Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 115 Milton didn't want to be emperor, he wanted to be God.
Lopez held the phone in silence.

It wasn't that he had regained his composure, but rather that his anger had reached a new peak—Milton had become so reckless.

How dare you call him?
Are they here to provoke us?
Milton saw that the other party did not speak and was not angry. After all, the other party was an important person and it was normal for him to be a little arrogant. He understood this and continued to speak first: "Congressman Lopez, I have some good news to tell you."

Lopez's voice was chilling: "Oh? What good news? I'm curious, Mr. 'Hell Tax Collector'."

At this moment, Iker entered the house and came to Lopez's side, but dared not speak at all.

“I’ve caught a few people,” Milton said slowly. “These people plotted a conspiracy against you; it’s extremely despicable.”

"Really? Who is it that dares to plot against me? Tell me, I'm really curious."

Milton readily agreed: "A man named Moke led a group of other, strange men in an attempt to carry out a terrorist attack on my mine. Coincidentally, I had a small team stationed there at the time, and they were captured alive without me even noticing."

“I was very angry… so I used a little trick on them to ask who was behind the attack. But these people were completely unrepentant and actually said, ‘It was you who planned this attack, it was you, Congressman Lopez.’”

“But how is that possible? They are obviously slandering you. I have checked their identity information. Although they seem to be your people, I believe that with your character, you must not have known about this beforehand.”

"In order to punish them and to clear your name, I have decided to hold a trial in our town at noon tomorrow, to publicly try and execute these people... to restore your innocence."

"I hope that when the time comes, Congressman López will turn on the TV, turn to Malacan TV, and watch the live broadcast."

Lopez remained silent, and this time a slight smile even appeared on his lips—when people are speechless to the extreme, they really do smile.

"A public trial, is that right? Very well."

"That's all then, I won't bother you any longer, goodbye."

"Beep beep..."

After hearing the busy tone, Lopez slammed the phone to the ground three seconds later, turning the expensive mobile phone into a pile of trash.

Iker also had a new understanding of Milton in his mind, and whispered, "Mr. Congressman, please don't be angry. Milton is just trying to provoke you and influence your judgment."

Lopez's face was calm, but the bulging veins on his fists betrayed his anger. He turned and walked towards a landline, dialing a number.

Iker paused for a moment—weren't all the phone calls supposed to be handled by him and Grey? Who was Lopez calling this time?

Soon, the call was answered, but then there was silence.

Lopez took a deep breath: "Hello, I'm sorry to bother you."

Iker's expression changed drastically—although Lopez's political standing was still very weak, the power he wielded meant that even if he called the president, he wouldn't have to be so obsequious.

Yes, Lopez's attitude was obsequious!

Who's on the other end of the phone?

There was still no response; all was silent.

Lopez continued:
"You've probably heard more or less about the strange and disobedient man named Milton who has appeared on the border between Mexico and us."

“He has almost escaped the control of the government. He is the emperor of that region, no, even in some ways, he is the god of that region.”

"The civil war is about to end, and a new government is about to be formed... You need a more obedient, democratically elected government, but if we let Milton run rampant, I'm very worried that there will be problems with the rebels. I'm worried that they will take up arms again and continue the war."

“We slaughtered too many Mayans there, and the hatred runs too deep. They won’t stop fighting unless they are forced to.”

"I think you don't want to see the civil war start again either."

"So I need weapons, I need equipment... whether it's to quell Milton or to deal with a possible new civil war, I need these things. You know I'm on the front lines, I'm under a lot of pressure."

"Light tanks like the AMX-13 are simply not enough to handle the battles that may come next. As you can see, it even has helicopters and napalm."

The other party did not hang up the phone, but did not say anything either.

"$30, located in the yellow trash can next to the second public restroom on the right-hand side of the main entrance to Volcanoes National Park, at 14 p.m. tomorrow."

“For every new tank imported, I will prepare another $10 for you.”

"If things go smoothly, I will need to purchase more aircraft in the future, and your share will be included as well."

"What do you think?"

After a five-second silence on the other end of the phone, the call ended.

"Beep beep..."

Lopez breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Iker, we can contact Russia. Now we can buy more powerful tanks! I've been wanting to buy T-55s to replace these garbage AMX-13s I have for a long time."

Iker swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "Over there, has it been agreed?"

Although the other party didn't say a word, anyone with a modicum of thinking ability would know which organization the person on the phone belonged to!
“Hanging up immediately means disagreement, hanging up after a while means agreement,” Lopez said. “That’s our code.”

"Uh, Mr. Congressman, does that mean we shouldn't import American tanks? Would the Americans allow us to import Soviet weapons?"

“Are you stupid? Just because a CIA agent is American doesn’t mean his interests are tied to America’s.” Lopez cursed. “Let’s not even talk about how ridiculously expensive things are over there, and how we can’t afford many of them. The smuggling channels alone are a huge problem. Smuggling tanks from the US would be extremely stressful and risky for an agent like him, and the American military-industrial complex wouldn’t give him a share of the profits—they wouldn’t even bother looking at our small orders.”

"On the contrary, slightly opening up the channels with Russia would be more beneficial to him, an American, do you understand?"

"Don't think that a CIA agent is some kind of omnipotent figure. Of course, he is very powerful and has a lot of authority here... but as soon as he returns to the United States, he is just an office clerk. If he dares to touch his pocket in front of any ordinary police officer, he will be riddled with bullets."

Iker suddenly realized: "I understand..."

Lopez chuckled coldly: "With this kind of approach from the United States, I think it won't be more than twenty years before the troops stationed abroad start to become like warlords... But it has nothing to do with me, as long as they open up imports."

