Shadow Empire

Chapter 975 Grouping Up Leads to More and Faster Deaths
In a room that looked anything but luxurious, and even somewhat dilapidated, Pedro suddenly stood up.

"Ross is here."

As he spoke, he walked to the door, and just then, the door opened, and Ross walked in laughing, "What's this thing you guys call it again?"

He was wearing a military uniform, and there was no trace of his former worker appearance on him. You could even say that he was a soldier, and no one would associate him with a worker.

He hugged Pedro first, then the others, and only after they parted did he put his arm around Pedro's and say, "Class reunion, is that what it's called?"

Pedro nodded. "There's absolutely no problem with that!" He pulled Ross into the room and made him sit down, and the others also sat down at the table.

Ross's gaze lingered on each of the participants at the table, finally settling on Pedro beside him. He had already looked everyone over.

"There are only fifteen, where are the other nine?"

Their class, and their only class, had twenty-four students from all over Lapa, but only fifteen of them were in this room, meaning nine others weren't there.

Pedro's face showed some regret. "Several have already returned to God's embrace, and two others don't intend to get involved."

Not everyone wants to dance on this stage; some are willing to remain unknown.

Ambitiousness sounds good, but achieving it can come at a terrible price.

Not everyone has such courage and determination. Only a very small number of people can truly shine on the stage of our times. Most people lead mediocre and unproductive lives.

Ross sighed upon hearing this, "The government forces have been fighting very fiercely lately, and even we have had to retreat a distance to avoid starting a war with them too early."

Under Fernandez's leadership and the command of the German officers, the government forces launched a very fierce offensive during this period.

It could be said that they are suppressing these insurgents—that's their own claim. Of course, the Rapa regime is currently relatively stable, so in the international community, they are considered anti-government armed groups.

Many rebels were wiped out in this tsunami-like military operation, including some of their contemporaries.

Everyone's mood sombered slightly. The smiles and voices of those people from the past seemed to linger not far away, and they could still remember them clearly.

I remember their heated discussions and clashes of ideas in Lance's "classroom"...

But now, these people have become a symbol, a thing of the past.

Perhaps this is their final destination.

perhaps.

After a brief silence, Pedro let out a breath, drawing everyone's attention, including Ross's.

Of the fifteen anti-government armed leaders here, only Pedro and Ross currently wield the largest and strongest power.

Pedro was the first to stand up against the government, and he received more aid from Lance than others.

They have already fought against government forces once and achieved good results.

This makes Pedro a flag, a lighthouse, a goal that guides people in their direction.

Some people's ambition isn't to be president; they might just want to be a general, or an official, so they won't raise their own forces to fight against the official government of Lapa. They'll join Pedro's side.

Ross was the one who followed closely behind, so he also did very well and had a considerable number of workers under him.

The workers in Lapa are not the lowest class, but rather close to the middle class. He himself is also a worker. When these workers unite, they are stronger in combat effectiveness and execution than Pedro's all-powerful team.

This has led some people to consider investing in them.

Some privileged classes, and even the ruling class, within the country, have also begun to send people to contact them.

They have support not only from the Commonwealth, so their growth is like a snowball, getting faster and bigger!
Even so, when faced with fully armed government troops with professional officers, both Ross and Pedro would choose to back down; now is not the time to confront them head-on.

Pedro nodded in agreement with Ross's point of view, "Their offensive is very strong now. They have a kind of momentum that supports them in fighting us fearlessly."

"But I believe this momentum can't last forever. People aren't machines; they get tired eventually."

Those around him nodded in agreement, showing their agreement with Pedro's view.

Ross looked at him and asked, "So?"

"Is this gathering of us really just for us old classmates to get together?"

He spoke and laughed as if he truly believed it.

Pedro remarked with some emotion that Ross's transformation was perhaps the most significant among the participants in the workshop.

He was never as "mature" or politically mature as he is now. He used to be just a worker, but now he is clearly more like a politician!
He suppressed these thoughts and ideas in his mind and said with a smile, "Besides wanting to talk about our recent developments, I also have some other ideas for gathering everyone together."

