297: A World Where Only the Conglomerate’s Agents Got Hurt Was Achieved

Bringing along Anchorage and Eldridge, Lin Lan followed New Jersey into the corridor of the administrative building.

Lin Lan noticed that between the windows of the clean, white-walled corridor, there were many group photos of Eagle Union shipgirls hanging on the walls, giving the place a warm and homey atmosphere.

Unable to contain his curiosity, he turned to New Jersey, who was grinning foolishly as she held his hand, and asked the question that had been bothering him the most:

"New Jersey, tell me how you managed to take over the Goilia Conglomerate. Honestly, I was already curious back when I was with Iron Blood. I can't believe you actually pulled it off."

The Goilia Conglomerate, after all, was one of the five major corporate groups of the Zhu Hai Trade Union in Orlan. 

It was by no means some insignificant outfit.

Just like the Tian'ou Group and Battleaxe Military Industries, Goilia had countless subsidiaries and controlled numerous major cities and industrial chains in its territory.

And Lin Lan recalled from what Brunhilde and the others had told him back in Iron Blood—that the Eagle Union had only arrived on the Eastern Continent less than a year ago.

To govern such a massive conglomerate in such a short time, and to completely turn it around, was something he couldn't fathom how Little Sara and New Jersey had accomplished.

"Hehe, Honey, don't underestimate me and Sara~ When it comes to managing a conglomerate, we definitely have our own unique methods~"

"But to explain it all, I'll have to start from when our Eagle Union fleet first arrived in this country."

New Jersey turned her head, her sapphire-blue eyes twinkling as she cheerfully explained to Lin Lan:

"I'm sure you've heard from Yorktown and the others about what happened here before. 

While we were clashing with this conglomerate, we were also gathering intel across the country to look for you."

"Even though this world is very unfamiliar to us, we noticed that many aspects of this country are quite similar to how our Eagle Union used to be."

"Later, we discovered that this country even had a Navy Department, fake Wisdom Cubes, and chess-piece shipgirls."

"Once we gathered this intelligence, we started openly collecting more information under the guise of being shipgirls from the Navy Department."

Seeing New Jersey's face full of pride, Lin Lan couldn't help but chuckle and respond:

"Those fake Wisdom Cubes were most likely supplied by the Sirens. I already analyzed this with Bismarck and Hipper back in Iron Blood."

"Hmm-hmm-hmm~ As expected of a commander! You even figured out the origin of those fake Wisdom Cubes."

New Jersey looked at Lin Lan with admiration in her eyes and continued with a smile:

"As for the reason and process behind us occupying the artificial island, I believe Yorktown and the others have already explained it to you."

"After we destroyed the conglomerate's central command on the island and took over the artificial island, managing the conglomerate was easy for us, since we'd already gathered enough intelligence~"

"We discovered earlier that this conglomerate governed its employees and workers through oppressive means—or to put it more accurately—through exploitation."

"So, Sara and I decided to impose a little extra tax on the remnants of the board of directors who surrendered, and on the conglomerate's regional agents scattered across the country."

"Since we had no use for the money, we decided to redirect all of it to the conglomerate's workers and employees as welfare benefits."

"Once we showed our strength, those remnant board members and agents were thankful just to stay alive—they didn't dare object and agreed to the tax without hesitation."

"Well, we originally thought this might not be enough and had other plans in place—like making an example of someone—but unexpectedly, everything went smoother than we imagined."

New Jersey winked playfully, as if recalling a happy memory:

"Once we put that plan into motion, basically all of the conglomerate's oil fields and factories across the country became our assets without a hitch."

"Countless barrels of oil and supplies began flowing into our hands."

"And to prevent Siren attacks on our oil fields or rebellions from distant regional agents, we also supported several local Navy Department port commanders."

"Not only did they trade vast amounts of oil and funding for our surplus equipment, they even volunteered to monitor the agents and clear out the Sirens for us. A win-win situation."

After hearing New Jersey's account, Lin Lan finally understood why the workers he had encountered in Anna City were so cheerful, even thanking him on behalf of the shipgirls.

