Shadow Empire

Chapter 968 Someone Always Has to Pay and Help ≈ Being Extorted

What kind of land do you want?

"How much?"

"I can make the decision, you can have it all!"

Diego then offered to consider Lance's situation, saying, "If you're planning to grow crops, I can offer you all the land on both sides of the main river in Lapa."

“These lands are very fertile!” Diego said, seemingly very knowledgeable about the subject. “I don’t know how to put it, but the soil on both sides of the river is very fertile, and you can grow anything you want without any problem.”

"Just scatter the seeds and wait for them to bear fruit; you don't even need to take care of them."

Throughout his speech, Lance maintained a smile. Only after he had finished speaking and listed several plots of land for Lance did he seem to realize something.

Lance hasn't said a word yet.

He suddenly shut his mouth, then looked at Lance with a mixture of confusion and encouragement in his eyes, "Choose one!"

"I guarantee you won't encounter any trouble, and the land will be given to you as much as possible!"

Lance smiled slightly, pursed his lips, and shook his head. "Your Excellency, how much do you think these lands are worth?"

"I believe that land transactions also exist in Lapa. How much are these lands you mentioned worth?"

"Ten yuan, twenty yuan, or fifty yuan?"

He showed a hint of regret, "We all know that land in Lapa isn't worth much. The land you mentioned probably only fetched..."

"A few dozen federal soles, and this is still cultivated farmland."

"Those uncultivated wastelands are probably only worth a few federal soles."

"What you want is 90 million Federal Sols, Your Excellency. That amount of money could buy almost half the size of your country."

Diego seemed to calm down as well, realizing the problem: the land in Lapa wasn't worth much.

Actually, it's not just Lapa's land that's worthless; the land in the Federation is worthless too.

In places like the wilderness of Likale, if someone is willing to clear land, the Likale state government may only charge a symbolic fee, a very small fee that anyone can afford.

Lance's estimate of ten or twenty dollars is a bit high. Wilderness land doesn't require money at all. All you need is a farmer with a set of tools, a week's time, and a week's wages to clear the land.

Like other countries, Lapa encourages the clearing of wasteland.

They encouraged the reclamation of farmland, and the wasteland they reclaimed belonged to them personally, but each acre of land had to pay a portion of the grain tax each year, which amounted to about one-fifth of their total income.

Apart from that, there were no other fees or taxes, so it was pretty good.

So the land here isn't worth much. Lance said this, and he seemed to have a bad feeling about it.

“Then you…” He looked directly into Lance’s eyes, which gleamed slightly behind his eyes. Although they were small, they were quite bright.

Lance tilted his head slightly, not quite straight, "You know, I've recently invested in a lot of factories and related supporting facilities in Zhuolan."

“We just talked about this,” Diego nodded, indicating that he was aware of it.

Lance pursed his lips again. "So what I want is this land."

Diego hadn't quite grasped the situation yet. "Of course, these lands aren't actually... worth much. I can give you some extra compensation..."

Lance raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "Actually, you don't understand, Your Excellency. I want to buy this land as a Federal citizen."

"In other words, I want to buy it from the entity of Lapa. At the moment we reach an agreement, the land within the area I have demarcated no longer belongs to Lapa, nor to you, but to me personally."

“A private piece of land, unrelated to Lapa, which you can think of as a country within a country.”

“I will exercise my own laws on this land, not Lapa's, do you understand now?”

Diego's mouth gaped open as he heard this. He stared at Lance in disbelief, then slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "This is impossible!"

His face was filled with anger, his fat cheeks trembling slightly with rage. He glared at Lance, and although he had put on a fierce expression, Lance thought he didn't show any emotion at all.

She just kept squinting at him, her eyes slightly wider than before, that was all.

Lance shrugged. "You don't need to be so angry. It's okay if you don't agree. I'm here to talk business."

"If I agree and you disagree, or if you agree but I disagree, this deal cannot be made."

"You don't need to get so worked up. Just keep your attitude."

Diego didn't speak, he just stood behind the table and looked at Lance.

Lance put his leg down and stood up with a regretful look on his face. "It looks like we won't be able to reach an agreement this time, but that's okay. As long as you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."

"Any time!"

He gave a slight bow and said, "Then I won't disturb your work any longer, Your Excellency!"

"No need to deliver it!"

He turned and left, and Madol stared at the president and his butler for a while before following Lance away.

In the courtyard of the Presidential Palace, a convoy of more than a dozen armored vehicles drew the attention of many people.

