Shadow Empire

Chapter 1044 Take action
Humans are just strange like that.

Or perhaps the nature of the world is just that strange.

Some time ago, members of the second-largest party in Dantra contacted Senator Cleveland, trying to persuade this leader of the pro-war faction in Congress to set aside his obsession with war and try to negotiate peace.

They have now contacted Senator Cleveland again, but this time, they genuinely hope to reignite the war.

We are currently in a "ceasefire period." On the one hand, it's too cold; the main battlefields are all below zero degrees Celsius. Once large machinery stops, it's not easy to get it running again.

For example, armored vehicles, tanks, and even airplanes.

Once they stop, their oil lines will freeze, requiring heating equipment to bake them back to normal oil supply before they can be started again.

However, if they don't stop, the fuel consumption will be staggering. In addition, both sides have now shifted from direct warfare to diplomacy, resulting in a rare period of calm on the battlefield.

They had hoped this peace would continue, but now they want to shatter it with their own hands.

Only by continuing the war can the president of Dantra keep his attention focused on foreign wars rather than internal purges.

Senator Cleveland sat on the sofa listening to the senior government official from Dantra recount the promises the second-largest party could make to him and the federal government.

"...We will provide some compensation for the losses you have suffered as a result of the war, including cash, material resources, and the transfer of some technologies."

"At the same time, Your Excellency the Party Leader is willing to reach more extensive cooperation with the Federation in all aspects."

"Regarding the issue of opening markets that you mentioned last time, the party leader and committee members discussed it and decided to support your request."

"We will completely eliminate federal import duties on goods and remove all protectionist policies."

Senator Cleveland listened attentively as he presented his bargaining chips, appearing relaxed and at ease, without offering any opinions or comments, simply continuing to watch him.

The senior official in Dantra, who was being looked at, was already sweating. "We can even hand the president over to you to handle; this is our greatest sincerity!"

Handing the president over to another country for trial certainly shows a lot of sincerity, but...

“Not enough!” Senator Cleveland shifted his posture, sitting on a low, independent sofa that tilted from side to side, his hand supporting his chin, looking nothing like a formal negotiation.

The senior official who had contacted him wiped the sweat from his brow. “Senator, please feel free to say what you want. I will communicate with the party leader and other committee members.”

Having spent a lot of time with Lance, Senator Cleveland has also acquired some of his traits from him.

In some respects, Lance's views were indeed ahead of their time, even ahead of the tides of the times.

In the past, he might have thought that if he made some more demanding requests, he could have agreed to them, but now he doesn't think so.

"Several things. As a defeated nation, reparations are a given. In addition, you need to cede... the land in this vicinity to our military alliance."

"We will maintain a long-term military presence here to monitor and supervise your military operations, and to retaliate if necessary."

The official from Dantra was about to speak when he raised his hand to stop him. "Let me finish first. You can take notes. I don't like being interrupted when I'm speaking."

"Second, you must lay down your arms, control the number of your troops, and undergo periodic statistical and review by the joint investigation team to ensure that you do not wage war that could affect world peace within the specified time limit."

"Third, I have a list here. You need to disband these factories and hand over the technology and original components to us for safekeeping to ensure that these technologies are not used for war again."

"There are some remaining, relatively less important ones, all in this document. If you can win, then we will launch a new round of attacks soon."

"If you can't agree..."

Senator Cleveland smiled, put down his crossed legs, and stood up while holding onto the handrail. "I have other work to do, so I won't keep you company. You can stay here and use our phones, or you can leave and find a phone number that puts your mind at ease."

"See you later."

He straightened his clothes and then strode away.

His chief aide followed closely behind, and after exchanging a slight nod with the official who had come from Dantler, he walked out with Senator Cleveland.

"He can't agree, and neither can they," the chief advisor said with a smile after they had walked a short distance away and the door had closed.

Senator Cleveland shrugged nonchalantly. "I know, that's exactly what I want—they can't agree to it."

“Look at the patients in the intensive care unit and the ordinary patients in the regular wards. If you ask them to inject a one-yuan special drug, they will hesitate for a long time.”

"Should we get an injection of this drug that works immediately, or take pills that cost only ten cents a week?"

"But look at those critically ill patients in the intensive care unit. Even if it costs ten or a hundred yuan per injection, they will ask for it immediately as long as it works."

"Whether it's the second-largest party or the president, they haven't been completely driven to the brink yet, so there's still more value that can be squeezed out."

