Chapter 868: Responsibility and Investigation

Lance's company building was lucky not to have been hit by the bombardment. It was a blessing in disguise. At least he didn't have to consider finding a place to hold a meeting now.

Sitting at the head of the conference table in the huge conference room, he looked at the cadres on both sides of the conference table, and the rows of captains behind them, and said this sentence—

"We can't just be a gang!"

The loss suffered by the Lance Family this time was not great. More than twenty people had died in the bombardment, and it was said that there were also thirty or forty who were injured, most of them were minor injuries, and the two who were seriously injured were not in any life-threatening danger.

Now the entire city was in a state of grief, and the focus of the whole country was concentrated here. This was a good moment to show one's "responsibility."

Lance's gaze lingered on everyone's face, and then he moved on to the next person.

Most of the people he had looked at could meet his gaze, but there were also some who could not withstand the pressure behind the calm gaze and had lowered their heads.

After Lance's gaze had gone around once, it had taken maybe two or three minutes before he continued.

"A gang has its advantages. We can, when necessary, directly trample on the law without regard for the consequences."

"But a gang also has its disadvantages. On some issues, we will be in a congenitally weak position."

"For example, if a case occurs where it is not clear who has done it, people will first think that it might have been us, not those ordinary people."

"This is a stereotype, which is very difficult to change, and of course, there are some other problems."

What Lance actually wanted to say was that "gangster politics" would come to an end with the victory of the war. If this war was lost, then it didn't matter.

The federal government, and all the current ruling classes, would be questioned by the lower class. Society would become continuously unstable.

People would not trust the federal government and the ruling group, and would think that they were not qualified to rule the people of the Federation. The lower class would have a confrontational mood with the upper class.

So at a time like this, the value of the existence of the gangs was greater than the value of their disappearance. To deal with the federal citizens who were not very convenient to manage, to directly use administrative means might cause a greater turmoil, but to let the gangs do the work would be much easier.

Just as it was now, the federal government lacked the ruling power over the lower class in many places, so the existence of the gangs had helped them to fill this gap.

What the gangs needed was also stability and order, which had formed a natural complementarity.

But when the war was won, the authority of the federal government and the ruling group had been raised unprecedentedly. People were willing to believe in the federal government, and were willing to believe that the ruling group could lead them to go further.

Then the existence of the gangs would evolve from "helping to stabilize society" to "destroying social stability," and would need to be swept into the garbage heap.

At present, the probability of the Federation winning was still very high, so Lance had to step up to make the Lance Family undergo a transformation.

"This time Golden Port City was bombarded. I need you to do some things."

"First!" he raised a finger and pointed at the ceiling. "Send everyone out, to reinforce the places that need rescue, to open up the ruins, to see if there are still any people who need to be rescued."

"The speed has to be fast. Don't do it slowly. That would be better than not doing it."

"Second!" he raised another finger. "We have to set up relief stations in the places that have been bombarded more heavily, to distribute food and some medicine, to help those who need help. Mello, you are in charge of coordinating this matter."

A large amount of food and medicine would certainly not be cheap. This required Mello, this great steward, to do it.

Mello nodded. "I see."

"Third!" He put down his hand at this time. It wasn't that he couldn't hold up three fingers, but that this one was not like the previous ones, which required him to emphasize his tone to attract people's attention.

"I need everyone to be in uniform. I want everyone to be able to see clearly that we are us!"

"If someone asks who you are, there will definitely be a large number of reporters who will come over during this period. You remember, don't tell them that you are from the Lance Family."

"Tell them that you are from the Wanli Group!"

"We are an enterprise of Golden Port City. Golden Port City has suffered a heavy blow. As a local enterprise, we should bear the social responsibility that we should bear, to help the people, to distribute relief food and medicine, to help some people to solve their problems, and also to pay attention to the issue of public security!"

"After such a thing has happened, there may be some unstable situations. If you find them, eliminate them in time."

"That's it. Pass it down!"

"Alan, Davin, you stay behind."

Some of the captains looked at the two with some curiosity. They seemed to have all realized something. Those who had a good relationship with the two were winking at them and making some gestures.

Alan and Davin also looked quite nervous, not daring to even breathe as they stood in their positions.

Lance smiled and raised his hand for them to sit down. "We have always been watching your performance. Now the company needs to expand. In the future, the places we need to manage will become larger, and the number of our employees will also become more."

"So in the future, there will be more and more captains who will be promoted to cadres. You are just the first batch. Congratulations."

A look of pleasant surprise appeared on both of their faces. They quickly stood up and thanked Lance, and by the way, also expressed their loyalty, saying that they would definitely work hard for Lance, for the company!

The biggest difference between a cadre and a captain is that a cadre will get a share of the family's income, and will have a higher status, and a greater influence!

The part below a cadre cannot get a share. They are all on a fixed salary, and then plus some various subsidies.

