"If you want me to save you, you’ll have to endure some humiliation. For example, we need evidence—secret photos of you being shamed. Can you handle that?" Antonio asked tentatively, unsure if Ramon could bear it.

If Ramon couldn't, taking down Bernardo would become significantly harder and far more dangerous.

Ramon clearly realized this as well. Without even gritting his teeth, he thought for a brief moment and said, "Master, my body belongs to the state. I have nothing to fear from showing it. As long as we can purge the traitorous officials, I am willing!"

"However, I hope that before it goes public, you can tell Rosalind and my daughter in advance. I’m afraid they won't be able to handle it."

Antonio nodded. "The fewer people who know, the safer we are. Tatiana has a strong psychological threshold, so don't worry about your daughter. As for the Madam, I will make arrangements."

Once finished, Antonio violently shoved Ramon onto the bed and began shouting like a beast:"You little slut, I'm going to fuck you to death! You piece of trash, you want to cross me? Go ahead, try it! Do you dare cross me again? I'll kill you! You're nothing but a whore..."

While shouting, he whispered secretly to Ramon: "You scream too. Make it sound painful!"

"Ah! It hurts..."

Ramon actually screamed, his eyes brimming with tears of humiliation.

Antonio walked out of the underground chamber looking completely drunk and satisfied. He hadn't even zipped his fly, and his belt was unbuckled; only a single button kept his trousers from sliding down.

"Go, clear out the torture rack. I've had enough fun."

"Yes, yes, Commander. I'll go in and clear it right away."

Just as the guard was about to step inside, Antonio grabbed him by the collar again, his face flushed as he roared with a playful yet menacing smirk: "The people I’ve screwed—you don't get to touch them, understand? Or I'll have Commander Bernardo screw you... and when I say 'screw,' I mean that kind of screw. Do you follow me?"

Antonio made a motion as if he were about to tackle the guard to the ground.

Forced to lean back, the guard’s back was nearly breaking as he almost flipped over, pleading: "Commander... Commander Antonio... I don't like men..."

Just as the guard was about to fall, Dante rushed over to steady him and said to Antonio: "Commander... your zipper. Let me help you..."

Under the gaze of the four guards, Dante actually helped Antonio tuck his shirt into his waistband, zipped him up, and buckled his belt.

He did it slowly and meticulously, as if he were dressing himself.

Satisfied, Antonio nodded and patted the guard, letting him go. "I was... out of line just now... but you should thank him for bailing you out... hehe..."

But when the two guards tried to enter the underground chamber, Antonio pointed at them and barked again: "If you dare go in there, you'd better strip naked first! Just wait until I’ve had a shower and come back to fuck you all!"

The two guards froze, not knowing what to do.

"Listen, when I get back later, you all better clear out. I’m bringing some mysterious guests back for more fun... Hehe... Dante... isn't it more interesting with more people?"

Dante nodded awkwardly, not daring to say yes or no.

"Give me the keys! Hand them over!"

When Antonio reached out, the sentry indeed handed over the keys to the secret chamber! Antonio took the keys and continued to mutter to himself: "Only I have the keys, hehe. Don't even dream of sneaking in there for a peek."

Propped up by Dante, Antonio wobbled back to his room. Seeing the corridor was empty, he immediately said to Dante as soon as they entered: "Quick, go find Lady Sweet and tell her to prepare. Have Garrison get the wiretapping and filming equipment ready. You can't enter Lady Sweet's dormitory, so send Tom. You go find Garrison yourself. Do not use the phone."

Hearing this, Dante hurried out.

In less than half an hour, he returned and said, "Lady Sweet and Garrison both said they’ve been ready for a long time, just waiting for this moment."

A short while later, Antonio led two men in military uniforms with black cloth bags over their heads toward the entrance of the underground chamber.

Seeing this, the four guards quickly lowered their heads and covered their eyes with their palms.

Antonio had only been in the chamber for about ten meters when a broadcast announcement came from outside stating the National Security Bureau was conducting an emergency audit, followed by an emergency power cut to public facilities.

Antonio "played" in the chamber for nearly an hour. During this time, Ramon’s screams grew even more wretched, masking the sound of the drills installing the hidden cameras.

When he led the two hooded men back out, they were equally disheveled.

Early the next morning, Terrence returned to Lady Vivienne's villa with a smile on his face. He handed Vivienne the film of the secretly photographed, naked Bernardo.

