Shadow Empire

Chapter 1052 The End and Opposition

"Where have you been?"

When Pedro returned, Ross couldn't help but ask a question.

Although the conflict between the two has begun to emerge and shows a tendency to escalate, at least for the time being, their interests are still aligned.

Pedro sat back in his presiding judge's seat, glanced at Ross, and said after a few seconds, "The Federation's warships are already anchored outside the harbor, and their cannons are pointed at Zoran."

Ross was stunned for a moment, then an angry look appeared on his face.

Pedro found this very amusing.

What's interesting is that he read a lot of history books and documents, most of which were about capable ministers and officials.

The higher they are, the less likely they are to express their joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

But Ross is different; the higher his position, the harder it is for him to control his emotions.

This made him subconsciously look at Diego, who was being interrogated, and at the images of those dictatorial and brutal monarchs that flashed through his mind.

Because the power in their hands is no longer controlled by secular laws or anything else, their boundless lust for power has completely led them astray in the ocean of power. Therefore, they no longer hide their thoughts and begin to act according to their own preferences.

In other words, if Ross were to reach the pinnacle of power, he would become like that too; he would become ruthless, dictatorial, and perhaps even worse than Diego!
Therefore, the more this is the case, the less he can allow someone with the potential to become a tyrant or dictator to steal the fruits of their reform victory.

Ross had no idea that so many things had flashed through Pedro's mind in just that short moment. He clenched his fist and slammed it on the table. "Damn it..."

The sound of slamming the table drew the attention of those around them. Ross ignored their strange looks and looked at Pedro, asking, "What is he going to do?"

The "he" here undoubtedly refers to Lance. He immediately concluded that this was Lance's doing. Of course, his guess was not entirely wrong, but it was not entirely right either.

Pedro shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe it's to protect their interests."

"These seemingly civilized federal citizens, moral exemplars, may actually be worse than us in essence."

“At least we have some bottom line and moral constraints, while they have none.”

This is not their land, and the temporary land they acquired through some despicable means is not permanent, but they are trying to make it permanent, which is unacceptable to all changemakers.

"Let's continue the public trial."

"We'll have a proper talk with them after the trial is over."

"At least for now, we still have over 100,000 soldiers under our command, and that is our greatest source of confidence."

"If they want to take extreme measures, we may have ways to retaliate."

“We can destroy the concession and the people inside before they destroy us.”

Ross nodded. "Don't be so polite to him this time. He's just an aggressor disguised as an investor."

Pedro hummed in agreement. "I understand."

The subsequent interrogation proceeded at a faster pace, clearly indicating that Pedro wanted to finalize the establishment of a new Rapa government as soon as possible to counter the federal offensive.

During his conversation with President Ciudad, the latter mentioned a very crucial point.

If they can form a legitimate government as soon as possible, then the federal government will have to consider its international image and will not easily do anything to them.

Just like how they could have directly sent troops to occupy the entire Lapa, but instead chose to use these unsightly methods.

They are seeking a more positive and bright image internationally, and if the new government of Lapa is formed and seeks international aid and protests, some federal initiatives may be temporarily halted.

This would also give Pedro and Lapa a breather, allowing the Asian Union to support Lapa and maintain the current situation.

Pedro agreed with this view. During this period, he had also read a lot of materials and books about the Federation. From these materials and books, he saw a Federation that was good at self-promotion, a hypocritical and deceitful Federation.

With this in mind, Diego's fate seemed to have been sealed long ago.

By 3 p.m., the prosecutor had asked almost all the necessary questions, and after taking a few sips of water, he came to Diego's side.

Do you confess to your crimes?

Diego just stared at him, then turned to look in Pedro's direction. He couldn't even tell who Pedro was, but he knew Pedro was there.

At first he was very uneasy, but after three days, he no longer felt uneasy about being interrogated.

He then looked at the prosecutor and said, "Stop asking these useless questions and let's finish this quickly."

What should have been a public trial filled with cheers turned into a rather dull affair due to Diego's performance and the people's lukewarm reaction.

Before the prosecutor could say anything, Pedro spoke first, asking, "Diego, have you ever repented for all the crimes you committed in the past? Are you willing to admit your crimes to the world?"

Diego looked in the direction of the sound, but it was still a blurry mess.

A mocking smile reappeared on his face. "I said, whether I am guilty or not, whether I admit it or not, it's no longer important."

“You are the victors, you can get anything you want, including my confession of my crimes and guilt.”

"If this is what you want, then fine, I admit it."

"what's next?"

"kill me?"

Pedro breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he admitted it. After a brief silence, he said, "The purpose of the law is to ensure the safety of the people, not to be a tool for those in power to manipulate the masses."

“You’ve broken the law, Diego, and you’ve broken a lot of laws, whether they’re the old laws of Lapa or the laws we’ve borrowed from developed countries. There’s only one outcome for you.”

“You can be a brutal dictator, you can slaughter your people without asking why.”

"But we will become a new, civilized, fair and just government, and I will give you the opportunity to exercise your last rights, even if you are an unforgivable criminal!"

"what do you want?"

"In the final stage of your life, if it's not excessive, I can grant your request."

Diego has now come to accept all of this with equanimity. People have to learn to accept reality; it's impossible to resist and struggle forever.

He pursed his lips, his dry, chapped lips making him uncomfortable. "I want... a big glass of iced juice."

