Darkstone Code-Chapter 1025 - 1023: Friendly Visit

"So Mr. Jeruno advocates resolving Akumal?"

Mr. Wardrick slightly modified his statement, "It is Mr. Jeruno who believes that the existence of Akumal is affecting us, and we need to discuss how to resolve this matter."

In the end, Lynch would not find this issue strange anymore.

Human trafficking is inherently a very secretive matter, and if it becomes known worldwide, the Duncan Clan would become notorious.

Secondly, Akumal already demonstrates his "leadership" temperament, and more and more people are convinced by him, causing some troubles for the Federation authorities.

A fragmented, disunited Nagariel is the Nagariel that aligns with the Federation’s interests.

Besides the Nagariel people themselves who wish to rise peacefully, no one else hopes they achieve this — perhaps the Gafura people also desire it, as they enjoy anything that might trouble the Federation.

If nothing unexpected happens, it may take some time, possibly years, before the Federation authorities act against Akumal, but with the Duncan Clan’s support, they might act soon.

Weakness is the original sin.

Lynch could already imagine that once Akumal’s activities in Nagariel ceased, the Duncan Clan would become more reckless in their human trafficking business.

And Nagariel would, due to the absence of Akumal, face ideological disintegration with various factions, each fighting independently, never uniting.

Chaos, turbulence, poverty, backwardness, completely reliant on the Federation and the United Development Company, that’s what they want.

Mr. Wardrick chuckled twice without saying anything.

But saying nothing is in itself a statement; he implicitly agreed with Lynch’s assertion.

The cost of hiring one Federation worker could hire eight to ten Nagariel people.

If their labor is worth five bucks a day, ten people could generate fifteen hundred bucks in profit a month.

Approximately eighteen thousand a year.

But if you treat one person as cargo and sell them, you could fetch such a price, or even more...

That’s enough for capitalists to trample any laws of the world!

Those wealthy individuals spend tens of thousands just to satiate their desire for slaughter, and it’s not costly for them!

No wonder people go crazy over human trafficking; with no capital and profit multiplied by ten thousand, greedy merchants would make deals with the devil even if he was across the negotiation table!

Just then, the lawyers’ voices echoed in the room as they confirmed the contract, finding no issues, not even needing amendments.

It’s only natural, as Mr. Wardrick’s resources allow him to hire the best lawyers; this is trivial.

Soon, Lynch signed the contract and selectively forgot about Nagariel’s issues and the Duncan Clan’s clandestine human trafficking.

He couldn’t do much about it, so it was better to forget, at least that way, it wouldn’t bother him.

Mr. Wardrick knew; now, he also knew. He believed the Federation Government was aware too, but no one acted against the Duncan Clan, nor did anyone point out these issues.

Sometimes society is this ruthless, disregarding reason and law.

Next, Lynch started to sketch the appearance of the armored vehicle, annotating the function of each component while explaining.

"Currently, our most pressing need is to counter aerial targets; we’ve never considered being attacked from the sky, so air defense will be the most critical national defense subject for the foreseeable future."

"The type of armored vehicle I’m drawing has excellent air defense and ground strike capabilities; standing up the anti-aircraft gun’s barrel enables air defense."

"Level the barrel, and it can cause devastating damage to ground forces, capable of penetrating buildings and thin armor."

An engineer brought by Mr. Wardrick couldn’t help but ask, "Excuse me, Mr. Lynch, isn’t this just a rapid-fire machine gun?"

Looking at Lynch’s "anti-aircraft gun" sketch, the engineer immediately recognized what it was, yet Lynch referred to it as an anti-aircraft gun.

Lynch glanced at the engineer and nodded, "You can say that; it’s your right."

He then continued explaining other components, acknowledging that it may not be highly advanced.

He merely suggested that among existing designs, it appeared more aesthetically pleasing, more practical, but that’s all.

For instance, Lynch introduced the functions of each armor plate angle, describing the performance parameters he expected during its design.

