100: Chapter 100 The Belated Price, the Bitter Fruit That Must Be Swallowed

"Head of State, did you hear? African Union observer status. This allows us to reach the political core of Africa. And the ISO, that's the body in charge of industrial and technical standards."

On the phone, Zhao Li's voice was so excited it was slightly distorted, as if his exhilaration could be felt right through the receiver.

This was indeed a highlight of his diplomatic career.

"I heard."

Lin Zhou's voice remained calm, without a hint of a ripple.

"Old Zhao, thank General Mubarak for me. Tell him that we will remember his friendship."

"Understood. I'll get right on it." Zhao Li sounded energized as he happily hung up the phone.

Lin Zhou put down his phone, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the desk with a light "tap, tap" sound.

The victory with the Universal Postal Union was within expectations.

After all, they had the support of two countries, Vatican City and Egypt, and in the end, his true motherland had secretly helped out. More importantly, the Cyber Freedom Republic's own hardware conditions, such as an independent International Internet Exchange Center, were solid, and no one could find fault with them.

While the process of securing this technical organization had some twists and turns, the result was not surprising.

However, Egypt's subsequent actions were a bit abnormal.

Proactively nominating them to join the ISO.

Even offering to help get them into the African Union as an observer state.

This was too generous, even a bit excessive.

One must remember that not long ago, just for a nomination to the Universal Postal Union, he had actually shelled out a hundred million US dollars plus 5% interest to secure Egypt's agreement.

How many days had passed since then?

How did that shrewd Mubarak, who was previously a businessman who only cared about money, suddenly become so generous?

When things are abnormal, there must be a problem behind them.

Lin Zhou knew very well that in international politics, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Every seemingly generous gift has a price tag attached to it in secret.

Egypt must have a purpose for doing this.

What could it be?

He couldn't figure it out.

Lin Zhou simply stopped tapping and leaned back against the chair.

Rather than guessing blindly, it was better to take it one step at a time.

At least for now, the ISO nomination and the opportunity for African Union observer status were tangible benefits.

With the reputation built through large-scale humanitarian aid in Africa and the support of a local power like Egypt, becoming an African Union observer state shouldn't be a major problem.

"It seems I'll have to take a trip to Africa," Lin Zhou muttered to himself.

The headquarters for the African Union Summit is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As the Head of State, he had to attend in person to complete this very important diplomatic debut.

Just as he began to draft the specific plan for the trip to Africa, there was a knock on the office door.

A formal diplomatic note from the Egyptian Embassy in China was respectfully delivered to his desk by his secretary.

The envelope was embossed with the golden national emblem of Egypt, appearing very solemn.

Lin Zhou opened the envelope and pulled out the document inside.

When he saw the contents of the note, Lin Zhou's pupils constricted.

He finally understood what the real price of that gift package was.

The content of the note was simple, but its weight was heavy.

The Egyptian Government, based on the "Memorandum of Understanding between the Cyber Freedom Republic and the Arab Republic of Egypt on Defense and Security Cooperation," formally submitted a request to station troops.

This memorandum was something Lin Zhou had proactively signed in the early days of the country's founding to exchange for Egypt's recognition and protection.

The core clause was written clearly in black and white: until the Cyber Freedom Republic established an armed force sufficient for self-defense, the defense and security of its national territory would be fully entrusted to Egypt.

And now, Egypt stated that since the Oasis One Settlement project of the Cyber Freedom Republic had officially launched, in order to better fulfill the security agreement and protect the lives and property of their ally, the Egyptian Military needed to enter Bir Tawil.

They requested that in the overall planning of Oasis One, priority must be given to the construction of a military camp to house a standard company of approximately 120 personnel.

The camp needed to include barracks and training grounds, as well as an ammunition depot and an independent communication system.

Even more excessively, these construction costs were to be borne by the Cyber Freedom Republic.

The reasoning sounded logical, even to the point where it was impossible to refute:

Because these stationed troops are here to protect you.

These military facilities should also be handed over to you in their entirety once you have your own army in the future.

Therefore, this money should naturally come out of your own pocket.

"What an ally."

Lin Zhou leaned back in his chair, his face showing no particular expression, only a cold curl at the corner of his mouth.

He knew he couldn't refuse.

Joining the ISO or becoming an African Union observer were introductory gifts given by others.

Now, they were coming to exercise their rights.

The clauses signed for the sake of survival were now becoming constraints.

Refuse?

That would be a unilateral breach of the agreement, which would immediately sour relations with the world's only land neighbor. All previous diplomatic efforts and the victories Qin Yue and the delegation fought so hard for would vanish instantly.

Agree?

That would mean forcibly inserting a foreign army into the home he had just started building.

The capital of a country has a planned population of only a little over two hundred people, and you're stuffing in a hundred and twenty fully armed foreign soldiers?

This was too ridiculous and too dangerous.

This was equivalent to Egypt reaching its hand directly into the core of the Cyber Freedom Republic. All your construction progress, personnel movements, and capital flows would be completely exposed right under their noses.

The lifeline of your country, from the very first day of its birth, would be held in someone else's hands.

This was an open scheme.

Without any concealment.

First, use the ISO and African Union gift packages to make you happy, making you feel too embarrassed to refuse their "goodwill" after accepting their favors.

Then, calmly bring out the agreement and tell you rightfully that it's time to pay the bill.

"One company..." Lin Zhou's finger lightly traced the cold printed characters on the diplomatic note.

He quickly estimated that the construction cost for the entire camp would be at least thirty to fifty million US dollars.

This amount was nothing to his current national treasury of over 2.9 billion US dollars.

But this precedent could not be set.

Today it's a company; tomorrow will it be a battalion? The day after, a regiment?

No.

Absolutely not.

He had to establish his own strength to counterbalance this outside force.

Police.

The word immediately jumped into Lin Zhou's mind.

He had to immediately, right now, speed up the construction of the national Police Force.

Not only build it, but expand it on a large scale.

He wanted the number and equipment of the police in the Oasis One Settlement to be enough to deter those hundred and twenty Egyptian soldiers, making them afraid to act recklessly.

"It seems the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Security needs to get to work."

Lin Zhou picked up the internal phone, prepared to call He Jun immediately, the retired special forces soldier he trusted most.

But just as his finger was about to press the dial button, another encrypted red phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed it was Director Zhou.

Lin Zhou picked up the phone.

On the other end, Director Zhou's voice was steady as usual, but now carried an obvious excitement.

"Xiao Lin, there's good news."

"The Academy of Agricultural Sciences has produced results."