“Mr. Senator,” Iker thought for a moment, then asked, “didn’t you say that you wouldn’t use force to attack Milton at this stage?”

“Restraint doesn’t mean I’m going to drop my gun.” Lopez glanced at him. “Besides, I’m only saying this for now… Once Grey has built up her power base, once a military attack on Milton will no longer affect my votes, I will not hesitate to crush him—and that disgusting town too. I don’t want to see a single living person left in it.” “So, do you want to watch tomorrow’s TV program?”

Lopez's smile froze on his lips.

"call……"

"Look!"

“I will remember this humiliation I have suffered, savor it, and then repay Milton tenfold.”

"..."

……

Meanwhile, the residents of Malacan were also busy.

"Boss, is our TV station... uh, is it really useful?"

Not far from the police station, Brandon looked at the makeshift "courthouse" made of wood, then turned to look at the strange-looking antenna equipment on the hilltop not far away.

Flora was also amazed; the town, which had been desolate not long ago, now looked surprisingly vibrant.

The television equipment was all purchased directly by Milton using points—this rudimentary television station didn't have a large coverage area, but it could cover the city of San Marcos and barely reach Quetzaltenango.

As long as it can cover major cities, it will definitely be broadcast and spread.

“It works, don’t worry.” Milton patted him on the shoulder. “These devices are old, but they are all in good working order.”

Brandon paused for a moment, then shook his head and chuckled awkwardly, "Boss... I didn't mean this is useful. I mean, this TV station seems to consume a lot of fuel. After this live broadcast, will it have any other use? Can we use it to show movies?"

“…I told you, watch fewer movies.” Milton rolled his eyes. “You’re right, we can’t afford this kind of TV station right now, but it doesn’t matter. We can just use it when we need it, and we can use it permanently when we have the money in the future.”

“Boss, it feels like the town is really getting better.” Brandon was a little disappointed that he couldn’t watch movies on his own TV station, but he quickly changed the subject. “When I was on duty before, the streets were always full of homeless people and beggars.”

"There are so many jobs in the town now that there aren't enough people, and you can hardly see any homeless people or beggars anymore."

"Just now, an electrician who came all the way from Mexico offered to do our work."

"Border trade seems to be picking up again."

"Indeed, if everyone has a stable job and the volume of border trade is large enough, the tax revenue generated will definitely be more than that from robbery."

Milton waved his hand: "Speaking of taxes, how are the tax returns going? How many people have submitted their tax returns?"

"Everyone is rushing to pay... Many people are afraid that you, boss, will not collect their taxes, and then take away their jobs, leaving their houses vulnerable to robbers and thieves."

“Very good.” Milton smiled with satisfaction. “How is the security situation since you took over the police department?”

“It’s much better than before. First of all, there are many more jobs, and everyone can afford bread,” Brandon said. “Secondly, the police are cracking down harder. Ever since we caught a few thieves and spanked them in front of everyone, crime in town has decreased significantly!”

"Very well, hold on."

The town is now a very stable logistical base, with enough stability and output to support Milton's expansion.

After finishing his discussion about taxes, Milton turned and headed to the canteen, where he got a serving of food—fresh food, not canned food.

He wanted to continue asking Brandon about work-related matters.

"By the way, how is the defense along the route from Fan Kangbang's camp to our side? This is our trade route, and we absolutely cannot let anyone sabotage it."

“Well, it’s a bit complicated for us to do these things across the border, so this part is handled by Flora.”

Flora, who had been eating nearby, mumbled, "We temporarily built a new headquarters on the basis of the Van Cong headquarters, and recruited Mexicans as our subordinates there... There's also a civil war there, and the people there need work too."

"Actually, the location of that camp is really good, but Fan Kang's gang didn't take advantage of it."

"There aren't many defenses along the way. It's too troublesome to guard a single road. It's best to start controlling the entrances and exits to nip the threat in the bud."

“I have sent out a lot of sentries, and they will report immediately if any unidentified armed personnel approach.”

“I’ve deployed your rotorcraft fleet over there. If anything happens, our air power can get there quickly.”

Milton nodded and said, "Not bad, very professional defense."

Given the current limited resources, this approach of using sentries for reconnaissance and concentrating all highly mobile forces together to extinguish any fires immediately is far better than dispersing forces and deploying defenses along the entire road.

Moreover, once the enemy gets close to Guatemala, Milton will know that someone has entered – to attack the trade route, they must be carrying weapons, and these weapons certainly cannot be legally imported.

As soon as smuggled goods appeared, Milton would receive the news immediately and dispatch forces to crack down on them.

Flora tossed a piece of meat into her mouth, took a sip of bland water, and asked, "Boss, do you think Lopez will send people to attack our trade routes?"

“It’s not just my opinion,” Milton chuckled, “it’s one hundred percent. Even if it were me, I would do the same to my enemy.”

"Hmm...hmm?!" Flora nodded subconsciously, but suddenly realized something was wrong. "Wait, what do you mean you would do that too?!"

Milton said slowly, "It means exactly what it says. They can't just attack my trade routes while I can't attack theirs, can they? Besides, what I'm going to do isn't small-scale fighting; what I'm going to do is blow up bridges and roads!"

Flora was completely dumbfounded: "Holy crap... but their attack on the trade route is just a hypothetical scenario. What if, what if the enemy doesn't attack your trade route?"

"Then you can only blame them for being too kind... Good people don't live long here."

"Damn, you're so ruthless!"

"Alright, alright, hurry up and finish eating and rest. After the trial tomorrow, I'm going to let Station Chief Lyman experience what it means to be in unbearable pain."

(End of this chapter)