Chapter 1030: Artworks and Residual Heat

"You can find Edward for this matter; he will tell you what to do."

Senator Cleveland stood by a collectible and paused. He looked at the piece, and Lans also turned his head to look at it.

It was a large collectible that looked like half a wall standing there, with some carvings and paintings on it. In front of it were some primitive human models that looked like mannequins.

But to call them mannequins was clearly not quite right, because they looked... a bit like the real thing.

Standing outside the red line to view this exhibit, it was like a daily scene from an ordinary tribe.

People in the tribe were going about their work, with a small number of warriors guarding the side of the chieftain.

Lans noticed the headgear the chieftain wore, which was filled with various feathers, and the "throne" beneath his buttocks, which was pieced together from the bones of an unknown number of animals.

The chieftain's elbow rested on one side of the armrest, his body leaning to one side. Because this bone throne was not very high, one could see that his knees were not naturally level with his pelvis as they would be when sitting on an ordinary chair, but were slightly raised, as if in a half-squat, ready to stand up suddenly at any moment, full of deterrence and aggression.

Lans observed the artwork carefully, then looked at Senator Cleveland.

Senator Cleveland seemed to notice Lans's gaze and turned to look at him. "This is a great work of art. Its name is 'Power'."

As he spoke, he lowered his head to look at the ground at his feet. Only then did Lans notice a plaque-like object there, on which was a photograph. The content within the photograph was exactly the same as what was displayed here.

Senator Cleveland continued, "They took a photograph of him, then killed him, and peeled the skin off him and the people around him to make them into what you see now."

"Just because an adventurer who took their photo...", Senator Cleveland pursed his lips and shook his head, then looked at Lans, "... that adventurer said that if they only brought back the bone throne, people wouldn't be able to imagine its power; they had to bring the chieftain back too."

"Then the adventurers around him killed this chieftain and over a thousand people in his tribe, and skinned them to make them into art."

"Once this artwork was exhibited, it caused a huge sensation, over a hundred years ago."

"Many people took trains, or even ships, from other countries to the Federation just to get a glimpse of it, just to feel that 'kingly aura'."

"What do you think?"

"Can you feel the kingly aura it brings?"

Lans took two more steps closer. Only then could he clearly perceive that the layer of skin that felt so real was tanned human skin that had been maintained quite well; the inside must have been stuffed with a lot of things.

From a few small details, it could be seen that the people here were still trying their best to maintain its current state, though there were some places that had begun to deteriorate due to time. It was unknown whether this artwork could continue to survive like its counterparts—

hats, boots, leather bags, and leather pants made from the skin of primitive natives.

Lans shook his head. "The moment it was moved in here, it lost its kingly aura."

"Perhaps that adventurer initially wanted to show civilized society the... kingly aura of primitive society, but now, it actually shows civilized people 'how civilization eats people.' This is not an artwork; this is a trophy."

"A trophy used to display the conquest of the backward by the advanced, the savage by the civilized, and cold weapons by firearms!"

Senator Cleveland was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Lans to be able to think so thoroughly. In fact, he had asked many people about their feelings after seeing these things.

Some thought it was great; they could find countless points in this artwork that moved them, making them feel that this was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Others thought this artwork was terrible because it was actually made of real human skin, which made people feel an instinctive disgust.

The most extreme case was a person who, after viewing this artwork and learning it was made of real materials, actually vomited on the spot!

Senator Cleveland had guessed many possible reactions from Lans, such as flattery, where he would follow his lead and say some nice things to elevate his previous remarks.

Or perhaps he might say some critical things to prove he was still a normal human being.

But he never expected Lans to stand from a higher perspective to say such things; sometimes he hadn't even thought in that direction himself.

He glanced at his chief aide beside him and smiled, saying, "This is the interesting thing about art; everyone who sees it has their own thoughts and viewpoints."

"You said it very well, Lans. You let me see another side of you."

"In fact, from our perspective, whether it's letting Edward manipulate that stock or the war against Lapa, essentially we are doing the same thing as our ancestors."

"Conquest!"

As he spoke, he began to walk forward again. "I think highly of you. You have a quality that others don't have; you can calmly see through the false essence of this world, and you can also see its most real side."

"I won't worry about the Lapa matter anymore; it's completely handed over to you to handle, and you don't need to report to me like this all the time."

"You just need to tell me how you did before the final moment arrives."

"I don't care about the things with Diego and the Lavila family, but I think, since we have conquered a civilization, shouldn't we leave something for this art gallery?"

Until the moment he left, Lans was thinking about the things Senator Cleveland had said.

In fact, he knew.

He knew how perverted Federal people, especially the Federal upper class, were.

The inside story of the Red High Heels nightclub revealed only the shallowest layer of the perversions of the Federal upper class. Sex, abuse, slaughter—these criminal charges, which might be considered very serious in people's eyes, were just a corner, a very small fragment, of the filthiest side of the upper class.

Because compared to the slaughter of civilizations and the slaughter of races, these acts of committing crimes against individuals had instead become their most insignificant charges.

Lans had heard an interesting saying before—

A true member of the upper class will never be brought to justice for a crime.

Because once they reach this class and this height, the law can no longer have any effect on them.

The only ones who can truly deal with them are themselves.

