No Longer Acting Like Humans

Often when selecting candidates in a company or elsewhere, the first consideration is not how many ideas are available, but how obedient and sensible these people are.

There are plenty of people with ideas; everyone on the street has their own ideas. In any industry, if it's just about ideas, some young people who have just entered the industry can talk about their ideas all night long without repeating themselves.

But those who are selected and appreciated by leaders are still those who are obedient and sensible; sometimes these mean the same thing, and sometimes they don't.

Several screenwriters promised to write a script as soon as possible and send it to Lin Qi for review. Lin Qi returned to Bu Peien the next day and basically lived Bu Peien for a while, as he couldn't do without it for some things.

After a short rest, the fourth round of bilateral negotiations began on Monday. Both sides had reached a final agreement from the beginning, with only one issue remaining: the issue of legally circulating currency.

The Provincial Governor, led by Drag, have been catching up on their studies during this period—they have spent money to hire various scholars and experts to provide them with advice.

In a Federal context, as long as one can afford to spend enough money, various experts will naturally provide them with professional consulting services. This also made them realize how important fiat currency is to the stability of a region's sovereignty! For the sake of making money, merchants can sell the rope that hanged them to the Executioners, so now, for the sake of profit, is it not too much to sell some knowledge that is not exactly treasonous?

So they gritted their teeth and opposed making the Federal Sol the legal tender of the Nagaril even more resolutely than in the last negotiation. They didn't even agree to make it a legal tender and engaged in fierce negotiations on this issue.

This is what the news reports say: apart from no fighting or verbal abuse, they used all sorts of coercion and bribery.

Representatives in Nagaril argued that they could offer a market-floating currency exchange service, not based on the official Exchange Rate, but on a freely floating market Exchange Rate.

They also considered this a significant concession, considering that the official floating Exchange Rate of Galil to Federal Sol is 44 to 1, meaning 44 Galil can be exchanged for one Federal Sol. However, in the real free Exchange Rate market, on the black market, one Federal Sol can now be exchanged for 101 Galil.

This represents a further shift in Exchange Rate compared to three months ago, and these changes are also related to the Preton Pirate Group. The Federal has exposed the pirate group's control over the Nagaril economy, demonstrating Nagaril's military incompetence and the extent to which it is controlled economically.

Before the Preton Pirate Group were eliminated, people were not optimistic about the future of Nagaril, so their currency continued to depreciate, but they themselves did not admit it.

They had always believed that their currency was 44 to 1 Federal Sol, which was also the official Exchange Rate, but now they have changed their minds.

As long as the Federal government doesn't continue to obfuscate the issue of circulating currency, they can liberalize the Exchange Rate.

This was not Lin Qi's plan, nor could it satisfy the interests of the Federal. All morning had been spent on intimidation, threats, and bribery, but there had been little improvement.

"They're not afraid of dragging it out!" Mr. Truman said to Lin Qi while eating lunch in the lounge. "They'd even be happy to drag it out. They can drag it out, but Gefra and we can't keep dragging it out."

"Thanks to what you did, things are very unsettling in Gefra now!"

Mr. Truman's tone was somewhat dissatisfied. On the issue of Amelia Region, Lin Qi's ideas, including his current actions, were contrary to the mainstream opinion in the country.

Leaving aside the ignorant masses, even among the upper echelons of the government, people only believed that the Federal should challenge Gefra to a limited extent, but absolutely should not exhibit any obvious confrontational behavior.

After all, Gefra still represented the beneficiaries of the recently concluded World War and had proven their wartime strength in the war. The Federal's lack of confidence led most politicians to believe that now was not a good time to turn against Gefra.

There's no such thing as a good time or a bad time to turn against someone; it's just fear, though they say it in such a high-sounding way.

If Gefra discovers that the Federal is causing trouble in the Amelia Region, it could rapidly deteriorate relations between the two countries, leading to an uncontrollable international confrontation.

Truman obtained Lin Qi's list of supporters through personal connections; only he and one intermediary knew about it, along with Lin Qi's own people.

There were some problems in the Amelia Region, and Gefra's attention was immediately drawn to them. They were unwilling to spend their energy and attention on confronting the Federal's naval forces for an extended period of time.

According to intelligence reports, some of the main battleships in the Gefra First Fighter Group have left port, and they may ignite a full-blown naval battle between Gefra and the Federal in the next ten days to two weeks.

