Darkstone Code

Chapter 1101 - 1099: Who Is He?

"Do we... really need to invite such a person over?"

Standing behind the window, the Eldest Prince of Gafura watched Akumal giving a speech in the hall, finding it somewhat incomprehensible.

He was unlike those students below. Many of them came from the lower and middle strata of society, with a clear gap in educational issues between Gafura and the Federation.

This gap manifested in the education monopoly group’s understanding of education and their approach to it.

In the Federation, education and knowledge itself are not monopolized commodities. To put it plainly, as long as one has money, they can acquire education and knowledge.

Anyone could be educated, be it a man, a woman, or even an it!

It’s all irrelevant; if someone can pay for the person or animal, private tutors will deliver knowledge right into their minds.

Including animals.

The star animals in the Federation evidently receive training; this is essentially education, a form of knowledge imparting.

Animals cannot do everything from birth; they are trained later in life.

No knowledge is strictly confidential; the Federation’s education group actually monopolizes the network of relationships formed by education and schools.

Alumni, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Student Union... Saint Harmony Association!

These various organizational entities represent the core value of the education group. It’s challenging for ordinary people to secure these jobs, but for those who can squeeze into these circles, it’s rather easy.

No one can refuse an employment application from a formal member of the Saint Harmony Association because you never know if there’s a significant figure behind them!

But they can freely reject a regular person’s job application, as there are no consequences to refusing.

Knowledge isn’t monopolized; rather, it’s the pathway to the upper echelons of society that’s monopolized. They installed a door in that path and locked it!

The scenario in Gafura is slightly different; high-end knowledge is monopolized by the noble class, such as at the Royal Science Institute and Royal Academy, the cores of Gafura’s research.

Only in these places can one learn certain knowledge considered sensitive by the Gafura Empire, with other places forbidden or incapable of building complete knowledge systems.

Outside of here, other places might not teach such knowledge, and traveling abroad... Although the Federation’s knowledge is obtainable for a fee, it requires a process.

The Federation’s openness to knowledge is high, yet the most cutting-edge knowledge, such as aircraft engines, isn’t within the educational system.

Such knowledge exists in various research institutes, making it difficult to learn in schools!

In the Gafura Royal Science Institute, as long as you qualify to study and research there, you can access this knowledge.

Among those outside the window, those listening to Akumal’s speech, part of them will have the chance to enter the Royal Science Institute in the future.

This is also why the Eldest Prince was so puzzled; Akumal’s set of thoughts essentially does not suit Gafura people.

Gafura is an aggressor; now he’s spreading the idea of "not using violence" to the aggressor, which is utterly foolish.

The Eldest Prince is well aware of Gafura’s crazy obsession with more land.

If they can’t secure sufficient land and strategic depth, they’ll gradually be eliminated by the world!

The simplest example is that despite winning many wars, they achieved no tangible gains.

The nobles are extremely dissatisfied, as they have invested massive amounts of money and manpower, yet despite winning, they gained no benefits.

Lacking a useful army, one reason is that other countries can retreat beyond the range of naval artillery, leaving them helpless.

Conversely, if one day Gafura isn’t as strong and their enemies reach the main island, where would they retreat to?

There’s nowhere to retreat; they’d be finished!

So Gafura’s path is to transition from an island nation to an inland one, and the only way to achieve this is through aggression!

Expecting aggressors to abandon violence and achieve peace through communication and negotiation is...

"Hey, can you cede some of your territory to me?"

"Get out of my sight!"

"Okay, I’ll ask another country’s leader!"

It’s roughly like this, so the Eldest Prince couldn’t quite grasp why the Prime Minister would take the initiative to invite Akumal for a speech; he felt... it wasn’t necessary.

They’re aggressors, and there’s nothing to hide; he didn’t think there was a need to conceal anything.

History is always written by the victors; he understood this long ago.

If the Imperial Family hadn’t eliminated the United Parliament back then but had instead been eliminated by the United Parliament, the history books today wouldn’t have the content about the "Dark Twelve Legislators."

