NOVPUB
Chapter 1247: Chapter 113: I deeply apologize for this (Please subscribe!)
Having eaten.
It was already two in the afternoon.
Tang Kai and his group wandered around Xin’an City.
Xin’an City.
It could be said to be the most modernized city in the country, with no close second. After the news coverage of the past few days, there were many tourists. Despite being poor, the country had a population of tens of millions.
There were still quite a few middle-class citizens.
Although there were still few private cars.
But railways, highways, airplanes, and other public transportation were very well developed.
Some streets were even slightly crowded.
Tang Kai and Wangsa even went specifically to experience the light rail, but seeing the crowded trains, they did not have the courage to get on. They just watched from a platform for a while.
"Let’s come back next time," Tang Kai said, resigned.
"I think so too," Wangsa nodded.
At this moment,
A small argument could be heard nearby.
It was obviously a Chinese couple who had come to travel, looking like they had just come out of the Security Pavilion next to the platform.
"It’s all your fault, causing us to get fined," the wife complained.
"I was really discreet when I threw it, who knew they could still find out," the husband was extremely frustrated. He had just eaten a piece of candy, and he threw the candy paper on the ground. In less than five minutes, he received a message.
A text message about a fine.
This was a service activated on their mobile phones when they entered the country.
A ’deposit’ of a hundred per person, which would be deducted, and if it ran out, they would be asked to make a payment upon departure. He had balled up the candy paper into a size similar to a corn kernel, not expecting to be caught.
He had just gone to the Security Pavilion.
Hoping to see if there was any evidence, to check if they were indiscriminately deducting money.
Evidently.
The evidence was ironclad.
Just as described in the ’Travel Guide’.
"The ten bucks just vanished like that, easy money for them. No wonder the ground here is so clean," the wife muttered.
"I wonder if Xin’an City will make a fortune today."
"Definitely."
"Good thing we don’t have this rule back home. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be used to it."
"Littering, what kind of bad habit is that?"
"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue."
"..."
Tang Kai and Wangsa exchanged a smile.
Making money?
Nonsense.
To date, the money collected from these fines really wasn’t much. Only those who wanted to experience it would deliberately break the rules, and even the local tyrants couldn’t withstand such fines.
Because.
The amount of fines.
Increased progressively in steps.
The first three times,
Each time, ten bucks.
After that, it doubled, and so on. By the seventh time, it was forty, and by the tenth time, it was eighty... Even for a local tyrant, if they were to eat sunflower seeds all the way, they would probably find it painful.
He would deeply understand.
Besides compound interest,
There was something else terrifying in the world, and that was geometric progression.
...
The next day.
Inner Capital.
Presidential Residence.
Annesley once again stood before Ling.
This time,
He came prepared with a long list of reasons, but still, Ling remained unmoved. Ling was hesitant to buy weapons; there was no money, no budget, and most importantly, no necessity. Ling repeatedly questioned: Why do I need weapons?
In the end,
Annesley couldn’t help but ask,
"Then why have you started re-equipping?"
"Oh? Mr. Annesley seems to know quite a lot," Ling said with a smile that was not quite a smile.
"This, well, I just noticed their guns and vehicles are different from before. You talk about loving peace, but why are you secretly manufacturing weapons? Even if they are light weapons, it goes against your original intentions, doesn’t it?"
Annesley was confused in his urgency,
His tone even contained a question.
Ling shook his head, "You might have misunderstood. The weapons they used before, as you saw, were a hodgepodge, from all over the world, and the calibers were inconsistent. Moreover, many were old relics. The maintenance costs were too high, even higher than buying new ones."
"Of course, to standardize the military appearance and unify the weapon calibers, this can significantly reduce maintenance costs. As for the vehicles, it is purely because I find what you sell too expensive. Easily costing over a million dollars each."
"And your warships and airplanes, easily tens of millions of dollars each. Tell me, where do we have this kind of money? If we were to borrow your money to buy, when would we ever be able to pay it back?"
In short.
I’m broke.
I don’t want big equipment.
I don’t want loans either.
"Goddamn, who loves this job, can have it," thought Annesley to himself, frustrated.
Unmovable.
"We are not like the great powers, we don’t have so many ambitions. We just want to develop the economy well, and seek a future for our citizens. As for maintaining world peace, let’s leave that to you," Ling spread his hands.
"I..."
Annesley felt like he was being ’entrusted with a heavy responsibility’.
"Mr. Annesley, please refrain from mentioning weapons from now on. I know you’re under tremendous pressure. If you can’t complete the task, you might be demoted and sent back."
Upon hearing this,
Annesley’s face changed.
These words.
Somehow it sounded like a potential ’transaction’.
However,
He was to be disappointed.
No matter how naive,
The Command Room would never believe that a person like Annesley could be easily allied. Those who could hold such positions were almost impossible to be bought. Even if they were very unsatisfied with their superiors, they wouldn’t dare to betray.
Because.
Only the United States could protect them.
"I apologize deeply," Ling said slowly.
"..."
Annesley was dumbfounded. 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Deep apologies.
Deep apologies.
If I... had a private deal, he could report back and earn ’loyalty’ points. These four words ’I apologize deeply’ were indeed a blow to Annesley.
No way.
I need to go back and drink some wine to calm my nerves.
These words.
So damn infuriating.
And he couldn’t even show anger, he just had to carefully endure. His position, it was exactly for this, wasn’t it? Managing requirements domestically, managing tasks, unwillingness here, he had to carefully balance both sides.
This was a skilled task.
Annesley said, "In that case, I will take my leave. I hope President Ling considers it carefully. There is a saying that goes: The significance of weapons is not in their use, but in others knowing you have them, in providing a deterrent."
"Thanks for the reminder," Ling said with a slight smile.
Annesley stood up, nodding slightly.
He turned and left.
This matter.
It looked like he needed to find another way.
After returning,
Annesley reported to his superior.
His superior also fell silent for a long time.
It seemed that,
Only extraordinary measures could be used.
Ling says there are no external threats, right? Then they would create some threats for him, and ones that were close at hand. This was not too difficult to orchestrate; it was just thought unnecessary until now.
The United States had many chess pieces globally.
They just seldom used them.
"I understand. We will figure out a solution."
"Yes.’’
Ending the communication.
Meanwhile,
Annesley’s superior approached a map, looking at the countries surrounding Myanmar: Huaxia, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Laos, and overseas neighbors like Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
His finger gently slid over the map,
Stopping at a particular point.