They probably thought that attacking the Bayer Federation, which had never experienced war, was as easy as beating a son, and they didn't even bother to hide their movements.

However, correspondingly, the number of ships they dispatched was much larger than the number guessed by the Federal's operations command center. Most of the first combat fleet was dispatched, except for the symbolic Triumph Princess and six Princess Escort, which did not move.

The pressure on the Federal Navy has increased significantly, and the pressure of negotiations with Nagaril has also increased. If the negotiations do not reach a satisfactory conclusion before the outcome of the naval battle, the Federal may lose the initiative.

However, there is also the possibility of gaining more absolute control, which carries risks. But in any case, both Truman and the President hope to settle this matter before the outcome is announced, so as to prevent further complications.

Lin Qi was also a bit of a headache. He hadn't expected that Degra and his ilk would be so "despicable" as to spend money to bribe many Federal experts and scholars to analyze the content of the negotiations for them, thus solving many of their problems at once.

This includes some issues that were previously agreed upon, as well as some additional clauses. Of course, these are all minor details; the real issues are still those related to the circulating currency.

"Do you have a list of the people who provided them with consulting services?" Lin Qi changed the subject. "Have the Revenue Service keep an eye on them; these guys are really..."

Truman nodded but did not answer. In fact, even without Lin Qi saying anything, he had already had people keeping an eye on these people.

If they don't make mistakes, that's fine, but if they do, it's always a big mistake.

"But what do we do now?" Mr. Truman wiped his hands and finished his packed lunch. "If we can't resolve this today or tomorrow, and it gets dragged on, the next round of negotiations might not be until after the naval battle, and we could become very passive."

Only what's in your mouth is truly secure. Rather than having more initiative and advantages, avoiding loss of control is more important.

Lin Qi paced back and forth a few steps, then looked at Mr. Truman. "How about... I teach this afternoon? I'll try my best to persuade them."

"That's the only way!"

After a two-hour break at noon, negotiations resumed, and Lin Qi reappeared at the negotiating table.

The Provincial Governor Drag's expression changed slightly, and the representative also noticed Lin Qi. He jokingly said with a half-smile, "I thought only members of the negotiation team could sit at this table!"

He was saying that during the last round of negotiations, Mr. Truman temporarily left, and Lin Qi used both intimidation and coercion to entice them, scaring them so much that they didn't know what to do and ended up not being able to do anything about Lin Qi.

Mr. Truman's excuse at the time was that Lin Qi was not a member of the negotiating team, so when Lin Qi reappeared, the delegates would make fun of this.

He knew, of course, that Lin Qi's presence here must have been due to some identity and mission. This teasing was merely an attempt to embarrass Lin Qi; they wanted to test and provoke Lin Qi.

"We corrected the error in our work, checked the list, and Mr. Lin Qi is indeed a member of the negotiation team. The person who caused the misunderstanding has been dismissed, so he is qualified to sit here." Mr. Truman lied without hesitation. So-called diplomatic work is basically lying and telling more lies.

The Nagaril representative nodded noncommittally, "The Bayer Federation has always given me a very serious and rigorous impression. I didn't expect you to make a mistake."

"Even God makes mistakes, let alone us?" Lin Qi continued, a remark Mr. Truman had intended to make, but once Lin Qi spoke, he fell silent.

Seeing that the Nagaril representative was about to retaliate, Lin Qi raised his hand to stop him from speaking. This interruption was very impolite, but Lin Qi didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

To put it simply, the relationship between nations is about bullying the weak to the death when you can, and protecting your own interests when you can't. The Federal is, after all, the powerful one; what's wrong with not letting you speak? Ignoring the Nagaril representative's less-than-pleasant expression, Lin Qi said, "Let's not discuss those pointless things. Everyone's time is limited. I've already reviewed the minutes of this morning's negotiations, and I don't think your demands are unacceptable!"

Lin Qi's words made Mr. Truman and all the Federal members at the negotiating table turn their heads. If it weren't for the fact that this guy had threatened to bring the war to Nagaril not long ago, they would have suspected that Lin Qi wanted to betray the country.

The Nagaril representative paused for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, but it didn't last long.

"However, we also need to add a condition: only if you agree to this condition will we consider resolving our differences through bank exchange!"