From the looks of it now, this saying might still be too conservative.

"What are you thinking about?", Tang Mu asked while driving.

He didn't yet have the qualifications to have a private driver. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to hire one, but as a staffer for a senator, he needed to maintain a certain degree of low profile.

This was like those famous opera singers; although they were also very rich and had a certain social status, they all maintained a low-profile lifestyle.

They rarely showed their true colors in front of ordinary people; they didn't want people to realize that their good lives were built upon ordinary people, and officials should be the same.

Lans came back to his senses and looked at the bustling city under the blue sky and white clouds. "Nothing, I was just thinking about what to do next, and whether our President Diego will follow our ideas to complete his final act."

Tang Mu couldn't help but laugh happily. "You put that so artistically, just like an artist!"

Lans also laughed along. "After all, we just came out of an art gallery; we have to be influenced by art a little, right?"

Tang Mu chatted with Lans about some recent events in New Jincheng, and then dropped him off at Edward's place.

Edward's company was in the most prosperous area of Deruixi, occupying a huge building of over thirty stories. They rented out a portion of the lower floors to others, but starting from the twentieth floor, it was all the company's own office space.

Under the surprised gaze of the beautiful elevator attendant, he was brought before a separate elevator where the door frame seemed to be gold-plated.

"Mr. President is waiting for you!" As the elevator door slowly opened, she took the initiative to enter the elevator and then invited Lans to come in.

Under her operation—actually, there wasn't much to operate, because there were only two buttons in the elevator.

One for the first floor, and one for the top floor. Perhaps this was the attitude of Federal capitalists, those financial capitalists.

Even for an elevator button, they were so rich that they didn't want to press it themselves.

After about a minute, the elevator slowly stopped, and the feeling of weightlessness was almost imperceptible.

She opened the elevator door and stood outside. "Mr. President is at the end of the corridor..." After saying this, she bent over, exposing her ambitious career-mindedness.

Lans said a thank you and walked toward the door. It was a corridor about ten meters long, with no decorations on either side, but everything appeared noble.

The floor was paved with alternating pure white and pure black marble, with gold filled between the bricks, making it look like a giant chessboard.

The walls on both sides were also pure white and flawless, with no decorations, and the ceiling was the same, but there were some golden ornaments, making it look exceptionally luxurious.

When he walked to the door, the office door slowly opened. President Edward stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, a cigar in his mouth.

When he turned his head and saw Lans, he held the cigar in one hand and walked over, laughing loudly.

Lans thought he was going to shake hands with him, but he didn't expect President Edward to make a hugging gesture after approaching him, which caught him off guard, but he still hugged the other party.

"Lans, Lans, Lans!"

After letting go of Lans, he waved his hand. The two young girls who had just opened the door bowed and left the room through another door.

"Come, sit over here."

In one corner of the room, another corner, there was a sofa set, next to the equally huge floor-to-ceiling window, which offered a bird's-eye view of half the city.

If it weren't for the many high-rise buildings around, perhaps he could see more.

"I'll build a taller building sooner or later!" He curled his lips, seemingly dissatisfied that the building next door slightly blocked his view.

"Let's not talk about that, sit down."

"The Senator has already called me; I know why you're here."

"Actually, you are too cautious. War is not a bad thing for us; on the contrary, it makes many things impossible to verify."

"For example... we have acquired several high-yield mines again, and our income next year will increase, and along with that..."

He raised the hand holding the cigar high. "We are going to pay dividends!"

Federal enterprises, according to their own internal regulations, pay dividends to all shareholders every cycle.

A company's dividend determines its influence. In fact, some investors in the circulation market have already been asking about dividends recently.

Seeing that Lans didn't show a surprised expression, President Edward was slightly taken aback, but quickly covered up his surprised expression.

"According to some plans we gave before, I have made a dividend plan."

It could be seen that he was very well prepared. The document was on the coffee table. He picked it up and handed it to Lans, signaling Lans to take a look. "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me, and I'll explain it to you."

Lans said "Thank you" and began to flip through the document.

In fact, the content of the document was not complicated. According to Hope Mining's current commitments to society and the financial reports shown to society, their profit last year should have been close to twenty million.

Even among listed companies, this was not a bottom-tier figure, but a median.

Logically speaking, they should take out six million to pay dividends to the 30% of circulating stock investors, but the company decided to continue investing in more mining resources this year.

So they decided to lower the dividend standard, taking out only two million for dividends, and the remaining money would be used to purchase new resources, and it is expected that the company's profit will exceed thirty-five million by the middle of this year.

After Lans finished reading some information that was actually not important, he put it on the table. He looked at President Edward's "you should ask me" expression, thought for a moment, and asked, "So next we need to acquire more mineral resources."

A declarative sentence. Although President Edward guessed that Lans understood his plan, he was still surprised by Lans's intelligence.

He nodded and replied, "Yes, huge dividends and dividend potential, as well as the company's future development potential."

"As long as we pay these two million to them, the company's stock market value will skyrocket again."

"And I hope you can do one thing."

Lans asked, "What?"

"Let a Hope Mining representative, and that president of theirs, what's his name again?"

"Diego."

"Right, Diego, sign a state asset transfer agreement with Diego, and let him contribute his final heat..." ===== CHAPTER 1031 =====