Darkstone Code-Chapter 934 - 932: Door-to-Door Delivery

Being neighbors with a country that ended its civil war through force, purified its race and ideology, where everyone is a warrior?

That would absolutely be a nightmare, and it goes beyond the advancement of military technology.

Because they’re right next door, adjacent to the Federation.

No one can withstand a long border; people can’t turn the border into an insurmountable high wall. As long as they can’t do that, invasions and harassment from Mariluo will be a perpetual threat.

They don’t need to invade in organized masses; invasions by the elderly, children, adults, or even families are difficult to defend against.

Once their desires for plunder and slaughter are satisfied, they can retreat, and the Federation people can’t interfere or obstruct this in any way!

Because those are not "soldiers," they are "civilians."

Launching a war against a nation just emerging from conflict, targeting all its people, is not war—it’s massacre—and would draw strong condemnation from the international community.

Moreover, after Lynch’s reminder, Mr. Truman realized this situation would inevitably occur—

After the last large-scale civil war, the production capacity within Mariluo would be almost destroyed, and a group of people released from their beastly instincts, whether Mariluo or Marlorians, wouldn’t just focus on restoring production.

Pillage is the opportunity for a rapid rise.

The Federation has proven itself not inferior to the world’s best in naval battles, but the Federation and Mariluo share a land border, not a maritime one.

Unless the Federation’s army proves itself, Mariluo might not hesitate to invade the Federation.

Without a confrontation, who knows if the Federation’s army will shatter like the Gafurans at the first touch?

Once conflict erupts, the situation could quickly deteriorate.

Lynch’s warning came just in time; Every Moment has now become a Federation-shareholding company, indirectly altering the power dynamics among Mariluo’s warlords, potentially paving the way for Mariluo’s unification.

Confirming that Sanchez was still with Lynch, Mr. Truman immediately assembled special agents from the Security Committee to escort him to headquarters for temporary detention, while deliberating on how to handle this figure.

After sending Sanchez away, Lynch removed his bulletproof vest. He had been wearing it for a short while, but his clothes underneath were already soaked with sweat.

"I thought you weren’t afraid at all," Austin remarked with a hint of mockery and sarcasm while helping Lynch remove his vest.

Facing this issue, Lynch didn’t shy away, confronting it directly, "I just don’t want to meet the Lord yet. Besides, no one can overcome the fear of death; no one is exempt, neither am I."

He casually took off his damp shirt, revealing a well-defined body, still a bit away from being "muscular."

He’s neither a professional athlete nor a movie star, just a wealthy public figure with no need to maintain a special image to attract women’s attention; a pretty face is enough.

Having a moderate physique is just fine; there’s no need to force himself to overly maintain his body’s condition.

With sufficient exercise every day, maintaining a healthy shape is self-discipline enough.

Austin whistled, "I thought you were all fat."

Lynch chuckled, "Looks like the word ’fat’ needs redefining."

He headed towards the second floor; he needed to freshen up.

Meanwhile, the General in Mariluo was already quite dissatisfied.

His eldest son, in whom he had high hopes, couldn’t even handle such a small matter, and he underestimated his pleasure-seeking brother, who managed to hold on until the end and even gave away his own shares.

He overestimated his son and underestimated his brother, resulting in losing his most important card.

Warlords sound imposing, and in the eyes of the Federation people and even around the world, warlords are often associated with dictatorship, hegemony, and wealth.

Warlords can indiscriminately plunder the people’s wealth, keeping them in perpetual terror and insecurity under their tyrannical rule.

But in reality, this applies to very few, and for a warlord to achieve such accomplishments, a prerequisite condition is needed—a unified regime.

However, once a warlord completes unification, he actually ceases to be a warlord and becomes a ruler under a military government, which is often misunderstood.

Warlords and military governments.

The General is just a warlord, not a military government; he can’t exploit and oppress the people like a capitalist, draining them of their wealth.

Not only can he not accomplish these things, but every year he has to spend a huge sum to maintain his armed group, to keep his position within the warlord system.

