47: Chapter 47 Bulldozer Impounded! The Pharaoh Wants to Collect Tolls?

"Bang!" A dull yet piercing gunshot, transmitted through the phone's connection, stabbed fiercely into Lin Zhou's ears.

Immediately following was Zhao Li's roar, which sounded as if it would tear his vocal cords apart.

"Damn it! What are you doing! This is my private property!"

"Boss! Boss, are you listening? These sons of bitches!"

Lin Zhou held the phone, his other hand's fingers tapping unconsciously on the cold metal desktop, making a faint clicking sound.

"I'm listening. How are the people? Is anyone dead?"

There wasn't a ripple of emotion in his voice; it was terrifyingly calm.

On the other end of the line, Zhao Li felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, and his anger was instantly suppressed by this chill.

"No... no one died, but these bastards fired into the air! Right next to my ears!"

Zhao Li was breathing heavily. In the background, the crunching sound of tracks grinding over gravel and the clattering of metal parts being savagely dismantled were mixed together, creating a chaotic mess.

"It's the people from Egypt's 17th Border Defense Regiment! They drove three M1A1 tanks and surrounded our construction site directly!"

"The leader is a major, his mustache curled up enough to hang an oil bottle on, and he insists that our construction activities 'endanger Egypt's national security'!"

The more Zhao Li spoke, the angrier he became: "Bah! The road we're building is on that godforsaken, ownerless land, five kilometers away from their nearest outpost! Endanger national security, my ass!"

"What about the local government? What do those officials who took the money say?" Lin Zhou's voice remained steady.

"Those bastards!" Zhao Li spat fiercely on the ground. "Yesterday they were still draping their arms over my shoulders, patting their chests to guarantee that we could do whatever we wanted in this territory! And today? Their phones are either turned off or unreachable!"

"Boss, this is obvious! It's a setup! They see that our equipment is valuable, all the latest models imported from Germany, and they want to gang up to fleece us!"

"Just now, that mustachioed major made a 'five' gesture at me, then shouted in broken English, 'Five Million Dollars'! Five million dollars! If we're even a penny short, our precious equipment is going to be sold as scrap metal!"

A look of undisguised mockery curled the corners of Lin Zhou's mouth.

"Five million? His appetite is even wider than the Suez Canal."

On the other end of the line, Zhao Li's voice carried a hint of pleading and helplessness.

"Boss, how about... we try pulling some strings? Spend money to avoid disaster, spend a little to get the people and equipment back first? These military thugs are capable of anything..."

"Not a single penny."

Lin Zhou's voice suddenly turned cold, like a Siberian cold front, instantly piercing through the phone signal.

"Zhao Li, remember your current identity."

"You are the Ambassador of the Cyber Freedom Republic to Egypt!"

"There is no precedent for a sovereign state paying tolls to highway robbers!"

There was dead silence on the other end of the line.

It took a full three seconds before Zhao Li's voice sounded again, carrying a trace of trembling after being stunned.

"Then... then Boss, are we just going to watch helplessly?"

"Send me the name, rank, unit number of that major, and all the information on the regimental commander behind him."

"As for the rest, you don't need to worry about anything. Immediately take all our people and retreat to a safe area. From now on, the entire engineering team is on paid leave."

"And! This is a national project! I don't need you to advance any funds; I can still afford the cost of a few dozen kilometers of access road! Remember to send the cost estimate over!"

After saying this, Lin Zhou hung up the phone directly.

The military blatantly stepping in, the local government collectively playing dead.

This combination of moves was not as simple as mere extortion.

This was certain factions within the Egyptian Military using the crudest, most direct method to test the bottom line and quality of his fledgling regime.

"Head of State."

Administrative Secretary Xiao Li walked in quickly, holding a beautifully crafted letter in his hands, his expression somewhat strange.

The envelope was a festive bright red, with Egypt's national emblem—the Eagle of Saladin—printed on it in gold foil.

"It was just sent over by a special person and vehicle from the Egyptian Embassy in China, specifically requested to be handed to you personally. They say it's... an invitation for you to attend the New Year reception they are hosting."

