Shadow Empire

Chapter 978 Refusal and Room Allocation

The ball has gone into the hole; the "movement" is over.

Lance tossed his club to the course manager amidst praise of a "good shot," then turned and left with his men.

Diego stood on the lawn watching Lance's departing figure, his fists clenching tightly and then relaxing again and again.

His expression and his eyes were constantly changing.

Pain, fear, struggle, and a resolute determination to go all out.

But in the end, they all became timid.

No one wants to die; everyone hopes to live longer.

Whether this is a worker at the bottom of society, a white-collar worker, or a ruler.

Survival is the most basic instinct and desire of living beings, and its right far surpasses that of other desires and instincts.

Anyone who can overcome the desire to live to do something deserves respect.

Perhaps less than one percent of people could do that; the vast majority of people don't have that kind of courage, and neither does Diego.

The butler came over. He hadn't heard the last few words. He handed Diego a glass of iced juice with ice cubes still on it, which was his favorite drink.

But this time, Diego didn't drink.

He took the cup and smashed it on the ground, splashing juice that soaked his shoes, but he didn't notice at all.

After returning to his estate, he thought for a long time and then made a phone call to the president of the Czech Republic.

"The federal government has frozen my federal accounts, and they won't let me leave Lapa."

When the president of the Czech Republic heard these words, he was taken aback for a moment, and then his expression became somewhat serious, though Diego could not see this.

In fact, they, the Lapa people, the Jede people, or other people from the Alan region, all have one or more accounts in the Federation, more or less.

And these accounts all have a lot of money stored in them.

It's not that they don't trust their own country's banks. For example, the president of the Czech Republic has tens of millions of federal soles in cash in the Federation.

He did this because Giesecke & Devrient (GED) needed to grow.

Many technologies and materials are now only available to the Federation, especially since the Republic of Germany's current "buying is worse than researching" policy makes them more dependent on the Federation's goods.

Every year they need to import a lot of things from the federal government, which makes foreign exchange a problem.

The Federation settles its transactions with them using only the Federal Sol and does not accept their local currency. In order to obtain more Federal foreign exchange, they also set up companies in the Federation.

This money is currently held in these accounts, rather than in the national treasury, which is for convenience.

For example, sometimes they need to purchase some parts or raw materials.

Funds can be disbursed directly through the federal bank account, arriving quickly so that goods can be loaded onto ships and shipped.

If you travel from within China, it will be more complicated. You'll need to bring the cash over, deposit it in a bank, and then make the transaction.

No one would have thought there was a problem, but now that Diego's accounts have been frozen, the president of the Czech Republic is feeling a little worried.

The Republic of Geed is currently the only entity hindering the Federation's full-scale annexation of the Alan region, and they may do the same thing to the Republic of Geed.

"I am very sorry for what happened to you, but it also reminds me."

"And what does it mean that they won't allow you to leave Lapa?"

President Diego hesitated for a long time, but he felt that if anyone could save him now, it would be the Republic of Germany.

The Republic of Chidesha has an astonishingly large army and an industrial base that is far superior to that of Lapa; they are worlds apart.

Furthermore, they are not afraid of offending the Federation. They advocate for the establishment of the Asian Union and are the "vanguard of the anti-Federal movement," so they naturally do not care about offending the Federation members again.

Moreover, the Geed people genuinely do not want the Federation to intervene in the Alan region in this way. Regardless of whether this is their ambition or not, regardless of whether they themselves want to unify the Alan region, they are currently on the front line against the Federation.

Only by fleeing to Geddes could he possibly escape the possibility of performing his final act according to the script.

So when faced with President Chiedd's question, he was very careful and meticulous. "They want to use civil war to deplete a portion of Rapa's population. There are too many people in Rapa." This expression is actually inaccurate, but one cannot blame him.

He didn't know how to properly express what he wanted to say.

Hearing Diego's words, President Czerd couldn't help but shudder.

As a smart person and a college student, although Diego's expression was not very precise, he was able to understand what Diego was trying to say.

Eliminating all belligerents and destabilizing factors means saving lives, but to the Federation, these may just be meaningless, cold numbers.

Of the twelve million people, how many will be left after this civil war?
Although they weren't killed by the Federation members themselves, they were still inextricably linked to the killings.

Just as the real "Federals" say, the current Federation people are all devils; they bring nothing but disaster and destruction to the world.

He took a deep breath. "Do you want me to help you, or what are you planning to do?"

Diego gritted his teeth. "I want to go to you, either as a political asylum seeker or in the name of a government-in-exile."

"That way... the Federation's schemes won't succeed. As long as their ideas can't be realized, I'm happy. I've really had enough of these damn sons of bitches!"

After hearing this, President Czerd did not immediately agree, but instead pondered the matter.

The longer Diego pondered, the more his initial excitement about challenging the Federation's script gradually faded.

The playful expression on his face, which resembled a child deliberately doing something naughty to defy their parents, gradually faded and eventually turned into indifference.

“You…”, he opened his mouth, wanting to ask, “What else do you have to hesitate about?”, but he stopped before he could finish his sentence.

After another moment of silence, President Czerd ultimately rejected his request, saying, "This is not a good choice, Diego."

“We cannot protect your safety at all, and once you seek political asylum here, it means you have completely lost your value.”

"Will the Federation send someone to assassinate you?"

"I think it's very possible!"

"Moreover, once you leave Lapa, the situation in Lapa could quickly deteriorate and get out of control, which would also not be a good thing for us."

