Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 257 Milton's "Apology"

Near the state border, the Oaxaca state police force dispersed with grim faces, leaving no one behind.

The CIA agent hiding in the state border knew the moment he saw Winnie that whether she continued to negotiate, threatened, or even remained motionless, as long as she didn't leave, endless humiliation awaited him.

The chase ended with Milton's successful interception, regardless of the cost.

The assassination of a non-strategically significant enemy target came at the cost of the annihilation of an entire SAD squad – an exchange that is simply unacceptable.

The CIA, which strikes fear into the hearts of outsiders, has already lost two SAD teams to the same opponent, and the humiliation it has inflicted is almost catching up with that of Castro!
The only good news for this person in charge was that he had prepared forged identities in advance, so he could deny the official identities of these agents to both the outside world and the inside world. Even if they died, they would not occupy "star slots" like before, and would not cause the same uproar in the country as before.

Otherwise, if things continue as they have before, the Clinton administration's re-election could face serious problems.

……

On the land that had just been ravaged by war, the surviving CIA officer lay on the ground, all his equipment violently removed.

After stripping him naked and making vicious mockery of one of his body parts, Winnie and the other two DEA agents finally handcuffed the exhausted prisoner and put him into an armored vehicle.

Milton remained seated in the car, waiting until Winnie had closed the door completely before asking, "What do you plan to do with these people?"

At this moment, the CIA agent, though exhausted, was still conscious. Hearing a minor warlord speak so casually about his fate, he was first filled with anger and humiliation, but then the metallic touch on his hand made him feel a deep sense of powerlessness.

Winnie thought for a moment and said, "Let's interrogate them first... I need to know who planned the attack on us."

"The person we caught last time was in charge of Guatemala and didn't know much about the specifics. This time, we caught a CIA agent directly in Chiapas. Surely we can get some useful information out of him?"

"Do you have anything to ask?"

Milton thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know what I want to ask either. Just have them tell me everything they can, and see if there's any information I need."

"Ok!"

“Okay.” Milton nodded. “Just tell me if you need any equipment.”

“We don’t need much, just some simple interrogation equipment that won’t cause external injuries… Hmm, the room must have electricity, so these CIA agents can experience what it’s like to be electrocuted.” Winnie said without much thought, “We’d better hurry. Even though the official identities of these SAD agents have been concealed, we’ll definitely put enough diplomatic pressure on them.”

"Even if you find the drugs on them, even if you go through the proper legal procedures and sentence them, they might still ask for your extradition."

Milton smiled and said, "It's alright, we can talk about it later."

Want people?
It's not impossible. These SADs are always a destabilizing factor, and leaving them on Milton's territory would be a waste of resources. It would be better to send them back to the United States after "harmless" disposal...

We need to rack our brains again to figure out how to completely neutralize these CIA agents.

Soon, the pursuing forces returned to Tustra.

The troops remaining here have begun to assume police duties, and with food supplies restored and absolute violence rampant, order has been largely restored in the city.

The enemy, who had been hiding in the city and trying to take advantage of the chaos, had no way to hide from Milton and was quickly captured.

Unlike San Cristo and Comitan, Tustra was a large city and a stronghold of the enemy, with many die-hards remaining.

Milton had just gotten out of the car and asked Winnie to take the CIA to interrogate the criminals when a communications soldier, covered in sweat, ran up to him and reported, "Reporting to 'The Godfather,' there are too many criminals, and the local prison is not enough! We've even used the solitary confinement cells in the military camp, but it's still not enough."

“What prison? What solitary confinement?” Milton frowned. “Why make it so complicated? This is Tustra; surely we can get a few with an excavator?”

"I recently said that we should develop more healthy agriculture... What does healthy agriculture need? It needs a lot of land and fertilizer."

"We currently rely entirely on imports for fertilizer, which is a huge sum of money. Now, the enemy is so considerate as to offer us a batch of fertilizer, but instead of accepting it, we're wasting our own food to feed them?"

Milton looked at the soldier and sneered:
"Dig a big pit with an excavator, throw all the people who deserve to be killed into it, and wipe them all out with a grenade launcher. Then find a nearby farmland and distribute welfare to the local villagers. The 'hellish tax collector's' natural ecological fertilizer is free!"

Now that we are in the development and construction phase, these enemies who are still trying to put up a last-ditch resistance have no value for transformation or united front work. Directly converting them into cash is the best option.

"Yes, sir!" the soldier saluted immediately. "I will relay your orders right away!"

After the soldier was seen off, the others soon came looking for him as well.

Brandon was the first to arrive, and the first thing he asked was, "Boss, we've angered the CIA again. Now that the US midterm elections are over, will there be any problems?"

“At this stage, the DEA can still barely hold on to its tiger skin.” Milton waved his hand, “but the situation we will face in the future will indeed become more and more difficult… We have caused quite a stir in Mexico, and we need to keep a low profile for a while.”