In particular, some of these armored vehicles are equipped with machine guns, which gives these oddly shaped armored vehicles a unique character.

The taste of iron and blood!
These kinds of things attract a lot of attention during times of chaos, and some people seem to want to get one themselves.

Even if you don't have to do anything, at least you can ensure your own safety, right?
If these federalers hadn't looked like they were not to be trifled with, they probably would have already gone over and asked how much one of these cars cost.

Soon, the motorcade left the presidential palace under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Diego watched their departing figures, his face so dark it could drip water.

"Those damn Federation people!" he clenched his fists. He knew perfectly well what Lance meant by "buy"!
This is nothing but a cession of land disguised as a "purchase." If he really does this, even more people will rise up tomorrow to overthrow his regime!
Although the Lavila family's rule had many problems, such as poverty, hunger, and lack of clothing, many people did not have stable jobs, and a family's monthly income might only be three or four hundred Paras, which was certainly worth even less now.

This country has many problems, but at least it can keep going.

It's like a ship that, despite being patched up and repaired many times, can still sail on the sea instead of sinking.

But if he agrees to Lance's demands and cedes a piece of land in a place like Zoran, then the ship will sink.

These arrogant Federation people!

His fist made a "crunching" sound; he used a lot of force, his nails digging into his palms, but he felt no pain.

Because there is pain that is more painful than physical pain—psychological, spiritual, and personal!
These people look down on him!
Sooner or later, he punched the wall, and the wall made a "thud".

The butler watched quietly as blood trickled from the spot where the man's fist had pressed tightly against the wall.

Sooner or later, Diego will make the federal people pay for their arrogance!
He swears!
Naturally, the deal fell through, but no one was too surprised. It would have been problematic if it had been closed on the first try.

No one knows what Lance and the president discussed at the presidential palace, and those who do know dare not speak carelessly.

A few days have passed in the blink of an eye. In these few days, the intensity of the civil war has not only not decreased, but has instead shown an increasing trend, and the intensity and ferocity of the conflict are both rising!

Fernandez's initial idea was simple: to use more advanced combat command techniques and weapons that were more advanced than those of the anti-government forces, such as field artillery, to launch a generational attack against them.

We could have greatly increased our chances of victory by bombarding them with artillery to destroy their will to resist and their morale, and then engaging in battle. But now we're in trouble.

Because artillery shells are also on the list of prohibited exports, and artillery shells are much more expensive than bullets, countries like Rapa cannot stockpile large quantities of such shells. Unlike Slade or Dantra, they do not have constant military clashes along their borders and need to be prepared for war at any time.

Despite its numerous problems, Lapa was relatively stable and peaceful before the arrival of the Federation.

Therefore, they did not stockpile many shells.

If all the shells are fired now, it will be difficult to get supplies later.

There are only a handful of countries in the entire Asian Union that have artillery shells. Small countries like Makan have neither artillery nor shells, and their armies are few in number. They are one of the few countries that can give Diego a sense of superiority.

And those countries that possess artillery shells are unlikely to sell them all to Diego.

Their lives are not easy right now either; the famine is not just happening in Lapa, but throughout the entire Alam region.

The federal government issued a new wartime policy, providing subsidies to those who purchased food from the Alan region and brought it back to the federal government.

This would allow them to purchase large quantities of grain in the Yalan region, and even if they purchased it at market price, they could still make a profit through government subsidies.

Many countries did not realize that this was essentially a scheme by the federal government. After all, grain that used to cost only a few cents a pound of federal soles could now cost ten cents, which was an irresistible temptation for many agricultural countries!
They mainly export grain, and now that prices have risen so much, they won't wait and see. Instead, they will quickly deliver every last grain, leaving none for themselves.

This resulted in a famine that covered almost the entire Alan region, leaving many hungry refugees everywhere.

The tropical rainforests of the Alan region have suffered greatly; places that were rarely visited in the past can now be found to be inhabited.

Some animals found only in Asia are heading towards extinction at a rate that is beyond human comprehension.

It's not that something is wrong with nature, it's just that too many people are starving!
There are many people who go hungry, but it's not that there are none in high society, but rather that there are very few, extremely few.

Therefore, class contradictions became more apparent at this time, and uprisings and similar events occurred in various places under the instigation of some individuals.

They themselves complain that they don't have enough ammunition, so how could they possibly sell it to Lapa?
So all of these artillery pieces have now been returned to Zoran's defense zone for use as a last resort.

Once the initial artillery barrage is removed, and soldiers are forced to engage the anti-government forces directly in areas where they have an advantage, the intensity of the fighting naturally increases, and casualties rise continuously.

