Chapter 1052: End and Opposition

"Where did you go?"

When Pedro returned, Luo Si couldn't help but ask.

Although the contradictions between the two had begun to manifest and had a trend of gradually escalating, at least at the current stage, their interests were the same.

Pedro sat back on his seat as the chief judge. He looked at Luo Si, and only after a few seconds did he say, "The Federation's warships have stopped outside the port, and their gun barrels are pointing at Zhuolan."

Luo Si was stunned for a moment, and immediately after, a look of anger appeared on his face.

Pedro felt it was very interesting at this time.

The interesting place was that he had read quite a few history books and looked at many documents. In these documents, most capable ministers and officials—

The higher their height, the less easy it was for them to express their joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

But Luo Si was different. The higher his status now, the more difficult it was for him to control his emotions.

This made him subconsciously look at Diego, who was being interrogated, and the cruel and dictatorial monarchs who appeared in his mind.

Because the power in their hands was no longer controlled by secular laws or other things, and their infinite expansion of power desire made them completely lost in the ocean of power, so they no longer hid their thoughts and began to act according to their own preferences.

In other words, if Luo Si also stood at the peak of power, then he would also become such a person. He would become cruel and dictatorial and might be even worse than Diego! So the more this was the case, the more he couldn't let a guy who had the possibility of becoming a tyrant and dictator steal the fruits of their change victory.

Luo Si didn't know that just in such a moment, so many things flashed through Pedro's mind. He clenched his fist and pounded the table hard. "Damn it..."

The sound of pounding the table made the people around look over here. Luo Si didn't care about their strange gazes, but looked at Pedro and said, "What is he trying to do?"

The "he" here undoubtedly referred to Lanse. He immediately thought this was Lanse's means. Of course, his guess wasn't entirely wrong, but it wasn't entirely right either.

Pedro shook his head. "I'm not clear. It might be to ensure their interests."

"These Federation people who look very civilized, these moral models, in essence, might not be as good as us."

"At least, we still have a bit of bottom line and moral constraints. They have nothing."

This is not their land, and the temporary land they obtained through some despicable means is not permanent, but they are trying to turn it into permanent. This is something all reformers cannot accept.

"Let's continue the public trial first."

"After the trial ends, we will talk to them properly."

"At least at present, we still hold more than ten thousand soldiers in our hands. This is our greatest confidence."

"If they want to go to extremes, we might not have no means of counterattack."

"Before they destroy us, we can destroy the Concession and the people inside."

Luo Si nodded. "Don't be so polite to him this time. He is just an aggressor wearing the skin of an investor."

Pedro gave an "um." "I know."

The speed of the subsequent interrogation accelerated again. It was obvious that Pedro wanted to determine it as soon as possible and establish a new Lapa government to deal with the Federation's offensive.

In his chat with the President of Jiede, the other party mentioned a very critical point.

If they could form a legitimate government as soon as possible, then the Federation would have to consider its international image and wouldn't do anything to them so easily.

Just like how they were clearly able to directly dispatch troops to occupy the entire Lapa, but still used these ugly means.

They were seeking a relatively positive and bright image internationally. If the new Lapa government was established and sought international aid and protest, some of the Federation's measures might temporarily stop.

This could also give Pedro and Lapa a breathing space, thereby allowing the Yalan Alliance to support Lapa and maintain the current situation.

Pedro very much agreed with this point of view. During this period of time, he also read quite a few materials and books about the Federation. From these materials and books, he saw a Federation that was good at self-promotion, a hypocritical and false Federation.

With such thoughts, Diego's fate seemed to have been determined early on.

By after three o'clock in the afternoon, the things that should have been asked were basically asked under the acceleration of the public prosecutor. The public prosecutor drank a few mouthfuls of water and came to Diego's side.

"Do you admit to your crimes?"

Diego just looked at him like that, and then turned his head to look at Pedro's direction. He couldn't recognize who Pedro was, but he knew that Pedro was there.

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

He looked at the public prosecutor again. "Don't ask these useless words. End it quickly."

It should have been a public trial meeting where people cheered, but at this time, Diego's performance and the people's flat reaction made this public trial meeting somewhat insipid.

The public prosecutor wanted to say something, but Pedro opened his mouth one step ahead of him and asked, "Diego, regarding everything you committed in the past, have you ever repented? Are you willing to admit your crimes to the world?"

Diego followed the sound and looked over. It was still a blur.

A mockery appeared on his face again. "I said, whether I am guilty or not, whether I admit it or not, it doesn't matter anymore."

"You are the victors. You can get anything you want, including me admitting my crimes and charges."

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

"What next?"

"Kill me?"

Pedro breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he admitted it. After a short silence, he said, "The significance of the law lies in ensuring that people's safety is not infringed upon, not as a tool for those in power to play with the masses."

"You broke the law, Diego, and you violated a lot of laws, whether it was Lapa's laws in the past or the laws we borrowed from developed countries. You only have one ending."

"You can be a cruel dictator. You can massacre your people without asking why."

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

"What do you want?"

"In the final stage of your life, if it's not too much, I can satisfy you."

Diego was now able to accept all of this very calmly. People always have to learn to accept reality; they cannot always resist and struggle.

He pursed his lips. His somewhat chapped lips made him very uncomfortable. "I want... to drink a large glass of iced fruit juice."

This request was something no one had expected. They had originally thought... it might be asking for something else. No one had expected that the last thing he wanted was a large glass of iced fruit juice? Pedro's emotions at this time were also slightly complex. Perhaps this was the most realistic portrayal of the end of a tyrant.

