Chapter 1062: Attached Conditions

In mid-April, a brief coup attempt erupted in Dantra. A small group tried to assassinate the President to end the brutal political purges and infighting within the country.

Unfortunately, the gunman's bullet missed by only a centimeter, grazing the President's scalp. At the moment of the shooting, the President's face was covered in blood, leading everyone to believe he was finished, but a miracle soon followed.

Doctors reported that he only had a scalp laceration that bled heavily but was not fatal.

Immediately afterward, the President gathered military generals. Following two hours of negotiations, the swift arrest of members of the second-largest political party began across Dantra.

The Presidential Palace claimed these individuals were involved in the assassination attempt and had committed treason by colluding with the enemy.

To convince the public, the Presidential Palace released multiple pieces of evidence, which were published in various newspapers.

Facing evidence of questionable authenticity, the domestic political cleansing gradually reached its peak.

Federal newspapers spent this period extensively covering the events in Dantra. Many commentators unanimously believed that the war was nearing its end, and the overall domestic atmosphere was beginning to improve.

In the week that followed, new information emerged: spearheaded by the Federal government, and catalyzed by the Dantra President, a multilateral negotiation on a ceasefire would be held in the New Golden City to discuss the specific details for terminating the war.

Many believed this would be a challenging negotiation, but in reality, the crucial points had already been settled. The rest was merely a formality or the resolution of minor, attached issues.

Lance was busy these days handling the negotiations between the Rapa Provisional Government and the Federal government. It sounded somewhat unbelievable: the Rapa Provisional Government decided to hire a large number of Federal officials to help the Rapa government achieve the transition from a "dictatorship" to a "free and democratic" government.

To strive toward this goal, and to allow the winds of liberty and democracy to blow across Rapa, the early structure of the entire government would be dominated by Federal officials.

Although a few voices raised concerns about the unpredictable risk—for instance, if Federal officials controlled the Rapa government, would it constitute an actual takeover, changing Rapa's sovereignty?

These concerns ultimately failed to ignite widespread social discourse. On one hand, Rapa was a small country. Even though many Federal newspapers had reported on Yalan and the nations in the region, nearly half of Federal people still had no impression of the word "Rapa." They didn't know if "Rapa" was a commodity, a country, a region, a person, or something else.

Naturally, these discussions could not gain traction within the Federation and thus had no major impact.

However, the shockwave it sent through the Yalan Alliance was immense.

Lance returned from Congress to his villa in the New Golden City. Ambassador Cassia called him shortly after. "Lance, I have some friends who want to meet you."

Ambassador Cassia's status was now awkward. Once the bilateral cooperation talks were finalized, the importance of his ambassadorial role would sharply decline.

Previously, he might have thought he was just losing a job, but having lived in the Federation for a long time, he realized the true crisis.

This was not simply losing a job; he would lose substantial income, an affluent lifestyle, and, most critically—his current social status!

Back in Rapa, he hadn't cared much about what he did, as 95% of the benefits ultimately fell into the hands of the ruling class.

Someone like him, without a prominent surname or belonging to a special ethnic group, could only be considered bottom-tier in society.

Despite being an official in Rapa, his life was only marginally better than that of the Rapan middle class.

But in the Federation, it was different.

The Federation's developed capitalist society had the ability to monetize anything, including status.

His status brought him due respect. People respected him because he was a foreign diplomat, and through this respect, he gained privileges.

Once people spent a long time in such a highly capitalized, market-driven society and enjoyed the conveniences afforded by this status, it was very difficult for them to leave it.

Ambassador Cassia felt increasingly anxious at the thought of soon being unemployed.

Unemployment meant he couldn't earn enough income to maintain his current family expenses. His children attended private schools with "International" names.

The tuition fee each semester was astonishingly high, and it wasn't just about money; status was also required.

Money alone couldn't get his children into that school. Beyond that, their daily living expenses were also considerable.

The monthly bills sent to him by the bank, the community, and various associated commercial entities amounted to five or six hundred dollars—a fee that was painful and difficult for him to manage.

If he wanted to reduce this expenditure, his entire family would have to move out of the current villa, sell it, and buy a modest house.

However, his parents, wife, and children were accustomed to their present life. Suddenly forcing them back to poverty, he worried about the psychological toll on his family.

Therefore, for Ambassador Cassia right now, his focus was on increasing his own value to gain more attention and maintain a stable life.

When a young woman who uses her looks for money reaches an age where she can no longer sell herself but still needs money, what does she do?

Simple: recruit a few younger girls and monetize her former client network.

This method of monetization might not last long—those clients might eventually communicate directly with the younger girls she recruited—so it wasn't a long-term choice.

But at least, it was a choice. Sometimes, having a choice, even if it's not the best or is the worst, is an enormous blessing.

Cassia's own value was steadily declining, but he realized that other ambassadors—those who also wanted to align with the Federation—still needed venues and opportunities to meet Lance.

His alternative value was fully realized at this moment.

From selling out his own country to introducing others to sell out theirs, in terms of "selling," they were arguably no more morally superior than prostitutes, and possibly worse!

After Lance listened to two or three of the ambassadors' names, he asked for the address and drove to Ambassador Cassia's villa.