And a cadre is safer most of the time. As long as you are not like Hiram, who likes to rush to the front line for no reason, most of the cadres do not have to lead the charge.

Lance raised his hand again for them to sit down. The other cadres also began to congratulate them.

After their exchange was almost over, Lance turned to look at Mello and asked, "How many men do we have now?"

Mello pursed his lips. "Last time you asked us to continue to recruit men. Now there are about 1,300 or so."

"Too few," Lance shook his head very decisively. "This is too few. Continue to recruit, from the Empire District, from our own people."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Mador. "Have they already received military training?"

The Empire soldiers that Mador had brought had been providing military training for the members of the Lance Family. To have these professional soldiers be gangsters, to go to a firefight, or to transport smuggled liquor was really too much of a waste!

So they were only in charge of the training work, and were also in charge of Lance's safety. Mador was basically personally protecting Lance, and at the same time was also in charge of the military training.

The families of these people, all their families, had now been brought to the Federation, so Lance trusted them very much.

Unless they were planning to give up their high-paying jobs, to be hunted down all the time, and to have their whole family killed, otherwise no one would be so brain-dead as to betray Lance.

"We have already completed two rounds of training."

Each round of training was for a month, and then there was a break for a period of time, from half a month to two months.

Because the time that Lance had requested this time was relatively tight, so they had only rested for two weeks, which meant that they had all undergone two months of military training.

Lance nodded slightly. "Our target is two thousand, and it would be best if we could have three thousand, because we will soon have a major mission!"

He considered for a moment, and then decided to give these people a little bit of the inside story. The plan had already been launched. Even if he didn't say it now, they would soon know.

Instead of letting them know what they were going to do the moment they got on the boat, it was better to make it a little clearer now, so that they could also be mentally prepared.

"This time, the Dantra people's attack on Golden Port City has made the federal government very furious. In order to prevent similar incidents from happening, so the federal government plans to station troops in several areas of Yalan."

"In addition, Golden Port City has been destroyed, and the sea transportation in the northern hemisphere will have a big problem. If the same thing happens again, the status of Golden Port City, and the transportation hub of the northern hemisphere of the Federation will be challenged and threatened."

"To be always attacked, bombarded, people will only shift the center of transportation to other places."

"So strengthening the overall defense of the Federation on the East Ocean has already become the most important matter."

The Empire's side also had two large ports. It was just that the Empire, all along, with some of its domestic situations, its policies, had made them seem to have a layer of a membrane with the world.

However, now this layer of a membrane was fading. They might have the idea of competing for this hub.

The situation in the Empire and the Federation were still not the same. On the Federation's side, to do anything still required considering the thoughts of the public, and also had to go through the Presidential Palace and Congress.

On the Empire's side, with a pat of the emperor's armrest, the whole country would begin to execute. Just in terms of execution ability, the whole world might not be able to catch up.

"This time, the federal government's stationing of troops in Yalan will definitely cause protests, and even confrontation, from the local ruling group and some of the private organizations."

"This is like a group of people suddenly coming into our home, telling us that they need to have a room here that completely belongs to them, and that we also have to listen to them."

"We will definitely resist, will struggle. No one will be willing to just watch the invaders become the new masters of this home."

"Their resistance will make the annexation work very slow. After all, our gentlemen still have to save face. It is not very good for them to say that this is just an invasion, so they need some people to do some of the things that are not convenient for them to do."

"The helper who can help them to solve these problems, that is us!"

"If you say that the federal government is the light, then we are the shadow!"

"The things they can't do, we can."

The expressions of the cadres had all become serious. Although they did not understand it very well, they were not completely ignorant either, and could understand a part of it.

Lance paused for a moment. He lit a cigarette. "I plan to initially send five hundred of my subordinates to Yalan. As long as our mission this time does not go wrong, we will usher in a qualitative leap!"

What does the federal government want?

What they want is no resistance, what they want is stability, what they want is to be able to annex the entire Yalan region, to control all the resources and the population of this region.

As long as Lance does not touch their core interests, the two sides will always maintain a highly close cooperative relationship.

As for whether they will just throw Lance away after they have used him?

On this point, Lance was not worried, because he knew very well one thing. Even if there is a blood relationship, as long as there is no value, you will be thrown away.

If you want not to be thrown away, you just have to be able to always create value.

History is always written by the victors. Just as the past events that had happened on the Federation's homeland, the federal government's history books about the Federation had mentioned that it was the natives who had taken the initiative to give a large amount of land to the federal government, in exchange for the federal people providing them with a stable life.

Everyone knew that this was not true, but who the fuck cared?

After a hundred years, two hundred years, or even three or five hundred years, when the natives were all dead, or had completely integrated into the federal society, and had become the privileged class of the Federation, who would still care if this land was obtained through massacre, or if they had bought it, or if the natives had taken the initiative to give it to them?

