Chapter 311 - 311: Silent Contest

Just as the French were preparing to prop up Mad Island.

Chen Jianxiong had already traveled to the island in person.

Compared to the other coastal regions of the Ceylon Ocean, Chen Jianxiong clearly valued Mad Island more.

This was a massive island with a total area of 590,000 square kilometers. It had no land connection to the African Continent, yet it was extremely close, making it perfectly suited to serve as the company's forward operating base and logistics hub.

More critically, Mad Island was in a state of internal chaos, making it easy to take advantage of the situation.

A coast on the northern part of Mad Island.

17 months ago, this area had been the subject of a series of secret operations run by assets deployed by the Foreign Affairs Division.

The 22 villages and two small towns in this area had all fallen under the control of a group called the Tuckda Gang. As for the identity of this small gang's financial backer, it was self-evident.

Under the cover of this front gang, the Foreign Affairs Division carried out secret excavations, building a submarine supply port within the mountains near the coast.

A nuclear-powered Tuna-class submarine entered the port through an underwater tunnel.

About 13 minutes later.

The submarine surfaced at a berth in the port's dock.

PSSSH... The airtight hatch opened.

Chen Jianxiong and a group of his subordinates emerged from the hatch.

The commander of the base, who also served as the deputy manager of the Mad Branch, Chen Shaofeng, immediately saluted. "Minister Chen, welcome to the Mad Branch. I'm Chen Shaofeng."

"Hello, Shaofeng. Let's talk as we walk."

They boarded a small train.

"What's the current situation?"

"This is a map of Mad Island. The various factions' territories are already marked on it."

Chen Jianxiong took the tablet and scrolled through the detailed profiles of the various factions.

Located in the tropics, Mad Island was internally divided into 17 factions of varying sizes. The seven strongest among them were in a constant state of open and covert conflict.

Due to differences in terrain, climate, ethnicity, and local natural conditions, Mad Island was rife with internal conflicts. A stagnant economy only served to further exacerbate these tensions.

Mad Island's population of roughly 27 million was concentrated mainly along the coast and in the central highlands. With a per capita GDP of 450 US Dollars, it was a typically poor and underdeveloped region.

Chen Jianxiong mused.

'Internally, Mad Island is currently controlled by Andrew of the Merinans, but his control is limited to the capital, the central highlands, and a few large cities.'

'Then there are the Bezimisala people on the eastern coast (14.1% of the total population) and the Betsimisaraka People in the southern part of the central highlands (12% of the population).'

'There are also the Qimiheti people on the southeastern coast (7.2%), the Sakarawa people of the Western Grassland Zone (5.8%), the Antandro people in the northern mountains (5.3%), and the Antesaka people in the southern rainforest (5%).'

'These are all major tribes within Mad Island, and on top of that, there are another 10 medium-sized tribes.'

'Clearly, the internal situation on Mad Island is a complete mess.'

"Currently, we've secured cooperation with about 35% of the Antanrode people in the northern mountains. 18% of the Beizi People on the eastern coast are also willing to work with the company, along with 31% of the Saka People in the southern rainforest. For the other tribes, we've only managed to buy off about 3 to 6%."

Chen Jianxiong asked, "Which tribe is Federer from, the man the French are grooming?"

"Federer? He's the leader of the Lawa People in the Western Grassland Zone."

"Do we have any mid- to high-level assets within the Lawa Tribe?"

"We have a town mayor."

Chen Jianxiong shook his head. "Not enough. But there's no need to keep this Federer around. Eliminate him."

"I'll notify our person in charge of the Western Grassland Zone immediately," Chen Shaofeng replied while making a note of it on his phone.

After leaving the underground base.

The two of them arrived in a small mountain village.

This village had already been remodeled. Among its more than seven hundred villagers, aside from the old, weak, sick, and disabled, nearly all the able-bodied young adults had been recruited by the company, becoming its employees.

After changing into local clothing, Chen Jianxiong and Chen Shaofeng did not stand out as they walked among the villagers.

