Shadow Empire

Chapter 1020 Urgency, Special Zone, and Glory
Ross looked up at Pedro, who had stood up and looked pale, and asked, somewhat confused, "What... happened?"

He was, after all, just a worker with a low level of education, and although he had achieved considerable success, he didn't understand what President Diego meant by what he said on the radio.

Pedro must have known, which is why he had that expression. He immediately pressed on, "What do these remarks mean?"

Pedro could no longer hear what he was saying, nor could he hear what President Diego said afterward; in his world, the whole world was buzzing.

He slowly sat back down, grabbed the water glass with his hand, raised it, but didn't drink; he just held it there.

After a while, he seemed to recover from his abnormal state and turned to look at Ross. "This was... a very bad decision."

"It means that the whole of Lapa will be completely divided, and anyone who occupies a piece of land can legally exercise self-governance."

"Including us, we can now legally govern the territory we control and the people living here."

"We can make laws, we can make policies, we can make taxes, and everything!"

Ross still didn't quite understand. "Isn't this a good thing?"

“We have gone from being labeled as anti-government forces to becoming the legitimate rulers of the local area, which should be a good thing.”

Pedro shook his head. "Diego will continue to wage war against us, even if he doesn't want to, or we don't want to, the Federals, the Federal Government, will keep us fighting together."

"This decision is truly beneficial to the ruling class. The regions they control will become autonomous under their leadership. To put it more bluntly, Lapa has split at this moment!"

His tone was serious, immediately conveying a sense of gravity: "Many of those ministers have sided with the Commonwealth, and the autonomous regions they control are practically equivalent to the autonomous regions controlled by the Commonwealth."

"You can imagine, if the actual controllers of most of Lapa were the Federation people..."

He was at a loss for words, for many reasons, but meeting Ross's gaze, he knew that the most important thing now was unity, not anything else.

"You should know some things about the new federal center."

Ross nodded. "Yes, I know, he heard about it."

“People in the neighborhood want to become residents of the new federal center, and they are all applying for identity cards.”

Life in this concession of the New Federal Center is very stable and prosperous. There is no famine and almost no unemployment. After all, everyone has a job, and you need to have a job before you can get an identity card.

The entire concession was an environment completely different from that of Lapa at this moment.

If the outside world of Lapa is a hell heading towards destruction and subversion, then the new federal center, this concession, is the dreamland of the Lapa people.

It's very difficult to become a resident of the concession now. First, you need to have a job, and then you have to pass their scrutiny.

Ross had heard of this.

Pedro continued, "What if more of these concession-style new federal centers emerged in many of the rich areas of Lapa?"

Ross's expression finally changed, becoming more serious and even carrying a hint of murderous intent. "How is this possible?"

He almost cried out.

In his eyes, the new federal concession was an exception, a special case that was difficult to replicate, and the Treaty of Zhuolan was regarded by them as a traitorous clause.

No matter how good the new federal center may seem to ordinary people, it represents humiliation in the eyes of these rebel leaders who have consciously taken on the responsibility of "revitalizing and liberating Lapa".

They are unlikely to allow more concessions to appear, and Diego didn't say why...

Pedro took out a cigarette he had rolled himself. Lapa didn't lack tobacco leaves; at least they didn't lack supplies in that area.

"You may think it's impossible, but those ministers will actively cooperate."

"When the whole of Lapa is like this, will you still feel relaxed now?"

Ross found himself in a very peculiar situation. He stared blankly ahead, unable to focus, and had no idea what he was looking at or what he was seeing.

"By then, it won't be a war and conflict between us and Diego's government, but between us and the federal government!"

After hearing this, Ross roughly understood, and his expression became somewhat panicked. "What do we do now?"

Pedro glanced down at the glass in his hand, then raised it and took a sip of water. "Surround Zoran as soon as possible, capture Diego, and then completely deny Diego's decision."

"In addition, we need to unite with more insurgents and make them understand the seriousness and necessity of this matter."

Pedro's expression was exceptionally resolute. "Lapa is at a critical juncture, facing life or death!"

President Diego finished reading his prepared statement in his office, already able to imagine the madness that gripped the country at that moment.

The madness of the people, the madness of the ruling class, and the madness of the anti-government armed forces.

Just as his eyes were vacant and unfocused, the phone on the table suddenly rang. He picked up the receiver and put it to his ear, and Lance's voice came through.

"Very good speech. You are a great president. At least when you should have done something, you chose to take responsibility instead of running away."

"The people of Lapa will remember you, at least for this moment. They will remember you because your decision brought the fragrance of freedom to Lapa and its people!"

"The weapons and cash have been unloaded from the ship; you can arrange for someone to receive them."

He didn't quite understand what Lance was saying, but when he heard that the weapons and money had been unloaded, he seemed to come back to his senses, and some light returned to his empty eyes.

He hasn't lost yet; he still has so much money and weapons, he can arm even more people.

If he can defeat those anti-government forces, he might still have a sliver of a chance to negotiate with the Federation.

He wanted to live, even if it meant living in humiliation!

Thinking of this, his eyes sharpened instantly, and he left the office with his officers. The large amount of supplies would allow him to build more troops to fight against the relentless advance of the anti-government forces.

That same noon, Diego's government launched another conscription drive. Anyone who joined the government army would immediately receive a ten-dollar reward and a monthly salary of six federal soles.