"The Federalists have funded so many anti-government armed groups. If they were to take control of Lapa, is it possible that they would immediately hand Lapa over to the Federalists?"

"The situation within the Asian Union is also very tense right now. The Federation has put too much pressure on others, and Lapa has become the key to this game!"

"It's like a domino effect; the moment the first domino falls, it means that all the dominoes will eventually fall!"

"So, my dear brother Diego, the most important thing you need to do now is to hold on!"

Diego had a terrible headache listening to him say these things.

Hang in there? Anyone can say nice things, but the real question is how to actually hang in there?

What will support it?

Are you willing to risk your life to hold on?

Just then, his emotions flared up again. His previously calm demeanor suddenly turned intense, and he interrupted President Chiedd, saying, "Even if I hold on, what good will it do?"

The president of Germany was taken aback for a moment and asked, "What?"

"What did you say? What do you mean?"

As a very emotional person, Diego is always controlled by his out-of-control emotions. He originally made this call to try to save himself, but now he is full of dissatisfaction with President Czerd.

This emotional shift led him to speak somewhat recklessly at this moment: "What I mean is, if we just keep holding on like this, will we be able to stop the Federation from eyeing us?"

The president of Germany fell silent again; they all knew this in fact.

Don't be fooled by the fact that their "confrontation" with the Federation is currently escalating.

In reality, everyone knows very well that they are ultimately no match for the Federation, and their current struggles are merely pushing that timeline back.

President Czerd sighed on the phone, "What you say is true, we just hope it can come later now."

"If we work hard, it might be postponed to five, ten, or even twenty or thirty years from now!"

Diego suddenly interrupted him, "After the war."

This once again caught President Chidde off guard. "What, after the war?"

Are you referring to the civil war in your country?

Diego said in a cold, rational tone, “No, it’s after the war on the continent of Tanfield ended.”

"The Federation doesn't have the energy to deal with things here right now, so we still have a chance to fight back."

"Once the war is over and they're free, how long do you think we can hold out?"

Sometimes Diego would have sudden bursts of brilliance, as if his emotions and intelligence collided and sparked a brilliant idea.

Brilliant and dazzling, but fleeting.

President Czerd was somewhat at a loss for words, as this was also the result of his discussions with his cabinet.

They were all filled with resentment. The Republic of Germany was developing very well. Give them another twenty or thirty years, and even if they couldn't become a developed country like the Federation, they would still be able to achieve their goals.

At least they have a high probability of nominally unifying the Asia region.

And all of this was destined to end when the Federation people bared their greedy fangs.

The call between the two naturally ended unpleasantly, but even though President Jede was unhappy, he still agreed to provide the Rapa government with eight million federal soles in economic aid.

This eight million is still a long way from what Lapa wants to do next, or what the script requires.

But in the end, it's eight million.

Those damn federalists!
The damned Federals are currently engaged in social activities.

The rebuilt communities from the slums they demolished have been completed, also constructed using steel frame structures, representing the pinnacle of federal technology.

The structure is stable and the construction time is very short; in fact, the more workers there are, the shorter the construction time becomes.

Lance is assigning new owners to some of the houses that have already been built.

Standing on the high platform, surrounded by bulletproof glass on all sides, with Lance's riflemen at the top, everything at the event was under control.

“This is yours!” Lance handed a bunch of keys to Juan.

Lance used the federal property certificate format, and although the area has not yet been "purchased" or "leased," Lance no longer cares.

He is now the master of this area, and he has even given the territory he controls a very impressive name—the New Federal Center!

As for whether Diego will object or protest?

He didn't really care.

Excited and bewildered, Juan, prompted by others, grabbed the key from Lance's hand.

He still feels like he's dreaming!
He had heard a few days ago that Mr. Lance was going to allocate housing to everyone who had registered their identity information.

These houses still belong to Mr. Lance and his company, but residents can only stay in them for a full fifteen years.

Then they can buy out the house for a symbolic one dollar of federal salt and own it completely.

One dollar!

With just a week's salary, you can own your own apartment, and it'll be at least 60 square meters. That's unbelievable!

This large, clean, and tidy room is enough for a family of four or even five to live in, and it only costs one dollar!

You can own it after living there for fifteen years.

Many ordinary people living nearby thought it couldn't be true, how could such a good thing happen to them?
Until this moment, they couldn't believe it was real, but they had to believe it.

As the people on stage lined up after receiving their keys, their teeth gleaming, the audience below felt waves of envy and jealousy.

What made them even more envious and resentful was that the first ten people in the number received a 120-square-meter apartment.

The first fifty apartments are all 90 square meters, and the later ones are 60 square meters.

While people feel envious, jealous, and resentful, they also regret not having considered actively joining in the first place.

This event will give away a total of 1,000 houses, and some houses are under construction and renovation. According to information obtained from Lance, only the first 3,000 families with their numbers will be able to use the free houses.

Those numbered after 5,000 need to pay to move into the apartment, but it's not expensive, only one federal sol.

However, there is one prerequisite: one must work in a factory invested in by Lance or the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.

That information registration certificate not only registered their identity information, but also served as a kind of "employment card".

This rule also applies to those who receive the right to live in these houses for free. If a family loses their jobs for three consecutive months, they must leave the house, and their accumulated "time" will be forfeited.

Clutching the brand-new key in his hand, Juan was on the verge of tears. After his father's death, everything had finally gotten better.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. White, who shines like the sun for us!"

Juan clasped his hands together, as if worshipping a god, and revered Lance.

(End of this chapter)