Set in Motion

Lin Qi had predicted that Nagaril would descend into chaos, and he had also played a role in this process, for example, by attending a salon before his birthday celebration.

At the salon, people were discussing some new business rules, and in this Mengwu Province, the rule-makers were Lin Qi and the United Development Company.

Lin Qi and the United Development Company have consistently denied their influence over Nagaril's business rules, but no matter how much they deny it, they have done it; they have begun to influence the business ecosystem here.

At the salon, Lin Qi acted very "fairly," showing no favoritism towards either side. Every word he uttered was examined word by word by the Federal Supreme Court, with all the Chief Justice for Life scrutinizing it, and no problems could be found.

Not just the Federal, but any country could find people to study what he said and find no problems—this refers to the absence of any explicit or implicit linguistic implication that certain people would be treated differently from others.

But here, the greatest fairness is actually the greatest unfairness.

This statement may sound confusing, but it is true. It's like sending a modern army to attack a tribe that is still in a primitive stage. The so-called fair competition is no longer fair.

True fairness should be about balancing the strength of both sides, but it's clear that Lin Qi doesn't intend to do that. He's forcing foreign businessmen like Simon to leave as soon as possible, since this place is a paradise for Federal businessmen.

The Preton era is over. Those cunning merchants had already left Nagaril with all their wealth when Preton fled. Those who remained were the less intelligent and greedy type.

The Federal people are warm, mild-mannered, and not aggressive, but that's only on the basis that they have no vested interests in each other. Once competition arises, Federal merchants will show their ferocious and terrifying side.

Given that Nagaril Youth Party is growing at an alarming rate, a conflict, even a bloody one, is bound to erupt someday.

Staying here at this time is not a wise choice. Lin Qi has already warned Fox and his men that it's best not to go anywhere and to stay in the hotel for the time being.

The hotel has security personnel, as well as people sent by Lin Qi, which is enough to protect their safety. As for other places...

Sai Weiruila is a girl who listens to advice. Unlike ordinary girls who are sometimes incomprehensible and stubborn, she doesn't always think that going against others is a fun thing to do, but in the end, they can only hurt themselves.

The afternoon after Lin Qi's birthday, Sai Weiruila boarded a cruise ship returning to the Federal and left. After seeing Lin Qi, she confessed her feelings to him. Once she had done what she had longed for most, her heart gradually calmed down.

One reason Lin Qi didn't directly accept her confession was that he hadn't accepted her, but to say he hadn't accepted her was because of what he said... well, it left Sai Weiruila a little confused. In short, their relationship was more than just friends, but not quite lovers yet, and everyone needed to work on it.

She will come again after the riot that Lin Qi mentioned ends.

Nagaril's peaceful days seemed unchanged, but both Lin Qi's properties—his Cement Factory and the Provincial Governor's estate—had increased security and reduced their outings.

Many people are waiting for this conflict that is about to erupt, and that is inevitable.

"... The people I sent out haven't contacted me for several days. They've probably been discovered and dealt with. You're right, these people are not ordinary."

In Drag's room, he was chatting with Lin Qi about the Nagaril Youth Party.

In fact, locals like the Provincial Governor Drag were also very curious about this group. For hundreds or even thousands of years, Nagaril had never seen such a "resistance force." Now, one suddenly appeared and quickly swept across the country. This was definitely not a coincidence.

It's definitely not some "tide of the times." This is absolutely a premeditated action by some people. Find these people, find out their identities and backgrounds, and we'll figure out what they're up to.

Lin Qi couldn't get involved in this kind of thing. He was a foreigner, and so were his people. A foreigner would be too conspicuous among the locals. It wasn't a matter of hiding or not; as long as he stood there, anyone around him, unless they were blind, would know he was a foreigner.

So in the end, it was the Provincial Governor, Drag, who took action. He was a local and had trusted confidants and subordinates. He sent some people to join Youth Party's actions as "active resistance fighters" and also obtained some clues.

The headquarters of the Nagaril Youth Party is located in the heart of the Nagaril United Kingdom, which is the Royal Capital. This answer was unexpected. Although the various regions of Nagaril are independent and power has always been passed down from generation to generation in the hands of the Provincial Governor, the Royal Capital is still the Royal Capital.

