Chapter 150- Kingmaker 5

3 days later

Capital City of Eldorado

The pieces were in place.

The stage was set.

All Theo needed was an Eldorado born collaborator to back his actions.

Mind you, he really didn't need anyone's permission to wipe out the criminal scum within Eldorado. He could either do it silently or do it very very loudly.

However, both have significant pros and cons.

The sneaky approach's merit was the safety of anonymity. By striking at the cartels from the shadows, Theo could sow discord and distrust among them while avoiding the eyes of the superheroes and the government.

Infighting was as common among criminals, thus no one would bat an eye if a full blown gang war were to happen between the top dogs.

Low risk, high reward.

The main problem was that it was way too damn slow. Ms. Samantha's conservative estimate was 6-10 months depending on how safe Theo played his cards.

While patience was one of his strong points, he preferred the lawless gangs in Vermilion City to the more structured criminal enterprise of Eldorado. It was so much more fun to go in guns blazing and not care about the consequence.

If he did do that in Eldorado, it wont end well for him.

The criminal elements was deeply entrenched in Eldorado's government. Every branch of government had some connection to the criminal syndicates in one way or another.

No one would correct you if you said that the country of Eldorado was effectively ruled over by the 10 cartels.

If he went nuts in their home turf with no justifications, he would be labeled a terrorist. This would put him at odds with not only the entire country, but also be a wanted fugitive internationally.

The only reason why 'The Boss' has been largely ignored up to now was because he was a small fry.

Though his name was in the famous 'Rogue's Gallery', he was one of many many hired gun types out there. His impact to the bigger picture was pitifully small compared to his 'employers' AKA Theodore Lorne and Nosferatu.

If The Boss went on a rampage in Eldorado with an unexplained armed force behind him, his place in the bad guy ranking would shoot up considerably. A higher ranking meant that the superheroes would take him much more seriously.

Even with his new military might, Theo was a 100% small fry.

A group of S rank heroes would go through his entire force in a couple of hours.

As such, the kill-every-thing-that-has-a-pulse strategy was out the window.... or at least it was depending on the result of Theo's next meeting.

His convoy of 3 bulletproof vans stopped in front of an unassuming 5 story building in the middle of the capital's middle class district. It was a typical low cost apartment you'd find everywhere.

Theo, Juno, 4 Einsenmadchens and 8 regular Reformants stepped out of the vehicles and approached the door.

Before he could even knock, he heard the unexpected sound of heavy metal locks being undone.

From the outside, the door looked like the cheap plywood door that matched the cheap looking apartment.

As Theo's group entered the building, he saw that said door was something similar to those used in large safes.

A simple illusion that doubled as a formidable first line of defense.

Very impressive.

While supporting Juno, Theo and his group followed the armed guards to an elevator which took them to the 5th floor.

The entire floor was just one big room.

It reminded Theo of those offices he often saw in TV shows and movies. Barely any partitions. Only tables, computers and a lot of busy office staffs.

There were a fair number of armed guards here and there, but it was mostly a run-of-the-mill office space.

At the very edge of the floor was a glass partition with the name of his 'future ally' printed on the door.

Theo and Juno entered the glass office while their security remained outside.

"Good to see you again, Senator. Did you lose a bit of weight?" said Juno to the fairly overweight man behind the office desk.

"Right you are princess. Weird isnt it? I've been stress eating since the campaign started, but I'm still losing weight." replied the Senator. "You, on the other hand, have been gaining weight. Congratulations on your pregnancy princess."

"I prefer to be called Queen or Empress or Your Highness."

"You're still in your teens you know? Princess is more fitting."

"Hmph. Fair enough."

"And this strapping young gentlemen is?" asked the Senator as he shifted his gaze to Theo.

"Allow me to present to you to my husband, a fellow follower of the Machine God and the one who enslaved me with his charms and the wielder of the finest cock in northern hemisphere." replied Juno.

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As per usual, Juno's words has this amazing effect of making everyone in the room very uncomfortable.

"My beloved wife's disgusting comments aside, my name is Theodore Lorne. A pleasure to meet you." said Theo as he extended his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you. My name is Miguel Baroque, ex-senator and now presidential hopeful to the country of Eldorado." replied the fat man. "And I must say, you have a 'unique taste' in women."

"Different strokes for different folks, or so the saying goes."

Miguel Baroque reminded Theo of Augustus Boreal AKA the CEO of Theo's company.

Hidden underneath thick layers of blubber was a man of great wit and cunning.

Miguel was more lighthearted than the no-nonsense Augustus, but his eyes were just as sharp. His friendly demeanor was clearly a front, and Theo could feel that the man was sizing him up.

If it wasnt for Miss Samantha's training, Theo would have instantly trusted Miguel.

God knows what Miguel would ask of him under the guise of 'asking friends a favor'.

With that in mind, Theo decided on using one of many predetermined scripts he has prepared for this meeting.

"Before we begin our negotiations, I'd like to know how much you know of my current predicament. I'll fill in the blanks in case you are mistaken in some facts or if you have any questions." said Miguel as he sat behind his desk and urge the couple to take a seat.

"Sure, but before I begin, I have something to say." replied Theo, to which Miguel nodded in confirmation. "I'm going to be honest here, while I did prepare in both knowledge and personnel for this mission, I don't give two and a half rat's ass about yours or any other country's politics. I just want to kill the criminals."

"I understand. The average person does not care for the bullshit that is politics."

With that out of the way, Theo recounted what he knew of Miguel Baroque's political situation.