Lin Zhou took the heavy invitation, his fingertips tracing the raised relief of the national emblem, the texture distinct.

"New Year reception?"

He repeated it in a low voice, then laughed.

"Interesting. Sending troops to seize my bulldozers on one hand, and sending people to invite me for champagne on the other."

"These descendants of the Pharaohs are still playing the same old game from thousands of years ago: the carrot and the stick."

He casually tore open the envelope and pulled out the invitation inside.

The wording was extremely official, polite, and enthusiastic.

"In celebration of the Chinese New Year and to enhance the friendship between the two peoples, we hereby sincerely invite Mr. Lin Zhou, Head of State of the Cyber Freedom Republic, to..."

Lin Zhou didn't read any further and tossed the invitation onto the table, making a soft sound.

He finally understood what was going on.

Seizing the equipment was executed by the people below; sending the invitation was a gesture from the people above.

One hard, one soft, one push, one pull—they just wanted to see his reaction.

If he chickened out and obediently paid that five million dollars, then such extortion would become a daily routine, and the Cyber Freedom Republic would become an ATM for them to manipulate at will.

If he got angry and ran to the embassy to protest, he would fall right into their trap. They could slowly play diplomatic tai chi with him, dragging out the equipment issue for a year or so, by which time it would have long since become a pile of scrap metal.

A clever scheme!

Lin Zhou stood up, turned, and walked out of the office, heading straight to the Legislative Yuan next door.

Inside the Legislative Yuan, Zhang Zhe was leading a group of legal experts hired at high salaries from around the world, conducting the final proofreading and polishing of the draft of the "Constitution of the Cyber Freedom Republic".

Lin Zhou pushed the door open and entered, bringing a gust of cold wind with him. Everyone stopped their work and stood up in unison.

"Dean Zhang, how is the progress?"

Zhang Zhe took off his reading glasses, rubbed his somewhat sore eyes, and pointed to the huge electronic screen in front of him.

"Head of State, the basic framework has been completed. Every article has been repeatedly verified, and we are preparing to organize it for your final approval."

Lin Zhou swept a glance over the dense clauses on the screen, not looking at them in detail at all. He took an electronic pen and drew two thick red lines in the core "General Principles" section.

Everyone's heart jumped into their throats.

"Add two articles here."

Lin Zhou's voice was not loud, but it echoed in the quiet conference room.

"First, the sole official language of the Cyber Freedom Republic is designated as Chinese."

"Second, the statutory holidays of the Cyber Freedom Republic shall be fully executed in accordance with the statutory standards of China."

He paused, and the tip of the electronic pen tapped heavily on the screen.

"The Spring Festival is our nation's premier national holiday!"

As his voice fell, the entire conference room went dead silent.

Zhang Zhe was stunned, and the surrounding blonde and blue-eyed legal experts looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

After a few seconds, Zhang Zhe spoke hesitantly: "Head of State, this... our citizen composition is very complex, coming from hundreds of countries and regions around the world. Forcing the implementation of a single language and specific cultural holidays, will it... will it cause huge internal backlash?"

"Backlash?"

Lin Zhou turned around and looked at him.

"This country was built by me, brick by brick, with real money."

"My rules are the highest standard here. Anyone who has an opinion can keep it to themselves, or choose to get out."

He walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the calendar scrolling on the virtual screen outside.

There were only a few days left until New Year's Eve.

"I announce that from now on, the provisional government of the Cyber Freedom Republic is officially entering the Spring Festival holiday!"

"Except for the core technical departments maintaining basic operations, everyone is on holiday! During the holiday, everyone's salary will be paid at triple rates!"

The people in the conference room were stunned for a second, and then, thunderous cheers and whistles instantly ignited the entire floor!

After finishing all this, Lin Zhou returned alone to that most private office.

He walked to the corner and lifted a dust cloth.

Underneath was a set of professional-grade live streaming equipment that had been gathering dust for a few days.

He reached out a finger, wiped the cold camera lens lightly, and then skillfully turned on the power.

The equipment started up, the indicator lights lit up one by one, and it emitted a faint hum.