Previously, Every Moment could give him a lot of money each year, satisfying all his desires, but now, not too long ago, he lost Every Moment.

He felt a bit of regret inside, wishing he hadn’t sent Sanchez to the Federation to find a way to replace his younger brother.

Maybe if he had reassured that brother who wasn’t completely indulgent, the situation would have greatly improved, and at least a huge amount of money would still flow into his account every year.

Unlike now, where he has nothing.

"Father, please let me go, I can definitely bring our things back!", his youngest son suddenly spoke those words in the room.

The General glanced at him sideways, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

After a moment, he looked at his daughter, "They all say you are Marlori’s Sapphire. Can you tell me what your thoughts are?"

Sapphire has always symbolized reason or wisdom, and sometimes one must admire the wonders of humanity. Two races that have never met share astonishing similarities in many aspects.

Marlori’s Sapphire implies that this girl is the smartest and most beautiful among the Marlori people, which is a very high praise.

A beautiful girl in battle attire stepped forward, "General, the stupidest thing Sanchez did was attempt to use terror to reclaim these stocks. What he did even stupider was forcing our uncle to destroy them when he couldn’t keep them."

"Please forgive my pessimistic attitude towards this matter; I do not see any way we can snatch these back from the Federation’s people."

"It’s useless no matter who goes!"

Sanchez’s failure allowed his siblings to lay all the blame on him without any scruples, as if changing someone at the start would have guaranteed success.

There’s an invisible "front line" among everyone; they are constantly competing, and now Sanchez clearly has to take responsibility. If they don’t crush him now, will they wait for him to rise again later?

The General’s expression did not change at all; he seemed to have merely drifted off for a moment. "So what is the most appropriate thing for us to do now?"

Marlori’s Sapphire quickly spoke her thoughts before her brother, "We should do business with Lynch legitimately."

"Previously, to facilitate some of our operations, all tobacco prices and quantities were suppressed very low; now we only need to sell it at a normal price to Every Moment."

Every year, millions worth of tobacco were sold cheaply to Every Moment, saving them a significant amount of expenditure with frontier cooperation.

Now, if we adjust the tobacco prices upwards, even without raising them, just according to the market price, they can still sustain certain profits.

"That’s what I think too; we can join forces with Every Moment to continue organizing the Spring Goods Fair, and at the same time, establish a tobacco company. It won’t be long before we return!"

Marlori’s Sapphire’s brother, Sanchez’s younger brother, the General’s youngest son also chimed in.

His sister’s face showed a sneer, which made him very displeased, "Put away that disgusting expression; if you can’t speak properly, better cover your face!"

The obvious sibling disagreement didn’t make the General’s face show any discomfort; even everyone in the room felt this was normal.

The discord between siblings at least ensured the General didn’t need to worry about them banding together to do something foolish. This was a simple expression; even in the General’s view, even if they secretly connected, they must outwardly show this mutual targeting attitude.

Everyone probably considered this, so none of them had different views because of shallow appearances.

"What’s your opinion?", after a while, the General asked again.

Marlori’s Sapphire slightly bowed and answered, "General, we don’t have time to create a tobacco company that can compete with Every Moment from scratch. Many coincidental factors were involved in Every Moment’s development initially."

"This time we do not possess these conditions, which means we will waste a lot of energy and resources, achieving nothing in the end."

"Such an obvious truth, yet he doesn’t understand; I’m just mocking his foolishness!"

Her brother showed clear anger but didn’t continue the argument, just shot a resentful glance at his sister before shifting his gaze away.

The General thought for a good while, "Someone needs to handle this...", and he glanced at his son trying to figure out how to make himself chosen, and at the quietly standing, beautiful Marlori’s Sapphire, he made his decision.

"Kalina, go to the Federation, solve this trouble for me."

Marlori’s Sapphire bowed, somewhat proudly glanced at her brother, "Respectfully, General!"

"That bitch!", standing by, the younger brother, clearly missing this opportunity, was full of displeasure.

This matter was quickly settled; as Kalina headed to the Federation, two main divisions under the General suddenly mobilized, causing a bit of tension in the Mariluo Kingdom’s situation.