The two sides have begun to "stick together," unlike at the beginning when the battle progressed very quickly, with a city being captured almost every three to five days.

There has been no change for several days now, and the fighting has continued at a low to medium intensity.

Those war supplies were lost in a steady stream. Diego had intended to conserve ammunition, but in reality, they were used even more than before!
Fernandez knew that Diego had contacted those arms sales representatives, but he didn't know what the outcome would be.

The fighting had become extremely intense these past few days, forcing him to take the initiative to go to Diego's office to inquire about the follow-up on weapons and ammunition.

“They are willing to sell us export-grade weapons and ammunition, but I can’t afford it,” Diego said bluntly.

He actually had a plan: he intended to use the same method he had previously used to acquire weapons and equipment from the Czech Republic to borrow money from the Czech Republic to buy those weapons and ammunition.

He hadn't figured out how to tell Fernandez about this, but the other man had come to him on his own initiative, so he could take the opportunity to test Fernandez's attitude.

Hearing Diego say this, Fernandez looked at him with some disbelief, "Don't tell me the Rapa government's treasury is completely empty!"

Diego nodded. "Of course it's not that exaggerated, but there's not much left either. It's still worth about three million federal sols."

"So few?!" Fernandez's voice trembled as he stared wide-eyed at Diego, unable to believe the number was real!
How could a country's treasury contain only a few million federal soles?

He was so angry he laughed!

You better be joking with me!

He hadn't discussed this issue in detail with Diego before, since when he came, he thought that a government of a country with 12 million people should have at least tens of millions of federal soles in its coffers, if not hundreds of millions or billions.

It's really inappropriate not to have even this much money!

Now he realizes that his past assumptions were somewhat conservative.

Diego shook his head. "I wasn't joking."

For a moment, Fernandez was speechless; it was the first time he had ever been so speechless!
Diego knew this was a bit awkward, so he changed the subject, "Actually... they offered me a new solution."

Since he intends to extort the Republic of Geed, he will definitely bring up what Lance said.

Fernandez lit a cigarette. "It had to be good news."

Diego ignored his slight sarcasm and continued, "They told me to contact Lance and say that Lance has the money."

“I contacted Lance, and he does have the money, in cash, and can give it to me anytime, anywhere.”

"But he has one request, a request I cannot grant."

Fernandez took a drag of his cigarette, his attention drawn to him. "What?"

"They want me to cede a piece of land to them."

This was the most shocking moment Fernandez had experienced this year. His eyes widened again, and he looked at Diego as if he couldn't understand and wanted him to repeat himself.

"It's just what you think."

“They want to start from the south-central slums of Zhuolan and go all the way to the vicinity of the port because they have transportation needs, so they want to take over this land.”

Fernandez, not caring that he had just lit his cigarette, threw it on the ground. "You didn't agree to their request, did you?"

He was a little nervous; he knew what the Federalists meant by that.

Once this land belongs to the Commonwealth, they will be able to station troops here immediately!

The decision not to station troops in the Asian Union was indeed the result of negotiations between the federal government and the Czech Republic government.

But that doesn't mean they can't station troops on their own land!
Once the garrison is established, everything Quickly De has done before will become meaningless.

Diego shook his head. "I'm not stupid, how could I possibly agree to them?"

"But, brother, if I can't hold on, I can't guarantee I won't do it."

"Compared to being driven out or even killed, losing a piece of territory might be an option I can accept!"

Fernandez also realized that Diego was pressuring him and the Republic of Germany, but he had to admit that this pressure was indeed making things more difficult.

He didn't agree immediately, and calmed down. "I need to talk to the president. What's their offer to you?"

“Ninety million.” Diego handed over the offer, and Fernandez was unsurprisingly shocked once again!

"This is many times more expensive than if we made it ourselves!"

"Fuck, these Federation people are fucking insane!"

Looking at this price list, even with his excellent manners and upbringing, Fernandez couldn't help but start swearing at this moment!

The price of all weapons, including all kinds of ammunition, has doubled, and some have more than doubled!

He originally thought that if they only asked for 20 or 30 million, the president might agree to their request and transfer the money.

However, with 90 million and not a lot of ammunition, it means that they will have to keep buying more ammunition. Even the Geed can't afford such consumption!
Not to mention, the federalists will most likely continue to support anti-government armed forces, allowing them to continue to expand and grow stronger.

It seems that from the very beginning, there was only one possible ending!
(End of this chapter)