Chapter 700: Face-to-Face Talk

Just past eight o'clock, more people came to the restaurant one after another. Erwen picked up a newspaper Lans had read and spread it out. His originally relaxed expression immediately became serious.

He also read books and newspapers. Following Lans for these years, he realized something he had never realized before.

This society, this world, was constantly moving forward, rolling forward!

For him when he was young, the so-called "past" was just a glance back, and the future was just words like "tomorrow," "the day after tomorrow," and "the day after that."

He couldn't see any changes, nor had he considered growth.

But now, not lacking wealth, not lacking status, he began to consider more, and he also began to require himself to read newspapers, listen to the radio, and occasionally read books.

Humans were a very interesting kind of creature. When ignorant, they were fearless, full of curiosity about this world, exploring various emotions, but they just didn't have fear.

Look at children who dared to grab snakes with their bare hands, dared to jump around on the edge of cliffs—because of ignorance, they were fearless.

But when people began to acquire knowledge, the more they knew, the more timid and afraid they would become.

Before, he always felt that Lans was sometimes too cautious.

There was no problem that a bullet couldn't solve; if there was, then bring a magazine.

But now that he knew more, he understood that many times, even Lans was powerless.

Both of them were focused on reading the newspaper. Enio Hailamu couldn't help but ask, "Is there a 'Tide Newspaper'?"

The people around were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter!

Someone teased him, "Besides being able to understand the tits in the 'Tide Newspaper,' what else can you understand?"

Hailamu was still a bit unconvinced. "Don't you like to look at them?"

The guy who teased him was speechless for a moment, but still answered the question honestly. "Who doesn't like to look at free tits?"

These people...

Lans smiled and shook his head. He put down the newspaper. "There's going to be a war."

The people in the carriage all quieted down at once. Before, Lans always said that a war would break out, but he had never told them so accurately as today that there was going to be a war.

"So fast?" Hailamu, who was joking with his friends, also restrained his playful expression and became serious.

No one knew what the outbreak of war would evolve into. Everyone in their hearts was full of fear of war.

They were too.

They came to the Federation because of the civil strife in the Empire; that was only an internal problem, yet it was enough to make the very earth feel as if it were about to crack.

Let alone now that the war breaking out was between multiple countries; the human world would become a purgatory!

Lans threw the newspaper over. "A federal cargo ship was sunk by the Dantela Republic Navy in the East Ocean, killing thousands and causing losses in the tens of millions. They have already sounded the horn of war."

Erwen asked from the side, "What if Dantela is willing to compensate?"

Lans shook his head. "There is no such possibility, not even one percent."

"After the war breaks out, the passenger flow in Jincheng will definitely decrease sharply, and the business of the casino will become difficult, but there is no need to worry too much about the income problem."

"The tension of war will make people more dependent on alcohol. Those who didn't drink before will now consider having a glass."

"So the income from alcohol will only increase, not decrease."

"After going back, control the development of gangs in the whole city. We don't need so many gangs now. Let some small gangs disband and find them a job."

"Those who are unwilling to work..." Lans pursed his lips. "Send them to be soldiers."

Some laughter rang out around the dining table. Going to be a soldier at this time was actually no different from sending them to die.

The manager of the restaurant carriage had the chefs push the dining cart over, and a sumptuous breakfast was sent to the dining table plate by plate.

Beef, fish, protein...

Gourmet food gathered together; although it was just breakfast, it could still be described as sumptuous.

Federal people, or rather people all over the world, actually didn't reject eating these sumptuous breakfasts.

Under the influence of gourmet food, the heavy topic was temporarily shelved, and Lans chatted about some things in New Jincheng.

Some of the people who came this time hadn't been here before, so consider it taking them on a trip together.

The next morning, Lans met Senator Cleveland.

"You should buy a house in New Jincheng. You might come here often in the future. If you want to buy a house, I can give you some recommendations!"

Lans nodded. "I have that plan too. You can give me some addresses or some phone numbers."

Senator Cleveland glanced at Tang Mu. "Remind me when we're done."

Tang Mu nodded while pouring coffee for them. "I've remembered."

Lans sat opposite Senator Cleveland. Senator Cleveland grabbed the armrests of the chair and pulled it forward to ensure he wouldn't be too far from the table.

"I really should replace this chair. Now there are many chairs with universal wheels, which are very convenient."

"As long as you exert a little force on your legs, you can push yourself around!"

He was just talking; this chair had a long history. It was said that his grandfather's father had already been using it.

It had been used until today, repaired and patched.

His grandfather, because he was commemorating his father, didn't want to throw away this chair and continued to use it.

