Chapter 789: Return to the Federation

Actually, when a person expresses their thoughts without stumbling, it means that this thought wasn't thought of temporarily, but has been thought through.

Leonardo leaned back in his chair. He tilted his head and watched his son-in-law's speech, then nodded: "You are right, child."

"This money shouldn't have been paid by us in the first place. This is the government's business."

"But!" He made a timely turn, making people's thinking, which hadn't had time to drift far, return to him.

"The government doesn't have that much money in its hands now. They just lost a large sum."

He was referring to those people sent over before and the equipment on them.

Don't count on Slader people returning this equipment to them.

These weapons don't talk, and they can't tell others who they belong to. Naturally, they all belong to Slader people.

So now the Sumuli government doesn't have much money in its pocket. They might not be able to take out all the expenses.

Leonardo emphasized this point just to prepare for the next things.

Actually, he had long known about these things, including the communication between the ambassador and the Prime Minister. As a main war faction, the Prime Minister called him the first time, and he knew this news earlier than anyone else.

"We can pay. After all, we are also a member of Sumuli. I have an idea."

"The military equipment expenditure for these 20,000 troops, we will pay, but there is one condition: the officers will be appointed by us."

His words made everyone in the room suddenly react. Leonardo wants military power.

He can replace the government to conscript, can replace the government to pay, but he also wants to control the power that only the government has—the power to control the army.

Before, they also sent several family members to join the troops, but only participated in the war as officers, not commanding the war.

Including Christopher, who suddenly straightened his back. He is also a son-in-law of the Bianchi family. The front-line battlefield is indeed dangerous, but the dangerous ones are small soldiers, not commanders.

If all officers are born from the family, then can he also become an officer?

This is a good opportunity!

Leonardo hasn't been a fool who is greedy for power since he failed to sprint for Prime Minister. He adjusted his thinking: first control the army, then cultivate a successor to the government that the people can accept, and push him to the front.

He will gradually, slowly, control Sumuli Island through his own way, and then become the highest ruler here.

Leonardo continued: "I invited a trusted friend for the identity of the commander. He is a good friend of our family and also has a very good relationship with me. At the same time, he graduated from the Sumuli Military Academy."

"None of you have commanded a war, so I can't hand this heavy responsibility to you, but you can be officers who obey orders, so you bastards had better not let me down, and don't let me waste so much money, and have to send you away first."

He picked up a handkerchief and wiped the corner of his mouth. This happens when he talks too much.

He named several people next. They were all assigned to important positions. This time Leonardo planned to gather the strength of two divisions.

So two division commanders will be born here.

A group of gang members suddenly became high-ranking officers. The experience was still very novel for these people!

Once this war ends and victory is achieved, they can rely on the merit gained on the battlefield to firmly control these troops and constantly deepen the Bianchi family's influence in the military.

As long as the entire army is controlled, want to be Prime Minister?

That's easy and simple!

Christopher obviously understood this point too. He straightened his body, raised his head, and wished he could stand at the front of the crowd.

He is also a son-in-law of the Bianchi family. He should also have the qualifications to become an officer!

Leonardo obviously isn't a fool who is greedy for power. He is very clear that he can manipulate the selection of high-ranking officers, because these high-ranking officers will not have a direct impact on the war, in the case of having a commander.

He didn't arrange for family members to serve as company-level and lower-level officers. If these officers were occupied by his stupid clansmen, these 20,000-plus people would be wasted again.

When the distribution was almost done, Francisco was already somewhat desperate, and at the same time, he had some complaints in his heart.

He also counted as having contributed quite a bit to the Bianchi family, but in the end, he didn't get any benefits at all.

They weren't even as good to him as Paul!

Just when he was cold-faced and extremely dissatisfied in his heart, Leonardo named him: "Is Dofo here?"

"Yes, I am here." He walked to the front of the crowd with a look of surprise. People looked at him with very complex eyes, and they didn't agree.

Some people's eyes were envious, jealous, some were cold, and some were smiling, which made him frown.

Leonardo looked at Christopher, who walked in front of him, with a gentle smile on his face: "Dofo, you are a good child, always have been."

"Her death was her own fault. I never blamed you. You know that."

"Even for some important gatherings, as long as there is a need, I will bring you!"

The "her" in Leonardo's mouth refers to Dofo's wife who liked promiscuity. He said he didn't kill his wife, but someone told Leonardo that it was Christopher who did it.