This request caught everyone off guard. They had assumed he might be asking for something else. No one expected that his last request would be a large glass of iced juice.
Pedro's emotions at this moment were somewhat complex, perhaps a true reflection of the end of a tyrant. He had once trampled on and dominated the lives of others at will, but in the last moments of his own life, he only asked for a glass of iced juice.

After a very brief moment of consideration, Pedro granted his wish.

Soon, a soldier came over with a glass of iced juice, which, as Diego had requested, contained large chunks of ice and was filled with a large glass of juice.

His eyes seemed to gleam; at that moment, freedom and survival seemed less important than the juice in front of him.

He picked up the juice, but instead of gulping it down in big mouthfuls as he used to, he slowly savored, felt, and reminisced over it.

Savoring the taste of the past, the taste of bygone days.

After finishing the juice in his glass, he chewed up some ice cubes and finally placed it on the table in front of him with satisfaction.

Ross was getting impatient. "Do you have anything else to say?"

He was clearly urging Diego to finish the last part of his life as soon as possible. Frankly, it's very ungentlemanly to rush someone who is already destined to die at this time.

Some people in the crowd even booed, and some people in the judge's seat couldn't help but look at Ross, thinking that he was too harsh.

Although Diego resisted somewhat during the three-day interrogation, he was at least cooperative and did not do anything else.

As former nobodys, they decided to give Pedro a decent ending, but Ross is ruining it all.

Perhaps sensing the disapproving looks from others, Ross snorted and shut his mouth; he didn't want to provoke public anger.

Urged on by him, Diego straightened his clothes and calmly faced the people in the dock. "Come on!"

"kill me!"

"Go and prove you're right!"

"Not every change will have a good outcome. Perhaps you will only realize on that day that it would have been better not to change at all."

“You will push this country into an even deeper abyss. If I am an unforgivable tyrant, then you are equally unforgivable.”

Pedro knew what Diego was trying to say, and he shook his head slightly. "No matter what the future holds, there's at least one thing we'll do better than you."

"We will treat the people well, not harm them."

He paused, then said, "Take him to the execution platform."

Diego was led to the execution platform, and the previously dull public trial finally began to "boil" as people talked and surged toward the execution platform.

Diego gasped for breath before kneeling on the execution platform.

At this moment, Pedro and his group walked over and approached him, seemingly wanting to witness the whole process firsthand.

This also allowed Diego to see them for who they really were.

He tilted his head and, at the executioner's command, rested it on the wooden stake. He looked at Pedro and the others, a somewhat distorted expression on his face. "I'll be waiting for you on the path to hell!"

With an impatient wave of Ross's hand, the guillotine fell to the ground with a thud, and blood splattered from the blade, also covering the executioner next to Diego.

His wide-open eyes rolled down onto the muddy ground below the platform.

This man, who had never bowed his head since birth and whose hair and cheeks had never been soiled by mud, finally embraced this land completely.

After a brief gasp of surprise, the group fell silent again.

Diego is dead, so what about them?

What about Lapa?
What to do next?
Everyone's eyes were filled with confusion, and they could not see any direction for the future.

In the words of Pedro and other reformists, this is what it means to be numb from the oppression and exploitation of a dictatorial regime, and their numbness.

From a practical standpoint, is it really appropriate to have a brief civil war followed by the overthrow of a stable regime, especially under the influence of external forces and significant external pressure?

Ultimately, it accelerated the establishment of the new democratic Rapa regime, just as Pedro said, to build a strong country where the people are the masters.

This hastened the demise of Rapa, as evidenced by the warships outside the port, their cannons already pointed at Rapa. That is absolutely not something a friend would do; only an aggressor would do such a thing.

Faced with such immense external pressure, the internal situation is so turbulent...

People may not think that far ahead, but they can feel the confusion and lack of direction.

The central broadcaster of Lapa broadcast throughout the entire Alam region for an entire day that Diego had been executed after a just trial, ending his sinful life.

Meanwhile, Pedro and other rebels will form a new party and set about building a new government in Lapa, a government composed mainly of ordinary people.

Everything seemed to be going in the direction they hoped for, but early the next morning, Pedro was woken up by his adjutant.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and opened his bedroom door. Seeing the anxious look on his adjutant's face, his sleepiness vanished almost instantly.

His expression turned serious. "What happened?"

His adjutant, who was also his former colleague, said in a very anxious tone, "This morning, almost all the princely states publicly stated that our Rappa People's Party is an illegal political party, that we are an anti-government armed group, and that we are a rebel army."

"They've joined forces to attack us and wipe us out..."

Pedro was instantly startled!

Lapa itself is composed of tribes of varying sizes, which they call "princely states".

The original chieftain of each princely state wielded immense power within his state.

Among the many princely states, the Ravira family and several other families were the most powerful. Ultimately, the Ravira family became the Grand President, while the ruling families of the other princely states became ministers in various departments.

The reason why Pedro's uprising was able to succeed so quickly was not only because of the support of the Commonwealth, but also because only seven or eight of the more than twenty princely states stood on the side of the Lavila family.

Therefore, their civil war went very smoothly. At the time, Pedro thought that these princely states might also be unable to tolerate Diego's dictatorship, so he chose to stand by and watch.

But now they suddenly claim that the rebel army is a riotous army and an illegal regime, and that they want to eliminate them. This must be a planned and premeditated scheme!

Having learned that a Federation warship was already patrolling outside the port, he once again "saw" the man sitting behind his desk, looking at him with indifferent eyes, seemingly unconcerned.

Lance!

(End of this chapter)