"Oh, Mr. Yaniv, please don't rub on my sore spot."

"That's the person you've been praising all along?"

"It's because he's miseducated his children. There's no indication that the president has been dishonest yet?"

"How do you not know that his daughters' money came from him? You've already guessed it but you're only pretending not to know about it."

Yaniv shook his head, saying Kazakhstan had no hope since it had been under a long-term regime for 30 years. Then he praised Putin's smart strategy of switching back and forth from president and to prime minister for years.

"How come you don't look worried? Did you by any chance find the length of his foot? You pushed Sergey to prepare the railroad tracks and now you need rebar? It's weird that you're working on construction now."

"Oh, I'm just preparing our state for a possible attack."

"What's the point of stopping it? I'll give you some extra money, so please get out of the desert. If you'd rather settle down in Volgograd, I'd tell Putin to give you as much land as the size of the autonomous state."

"You know we can't keep the Archduke system in Russia."

"Hey, this is the 21st century. What are you going to do with maintaining the Archduke system? You can just live comfortably. Are you now enjoying to be called the prince consort or the duke?"

Being called 'duke' was quite pleasant for Youngho. He also thought that the combination of monarchy in a democratic system would make Kazakhstan better. At least it was worth a try for once.

"The autonomous state is going to be fine. Don't worry, Mr. Yaniv. I'm afraid that President Putin will be greedy for Kazakhstan in the future. If that's what he is thinking, tell him to be careful."

"Why? Do you have a nuclear bomb or something? If you don't have one, I can get you one. There are still rumors in Ukraine that tactical nuclear weapons are traded on the black market. That's why Putin could only meddle with the Crimea and left the Ukrainian mainland alone."

"I don't want to be an enemy to all mankind."

Yaniv mentioned about a nuclear weapon as if it was nothing.

Youngho had never known that the reason that Russia did not touch Ukraine was the existence of tactical nuclear weapons. It was because Ukraine, like Kazakhstan, had sc.r.a.pped its nuclear program. However, this meant that there could be tactical nuclear weapons developed exclusively for local purposes.

"Lee, you just have it to warn other countries. It's like saying, 'if you touch me, we are going down together.' Even having a few empty sh.e.l.ls would be a deterrent. You've got to have some guts to live with the autonomous state that might be taken away at any time."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Yaniv. I get it. Then, could you please get me one?"

"Do you think the state will be safe if there's a new president? Should I ask Putin to partner with you? Since there are Slavic Serbians living in the Arirang Autonomous State, I think he'd be intrigued."

"Oh, I just hope that we won't turn against each other."

"International relations can get smooth one day and get worse another. Nothing lasts forever. You get help when you need it even if you turn away from your allied country later."

He was speaking the truth. Often times, yesterday's enemies became comrades and enemies again in the international community.

People growled at each other even within a nation, so there was no eternal ally or enemy. Of course, there was always a tentative enemy.

"The hotel business and the wine business suits you well. You should've just stayed a businessman. You're too much into the autonomous state these days, and it's not fun for me anymore."

"Regardless of the Kazakh situation, Zeynep Wine will flourish. Did you hear that we're adding more vineyards this time?"

"Sergey had been busy calculating the profits from the wine business. He said that the wine business income has been increasing since the start. You think I can sell more next year than this year?"

"It's possible. We've decided to buy all the grapes from the surrounding vineyards."

"That's good news. It's been a while since we drank together. Should we have a drink?"

***

On television, Nazarbayev was issuing a statement to the nation.

He appeared in a rather humble way as he apologized for neglecting corruption in his kinsmen and promised to dissolve the House of Representatives in order to get rid of the corruption in the officialdom and said that he would ask the public's opinion whether to revive the House or not. Still, there was no mention of stepping down as the president or reducing his term. It seemed to be only empty words, but it was enough to intrigue the general public, who were not interested in politics. This meant that a silent majority of the people will vote for the ruling party through the House of Representatives elections.

"He's being sly. Now that he doesn't have much, he is looking for a way to save more."

"He must be exhausted because his pockets are empty now. All of his life savings are gone. He must be staying up at nights under pressure."

"I hope he doesn't ask to return the slush fund he gave me."

"On top of that, he might ask you to give him your fund. He's the one who treated the national budget like his personal pocket. He'll try to stay in power until he gets the money back."

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"He'll wait for the public's reaction for now and eventually declare the martial law."

The demonstration intensified when the statement was issued.

Now people were asking for the president to step down. As the situation got out of control, the president, who got impatient, declared an emergency martial law.

In reaction to the Kazakh situation, global media lashed out at the president's declaration of martial law, calling it a counter-democratic act. As the law stipulated for the purpose of maintaining national well-being and public order, it could not be invoked to subdue public resistance caused by political turmoil, not because of national turmoil, but because of the declaration of state martial law. The martial law one of the urgent powers of the Const.i.tution, which was to temporarily suspend the effect of the Const.i.tution and to maintain security by invoking military power.

