CHAPTER 330: 0328 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE

"Just this?" The Deputy Minister, preparing in the hotel for the evening banquet, stood in front of the mirror adjusting his attire. Though it had only been a few hours, there were inevitably some minor flaws on his clothes.

Of course, these issues were not considered problems by most people. For instance, there were some threads at the seams of the fabric due to large body movements, which were invisible without a magnifying glass.

For example, there was an extra wrinkle on the inside of the elbow of the sleeve.

Or the shoulder pads seemed a bit out of place and needed readjustment.

These were very detailed issues. For someone who pursued details, any slight issue shouldn’t exist, which made the two tailors with bifocals revolve around him repeatedly.

Through the mirror’s reflection, the Deputy Minister’s gaze lingered on Lynch’s face for a moment, then returned to himself. He slightly lifted his chin, appearing somewhat narcissistic.

"I roughly understand your point, Mr. Lynch. I appreciate your attention to these matters, but such things, which we should have ignored, don’t need to be communicated to me."

"This is a diplomatic action between two countries. It’s just a group of merchants; they cannot change any decisions between us, nor can they affect them."

"However, I still want to thank you, Mr. Lynch. I always believe that attitude determines all success!"

His words, his tone, his attitude all silently expressed content opposite to what he said; he didn’t care about these things. However, Lynch didn’t mind, as he was just completing his own task.

As Lynch said goodbye and left the room, a contemptuous expression briefly appeared on the Deputy Minister’s face but was quickly concealed.

He knew Lynch was relatively close to Mr. Truman, which was why he didn’t like Lynch—an instinctive dislike.

Of course, he did believe that the information was unimportant.

Establishing diplomatic relations with Nagariel was a diplomatic order from the President’s Mansion, confirmed by the Foreign Minister. Once the nation’s power began to mobilize, the merchants’ strength was utterly insufficient.

They might have had some use before, but not now.

After leaving the room, Lynch went to see Mr. Truman. He felt it was better to inform Mr. Truman of this matter, where he experienced a completely different attitude.

"This is important!" Mr. Truman, who had been resting before, had spent the whole morning enjoying the sea breeze and originally planned to rest for a while, but now he couldn’t sit still.

He walked a few steps in the room, then stopped to look at Lynch, "This information is significant. In fact, I’ve been pondering over this issue for some time—why are some media always opposing our stance!"

He briefly shared his views. Over this period, although the Federation Government had not been extensively promoting the diplomatic exchange with Nagariel, it had been somewhat promoted, and all were positive contents.

But some media were constantly downplaying this diplomatic exchange, smearing the Nagariel government from various angles, and vehemently criticizing the disadvantages of establishing diplomatic ties with a country like Nagariel.

Some even claimed that Nagariel would become a significant factor dragging down the Federation’s development. The Federation already had enough issues; if it had to take care of a poorer, more backward country, people’s lives would become more dreadful!

This viewpoint was quite marketable. There were always some brainless individuals in the world who particularly loved to be unconventional, expressing a unique self-value by following the anti-mainstream crowd.

The most common characteristic of these individuals was that they viewed everything with conspiracy theories, political or civilian. Moreover, they always believed that the government was, to some extent, very dark, and officials were evil.

As long as they were given some viewpoints or reasons that could deceive themselves, they could make a big fuss since the Federation is a free country.

If, during this diplomatic activity, some anti-establishment demonstrators suddenly appeared, even assaulting the delegation’s convoy or finding a way to insult these people and their country, they could easily disrupt this diplomacy.

No costs are needed, just some money, and then let a bunch of idiots charge for them.

"I will handle it immediately..." he said as he walked to the phone, picked it up, and dialed the Bail Federal National Security Committee’s number, saying without looking up, "Remember to close the door when you go out, and what was that person’s name?"

"Preton!"

As Mr. Truman was contacting the Security Committee, the Preton Mr. they were discussing had already arrived at the Bail Federal and had been staying in Bupen for over a week.