He once wantonly trampled on and dominated other people's lives, but in the final moment of his own life, he only asked for a glass of iced fruit juice.

After a very short thought, Pedro satisfied his wish.

Soon, a soldier carried a glass of iced fruit juice and walked over. Inside, according to Diego's request, there were large pieces of ice, and then it was filled with fruit juice.

Light seemed to emerge from his eyes. At this moment, freedom, living, seemed to be not as good as the fruit juice in front of him.

He picked up the fruit juice, didn't drink it in big gulps like in the past, but slowly tasted it, felt it, and savored it.

Savoring the taste of the past, the taste of the past.

When the fruit juice in the glass was drunk by him, he also chewed some ice cubes and finally placed it on the table in front of him with satisfaction.

Luo Si was somewhat impatient. "Do you have anything else you want to say?"

He was obviously urging Diego to finish the last part of his life as soon as possible. Honestly, urging someone who was already destined to die at this time was very ungentlemanly.

Some people in the crowd even made booing sounds, and some people on the trial seat couldn't help but look at Luo Si, feeling that this person was too mean.

In these three days of interrogation, although Diego was somewhat resistant, at least he was very cooperative and didn't do other things.

As former small characters, they decided to give Pedro a decent end, but Luo Si was destroying all of this.

Perhaps it was because he perceived that others were not satisfied with him, Luo Si snorted and closed his mouth. He didn't want to provoke public anger now.

Under his urging, Diego tidied up his attire and calmly faced the people on the trial seat. "Come on!"

"Kill me!"

"Go prove that you are the right ones!"

"Not every change will have a good result. Perhaps you will only discover when you reach that day that change is not as good as not changing."

"You will push this country into a deeper abyss. If I am an unforgivable tyrant, then you are also unforgivable."

Pedro knew what Diego wanted to express. He shook his head slightly. "No matter what the future is like, at least one point we will do better than you."

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

He paused. "Take him to the execution platform."

Diego was escorted to the execution platform. The public trial site, which had been very dull, finally began to "boil." People talked and surged toward the execution platform.

Diego kept panting, and then knelt on the execution platform.

At this time, Pedro and the others walked over, approached him, and seemed to want to witness the whole process with their own eyes and at a close distance.

This also allowed Diego to see them clearly.

He tilted his head, and under the instruction of the executioner, he rested on the wooden stake. He looked at Pedro and the others, and a somewhat distorted expression appeared on his face. "I am waiting for you in the passage to hell!"

Accompanied by Luo Si's impatient wave, the guillotine fell to the ground with a "thud," and blood splashed out from above the guillotine blade, also splashing the executioner beside Diego with blood.

And his wide-open eyes rolled onto the muddy ground under the high platform.

This person who had never lowered his head since birth and had never let mud dirty his hair and cheeks finally completely embraced this piece of land.

The crowd, after making a short exclamation, fell into silence again.

Diego was dead, so what about them?

What about Lapa? What to do next? Everyone's eyes were full of confusion, completely unable to see the direction of the future.

In the words of Pedro and these reformists, this was the numbness of people who had been oppressed and exploited by dictatorial high-pressure rule to the point of numbness.

But from a practical point of view, a short civil war and then overthrowing a stable regime, and it was still under the action of external forces, and there was also great pressure from the outside—was doing this really appropriate?

Did it accelerate the establishment of a new democratic Lapa regime, just as Pedro said, to establish a powerful country where the people are the masters?

Or did it accelerate Lapa's demise? The warships outside the port were the best proof. Their gun barrels were already aimed at Lapa. That was absolutely not something friends should do. Only aggressors would do such things.

When facing such huge external pressure, the inside was so turbulent...

People might not be able to think that far, but they could feel it—confusion, no direction.

The Lapa Central Radio broadcast to the entire Yalan region for a whole day that Diego had been executed under a righteous trial, ending his sinful life.

At the same time, Pedro and other insurgent armies would form a new party and set about forming a new Lapa government, a government with ordinary people as the main body.

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

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and opened the door of his bedroom, looking at the adjutant with an anxious look on his face, and his sleepiness almost disappeared completely.

His expression became serious. "What happened?"

His adjutant, who was also his former colleague, said in a very anxious tone, "In the morning, almost all tribal states publicly stated that our Lapa People's Party is an illegal party, that we are anti-government armed forces, and that we are chaotic troops."

"They united together and wanted to take action against us, to eliminate us..."

Pedro was startled!

Lapa itself was composed of tribal states of all sizes, and these tribal states were what they called tribal states.

Each tribal state's original chieftain possessed huge power within the tribal state.

Among the numerous tribal states, the Lavila family and several other families had the strongest strength, and finally, the Lavila family became the President, while other tribal state ruler families became ministers of various departments.

This time, Pedro and the others' uprising was able to succeed so quickly. Except for the support of Federation people, only seven or eight of the more than twenty tribal states stood on the side of the Lavila family.

So their civil war was very smooth. At that time, Pedro felt that these tribal states might also be unable to bear Diego's dictatorship, so they chose to stand by.

But now they suddenly stated to the outside that the insurgent army was a chaotic army, an illegal regime, and wanted to eliminate them. This must be planned and premeditated!

Connecting it to the fact that the Federation's warships were already cruising outside the port, he once again "saw" the man sitting behind the office desk looking at him with flat eyes, who seemed to be indifferent.

Lanse!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1053 =====

(End of chapter)