Blackstone Code-Chapter 542: A 10 Billion a Year Business

The study was filled with a unique fragrance as Lynch and Mr. Wadrick sat facing each other.
After Lynch promised to send Wadrick a truckload of pure tobacco, their casual chat ended, and they moved on to serious matters.
“How are things on your side?” Lynch opened the conversation.
Wadrick spread his hands. “The unrest is gradually calming down. Except for some trouble on the city outskirts, all urban areas have been cleared.”
He couldn’t help but complain, “Your methods were too harsh, and we didn’t anticipate some of the problems during the chaos.”
“The bad news is you dumped some unexpected trouble on us. The good news is, those problems might end up back on your doorstep!”
By
unexpected trouble
, Wadrick meant the violent rebels. During the unrest that spread from the core of Magulana province throughout Nagaryll, those stubborn insurgents in Magulana didn’t return home after the chaos subsided. They didn’t revert to being docile locals.
Their cages had been opened; the beast of desire was unleashed and couldn’t be put back.
They committed many acts—killing rich men, robbing their wealth, violating their families. They couldn’t go back, and they wouldn’t dare to. No one knew if the new rulers would hunt them down and use their deaths to warn others.
So, they had no choice but to flee.
As the unrest spread outward, these insurgents were among the first to leave Magulana, which was Lynch’s stroke of luck.
High pressure in some areas and easing tensions elsewhere prevented these extreme rebels from staying to fight stubbornly. Instead, they fled and regrouped.
It’s clear that areas where unrest started early have mostly calmed, while dangerous insurgents moved further away.
The later the unrest broke out, the slower it was cleared, making those places ideal gathering points for these rebels.
With no way back, in remote areas these scattered rebels began uniting into a strong force.
Supported secretly by the Youth Party, they developed enough strength to confront the new rulers.
“We held a discussion before. My military advisors suggested expulsion, not extermination,” Wadrick said bluntly.
If one watches carefully, lies and deception mostly happen among the lower classes. The poorer someone is, the better they are at lying.
At higher levels, people are less willing to lie; they might keep silent but rarely lie outright.
Wadrick was no exception. When talking about these matters, he didn’t lie. He might soften a harsh truth, but never lie outright.
Understanding such people requires careful attention.
“The board’s experts believe excessive killing of natives would create an irreparable negative image, hindering local operations. Expulsion won’t.”
A faint, amused smile appeared. “Some of those expelled might even be pushed back to your territory, where the high-pressure crackdown hasn’t started yet.”
Lynch nodded slightly, more like a subtle body movement than a full nod.
Wadrick was right. The initial wave of unrest was the first pressure point; now, expulsion is the second.
These rebels, like flowing water, are driven out and will flee to neighboring areas, some inevitably returning to Lynch’s domain, where fighting hasn’t been fierce.
The hunting squads didn’t kill many; leaving a few corpses on the streets was enough. The terror they created kept people afraid.
The statement
shoot on sight
was enough to keep people hiding indoors, let alone testing if the squads would really act.
These areas attracted organized rebels, but Lynch was not worried.
“There’s a saying:
a fortress usually crumbles from within
. That’s our situation too.”
“Our plan from the start was to divide the natives and create conflict. This is a good chance to weed them out…”
Lynch relaxed his hands, casually rolling his wrist. “Let the natives deal with the natives. It’s better than us doing it.”
“Natives know their own people best. They know where the rebel groups hide and how to find them.”
“To prove their worth, they’ll be even harsher on their own. Remember, we just crushed their ruling class using their own hands!”
These natives destroyed most of the ruling class. Whether to survive the chaos or gain coveted power, the ambitious now side with the Federation, helping them suppress their own people.
Some natives may hate the Federation, but more hate their own kind.
Once Nagaryll’s economy is fully revived, this hatred will quickly fade into material comfort and ideological control. Lynch had no worries about this.
Wadrick expressed concern. “You haven’t seen those rebel groups; they’re armed with modern weapons. If we want natives to fight natives, we must arm them. Otherwise, they can’t match the rebels.”
“Have you considered that the weapons given to fight rebels might be turned against you?”
“Too many weapons in civilian hands risk destabilizing Nagaryll, causing social issues that could threaten our investments!”
“Don’t forget, most participants in the recent unrest were
ordinary people
you mentioned!”
This is now a mainstream view within the Joint Development Company. Letting natives govern natives means arming and empowering them, but if their power grows too strong, they could become a threat to the corporation.
Compared to native hostility, the board prefers to directly eliminate rebel groups, solving the problem while minimizing risk of unrest. The downside: killing many natives may breed hatred toward the Federation.
But compared to profits, the corporation’s top brass simply doesn’t care.
They never hesitated in slaughtering the Federation’s indigenous peoples before—killing so many they had to create reservations—and no one felt guilt.
The natives themselves were indifferent, even enthusiastic. The Federation gave them tax breaks, allowed legal casinos and brothels where wives, daughters, sisters, even old women could serve clients legally. Many even thanked the government for their financial freedom.
It’s like last year’s bodybuilding contest, where a girl who seemed sure to lose would cry on camera apologizing to family in the reservation. She never made it to the end.
But each time, she somehow advanced and won second place.
Maybe the corporation plans to establish a new reservation in Nagaryll—who knows?
When it comes to money, they don’t care about anything else.
Lynch frowned. “Hatred and hostility will damage our interests. We all know Nagaryll’s real wealth lies in its people, not in minerals or anything else.”
With a population of 200 million, mostly young and able-bodied, and a harsh living environment where few elderly live past fifty, the real resource is clear.
Excluding the children, Nagaryll can supply over 100 million cheap laborers—that is true wealth.
Mr. Wadrick knew this, but remained silent. Lynch continued, “Fostering division is the worst choice. I believe people are selfish and will choose what benefits themselves.”
“We can offer them more options, enough rich choices for them to decide for themselves. On this, you need to stand with me.”
“That’s over a hundred million workers, Mr. Wadrick. Even if each only generates a hundred Sol profit annually, that’s ten billion a year.”
“Mining alone could never pull that much money from this planet in a year, no matter how deep they dig.”
“And I will prove my approach is right. So even if you don’t support me now, when the board meets after the new year, I need you to prevent any fools from making bad decisions.”