The books heavily vilified the political and social aspects under Gafura’s rule by the United Parliament, and the appearance of the Imperial Family could be said to have saved the entire nation from darkness.

But if the Imperial Family lost, the legislators might become heroes who defeated a noble family attempting evil rule...

They don’t need to modify anything now!

Nearby, the head of the Royal Academy simply smiled, "We don’t need it, but we have to pretend we like this kind of thought, and only then can those who truly need it accept it!"

"You’re still too young, and you might not see some things clearly."

"Let’s assume a scenario..."

"Now, you’re standing with a group of enemies, holding a weapon, and they are holding roughly the same weapon. Yours might be slightly advanced."

"You are confident in dealing with any one of them, but not necessarily all of them. At this point, what should you do?"

The Eldest Prince fell into silence, proposing some additional factors, "Do I have allies?"

The head of the Academy looked at him with a smile, "Do you think the Empire has any reliable allies now?"

The Eldest Prince fell silent.

Since the Federation won the naval battle, cunningly annihilating the entire fleet, many changes have occurred.

People no longer believe in Gafura’s dominance; some countries turned to the Federation, and those left seemed to still stand behind them but not as steadfastly as before.

They might have allies, or perhaps... no ally is willing to stand with them till the end.

During nearly ten minutes of contemplation, the Eldest Prince considered many methods and a lot of elements, eventually ending up sweating profusely because he had no solution to such a dilemma.

He looked at the head of the Academy, swallowing once, "I don’t know what to do, Headmaster, but what does this have to do with the people below?"

The headmaster still appeared as though nothing could stump him, smilingly nodded, "You always think about attacking, why not try abandoning the attack first?"

"Look, if they find out you’ve abandoned fulfilling demands through violence and force, you’ve laid down your weapons, then they’ll lay down their weapons too."

"Before we discuss the next stage strategy, at least what we’re doing now doesn’t harm us, only benefits us."

"We won’t be further targeted by some countries, and the international community’s evaluation of us will improve, but we know all of this is an illusion."

"When needed, we can always pick up the weapons on the ground anytime, but by then, they might not stand together, understand what I mean?"

The Eldest Prince was slightly caught off guard; the complexity of politics left him momentarily bewildered—

How the hell did these people’s brains grow?

But he quickly grasped the benefits of acting this way: first pretending to be a peace advocate, then demanding others pursue peace, at least peace isn’t wrong.

Under such circumstances, Gafura will have the time and space to accomplish more. The Eldest Prince even thought they could use their advanced technology to redefine the world order.

"Moreover!", the headmaster picked up a pipe, stuffing some tobacco inside.

He enjoyed this feeling; lecturing was his happiest experience, especially when the audience was the Eldest Prince, possibly the next Emperor.

He placed the tobacco-filled pipe in his mouth and lit it with a torch, taking a couple of puffs, casually exhaling thick smoke.

"...Moreover, it greatly helps dissolve resistance within our occupied territories. Nagariel is a very conspicuous example, though the Federation occupies it!"

"They won’t admit it, but we all know it’s true. However, no conflict exists between the locals and the Federation, why?"

Before the Eldest Prince could think or respond, the headmaster continued, "Precisely because of Akumal’s thoughts, before which locals showed armed resistance tendencies. But soon, they couldn’t progress."

"Because they got what they wanted from Akumal’s thoughts, this ideology."

"The nobility is convicted, people can live stable lives, and even secure jobs."

"As long as any appeal is communicated to the Federation and deemed necessary, it’ll receive positive feedback."

"Look, Nagariel people now might even more than Federation people wish that the Federation would continue to rule long-term!"

"Simply because they’ve beyond previous rulers, they provided a channel for these people to convey information upwards!"

"They won’t form opposition anymore because they think everything can be resolved through discussion."

"But they never know that those discussions never touch upon the core interests of the Federation."

"If anyone attempts to touch that part, they will discover the Federation won’t give them a chance."

"I have to say, the person driving the entire event is a madman, yet a genius!"

"I very much look forward to meeting him!"

The Eldest Prince appeared somewhat bewildered, instinctively asking, "Who is he?"