By the time it reached Senator Cleveland's father, he already felt that this chair might have some... special significance, so he also repaired it and continued to use it.

When it was the Senator's turn, that kind of special sense of mission and special significance became even more obvious. It was no longer a question of liking or commemorating, but represented "authority."

His children would also continue to use this chair and repair it again. Eventually, it would appear in the family museum and be worshipped high up.

Yes, many federal big families had their own family museums, which contained many precious collections, such as leather goods made from indigenous skin, ritual instruments made from their bones, and so on.

Of course, there were also artworks and treasures from all over the world.

A family's collection often represented a family's foundation.

Tang Mu walked over with a tray. Besides coffee, there was a small silver bottle on the tray.

Senator Cleveland unscrewed it and poured about an ounce of wine into the coffee. "Do you want to try it?"

Lans shook his head. "No, I don't even like drinking coffee, let alone adding other things to it."

Senator Cleveland smiled. "If you try it, you might like it!"

He didn't force Lans to do so, paused, and then continued chatting about some relatively shallow topics.

Their interest relationship was very close, but their actual face-to-face relationship wasn't that intimate, so the chat would be gradual. "I have already called my friends in Likalai State. The state government, the Social Party, the Freedom Party—they will no longer interfere in your affairs."

"I have given you a 'fair' environment. Now it is just between you and them. Whether you are finished or they are finished, others are not allowed to interfere!"

"So you can rest assured and do it boldly. You understand what I mean."

Lans held the coffee and took a sip. "I am very grateful for your help. Now I don't feel any resistance. Before I go back, everything will be over."

"That's best!" Senator Cleveland nodded very satisfactorily. "Don't be tied down by these trifles. You have more important things to do!"

He emphasized Lans, and the small talk ended at this point.

Judging from Senator Cleveland's performance, his attitude toward Lans was much better than before.

Before, his conversations with Lans were always straightforward. Either he couldn't be bothered to waste time, or he "spoke directly." He wouldn't care about Lans's emotions and state because he didn't need to value Lans at all.

But this time, the situation was very different. He valued Lans's emotions very much and chatted with him so much.

Buying a house, telling Lans about the things he had done to claim credit—this showed that Lans already had the qualifications to make him formal, so he would exchange pleasantries and be polite with Lans.

Lans's performance was still as appropriate and suitable as ever. He communicated with Senator Cleveland with laughter and talk, and the two were like very good friends. Now that the small talk was over, it was natural to talk about the main topic.

"Did you read the newspaper when you came?" he asked.

Lans nodded and said, "Yes, I read it. There should be a result within a week, right?"

Senator Cleveland curled his lips. "Actually, there is already a result."

Seeing Lans widen his eyes slightly, a smile appeared on his face. "The Dantela Republic side refused to apologize and refused to compensate. The President is already going through the process. He will have a 24-hour deadline."

"Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, if there is no further feedback from the Dantela side, then the President will declare war on the Dantela Republic, and the whole country will enter a state of war."

Logically speaking, after entering a state of war, the President holds absolute power and can sign presidential special orders directly without going through Congress to decide everything.

But now the President doesn't intend to do that, or rather, he knows very well what the consequences would be if he really did that.

He needed to use some small tricks to seek to stay in the Presidential Palace, so naturally, his power in the political arena was not the top, irreplaceable one.

Once he really wanted to be a "dictator," unless he could do it for a lifetime, as long as the state of war stopped, he and his family would be liquidated immediately.

!

It wouldn't even need to stop; Congress could mobilize soldiers to launch a coup.

So even during the war, Congress wouldn't stop, but would instead see its power greatly enhanced because of the war.

For example, when giving orders to local state governments, they used to be able to resist Congress's orders, but now they at least couldn't resist openly, otherwise they would be treasonous and would be suppressed!

As Senator Cleveland in the rising period, he could also be said to be in power now, so it was not strange to know these news.

He looked at Lans meaningfully. "That guy Miles doesn't explain many things clearly. He only told me that you have a big opportunity to get a lot of money."

"I am interested in this."

Lans knew that because of the war, the number of tourists in Jincheng would drop sharply, and Senator Cleveland must also know this.

The profit of the casino would decline, his income here would decrease, and the war period was the best time for power expansion, so he needed more funds to complete his power map.

Lans proposed at this time that he could give him more money, so he must want to know more detailed details.

General Miles actually didn't remember much of what Lans said. He only remembered that he could get tens of millions of funds every year.

That long string of numbers occupied all the subconscious memory of his brain at that time, and he couldn't store anything else, so when Senator Cleveland asked, he was hesitant and couldn't explain clearly.