Even now, the commotion Milton caused is considered utterly insignificant by major powers; at best, it's just a few lines in a report.

To put it bluntly, a small warlord in a small country, in a country rife with warlordism and extremely unstable politics, has only been around for less than a year. He might be a big deal locally, but on a global scale, he's nothing.

The deaths within the CIA can be seen as internal strife between different departments in the United States, and are not as serious as many people imagine.

Unless an entire country explodes and ascends to heaven, only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a few other countries will have their farts broadcast extensively in the world.

But things will be different after that.

Milton is about to unlock equipment that can change the geopolitical landscape, truly launching a campaign to overthrow the current Guatemalan government, and with a high probability of winning the civil war... This is truly a country's "spiral explosion and ascension" level.

Without any preparation or any trump card, it could be really dangerous.

Brandon nodded in agreement: "After we take down Coca-Cola, we'll go back to Guatemala and develop it! We have oil, we're building refineries, we're building railways, our trade has already started... We definitely need to develop it first."

With the bonuses from the panel, once all these constructions are completed, Milton will be able to support at least one elite synthetic brigade!
It wouldn't be like now, with such a severe shortage of troops that we have to rack our brains to paralyze the Alsu government before we can fight a single battle, and then transfer some elite technical troops to ask Vic for people to form ordinary troops to fight.

Milton nodded: "At this stage, Coca-Cola no longer needs to threaten us with force. I've mentioned my plan before... Once we control the new government and parliament, Coca-Cola will have no choice but to surrender to us."

“Hmm… Boss, you mentioned this before.” Brandon nodded. “I’m just worried that Coca-Cola might not back down so easily. Recently, some intelligence has come in saying that quite a few executives have flown back to the United States to talk to Coca-Cola’s headquarters about this matter.”

"The PMC security guards they hired showed no signs of leaving."

"It seems they really intend to resist to the end. If we pass the legislation, will they continue to resist?"

Milton waved his hand: "That's because we hadn't taken down Tustra before, and we hadn't achieved such a good record. They thought they still had ways to maneuver."

“Now, things are different… Don’t forget, there are many Mexican employees at the local Coca-Cola companies. Americans can leave, but they can’t leave at all.”

"Even if Americans want to resist, even if Coca-Cola Fensa wants to resist, the locals won't join them in resisting."

"Once the bill is passed, we can proceed with the enforcement process."

Brandon nodded: "Then shall we start the election tomorrow? If we don't elect a governor by then, the federal government will have a legal basis to intervene."

“Good,” Milton said. “Let’s go to the governor’s office. We should talk to Vic about this.”

Ten minutes later, Milton arrived in front of the state government office building.

The shell craters are still clearly visible, but the various pieces of debris have been cleared away. The buildings that were hit by shells were also urgently cleaned up during this period. Although they are still dilapidated, at least people can enter them.

Milton arrived at the governor's office, which was still relatively intact except for the glassware which was shattered all over the floor. He picked up the phone and dialed the mayor's office number.

After the busy tone subsided, Vic's cheerful voice rang out: "Congratulations! The 'benevolent father' who saved Tapachula has spread his glory throughout the entire state of Chiapas! Hahaha!"

The moment news of Tustra's victory arrived, Vic stopped everything he was doing and waited for the call.

“Military victory is always just the beginning; it’s not something to celebrate now.” Milton’s tone was quite calm. “We need to immediately proceed with the legal process to take over the entire administrative system of Chiapas. Are you ready?”

A mayor cannot concurrently serve as governor. If Vic wants to become governor, he must resign from his original position, namely mayor of Tapachula.

"Of course, I resigned yesterday. The city council will appoint the deputy mayor as interim mayor to complete my remaining term, and I will run for governor of Chiapas."

"Hmm... Alternatively, after a new parliamentary election, I could be appointed as the interim governor. What do you think would be better?"

According to convention, a mayor must resign from his post 90 days before the election to be eligible to register as a gubernatorial candidate.

But now the governor has been executed for an unprecedented coup, and even the state legislature has been massacred by the rebels. The entire state has entered a true state of emergency, and the election has been forced to start early. No candidate can know about this three months in advance, so this precedent can be broken this time.

There are two ways for Vic to become governor: one is to hold a normal election, and the other is to have a member of parliament vote to appoint someone as interim governor after the parliamentary elections are completed, so that Fid can complete the remainder of his term.

“The votes in Tapachula are definitely yours,” Milton said. “The other candidates were either unprepared, didn’t campaign at all, or died in the war. And my army is in Tustra, guaranteeing a fair election… You’re sure to be elected governor, and we’ll have an absolute majority in the legislature.”

“There’s no need for me to be an ‘interim governor.’ Although the powers of an interim governor and a governor are almost the same, a governor cannot be re-elected after his term ends. Fied has already served as governor for a period of time, so there’s no need to waste those terms.”

