Published at 10th of August 2023 11:18 am

Chapter 74: Internal Conflict

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The fight was over in less than half an hour, with Kyle dominating them in a single instant. He had killed nearly a quarter of them before Masir finally surrendered with the rest, all of them kneeling in front of Kyle in a row as the blood from his men streamed along the uneven flooring of the warehouse.

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Despite the numerical advantage, the Ocra gang members were a cut below the average standard of an associate in Raktor – ill-trained with bad equipment.

Kola, too was bruised heavily, left alive by Kyle, who still held the bloody cleaver, dripping wet. “Why the fuck are you doing any of this?” Kola spat out a glob of blood and spit.

“I’m planning on setting up a business. And I need plenty of locals who can do some work. Are you interested?” Kyle responded.

You make it sound like we had a fucking choice. Masir scowled, glaring at Makoa, who had been untied. “What kind of work?”

“Well, I will need escorts and guards for –“

“Fuck you: you’re a Yual dog!” One of the kneeling Ocra gang members lashed out in anger. “Like we’ll ever listen to the likes of –“

The words never left his astonished face as his head was chopped clean off, dropping to the ground with a thud as his body still pumped blood out of the stump that was his neck.

“I need escort and guards for some goods and equipment that I will be bringing into Versia from Raktor. I’ve noticed you have quite a splendid setup for smuggling things in and out from Raktor.”

Masir grimaced. It was a full-on hostile takeover – he had never expected people from Raktor to come down and try to cut in on the business.

“And, I’ll need a few men to accompany me to the capital. I’m sure you have a few connections there: I’ll need to use them.”

Makoa was surprised by the entire sequence of events. Originally, he believed Kyle would attempt to fight back against the kidnappers and would be forced to skip town. Instead, Kyle had used the kidnapping to his benefit, bringing him right into the belly of the gang and allowing him to dominate most of the members together.

In truth, Kyle was simply executing what he had done at the very start when he woke up as Alvin – find a weak group and dominate them immediately, establishing a power structure. However, he was not as weak as he once was, allowing him to aim for the highest gang.

Masir too was shocked by the sudden suggestion, but he had no room to oppose lest he wanted his head cut-off. I like to remain alive for now, thank you very much. But I have to find an opening to get this guy off me – the capital will do that for me easily.

“In order to make sure the deal is enforced, I’ll have to carve a little something special onto your bodies.”

Kyle got Makoa to grab his bag, bringing out the tattoo knife. Some of them tried to fight back and ambush Kyle while he was engraving, but he killed each and every one of them without hesitation, causing the number of men to dwindle even more. Masir’s heart clenched as he realized more than half of his men had died. Shit! I put so much money into them!

Kyle engraved the exact same slave engraving into each of them on the back or on the chest, allowing his master engraving to punish all of them in an instant as long as he was conscious.

“Good. Now you will be known as Ocra Snakes, the first international subsidiary.” Kyle declared, making Masir, Makoa and Kola utterly confused.

Kyle still marked it as an achievement internally. Not many criminal organisations could claim to be transnational – a first step to his global dominion.

“For now, let’s rearrange the men and prepare for a trip to the capital. Otherwise, Minister Dekar is going to be upset.”

Minister Dekar was already upset, as his attendants continued to read off the events occurring across Versia while he signed off authorisation forms and reviewed the infrastructure development plan of the outlying towns and cities that were applying for a government subsidy. It was like a never-ending mountain of paperwork, where he cleared a pile only for the next pile to be carted into the room.

Yet the minister did not shy away from the work, chugging along.

“Minister, the chairman of the Vearden group is requesting for a meeting again.”

“Purpose?”

“It is with regards to the current military budget.”

“When was the last time I’ve met them?”

“About two months ago sir. You’ve been refusing to meet them ever since your return from Raktor.”

Minister Dekar sighed, placing his pen down. “Fine. Have him meet me in the guest room.”

“He is already waiting for you there.” The attendant bowed, leading the Minister there out of his office.

They walked through a busy office, full of government clerks handling the everyday affairs of the country of Versia. Situated in a grand six-storey palace refurbished for governmental use, it was the headquarters of bureaucracy in the nation.

He glanced at some of the paintings that were still hung up on the walls – portaits of nobles and landowners who had long fled for the Yual Dominion when the revolution and subsequent war happened. Memories of his time as a young revolutionary appeared in his brain, scars of war and hardship filling his heart as he followed the attendant down the palace’s hallways.

