Chapter 934: Reasonable, Rational, and Legal

Bargas was the nominal owner of the Ma Bei Mountain silver mine; his personal name was on the property documents, and the entire mine was his.

Naturally, everyone here was his employee.

It sounded incredible; such a thing could absolutely not appear in the Federation.

Regardless of who was behind him.

Those top-tier financial groups standing in the clouds, or the interest groups in Congress, none of them dared to do this.

Because they knew very well that as long as they did this, there was a risk of losing it forever.

You could hang the property rights of a mine under the name of a company, but you shouldn't hang it under the name of an individual.

It seemed that "individual-held company, company holds mine property rights" and "individual holds mine property rights" didn't seem to have any difference, but in reality, the difference was huge.

The former had many measures to ensure that the individual, equity, and company were closely linked, while at the same time being able to be split into independent individuals at any time.

But an individual holding the property rights of a mine was a settled fact that couldn't be changed; there were no means to prevent or pre-process it.

So such a thing couldn't appear in the Federation, but it could appear in Lapa, because the ruling group had absolute power here!

However, this also gave Lanse some opportunities to manipulate these things.

The world was just so magical; the rulers tried every means to put state assets into their own pockets. Novels wouldn't dare to write like this, but it happened every day in reality!

Bargas had his own office at the mine, although he almost never came over, he still had such an office.

The houses and space here weren't worth money; the construction cost, except for cement and steel bars, was almost equal to nothing.

Finding some miners to build houses for free even saved on labor, so his office wasn't missing either.

It was just that his office wasn't in the best location, but on the north side with its back to the sun. No matter how the sun moved, it couldn't give it any ray of sunlight.

People didn't come to the office often, but it was cleaned often. When Lanse came in, there wasn't any dust left here.

There were no books in the bookcase, and no documents on the table; everything looked very clean, excessively clean, not at all like a "boss's" office.

When the manager and the others walked over from another building, they saw those strangely shaped cars, and their gazes lingered for a moment on those cars and the people dressed uniformly beside the cars.

His eyes carried some confusion. "Are these people Bargas's people?"

He stopped his steps slightly and turned his head to look at the two confidants behind him. "Why do I feel something is not quite right?"

The discipline brought by uniform attire produced a sense of oppression, making him feel a heavy atmosphere and some unease.

He looked at one of the two confidants. "Go and let the mine protection team pay attention. In case something happens, I need them to be able to control the situation."

He didn't let the mine protection team act immediately; he wasn't sure if these people could be sent by that President Diego, because he had just contacted President Diego.

Or were these people someone else's minister's people?

He wasn't sure.

After the confidant ran away, he walked toward Bargas's office with the other person, feeling heavy-hearted. The originally light steps became so heavy that he couldn't lift his feet.

The closer he got to Bargas's office, the more he instinctively resisted.

However, he also knew that resistance was useless; he needed to face it. What if it wasn't what he thought?

Maybe it was sent by some big shot to protect the silver mine?

The Saige City at the foot of the mountain had already fallen into chaos. They must have known there was a silver mine on the mountain, and also known that a large amount of silver was produced here every day.

Bai Yin was wealth; they weren't digging ore, they were digging wealth, digging banknotes.

Maybe someone had designs on them, so they arranged some powerful characters to come over...

Persuading himself, the manager took a deep breath, and his heavy face was suddenly full of smiles. He laughed and pushed the door open. "My old friend, why didn't you notify me in advance before coming..."

After pushing the door open, his words hadn't finished when he paused, because he saw a young man sitting behind Bargas's desk.

And the owner of that chair was standing beside that young man, bending over slightly, looking like a small character.

The smile on his face stiffened for a moment, and countless thoughts in his brain sparked, collided, and exploded at this moment.

Was it the minister's person?

Or the President's person?

He wasn't sure. After a brief loss of focus, his face was piled with smiles again. "Who is this?"

Bargas turned his head to look at the manager. This guy seemed to respect him on the surface, but in reality, he didn't take him seriously at all.

Before, he had no way, and not coming to the mining area was also not wanting to be bullied, but now, his thoughts were a bit different.

His face had some more smiles. Compared to the manager's hypocritical smile, his smile seemed much more sincere.

"This is Mr. Lanse White, the mine's future...", he suddenly choked, not knowing what vocabulary to use to indicate Lanse's identity, but soon a word from a magazine he had seen, from the Federation, came to his mind, and he said it, "... boss."

"Yes, Mr. Lanse will be the mine's new boss, owner, proprietor in the future. Is my expression clear enough?"

The manager's heart was surging with stormy waves. How could the mine change bosses without a sound?