He also understood why even back in Iron Blood territory on the Western Continent, had heard rumors that Goilia Conglomerate workers were erecting statues for the Eagle Union shipgirls.

He had been wondering where the shipgirls got the money to improve the workers' benefits.

Turns out, the funds all came from taxing the conglomerate's upper ranks.

Sara and New Jersey's string of interlinked strategies was nothing short of astonishing.

The Goilia Conglomerate had long been infamous for its exploitation. 

Many on the Eastern Continent deeply resented their collusion with the Noah Desin Conglomerate to squeeze the people dry.

By forcibly extracting "a few hundred million" in tax revenue from the higher-ups, Sara and New Jersey had funneled all of it into improving benefits for the oil field and factory workers.

And those regional agents with ulterior motives were closely monitored by Navy Department port commanders—who themselves had been supported with surplus white- and blue-grade gear from the Eagle Union.

Setting aside the internal conflicts between the Zhu Hai Trade Union and the Navy Department, even outdated white- and blue-grade gear was considered extremely rare and valuable to chess-piece shipgirls in the Orlan United States.

You could see this from the warship equipment trade fair held in Yunhai City.

With equipment that drastically boosted their shipgirls' strength, local commanders of the Navy Department were more than eager to kneel to the Eagle Union if it meant more gear.

As a condition for receiving the gear, the Eagle Union asked them to protect oil fields across the Eastern Continent—something these Orlan commanders were more than happy to do.

In fact, that already fell within their official duties.

Seen in this light, the conglomerate's workers and employees gained welfare and a safe working environment; the Navy Department commanders strengthened their fleets and could protect more civilians while undermining the Zhu Hai Trade Union; and the Eagle Union obtained the conglomerate's full supply of oil and endless resources.

Aside from the surrendering board members and the unlucky regional agents who got hurt, everyone else won.

Well, it wasn't entirely fair to call those agents "unlucky"—at least they were still alive.

Had it been the Northern Union's shipgirls in charge, those agents would likely be hanging from lampposts by now.

Perhaps that was the only stroke of luck left for the board and the agents.

Understanding all this, Lin Lan couldn't help but smile.

In the end, it was his Eagle Union shipgirls—these "outsiders"—who had won the hearts of the people on the Eastern Continent.

By using tactics eerily similar to the Eagle Union during the Cold War back on Blue Star, the Eagle Union shipgirls had successfully revitalized the Goilia Conglomerate and made it "great again."

After all, during the bitter standoff of the Cold War, the Eagle Union had, for a brief time, genuinely been a "beacon of freedom."

As for what happened to the Eagle Union after the Northern Union collapsed...

Lin Lan shook his head, brushing away memories of Blue Star.

Regardless, what his Eagle Union shipgirls had done thus far was clearly steering the Goilia Conglomerate toward becoming a true "lighthouse."

This would undoubtedly benefit the future of the Orlan United States.

Only, it was likely that the Tianou Conglomerate and Noah Desin Conglomerate—two major players in the Zhu Hai Trade Union—would not be pleased with the current situation.

Lin Lan wasn't concerned about the Noah Desin Conglomerate. 

As for the Tianxing Conglomerate, which had a personal grudge with him—now that he was back on the Eastern Continent, he certainly wouldn't let it slide.

As he pondered all this, Lin Lan followed New Jersey past several offices with their doors open.

He noticed the office workers sitting at desks operating computers were, as expected, all adorable Manjuus dressed in black suits.

Well, Lin Lan wasn't surprised at all by this point.

He had already seen how capable Manjuus were. With their exceptional intelligence, they could quickly grasp administrative work after just one lesson from New Jersey or Little Sara.

Still, there was no doubt that Saratoga and New Jersey had poured an enormous amount of effort into conceiving and executing this entire plan.

Looking at New Jersey beside him, tightly holding his hand and radiating joy, Lin Lan smiled:

"You've all worked so hard during the time I was away."

"Eh~ Honey, I was just helping Sara out. You should really say that to her directly."

New Jersey replied sweetly with a smile. After she spoke, the four of them arrived at the end of the corridor, in front of a closed meeting room door.

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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta

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