

Pedro pushed up his glasses. "Why do you want to take all this food away?"

"Did you contribute to the food?"

"Or did you bring these foods?"

"You haven't done anything, you don't deserve to share this food!"

The man became anxious after hearing this. Without food, leaving this group of people would be tantamount to seeking death. He immediately shouted, "This is not fair!"

"The food should be distributed equally to everyone. I want my share!"

Everyone's eyes were on Pedro, who pointed at the man and said, "Get him out of our camp!"

Immediately some young men came over and pushed him. He tried to resist but was quickly beaten.

Those who want to leave Pedro are timid, while those who stay are often brave and have some ideas of their own.

Soon the guy was beaten to the point of being unable to move, and then thrown out of the camp. Pedro looked at the people around him, "Is anyone else planning to leave?"

"After a while, if you want to leave, you won't have the chance to leave!"

Some people left the group and came to the side. After confirming that no one wanted to leave, Pedro nodded and looked at the people over there, "You can leave now."

Those people looked at each other, and finally slowly left the camp.

Pedro then talked about the second problem, "Now let's solve the next problem."

"Do you think it would be better for us to become the 'anti-government forces' in Diego's eyes, or continue to be a group of 'refugees' who are looking for opportunities to survive?"

“This is very important to us because it will determine the path and situation we will take next.”

"You all know me. I have always admired the federal social system. At the same time, I hate dictatorship, so every choice we make should be democratic."

"I will tell you the direction of the future, and then you choose."

"If you choose to confirm this identity, then I will contact some people who are willing to sponsor us. They will provide us with food, intelligence, various resources we need, and even weapons!"

"If we don't prove our identity, we will have no choice but to continue to roam around, because the government forces will soon be targeting us!"

"Under the incentive of the bounty, people will continue to betray us until we are caught."

Someone asked at this time, "Who will help us?"

Pedro was thinking of the federal "International Human Rights Investigator", Mr. Andy.

But the face that came to mind was Lance's.

These two people should be in the same group.

"The Federation people," he said, "the Federation people are full of greed for Yalan, the Yalan Alliance is just..."

He wanted to explain, but when he saw the confused looks in those people's eyes, he suddenly realized that perhaps this was the strength of the Federals, Lance and others.

Because people want to live!

They simply put some factors together to force the government to cause trouble for them, and at the same time forced them to constantly fight against the government in order to survive.

He thought of a key point mentioned by the Asian Alliance during the negotiations between the Asian Alliance and the federal government.

As a middle school teacher with a certain level of education, he is actually very concerned about politics, just like those voters in the federation, but with some differences.

Federal voters care about politics because they feel involved.

Pedro cares about politics and just wants to know what the future holds.

During the negotiations, the AAM expressed their hope that the federal government would respect government affairs within the AAM and ensure that the politics of AAM member states are independent.

The federal people spoke very nicely at the time. They said they would respect the political sovereignty of the Alan countries and would not interfere in their internal affairs!

Yes, they did not interfere, they just used some small tricks to plunge Lapa into civil strife!
He doesn't know what other countries are going through, but it's definitely not going to be good.

He wanted to explain these things, but now he realized that it was unnecessary.

They won't try to understand, they just want to survive, even if it means taking up arms!
His guess was correct. No one asked questions like "Why should the federals help us?" They were just asking how the federal government could help them and how the federal supplies could be delivered to them.

In fact, Pedro didn't know either, but he knew one thing: the federals would definitely send the things over because they needed these rebels to operate everywhere.

After a brief discussion, everyone quickly decided to establish their identity as an anti-government force and make efforts to rebuild the beautiful Lapa home!
Such a result was not beyond Pedro's expectations. Due to the continuous bumps and hunger, the older people were basically eliminated. The remaining ones were young and middle-aged people, which was also the age when their emotions were the most intense.

Their hatred for Diego, the urge to realize some of their inner ideas, and the power contained in their bodies did not allow them to kneel and beg for survival.

The result is predictable, so the next step becomes simple.

Originally, he planned to find a way to contact Mr. Andy and talk to him about the delivery of supplies and materials, as well as other assistance issues.

But they didn't expect to hear gunshots in the distance in the evening, forcing them to get back on the road.

"Probably the ones who left during the day."

There is also speculation among people that everyone is now a little uneasy and no longer as excited as they were when they decided not long ago to oppose Diego and his government.

Pedro didn't say anything, but urged everyone to pack up and leave as soon as possible.

Although they did not see what happened at the scene, everyone had a hunch that the group that was discovered was the group that left during the day.

And this continued to strengthen their determination to oppose Diego's rule!

Several days passed in a flash, and Vargas had handed over to him the property rights of the Horseback Mountain Silver Mine and an iron mine that was being mined.

And the money he promised was given to Vargas in cash.

Lance smuggled a large amount of cash here, and if nothing unexpected happens, this process will continue.

He was even considering whether to do a similar business. You know, money laundering has always been a lucrative industry in the federation.

Because there is so much dirty money in the federal government that is hidden from view, the situation may have been slightly better in the past, after all, most people did not need to pay taxes.

But now with the tax reform, ordinary people also have to pay taxes, and the terrifying institution, the Internal Revenue Service, is about to enter the historical stage with a new attitude.

(End of this chapter)