Darkstone Code

Chapter 1263 - 1261: Trial

"Has the Federation delegation left?"

Before the weather turned cold, the Federation arranged for a group of Navy personnel to come over and exchange experiences in a deep collaboration.

From a political standpoint, this could be seen as a form of extortion, as the Gafurans showed their core experiences to the Federation for the first time, including some that could be considered classified secrets.

For example, how to respond when a lookout spots an enemy beyond visual range, a situation often encountered in naval battles.

The lookout might see just the highest feature on the enemy’s ship from afar, perhaps just a mast or a similar lookout tower, but that’s all they can see.

Thus, it becomes crucial to decide how to act effectively in such moments.

During the only naval battle between the Federation and Gafura, the Federation didn’t even see Gafura’s ships before suffering a wave of broadside fire and having their coordinates calibrated by the enemy.

If it weren’t for the submarines turning the tide at a critical moment, it would have been the Federation’s navy that ended up annihilated.

In short, the century-long experience accumulated by the Gafurans is definitely something the Federation hasn’t mastered yet, and they need to learn, causing both distress and helplessness for the Gafurans.

Maintaining current world peace has become Gafura’s most pressing need, which sounds utterly absurd.

That even war mongers like the Gafurans would hope for world peace can only mean they’ve become somewhat... cowardly.

Not only did the Federation send people, but they also brought cameras, making Gafura experience the same... defiance? that small allied countries used to feel.

In short, it’s incredibly painful for them!

The experience exchange has a time limit, and they should be leaving soon.

His adjutant promptly gave him an answer, "They’re still here because a snowstorm hit, so they’ll have to wait a while."

"They’ll leave when the weather clears up, or when the snow gets lighter."

The Prime Minister breathed a slight sigh of relief, "I heard they’ve opened a large number of farms in Nagariel; has anyone gone to discuss grain import deals with them? We urgently need a batch of grain."

The adjutant nodded and noted down the order before returning once the meeting concluded.

The Prime Minister then fell into contemplation, and after a long while, he softly sneered, the sound quiet yet full of scorn.

"The noble issues will be tackled subsequently."

"Is tomorrow’s trial arranged properly?"

The official in charge of the matter stood up to answer, "Yes, it’s arranged, and during the trial period, all TV stations on the Main Island will broadcast the trial process."

"The Governor of Amelia has also agreed with us; as long as the content isn’t outrageous, he will make some additions or omissions before broadcasting it."

This was considered good news, and the Prime Minister’s expression eased; whether it’s addition or omission, it doesn’t matter because it means the Governor of Amelia currently stands at a neutral angle, which is a good thing.

He cautiously gave his opinion, "Be careful, ensure safety, and maintain a fair attitude!"

Later, some delegation members contacted Lynch and together visited Lynch’s estate.

In fact, Lynch not only has a villa in Gafura but also an estate and a castle.

These are standard configurations for nobles; he didn’t need to arrange these matters himself. When he received his noble title, people came to him willingly, offering to sell such things.

These people were those "nobles who died in one generation" or "two generations," formerly nobles but later, due to various reasons, the Emperor no longer wished to grant them titles, nor would the Secretariat plead for titles for them, turning them into ordinary citizens.

Thus, those long-heritage nobles indeed don’t easily consider such nobles, who might lose their titles at any time, as one of their own; they can’t be blamed.

After losing their noble titles, those people also lost the opportunity to enjoy various privileges. Along with certain reasons, selling their assets became quite important.

Some assets were easy to sell, like stores in cities, which were in high demand, and once they lost their titles, people actively discussed these matters.

Some assets were not as easy to sell, such as estates and castles.

Potential buyers of such assets might not be interested in them, like those sequentially inheriting major noble families whose estates are spread across the entire Main Island, possibly owning multiple castles.

They don’t fancy estates and castles from lesser nobles and naturally wouldn’t buy them.

Prospective buyers might not have the money, and adding to this, original owners usually don’t want to sell cheaply, turning them into burdens.

Lynch bought some, merely considering them cheap; at the time, the Emperor didn’t allow his funds to leave Gafura, so purchasing assets was the only way to make use of banked money.

At Lynch’s estate, the delegation leader mentioned that the Prime Minister of Gafura wants to conduct urgent negotiations with them.

After seeking opinions from their home country, Mr. Truman recommended Lynch to lead the negotiations, deciding the extent to which they needed to be held entirely by Lynch himself.

