Pretending to Be an Untouchable Crime Boss-Chapter 394: Snake.

It began very quickly, and with the order of William, tens of thousands of soldiers were sent out at once to help the major cities, the smaller towns, and even the distant villages, while at the same time a special operational group was created to gather volunteers, and in what felt like no time at all, thousands of people stepped forward to help those trapped under rubble, those swept away by the tsunami and the waves, and even the Union sent rescue teams and peacekeepers to try and save as many lives as possible, but the destruction was far greater than anyone had expected.

The earthquake was something beyond normal, a 9.1 magnitude disaster that broke the record in the continent and destroyed whatever it could and the real fear was not just how strong it was, but how much it was able to destroy in such a short time, because there were no real earthquake-proof skyscrapers, apartments, or houses, which made the cities feel almost like they were built to collapse, and in some cases that is exactly what happened, because one of the skyscraper collapsed completely, killing at least a two thousand people by itself, without even counting the falling debris that hit the ground and other buildings like spreading even more death and destruction, and it became clear within the first hours of rescue that the numbers would rise far beyond what anyone could handle.

Just four days later, the number of deaths was already estimated to be around fifty thousand, and that number did not even include the people who had disappeared or those still trapped under the rubble, making it feel less like a disaster and more like a massacre caused by nature itself, and one of the worst parts of all of this was the tsunami that followed.

It was not just because it killed thousands of people and not just because it destroyed ports and caused billions in damage, but because the waves came dangerously close to a nuclear reactor near the coastline, and while the situation could have become even worse than it already was, somehow, whether by luck or fate, the reactor was not damaged, but everything else was and it was just about the deaths.

The whole country fell into a heavy atmosphere, into pure depression, and of course it did, because how could it not when so many people had lost everything at once, when some lost their entire families, others their daughters or their sons, some lost their parents, their friends, and for many, the life they had woken up to that morning was simply gone by night, and the worst part of all of it was not just the grief, but the feeling that even the government itself was lost, because one simple and terrifying question kept coming up again and again.

How are you supposed to rebuild billions worth of destruction when all you have done for years is stealing billions?

It became clear to almost everyone that even a country with a strong economy can be pushed to the edge by something like an earthquake, something sudden and violent that slows everything down and puts pressure on every system at once, but a country that has been draining its own money, wasting it, or stealing it, does not get pushed to the edge, it simply falls off it without anything to hold onto.

In short, it was over... or at least it should have been.

But the Union was still there with loans and support and of course Maraci because Darvik immediately reached out to William, offering assistance with both personnel and with a loan with an interest rate so high that it almost felt insulting, especially considering that this was a country that had just gone through an earthquake and a tsunami, and yet even in a moment like this, profit still found a way to stand above everything else.

"Why now, God... do you hate us this much?" Linda’s voice was quiet and broken, barely holding together, and even though she was asking the question out loud, it did not sound like she truly expected an answer, but more like a desperate attempt to throw her pain somewhere, anywhere.

"I think he does hate us." Another voice joined and the moment Linda heard it, her face changed into hatred to say at least.

"What are you doing in my office?"

"Came to talk." Madur answered as he casually sat down. "You look destroyed."

"Our economy is about to collapse, we need three hundred billion in loans just to keep things standing and rebuild the country, so I don’t really know how I’m supposed to look right now and now a snake shows up in my office."

"Snake?" Madur let out a small laugh.

"You are a snake, one that only wants power and influence." Linda leaned forward slightly, her eyes locked onto him. "To be honest, you should have been put on the kill list."

"Why are you this angry? We are in the middle of a catastrophe, and you are threatening me?"

Linda did not answer right away, but the hatred on her face said more than enough.

Madur is the worst kind of snake, not just someone who wants power, but someone who will do anything to obtain it, no matter the cost, no matter who has to suffer for it, and while officially he is only an advisor to William, in reality, he is far more than that.

The only good thing about him is that he operates on a government level, which means he goes after officials, governors, mayors, members of Congress, and so on.

"Anyway, we are professionals, or at least we should be. We work for the same goal, and that is why I am here today." Madur continued, and Linda immediately noticed something was off.

Madur is a narcissistic man who sees himself as the only one; he never asks for help or helps others, doesn’t care at all about goals, and now seeing him be the one to start a conversation about goals and working together was just absurd.

"What is so important in the middle of a catastrophe that you came to me in person?"

There was silence for a second that just pushed Linda even further into believing that something truly was off.

"William plans to kill James Bellini, or more precisely, he plans to kill everyone around him and then him." Madur began as he stared at Linda, who didn’t even blink, just stared back at him. "William wants to use Bellini as the force that will cement him into the position he has now, basically a campaign element. And before you tell me that I am a snake who just wants to stab William in the back or wage war against you and him, that is not true. The truth is that William will destabilize the government and us with his move if he does it. I am not a saint, and I know Bellini has files about me too, as well as you and everybody we know and are involved in all of this." He stopped for a second. "We need to stop William."

Here’s a cleaned and corrected version while keeping your tone and intensity: 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Nothing, not a single word came from Linda, and she didn’t even look shocked or surprised. No, it looked like she didn’t believe a single word Madur said, and indeed, she didn’t.

"That is impossible." She simply said.

"That is why I hate women..." Madur said as he sighed and leaned back. "What was the purpose of killing everybody?" He let out a breath again. "It’s to make one man rule, to be the king of the game and to expose him to the people, to point at him as the only remaining one, and then cut his head off and parade with it. That is the plan that William wants to do and will do. It is obvious he made a drug lord stronger than everybody, and now he is going to use him to gain more power."

"And that is why it is impossible!" Linda raised her voice now. "Madur, this is too clear, too stupid a plan, just to kill him, to use him as a way to become president, to stay in power."

"James is the same as cows." Madur began. "Farmers raise cows, and then what do they do? They slaughter them and sell them. James Bellini is the same. William enabled him to do things that were impossible, and he did it until he reached this level and now William only needs to slaughter him."

Silence once again, but Linda still kept that face, the unbothered one, the one that doesn’t believe. "Yeah, well, leave now, please."

"What?"

"I said leave and never come back. And please don’t tell this nonsense to anyone."

The only thing Madur could do was laugh. It started as a quiet laugh, but it quickly grew louder from frustration, becoming almost uncontrollable as he leaned back in his seat, his head tilted back, his face turning red from anger, but he didn’t try anymore, no, he didn’t say anything, just stood up and left, while Linda herself just stared at nothing and whispered three words.

"I knew it."