Chapter 477 - 448 Hope and Fear

If one lives in Hell for a prolonged time, it becomes hard to imagine a better life.

Sometimes it is not suffering that defeats a person, but seeing others live a good life. Witnessing someone else living well can be more painful than death, especially if that person was simply born into a better situation.

Abdi looked towards the port and saw his compatriots with varying expressions moving the debris. Strong young men formed long lines at the recruitment office, filled with confusion, anxiety, and excitement.

Confused as to why a war had suddenly broken out, anxious about their lives being as insignificant as dust in the wind.

The excitement, however, was quite straightforward: the army occupying Gellekayu promised food and clothing for the recruits and even promised houses in the future. They could see how delighted their compatriots were after completing registration, wearing new clothes and eating meat from cans.

At the registration office, a flag was flying high—

It resembled the original Somali blue flag with a white star but had three additional stripes: one gold stripe and two narrower red and white stripes.

The gold represented the African Union, while the red and white represented Atlas...

A very flattering move.

He had once fantasized about a flag waving over some port, but he ultimately chose this method.

Lille looked at the port and said, "Liking to learn is a good thing, but you’re not doing all this just to be someone else’s pawn, right?"

"...No."

If traced back to the origin, of course, no one lives just to be a pawn for others.

"Good. I also don’t need a lapdog. I need the Somali situation to stabilize quickly and for Gellekayu Port to become a crucial bridgehead towards the Suez Canal."

In this process, impoverished Somalia could receive support from the Atlas Group and the African Union, obtaining what Abdi wanted most.

The word "stability" appeared directly in the sentence, making Abdi suddenly aware.

What allowed him to collaborate with the Atlas Group without pressure wasn’t that he abandoned his dignity to become a compliant dog for survival,

but at this critical moment, he and Lille had shared interests.

Lille extended his hand: "In this future strategic plan, the African Bank will provide you with large amounts of interest-free and low-interest aid loans. This money will be used to purchase high-tech from the Atlas Group, buy food from Wakanda, and purchase clothing and other necessities from other African companies...

Buy your tomorrow and your dignity. You are still young; don’t always think that you must abandon something to gain something."

Abdi looked at Lille, his eyes filled with shame and embarrassment—

Indeed, this big brother had not asked them to sell their souls, yet he was imagining it himself.

Though the robot in front seemed clumsy, after a few exchanges, those sensors and round instruments became full of wisdom.

Wasn’t Lille supposed to be as young as him?

"Uh..." Abdi scratched his head, "Then..."

Lille shook his hand again, and Abdi quickly grabbed it, thinking quickly: "Happy cooperation?"

"Happy cooperation. Don’t be so naive outside."

"Heh heh." After finishing, Abdi asked another question, "Mr. Lee, this might sound strange, but... isn’t it better to have obedient soldiers?"

Lille glanced at him: "I dislike it when people are smart enough to think that they must abandon something to gain something. Isn’t it better for a young man to earn money while standing?"

"Of course, of course. Then I... Should I get to work?"

Abdi, still not fully recovering, pointed to the shore.

"Go ahead, remember to perform regular checks on your prosthetics."

Lille waved his hand, and Abdi turned towards the shore, inexplicably grinning, seeming to be immersed in great joy.

If it weren’t for the exoskeleton’s assistive movement system, he might have fallen into the water.

Little Octopus appeared in Lille’s vision, with a big question mark above its head:

[Little Octopus: Big brother, why is this?]

[Lille: Why is what?]

[Little Octopus: As the future ruler of the world, isn’t it essential to have obedient followers and death soldiers?]

As it spoke, Little Octopus donned sunglasses and a cloak, tentacles holding a cane, resembling some octopus-shaped mafia boss.

Several smaller octopuses appeared in front, bowing, each with white bandages on their heads, and holding samurai swords in their tentacles.

Though the samurai swords were small, they were more like daggers.

[Lille: What nonsense, where did you learn this?]

[Little Octopus: TV series (*￣︶￣)]

Lille’s face darkened, and he banished the small octopuses, making Little Octopus’s eyes instantly watery.

[Lille: Emotionally, what I just said were all true words. Rationally, aside from interests, we must also do ideological work with our allies to draw a clear line between our behavior and enemy behavior.]

A long string of news appeared before Lille:

"The Middle East conflict calms, Iron Soldier kills terrorist leader"

"Oil supply interruption, international oil prices soar to a 10-year high"

"Oil futures market panic, investors worry about continuous supply disruption"

"African Union faces trade blockade"

"Terrorist organizations exploit Somalia’s chaos, threatening global energy supply"

A major event occurred last week following a series of news: the Middle East oil tycoons agreed to compromise and reduce oil production.

With this compromise, Rocksen had essentially seized control of nearly 90% of the world’s oil production.

This had reached a point of economic collapse with a mere flick of a finger.

Of course, on the road to doing whatever they pleased, a few obstacles still remained: one was Europe, though the European Union didn’t produce crude oil, its economic power was strong, and it had been clandestinely trading with Atlas during this time.

The other was Africa—

Africa also had oil resources, but its extraction and exploration levels were too low.

The biggest obstacle, naturally, was Atlas, because Atlas was the only entity that might unexpectedly win the Mei Country election and change the course of events.

However, the production cuts had already driven prices up, and besides calling for peace, there were many voices in Mei Country advocating direct intervention in Somalia to alleviate the supply crisis...

But no matter what, worsening living conditions indeed caused many to fall into panic.

[Lille: Rocksen is used to threatening the world with loss and binding people by offering more. This can be extremely effective at times.]

[Lille: If I were like him, making all allies into dogs fearing loss or having lost their goals, once an accident happens and our enterprise faces setbacks, they would have too many reasons to choose a stronger master.]

[Lille: So we choose to give allies hope, not fear.]

[Little Octopus: What if Rocksen also does the same as us?]

[Lille: Then there wouldn’t be any war.]

Little Octopus scratched its head and spun around, its AI mind struggling to understand the difference.

Because whether controlling behavior by loss or giving people hope, in its eyes, both involved expectations.

At a certain point, expectations of "gain" and "loss" were symmetrical, especially in behavior control, making it hard for the AI to grasp the difference.

Lille watched Little Octopus, patting its head.

[Lille: Maybe it’s because you’re not an AI for this purpose. Some things don’t need to be crystal clear.]

Buzz—

A complex noise suddenly echoed in Lille’s head, and Little Octopus disappeared into thin air.

[Little Octopus: Big brother, it’s a communication request from New York.]

Lille glanced at the Atlas soldiers familiarizing themselves with the electromagnetic railgun.

[Lille: Frank, prepare to board, level one combat readiness.]

[Lille: Abdi, declare the port in a state of emergency, have your people ready.]