All across the pillars were plastered posters of propaganda, claiming that the government was ‘for the people, by the people’. But under the façade of democracy was a steaming pile of corruption that never left. All the revolution did was rearrange the social ladder, allowing the middle-class to seize the property of the fleeing nobles under the name of the government, turning into the very thing they swore to defeat.

He knew this very well - he had accepted bribes as well from Count Leon, so even he was not clean. However, he continued to assuage his conscience by claiming that it was for the good of the country: that it was for peace.

If he had not accepted that bribe and pushed for a tougher stance, it would be clearly unknown if a war would have broken out because of him, causing an even worse fate to befall the people that he cared about. A necessary evil.

Unlike many of his predecessors, Minister Dekar gave away the bribe as an anonymous donation to a charity organisation, unwilling to hold on to the dirty money. Both his morals and reputation were on the line. For it was not money that drove him – but ideals and belief in the State of Versia as a whole.

The attendant soon brought him to the guest room, where three leaders of the local industry were already waiting for him. “Minister Dekar – you’re a very tough person to meet.”

“I have been swamped recently; I apologise for not arranging a meeting sooner.” Minister Dekar spoke nicely, though internally, he saw them for what they were. Snakes, hoping to leech over the hard work of the people.

“Ah, then you must have missed our recent proposals to build a military-industrial complex.”

“I must have missed it in the mountain of paperwork that I have to go through, yes. Please, explain it to me.”

“Of course.” One of the industry leaders handed over a document, prompting Minister Dekar to flick through it. “The Versia State has always been in a perilous state of conflict and brinksmanship with the Yual Dominion for the past fifteen years – the government has nationalised the sale and production of military weapons and equipment. However, we find there are major inefficiencies in both its research and development of new weaponry.”

“And your suggestion is…”

“The free market has always proven the best at ensuring the best product makes it to the finish line. It is the competition between rival corporations that allows for much more cost-saving and innovations than ever before. Raktor is a great example of this, fuelling creativity. Just recently, they had the invention of the light-thrower, showing their technological prowess in arctech design.”

“Indeed. I even had the chance to visit one of their famed shopping arcades. It is truly a miracle.” Another leader chimed in.

Minister Dekar sighed, rubbing his nose bridge. “The military’s arctech designs are national secrets. If I allowed the three of you to propose designs, what is there to prevent Yual spies or even Hwa Dynasty spies from stealing our technology or even learning about our doctrine?”

“Minister Dekar, you clearly know that the military as is already suffering from certain corruption and espionage. While we do not claim to be perfectly able to protect against all forms of spying, we are open to working with the government in order to facilitate a healthy military industry here.”

The minister did not reply for a while, reading the proposal handed to him carefully. “It says here that you want the rights to the national mines as well.”

“By allowing us full developmental rights of the mines, we can maximise production and reduce cost, providing the best benefit to the military. As it is right now, the mines are heavily underdeveloped and underutilised.”

“I don’t see a need to rush into this. There is no imminent war – a reparations deal has already been signed between us and Yual.” Minister Dekar pointed out.

“If we wait until the war breaks out, it will be far too late. Infrastructure can’t be built in a single day – it takes months, if not years, of effort to bring it up to the same quality that can bolster a war effort.”

“Hmm…”

“What is there to hesitate, Minister Dekar? Money is a great form of incentive to drive both the construction of infrastructure and innovation in technologies. This proposal, if accepted, would skyrocket the economy.”

No, it wouldn’t. All it would do is form an oligarchy, with the profits only shared between the three of you. Minister Dekar smiled on the surface. “I will consider this proposal sincerely. Thank you for your time. You may expect a response in two working days.”

“Consider it seriously, Minister Dekar. You and I both know that there is a war looming on the horizon – it’s not a matter of if; it is a matter of when. We only have the best interest of the state in our hearts, as do you. A delay on this proposal would mean the death of us.”

“Thank you for your dedication to the state.” Minister Dekar curtly escorted them out of the room before returning to his office.

Outside the palace, the three leaders were visibly upset as they sat in their arctech wagon, fuming at the nonchalant response by the minister.

“It is quite alarming that the Minister has completely shifted gears. Before his trip to Raktor, he was extremely enthusiastic about this idea – he was even the one who supported it!”

“Why does it feel like he is a completely different person? I fear that he has conspired with the enemy or is aware of our plans.”

“Indeed, it feels as though Minister Dekar is stalling for something or someone.”

“My sources tell me that he made a detour to another place beyond Raktor to meet someone. Could he intend to betray Versia?”

“We need to keep a close eye on anyone entering in and out of the capital, especially anyone meeting the Minister. Whatever plan the Minister has, it must be foiled!”

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