[TN: Alright, that's your gift, a week's worth of chapter. Hope you guys enjoy, and once again, happy holidays.]
If someone lives in hell for long enough, it becomes hard to even imagine a better life.
Sometimes it's not hardship that defeats people, but other people's good lives. Seeing someone else living well can feel worse than being killed—especially if that person was simply born lucky.
Abdi looked toward the harbor. He watched his compatriots hauling rubble with mixed expressions. Strong young men formed a long line at the recruitment office—confused, nervous, yet excited.
Confused because war had suddenly arrived. Nervous because a life here was like dust in the wind—worth almost nothing.
And excited for a simple reason: the army occupying Galkayo would hand soldiers food and clothes, and promised that one day they'd have houses. Abdi could see how happy people looked after signing up—wearing new clothes, eating meat from tins.
At the registration point, a flag flew high.
It resembled Somalia's old blue flag with the white star, but now it had three added stripes: one gold stripe, and two tighter red-and-white stripes.
Gold for the African Union. Red and white for Atlas.
A shamelessly flattering design.
He'd once imagined a flag flying over a port—his own flag. In the end, he'd still chosen this.
Leo looked at the harbor and said, "Studying is good. But you weren't doing it just to sell your life to someone else, were you?"
"…No."
If you trace it back far enough, nobody is born to sell their life.
"Good. And I don't need an obedient dog, either. I need Somalia to stabilize quickly, and I need Galkayo to become an essential bridgehead facing the Suez."
In the process, poor Somalia would receive support from Atlas and the African Union—exactly what Abdi wanted.
The word "stability" snapped Abdi back to reality.
What made cooperating with Atlas possible wasn't that he'd thrown away his pride and become a dog to survive.
It was that, right now, Leo's interests overlapped.
Leo extended a hand. "In this future strategic plan, the African Bank will issue large amounts of interest-free and low-interest aid loans to your side. That money buys high tech from Atlas, food from Wakanda, clothing and other necessities from other African companies…
It buys your tomorrow and your dignity. You're young—don't keep thinking you must lose something to gain something."
Abdi looked at Leo, full of shame and embarrassment.
He was right. This boss hadn't demanded their souls—Abdi had just started imagining it on his own.
Even though the robot in front of him looked clumsy, after a few exchanges, those sensors and rounded instruments felt… intelligent.
Wasn't Leo supposed to be around his age, too?
"Uh…" Abdi scratched his head. "Then…"
Leo kept his hand out. Abdi hurriedly shook it, brain spinning. "Cooperation… goes well?"
"Cooperation goes well. And outside—don't be this naive."
"Heh." Abdi then asked, "Mr. Lee, this might sound weird, but… wouldn't perfectly obedient soldiers be better?"
Leo glanced at him. "I don't like people acting clever and deciding they must throw something away to get something. Be greedier, kid. I'm letting you stand upright and make your money—and you're not happy?"
"Happy, happy! Then I'll— I'll go work?"
Still dazed, Abdi pointed back toward shore.
"Go. And don't forget your weekly implant check."
Leo waved him off. Abdi turned and walked away—still grinning like an idiot, as if drowning in sudden joy.
If the exoskeleton didn't have assisted movement, he might've fallen into the water.
Little Octopus appeared in Leo's vision, a huge question mark hovering above its head.
[Little Octopus: Boss, why?]
[Leo: Why what?]
[Little Octopus: If we're going to rule the world as the ultimate big boss, isn't it inevitable that we collect obedient underlings and death squads?]
Little Octopus put on sunglasses and a cape, even added a cane—like some octopus-mafia kingpin.
Several even smaller octopuses appeared, bowing in allegiance. Each wore a white bandage on its head, and each tentacle held a katana—
…though the katanas were so tiny they looked more like knives.
[Leo: What is this nonsense? Where did you learn it?]
[Little Octopus: TV dramas (￣︶￣)]
Leo's face darkened. He dispelled the tiny octopuses. Little Octopus's eyes instantly turned watery.
[Leo: Emotionally, what I said was true. Rationally, besides利益, you also do ideological work with allies—make a clear distinction from the enemy's behavior model.]
A flood of headlines filled Leo's view:
"Middle East conflict calms; steel soldiers eliminate terrorist leader."
"Oil supply disrupted; global oil prices hit 10-year highs."
"Oil futures panic as investors fear prolonged disruption."
"African Union faces trade blockade."
"Terror groups exploit Somali chaos, threaten global energy supply."
Last week, after that cascade of news, something major happened: the oil states agreed to compromise—and cut production.
With that compromise, Roxxon effectively got a stranglehold over nearly 90% of the world's oil-producing regions.
At that point, a flick of a finger could crash economies.
Of course, there were still obstacles in their way: Europe—strong economically even without oil, and quietly doing plenty of trade with Atlas lately.
And then Africa—
Africa had oil, too. Its exploration and extraction capacity was just too weak.
But the biggest obstacle was Atlas itself—because Atlas was the only force that might suddenly win the U.S. election and change the trajectory.
Still, cuts had already sent prices soaring. In the U.S., beyond calls for peace, many voices insisted the country should directly intervene in Somalia to ease the supply crisis.
Either way, life getting worse was pushing people into fear.
[Leo: Roxxon likes to scare the world by making people lose things. We bind people by giving them more. Sometimes that works.]
[Leo: If I do the same—if all our allies become dogs who fear losing, or have already lost their goals—then one day, if we hit a setback, they'll have every reason to choose a stronger master.]
[Leo: So we give allies hope, not fear.]
[Little Octopus: But what if Roxxon becomes the same as us?]
[Leo: Then there's no need to fight.]
Little Octopus scratched its head and spun. An AI brain struggled to parse the difference.
Whether you threaten with loss or promise with gain, to it both were just setting expectations.
At certain points, "gain" and "loss" were symmetric—especially in behavior control. That made the distinction hard to understand.
Leo watched Little Octopus and patted its head.
[Leo: Maybe it's because you're not that kind of AI. Some things—you don't need to fully understand.]
Bzz—
A burst of complex noise hit Leo's mind. Little Octopus vanished from view instantly.
[Little Octopus: Boss, it's a communications request from New York.]
Leo glanced at the Atlas soldiers learning the electromagnetic naval guns.
[Leo: Frank, prepare to board. Level-one combat readiness.]
[Leo: Abdi, declare the port in emergency status—get your people ready.]