The Royal Capital can also be seen as the territory of the largest "Provincial Governor" in the country, and it is also the most prosperous place in the country. Such a place should not be the birthplace of the Youth Party.

But this was also expected. It's impossible for Nagaril Youth Party to sweep across Nagaril without any substance. Any ideology, spirit, or charter takes a long time to develop from its inception to having actual theoretical and practical value.

This Nagaril Youth Party may have existed for several years or even more than a decade, until recently when they refined the organization's doctrines and began to rapidly incubate.

In any case, for them to sweep across the country so quickly, in addition to having a set of "goals" that people can accept, they also need funds to drive it.

While passion is commendable, what truly motivates people to exert themselves is self-interest; only the drive for profit can motivate these individuals.

The two were discussing the person Drag had sent to the Royal Capital to gather information, and they mentioned that this person had suddenly lost contact, presumably because he had been discovered and dealt with.

In short, this matter is not as simple as people imagine. At this moment, Lin Qi already had some ideas in his mind, and the Provincial Governor Drag also had some guesses in his mind. Neither of them said what they were thinking.

Lin Qi quickly changed the subject, asking, "How are things going over here?"

The Provincial Governor Drag nodded. "Everything has been arranged, and we can mobilize at any time." He then hesitated, "Won't doing this cause the situation here to spiral out of control?"

He was a little worried. What they were about to do made even the Provincial Governor Drag feel uneasy. In Lin Qi's words, it was about digging up the buried explosives in advance and then setting them on fire.

Nagaril Youth Party will ultimately become a major problem for Nagaril's development. Without considering political stances, Federal businessmen investing here can only benefit and not harm.

Those who were unemployed found jobs, people had money in their pockets, the market began to function normally, and society became wealthy because labor was rewarded.

On the contrary, Nagaril Youth Party, which wants to expel foreigners, is of no use to the development of the country. Rather than letting the contradictions and their power accumulate to the point of no return, when they do explode, they should explode to the extent of causing a great uproar.

It would be better to dig them out in advance and, once everything is under control, ignite the conflict.

What they're trying to do is to prematurely ignite trouble.

Lin Qi smiled and waved his hand, "The current conflict is still focused on the locals and those 'foreigners,' but if you ignore them and let them develop, eventually these people will not only expel foreign businessmen, but also those of you in power."

His tone was relaxed, and he even seemed to have a hint of schadenfreude. "Maybe they will come up with a slogan like 'Take back the people's power from the dictator,' push down the outer gate, rush in, kill you, take your wealth, and seize the power from your hands."

He took a sip of the local Flower Tea from his cup and stopped looking at the Provincial Governor Drag.

After a minute or two, the Provincial Governor Drag narrowed his eyes slightly and exhaled a breath of stale air. "Then everything is proceeding according to plan..."

Lin Qi put down his cup and nodded. "You made the right decision, and you need to remind yourself that you are now Federal citizen."

It's like a joke, but it's not a joke.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and it seemed that nothing had changed much from before.

Foreign merchants doing business in Nagaril are preparing to leave; without the protection of the Preton Merchant House, they can no longer acquire any goods.

What Lin Qi meant by fairness?

Their own country and even neighboring countries are unwilling to sell goods to them, let alone send ships to deliver goods, because Nagaril is the territory of the United Development Company.

Even if they don't say anything, others still have to respect the sovereignty of the United Development Company, so they won't offend the rapidly growing Federal International Merchants for the sake of a few merchants and some worthless goods.

As for buying things from the Federal to resell?

It's possible, but you'll have to bear the "normal" tariffs, and you'll have to wait for the goods to arrive at an unknown time. If you raise any objections, they'll tell you that from the time you place the order to processing it, to factory production, and then to shipping, it simply won't be enough time to handle all of that in less than one or two months.

Have nothing to sell for a month or two?

It seems the entire market has been seized by Federal merchants!

If this is considered fair, then it is truly unfair.

Most merchants in the Preton era were thinking of clearing out their inventory and leaving; they couldn't afford to play the game, and they didn't intend to continue.

But at that moment, an unexpected little accident occurred...