Naturally, it included photos of Bernardo in his uniform but without trousers, photos of the old man’s exposed body... even photos of Bernardo being naked with other men...

If even two or three of these photos were leaked, Bernardo would inevitably face suspension.

Of course, Terrence skillfully kept his own face out of them, exposing only his body. He felt it didn't matter for a man to show his body as long as he could make money.

"You’ve done well, Terrence. Once the photos are developed, you can go home." Vivienne pulled out twenty $100 bills and gave them to Terrence. She didn't know why she gave him extra; it was as if she had so much money that she didn't care about it at all, which wasn't like her usual self.

Receiving the money, Terrence began packing his things.

He didn't dare take the suit the Madam had bought for him, carefully hanging it back in the wardrobe.

He put on his dusty, drab clothes again and lay on the bed, waiting for the photo development to finish.

Two thousand dollars!

Terrence couldn't earn that much pulling a rickshaw for half a year. Leaving the Madam's villa now, he even felt a bit of lingering nostalgia.

"Thinking back to that officer last night, Terrence still felt a bit excited. That man actually liked being treated like a woman and letting Terrence take him... The officer even said things like, 'Ah, I used to be the one taking others, but I only like it when you're the one possessing me... Ah, you look so much like Antonio...'"

Thinking of this, Terrence buried his head in the covers and laughed uproariously.

He realized now that Bernardo was a Commander—such a high-ranking official! He used to think it was impossible to even shake hands with such a big official, yet last night he had pinned a Commander down like a little lamb.

Thinking about it, the feeling was even quite endless in its aftertaste.

When he left this morning, the Commander even asked him, "Terrence, when can you come back to see me again..." Hey, why would I come back to see you? You didn't say you were willing to give me money...

Of course, Terrence had replied at the time: "In a few days."

In a few days? When exactly? Who knows?

An hour later, when Terrence left, he made a point of bowing to thank Vivienne. He felt she might not care, but he felt he had to do it.

"As he left, he looked back and saw Vivienne standing on the second-floor balcony, which was filled with growing lilies, waving goodbye to him.

When Terrence arrived home, it was only noon. He saw Fabian and Mina sitting on the oxcart in the yard, swinging their four feet together.

"These are all my children!" Terrence thought secretly to himself.

Suddenly, ten-year-old Toby popped out from nowhere and lunged into his arms: "Daddy! Daddy's back!"

It was a bit of a struggle for Terrence to hold Toby. The boy was only ten, and the family often lacked food, yet he had managed to grow to 30kg, and his height already surpassed Terrence's navel.

So now he could only hug Toby; he could no longer lift him high into the air.

"Daddy bought you something delicious, look!" Terrence unloaded a small half-bag of flour from his back.

Toby didn't seem to dare hope for candy; having flour made him very content. Using his limited strength, he worked with Terrence to carry the flour into the house.

But when they reached the oxcart, Fabian had already taken the flour, simply asking: "Father, did things go smoothly?"

"Quite well." Terrence lowered his head and answered with a flushed face.

He turned to find Mina calling him timidly: "Father."

"Mina, why are you so distant with your father?"

When Terrence said this, Mina laughed and walked back into the house hand-in-hand with her father.

Inside, Terrence was surprised to see wooden boards scattered everywhere. His second son, Caleb, was carefully tapping away with nails and a hammer. This honest fellow's older brother was outside chatting while he worked hard on his own.

"What are you doing, Caleb?" Terrence asked softly.

"Father, I’m going to make a separate room for my two sisters. Everyone should have their own room."

Hearing this, Terrence was instantly consumed by guilt.

This was supposed to be his responsibility as a father.

The midday sun was somewhat scorching.

Elena was clearing the irrigation channels for the rice fields. Autumn was approaching, which was the dry season on both sides of the Sangreza River. The men had to go into the water to repair the waterwheels and expand the upstream channels.

The women couldn't stay idle either; they had to clean the small ditches at the edge of the fields to ensure that even a small amount of water could pass through smoothly.

Battalion Commander Ryker actually ran over in person to call Elena to the office to take a phone call, which surprised her.

From this spot to the office, it took about ten minutes even if one ran.

Wouldn't the phone bill for this be sky-high?

When Elena reached the office, she realized Ryker had actually hung up long ago. The callers had left numbers for her to call back—two people, two different phones.

Director of the Bureau of Planned Economy: Arthur.
Brigade Chief of Staff of the Military District: Bruno.