“They can’t agree now, but if we wait a few days, we might be able to talk, and if we wait a while longer, they might be able to reluctantly accept it.”

"Perhaps if we wait a while longer, they will be eager to sign an agreement with us to make this happen."

The chief aide walked slightly behind him, saying, "You've become a little different from before."

The senator shrugged indifferently, "I hope I don't seem worse to you."

"Haha, of course not, it's that you've become even better!"

Senator Cleveland laughed along, "Actually, I learned all of these from Lance and then from him."

"This guy seems quiet and unassuming, but he's actually a very capable person. If it weren't for his background, we might actually be colleagues."

The chief advisor was somewhat surprised. "You really think so highly of him?"

Senator Cleveland made no secret of his admiration for Lance, saying, "He is the most thoughtful and courageous person I have ever met, without exception. In some ways, I am not even as good as him."

"So sometimes I feel sorry, but at the same time I feel a little fortunate, because he can't enter the high echelons of politics."

"If he can get in, it might not actually be a good thing for us, for Congress, or for the federal government."

“A tyrant, a dictatorial tyrant, a dictatorial tyrant who can be overthrown is not scary at all. What is scary are those who are hard to overthrow.”

"What is he doing now?"

The chief of staff thought for a moment, having read the report from Tom, "The civil war in Rapa is nearing its end, and he's keeping an eye on the changes in Rapa."

The senator nodded. "It's all good news. God bless the Union!"

Upon hearing the senator's words, the chief aide paused for a moment, but quickly smiled and echoed, "Yes, God bless the Union!"

The Dantra officials returned to the hotel in anger. Due to the outbreak of war, Dantra and the Federation had severed diplomatic relations, and both sides had withdrawn their consulates.

So he had no choice but to go to a hotel.

In the hotel, he dialed the phone number of the leader of the second-largest party. As soon as the call connected, the leader couldn't help but ask, "Did he agree?"

They had actually studied the federal government carefully. On the surface, the president held all the power, and some congressional documents needed to be sent to the presidential palace for signature before they could take effect. But that didn’t mean that Congress was completely worthless.

Unless the president of the federal government intends to remain in office as a dictator and tyrant, he will inevitably step down.

The more strained his relationship with Congress is now, the worse his situation will be after he leaves office. This has happened before; now, that president and his family have disappeared without a trace, and no one talks about them anymore.

Therefore, for the sake of themselves, their families, and their extended family, the relationship between the president and Congress will not become too divisive; they will respect each other's attitudes and opinions. So, to get things under control in the federal government, one cannot focus on the president; instead, one must first persuade Congress to agree.

Senator Cleveland is a representative of the hawkish faction. It would be pointless to persuade anyone else without persuading him, so this dialogue with Senator Cleveland is very important, and the party leader has to pay close attention to it.

“He didn’t agree. He offered us some conditions…” He then relayed the conditions he had written down to the party leader over the phone.

The party leader interrupted him after hearing only the second point, saying, "How could I possibly agree to such a request?"

"If I really agree, those people outside will tie me up and hang me on the statue in the central garden tomorrow. I absolutely will not agree, and it's impossible for me to agree!"

“Talk to him again, tell him we are very sincere, give us something concrete, don’t try to fob us off with these meaningless things…”

The two then discussed some of the conditions proposed by Senator Cleveland, made some modifications to some of the points that the party leader deemed acceptable, and then sent officials to continue talking with Senator Cleveland.

Once they've finished their discussions, there will be more formal negotiations; right now, we're just exploring the possibility and progress of these negotiations.

After hanging up the phone, the party leader didn't show much anger on his face. Instead, he seemed a little worried because the Federals' attitude made him feel that they seemed to have figured something out.

There were other people in the office, all watching him. He shook his head. "The Federation people are extremely greedy; they demand too much!"

He repeated all of Senator Cleveland's demands, and the gentlemen in the room felt that they could not possibly agree to such rude requests, just as Diego had initially felt they would not.

Some people also criticized Senator Cleveland, calling him a greedy hyena who would never be full.

But despite the criticism, the matter still needs to be resolved. "We still need to find ways to exert external pressure, otherwise the president will go crazy sooner or later."

“If things don’t work out with the Federation, ask Slade. They can also launch an attack on us from the west. As long as the war resumes, our pressure will be greatly reduced.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement, agreeing that this was the best solution at present: using external pressure to reduce internal conflicts and stress.