But he didn't care anymore. After all, a dead girl can't compare to a son-in-law who is still alive, and this son-in-law is somewhat useful.

Christopher lowered his head and thanked Leonardo: "Your wisdom is as vast as the sea, and your kindness is as warm as the sun!"

Leonardo couldn't help but laugh twice: "You don't need to say these flattering words to me."

"I have a task to hand over to you. Can you complete it?"

Christopher originally thought about whether he could become a brigade commander or something, at least he should be a regimental commander, and even a battalion commander would do.

But what he didn't expect was that he wasn't any kind of commander, and he also had to make money for the family?

He widened his eyes and looked up at Leonardo sitting in front of him, with an expression of disbelief and inability to believe.

Leonardo looked as if he didn't understand his expression, and asked with a smile: "You regret it?"

Although he was smiling, Christopher felt something that made his scalp slightly numb from his eyes.

He knew that if he answered "I regret it," he would definitely regret it, and the second half of his life would regret it because of this.

And at this moment, he had already sworn that he was willing to serve the family, so he could only bite the bullet and agree: "No, I'm just shocked that you handed such an important job to me."

Hearing him say this, the smile on Leonardo's face became more kind and easygoing.

"It's really good that you can understand my painstaking efforts, just like I have always said, you are a good child!"

"That's why I handed such an arduous task to you."

"Our smuggling business in the Federation has begun, but the revenue is not very good. You are very familiar with the situation in the Federation. You need to help us earn more money."

"We need this money, and the war needs it too, understand?"

By this time, what else could Christopher say?

"I know, but..."

Before he finished speaking, Leonardo raised his hand to stop him: "We'll talk about other things later. I have some things that need to be arranged."

Then he arranged some work, and almost all the important roles in the family had their own things to do.

Compared to those things that could be called proper business, Christopher felt that he really hadn't integrated into this family at all.

He had already returned to calm, and couldn't see what emotions were hidden under his expression, but it definitely wasn't any good emotion.

After everyone else left, Leonardo took him back to his study.

"You must think that I didn't arrange a promising officer job for you because I don't value you," Leonardo said, breaking Christopher's little thoughts.

Christopher lowered his head: "No, I haven't thought so."

Leonardo laughed: "Lying is useless to me, Dofo."

"I have seen many people, in this life, honest ones, full of lies, I have seen many. Whether you are lying or not, I can see through it at a glance."

"Not letting you go to the front line is for your safety. Perhaps one battle can make you lose your mission."

"That place is not Sumuli, not any place you know or are familiar with. You can protect yourself."

"On the battlefield, even if it's me, as long as God starts missing me, I will leave!"

Christopher's stiff face finally had some expressions. He explained again: "I didn't think so."

Although the words were the same, they were much milder than just now.

Leonardo continued to smile and said: "Raising funds is just as important to our cause, and the danger is relatively less."

"The wine we smuggle to the Federation is selling quite well, but this is not enough!"

"We need more money. You have to sell the wine to the Federation. You are very familiar with the Federation. I hope you can help us open up these sounds and then stabilize them."

Christopher's expression changed again. He stared into Leonardo's eyes: "You want me to go to the Federation?"

"Egg, what you said are all lies!"

"I won't go

"I won't go back!"

Leonardo looked at Christopher calmly. The biggest difference between him and Paul was that he had intended to use Christopher from the very beginning, and he knew about the things Christopher had done, so he had always been on guard against him, but without making it feel too obvious.

Christopher was like a puppet, controlled in his hands.

How could he possibly give a better development opportunity to someone who had assassinated his own foster father?

Everything was just for the sake of utility!

He waited until Christopher had finished his temper tantrum before smiling and walking to his side, taking his arm and leading him to the sofa to sit down. "Listen to me, Dofo."

"I didn't ask you to go to New Jincheng or Laizhou to do business; you can do business in other states."

"I've already asked someone to inquire; the Pasleto family is no longer what it used to be after Alberto was finished, and its threat to you is almost zero!"

"The only thing that poses a threat to you is Lanse and the Lanse family, but if we don't get close to them, they won't be able to do anything to you either."

"This is a good opportunity, Dofo."

"No matter who it is for, this is a good opportunity!"

"By managing important business for the family, you can establish your own personal prestige within the family."

"If you feel there is a barrier between them and you, it is because you have never proven yourself!"

"Now you can prove yourself. As long as you can do our work well, I believe everyone will be able to see your efforts and be willing to accept you!"

He emphasized his tone slightly, "No one can get others to recognize them without proving themselves!"

