Volume 1: Raging Waves City Chapter 200: Rain in Parts
pirate?!
Ambassador Webster was surprised by the topic Luke brought up again, but the officials of the Rio Republic already had a mature set of rhetoric for such issues.
Ambassador Webster replied calmly: "Pirates are the world's public enemy. As far as I know, the Rio Republic has absolutely no act of supporting pirates. Of course, I do not deny that some pirates are citizens of the Rio Republic, but I think the Golden Shield Empire should reflect on why pirates are so rampant.
The Golden Shield Empire Navy has a serious bias in law enforcement against trade freighters at sea, which makes Rio's ocean merchants pay more costs to pay extra fees.
Some poor souls even go bankrupt because their products cost a little more and they are not competitive.
Rio merchants have negotiated with your country through our government many times, but we have not received a satisfactory response. "
Luke couldn't help but sigh that Webster was indeed a professional diplomatic officer, who simply put the blame on the empire.
But Luke was no pushover: "The Imperial Navy is responsible for maintaining the safety of international waterways, and there is nothing wrong with collecting escort fees from passing merchant ships. The escort fees that our marine merchants have to pay have been added to the national tax revenue. Your merchants do not pay taxes to the Empire, and the escort fees are still due." Seeing that Ambassador Webster still wanted to argue, Luke, who did not want to get involved in such a fruitless verbal dispute, stopped him from saying what he wanted to say and continued: "The issue of taxation and escort fees is not within my jurisdiction. What I am concerned about is the issue of piracy...
The Nutao City Secret Affairs Bureau has established a maritime anti-smuggling fleet. In addition to investigating and punishing illegal maritime trade, it is also the responsibility of the Nutao .
I hereby warn the Republic of Rio not to continue to provide any kind of support to pirates . If this leads to a military conflict between the two countries, the responsibility will be entirely on the Republic of Rio."
Ambassador Webster asked seriously, "Inspector General Meteorite, are you declaring war on the Rio Republic?"
Luke responded tit for tat: "I've made it very clear... If the Rio Republic continues to harbor pirates, you can understand this as a declaration of war; if the Rio Republic cuts ties with the pirates, we can still be friendly neighbors."
"That seems beyond your authority."
"I decide the scope of my responsibilities."
Webster's ambassador stood up angrily. "The result of this meeting far exceeded my expectations. I need to return to Rio immediately and report the attack on the consulate and the threat of Chief Inspector of Meteorite to the National Congress.
Goodbye, Chief Detective of Meteor.
I am grateful for your life-saving grace, but in the face of national interests, I will not show any favoritism. "
Luke did not stand up to see Webster off. He said calmly: "Goodbye... Do your best to convince the Rio Council to prevent the incident from getting worse."
Viscount Iscolan quickly stood up and said, "I'll take you there... Ambassador!"
After a while, Viscount Iscolan returned anxiously. He said worriedly, "Chief Inspector, your warning to the Rio Republic, is it the intention of Her Royal Highness the Princess?"
Luke picked up the tea on the table and sipped it slowly.
At the same time, he replied to Iscolan: "No, this is what I meant, and I have already told your Highness my thoughts."
Upon hearing that this was an unauthorized suggestion made by Chief Inspector of Meteorite, Viscount Iscolan became even more flustered.
"This... this is a major issue concerning the diplomatic relations between the two countries. If it is not handled properly, it will lead to war!
Ambassador Webster's airship hasn't taken off yet, I'm going to stop it."
"Viscount..." Luke patted the seat beside him and said to Iscolan, "Sit down and listen to my thoughts."
Iscolan had no choice but to sit down and pretend to listen.
Luke said, "I have had direct correspondence with Her Royal Highness the Princess. Her Royal Highness told me that Saxon Engineering has organized a fleet that is gathering towards Raging Waves City. This fleet will arrive at the open sea in one month at the earliest and two months at the latest.
This fleet is definitely not here to do business with us. I think they will attack ships entering and leaving Cape Harbor in the name of pirates. If I were to command this fleet, I would also use benefits to lure other pirates and blockade Cape Harbor.
Cape Port is still under renovation, and many materials need to be shipped in by sea. If the shipping routes are cut off and the port renovation is delayed for a few years, the debt will crush us.”
Iskran thought deeply and said, "We can ask the navy for help."