Without thinking, Elena decided to call the first one. Seeing Ryker still lingering in the office with a smile, she pushed him out and shut the door.

Clearly: This might not be my office, but I’m occupying it; don't even think about eavesdropping.

"Hello, is this Elena?" Arthur’s voice sounded quite excited.

"How did you know it was me? Shouldn't a Director’s phone be very busy?" Elena laughed.

"Haha, you don't know—usually, nobody calls my phone. This is a military district; our county government here doesn't have much power."

"You..." Seeing Arthur speak so bluntly, Elena was stunned. She laughed in an ancient, thousand-year-old courtly tone: "Lord Director, most grand Lord Director, what orders do you have for me?"

"Elena, this is serious business!" Arthur’s voice suddenly became very grave: "The central government has approved it—we are going to implement a pilot Military-Civil Joint Border Economic Development Zone here. The military provides the land, and our county government provides the people. Elena, you seem to have very unique insights into the economy, and these insights come from the grassroots, which is different from the experts. I want to ask you to write a report—the more detailed the better—discussing your vision for the construction of the Military-Civil Joint Border Economic Development Zone."

"Ah..." Hearing this long string of words, Elena was too surprised to speak.

"Hello? Are you listening? Elena, quickly find some paper and a pen. I’m going to start instructing you."

Elena thought: Isn't paper and pen easy to find? She randomly pulled open Ryker’s drawer and took out a notebook. Flipping to the page with a pen, she saw a love letter: "Dear Lucy... I think I'm a goner... I think of you every day..."

"Ah, Hahahaha... how can someone be so naive..." Elena burst into laughter.

On the other end of the line, Arthur was clearly bewildered: "Elena, don't call me naive. I’m not naive, hehe..."

"I wasn't talking about you, I wasn't talking about you... heeheehee..." Elena continued laughing.

"Alright, I’m starting." Arthur continued seriously on the phone: "Make sure you take this down. First is the location. My opinion is to site the development zone directly opposite Port Sol. This way, we can use the prosperity of the opposite shore to develop commercial trade, letting the two sides of the great river link into one city."

"Great idea!" Elena couldn't help but admire. "You want me to help you write a feasibility report so the central government has to approve this plan, right? Well, I’ll have to boast a bit appropriately then. For example, I’ll say exaggeratedly that in the future, there will be a subway connecting the two cities, haha..."

Elena knew this was actually the real future, but for now, she could only call it "boasting."

Otherwise, who would believe it?

"Exactly! Boast! Boast hard! It's for the good of the country and the people anyway." Arthur also laughed on the phone.

"Second is the industry. Besides the location, you also need to help me choose several promising industries to develop—like that chestnut cake factory you mentioned last time."

"No problem, I’ve got it!" Elena said as she wrote: "I’ll be even bolder. I’ll say we should develop a domestic fertilizer plant, and the products from that plant should even be exported to the other side and to the whole world—you don't mind, right? I also want to develop real estate, hotels, the chemical industry... I might blow a lot of smoke..."

Elena continued speaking playfully.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her: "To develop all of this, we first need to develop the textile industry. Only when the textile industry is established can it drive initial industrial development. Then, high-end industries will become possible—such as the dyeing industry, the garment industry, as well as cotton planting and fertilizer industries... they all need the textile industry to lead the way initially..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Arthur couldn't help but marvel on the other end: "Elena, I really didn't pick the wrong person. It’s you. I’ll sign your name on your report."

"Then... does that mean I’ll actually have a chance to go to the Party Central Committee for a meeting?"

After making that self-deprecating joke, Elena continued to glance at the words Ryker had written to Lucy. It said: "Dear Lucy, as a Battalion Commander, I have already authorized myself to date you. When will you notice my love? I really want to kiss your face."

"Tsk, tsk, how mushy!" Elena couldn't help but marvel.

On the other end of the phone, Arthur said seriously: "How can going to a meeting at the Party Central Committee be considered 'mushy'? Elena, you are a master of a socialist country, a female comrade of the new era. You must have a dream to bravely shoulder responsibility for the country and the nation. That isn't mushy; that is a grand vision! It’s the noble dream of the new socialist youth."

"Alright, I understand," Peilin said, suppressing a smile. "Any other instructions? I need to do a field inspection before I can write it. Including transportation planning for both sides of Port Sol and how the farmers should get rich—I’ll take it all into account. I think I already have a 'mushy' dream."

"That’s all. Keep it up," Arthur encouraged her. "Your 'mushy' dream will surely come true."