Eldorado's campaign period was nearing its close with only 15 more days before the ballot box receives the votes. There really wasn't a lot of things left to do to sway the minds of the masses into voting for a specific candidate.

The race was between ex-senator Miguel Baroque and another ex-senator named Marianne Lorges.

Based on the polls, it was a neck and neck race, but Theo had his doubts. The polls has been bought many times in the past, this was no different.

Judging from his and Miss Samantha's info, Theo believed that Miguel Baroque's firm stance against crime has resonated with the masses. His popularity was further boosted after an assassination attempt a couple of months ago.

He was shot in the shoulder by a sniper in one of his rallies. If he didn't sneeze in that very moment, his head would have a new hole to breathe through.

Or so most people thought.

In reality it was a skillful art of manipulation of public opinion.

Upon closer scrutiny of the video, a couple of things could felt off.

First, Miguel's sneeze was a bit over the top.

Second, the sniper took a second too long to make the shot.... as if he was not aiming to kill at all.

Theo could have easily shot Miguel in his wind up before sneezing. But then again, Theo's cybernetic implants has made him one of the best snipers in the world.

But then again, he didn't enjoy using snipers. It lacked the adrenaline rush of close quarters combat.

The point was that the entire assassination attempt was an act with 2 goals in mind: To make the public hate the cartels even more and to present Miguel as a selfless hero.

Quite an impressive display of manipulation.

Though the polls did not reflect it, Miguel Baroque was going to win the elections hands down.

In a desperate bid to turn things around, the cartel backed Marianne Lorges. and her side bought the media for a non stop smear campaign by calling Miguel every offensive word in the book.

They even went as far as to use the Union of Nations to condemn Miguel for this and that.

Unfortunately for the cartels, Miguel has successfully instill in the masses an intense and justifiable hate for anyone connected to the criminal underworld.

Squirm as they might, the cartels' hold on Eldorado was beginning to slip.

The official reason Theo was here was to accelerate the cartels' demise.

His real reason was simply to kill people for fun in a place where the Superheroes were significantly less prevalent.

"I see.... Looks like you got everything down." said Miguel after hearing Theo's explanation. "And I cant believe you figured out the whole assassination thing. I could have sworn it was perfect."

"Like hell it was. If I was the sniper, you would have been dead the moment you stepped out of any building." replied Theo

"The scenario was suppose to be 'Making an example of Miguel Baroque through public execution'."

"Please. You obviously don't understand how 'Making an example' works in the underworld. If it were me, I would have torn off your limbs and left your corpse hanging on a tree in front of your house."

"That is messed up!"

"Really? That's pretty standard fare in Vermilion City."

"From the looks of it, Eldoradonian criminals have more class."

"Or maybe they felt like they didnt need to. Such overconfidence is common if their rule has gone unchallenged for so damn long."

"Ugh. I cant deny that. The cartels pretty much ruled this country even before I was born."

"If that's the case, then Eldoradonians are more spineless than I initially thought."

"Can you really blame us? A vast majority of the masses are peaceful, law abiding citizens. We were not born with violence in our veins."

"Hmm... If you say so. But enough about that. Let's get to the task at hand."

Miguel nodded in response before putting on his serious face.

"Then lets hear it. Miss Juno here may have over exaggerated a bit. She even went as far as 'My husband can take these trash out in 1 month!' or something similar to that." said Miguel

"I firmly believe that my beloved Theo is more than capable of pulling it off." replied Juno as felt up Theo's ass.

At this point, Theo has pretty much gave up on stopping Juno's sexual harassment.

Why bother?

It's not like he hated it or anything. And besides, Juno would be happy if it was the other way around.

As such, Theo paid the hand that was trying to get into his pants no mind and continued on.

"Well sure, I can do it in one month.... but why wait that long? What I'm about to present to you is my 'How to obliterate the cartels in 1 week' plan."

Theo gave the fat senator a brief overview of his plan. From the initial preparations he undertook to the all out war that would soon to follow.

Miguel's face became paler and paler as Theo's explanation went on.

"H-how in the hell did you even get that much firepower into the country undetected?! Im not proud of it, but pretty much every port of entry in Eldorado belongs to the carterls! There is no way you could just waltz in without resistance!" exclaimed the horrified Miguel.

"Ah. That's easy. Do you know of the existence of a 'Smuggler's Cove' in the north east part of Eldorado?" asked Theo.

"Well yeah. My influence in the armed forces may be extremely limited, I do have eyes and ears in that department. So yes. I know that place exists."

"Well not anymore. As of last week, Smuggler's Cove has 'mysteriously disappeared'. All the people in that area has been 'spirited away' and the small port town was burned to the ground by a mysterious fire. You can confirm it with your people if you want."

Theo's gazed out of the window, as if he was recalling a very fond memory.

Miguel, on the otherhand, was starting to get an inkling of how dangerous Theo was.

He knew Juno was bad news. She was a typhoon of unstoppable violence, but at least he could see her coming.

Theo didn't feel like that at all.

"Let's move to a more secure area. Ideally with computer so that I can explain to you the finer details of my little pest extermination plan." said Theo.

They did just that, and approximately 2 hours later, Miguel finally understood why he felt great unease about Theo.

The plan not only went through the 7 days of mayhem, but it also included the reconstruction effort 6-12 months after.

Theo wasn't planning to annihilate the cartels, he was planning to replace them.

The main difference between him and the cartels was that Miguel was to be the new overlord with Theo providing the muscle and the manpower for the eventual power vacuum that would pop up after the operation..

It terrified the old senator.... but more importantly, it excited him.

This was no longer an election.

It was a coup d'etat.