[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-shadow-empire":3,"chapter-the-shadow-empire-the-shadow-empire-chapter-998":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Shadow Empire",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2268618,4428,"Chapter 998: Apology and an Advanced Work System","the-shadow-empire-chapter-998",998,"\u003Cp>Andy looked at Albert, his lips trembling slightly, “I…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He opened his mouth but didn’t know what else to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t go back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coming here was the result of him and his father having “burned out” everything—just like Sidney, who burned himself out for his secretary, his true blood son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He used up every favor he had to secure Owen a relatively high starting position: State Assembly Representative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this starting level, whether he continued as a Representative or ran for mayor of some district, it wouldn’t be hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Andy’s father was also an old politician, though not of high rank, but he had connections with senior officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He exhausted all his personal networks to get Andy placed in this unofficial international human rights investigation agency, even sending him to Lapan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The effort he put into this behind the scenes wasn’t minor—it was a lifetime’s accumulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Andy couldn’t leave here; this was also one of the reasons he constantly emphasized obeying Congress’s decisions—he wanted to perform well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But precisely because the attitude he used to express his intentions was inappropriate, everything turned into a mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Albert was a typical politician; he stared at Andy for a moment, “To Lans, you’re just a minor player.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clearly knew more: “What you need to do now is gain Lans’s forgiveness and make him know you’ve recognized your mistake.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Andy nodded; the overwhelming panic vanished from his chest. He looked at Albert with gratitude, “I’ll go apologize to him soon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Albert nodded; he’d only given a hint—if Andy kept acting foolishly, he wouldn’t spare him any face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do what Lans asked you to do quickly. Show your attitude.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not sure why you wanted to come to Lapan. This isn’t an easy job—it demands more adaptability.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re lacking in this area. So your best move now is to see yourself as a tool—don’t think, don’t question, just execute. Don’t do anything beyond your role.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Albert stood up. “That’s all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I need to get back to work.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Lans saw Andy again. Andy’s attitude had improved greatly—he bowed his head, humbly apologizing for his recklessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans knew this was Albert’s doing, but he had no intention of digging deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he only needed a tool. And supporting Lapan’s anti-government factions would never directly involve him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On one hand, Congress needed complete, precise control over this matter—otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent a special delegation just for this. They could’ve just assigned it to Lans directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Assigning a dedicated team means they need records—they must ensure they can trace every transaction, even the exact content of conversations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans couldn’t be that meticulous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second, Lans himself wasn’t eager to get involved in such matters. Funding organizations to overthrow a nation’s government was despised in every country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in the Federation, if this got exposed, people would spit on those who planned it and those who carried it out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t want to become the “shadow mastermind” or the “executioner.” He was an invisible man—his influence operated in nearly every link, yet left no trace. That was perfect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Lans forgave him, and Andy soon left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These items would take three days to transfer from the Federation; by the time they reached Pedro’s hands, it might be a week later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, Rogerov came to see Lans on his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, Rogerov had been busy building the factory. For seventy percent of his life, he’d been the one exploited and oppressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he’d turned into a wealthy man, he naturally became the one exploiting and oppressing others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he had rich experience of being exploited, transitioning into the role of an exploiter might still take time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s a bit of trouble at the factory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans handed him a cigarette. “What trouble?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it someone deliberately causing you trouble, or are the officials giving you trouble?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Lans’s view, factory troubles came down to only these two kinds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some locals, envious of their factory, banded together to harass it—a situation common not just in Lapan but even in the Federation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d claim the factory’s toxic air made them gasp for breath, their families gasp, even their dogs gasp—and demand compensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the factory was a non-polluting handcraft workshop, they’d say the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All they wanted was compensation or extra job opportunities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other scenario: officials reaching out greedily. The industries that Lans and the Imperial Chamber of Commerce invested in were funded with real gold and silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The value generated by these cheap laborers was substantial, and some officials might eye it, create trouble, then find ways to take equity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also common.