Darkstone Code

Many times, when selecting candidates in a company or elsewhere, the first consideration isn't about how many people there are to choose from, but rather how obedient and sensible these people are.

There are plenty of people with ideas, everyone on the street has their own thoughts, and in any industry, if it's just about ideas, some young newcomers can talk endlessly about their ideas all night.

However, the ones who get selected, who get the appreciation of leaders, are still those who are obedient and sensible. Sometimes they mean the same thing, and sometimes they don't.

A few scriptwriters promised to write the script as soon as possible and send it for Lynch to review, while Lynch returned to Bupen the next day. He had been living in Bupen during this period, as some things couldn't do without it.

After a brief rest for a day, Monday marked the start of the fourth bilateral negotiation. From the beginning, both sides had already reached their final intentions, leaving only one unresolved issue—legal circulating currency.

Led by Drag, the Provincial Governors had been taking catch-up classes for a while—they spent money to hire various scholars and experts to provide suggestions.

In the Federation's environment, as long as one can pay enough money, experts will naturally provide professional consulting services. This also made them understand how crucial legal currency is to a region's sovereign stability!

Merchants would sell even the rope to hang themselves to the executioner for profit; now, for a bit of profit, selling knowledge that isn't considered treasonous isn't too much, right?

So, they gritted their teeth and more resolutely opposed letting Federation Sol become the legal circulating currency of Nagariel, around which intensive negotiations were taking place.

This is how the news described it; apart from not brawling or pointing at people and cursing, various threats and temptations were used.

Nagariel's representatives believe they can offer currency exchange services with market fluctuating nature, not exchanging according to official exchange rates, but rather according to market's free fluctuating exchange rates.

They also think this is a significant concession, knowing that currently, the Caliel to Federation Sol official floating rate is forty-four to one—forty-four Caliel can exchange for one Federation Sol. But in the actual free exchange rate market, on the black market, one Federation Sol can already exchange for one hundred and one Caliel.

This is a further change from three months ago, with causes also related to the Pretton Pirate Group. The Federation exposed this pirate group's control over Nagariel's economy, showcasing Nagariel's military impotence and economic dependency.

Before the Pretton Pirate Group is eliminated, people aren't optimistic about Nagariel's future development, so their currency continues to depreciate, although they don't admit it.

They always believe their currency exchange with Federation Sol is forty-four to one, which is also the official rate, but now they changed their thinking.

As long as the Federation doesn't keep bogged down on the currency circulation issue, they can loosen the exchange rate.

This wasn't Lynch's plan and cannot satisfy federal interests; the morning was filled with intimidation, threats, and temptations, without much improvement.

"They aren't afraid of dragging it out!" Mr. Truman discussed while eating lunch in the rest room, "They are even happy to drag it out. They can drag, but Gafura and us can't continue delaying."

"Thanks to what you did, Gafura is now pretty restless domestically!"

Mr. Truman's tone was slightly dissatisfied; on the Amelia Region issue, Lynch's thoughts and actions currently contradicted domestic mainstream consciousness.

Let's not discuss the lower-level populace who know nothing; among the government high-level, people only felt the Federation should wrestle a bit with Gafura, show off our muscles, but definitely shouldn't display an obvious confrontational stance.

After all, Gafura still represents the side that benefited from the recently-ended world war, proving their military prowess during the war. Federal people's lack of confidence made most politicians believe now is not the time to turn against Gafura.

Actually, there's no good or bad time to flip the face; it's just fear, dressed up in grand language.

Once Gafura discovers the Federation is stirring trouble in the Amelia Region, it might rapidly worsen relations between the two countries, leading to uncontrollable international conflict.

The list of people supporting Lynch was also obtained by Mr. Truman through personal connections; besides him and one handler, only Lynch's side knew.

Over here in the Amelia Region, some problems arose, immediately attracting Gafura's attention. They didn't want to focus their energy and attention long-term on countering the Federation's naval military forces.

According to intelligence reports, some main ships in Gafura's first combat fleet have left the port, possibly fully igniting a naval war between Gafura and the Federation within the next ten and a half days.