One shouldn't assume the people of Mad Island are all black. In fact, the population is predominantly of mixed African and Asian descent, with skin tones similar to the Javanese.

Of course, Mad Island also has small populations of people with more purely black or Asian ancestry.

Therefore, Chen Jianxiong and his men didn't stick out like sore thumbs. Combined with the innate linguistic advantages of the Homo sapiens, their disguise as local Rhodians was flawless.

Gazing at the rice paddies in the small basin, Chen Jianxiong turned and asked, "How's the food situation?"

"Our farms in the north are self-sufficient, and we currently have about 170,000 tons of rice in stock," Chen Shaofeng said, spreading his hands helplessly. "But in other regions, the food self-sufficiency rate is only about 70 to 80 percent."

"ABCD just won't go away, will they," Chen Jianxiong sneered.

He knew exactly why Mad Island couldn't be self-sufficient in food. It wasn't due to poor natural conditions, but because ABCD had pushed them into the large-scale cultivation of cash crops.

The Louis Dreyfus Company in particular, which had French capital investment, held a core position in Mad Island's agricultural trade.

After all, Mad Island had about 8.8 million hectares of arable land, with only 2.8 million hectares currently developed. This amounted to about 0.25 acres of cultivated land per person.

Coupled with its tropical climate and fertile land, the conditions for agricultural production were excellent.

And yet, this place had somehow ended up needing to import food.

It was truly surreal.

Mad Island's natural conditions were far superior to those of Sumatra and Borneo. As long as the Homo Sapiens Company could establish a fully authorized branch here, they could not only achieve food self-sufficiency but even become a food exporter.

Chen Jianxiong took stock of the forces currently at the disposal of the Mad Branch.

Currently, the Homo Sapiens Company's Mad Branch had approximately 2.63 million local employees, which was less than one-tenth of the island's total population.

Because Mad Island was home to 17 major tribes, they had to be "persuaded" one by one. Not a single tribe could be overlooked, lest they become pawns for Europe and America.

Right now, Chen Jianxiong was confident he could "persuade" only three of the major tribes and four of the smaller ones.

The other four major tribes were the primary focus of the current operation.

Fortunately, regions under this kind of tribal system were inherently isolated and underdeveloped. Even if internal conflicts escalated into firefights, it would be difficult for the outside world to notice in a timely manner.

Just as Chen Jianxiong was silently running through his calculations.

His assistant hurried over. "Minister, we have level-one intelligence from the French commercial intelligence station."

Hearing this, Chen Jianxiong immediately took the device, inserted the earpiece, and reviewed the contents. Five minutes later, a sneer touched his lips:

"Do they still think they're the Gaul Rooster? A piece of trash that sold out Alstom to curry favor with America. What fucking nerve."

According to the investigation by the French commercial intelligence station, the Elysee Palace planned to dispatch three regiments of the Foreign Legion from West Africa to support their proxy, Federer.

Around noon tomorrow, one of the regiments was scheduled to arrive by transport plane at a small airport under Federer's control.

Chen Jianxiong made a swift decision. "Shaofeng, tell the team handling Federer to stand down. We'll wait for the Gaul Rooster's Foreign Legion to get here. I want to test them myself and see what this so-called Foreign Legion is really made of."

"Yes, sir. I'll pass on the order right away." Chen Shaofeng quickly picked up his phone and sent an urgent message to the communications room.

Meanwhile, to prevent the Homo Sapiens Company from interfering in Mad Island, the United States Army's reorganized Fifth Fleet was also taking action.

The Pentagon planned to have the Fifth Fleet conduct a joint exercise with the Tianzhu Navy in the waters north of the Maldives Islands, hoping to draw the attention of the Homo Sapiens Company's Ceylon Ocean Escort Fleet.

But the Pentagon's plan was too simplistic.

The Homo Sapiens Company didn't necessarily need to dispatch its main forces from home. Instead, it intended to form a security force on the ground at its Mad Branch, using local employees.