"Your Majesty is now very dependent on the new nobles. Although what we are doing in Fury City is in the interests of the empire, it is still unknown whether the navy will stand by us at that time."
Viscount Iscolan nodded. He knew very well that the piece of cake that Chief Inspector Meteor led his people to cut from the City of Raging Waves was the limit of what the new nobles could endure. The attitude of the Emperor of the Empire towards the City of Raging Waves was hard to predict. It was indeed impossible to place too much hope on whether the Navy would help the Reform Society.
"But... Chief Inspector, does this have anything to do with what you said to Ambassador Webster?"
Luke put down his teacup. "What do you think our anti-smuggling fleet has a chance of winning against the Saxon Engineering fleet?"
Viscount Iscolan replied, "That depends on the size of the fleet sent by Saxon Engineering. However, the Saxon Engineering Fleet is a mercenary force and often replaces the Imperial Navy in regional naval battles. They definitely have more experience in regular naval battles than Lady Tasia's people, and the performance of the Saxon Engineering Fleet's warships is also better than ours."
Iscolan analyzed, a look of worry on his face.
He knew that the anti-smuggling fleet established by the Secret Service was training intensively for a possible naval battle. Councillor Ibr's shipyard was also working overtime to build ships for the anti-smuggling fleet.
But the time is too short, and no one knows how much combat effectiveness the anti-smuggling fleet will have when the Saxon engineering fleet arrives.
To be pessimistic... there is a high probability that we cannot win.
Luke told Viscount Iscolan his ultimate goal.
"I have high expectations for the newly built 'Unit-01' all-steel and all-steam-powered battleship, but we must also prepare for the worst. If the construction deadline of 'Unit-01' is delayed, or its performance does not meet the requirements, and the anti-smuggling fleet cannot break the blockade of the Saxon Engineering Fleet.
I will have Lady Tasia attack the Rio Navy."
ah!
Viscount Iscolan opened his mouth wide, unable to believe what he heard.
"Chief Inspector...let Madam Tasia attack the Rio Navy. This will trigger..."
Luke said nonchalantly: "I have warned Ambassador Webster, but I don't think the Rio Republic will stop funding pirates. They will prepare the Rio Navy for war.
When I order Lady Tasia to attack the Leo Navy, the Leo Navy will definitely attack the Imperial Navy. At that time, whether it is the pirates or the Saxon engineering fleet, they will all be destroyed. "
Viscount Isklan did not expect that the purpose of Chief Inspector of Meteorite to anger Ambassador Webster was to lift the blockade of Cape Port by the Future Saxon Engineering Fleet.
To achieve this goal, a full-scale maritime conflict between the two countries will be triggered!
Is the Chief Inspector crazy?
"Chief Inspector, you are making this matter too big! If the Princess...if His Majesty knew that this war was caused by you, he would definitely punish us."
Seeing Isklan's pale face, Luke couldn't help but smile. He comforted him, "Hasn't the incident happened yet? We may be able to resolve this crisis with the anti-smuggling fleet. What I said are just preventive measures."
“Even if it’s a preventive program…”
Luke suddenly said to the panicking Viscount Iscolan in a serious tone, "The Cape District is the foundation of our survival in Raging Waves City. If the Innovation Society can gain a foothold here, it will only benefit Her Royal Highness the Princess. Whoever wants to deal with us must first look at the tax increase we bring to the empire.
If we can't make money for the empire, there is no point in the Reform Society existing.
If a war really breaks out between the two countries, I will be responsible for handling the blame from the higher-ups. Your task is...
A group of exiled Rio nobles have come to Raging Tide City. They must have connections with the Lookout. It shouldn't be difficult for you to contact them and ask them what they need."
When asked about his expertise , Viscount Iscolan answered confidently, "It's not difficult. What does the Chief Inspector need them to do?"
"Anything is fine... Just don't cause trouble for us in Raging Waves City. Don't they want to restore their country? Let them go to Rio and make trouble. Give them as much money and weapons as possible."
"I know what to do, Chief Inspector."
"Okay, I'll leave this matter to you. I'll go check with Councillor Ibel."
Luke left the Sisisse Palace and went to the residence of Senator Ibr. After discussing the direction of public opinion control in the future, the two went to the shipyard owned by Senator Ibr.
The time is very tight for shipbuilding and launching, weapon installation, and training to form combat effectiveness.
Externally, Luke actively cooperated with the newspaper to release smoke bombs to the new nobles.
