Chapter 971: Wealth That Cannot Be Borne Is a Crime

The reason why people find it difficult to accept bad news is because of the "unknown."

Before they get this bad news, they don't know what they are going to face, so they will feel uneasy, or even afraid.

But when they know what they are going to face, their emotions can gradually stabilize in a short period of time.

Just as people often say, no matter how bad it is, it can only be this bad; there won't be anything worse!

This is a kind of attitude, a kind of mindset, a kind of stability in psychological emotions.

Before he knew where his family and children had gone, in those few short minutes, Fernandez was very afraid.

He was afraid that those kidnappers would hurt his wife and children.

He is not a saint; he is just an ordinary person with ideals and ambitions, and the opportunity to realize his ambitions. He is not that great, and this matter does not allow him to be great.

If his wife encountered infringement, he would become unsure how to handle this matter. A political figure's wife was raped?

Even if they are victims and not perpetrators, this would become a scandal within political circles, causing him to lose the opportunity to obtain more power, at least on the surface, forever.

Smart people are like this; they will think about many things in a very short time. He thought of many things.

Could it be done by political enemies?

Don't look at the Republic of Jiede and Lapa as essentially the same, also a country with highly centralized power.

But the reforms over these years have also caused some consciousness of the people to awaken, and the most important point is that under the President, there still exist different factions.

Everyone is Jiede, but they belong to different factions.

Like some reformists, some conservatives, some progressives, there are many political groups.

Can the President decide everything?

Obviously not, and this is equivalent to giving them the opportunity to fight for power. Whoever can reach a higher position can exert their own political ambitions to a greater extent.

There are also some Jiede people whose butts have long been crooked. Fernandez even suspected that they had already been bought by the Federal government, always standing on the side of the Federal government and speaking for the Federation.

These people might also be extremely eager to get him, who advocates independent reform, off the stage, and he is also the President's college classmate and close friend.

These conditions, affixes, superimposed together, made his influence on the President much greater than others.

Then creating a super scandal, although it cannot get him off the stage, will make him very embarrassed, weaken his influence among the people, and even weaken his influence on the President's side.

But when he heard the President talk about the date the incident happened, those uneasiness and fear all disappeared, leaving only a kind of desolation that he couldn't say what it was.

"Is it done by Lansi?"

"How did you know?"

Fernandez lit a cigarette and took a puff. He is now more inclined to a relaxed state, "Ah, yes, it was done by him."

"That afternoon, he called me, saying he wanted to meet and chat with me."

"I declined him, but he indicated that we would still have the opportunity to meet, saying it very firmly, just as if he knew that I would definitely take the initiative to contact him and ask to meet with him."

Listening to Fernandez's words, the President not only didn't relax but became even more nervous, "Do you want to see him?"

Fernandez nodded and said, "My wife and children are in his hands, so how can I not go to see him?"

The President opened his mouth, his hand gripping the receiver tightly, originally wanting to say something that might be relatively rational but would hurt feelings—

In the Republic of Jiede, this most developed and advanced country in the Asian region, there also exists a polygamy system, and there also exist such markets and habits.

A capable man should take on more of the lives of young and beautiful girls and their families.

There was a report before that a ninety-one-year-old man married a nineteen-year-old girl and even had a child.

Regardless of whether this child is his, this matter at least shows that he still has that ability.

Well, that's a bit far. The President's thought is that Fernandez's value is obviously much higher than his wife and children; they are just women and children.

If Fernandez is willing, the President can find him one hundred women and give birth to one thousand children!

Because no matter how many these women and children are, their combined value cannot compare to one Fernandez.

But he cannot say these words. Once said, there will be problems. Even if Fernandez doesn't say anything now, a thorn will be buried in his heart.

"Good luck, pay attention to safety. Do you want me to arrange for some people to go and meet up with you?"

The President finally changed those thoughts of persuading him to give up into blessings and words asking him to pay attention to his own safety.

Fernandez laughed twice, "He is willing to talk to me, nothing more than thinking that I am more valuable alive than dead, and he knows the relationship between us."

The President also thought there was such a possibility, "With the Federal government's ability to collect intelligence, they very likely know how good the relationship between us is."

"Perhaps they want to use you to influence some of my decisions and judgments."

He said the words very straightforwardly. Following that was a silence. Fernandez snuffed out the cigarette he had only smoked half of in the ashtray, "In short, I will pay attention to safety."

Mr. President didn't persuade anything else either.

Because as the two of them kept talking and communicating on this issue, they gradually discovered the most terrifying place of this damn plan.

The Federal people, Lansi, these people never thought about covering up their thoughts.

They just swaggered and transported the people away, and even left enough clues for them. Why?