Lans smiled and explained his thoughts completely. "I am only responsible for the alcohol supply situation on my side. As for other military bases and troops, I definitely can't intervene, and I don't have the idea of intervening."

"However, if their alcohol supply can't keep up, I can help a little bit on my side."

Senator Cleveland listened to what he said, and a kind of incredible expression appeared on his face. It wasn't that this idea was complicated, profound, or difficult.

It was just too damn simple, simple to the point that no one had thought of it, and no one had realized the things inside.

Three million troops, 600 million in military supplies every month—the moment he thought of this number, he had an urge to stand up!

Before, he was still a bit worried about whether the profit provided by Lans's idea would... not be enough to share, after all, it needed many people to nod to facilitate this matter.

Executive members of the Prohibition Committee, some key senators, such as the Military Committee, the Budget Committee, etc., as well as the Cabinet, the Presidential Palace.

So many people had to handle it and divide some from it; if the money was less, it really wouldn't work!

A pack of cigarettes outside only cost five cents, but the cigarettes provided by the military cost one dollar a pack. Do you think its tobacco is very good?

No, not good at all. It uses the most ordinary tobacco, and a pack only has ten cigarettes.

But why can it be sold so expensively?

Because many people want to get their share from this pack of cigarettes.

So its profit must be high; only in this way can it satisfy these people's demands for interests.

One dollar a pack of cigarettes, three million troops, each person one pack a week—this damn thing is only 12 million a month.

But those wines... 200 a bottle!

Senator Cleveland was already a bit excited and wanted to say dirty words.

He used his tiger's mouth to stare at his upper lip, with a little force, and the place where the tiger's mouth and lips touched lost its blood color.

His emotions were high. He looked at Lans. "Profit... how big is it?"

"Excluding my share."

"Net profit, that is, what can be taken out and put on the table, can be about half."

Senator Cleveland looked at Tang Mu. "Calculate it."

Tang Mu's brain turned at high speed immediately. Actually, he had already been calculating just now.

Three million troops, each person provided with 200 in supplies every month, this is 600 million, 7.2 billion a year, 45%, count 4 billion.

He gave such a number, and Senator Cleveland looked at Lans differently.

5% of 4 billion is 200 million. Can he get 200 million on his side?

A year?

These days they were still considering how to maintain the span of the war in two to three years, because the presidential term had already passed two years, and this year was the third year.

In other words, the longer the war span, the more favorable it was for the one in the Presidential Palace, but not everyone hoped he could sit for so long; some people also hoped he could get out as soon as possible.

So two or three years was quite good, very suitable.

But now he suddenly hoped the war could be fought for four or five years.

Watching Senator Cleveland start to wander off, Lans had to interrupt his thinking.

"Senator, let's talk about some things that spoil the fun first."

Senator Cleveland came back to his senses. He was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "You say."

A very friendly attitude, just like that between ordinary friends.

Lans first wanted to splash some cold water on him. "Actually, we can't calculate it completely like this. It's impossible for the war to invest three million troops to Tanfeite at once..."

Senator Cleveland began to calm down at this time. This was a skill that a senior politician must master—to get rid of a certain extreme emotion as soon as possible.

If so many troops were invested at once, those allies would definitely hope they would be the main force, but this didn't conform to the Federation's interest demands.

So at the beginning, the troops invested might only be 500,000 or 600,000, 700,000 or 800,000.

Once he thought of this, he understood Lans's meaning.

"So this is just a profit situation when a full-scale war breaks out."

Lans nodded slightly. "Yes, you are very right."

"Secondly, this quote is only provided by my side. I don't know much about the quotes and interest distribution provided by other wine merchants."

"In the end, these profits must be summed up together and then divided, so the specific amount that can be divided into hands may have fluctuations up and down."

"But a net profit of 20 to 30 million a year should be no problem."

Senator Cleveland frowned and thought. It was a bit uncomfortable to fall from the fantasy of an annual income of over 100 million, but this number had already far exceeded his expectations.

If it weren't for the fact that there were too many people in this matter who wanted to divide a share...

He picked up the coffee and took a sip to cover up the saliva he had produced because of greed. He didn't want to lose face in front of Lans.

"You are very right, Lans. I don't think there is any problem with this plan."

"The Federation hasn't had a war for many years. Whether the soldiers can quickly adapt to the combat situation on the front line and whether they will have huge pressure are all unknowns."

"Those children are going on an expedition for our country. We must solve some of the problems they face and cannot create difficulties for them!"

"Don't leave these days. I'll go talk to them first."

"They will definitely love this plan to death!"

On this point, neither Lans nor Senator Cleveland had questioned it. Who the hell could refuse the benefits of hundreds of millions or even billions every year?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 701 =====