Darkstone Code

Chapter 1210 - 1208: The Other Half of the World

In a strict sense, it’s been five years since the end of World War I.

Five years is enough time for many countries to step out of the shadow of war. The first tier has completed the first round of re-equipment, such as the Gafura people.

Both the Federation and Gafura have developed so rapidly, which doesn’t mean the development of the Defeated Country, Peng Jieao Group, will be slow.

In fact, their development has been extremely fast; during the World War I, the Gafura people did not plunder much from their country.

This is the most deadly point when an ocean dominator faces a land dominator. Although they may be able to smash the coastline, they cannot set foot on that continent.

As long as they cannot land, all their initial war advantages cannot be converted into war dividends.

They cannot plunder resources, cannot plunder wealth, cannot plunder population, not even take away a stone!

In the later stages of the war, it actually fell into a stalemate. The Gafura people didn’t want anyone challenging their authority to still "live well", and the Peng Jieao Group faced many problems after losing maritime power.

Ultimately, after lengthy negotiations, the Gafura Group won the final victory in World War I, receiving only a small amount of war reparations.

Simultaneously, as the core nation, the Gafura people obtained a piece of land—Amelia.

Amelia was actively requested by them and became the only non-negotiable item during negotiations.

Five years have passed, and even places like Amelia have begun rapid development, not to mention the core areas of the Peng Jieao Group, which were well preserved.

These countries spent five years addressing their shortcomings at sea. For them, they don’t need their warships to sink the enemy’s ships; they just need their vessels to quickly deliver their soldiers to the enemy’s territory.

Previously, during a major military exercise within the Federation, the Peng Jieao Group also conducted a military exercise. But this time, it wasn’t a regular ground war; it was a landing operation.

During this exercise, people discovered they had many new-kinds of landing ships. These vessels didn’t have powerful firepower; their only advantage was high speed and large transport capacity.

They could break through fire blockades in the shortest time, delivering the soldiers onboard to the beach!

They seem to have grasped the key to regaining control of the war situation, and this time’s trade confrontation might very well be a test.

As a capital country, any situation for the Federation directly reflects in the stock market.

Since opening on Monday, apart from defense military-industrial stocks steadily rising, all other stocks faced varying degrees of decline. People’s worries about war are evident.

Pedestrians on the street seem to be walking faster, as if there’s a sense of autumn arriving early.

At this time, on the other side of the East Ocean, there is a huge landmass on which there are countries with very ancient histories, so old that Gafura and other countries do not acknowledge their historical records as real history.

They consider those histories to be myths, such as Peng Jieao II Emperor living for over a thousand years, which is clearly impossible.

Modern medicine is so advanced that people’s lifespans are only six or seventy years at best, and in ancient times, a person’s life might be as short as thirty or fifty years. How could Peng Jieao II have lived for over a thousand years?

And those emperors that followed also supposedly lived hundreds of years until modern times when those histories finally seemed like real history.

Regardless of whether that’s true or not, the historical extent of the Peng Jieao Empire is too extensive; it’s also the world’s only empire that has existed for at least two thousand years!

The ruling core of the Peng Jieao Empire is established at the foot of the Mount of Gods, and the entire city looks extremely beautiful, leaving visitors with profound impressions.

This city... how should one say it?

It’s like a magnified version of a city: huge houses, huge columns, huge bricks. It seems that those who lived here previously were not contemporary humans but giants, at least four or five meters tall, or even taller.

Some also think it’s simply an architectural style and tradition, although some hand-drafted books contain diagrams showing inhabitants of the past were not "little humans", but that proves nothing.

At the ruling core, Peng Jieao’s Emperor sits on his chair with an exaggeratedly tall backrest, at least seven or eight meters high!

Pure gold texture, complemented by red velvet and soft cushioning, makes it extraordinarily distinguished.

Peng Jieao’s Emperor rests his right elbow on the armrest, propping up his chin, gazing at numerous ministers.

Several centuries ago, the monarchy here evolved into a system resembling a Monarchy Constitution, with the Grand Elder, ministers, and the monarch collectively determining the country’s future.

The Grand Elder does not represent religion but ordinary people; one might also call them legislators.

Elders are elected by each city’s council, and these elders then elect the Grand Elder. They all come from the masses and are not allowed to have noble lineage or background, only pure commoners.

