16. This is Freedom
In the United Kingdom of Meri, Supreme Leader Lin Ke.
For Lin Ke, everything in the Rodmar Empire right now is an absolute business opportunity, so important that it even warranted her personal presence, despite being able to oversee things from the rear. After all, the place of impossibility should now be called the establishment of the Rodmar Empire’s royal authority, which has rarely united those families and conglomerates in the United Kingdom that usually engage in verbal sparring on the surface while stabbing each other in the back.
Because of this, Lin Ke had no concerns about coming to the Rodmar Empire; her purpose was simple: to invest in and acquire all industries related to “wealth” as much as possible while the Rodmar Empire was still in its nascent and unstable state, and then gradually bring the entire empire under the control of the United Kingdom of Meri. Perhaps her term as Supreme Leader could even be extended for a few more years; this is what one might call the pinnacle of a merchant’s ambition.
The only dilemma was: the Rodmar Empire was currently a chaotic mix of fish and dragons, with opportunists everywhere. Lin Ke’s acquisition activities over the past few days could only be described as barely scraping by. Moreover, some of her incompetent subordinates had made her quite angry upon her return.
One day.
When Lin Ke returned to the base with members of her faction, she was greeted by the sight of a dozen members idly chatting and cursing, sipping coffee and eating hamburgers, wasting such precious and urgent time on eating—what was the difference between that and a toilet that only knows how to expel waste?
Upon closer inspection, Lin Ke made a new discovery: these people were more or less battered, some even sporting black eyes and bruises, looking as if they had been thoroughly beaten and taught a lesson by someone.
Although these dozen or so people were not from her own family, and were instead sent by other families trying to steal her credit, seeing their bruised and battered faces made Lin Ke feel quite pleased. However, considering that they had undoubtedly embarrassed the entire United Kingdom, Lin Ke couldn’t just pretend she hadn’t seen it.
“Hey~ gentlemen~”
Lin Ke set down her hat and took off her sunglasses. Sure enough, it was even more obvious now; they had definitely been beaten up unilaterally.
“What’s wrong with you?”
As soon as the question was asked, these people seemed to find a point to vent their frustrations, all shouting at Lin Ke at once!
“Supreme Commander? What else could be wrong! Of course, it’s those stubborn Russians!?”
“No! And those Yings too!”
Lin Ke remembered very clearly: she had previously sent these people to acquire the Russians’ territory, with a clear intention: since they were from other families trying to steal credit, she might as well give them some trivial tasks to do. After all, the barbarians of the Russian Empire generally lacked intelligence; let them play around while she took the opportunity to secure better resources for her own family.
But now it seemed that the people sent by the other families were even less useful than the Russians? And how did the Yings get involved?
After having her subordinates prepare coffee for her, Lin Ke sat on the sofa, crossing her legs, leisurely blowing on her drink, and endured the annoyance of listening to all their explanations.
“Hmm~ hmm, so to sum it up: not only did you fail to take down the Russians’ shop, but you also got taught a lesson by the Yings, and then came back to stuff your stomachs with hamburgers and coffee, which you haven’t even digested from last night?”
The leading lackey’s face turned a deep shade of red: “This, this is due to a lack of manpower! This time, Supreme Commander, if you go with us, I guarantee we can…”
“I see, so…”
At this point, Lin Ke was too lazy to listen to these useless people from other families babble in front of her.
She raised a hand and coldly spoke, “You are all fired. Please leave now~ The costs for your return will be self-funded and will not be reimbursed by the United Kingdom’s treasury~”
“What…”
“I initially thought you were sent by a few other families to compete for my support, at least you would have some intelligence, but now it seems I had too high expectations. Your families have too many fools who got into positions through connections and backdoor dealings, haven’t they?”
Lin Ke scratched her head, meeting the furious green face of the leading lackey. “Not only were you completely fooled by those Russian barbarians, but you also fell for the provocations from the Yings. If you could have fought back, that would be one thing, but so many of you went over and still lost.”
“Now you’ve not only failed to seize anything but also made enemies with the Russians, and your actions have caught the attention of the Yings. The series of troubles resulting from this, I’m already in a good mood for not applying to the tribunal for your family’s mental damages, and you still want to drag me down with you?”
Letting out a breath, Lin Ke yawned, “Out~ while the trouble isn’t too big, you should hurry back. I can still handle things here~”
This had nothing to do with family grievances; it was the best way to preserve the reputation of the United Kingdom of Meri. However…
Although Lin Ke knew what to do, this group of idiots was completely different; they were actually getting angry!?
“W-What right do you have to criticize our actions!?”
“A mere puppet created by a single family!”
“Dare to send us back? Just wait for us to jointly impeach you with the other families!”
Impeach, impeach, how come this group only knows this trick? It’s not easy being the Supreme Commander for once…
But if they didn’t shout like this, she wouldn’t have noticed. If she really sent these idiots, whose heads were stuffed with fermented dough, away, they would definitely smear her name when they returned. She was doing business for the United Kingdom outside; how could she tolerate such a thing?
“Sigh… then there’s nothing that can be done.”
Lin Ke set down her coffee, and the others thought she had compromised, revealing smug smiles.
However, that smile quickly froze on their faces.
[Bang]
With a dull thud, the man fell straight down. The other person nearby realized what had happened and was about to reach into his pocket when Lin Ke’s firearm surprisingly fired again.
“Wow~ The new technology from the Prussian elves is really nice~ It can actually fire continuously! But this magic is truly baffling; could it be that I have a lot of magic?”
In the next moment, accompanied by a few crisp gunshots, Lin Ke picked up her coffee again and took a delightful sip. Indeed, only her family could be considered the elite.
“Handle this. When the time comes, just say it was a conflict with the Roshians. And prepare for it; although it has nothing to do with us, we still need to clean up the mess. We can’t just let those barbaric Roshians fight us here. This time, I’ll take charge personally—swift and decisive, let those savages lose resoundingly.”
Dealing with a group of barbarians who live in a frigid environment, their heads frozen stiff, and they can still mess things up—these idiots are truly useless.
Even if it’s a slightly “malicious” acquisition, there are methods to consider, as well as timing and context.
This is called “freedom.”
No one understands business better than the United Kingdom of Meri.
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