Don't forget, the locals are still eating Milton's relief food!
The future state of Chiapas, under Vic's leadership, will inevitably have significant conflicts with the federal government, as it desires to continue receiving food supplies...

They will naturally have to carefully consider who to vote for.

“Sigh, to be honest…” Vic said jokingly, “This governor is a complete mess. There are many cities further north that are not under our control. The terrain there is not good either. It’s easy to attack but difficult to defend. Even if you take it, there is a high chance that things will go wrong in the future.”

"More importantly, there's a very tough Coca-Cola stuck between Tapachula and Tustra, which is not easy to solve."

"Of course, I will definitely push for legislation after the election to take back all the resources that belong to the state of Chiapas, but this process will probably require negotiations and will take a lot of time."

Milton's trains and oil refineries desperately needed electricity, but he didn't have time to negotiate with Coca-Cola. So he said, "It's alright, we'll play the devil and the good guy... I'll go and give Coca-Cola some gifts as an apology, which should help expedite the negotiations."

“…I think our understanding of ‘gift’ might be a little different.” Vic paused for a moment, then, considering Milton’s style, he retorted, “In the minds of most people I know, a ‘gift’ is a friendly gift, right? What are you planning to give them?”

“Don’t worry about all that nonsense.” Milton clicked his tongue. “Just remember to sign a contract with us when you become governor. I want both the oil and the hydroelectricity—don’t worry, I won’t let the locals suffer in terms of price.”

"At least signing a contract with me is normal business, but signing a contract with Americans is like being blatantly robbed."

Vic laughed heartily: "Of course, Coca-Cola has already profited so much from monopolizing the reservoir, they've already made their money back. Now they're just bringing things back to normal, and all this fuss is really ungrateful."

"Alright, I've already drafted the contract. Now I'm just waiting for you to become governor." Milton quickly ended the call. "I have to go make souvenirs for Coca-Cola."

After Milton hung up the phone, he turned and went out, where he saw Flora, looking travel-worn, waiting at the door.

It seems her pursuit is almost over.

"Judging from his expression, Badr didn't catch him, right?" Milton continued walking forward. "As expected, Badr, aside from other things, I think he's still a decent fighter in Mexico."

“He really knows too much.” Flora couldn’t help but complain as she followed. “If his men ran away as a unit, it would be really easy to catch them. The problem is that Badr actually let his men run away like wild boars all over the mountains and plains... He talked a lot about what terrible things would happen if they were caught.”

"Army troops are easy to catch, but wild boars are not so easy... We've wiped out nearly half of the enemy, but the remaining half is really impossible to catch."

Milton nodded: "Half is not bad either. These few hundred experienced soldiers will definitely enhance CJNG, but they won't make CJNG too powerful overnight. As far as I know, the Sinaloa Group will be making a big move soon. We happen to have cooperation with the DEA. After the war, we can ask them to help us find out some information."

In 1995, which is next year, a major event will occur in Mexico.

Joaquín Guzmán, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was transferred from a high-security prison to a prison in Jalisco state.

This prison was corrupted at lightning speed by the Sinaloa Group, which turned the entire prison into its luxury villa!

The so-called imprisonment was almost like a vacation.

However, unlike in the previous life, CJNG appeared earlier, and Jalisco was already becoming Elmencho's backyard.

Milton couldn't guess what Guzman would do next, so he could only let the DEA keep a close eye on him.

"Oh...right, I just heard you mention something about souvenirs and gifts, what exactly were they? You know how to make these things?"

Milton glanced at her: "You're curious, aren't you? Then come with me, I'll show you what kind of souvenir it is."

"Sure! Make me one if you have any extra materials!"

Milton got into the car and took Flora to the police station in Tustra—a makeshift interrogation room for the captured CIA agents.

Of the entire CIA team, only three people were captured alive.

Upon entering the basement, Milton saw a DEA agent covering a prisoner's face with a wet towel, while another agent slowly poured water onto it.

Milton waved his hand: "Wait a minute...tell me, which of these guys is the tough one?"

The DEA agent put down his work and said somewhat embarrassedly, "They all seem pretty tough... I guess they know the US might use diplomatic means to extradite them back, so they're all putting up a fight."

Milton choked for a moment, then asked, "...Which one is the hardest?"

The DEA agent thought for a moment, then pointed to one person: "He's the toughest. The others just silently endured it, but he's different. He endured it and then cursed, and he cursed pretty filthy things."

"Do you want to conduct the interrogation yourself?"

"We've already used waterboarding and..."

As the DEA agent was speaking, he noticed that Milton had bypassed him and gone directly to the CIA officer.

Everyone was stunned, not understanding what Milton wanted to do, including Flora.

Didn't we say we were going to make souvenirs? What are we doing here?
Milton admired those slightly provocative eyes, then suddenly drew his saber from his waist, raised his hand, and stabbed it fiercely at the SAD agent.

"..."

"what!!!"

P.S.: I need to be subtle. I got another scolding from the editor today, sigh.

(End of this chapter)