The Yalan issue is the same. As long as the people of Yalan believe that the Federation's rule has changed and has made their lives better than before, then the Lance Family, the Wanli Group, will be the messengers of paradise who have brought the light, the angels who have concluded a friendship!

As for some of the destruction that has occurred in this process, who the fuck cares about this?

As long as the fruit that is produced is big enough, and fat and juicy enough, who will still care how it was cultivated?

Even if it is irrigated with fresh blood, people will still applaud and say that it was planted so fucking well!

With Lance's orders, everywhere you could see the people of the Lance Family, in their uniform attire, at work. The city's public security had indeed also had some problems, but fortunately, they had been quickly dealt with.

A great many federal reporters had come to Golden Port City. In fact, for the outsiders who had not been bombarded, they might not have felt particularly sad about this matter. Of course, there was anger.

There was also some, which was curiosity.

They wanted to know the things that had happened here and the living conditions of the people after the bombardment. They, through the newspapers, in those photos, could often see a touch of bright red.

The two names, "Wanli Group" and "Lance Family," had also begun to be spread in a wider range—

Although Lance had had them call themselves the employees of the Wanli Group, the ordinary people of Golden Port City would say, "Those are the people of the Lance Family." Of course, this didn't matter. Even if Lance was completely whitewashed, the history of having been a gangster would not change.

However, this also made the federal people discover a gang that was completely different from the traditional gangs that they had known, which would only plunder, extort, and obtain wealth through crimes such as harm. Some people also believed that the Lance Family was not a gang.

They had their legitimate businesses, and they... on some issues, their methods were just similar to that of a gang, but this couldn't be said that they were a gang, right!

Just as a gang will use a weapon to harm others, and an ordinary person will use a weapon to protect their own safety and to harm others, they have both used a weapon to harm others. Can you say that an ordinary person is also a gang or a gang member?

If you say that the reputation of the Lance Family was changing in a direction that was unimaginable to people, then Admiral Miles was now in real trouble.

The army's side had already lodged a protest with the Presidential Palace and the Department of Defense. They believed that the attack on Golden Port City, the destruction of a large number of warships, the destruction of the naval base, and the large number of casualties among the soldiers were all Admiral Miles's problem.

He had completely not considered that it was wartime, and that anything could happen, not to mention that last year there had been a movie "Surprise Attack on Golden Port" released, which had explained the possibility of the Dantra people's surprise attack on Golden Port.

In such a situation where it was almost an open-book exam, Admiral Miles had still gotten a zero. This was not just a matter of his ability, but a crime!

And more importantly, because of Admiral Miles's criminal-like behavior, which had led to the threat to the shipping route from the Federation to Slad, and might affect the federal army that was currently in combat.

This was the greatest murder against the two million brave soldiers of the Federation!

At present, the war on the Tanfit continent was mainly led by the army. Their accusation would certainly be taken seriously by the federal government. An investigation team was immediately arranged to go to Golden Port City to investigate, to see if there was really a problem of dereliction of duty.

The standard of this investigation team was very high. Besides having personnel from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, there was also a civilian admiral from the Department of Defense, two lieutenant generals, and also a cabinet member, and also an investigation member from the military. It could be said to be a "gathering of stars."

The higher the standard of this investigation team, the greater the determination of the Federation to bring down Admiral Miles. Otherwise, they would have just sent a few people to deal with it.

Now to arrange such a huge team was to find some problems even if there were none.

Then the navy's side also lodged a counter-protest. A naval general believed that this kind of a long-distance raid was in itself full of unexpectedness. Admiral Miles did not have a major dereliction of duty. Even if it were someone else, it would probably be very difficult to do better than Admiral Miles.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that after this attack, the navy, at least for a short period of time, would find it very difficult to compete with the army again.

Time soon came to mid- to late June. Congress had, in a very short time, passed the "East Ocean Security Defense Act." The core of this act was to ensure the security of the Federation. The Federation would be setting up some defensive measures on the East Ocean to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

Naturally, in it, for the first time, the idea of stationing troops in Yalan was formally proposed.

This had immediately caused the strong dissatisfaction of several countries in the Yalan region. They had called such an act of the Federation a naked aggression. They had solemnly protested and had refused to let the Federation's army enter the Yalan region, let alone to establish a military base in the Yalan region.

In some areas of Yalan, there had also been a large number of demonstrations. For a time, the discussion about whether the Federation was going to invade the Yalan region was even hotter than the war that was currently breaking out!

The diplomatic teams that these countries had in the Federation were also in urgent contact with the federal Secretary of State, and the Presidential Palace, hoping to be able to dispel the Federation's idea.

It was just that they were not very clear that with the more detailed investigation of the various resource reports of the Yalan region, the annexation of Yalan was already a foregone conclusion for Congress.

Yalan had mineral resources, oil, could produce rubber, and also had a large amount of cheap population resources. How could they possibly give it up?