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Federation had its own prototypes—this was one reason why capital and politics were so deeply entangled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On one hand, investing in politics gave capital higher returns; on the other, it increased political risk resilience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rogerov and his group hadn’t yet formally contacted the local management or ruling elite, so someone might be pressuring him to allow those people to take equity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his guess was wrong—none of these were the problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The problem was the ordinary workers!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Some workers… their work attitude is terrible. They’re always looking for ways to slack off.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At first, only a few did it, but soon more and more followed—this behavior spreads like an infection.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thought these workers, having landed a high-income job, would work extremely hard.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But after a short period of novelty, their productivity dropped sharply.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I told them to speed up, they deliberately damaged raw materials, forcing me to slow production.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not sure what to do now—whether I should fire them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Locals make up too large a portion of the workforce. I’m worried they might riot, so I haven’t acted yet. I want to hear your thoughts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying he wanted Lans’s opinion was really just a cry for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is this one factory, or a general phenomenon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rogerov replied, “The cigar factory is currently the worst. Other factories are starting to show the same signs—it’s hard to manage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We can’t keep watching every single worker. The moment we stop paying attention, they instantly slack off.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans had built a cigar factory here because the special climate of Yalan Continent made it a natural paradise for plants!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This region had many of the world’s top plant-producing areas, widespread and sizable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lapan had a large area ideal for tobacco cultivation, and tobacco was already being grown there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans bought vast tracts of land, removed the ordinary tobacco, and transplanted top-tier tobacco from elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first harvest won’t happen until after July.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a brand can’t rely solely on top-grade tobacco—not everyone can afford cigars costing several or even dozens of units.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Lans was also buying tobacco from local farmers to make cigars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tobacco and alcohol were inseparable, and tobacco profits were enormous—a single cigar’s cost might be just a few cents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once packaged well, with a good story, placed in a beautifully crafted box far more expensive than its cost, and displayed prominently on shelves, its price could multiply hundreds or even thousands of times!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cigar costing two or three cents could easily sell for ten or more units under the label “premium.” Selling it for over a hundred units wouldn’t be impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world always had enough ultra-rich individuals willing to spend unimaginable sums on personal luxury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a realm—a level ordinary people could never reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that their awareness was lacking; they simply didn’t have the money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Federation had its own premium tobacco regions, sizable too, but these were tightly controlled by the Federation’s tobacco conglomerates—outsiders couldn’t break in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lapan had the perfect soil, environment, and all necessary conditions for top-grade tobacco growth—so Lans had this idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cost of trial and error was low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, produce some low-end cigars to train workers’ skills and test market response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans had strong confidence in cigar sales—because Gold Label Whiskey sold well, they could be bundled together and marketed with clever tactics; opening the market was just a matter of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The plan was solid, but the workers didn’t seem cooperative—at least, their slacking was not among the many “possible” issues he’d anticipated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an unforgivable problem—not because he disliked the workers, but because they were paid to do their jobs properly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tapped his fingers on the desk. “Then change the ‘deal’—switch to piece-rate pay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s our daily production target per worker?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rogerov answered immediately: “Our plan is one hundred cigars per person, but they only manage thirty to forty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Set the rule: anyone who produces exactly one hundred cigars daily gets forty cents (Federation Sol).”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If they don’t reach one hundred, the count carries over to the next day.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If they accumulate one hundred over two days, pay forty cents. If not, keep carrying over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If they fail to meet the monthly quota, fire them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Lans’s changes, Rogerov asked softly, “What if they riot?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans glanced at him. “The whips given to overseers aren’t for decoration—make them swing them. Also, I’ll have factory security assist you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rogerov nodded and agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Piece-rate pay existed in the Federation, but its scope was limited due to unions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some unions viewed piece-rate pay as a crueler form of labor exploitation, so most permanent factory workers didn’t participate—only temporary workers did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, orchard pickers—they had to harvest ripe fruit quickly and in bulk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An orchard might have only one harvest per year and didn’t need many pickers otherwise, so these workers were temporary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Orchards paid piece-rate based on fruit type—smaller, harder-to-pick fruits paid more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, two cents per pound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For larger, easier-to-pick fruits, they might pay one cent for two or three pounds—or even by count.