Maybe, in their view, fighting the inexperienced Bail Federal is as easy as fighting a son; they didn't even hide their movements much.

However, corresponding ship numbers dispatched by them were significantly more than guessed by the Federation command room—most of the first combat fleet was sent out, except for the symbolic Princess of Victory and six Princess Guards that didn't move.

The Federation Navy's pressure increased quite a bit, and now the pressure of negotiations with Nagariel also rose; if a naval war's result comes out before this negotiation reaches a satisfactory outcome, the Federation might lose initiative.

But there's also a possibility of gaining more absolute control. This risk exists, but in any case, both Truman and the President hope to settle this matter before the result comes out to prevent further disturbances.

Lynch also feels a bit of a headache; he didn't expect Degra and these people to be so "low," actually spending money to buy off many Federation experts and scholars to analyze the negotiation content, quickly solving many of their issues.

Including some previously agreed-upon issues, additional supplementary clauses arose, although these are trivial matters; the real issue remains the currency circulation ones.

"Do you have a list of those providing consultation services for them?", Lynch diverted the topic, "Let the Tax Bureau watch them, these guys are really…"

Truman nodded but didn't answer; actually, he had already arranged for people to watch these folks without Lynch saying anything.

If they don't make mistakes, it's fine—once they do, it will certainly be a big mistake.

"But, what now?", Mr. Truman wiped his hands, finishing his convenient lunch, "If we can't resolve it today or tomorrow, it'll drag on; the next negotiation might be after the naval battle, and we might become very passive."

Only what gets eaten is the most secure; compared to potentially gaining more initiative and advantages, avoiding losing control is more important.

Lynch paced back and forth a few steps, looking at Mr. Truman, "How about… I take over this afternoon, and I'll try my best to persuade them."

"It's the only way!"

After two hours of rest at noon, the negotiations resumed after lunch, with Lynch appearing again at the negotiating table.

Drag's Provincial Governor's gaze changed slightly; the representative noticed Lynch and jokingly said, "I thought only negotiation team members could sit at this table!"

He was referring to the time during the previous negotiation when Mr. Truman temporarily left and Lynch employed intimidation, threats, and temptations, leaving these people unsure of what to do, yet they had no way to deal with Lynch.

At the time, Mr. Truman's excuse was that Lynch wasn't a member of the negotiation team, so when Lynch appeared again, the representative used this matter for teasing.

Of course, he knew Lynch appearing here must mean he was given some identity and task, and this tease was just to embarrass Lynch; they wanted to probe and provoke Lynch.

"We've corrected the mistakes in our work, checked the list, and found Mr. Lynch is indeed a member of the negotiation team. The personnel who caused the misunderstanding has been dismissed, so he is qualified to sit here," Mr. Truman lied without hesitation. Diplomacy largely involves lying and telling more lies.

Nagariel's representative indifferently nodded, "Bail Federal always gave me a very serious and rigorous impression, didn't expect you guys to also make mistakes."

"Even gods make mistakes; what about us?" Lynch followed up, as Mr. Truman intended to say this, but seeing Lynch speak, he closed his mouth.

Seeing the Nagariel representative still wanted to counterpunch, Lynch raised his hand to stop his speech—this interruption was quite impolite; however, Lynch didn't mind.

Relations between countries, simply speaking, involve bullying the weak as much as possible—when you can't bully them, you protect your interests. Now, the Federation, no matter what, is the stronger party, so what's wrong with stopping you from speaking?

Ignoring the Nagariel representative's unpleasant expression, Lynch said, "Let's not discuss those worthless contents—we all have limited time, and I've already understood the morning negotiations from the meeting records. Regarding your demands, I think it's not impossible to agree!"

With Lynch's words, Mr. Truman and all Federation members at the negotiation table couldn't help but glance sideways. If not for Lynch threatening earlier to set fire to Nagariel, they would suspect Lynch intended to sell out the country.

Nagariel's representative paused, spewing a bit of smile, but the smile didn't last long.

"But correspondingly, we have to add one condition; only after you agree to this condition will we consider adopting the bank exchange method to resolve our disputes!"