While they were discussing this matter, the party leader suddenly realized that the person responsible for contacting Slard's side was not present today.

"Jarvan didn't come?"

Did he tell you what he was going to do today?

The people in the room looked at each other, and it was only then that they noticed that a few people were missing, and Jiawen was one of them.

So they started giving different answers than the one given about the party leader.

"XX didn't come either!"

"Yes, ...they didn't come either."

Several people didn't come, and they didn't ask for leave. Did they encounter some trouble at this crucial time?
The party leader had a bad feeling. He immediately picked up the phone and dialed Jiawen's office number, but no one answered.

Then he dialed Jiawen's home phone number. The caller ID chimed slowly and rhythmically, and the party leader's heart sank lower and lower.

The shrill ring of the telephone was jarring and abrupt. Jiawen stood in the middle of the living room with his arm around his wife's shoulder and their two children.

A group of soldiers in army uniforms violently kicked open his door early in the morning, rushed in, and subdued them all.

Just as the two bodyguards he had hired were about to resist, they lay down on the ground and fell asleep, which terrified them all.

The family stood there, their faces pale, while a captain sat on a sofa not far from them.

All eyes were on the phone, including the captain's, but no one dared to answer it without his permission.

He shook his ankle as he looked at Jiawen, saying nothing, just watching.

Jarvan was losing his temper, as the soldiers had already entered his study. He glared at the captain and said, "This is political persecution!"

“You are soldiers, you should not be his accomplices. You will be despised by the people and nailed to the pillar of shame!”

The captain's eyes held a hint of contempt and disdain. "I'm not good at arguing. I won't convince you, but you won't convince me either. We must have enough evidence to get us here, Mr. Jarvan."

"You'd better pray that we can't find any evidence against you, or you'll be in big trouble."

Jarvan's expression worsened. He could still hope that these soldiers were just roughnecks and would just go through the motions; otherwise, there might really be problems.

At the behest of the party leader, he had been in frequent contact with the Slade people recently, and even had some letters exchanged between him and Slade officials.

After all, impeaching and overthrowing a president is no simple matter; it also requires uniting with hostile forces. Therefore, he has always been very cautious and rarely uses the phone to make contact.

After all, these calls can only go through a few lines to get to Slade. If the operators were to tap these lines, it would be very troublesome and could have terrible consequences.

Therefore, they used telegrams and letters to communicate, which also served as a way to leave each other with leverage and bargaining chips.

He didn't think he would encounter any danger in this situation, but the president seemed to have no intention of maintaining basic decorum and had completely broken off all pretense of civility.

He let the soldiers rush in without any preparation, and if they found those things, it would be a disaster for him.

He held his wife and two children tightly, as if doing so gave him a sense of security.

“I would like to speak with the President,” he made a request, but the captain ignored him, merely glancing at him sideways before looking away.

Just as Jarvan was about to take a step forward to emphasize the importance of his call with the president, the gun barrels in the living room were pointed at him, forcing him to stand back.

Just as he was thinking of an excuse to persuade the captain, a man suddenly ran out of the second-floor corridor with a look of surprise on his face, "Found it, sir!"

The captain immediately stood up, his face full of surprise. He gave Jiawen a meaningful look and strode upstairs.

Jarvan was trembling so badly he could barely stand.

He certainly knew what was in his study.

About four or five minutes later, the captain came downstairs with a briefcase. He glanced at Jarvan again and said, "Very well, the people of the Republic have raised traitors like you!"

"Take them all away. If they resist, kill them on the spot!"

Jarvan nearly collapsed to the ground. What collusion with the enemy, what traitor—these were all just excuses for political infighting!

The president now holds the "greater good" and has no power to resist.

He and his family were dragged into the vehicle amidst the cries of their children; the soldiers showed no mercy.

Their comrades risked their lives on the front lines, but these traitors were betraying their intelligence from the rear.
They didn't actually know what was in those letters; they simply believed that betrayal and traitors meant selling military intelligence.

So they showed no pity for the "little traitor" and simply lashed him with their whips.

Despite it being winter, the whipping was still painful. The two children, unable to cry or fuss, eventually gave up resisting and were thrown into the car.

Soon, the president received the documents. After reading them for a while, anger resurfaced on his face. These were certainly not all the letters, but even these were enough to make him angry!

"Where is he?" he asked.

"It has already been sent to the military region."

The president took a deep breath. "Interrogate him thoroughly. This is definitely not his personal act. We must find out more people involved, understand?"

(End of this chapter)