People's attention was focused on him again, and some even urged him to speak quickly.

Pedro didn't waste any more time and stated directly the purpose of bringing them together: "We should unite."

“If you have noticed some of the other rebel groups in Lapa, you will find that we are not the only ones.”

“There are some rebel leaders I’ve never even heard of, and some of the more powerful rebel leaders are actually members of the ruling class; they’re just people who have been pushed to the forefront.”

"The situation in Lapa has not diminished the scale of the uprising despite the government forces' massive offensive."

"On the contrary, in almost every region I know of, there are rebel armies that are attacking cities and occupying territories."

"We are not all!"

One of the "classmates" couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this a good thing?"

"This at least proves that our choice was correct, because the Lavila family and this ruling group really made it impossible for everyone to survive."

"If people can still survive, who would be willing to dedicate themselves to a cause that even we may not be able to reach the end of?"

This was clearly a pessimistic viewpoint, and Pedro did not refute him, but simply nodded and said, "You're absolutely right."

“It’s not that we want to rebel against the rule of the Lavila family, but that they force us to rebel.”

"What I mean is, among all these rebel armies now, we are no longer the strongest; some of them are even quite weak."

"You've all probably heard that the federal government forces in Lapa are exporting standard-specification ammunition."

"This means that the government forces' weapons will soon become useless, and I have a bold guess."

"In the next phase, the war and battles will mainly take place between our rebel armies."

All eyes were on him, and he calmly lit a cigarette he had rolled himself.

Therefore, we should unite!

"Unity" is indeed a powerful slogan, and they put into practice the truth that Lance once told them: when everyone has the same goal, power is generated!

When Pedro also called for "unity," some people immediately became interested.

They did feel some pressure, not from the government forces, but from the other insurgents around them.

In the eastern regions, which are farther from Zhuolan, the divisions are even more pronounced, with almost all cities occupied by the rebels.

Friction has already begun to arise between them, though it may not be obvious yet. Perhaps it won't be long before a battle breaks out between the rebel armies.

When Pedro proposed this idea at this time, he immediately received their support.

More and more people are supporting Pedro's idea; when a person is alone, he is a thinking being.

However, when there are too many people, people's brains disappear and are replaced by a kind of group consciousness.

Regardless of how many people agreed, supported, or opposed him, Pedro's attention remained focused on Rose beside him.

After a while, everyone else gradually agreed, leaving only Ross. Ross looked at Pedro with a half-smile and asked, "That is indeed a good suggestion, but I also have a question." Pedro nodded, "Please go ahead, let's discuss it."

Ross asked just as bluntly, "If we overthrow the Lavila family's rule and also deal with the other rebel groups, we will have won the final victory."

"Who will claim the fruits of this victory?"

The atmosphere in the room was initially quite lively, but with the emergence of this problem, it visibly cooled down.

People looked at each other and fell silent.

This is indeed a problem.

If they fight to the death and pay a heavy price, but when they finally reap the rewards of victory, they don't get a share of them, are they willing to accept that?
Human thoughts are very subtle things; a single sentence can completely change their mindset.

Those who had been so supportive of Pedro just moments before now looked at him with a certain unreadable expression.

Although I can't see it clearly, it's definitely not something good.

Pedro seemed to have anticipated this as well; his expression remained unchanged, and he continued to smile.

"Actually, even if you bring it up, I'm planning to bring it up myself in the end."

"As you all know, I am a strong advocate of the federal social system."

"Congress, the presidential palace, local governments—I'm not saying this system is perfect, but it's certainly much better than ours."

"Regardless of who ultimately wins or who reaps the rewards, I do not wish for this to become the beginning of a new disaster!"

"I suggest that we also learn from federal societies, completely separate power, and adopt a voting system to ensure that power does not become corrupt because it is absolute!"

Others who heard it seemed to think the idea was good.

When Lance was "teaching" them, he also talked about the federal system, and when he talked about the federal system, he also talked about some problems that exist in federal society.

However, these people don't see these problems as problems at all.

A barbarian who has never even worn clothes is now quite content with just a set of work clothes, at least he looks like an ordinary person.