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Permanent workers rarely had such payment systems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Lans’s factory, the workers on the assembly line moved with excruciating slowness, each step taking an unnaturally long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several workers occasionally exchanged winks and grins, their faces beaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was indeed a good job, with wages high enough, and they had genuinely tried at first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after a few days of serious work, they simply couldn’t muster the effort anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main issue was that highly repetitive work made people weary—not physically, but mentally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After making a few cigars, they couldn’t help doing something else, or pausing to stare blankly, then resuming work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they sat there zoning out or doing other things, the foremen would fix their eyes on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To avoid trouble yet avoid endlessly repeating the same simple motions, some began deliberately slowing their pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, one worker could produce eight to ten cigars per hour; now, each could manage only three or four—output had clearly halved, or worse!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The foremen had spoken to them about it; they claimed they were now focusing on making better cigars, not just rushing through them—this seemed reasonable enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roger also came twice; when he arrived, the workers worked harder, but the moment he left, their speed dropped again—there was nothing anyone could do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the end of the shift neared, the workers’ cigar-making speed slowed even further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the foreman looked over, they worked; the moment his gaze shifted away, they began chatting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Few felt they would lose their jobs for slacking off—this was also partly due to their strong internal solidarity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard conditions outside Zolan are terrible; people are starving to death in many places.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One worker, continuously rolling tobacco in his hands, chatted with the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words drew attention and discussion: “Why don’t people go into the jungle to find food?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve always heard the jungle is full of resources, teeming with wild animals—I refuse to believe they’ve all been caught.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And there are fish in the rivers and seas—why don’t they eat fish?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These questions became the center of discussion—as if those who could eat well always harbored this same confusion—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were those who starved, those who died of hunger, truly starving because they had no food?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or were they just too lazy, preferring to starve rather than lift a finger?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People quickly resumed debating, as if chatting had become part of their work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the end-of-shift bell rang, the workers stood up with satisfied smiles; some emitted strange sounds while stretching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others yawned while wiping moisture from the corners of their eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This job was perfect in every way—high pay, not tiring, no exposure to wind or rain—except for one thing: it made you unbearably sleepy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The workers began packing their desks, sorting different tobacco leaves into separate piles, stuffing them tightly into special pouches before leaving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the cigars already made, someone would come later to collect them from the racks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The workers left in groups; when they reached the factory gate, they found a crowd gathered before the notice board.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching spectacle was an innate human habit; more and more people gathered, and soon, thanks to the gossip of busybodies, everyone knew what had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The factory was changing its pay calculation system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until now, wages had been paid on a monthly basis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starting tomorrow, the factory would adopt piece-rate pay—the announcement of one hundred cigars per day caused many workers’ faces to pale!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most workers now took seven or eight minutes per cigar; the nimble-minded and dexterous could make one in six, even five minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, one could produce at most seven or eight per hour—after ten straight hours, only seventy or eighty cigars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To reach one hundred, one would need at least twelve hours of nonstop labor!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just thinking about it was unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately, some workers shouted, “This is unfair!” demanding an explanation from the factory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The local manager stood before the notice board and shouted: “This is the company’s decision!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each worker must produce at least two thousand five hundred cigars per month; below that, dismissal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anger surged—what they thought was a retirement job had suddenly turned into “hell mode.” How could they possibly accept this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2318,"2026-06-19T21:10:31.886Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6608de76ac71b89a505eeae216a2f51bc874e18e412faaf70ffe36526af5ff5c","the-shadow-empire-chapter-999","the-shadow-empire-chapter-997",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-shadow-empire-cover.jpg"]