Chapter 149 - Kingmaker 4
5 days later
Saiga Piggery and Cattle Ranch
Theo couldn't help but muse how far he has fallen.
Or was it 'how high he has risen' ?
In all honesty, he wasn't sure anymore.
Once upon a time, he saw himself as a silent protector of the weak and the helpless. He would fight an invisible war against those who sat inside their ivory towers and abused their powers.
He would be the unknown hero that would bring justice upon the untouchables.
Yet as he stared out the window of a fancy limousine he was currently on, he couldn't help but compare himself with the 'ivory tower elites' that he once despised.
Was he rich?
He wasnt the richest man in the world, but his bank account balance was no joke.
Did he wield enormous political power?
He wasn't untouchable, but he did had friends in high places.
Did he abuse his power?
Absolutely.
He was about to bring 'justice' unto a country that did not ask for or even want his help. And he was not going to take NO for an answer.
"*sigh*... Where did I go wrong..." said Theo as the Saiga Mansion came into view
Everything reeked of stereotypical bad guy vibes.
"Kinda late for that type of worrying, dont you think?" replied Juno who was leaning on Theo's shoulder.
"I cant help it. Private airports, private jets, a freaking bullet proof limousine with armed escorts?! And all of this was provided almost immediately without question for a selfish whim of mine?! I feel like one of those criminal masterminds!"
"This coming from the guy with an army of fanatically loyal, AKA brainwashed, soldiers. In all intents and purposes, you are already a criminal mastermind."
"Ugh.... Truth hurts." replied Theo as he gently caressed Juno's pregnant belly.
He was still very reluctant about the idea of bringing Juno into a potential battlefield, but her domination over the Saigas was essential to his plan.
And while he had a fair bit of misgivings on Juno's approach on 'securing her family's cooperation', he had no rights to complain. His Reformant units were essentially slave labor after all.
A few moments later, the limousine came to a stop in front of a mansion straight out of a show about the rich and the famous.
As Theo exited the limo and helped Juno on doing the same, a couple of familiar faces welcomed them.
"Hello Theodore Lorne. It's good to finally meet you in person" said a handsome middle aged man.
"Mr. Hector Saiga, the pleasure is all mine." replied Theo as he shook Hector Saiga's hand. "Are you alright? You looked like you've lost a bit of weight."
"Thank you for your concern. This is nothing more than the usual business related stress... nothing more." said Hector as he threw a fearful glance at Juno.
Theo decided to ignore that.
This was Hector Saiga, the biological father of Juno and the owner of the Saiga Piggery and Cattle Ranch.
Right after Hector was one of 2 Saigas that Theo knew quite well.
"H-Hello Theo." said the nervous Maya Saiga as she shook Theo's hand.
"It's been a month Maya. Good to see you're well" replied Theo.
"Y-yes."
In most cases, the 2 of them spoke normally to one another. Their relationship was business acquaintances that eventually became friends.
The only time when Maya was cautious when meeting with Theo was under Juno's presence.
Prior to Juno revealing the Book of Shackles to him, Theo initially thought that Maya might have witnessed one of waifu #1's many 'violent outbursts'.
He thought that Maya was one of those poor bystanders that Juno inflicted with PTSD.
Because of this, Theo paid no mind to Maya's meekness.
Last but not the least was a Zifang beauty who was almost a carbon copy of Juno.
"Hello Theodore. Good to see you again."
"You're as lovely as ever Ms. Yasami Saiga." replied Theo under the guise of friendship.
Yasami Saiga, Juno's biological mother, reminded him way to much of Miss Samantha. She was a snake that was naturally inclined to deceit and manipulation.
From the slight tilt of her head, the tone of her voice, to the gentle caress she snucked in as they shook hands, everything was to deliver a sense of sexual interest.
Thanks to his training under Miss Samantha, he was able see through Yasami's skilled act.
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It went without saying that he was extremely cautious of Yasami.
Fortunately, he had the perfect defense mechanism against social climbers like her. It was so perfect, that he didn't need to do anything.
Without warning, Yasami, Hecktor and about 80% of the bodyguards within the immediate vicinity dropped to their knees and screamed in agony as their bodies twitched uncontrollably.
Maya and a handful of servants were frozen in fright.
The disturbing screams of agony stopped after approximately 5 seconds.
This was the first time Theo has ever seen the 'mind breaking pain' of the Book of Shackles, and it sure hell lived up to its fearsome reputation.
"Know your place mother dear." said Juno while stroking the Book of Shackles. "Now then, we're tired from out travel. Let's meet up after dinner in the conference room, shall we?"
Theo patted himself in the back for keeping a straight face.
The way their bodies bend was not pleasing to the eyes.
-:-
Later that Night
Theo's current discomfort reminded him of a couple of dinners he had with his family.
It was those times where his beloved father was really pissed off about something and everyone was forced to eat in tense silence, waiting in dread for the eventual nagging to ensue.
This time around, he wasn't the one who was dreading what was to come, but that didn't make the dinner any more bearable.
Both the his group and the Saiga's were gathered around a fancy long table within an equally fancy dinner hall.
The hall was split into 2.
On one side were Hector Saiga, his wives, children, maids and armed guards.
On the other were Theo, Juno and the maid clad Eisenmadchens.
The main source of tension came from the Eisenmadchen who threw death glares at the Saigas.
Why the open distaste?
The reason was a certain incident a couple of days ago.
The Eisenritter, Theo's elite bodyguard unit, arrived along with his troops to supervise the deployment. As the unit with the most experience in near complete autonomy, they were the perfect candidates for such a role.... or so Theo thought.