In their recruitment propaganda, they claimed that Rapa's current state was entirely due to the anti-government armed groups.

If they hadn't risen up and formed an armed opposition at the worst possible time, there would have been no unrest, no civil war, and the famine would have been completely resolved this year.

But it was because of them that a civil war broke out, which not only failed to completely solve the famine problem, but also caused even more deaths!
In its propaganda, the Rapa government called on more young people in Rapa to join the government army and liberate all of Rapa.

The high rewards and social benefits for joining the army did attract many people, and the propaganda tone varied in different occupied territories.

Outside of the Zoran region, people viewed Diego's government as an incompetent and traitorous government.

However, in and around Zhuolan, people still felt that Diego was working hard to maintain social stability, and that the situation there was much better than the situation outside.

They heard that many people had starved to death outside, and many more had died in the civil war, but thanks to Diego's efforts, these deaths had not affected the local population.

With numerous propaganda campaigns and conscription orders issued, the number of people in the government army continued to increase.

Perhaps realizing that this would not be an easy battle, the anti-government forces have also accelerated their recruitment of new soldiers, and both sides seem to be preparing for a possible "decisive battle" in the near future.

Diego didn't want to die, and the rebels didn't want the fruits of their labor to fall into the hands of the Union.

Early in the morning, Lance's convoy appeared on the roads of the new federal center. These newly renovated roads were wide and clean, and some middle-aged and elderly people from Lapa were wandering around the roads with cleaning tools in their hands.

Lance disliked the filth and disorder of Lapa. The people there seemed to have no concept of "cleanliness and tidiness." They always littered and even urinated and defecated indiscriminately.

The slums of Zoran are said to be places for people to live, but in reality they are more like a super-huge garbage dump where everyone lives.

Lance disliked the environment here, and even more so the stench that emanated from the street in the summer. The street renovation itself was also a form of publicity.

Looking at the clean streets, his mood improved.

As the convoy passed by, pedestrians and sanitation workers on the roadside would stop what they were doing and bow to Lance.

Everyone knows that without Lance, there would be no new federal center, and they wouldn't have the wonderful life they have now.

Regardless of their initial doubts, after living here for a few months, they felt only endless gratitude for this place and for Lance.

"Two factories were completed and started production this morning. Here is some information."

Lance picked them up and glanced at them casually; they were all projects invested in by members of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.

The Imperial Chamber of Commerce is now the only one that can be considered a true "chamber of commerce." Its members invest heavily here, building new factories and continuing to exploit the already outrageously cheap labor of Lapa to produce high-profit goods.

Transporting raw materials from Jin Gang City to this production site and then back to the production site, as long as the quantity transported at one time is large enough, the cost is cheaper than producing in the Federation!
Hap Steel and Centerline Steel Group have also begun building metallurgical plants locally.

Lapa has relatively abundant mineral resources, which can be processed into metal ingots at low local costs and then shipped back to the country for direct sale.

Furthermore, some products can be sold locally. The development of the new federal center is accelerating, and more and more people are discussing cooperation with Lance.

“I don’t know why, but recently more and more people have been coming here to invest,” Roger said, putting away the documents Lance had handed him.

In the first half of the year, only members of their Imperial Chamber of Commerce and some scattered private investors operated here; no large enterprises came here.

But now that Heli Steel and Central Line Steel have settled here, and some large group companies have started to contact him, he feels a very strange feeling.

Roger was very hardworking and conscientious during his work, and Lance could see that he was very loyal to himself and the Lance family.

After all, his and his family's happiness were inextricably linked to Lance, so he didn't mind revealing a little bit of information.

"The lease of the new federal center is a lease agreement I signed with the Lapa government. In other words, the subject is not the federal government."

“After Lapa is annexed by the federal government, it will become a very special independent administrative region.”

"You can think of it as a reward for everything I've done today; I will be setting some policy standards for this region."

When Roger heard these words, his brain started to spin; he didn't even quite understand them!
He wanted to ask something more, but Lance just shook his head and didn't answer. "Don't reveal this, at least not for now."

Senator Cleveland will handle this personally, because Lance has promised that he will also have a good share of the profits.

As for what will eventually happen here, Lance himself doesn't know, because this is the Federation, a place full of "miracles," and it depends on how long Senator Cleveland can hold out in Congress.

The longer he persists, the better this place will become.

However, even if he can't hold out for long, the federal government will have to pay Lance the necessary price if it wants to take back this privileged area.

The convoy soon arrived outside a factory. After the Lance family cleaned up the surrounding area, Lance got out of the car.

Too many people want to get rid of Lance now; he has to be careful.

He even wore a bulletproof vest, though it wasn't visible from the outside.

A large number of workers in uniforms stood outside the factory. After half a month of training, they were able to perform their jobs. Each of them looked at Lance with expectant eyes.

After Lance's brief speech today, they will enter the factory of their dreams and begin a new life that others envy and are jealous of.

Even on the exterior walls of some factories, slogans like "Work is glorious labor" are written, further reinforcing this atmosphere of honoring labor.

If labor is truly glorious, why don't the men and capitalists work?

Don't they want glory?

Or is it that this event wasn't as glorious as people imagined?
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Lance walked onto the makeshift platform...

(End of this chapter)