Then what about him?

What about those people under him?

Don't look at the mine being the President's, but these people also relied on the silver mine to earn a lot of money, and each one was fat and oily.

Management, mine protection team, logistics, every department that could intervene could make money in the mine!

Diego couldn't possibly know what the actual production was every month. Wasn't it just whatever amount these people reported?

For Diego, as long as this number wasn't too low, he could accept it.

And how did they test this bottom line?

Actually, it was very simple: report a relatively low number directly. If Diego didn't ask, then this hadn't touched Diego's bottom line yet.

If Diego asked, they would find a reason to muddle through, which meant this value exceeded his bottom line, and next time they would adjust it up.

Mine shaft collapse, workers rioting, problems with food leading to diarrhea, infectious diseases breaking out among miners...

They always had reasons to pull the production down. In one test after another that seemed unintentional, they finally knew what Diego's acceptable minimum value was.

Then on this basis, float up 20% to 30%, and the rest was all theirs.

Diego could earn 200,000 to 300,000 Federation Sol here every year, and they could earn 70,000 to 80,000, or 100,000.

Distributed to each person, more was 10,000 to 20,000, and less was 1,000 to 2,000.

If Diego sold this mine to the young man in front of him, it meant they were all going to lose this stable income, and at the same time, they were going to lose this small kingdom that belonged to them!

The manager's face could no longer see any smile. His facial muscles twitched from time to time. Now it was only February, and the temperature here was only 11 or 12 degrees, but the sweat on the manager's head and face was quickly squeezed out of the pores and flowed downward.

"Egg!"

He cursed lowly, and then frowned again. Just two days ago, he had talked to President Diego about the riot in Saige City at the foot of the mountain, and the President hadn't shown any sign that he had sold the silver mine to someone else.

How could it be so fast, two days, and the silver mine was sold?

Thinking of this, his face changed a bit, and the look at Bargas also carried a trace of scrutiny and suspicion. "How come I didn't know this mine had been sold?"

He meant that the President didn't notify him about this matter, so he felt there was a problem.

Bargas didn't circle with him either. "I am the owner of this silver mine. I sold it to Mr. Lanse. Why, do I need to notify you when I sell my own things?"

When he said these words, there was a very happy emotion surging, as if he had been suppressed for too long and could finally straighten his spine and take a breath!

Very refreshing!

The manager laughed, and he glanced at Lanse again. "This... Mr. White, you might have met a liar."

Lanse glanced at him. "Oh?"

The manager walked to the opposite side of the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He was very relaxed now. "Although I don't know how the guy beside you had the nerve to do such a thing, I can be very responsible and tell you, he deceived you."

"This silver mine belongs to the Lavila family, that is... the President's family, not the guy beside you."

"No matter how much money you spent, I can only regretfully tell you, you were deceived."

"Now you'd better grab him and force him to spit out the money... Hahaha, this is really the funniest joke I've ever heard!"

He laughed loudly there. The originally nervous and uneasy mood was suddenly relieved, making him laugh until tears came out. It was fucking funny!

He had to tell others about this!

But laughing and laughing, he felt a bit... not quite right. That Mr. Lanse White sitting opposite him wasn't annoyed, but was crossing his legs, hands on his knees, looking at him calmly, composedly, and even somewhat coldly.

The laughter suddenly interrupted, as if someone had pinched his neck, making him unable to laugh.

His smile gradually converged, and his suspicious gaze moved back and forth between Bargas and Lanse.

He seemed to vaguely realize that the situation wasn't quite right.

"I..."

Before he could speak again, Lanse spoke.

"As a businessman, I believe more in the government's authorization documents."

The person beside him opened the briefcase, and Lanse took out the mine registration document and ownership proof inside.

"This document signed by the Lapa government proves that this mine is Mr. Bargas's, and he has all the rights."

"Including selling, gifting, and other behaviors."

"I spent money to buy it," he also showed the purchase contract, "so whether it's the Federation's law or Lapa's law, this mine is now my personal asset."

"I heard that the mine has always been managed by you?"

The manager had already couldn't help but stand up. He didn't know what his face looked like, and didn't know what emotion he should show now, in short, he was shocked, terrified, and angry.

How could he not know that Bargas had united with this foreigner to black out this mine!

His expression gradually became gloomy, and carried a trace of ruthlessness, and his tone even carried a threatening taste. "Mr. White, you'd better know what you are doing."

"This is the Lavila family's industry, and here, it is Lapa."

"Diego Lavila is the President of this country..."

Lanse raised his hand. "A stupid and black fat guy. What did they say he looked like?"

