Chapter 273 The Landslide
A month later.
89.97%....
That was the percentage of people who voted for Alexander in the presidential election, which didn't come as a surprise to anyone who lived in Eden. The man was a living legend who won by that much without even actively campaigning, but rather by letting his work speak for itself.
To celebrate his win, he announced a celebration rally to be held a week from the day the election result was announced.
...
A massive crowd was gathered in one of the open fields in the city of Edenia and soldiers were everywhere, dressed in their finery with holstered pistols at their sides. They were the ones responsible for controlling the crowd of attendees at the celebration rally and ensuring the safety of the newly elected president. He would soon arrive, so they were doing their final checks, making sure that nothing dangerous was hidden in the crowd.
Not too long after that, a convoy of black cars arrived with a certain level of fanfare.
The security team came out of the lead and follow cars, then escorted the president to the stage. As they went, they made sure no one from the cheering public could get too near him, though Alexander still shook some of the hands that were being extended to him from the crowd. One woman even swore never to wash her hand for the rest of their life due to how much she idolized him.
When the president reached the stage, he immediately grabbed the microphone from the emcee and started delivering his victory speech; the crowd automatically went silent to listen to what he had to say.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your overwhelming support in this historic election. I have to say, it's quite a change from the days when we were overthrowing dictators. Back then, I was used to hearing, 'the people are revolting!' But tonight, I'm happy to report that you aren't revolting anymore—you're revolutionizing our future with nearly 90% of you joining the ongoing fight against corruption!" he joked. It was a slight dig at the other revolutionary leaders, who'd mostly sat out the actual revolution itself and had been little better than the corrupt regime they'd been fighting against.
He paused as cheering and chuckles erupted from the thousands of attendees who liked his opening. Then he continued, "What we've achieved for the citizens of our great country over the past few months was more than the previous regime had done for you in their entire time in power."
He was once again forced to pause for cheering and applause, then waited for it to die down before continuing his speech.
"And I promise you that for the next eight years of my presidency, that pace won't continue. Instead, it's going to accelerate! During my presidency, we're going to increase the investment in our country. We're going to work hard and pour our blood, sweat, and tears into making Eden a representation of the best that humanity has to offer. And when my time in office is over, I swear before the citizens of this nation and almighty God above that I will leave the country better than it was when I found it!"
It seemed the audience wasn't quite willing to let him speak as they broke out into another round of spontaneous cheers and applause, forcing him to stop talking again.
"But as they say, 'soonest begun is soonest done,' I'd like to take this opportunity to announce the company that my administration has chosen to partner with to extract the wealth that lies beneath our feet. That company is Connect, a local, responsible, and environmentally conscious company that put in a rather impressive bid.
"You may be familiar with them—they're already responsible for delivering utilities and building networks across this great nation. My team and I are fully confident in their ability to deliver on what they promised in both ours and Esparia's Exclusive Economic Zone, as they've already shown their ability to enter new fields on short notice while delivering quality products at affordable prices. The most important factor is that they're a local company! My team and I are committed to raising Eden into a fully developed nation that can stand on our own as a shining beacon of justice, equality, and a high standard of living!
"And this historic day is just the beginning of the things we're going to do for the development of the country. Along with developing the oil industry, we'll be focusing on our defense industry. Our nation's neutrality will rely on our sons and daughters standing tall and declaring with pride that we! Stand! Together!" Alexander pumped his fist in the air as punctuation for that declaration. It had been shown all throughout history that neutrality was an impossible stance to maintain without the strength to back it up. Neutral, 'pacifist' countries could only choose to be so because they were actually the ones with the biggest fist.
"But that's not all! With the upcoming opening of two ports, a mega-airport, and the completed railway network, our economy will only grow stronger and stronger, proving once and for all that our great nation is no worse than any others on the face of the planet...." Alexander continued his long speech, but no one in the audience seemed bored at all; every word he said was gold, as they revealed many of his plans to develop the country.
....
"He's really becoming a good speaker," Aron said as he watched the speech. He was even pleasantly satisfied by Alexander's delivery.
[My training worked,] Nova joked, reminding him that she was the one that had taught him everything he knew about public speaking.
"Good job," he said, then turned to Felix and asked, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes." Felix, who was in the room with Aron, Rina, Sarah, and Nova as they watched the rally, continued, "We'll hold a press conference and announce the formation of a branch company that'll be responsible for extracting the resources...." He outlined their plan.
When he was done speaking, Sarah took over and said, "We've also finished preparing to sell the oil internationally, and have already registered the new company. And thanks to Rina's help, we even managed to acquire a few oil tankers. They should be delivered to us by the time the oil derricks are built."
Aron said nothing, just nodded his head as he listened to his inner circle speak. He was holding Rina's hand beneath the conference table, eliciting a secret smile from her. She'd been unable to suppress her joy since being officially selected as the next Rothschild family head after Arieh had been proved to be the one behind the attempt on her life. He had already been banished back to their ancestral land in Israel as a punishment and was banned from leaving the immediate premises there for the rest of his life.
Rina had been quite active since then, as with her position, she had gained the power to change some of the operations of the family businesses. At least, she had that authority as long as the family head didn't overturn her decisions, which he rarely did.
And with her judicious exercise of that power, some Rothchild operations were shuttered, some were expanded, and others were praised for already being on the right track. The movements were massive, to the point that people in the family had begun thinking that she had planned her current course of action for years. It showed them how dedicated she was to growing the family even higher than they already were; thus, her father had grown to trust in her to the point that he basically just automatically approved whenever she asked him for his support. Even if it didn't seem to be beneficial to the family on the surface, she was still able to break down her reasoning and justifications for her plans, causing her father to begin giving up more and more of the power he held in his hands as his trust in her judgment grew.
Her actions didn't manage to avoid the sensitive eyes and ears of the Morgans in the least, though, but they were still focused on figuring out how to take revenge on ARES to earn back their honor. And armed with the knowledge of their cooperation with the Rothschilds, the Morgans were now convinced they had a way to establish communications with an inside man who could give them at least some useful information on the mysterious PMC. After all of their efforts, they had been completely unable to find any useful information about ARES at all; it was almost like the company had simply appeared on a magician's stage from another universe and expanded from there. The most terrifying thing about them was the power they'd displayed, which had been amassed without alerting anyone at all during the buildup process.