"Mr. Lynch, is there anything you need from us?"

The delegation leader didn’t look down on others just because he was a diplomat; Lynch was also a diplomat, and moreover, a damn wealthy one.

In Gafura, the status of the wealthy might be a bit awkward, but in the Federation, capitalists are like your own father!

Lynch thought carefully for a moment and had some ideas, "I will act somewhat overbearing in the negotiations, and your role is to ease the atmosphere that becomes tense when I am being unreasonable."

The main members of the delegation nodded one after another; this was something they could manage, just acting as the good guys.

When it comes to hypocrisy, obviously the people of the Federation are also quite familiar with it.

The purpose of doing this is to exert pressure on the Gafura people and thus achieve more diplomatic goals.

As for whether the negotiations might collapse because of overplaying?

That’s not even a problem; historically, only the side that is strong and has an undeniable advantage uses such methods to pressure during negotiations.

The people of the Federation are not afraid of negotiation failure; the only side fearing negotiation failure is Gafura.

After briefly discussing the negotiation strategy, the group stayed at Lynch’s estate.

In the evening, Lynch took a moment to meet with the young Count, chatted for a while, and then left in a hurry.

The next day, whether it was because the Lord also knew that what was going to happen today would affect the future direction of Gafura, the skies that had seen two days of blizzard finally showed signs of clearing up.

At least in the afternoon, the snow stopped, and the skies above the Imperial Capital briefly revealed a moment of sunlight.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, in the Empire Royal Court in the Imperial Capital, the Eldest Prince sat in the defendant’s seat.

The world’s eyes, at this moment, were focused on Gafura.

Lynch arrived at the scene; participating in such a historical event gave people a very special feeling, one he couldn’t quite describe.

Like a passerby in history, walking through each important stage, as the most faithful witness to history, leaving one’s mark at the most crucial moment of the era.

After some formalities and sitting down again, Lynch sat in the second row, continuously observing the Eldest Prince.

The Eldest Prince looked very angry, yet he wasn’t nervous, not nervous at all, which Lynch found quite interesting.

The court procedures in Gafura were not too different from those in the Federation; after all, it’s not the first time Gafura people have accused the Federation of copying various systems from Gafura.

After the prosecutor finished reading the indictment against the Eldest Prince, the attention of the judge and everyone else focused on the Eldest Prince.

"Do you plead guilty to the charges the prosecutor just read?"

Before this, the Eldest Prince had already sworn on the Bible, according to regulations, that he would not lie. At this moment, everyone was watching him, wanting to see how he would respond.

The Eldest Prince looked at the nobles and capitalists in the audience, a smile of unknown origin appearing at the corner of his lips, "I do not admit to being guilty!"

Some murmurs of commotion emerged within the court; Lynch just quietly observed the unfolding of events.

In front of televisions, some viewers sighed in relief, while others screamed curses at the screen.

"Liar" was what many began to utter at this moment; in fact, public opinion is very easily guided.

When the prosecutor, representing fairness, justice, and the authority of law, read the indictment, people believed in what the prosecutor stated.

The Empire’s Eldest Prince was involved in one corruption case after another, cases the public knew or didn’t know about.

This made them furious, and the feeling of betrayal began to emerge; everything went exactly as if from a script.

The Chief Justice didn’t expect the Eldest Prince to directly plead guilty; he opened the file in front of him, "Then let’s start with the first case."

"...On the ... day ... month, a merchant named ... wanted to take over the construction project for affordable apartments in the Imperial Capital."

"Before obtaining this project, he bribed you four times...," the judge bowed his head to confirm the number, "worth 1.2 million Fla in various gifts and cash, do you have any objections to this testimony?"

The Eldest Prince curled his lips, "Yes."

The Chief Justice looked at him, "What objections do you have?"

"Those were just gifts between friends, not bribes."

"I am merely a prince, not an official with any actual position, and I cannot direct those officials to work for me; all accusations against me are framed."

The prosecutor stood up at this moment, presenting evidence to the judge and the audience, "Here is a confession from the developer of the affordable apartments, and a list of the gifts at that time. We also obtained some transaction evidence from the Royal Bank."

"This evidence is sufficient to prove the existence of a benefit transfer relationship between the Eldest Prince and the developer."

"During our investigation, we found that the developer was not initially qualified, nor was eligible to participate in this project, but with the Eldest Prince’s help, he obtained this project."

"And profited over two million Fla from it!"