Lanse glanced sideways at Bargas beside him, who immediately bent over. "Mr. Lanse, they said he looked like a stupid, dull penguin!"

Lanse raised his chin slightly. He used his attitude to tell the manager that the words he said couldn't scare him.

"I need you to help me gather them, the supervisors of each department of this silver mine, the leader of each, here."

The manager endured the numbness of his scalp and the surging emotions in his heart. He pursed his lips. "I'll go prepare..."

"No!", Lanse interrupted his words. "Not you, call them, call them over."

The manager clenched his fists. He wanted to leave here. Only by leaving here could this matter have some turning point, and he wasn't sure if this White and Bargas would take action against them.

"I... some of them aren't in the office. I have to find them to let them come over."

Bargas immediately said, "I have a broadcast microphone here. As long as you turn on the microphone, you can let everyone in the mine hear it!"

As the nominal manager, there was indeed a microphone here. There was no need to leave here. Speaking into the microphone, everyone in the mine could hear it.

Not only was there one here, the manager's office also had one, and there were two other independent broadcast rooms.

Because the mining area wasn't small, and there were many people, sometimes some people were still underground.

Relying on phones or something couldn't find these people at all, only through high-power loudspeakers.

At this moment, the manager's emotions were a bit out of control. He pressed his hands heavily on the table. "You have no idea what you are doing!"

"You will pay the price for this. You will all die!"

He shouted hysterically, but the people in the room just looked at him like that.

Lanse curled his lips. His right index finger, with his hands crossed together, shook, and the ruby ring flashed with brilliant luster. "You should consider yourself first."

"Will you die before us?"

"Before we die?"

Hiram walked to the manager's side and gave him a punch, making the manager hold his stomach and squat on the ground, unable to straighten his waist.

But soon, the pain in his body was relieved, because a cold thing was pressing against his head.

At this moment, Bargas had already found the microphone. After he turned it on, he tried patting it, and "peng-peng" sounds appeared in the loudspeakers all over the mine.

Then he handed the microphone to Lanse, and Lanse looked at it and turned off the switch, then returned it to Bargas. "Send it to our manager."

"You can shout, tell them what happened, and then your head will be like a watermelon falling from a high altitude or some fruit you know."

He raised his hand and made an explosion gesture. "Just like this, explode. You can try."

Bargas gave him the microphone. After a brief silence and thought, the manager turned on the microphone. "... come to Bargas's office."

He said the names of some people, and Bargas nodded slightly, indicating to Lanse that these people were the mine management layer he knew.

Hiram snatched the microphone from his hand and then turned it off.

Lanse's face revealed some smiles. He pointed to the chair beside him. "Look, people are just cheap."

"I asked you to say it nicely, you didn't say it, you had to be beaten, and have a gun pointed at your head before you said it."

"You tell me, are you cheap?"

The manager could only respond with silence, but the next second, Hiram grabbed the pistol's grip and smashed it heavily on his head.

Below the pistol's grip was the magazine compartment, which was a metal structure. This blow was no less than hitting him on the head with a small hammer.

"Boss asked you, are you cheap?"

The manager could only hold his head, bend over, wishing he could tuck his head into his crotch. "Cheap..."

The confidant he brought was already standing by the wall, his body trembling, his brain a blank.

At this moment, the only thing the manager could count on was that the captain of the mine protection team discovered the problem and then looked for an opportunity to save them.

After the broadcast went out, people quickly gathered toward this side, because supplies were temporarily cut off, so the mine was completely suspended.

Otherwise, if the grain couldn't keep up, there would be trouble.

Don't look at these people who didn't seem to treat miners as people on weekdays; that was because they knew these miners had concerns, and they didn't want to die either.

After all, they were all people. If they could live, who would want to die?

But if these miners were really pushed to the limit, and they really rioted, many people would die.

So since there wasn't enough food, just rest.

The management layer was all in other rooms, no one went underground, and they came very quickly.

The captain of the mine protection team, who was entrusted with the only hope by the manager, indeed felt that something was not quite right, but he didn't expect this wrongness could be so wrong!

He led more than a dozen people and walked toward Bargas's office. When passing by Lanse's motorcade, he looked a few more times, and then withdrew his gaze.

Although the cars were strange and the people were strange, that was just it.

These people clearly didn't carry weapons, unlike him, the mine protection team members behind him were all carrying rifles.

Bargas's office was an independent house, not connected to other buildings.

When everyone met in front of the small building, although they were more or less strange or uneasy in their hearts, seeing the captain of the mine protection team and the team members behind him, as well as the weapons they carried, everyone's hanging hearts were put down again.

A few people gathered together and pushed open the office door.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 935 =====