They actually already achieved a goal, which is to make some problems appear in the trust between Fernandez and the President.

Even if it is just a very small problem, it is like a crack the size of a hair appearing on a super dam. It is very short and very thin, and for the whole dam, it cannot be detected at all.

But it exists after all, and it will start to grow continuously as the number of times of thinking increases!

They don't even need to discover anything; as long as they keep thinking about this problem, the two of them will walk further and further away.

This is also the reason why they suddenly stopped talking later, because the more they said, the less trust they had in each other.

After putting down the phone, Fernandez rubbed his cheeks. This conspiracy is really terrifying because he can feel it.

Even himself, in the end, will doubt whether he made any compromises in this matter.

If Lansi releases his wife and children again, he will be even less able to explain it clearly.

Hope they are not that smart!

Thinking of this, he straightened out some things again. After about twenty minutes, he dialed Lansi's phone number.

He had Lansi's phone number, always kept it at hand, and now he used it.

The phone waited for a while before being answered, and the person on the other side of the receiver was not Lansi, but should be someone beside him.

"I am looking for Mr. Lansi White, please tell him that I am Fernandez."

It was a while before a response came from the receiver, "I have noted it down. After he comes back, I will give you a call."

After putting down the phone, Fernandez had no mind to work at all. He always handled the work in his hands for a while, and then suddenly looked up at that phone.

With his attention so scattered, he couldn't work well. He simply stopped working and leaned back in his chair, his mind full of things that had happened during this period.

After about two hours, the phone rang for the umpteenth time.

It had also rung before, but it wasn't Lansi's.

He quickly answered the phone, placed the receiver to his ear, and took a deep breath, "This is Fernandez."

Lansi's familiar voice immediately came from the receiver, "Mr. Fernandez, good afternoon, do you have anything?"

At this time, Fernandez did not look like someone whose wife and children had been kidnapped and was in anxiety and anger. He was able to maintain his calmness and rationality, "Last time you said you wanted to meet and chat?"

Lansi laughed twice, "It seems you have time now."

This was an obvious sarcasm. Last time he said he didn't have time, so he could only chat with Lansi on the phone.

But now, he clearly should not have time, but he had time to chat with Lansi again.

Lansi used his former answer to satirize him, which made Fernandez suddenly feel a bit funny. Of course, he didn't laugh out loud; not being in the mood was the main reason. He felt it was funny, just felt it.

"Yes, I have time now. How can I see you..."

Soon he hung up the phone and simply packed up.

There was a weapon in the drawer, but he didn't bring it because he knew one point very clearly: if he could really appear in front of Lansi, then he definitely couldn't carry any weapons on him, and even if he had a weapon, he wouldn't have the opportunity to use it.

Bringing a weapon would only make himself look ridiculous, so he simply didn't bring it.

Soon three armored vehicles appeared outside the Presidential Office. Fernandez stood by the window upstairs and watched for a while, then sighed, went downstairs directly, got into the car sent by Lansi, and left here.

He had proposed the idea of agreeing on a location on the phone before, and then he would go there himself.

This was convenient for him to operate.

Regardless of whether he drove there directly or went home first and then drove there, he could well "avoid suspicion."

After all, the Federal people led by Lansi were the root cause behind the turmoil in Lapa. He, who should have come to Lapa to solve the root cause of these turmoils, was now mixed up with Lansi again. He would definitely lose Diego's trust.

Diego is a very suspicious person, and once he feels that a person is suspicious, he will become more and more suspicious, just like Gomez.

He didn't have any evidence to prove that Gomez was mixed up with the Federal people, but as long as he believed this point and knew that Gomez was walking relatively close to the Federal people, he could make a decision.

He wanted to avoid the connection between him and Lansi being discovered and publicized, but his request was directly declined by Lansi. Lansi said he would arrange for someone to pick him up.

He tried to resist, insisting on driving there himself, but Lansi gave him a sentence like "If you are not ready yet, I can continue to wait for you," leaving him with no way at all.

Lansi's armored vehicles were very eye-catching. In the whole of Lapa, only Lansi had these armored vehicles, so as long as he got into these cars, he would definitely be told to Diego.

He just stood upstairs and watched for a while, for about ten or twenty seconds, and there were already many people watching near the first floor of the Presidential Office.

He had no other choice but to bite the bullet and get into the car.

Amidst people's discussions, he took Lansi's car and left the Presidential Office.

"Where are we going?" He asked, sitting in the back seat.

However, the driver didn't speak, just drove quietly, driving all the way to Lansi's manor.

He patted his forehead; he had forgotten about this matter.

Now for Lansi, the safest place is Lansi Manor. He clearly could have guessed it, but those news made him lose his composure.