This ensures Peng Jieao Empire’s people have a sense of belonging and support for the country. Every policy push is what the people want.

That’s the saying, at least.

Ministers represent nobles, while the monarch is the Emperor, representing the Imperial Family.

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Actually, before the outbreak of the First World War, no one would have thought that countries on both sides of this planet would trigger a war that affects the world!

Just because the Gafura people fail to requisition Peng Jieao’s port, it was never a major affair from the beginning.

If such a thing happened in the Federation, there wouldn’t be a First World War.

But when it happens between two tough Empires, it’s destined not to end simply.

"Now how should we respond?", the Emperor asked, he seemed somewhat lazy.

He is completely different from Gafura’s Emperor, if Gafura’s Emperor is more like a tyrant, wanting to grasp everything in his own hands, then Peng Jieao’s Emperor is like...an ordinary person who hasn’t woken up.

If it weren’t for the crown with golden olive branches on his head, if not for the gems reflecting magnificent halos on every olive leaf, he might just be an ordinary person!

He looked to the Grand Elders sitting on the right, the proposal to raise tariffs is driven by these elders, or rather, it’s pushed by the capitalists and ordinary people of this country.

All sorts of products exported from the other side of the world are cheap, also very exquisite and practical, they’ve caused terrible impact on local commerce.

Thus, with the push in various parliaments, eventually the ministers and the Emperor also recognized the idea coming from the people and increased these tariffs.

Unexpectedly, the Federation’s reaction was so swift and intense, suddenly listing some more vital materials into the embargo lists.

The Emperor has dispatched an envoy to negotiate with the Federation Government, but the counterpart firmly refused, which also makes the Peng Jieao Empire very dissatisfied.

The Grand Elder sitting at the top slightly bowed to show respect to the Imperial Family and the Emperor, "If they cut off our supplies, we can cut off theirs..."

The Emperor interrupted his words, "Then what?"

The Grand Elder seemed surprised, as if not understanding, the Emperor switched sides while supporting his chin, "I said, then what?"

"They continue to adjust the trade relations between us, ultimately we break off diplomatic relations, then further going down, then what?"

"I’ve heard there are things that can’t go without, and we can’t produce these things by ourselves...", the Emperor looked towards the minister in charge of industry.

The latter nodded, it’s a globally known fact that the Federation’s technology is advanced, admitting this poses no problem.

The Emperor looked again at the Grand Elder, "Then what?"

The Grand Elder understood the Emperor’s meaning, as per their will, now they’ve imposed some restrictions towards the Federation’s situation.

But during this war, the little brother who remained neutral suddenly became tough, ignoring the Empire’s face.

This led to the current situation.

After a moment of silence, the Grand Elder said, "We will find every way to solve this problem, history teaches us, it’s better to have it ourselves than others."

His words represented the lower levels of society and the capitalists, the societal system of Peng Jieao is quite unique.

After today’s meeting ends, the entire nation’s research forces and capitalists will mobilize, they’ll use various methods to bring back the things they need.

The Emperor nodded in satisfaction, "That’s the best, I don’t want anything to obstruct the ancestors’ glory from shining over the world."

"But the Federation’s provocation towards us cannot go unanswered, perhaps we can...", he chuckled, "create some tension in specific areas."

"They’re very concerned about Nagariel’s security, we can try approaching there from the Eastern road, giving them some pressure."

He looked towards the Empire Marshal on his left hand, "Can our current power support us in conducting a minor friction?"

The Empire Marshal stood up and thumped his chest, "Without any problem at all, Your Majesty, I will make the Federation pay for belittling us!"

The Emperor still maintained a lazy demeanor, without much spirit, he raised his hand and gestured gently downward, "Alright, alright, sit down, I feel great pressure when you stand up, always afraid you’d rush up here and give me a blow..."

The Empire Marshal awkwardly sat back down, he definitely wouldn’t do such a thing, anyone who did would be done for.

An Empire that has lasted for thousands of years does not do so without a reason.

The Imperial Family seems very close to ordinary people, they often leave the Imperial Palace and mingle with commoners, some Imperial Family members even live outside the palace.

But regarding security, they have never eased up.

Anyone crossing the "red line" is dead, there’s never been an exception.

The Emperor took a deep breath, clapped his hands, stood up, his face slightly smiling, as if he was feeling "hurrah for getting off work."

"Then I will leave everything to you all, hope you can bring me some good news..."