"I like it here..." At this moment, he dressed in very tourist-appropriate attire—a very "fashionable" but not formal floral shirt and a pair of formal shorts, which might sound odd, but undeniably this was becoming trendy.

Not everyone could always wear a neat suit in the scorching heat, especially those fat people; the natural temperature was enough to cause them suffering. If they dressed tightly, they could be in danger of a heatstroke at any moment and be taken away.

So appeared a type of formal shorts, which were similar to all shorts, only with half-length pants legs but designed in a formal style.

This gave it a certain incongruity—a perspective of Lynch—yet it was quite popular.

Mr. Preton lay on a water-filled sofa, tapping it. The ripples created by the palm pressing on the sofa spread across, amusing him greatly.

A few people sat around, these people were major partners or top shareholders of Pretton Trading Company.

From the moment Lynch appeared in Nagariel, Mr. Preton noticed this young man. He was different from those who previously went to Nagariel looking for opportunities.

In a sense, most merchants seeking opportunities in Nagariel were failures in their own country and many carried enormous debts, having to go overseas to find opportunities.

But Lynch was different. Mr. Preton immediately had someone investigate Lynch’s background. When he learned that Lynch had a pretty decent business in Bail Federal, he knew this wasn’t a "good kid."

He was a wolf or some other predator, whatever it was, a meat eater.

He wouldn’t simply pay off his debts and be satisfied as a nouveau riche in Nagariel; he must have aimed for more profits.

After a third-party test, this was confirmed. Lynch was not interested in joining Pretton Trading Company and earning stably through "quotas," which also predetermined that they were not on the same path.

Until some people in Nagariel began to discuss whether it was necessary to engage more actively with developed countries to help Nagariel transform from a nearly primitive agricultural society to a partially industrialized society, Mr. Preton knew Lynch had done something.

So he came, after obtaining more information, he arrived at the Federation.

As a businessman with international fame, he had some connections here, and during this time, he frantically signed checks, donating these to the Conservative Party, Socialist Party, various news media, and social activists, propagating that establishing diplomatic relations with Nagariel would harm the Federation’s development without benefits.

It had to be admitted, he liked this place; this statement was not a lie.

In Gafura, when officials saw checks, they were worried. They had to consider whether the Empire’s Ministry of Internal Affairs would discover their bribery actions and whether others would accuse them of favoritism, but here, there were no such worries.

As long as everything was donated under the name of "political contributions" to specified accounts, such conduct was not only legal, but it was also protected by Federation law—politicians must work for the contributors once they receive money, unimaginable for people from countries with strict laws.

This filled Mr. Preton, who was born in a monarchy state, with fondness for everything here, and envy for the merchants here.

"A relaxed environment, a populace ready to accept new things, and an inactive government, this place is indeed suitable for business development. Unfortunately, we discovered this too late."

"But this wouldn’t stop me from liking it here. Look at this water sofa and that water bed; remember to remind me to take some back when we leave. After sleeping on it, I don’t want to touch spring mattresses anymore!"

Mr. Preton marveled at everything here, "If it weren’t for those traitors betraying my friendship, perhaps I wouldn’t have come here. Should I thank them?"

The people around laughed to appease, though the words weren’t truly funny.

After laughing for a while, Mr. Preton gradually silenced, looking at the faces on the television, all too familiar to him, he went quiet completely.

Mr. Preton consistently denied a perception, not admitting that Pretton Trading Company was, after the Nagariel’s regime and Divine Authority, the third ruling class. Yet, even if he persistently denied it, it wouldn’t change this reality.

He often prided himself on the fact that politicians or priests needed favors from him, but now this pride was about to be shattered, which he couldn’t allow.

Once Nagariel established diplomatic connections with Bail Federal, Pretton Trading Company would find itself in an extremely awkward position. They could directly place orders with Bail Federal, making Pretton Trading Company’s existence in Nagariel meaningless and unfounded.

The cornerstone built by these people with years, one to two decades of hard work would turn to dust upon the signing of a diplomatic agreement. How could they allow such a thing to happen?

He intended to stop it all from happening, using every ounce of strength!