Chapter 1290: Chapter 1289: A Few Matters Upon Returning Home
"You can see posters and portraits of the Saint Sage Master everywhere in the streets now, even in some temples..."
Speaking of this, Nell couldn’t help laughing.
After the Federation people arrived in Nagariel, the de-religionization campaign had never stopped. Now, among those religious people, apart from the ones too poor to do anything but hold on bitterly, the ones with money had basically all emigrated to the Federation.
It was absurd.
It was like a war of gods. With the Federation people and Catholicism taking the lead, they had smashed Nagariel’s native religions; those so‑called gods who were said to arise in one dream and vanish in the next could barely even keep up appearances now.
Their devout Priests, instead of defending the dignity of their gods at this moment, had emigrated to the Federation.
The Priests who remained could hardly keep things going, so they moved Akumal’s portrait into the Temple.
In fact, doing so wasn’t exactly wrong. Akumal was, after all, a Saint Sage Master; folding him into the mythological system and offering him sacrifices was at least vaguely justifiable.
There were also some people with extremely blind Faith; such people existed not only in Nagariel, but in the Federation as well.
They believed whatever they were told. These blind believers had never seen Akumal, but they needed a place where they could display their piety; a Temple of Akumal was a pretty good option.
Listening to Nell talk about the funny things happening over there, Lynch realized Akumal’s time was running short.
Truly running short.
Strictly speaking, it had been a little over six years, not quite seven, since the end of the First World War, and the various countries had already completed their first leap in military technology.
By now, most countries had basically finished accumulating the technology for the first round of military equipment upgrades; in the next few years, changes in military hardware wouldn’t be too dramatic.
It was about time; a war was needed to test the fruits of development in each country.
Of course, not yet. In Lynch’s view, it would take at least another three to five years. Every country still faced certain "bottlenecks." Once someone broke through those, war would erupt immediately.
Before war broke out, the first thing to do was internal purging and stabilization.
Only when the inside was purged and stabilized could people put all their strength into an external war.
Before this, Akumal had not yet developed to the level of myth; for the Federation Government, destroying him or not destroying him had not been urgent.
But now he was moving toward the mythic, and once he established in the hearts of the Nagariel people a kind of power supported by Faith and hard to shake, it would be a disaster for the Federation people and for the United Development Company.
Lynch believed Akumal ought to understand that the higher they hoisted him, the closer he came to death.
At the same time, Lynch could understand his thinking. He simply wanted to use this method to influence and awaken the slumbering Nagariel people, even if he would die in the end.
As long as his death had meaning and value, he was willing to pay with his life.
Lynch even thought that he absolutely wouldn’t be allowed to die so easily; he would certainly die after suffering every torment, and the executioners would make sure he made a fool of himself in front of the public!
"Don’t interfere in anything related to Akumal, not if you don’t want you and your kids having ’accidents.’"
Lynch’s simple, somewhat cold sentence made Nell, who had still been in the mood to chat on the topic, shut his mouth at once.
From Lynch’s attitude, he realized this was a very dangerous topic.
After a brief silence, Nell shifted the subject from small talk to work.
"The Midway Island Project has basically entered the acceptance phase. I’ve been on site watching it; there shouldn’t be any problems..."
Midway Island was not the name of an island, but the name of a project.
To enable the Federation’s aircraft to bomb and strike most places in the world efficiently, Lynch persuaded the Navy, the Navy persuaded Congress, and thus a project with a total budget of over one billion—’Strategic Transit Island Chain’—was passed, abbreviated as the Midway Plan.
The project was to occupy some uninhabited islands around the world, or buy or lease some deep‑water ports for engineering works. Once completed, they could provide repair and resupply for fleets, and also offer takeoff and landing for various aircraft.
That way, when war broke out, the Federation’s planes wouldn’t have to worry about the huge distances of cross‑sea operations; they would just concentrate at the Midway Island nearest to where the war erupted.
The Navy thought the project was excellent: an island chain spread across half the globe could provide the Federation with a more three‑dimensional cooperative battlefield.
As for spending money, that was even less of a problem.
The whole point of having so many taxpayers paying the Federation every year was to get more budgets passed; this bit of money didn’t necessarily even count as substantial in the eyes of the lords of Congress.
After nearly two years of construction, the project was almost complete. With Federation technicians plus Nagariel coolies, Lynch’s profit on this project was at least several tens of millions.
