Hearing Jian Qian'ou's words, Lin Lan immediately understood what this old fox meant.
He wanted Lin Lan to help "clean house."
Coincidentally, Qi Yue had also invited him to visit Yunhai City next month.
Lin Lan thought for a moment and looked at Bismarck.
Seeing Bismarck nod at him, Lin Lan said,
"In that case, I'll make a trip to Yunhai City next month."
"I'll contact you then."
As the most prosperous metropolis on the Western Continent, Yunhai City was about three days away from his port district by sea, traveling in a straight line aboard a mass-produced destroyer.
Thanks to the protection of the Ironblood fleet, he didn't need to follow any sea lanes—he could take the shortest route directly.
After hanging up the call, Lin Lan glanced at the date on his phone. There were still two weeks left until next month.
It was already mid-October. Even under the sun outside the office, one could feel the weather gradually turning cold.
Lin Lan had already put on an extra layer of clothing.
It had been about a year and a half since Lin Lan had crossed over to the Orland United States.
Having already experienced one winter, he knew well that around November, Orland would officially enter the winter season.
In Orland's winters, whether on the Eastern or Western Continent, many northern coastal cities would see their shores freeze over.
This made transporting supplies by river and sea much more difficult.
Many cities in Orland prepared winter reserves in advance.
Fortunately, all the equipment and living supplies in his port district were abundant for now. Moreover, the Ironblood floating fortress beside the port had already begun to take shape.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Manjuus and Muscle Cats, the vast floating fortress infrastructure changed daily—it was extremely efficient.
Once the fortress was completed, many supplies and equipment could be transferred from the current temporary warehouses in the port district to the fortress.
Before heading to Yunhai City, he would definitely be able to settle all the shipgirls into their new accommodations.
Sometimes he wondered—since they would eventually return to the old port district—was building a floating fortress here really necessary?
But later he thought it through: even after he returned to the port, that didn't mean he would never come back to Orland.
Ancient emperors had their own summer palaces. If he ever got the urge to return to Orland again, wouldn't this place make the perfect vacation home?
Besides, building the floating fortress didn't waste any real resources or effort.
The materials were from the Sirens, the energy was directly converted from ocean energy, and manpower came from his Manjuus and Muscle Cats.
With that in mind, he felt at ease.
Since Bismarck was acting as his secretary ship today, Lin Lan asked her curiously,
"By the way, Bismarck, can we communicate with the other factions right now?"
After all, it had been quite a while since they had last spoken with the flagship representatives of other factions via virtual projection back at the Ironblood fortress.
Lin Lan was curious to know how the other factions were doing.
"Regrettably, Commander, the long-range communication equipment is currently managed by Friedrich, as it's difficult to relocate. At the moment, we cannot contact the other factions."
Bismarck replied methodically, then explained:
"That equipment requires an immense energy supply and the cooperation of Command Cats.
So, Commander, until Friedrich and the others arrive, we won't be able to reestablish contact with the other factions."
After hearing Bismarck's answer, Lin Lan slumped into the chair behind his desk, visibly disappointed.
Friedrich the Great's expected arrival was also about half a month away.
Everything just happened to line up.
Noticing Lin Lan's low spirits, Bismarck rose from the sofa, picked up a cup of hot coffee she had just brewed from the coffee table, and placed it on his desk.
"Commander, don't worry. Before I came here from the fortress, I got in touch with the other factions. They're all doing fine."
Hearing that, Lin Lan sat up, pulled the coffee cup toward him, took in the invigorating aroma, and looked curiously at Bismarck in front of him:
"Oh? Then tell me—how have they been lately?"
After a moment of thought, Bismarck began recalling seriously:
"Commander, I'll start with the closest faction—the Eagle Union."
"When Brunhild and the others went there, the Eagle Union had just subdued the conglomerate, and were still purging the remaining resistant executives."
"Now that conglomerate has given up. According to Saratoga, they've already been 'inspired by the spirit of the lighthouse of freedom.'
Many of their workers have even volunteered to build statues for them."
At first, Lin Lan was calmly sipping the hot coffee, letting the steam warm his face.
But when he heard that the conglomerate workers had been "inspired" by the Eagle Union, he couldn't hold it in and choked violently on the coffee, spilling a good bit of it.
"Ah, Commander, was the coffee too bitter? I'm sorry, I'll get you some tissues right away!"
Seeing the coffee spilled all over Lin Lan's desk, Bismarck, normally so composed, showed a hint of panic and rushed to help.
"It's not your coffee. What did you just say? Say it again."
Suppressing his inner shock, Lin Lan waved her off.
He grabbed some tissues from the side of the desk, wiping the coffee from his hands and desk as he looked at Bismarck with disbelief.
"Hmm… Saratoga didn't go into detail, but I'm guessing it's because the conglomerate was overexploiting the workers too much."
Hearing Bismarck's analysis, Lin Lan suddenly understood.
That made perfect sense.
There were three major conglomerates on the Eastern Continent: the Tianou Conglomerate, the Goilia Conglomerate, and the Noah Desin Commercial Group.
Except for Tianou, the other two were classic vampire conglomerates.
Whether it was Goilia's monopoly on energy and mining, or Noah Desin's rise through cheap outsourced labor—they were both infamous.
The two conglomerates were in bed together, and many Orland citizens or migrant workers from Liao Continent on the Eastern Continent despised them with a passion but could do nothing about it.
Back when he was at Red Maple Naval Academy, Lin Lan had classmates who said their relatives worked for those conglomerates.
To extract the maximum profit from workers at the lowest cost, those conglomerates used every dirty trick in the book.
First, Noah Desin's shell companies lured in workers with fake promises of high pay and excellent work conditions.
Once hired, these workers would be outsourced to Goilia, becoming so-called "outsourced labor."
Not only were the workloads several times higher than originally stated, but their wages would also be docked for every possible reason.
What angered workers most was that before the Zhuhai Commerce Assembly took power, the Orland United States had laws requiring companies to compensate official employees for injuries and occupational illnesses.
But as outsourced labor, once workers suffered injuries or illnesses and sought compensation from Goilia…
They'd be told to go back to the company that originally hired them.
By the time they finally tracked down the shell company under Noah Desin, they'd discover a delightful surprise:
The company had already "gone bankrupt."
At that point, those poor workers would either be unemployed or forced to continue working as outsourced labor under Goilia.
And Goilia would dangle empty promises—like becoming a full employee after a certain period, or wage increases after working a certain number of years.
These tactics had worked time and again for the two conglomerates, who had already become the powerholders and monopolists of the Eastern Continent—utterly lawless.
Even if workers filed complaints with the Review Court, they'd never get a dime in compensation. Complainants might even end up losing more money.
Because filing a complaint required money too.
As the top institution of the Navy Department, Red Maple Academy's students had long seen through these shady dealings.
But most ordinary Orland citizens, or workers from other nations, were already too deep into the conglomerates' schemes to escape.
Back then, when Lin Lan heard his classmates' stories at the academy, he hadn't found it surprising.
Because on Blue Star, in his own history books, he had seen plenty of such revolting capitalist tricks.
Only back there, the ones who played those tricks had all been strung up on lampposts by the worker class led by the Northern Union.
What shocked him now was that, of all factions, the one to pull this off wasn't the Northern Union…
But the Eagle Union!
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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