In the eyes of the citizens of Nutao City, the hostage rescue operation at the Rio Consulate was a perfect crisis management.
Except for the guard who died at the beginning of the attack, all the hostages were rescued alive and all the kidnappers were killed... impeccable.
Coupled with the fact that the newspapers continued to publish the rescue details decrypted by the Secret Service, coupled with the magical images printed at no cost in the newspapers, the citizens of Nutao City felt as addicted as watching a TV series every day.
As the protagonist of the story, Luke is known to the townspeople as tall, wise, and brave...
But when the citizens were having fun, an infuriating news appeared in the newspapers.
The Rio Republic put all the blame for the attack on the consulate on the security department of Fury City and sent a diplomatic note to the Empire, demanding severe punishment for all those who had committed dereliction of duty and the extradition of the Rio Republic's wanted criminals.
A diplomatic crisis was not calmed down by Chief Meteorite's beautiful resolution of the attack on the consulate. Instead, it escalated and caused the relationship between the two countries to take a sharp turn for the worse.
The citizens of Raging Waves were outraged, while the new nobles were celebrating.
At first, they saw that the Secret Service had handled the attack on the Rio Consulate so easily, and thought that the matter would be settled by the meteorite. Who would have thought that the Rio Republic did not intend to let the matter go peacefully, but instead made a big fuss about this incident.
For a time, the security department and the secret intelligence bureau of Nutao City were pushed to the forefront of the diplomatic storm.
Of course, the new nobles would seize the opportunity to manipulate newspapers to guide public opinion and criticize the city security department and the secret intelligence bureau. If the relationship between the Empire and the Rio Republic deteriorates seriously or even breaks off diplomatic relations due to this diplomatic turmoil, the responsibility will be on the city security department and the secret intelligence bureau.
The war of words in Nutao City was like a boiling pot.
Princess Agatha, who was far away in the imperial capital, felt extremely anxious when she read all the newspapers delivered to Nutao City every day.
These days, she and Luke exchanged letters as often as one or even two letters a day.
Agatha sensed from Luke's letter that he had a strong intention to fight a naval battle against the Rio Republic. Even Agatha herself was somewhat convinced by Luke's analysis of the situation between the two countries, and believed that it would be in the best interest of the Empire to destroy the Rio Republic's naval power before it could challenge the Empire.
But war is no joke.
The current war is not just a contest of power between two countries. The current international situation is so complicated that Agatha dare not talk about starting a war.
But she couldn't control the Chief Inspector of Meteorite of Raging Waves City and could only give him some kind advice in the letter, but it didn't seem to have much effect.
Let’s take a look at the newspaper opinion war in Nutao City.
On the surface, they were just arguing about whether the city security department and the General Intelligence Bureau should be held responsible for the Rio Consulate incident. In fact, they were constantly instigating the dissatisfaction of the citizens of Nutao City towards the Rio Republic.
A war must first have a popular support base.
Poor new nobles of Nutao City, they thought they were making great strides on the road to overthrowing Meteorite, but in fact, they all fell into the trap set by Meteorite. Without them constantly adding fuel to the fire, Meteorite's one-man show in public opinion would have made the citizens of Nutao City tired of it.
Now this hostility towards the Rio Republic is spreading to other parts of the empire with Raging Waves City as its center. Even the civilians in the imperial capital are beginning to pay attention to this diplomatic crisis.
Prevent!
Agatha didn't know how to stop it, or perhaps Luke's letter made her not want to take the initiative to stop the development of events.
Agatha was lying on the soft bed in the bedroom, holding the letters written to her by Meteorite, reading them over and over again.
I was struggling with what I should do.
Are we just going to watch the war between the Empire and the Rio Republic break out under the impetus of a meteorite?
This damn meteorite, usually when I write letters, the weather in Nutao City is sunny, with some rain. Now I am writing a letter seriously and it has caused me so much trouble, and the analysis is so reasonable.
If it weren't for these letters, I would never let you go so crazy.
What should I do? What should I do?
Agatha could only reorganize her thoughts and read the letter that Meteorite wrote to her carefully again from the beginning.
Including sunny weather, local rain, small-scale hail...
This was the only way for her to understand Meteorite directly. Only by truly understanding this man could she avoid being led by him.
"I will definitely catch you! I will make sure you know the consequences of teasing the princess!"