Then, it was natural for a backlash to occur. Protesters were against the martial law, saying that it was unconst.i.tutional. They were also increasing in number as the movement was spread out to the entire nation.

Soldiers were driving tanks into each city, but instead of supporting or disbanding the protesters, they were cooperating in taking commemorative photos against the backdrop of tanks. The emergency martial law was a case in which the word "emergency law" became obsolete.

Demonstrators were also trying not to offend the soldiers.

That was because of the work of the Arirang state's intelligence agents. Before the law was declared, the agents warned the protesters in Almaty and Astana not to provoke soldiers in any case. The big hand that had been giving funds to protesters was the state's intelligence agents. Thus, demonstrators were being amicable to the soldiers, bringing snacks and drinks and even delivering roses. This resulted in the soldiers no longer wanting to hold a gun against them?

"Good job. It's Park Jong-il, as expected."

"You know I'm a natural genius."

"We don`t know about other cities, but we should maintain that kind of protest culture as much as possible in Almaty."

"The police are also discouraged as soldiers don't force themselves into action."

"The problem is that we have to stop the dispatched commanders from being bashed by the higher-ups. If they get replaced because they can't effectively stop the protests, other commanders will be in charge and strike the protesters."

"I'm going to ask Lieutenant Colonel Kabak of the Army for help. I need to tell him and his underlings not to be afraid of being disadvantaged right now. They need something to hold on that they believe in."

That was one way.

If the predecessor of the new commander in charge did not stop the protests, he would think there was a reason, and if such a message was delivered, he would think that there were supporters of the protesters in the military too. He would not act recklessly if he was ambitious enough to impress his higher-ups.

***

The patrol boats that Youngho requested to Michael arrived at the autonomous state.

He originally requested ten of them, but only three of them that were ready were brought in hastily. As Kazakhstan's political situation seemed to be in a maze, the U.S. also rushed to send them. It was because it would be difficult for s.h.i.+ps to get through the Russian ca.n.a.l if the situation got worse.

The presence of three missile s.h.i.+ps was a tremendous rise in power. Since the U.S. promised that it would send three s.h.i.+ps at intervals of one month from now on, all of them would arrive before the summer.

When the missile s.h.i.+ps were brought in, Cho Chul-hwan was the most excited one. Including two South Korean-made missile s.h.i.+ps, there were a total five that belonged to the state. The state did not fear anyone in the Caspian Sea now.

"With this much power, we can handle the enemy's aircrafts too. If we anchor them at the wharf, no one's going to come near our sky."

"We're going to get our anti-aircraft defense system soon. Just take care of the Caspian Sea."

"There's Victor Jun of the Navy. What are you worried about? The Maritime Police are fully prepared as well."

"I've decided to give some of the missile s.h.i.+ps to the Navy."

"You're giving away our precious s.h.i.+ps?"

Cho Chul-hwan seemed to think that it was a waste to give away s.h.i.+ps, but Youngho thought differently. Contrary to the current government, which invested only in the Army and the Air Force, the autonomous state needed to show that it was not neglecting the Navy.

"The naval force is also our power. The president should give up his seat when the Army comes into our hands. So, convince the commander at the border unit at the Russian border."

"He's still not budging but the field officers under him are trying to persuade him now, so he'll give you some answers sooner or later."

"Did you say he was strongly against the idea of involving in politics?"

"Yeah, he was like that several days ago, but since martial law has been declared, he would've changed his mind."

Hearing that the military and police officers who were serving as martial law commanders in various regions were showing signs of protecting the protesters, he would feel different. How could one not know that it was wrong to point guns at protesters who just wanted to correct their country?

"It's no good if a soldier is too sensitive to the current, but it's also bad if he doesn't do anything against a corrupt regime."

"He's known to be a great soldier and leader. He will soon have to decide which party he will have to support. All other officers below had turned to us. What would he do?"

"Don't force him because I don't want to work with someone who joins us without a sense of responsibility and motivation."

"He doesn't care about others' opinions of him. When I was doing an operation at the Kyrgyzstan border, I saw him ignore orders from the Army headquarters which was calling for excessive attacks. He did what he believed was the best for the situation. He dearly cares about his soldiers."

"That's a good general, then."

Such a strong character was what Youngho wanted.

Kazakhstan advocated democracy, but it was no different than a socialistic country. Only a few strong soldiers dared to defy orders from their superiors. This was because it was a place where people could live well regardless of their ability or performance, if only they could impress the higher-ups.

It was a funny country that even gave promotions to people for saluting well to the president. It was ridiculous to hear that, but it could happen under a dictators.h.i.+p. It was hard to deny that Kazakhstan had been a private possession of Nazarbayev all along.