If we bring over the federal system, it might change the future of Lapa.

Ross remained silent, which meant that he disagreed with the idea, and that not everyone supported it.

Pedro sighed softly, which meant that he would eventually become Rose's rival.

"There is another option."

“Once we have dealt with all the other competitors and overthrown the Rapa government, we can then decide who to listen to through internal competition.”

Upon hearing this, Ross immediately nodded in agreement.

He laughed and said, "That's good. No matter who it is or what their ideas are, they can have their own opinions."

Others nodded in agreement.

Why should I share the victory I won by risking everything with others?

Why can't they even achieve hereditary succession?

Should we let others choose?
What about their sacrifices?
What do those deaths and sacrifices matter?
Is this a joke?

Not everyone supports the federal system of governance. Compared to the federal system's clearly more advanced social structure, they prefer this hereditary system of power transfer.

Isn't everything they're doing now for themselves, for their children, and for future generations?
Should their descendants also have a fair chance to compete with those who have done nothing?
Do not make jokes!
That's how people are.

When they don't have it themselves, they are absolutely champions of fairness.

But when they actually have it, they become selfish protectors of their own interests.

Although Rose's decision disappointed Pedro slightly, the main objective was achieved: they would cooperate.

"Since everyone agrees, I'll continue."

“Recently, Fernandez suddenly returned to Geed for some reason. Now there is no one to lead the war, and some officers have left with him. This is an opportunity for us.”

"We can launch some counterattacks against them while they are currently at a standstill, which can boost their morale."

"At the same time, it also lets them know that we are not pushovers!"

"We need to establish our authority, we need to have our own 'brand', only in this way can we attract more talent to join us and make us stronger!"

It's not at all out of place for him to use the "brand" that Lance mentioned here; he's probably the most thoughtful anti-government armed group leader among them.

Others, in the absence of any core conflict, also highly regard Pedro, after all, he is a high school teacher.

In the eyes of these people, high school teachers represent cultured people, people with ideas and abilities!
Ross had no objections. "What do we do now?"

Perodua leaned forward. "My idea is this..."

In fact, they all knew what was happening within the Rapa government; the federalists were informing them of some of the events taking place within the Rapa government through various means.

This gave them complete knowledge of the government and its military operations.

This is also a way to balance the two forces.

If we don't tell them any intelligence, then Diego's government forces are too strong, which would disrupt the balance of the game.

Lance, and the federal government, need to make them wear each other down.

Pick out the troublemakers, those who still harbor dreams and are willing to fight tooth and nail to achieve them, and pick out the unstable elements so that they can be worn down by their own people on the battlefield of civil war.

Once this group of people has been largely depleted, the Federation will enter the fray.

This is a game destined to fail; there will be no winners outside the Federation at the gambling table.

But now that they've joined the game, they don't know this, or perhaps they might have some sense of it, but at this moment, they have no other choice but to move forward.

Following this gathering, these anti-government armed forces quickly began to assemble, and in the second week of August, they launched an attack on a strategically important riverside city that had been recaptured by government forces.

They mobilized over 40,000 people for this battle, which was extremely fierce from the start, with both sides constantly exchanging bullets and lives.

Every minute, every second, people are dying.

Human life has become the least valuable thing at this time, and no one cares.

The battle lasted for about five days, until the government forces were eventually forced to withdraw from the city and begin their retreat.

This victory shook the entire city of Lapa. Diego and the other rebels were all shocked by the outcome of the battle!

This could be the first victory for the anti-government forces since Diego "got serious," and it is of great significance!

Some other anti-government armed groups also seem to be considering a counter-offensive against the Rapa government, and there's a rumor circulating among the people—

The government forces in Rapa are running out of ammunition, and their weapons will soon be less effective than a knife!
This news also fueled a surge in fighting.

By the end of August, they were almost always engaged in combat.

In some places, local government forces won, but in others, anti-government armed forces won.

At the same time, they also discovered that the government forces' firepower suddenly became somewhat muted, unlike at the beginning when they were frantically unleashing ammunition.

This further confirms the rumor that the government forces are running out of ammunition!
(End of this chapter)