President Edward’s trial was set for the fifth day after the coup had ended.
On this day, almost all Pannu people stayed home and gathered around the TV to watch the live trial.
In the end, the supreme court of Pannu Islands sentenced the former president Edward to seventeen crimes including treason. All his assets would be confiscated and he would be executed by the end of the month.
The result received support from all Xin citizens – the people who suffered under his reign wanted to rip off his skin and tear his tendons out. Of course, Xin was a civilized country so they evidently wouldn’t sentence him to a violent death; death by injection was his final fate.
As to the soldiers that surrendered, considering that they fought as part of their duty, the court didn’t punish them for their actions during the coup. In the end, they were only sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes.
At the same time, the previous government force was dissolved.
Once the political situation stabilized, the small country began to lose attention from international media and returned to a tranquil state isolated from the rest of the world.
But this was only relative – the small country remained in sight of many capitalists.
This was because of a ten billion USD project.
The infrastructure improvement project with its first phase complete restarted the bidding process for all construction companies in the world. The project was estimated to be in the seven billion range.
The most difficult first phase was completed by Linhua Group “free” of charge, so there were no other difficulties anticipated in completing the remaining three phases. Of course, considering the stability of the current regime and what happened to Linhua Group, the other construction companies all tightened their auditing process.
But when they heard Future International was the owner of the project, all concerns faded.
With a tech company with the profitability of over three hundred million USD a month, there was no need to question its ability to pay. Or rather, all construction companies hoped Future International would be unable to pay its debt. They could then use the equity in collateral and force the company to go public on Nasdaq. With a P/E ratio of 20 times, the amount of return would be unimaginable.
Of course, Jiang Chen didn’t lack money to repay the debt.
All capitals focused their sights on the island isolated from the world. Even if they couldn’t win the ten billion USD project, it wasn’t a bad choice to share a piece of the pie along with the mega capitals for the development of the island.
…
The boat’s engine hummed as Jiang Chen let the sea breeze mess his hair as he gazed at the horizon in front of the boat.
He bought the boat from the auctioning of Johnny’s assets. The captain of the boat was an older fisher named Carter; the warehouse security man, Cassan, recommend him to Jiang Chen.
The brown-skinned native spoke equally fluent Han and English. He went to Yangchen in Hua before for business. When his business closed down, he returned home to fish and fished for twenty-something years.
“How much longer?”
“Soon.” The old fisherman piloting the boat cracked a smile as he accelerated the boat.
They were cruising the sea at 50 knots; a single wave could send the boat soaring into the air. But the fisherman was undoubtedly a master of his trade – regardless how the waves changed, the boat cut through the waves smoothly and steadily.
Ayesha anxiously held onto Jiang Chen’s hand while the other hand tightly grasped onto the iron railing. Jiang Chen was more courageous as he didn’t look afraid at all. He stood there facing the wind as he breathed in the fresh air.
Not long after, an island surfaced in the close horizon.
“Do you see it?” the old fisherman shouted as he laughed.
“Haha, I see it.” Jiang Chen couldn’t wait to take his binoculars out as he looked at his island.
That’s right, it was his island.
As the biggest winner of the coup, Celestial Trade Company not only won the contract for national security in which they acquired the rights to form a military on behalf of the Xin government, they also gained the permission to build a military outpost, one hundred square meters big, on the nine islands. On top of all this, the New Moon Island 150 kilometers west of Coro Island was leased to Celestial Trade Company with an indefinite term by the Xin government for the establishment of a military base.
Just like its name, the island was shaped like a crescent.
The island was covered in thick, tropical vegetation. The middle part of the island was higher with the two edges flatter. The gulf of the island was somewhat shallow with a bench forming when the tide fell. An aerial view taken at that moment would show the island was shaped like a full moon. When the tide rose, it was more similar to a crescent. Hence the island was also known as Tide Island.
Because of the small area as well as a lack of fresh water sources, it was uninhabited and not part of the nine Pannu islands. Although it would ruin the beautiful scenery on the island, building a military base here was an excellent choice.
Once the boat approached the island, Jiang Chen saw the two vessels anchored on the side of the island.
Because there was no deepwater port, the two vessels could not dock – they could only anchor far away from the island and transport the people and supplies through boats.
These people were all from the Niger military base. They were mostly Christians from Syria and were incorporated as mercenaries during their escape. Although they were half forced, when they realized that Jiang Chen wouldn’t torture them and settled things appropriately with their family, they were gracious for everything Jiang Chen had done. After months of military training, they all settled into their new roles.
After a period of time, Jiang Chen would recruit new soldiers from Pannu. Based on his plan, in the first phase, the military base would maintain a force of five hundred people. While they prioritized the development of the air force, they would purchase old naval vessels and “modernize” them.
Of course, the plan must be executed one step at a time. Because they were in a peaceful time and Xin’s foreign relations with neighboring countries was rather normal, they didn’t have the need to expand militarily.
“Should we head for the shore or head to the vessel?” With the sea wind in his mouth, the old fisherman roared.
“To the vessel,” Jiang Chen commanded.
“Okay.”
The old fisherman dashed to the vessel.
The kilometers in the distance disappeared instantly.
After he secured the boat with chains, the people on the vessel lowered the ladder. Jiang Chen and Ayesha were the first to climb up.
When her feet came in contact with the flat deck, Ayesha felt disoriented and almost fell down. If it weren’t for Jiang Chen catching her, she might’ve fallen into the sea.
“Are you seasick?” With how drowsy Ayesha looked, the corners of Jiang Chen’s lips curled up.
Considering how disoriented she looked, it was the first time he saw her like this.
“A little bit.” Ayesha shook her head as she touched her forehead.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Jiang Chen said, concerned.
“Because… You looked really happy while we were out there.” A red hue surfaced on her cold face as Ayesha murmured gently. She kept her head buried.
With how cute she looked, Jiang Chen’s heart skipped a beat and he gulped.
But then, a light cough came from not far away.
Ivan’s defined face looked at Jiang Chen full of mockery.
“Boss, I’m not trying to be a third wheel, but… Everyone is looking.” As he spoke, Ivan jokingly pointed.
The soldiers on the deck blew whistles and cheered at Jiang Chen, and the teasing in their eyes was evident.
Ayesha hid her blushing face behind Jiang Chen’s back. Although she was open and proactive when they were alone, she still wasn’t used to acting intimately in front of other people.
Jiang Chen facepalmed.
These people dared to laugh at the boss.
“Get back to work! If I see you all wandering around on the deck, you don’t get to join the BBQ party at night!” Jiang Chen shouted at the top of his lungs.
When they heard there was a BBQ party that night, the soldiers all dispersed and got back to their jobs. The people with nothing to do all pretended to be busy since no one would say no to barbeque.
Jiang Chen grinned at Ivan with a grimace.
“Ahem, boss, I’m just… preventing you from embarrassing yourself in front of your subordinates.” Ivan forced a laugh. He felt eerie being stared down by Jiang Chen.
That was enough joking around. Jiang Chen put on a stern face.
“That’s enough joking around; wait for me in the captain room. Bring Barkary along with you.”
“Yes!” Ivan saluted and left with the order.