After the vehicle stopped steadily, he was taken to a living room.

It seemed he was already sitting there.

Seeing Fernandez come, Lansi didn't stand up either, didn't even have the thought of shaking hands with him, and pointed to the sofa beside him with his finger, "Sit."

A single word "sit" was like an order, as if it had real weight, directly pressing Fernandez to sit on the sofa.

He looked at Lansi, "Mr. Lansi, what do you want to talk to me about?"

There was not only Lansi in the room, but also several other people, but they were sitting very far away, or standing.

Lansi didn't beat around the bush with him either, "Actually..." He shook his head slightly, "When you came to me, what I wanted had already been obtained."

"It's just that you see, originally this matter was very simple and easy."

"I called you, and then you came over, but you were unwilling to cooperate with me, making the situation now become what we both didn't want."

Fernandez gritted his teeth and took the initiative to lower his head, "This is my fault."

Lansi didn't accept his apology, but changed the topic, "You are a smart person, and you should also know some of our plans now, so I hope you can cooperate with us."

Fernandez's expression appeared slightly distorted. He looked confused, "I really don't understand, Mr. White."

"What don't you understand?"

He continued, "The Federation is already so advanced and developed. Your scientific and technological level is I don't know how many times ours."

"Perhaps we won't be able to catch up with your footsteps even if we use another fifty or one hundred years."

"Why can't we coexist peacefully?"

"We can completely become solid and reliable friends in an important geographical location. We will become the best strategic partners!"

"And I believe that under the influence of various aspects of the Federation, although we may still be an independent country and an independent regime, the people in society will see themselves as spiritual Federal people."

"You don't need to do this at all!"

What he said was his most real thought. He still didn't understand this point: Asian is so poor, why invade here?

Lansi pressed the pads of his index fingers together. This is a very obvious "thinking seal." Some people say this gesture often represents thinking or something, and I don't know if it's accurate.

"Mr. Fernandez, look, the biggest disagreement we have when facing this problem lies in the fact that you are standing from the perspective of the Asian people, while we are standing from the perspective of the Federal people."

"There are rich mineral resources here, labor that is so cheap it's like it's free, and it has a very important strategic position, having great strategic influence on the East Ocean."

"With so many advantages, although it is very poor here, it is an indispensable part for the Federation to make the Federation become powerful."

"There is no contradiction between us, no hatred, no problems that can cause friction or conflict between us."

"But just because you possess the key for us to open the door to a new world, and you don't intend to hand this key to us."

"You feel that things are in your hands, and we can also use them, which is enough, but after all, it is in your hands!"

"So..." His hands separated, he curled his lips, and even shook his head and said, "... a contradiction that is difficult to resolve is destined to break out between us. In the end, we can only solve it in a way that neither of us wants to see."

"Or perhaps you can persuade your President to choose to join the Federation and become a part of the Federal big family."

"By the way, I can represent Congress and give you a promise. As long as the President is willing to join the Federal big family, we can promise him the position of governor, and this position of governor can be hereditary."

The current policies of the Federation make votes almost artificially controllable. Must have a house, must have a job, must pay taxes. Once these three policies are out, any thorn who doesn't listen, then just let them become unemployed in the election year.

Just like some enterprises, requiring workers to vote according to the enterprise's requirements. If anyone doesn't vote according to the enterprise's requirements, they will be fired.

They have too many ways to control these votes, and even if controlling the votes has no effect, they can also directly modify the votes and election results.

In fact, people don't understand the real Federation. If they understood the real Federation, they would know that this thing called democracy, in the Federation, is just like freedom, is a joke—

It is worth mentioning that freedom is written into the charter, at least one of the national elements recognized by the Federal government.

You can hold up a slogan and spit at the President, telling him this is the expression of your free will, and the President will only treat it as if he didn't see you.

But if you want to demand the right of democracy from the President, he will very likely give you a punch.

The Federation does not recognize democracy because it is not mentioned in the charter. The Federation is a society ruled by law.

They do not recognize anything not written into the law. Of course, even if it is written in, they have the right to modify it.

So Lansi saying he can guarantee a hereditary governor position is not a joke.

This is indeed a very sincere solution, but the problem is, before this, the President is first a President!

And a governor is just a governor!

Fernandez kept shaking his head after hearing these words from Lansi, "I can't make the decision, Mr. White. How the President makes a choice is his business; I cannot interfere with his decision."

Lansi spread his hands regretfully, "Look, we lack the most basic sincerity between us. We both know that you have a great influence on the President."

"But since you can't help with this favor, then you should be able to help me with another favor."

"That is to take your people back to Jiede and tell your President not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."

I don't know why, at this moment, Fernandez wanted to laugh a little.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 972 =====