Of course, that was only on paper. In reality, a portion of the money had already, through various means, gone ahead of schedule into the private Foundations of Bupen, becoming the legal income of some Members of Parliament.
Nell was responsible for a great deal; you could say he currently managed the largest labor pool under Lynch’s hand. But judging from his personal transformation, his changes were nowhere near as active or efficient as Serra’s.
After they finished talking about these money‑making matters, Nell brought up Serra, somewhat awkwardly.
Over the course of this marriage, Nell’s performance really had not been good. That was also why, when Serra proposed a breakup, he agreed immediately.
It wasn’t that he wanted to separate from Serra; he just felt he owed this woman. When she had her own pursuit of a new life, and hoped to walk the rest of the road alone, Nell, in his guilt, chose to let go as decisively as possible.
Sometimes poverty is pathetic—so pathetic that even rich, nuanced feelings become a privilege exclusive to the wealthy!
If their life hadn’t been changed by Lynch’s fortune, they would never have started considering things like breaking up.
Nell would keep working in the factory, swinging a hammer or whatever, while Serra would still spin around the house and housework every day.
Maybe every now and then, in those idle afternoons, she would revisit the hopes she had in her youth for a bright future, then get dragged back to reality by a TV drama.
Break up?
Nell might beat her up!
Or maybe he wouldn’t.
They don’t deserve to have too rich an emotional life, because they’re too poor.
When people are stuck in persistent poverty, even their thoughts are barren.
When Nell heard that Serra’s situation wasn’t serious, he let out a sigh of relief.
"If there’s anything I can do, contact me anytime—whether it’s you, or her."
After hanging up, Lynch shook his head.
Back when they were poor, Nell played the role of the mature, forceful one in the family.
But looking at their life now, it’s actually Serra who’s the strong and mature one, while Nell still seems a bit childish.
Saying this about his own father doesn’t sound very nice, but... whatever.
In Federation family culture, from the moment the children leave home, the meaning of "family" gets rewritten.
Not long after he hung up, Lynch went to see someone.
The Major.
At the moment the Major was on extended leave. He was playing with his girlfriend and her family and their dog on the lawn of a mid-range neighborhood in Bupen.
Even though it was very cold, everyone was in high spirits.
The Federation, in the end, is a different place from Gafura. The Major’s girlfriend and her family were very satisfied with the life here.
At least for now, they were satisfied.
The air was thick with the flavor of freedom; no one looked down on anyone, no classes, no barriers, no conflicts...
Well, they hadn’t seen those things yet, but one day they would.
Lynch’s appearance quickly drew the Major away from his family.
He put his clothes back on; after all the vigorous exercise his whole body was steaming, which made him look a little strange.
"You didn’t think you’d make it back, did you?" Lynch handed him a cigarette and asked casually.
The Major nodded very frankly. He thanked him and took the cigarette. "Yeah, I thought they were going to silence me."
That was the truth. He felt all that talk about a submarine was fake; once they got him out to sea, what was probably waiting for him would be a burst of gunfire. He had even mentally prepared himself to be silenced.
Because he knew Darkstone Security very well, and he knew Lynch very well. In some people’s eyes, Darkstone Security was a "joint achievement" of Lynch and the Military.
There were quite a few soldiers inside who were still under the Ministry of Defense’s control; the company was still loyal to the country.
Only people who really became part of this company understood that here, Lynch has the final say.
He could run, but he’d have a miserable life. Those comrades who knew him inside out would become the ones hunting him down.
He’d spend every day in fear, so after assassinating the Emperor and going out to sea, when they reached the set location he asked the captain of that small boat how they planned to kill him.
And then a submarine surfaced.
Even when he returned to the Federation and set foot on Federation soil, he still felt it wasn’t real, like he was dreaming.
He’d done so many things and yet actually managed to stay alive. If this had been the Military, his superiors would have already found some excuse to secretly execute him.
That gave him a very special feeling toward Lynch.
Lynch smiled. "It’s normal to think that way, but you need to understand, I’m not like them."
"Besides, you’re now a level-three field operative, with rich experience—you’re high-end talent. I’d be reluctant to throw you away."
"I just came to take a look at you, and by the way to tell you, only the two of us know about this matter."
"Get some good rest. I’m not going to give you too long a vacation..."
In the past, the Major always had some... more or less rejection or distance toward the work, but this time, more than ever before, he wanted to get back to his post as soon as possible!
Lynch left quickly. Watching the car he was in disappear into the flow of traffic, the Major let out a long breath.
He had never felt this safe in his life!