This was Lance's first time at his villa. He knew Ambassador Cassia had sold his villa, and that he himself had provided the money for the purchase, but he wasn't particularly concerned about it.

The money he spent had already returned to his hands tenfold or a hundredfold through other means.

Only after his car was safely parked did he step out. Ambassador Cassia and the others were already waiting at the door to greet him.

When they reached Lance, Lance shook hands with them. Ambassador Cassia then began the introductions. "This is the Ambassador of Makan, and this is..."

The three ambassadors all wore ingratiating smiles. Lance noted that they were dressed very plainly.

In the Federation, in the New Golden City, an ambassador dressing plainly could only mean one thing: they, and the countries they represented, were very poor.

A diplomatic ambassador was, after all, the face of a country. Even if it meant selling everything, these countries would try to ensure their representatives did not appear destitute, unless they truly couldn't afford a few decent sets of clothing.

After the group entered the house, Ambassador Cassia fetched glasses and asked, "If you have no plans this evening, would you stay and have dinner with us?"

Lance looked at the three ambassadors around him, seeing the smiles on their faces, and after a moment's thought, nodded. "No problem."

Ambassador Cassia breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll arrange it right away."

When Ambassador Cassia returned, they all sat down. He used the progress of the negotiations as a conversation starter.

"How are the negotiations going today?"

"I heard the Federal government is already selecting candidates for foreign posting?"

Lance took a sip of his wine. "It's basically settled. All that remains now are the formalities."

He glanced at Ambassador Cassia, then looked at the other three ambassadors, lowering his voice slightly, as if sharing insider information. "A few points remain unresolved. We are currently discussing the issue of taxation."

"The Federal government's demand is that the Federal government establishes the taxation scheme, including how those taxes are used. All decisions will be made by us."

"The reconstruction of the legal framework and other issues, which are vital to the practical operation of a government, will follow, so it may still take some time."

The Ambassador of the Aldera Republic had a rather complicated expression. They wanted to align with the Federation but also wanted a certain degree of autonomy.

This was the classic case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. Taxation wasn't a hugely important power for these countries because most Yalan countries struggled to collect taxes.

There were too many poor people; you couldn't reasonably expect people who couldn't afford food to pay taxes to the government.

But that didn't mean the tax authority was unimportant. During their time living in the Federation, they had already realized the significance and power of taxation.

If tax authority was ceded to the Federal people, there was a high possibility that they would turn it into a knife hanging over everyone's heads, including their own.

For these poor countries, the only people domestically who could afford to pay taxes and met the tax standards were the privileged class, the capitalists, and the ruling class.

Lance's disclosure of this information now was essentially telling them that this was one of the core conditions for aligning with the Federation.

Only by relinquishing fiscal authority could they truly be considered allies, preventing people from exploiting Federal aid to stimulate their economy only to burn the bridge afterward, rendering the Federation's efforts fruitless.

The logic was sound, and everyone understood it, but emotionally, it was slightly difficult to accept.

Two of the three ambassadors offered awkward and strained smiles. In contrast, the Ambassador of Makan nodded with a nonchalant expression. "I think there's no problem. We couldn't collect taxes ourselves anyway. If we hand it over to you, you can collect it, which is actually a good thing."

Makan had only just over two million people, fewer than the population of the New Golden City, so their Ambassador didn't care who ultimately controlled the tax authority.

Even if their President and the ruling and privileged classes were wealthy domestically, they were merely upper-middle class when compared to the Federation.

Given their poor geography and poverty, with no particularly valuable mineral resources, finding a wealthy patron was likely the shared desire of their entire nation.

The ambassadors from the other two countries exchanged glances. Their initial thought, or that of their ruling groups, was to cozy up to the Federation, leverage its advanced industrial capacity to boost their own backward economies—to act as small-time vampires, sucking Federal blood to strengthen themselves.

They planned to demand subsidies, technology, and everything else from the Federation, ensuring the profits remained theirs.

This acquired technology and subsidies would undoubtedly flow into the hands of their ruling class.

But now they realized the Federal government was not so easily fooled. This matter might not be settled quickly, and they might need to go back and discuss with their domestic ruling class whether it was necessary to continue the process.

Their silence, and the Makan Ambassador's nonchalant expression and statement, stood in stark contrast. Lance did not press them to make a decision today.

He even smiled. "Talking to me about this is useless. You need to speak with the Secretary of State, but he might not have time recently."

"If you read the papers, you'll realize that the armistice talks are the most important thing right now."

Speaking of the armistice talks, Ambassador Cassia asked curiously, "Will there truly be a ceasefire?"

Lance nodded. "I believe the foundation for a ceasefire is already there, so it is highly likely the war will end before summer arrives."

"After the war ends, all aspects of the Federation will enter the fast lane: industrial development, economic development, and scientific progress."

"The Federation will leave the rest of the world far behind!"

Everyone's faces held varied expressions upon hearing this. The reason they were here now, chatting with Lance about the Federation and Yalan, stemmed entirely from this war.

Without this sudden outbreak of war, Yalan would still be Yalan, and the Federation would be continually depressed by economic downturns, unable to cope with global changes.

It was this damned war that directly changed the world!

And created a new monster!