He was mostly correct, except for the Eisenmadchen.
The maids were all extremely beautiful by design. It was only naturally for their mere presence to stroke the lust of the Saiga's more unruly men.
One lighthearted butt slap was all it took for a small civil war to erupt.
It was 70 Eisenmadchens (up from the original 25) against atleast 200 of Saiga's mercenaries.
The rest of Theo's and Saiga's forces stayed out of this, mainly because they faithfully followed Theo's mandate of 'NO FIGHTING'.
The results was the Eisenmadchens one sidedly slaughtered their enemies. The things they did to the mercenaries were inhumane to say the very least.
One such display of barbarism was on display at the dinner table. It was a severed head of one of the Saiga's family friends on a silver platter.
"*sigh*.... Take this thing away." said Theo.
"A-as you wish my lord." said the soft spoken EM61 as she did what was asked.
"I'm really sorry about this." said Theo to Hector Saiga.
"Oh no no no. It's fine. Sometimes shit just happens." replied Hector
"If you say so... but at least allow me to recompense you in some way."
"As I said, it's fine. In fact, I actually need to thank you for this. He has been a thorn in my side for a while now. This works well in my favor."
"Hahaha. If you say so. Anyways, how goes the deployment of my troops?"
At Hector's signal, one of the terrified maids handed a decently sized folder to one of the Eisenmadchens, who then presented it to Theo.
Theo flipped through the file while connecting to the makeshift command center set upped by the Eisenritters to ascertain the info.
If he left his brain running at normal capacity, he could often read and understand a page in less than a second. He often slowed his mental capabilities in order to savor the pleasure of reading.
This was one of those times where reading was boring, hence his haste.
"Okay. So far so good. Good work Mr. Saiga." said Theo
"You're very welcome." replied Hector in a dignified yet servile manner.
Theo didnt really need Hector's report to find out how his troops were doing. He could simply access the info directly with his mind.
He had the older Saiga did this in order to test his loyalty, or at least measure how much resistance he was putting up against Juno.
So far, Hector has done exactly what was expected of him.
It seemed that pain and suffering was a very good motivator indeed.
Theo liked people who did what they were told. As such, he decided to reward the poor man's efforts.
"Tell me Mr. Saiga, how much do you know of my plans?" asked Theo.
"Based on the information you group have provided me, your primary goal was to eradicate the 10 biggest drug cartels in the span of 3 months." replied Hector.
The older Saiga felt clear discomfort as he said these words.
Prior to Juno's takeover, the Saiga did a lot of smuggling and human trafficking for these 10 cartels. The cartels often use the Saiga's animal carcasses to ship their drugs around the country.
Naturally, this was no longer the case.
On one hand, the Saiga experience massive financial losses. The cartels paid quite a premium for the smuggling operation after all.
On the other hand, if the Saiga's remained in contact with the cartels, they would be the first ones to be slaughtered by Theo.
It's a 'Rock and a Hard Place' kind of scenario.... with the hard place having lots of guns.
Time to use the gold old 'Carrot and Stick' card.
"Since you already know that much, then it should be obvious what the aftermath is." said Theo.
True to his business savvy nature, Mr. Saiga's faced lit up as he was able to connect the dots. However, he kept his mouth shut just in case he was wrong.
Please by this, Theo decided to tell the man exactly what he wanted to hear.
"The cartels occupy a significant portion of Eldorado's economy. If they were to suddenly 'disappear', then the country will suffer quite a bit. At that time, we need someone to fill in the void." Theo paused dramatically, before resuming. "Can you do it?"
"I-indeed I can! But the main problem is skilled manpower. The cartels have their hands on essential industries such as construction, food production, customs and many more. While I have confidence in my ability to manage all of it, I need people I can trust to execute my directives." replied Hector.
"Dont worry about that. Aside from Juno's own men, the Machine God has mandated me to provide you with as much manpower as needed." said Theo as he commanded his reformants to set up a meeting with Jabir Ibn Hayyan and the Lord of Vermilion for some much needed reinforcements.
When he heard that he was going up against the Union of Nations, he needed a convenient scapegoat to justify his actions. Having the Machine God's card to shield him from punishment and criticism was a blessing.
Who would dare antagonize a superhuman being that was responsible in nuking a city in Alkebulan?
Nosferatu's prank may have limited Theo's ability to unleash the Terminator Armor, but having the Machine God's name as a shield was an unexpected boon.
Upon hearing those words, Hector was both happy and slightly annoyed.
At the completion of this operation, the Saigas would gain control of the vast majority of Eldorado's manufacturing and economic sectors. They would effectively become the single most powerful faction in the country.
That is every businessman's wet dream!
On the flip side, Hector was nothing more than a puppet.
The older Saiga once planned to bribe the younger Lorne into giving him the freedom to appoint his own people into positions of power.
Since Hector had no idea that Theo and the Machine God are one and the same, the threat of crossing a monstrous entity killed any thoughts of negotiation.
While he would become the most influential power in Eldorado, all of the people in his command held no loyalty towards him.
If anything, they would kill Mr. Saiga without hesitation if the Machine God wished it.
Welp, at least he'll become disgustingly rich!
With that in mind, Hector resigned himself to be nothing more than a pawn.
"I thank you for this opportunity. I will do my utmost to serve the Machine God's wishes." said Hector as he swallowed his pride.
"No problem. Just as Juno once said to you, those who submit will be rewarded. Do well in your service to the Machine God and more prosperity will come." replied Theo
In all honesty, Theo was non to pleased of using the whole cultish script in negotiations, but it was a small price to pay if he gets an entire country out of it.