"You, me, others, it's all like this!"

He patted Christopher on the shoulder, "Do your job well and earn the recognition of others."

He took a deep breath, his tone becoming more relaxed, "I will arrange some good men for you, so you don't need to worry about your safety at all."

"Even if Lanse is powerful, it's impossible for him to appear in front of you alone and clamor to kill you; that would be him courting death!"

"And if you feel it's dangerous, you can come back anytime, anywhere; taking a boat is very convenient now."

"You don't necessarily have to go to the Federation; as long as you can get the business done, everything else is not a problem."

In short, no matter what, Christopher had to find a way to open up this path.

The huge profits from smuggling alcohol were enough to support the Bianchi family in seizing the initiative in this massive, yet-unrealized transformation!

This time, Christopher did not refuse, and he knew he couldn't refuse.

Leonardo was a man of great execution; the next day he went to see the Prime Minister to discuss this matter.

The Prime Minister had already been forced out of office, damn it; if it weren't for Leonardo being opposed to taking power, and if it weren't for the other Prime Minister candidate and biggest public opponent being assassinated, it wouldn't have been his turn as the former Prime Minister to return to this position at all.

That he could sit on the throne of power for a while longer was purely thanks to Leonardo, so basically, he wouldn't refuse anything Leonardo said.

Including this larger-scale insertion of Bianchi family members into the army.

For the Prime Minister, he would step down as soon as the war ended, and no matter how bad the country became, he didn't care!

Because his family had already immigrated to the Federation, just waiting for him to step down to reunite with them in the Federation.

Things went very smoothly; Leonardo got everything he wanted, while Christopher, under an assumed name, set foot on the journey back to the Federation once again.

This time, Leonardo let him return to the Federation to raise funds partly for the war, and partly to have ample funds after the war to quickly corrupt and bribe more high-ranking military officials.

Preparing for the Bianchi family to rule Sumuli Island.

So he needed money, a lot of money, to the point where even Christopher's safety had to be ranked behind this matter.

As long as he established the sales channels, Leonardo didn't care whether he lived or died!

After half a month of preparation, a large amount of alcohol was loaded onto ships.

As a participant in the war and part of the military alliance, their cargo ships arrived at the west coast of the Federation without encountering any problems in the "safe waters."

Returning to the Federation, for Christopher, had an indescribable, strange taste.

There was nostalgia, unease, an urge to stay away, and also regret.

However, regret was always short-lived; if Paul hadn't wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have thought about killing Paul in return; this wasn't his fault.

Survival is human nature; he just wanted to live, he was not wrong!

The cargo ships from Sumuli soon found a place to drift in the sea off the west coast, while others landed on the shore in small boats.

Someone came to pick them up; they were all Sumuli people.

Although these Sumuli people were unwilling to return to their country, they were willing to continue to maintain respect and reverence for the Four Great Families.

The people welcoming Christopher now were just like that.

This time he brought about fifty people, and a large group of people appearing on the shore attracted some attention; people had already noticed them.

Except for Christopher, they were all illegal immigrants, and to avoid trouble, they soon left by car.

The alcohol was still drifting at sea; before the warehouse problem was solved here, those shipments would not dock.

Christopher did not use his real name this time; he used the alias Camilo, and used the Bianchi family surname.

This immediately established a certain prestige for him among the local Sumuli people; after all, members of the Four Great Families still carried a lot of weight in the eyes of these people.

Plus, they hadn't obediently returned to Sumuli Island, and now people from the Four Great Families had come over instead, so they were somewhat afraid.

They also did their best to satisfy and cooperate with Christopher's requests.

It only took a few days for them to get several warehouses that could be used to store alcohol.

Then, at night, under the cover of darkness, they transported all the alcohol from the sea into the warehouses.

He brought quite a lot of wine this time, along with half brandy and a small amount of whiskey.

Sumuli Island's whiskey production was not high, but there were many vineyards instead.

It was rich in grapes and also produced fine wine; in previous sales, wine had never shown much improvement, and Leonardo hoped Christopher could open up the wine market, as they had a lot of wine.

Christopher didn't think this was a difficult task, just like when everyone hears that someone else can't do something well, the first thought isn't how hard the task is, but how stupid the person is!

And when he left, the price of wine wasn't cheap; plus, with the price of grapes themselves skyrocketing over these years, the price of wine should be even more expensive!

He had always thought so, until he saw a grape brick...

(End of Chapter)