Next came the self-propelled artillery, with this part drawn more meticulously, destined to be Titan Industries’ most important product.

After all the drawing work concluded, Titan Industries’ two engineers discussed the blueprints, impressed by Lynch’s design yet noting many impractical aspects.

For example, how the vehicle would buffer recoil from a cannon shot, lacking detailed structure, they had to find ways to fill in the missing content themselves.

"Have you studied drawing?" Mr. Wardrick curiously asked, noticing the sketches, though rough, showed foundational drawing skills, not mere doodles.

He didn’t believe Lynch had time to learn drawing now, assuming he learned previously.

Lynch nodded, "It’s a personal hobby; sometimes imagination is hard to describe in words and can only be expressed through drawing."

"And when you need others to understand your thoughts and visualizations, the best way is to draw it and throw it in their face."

As he spoke, he laughed first, while Mr. Wardrick wore an envious expression, "Your ideas are intriguing, and you indeed can achieve them. I’m envious of you, Lynch."

"Envious of what?"

Mr. Wardrick pondered for a while before answering seriously, "Youth, it’s the only thing I envy in others!"

"I guessed so!" Lynch concurred.

Mr. Wardrick need not envy anyone else for anything; he held an extraordinary social status, immense wealth, and everything people envied about him, making him someone everyone aspired to be.

The only things that touched him might be time, age, and the passing years.

The two engineers concluded that the design seemed reasonable from an aesthetic perspective but uncertain about feasibility due to a lack of internal detailed design and parameters.

"If Mr. Lynch could provide more parameters, perhaps we could avoid many experimental phases and save some R&D funds."

An engineer said, as the key data would simplify the rest.

Lynch retorted, "If I had everything, why would we need to collaborate?"

Mr. Wardrick laughed heartily...

Less than a week after new research subjects kicked off at the Federation Ministry of Defense, Gafura spies captured them, transmitting the intelligence back to Gafura.

The Gafura nobles were shocked, wondering why the Federation had preemptively learned the news they’d just been informed of?

This indicated that a significant number of spies still existed in Gafura, prompting another round of internal purging against suspected spies.

The Federation followed suit, initiating another round of counter-espionage actions.

Undoubtedly, both sides simultaneously discovered the same issue: there seemed to be no secrets between them.

Regardless of any character changes, the rage of Gafura’s Emperor, now inaudible, might roar once again. A Gafura delegation arrived in the Federation to negotiate and discuss new cooperation.

Some civilian groups and individuals spontaneously organized to welcome them, believing it reflected the perennial friendship between the Federation and Gafura.

If two powerful nations could unite closely, they would no longer fear any challenges; the people hoped to see this for a greater sense of security.

Interestingly, two adversarial nations’ diplomatic distance seemed closer than any others at this moment.

Many considered this a signal of peace, not realizing it was a competition.

Only by better understanding the opponent could they subsequently defeat them!

Correspondingly, a batch of military observers arrived at the Mariluo River frontline.

This implied the third battle was about to commence.

Perhaps sensing Sanchez’s determination, or perhaps the Federation’s, Mariluo’s internal chaos seemed slightly calmer, especially with signs of ceasefires between major warlords.

Some battlefronts also entered a ceasefire period, as everyone’s attention appeared focused on Mariluo’s southernmost part.

Sanchez’s next target, a city two hundred and twenty kilometers upstream along the river, belonged to a mid-sized warlord.

The Ministry of Defense’s plan for Sanchez was to capture at least six cities, gaining strategic depth to prevent wandering if one city were lost.

In other words, Darkstone Security’s order was only a third of the way complete.

Before the battle began, forward reconnaissance units were already on the move, with others ready to depart at any time.

In the camp, Ryan felt significantly better, his internal organs’ self-healing ability surpassing his expectations; though his stomach wound still hurt, there was little pain in his organs anymore.

He refused the command’s order to return to the Federation, wanting to do something while still here.

For some unknown reason, he felt he owed the fallen soldiers something, despite knowing their deaths had nothing to do with him.