We managed to capture roughly a hundred of Chairman Katsuyama’s clones.
The first lived at home with his family. He suffered from diabetes and heart disease. This was the man who had actually been running the company.
The second lived with a long-term mistress. He had diabetic retinopathy and a severe case of fatty liver.
The third reigned like a petty king on a remote island of the Capital Planet. He was in peak physical health.
Then there was Number Four... A mundane, middle-aged man who worked diligently at a City Hall. He had married a younger single mother in his forties, raised her two children along with one of his own, and after finding success with careful investments, had taken an early retirement to run a neighborhood dining hall. He had four grandchildren and had successfully finished treatment for prostate cancer a few years back.
I had a gut feeling that Number Four was the real deal.
Jester’s intuition was also whispering that Number Four was the original.
To be honest, we probably should have just let Number Four go. He didn't seem to be involved with the Katsuyama Conglomerate at all. In fact, we didn't even restrain him; it felt too cruel.
Actually, you know what? I decided that Number Three—the one I found annoying for no particular reason—could be the "real" one.
Now, while Mike & Hammer Co. had successfully seized Katsuyama, a new problem arose.
And it was a big one!
Behold, the ultimate technique: Mandatory Salary-Deduction Stock Options!
The employees all held tiny fragments of shares. To make matters worse, these were "Hell Tickets" that they weren't allowed to sell even if they resigned. It was an atrocity that could only be committed by a trash society with no concept of labor laws.
I certainly didn't admire them for it, nor did it fill me with inspiration!
However, when I announced that Mike & Hammer would buy the shares, everyone was overjoyed to sell. There was absolutely no employee loyalty to be found; it had been nothing but pure tyranny.
This alone made me realize that the Galactic Empire was actually a decent country. They at least maintained a facade of propriety, and since Wifey had taken over, the rule of law was actually functioning.
Latarnia was beyond our common sense, but whether their political system was "viable" or not, it worked for them. The Ogre God Nation was the same way. Chronos was fairly close to the Galactic Empire, and the Taikyoku Nation was understandable as a monarchy.
But Lepsitol was just incomprehensible. Why had they been left to rot like this?
I was fine being the Grand Duke of Chronos, but I had absolutely no desire to govern Lepsitol. The real issue was what to do with a leadership class whose level of civil maturity was lower than that of the Pirate Guild.
Regardless, Mike & Hammer Co. was now the largest corporation in Lepsitol. With that leverage, I contacted the leader of the anti-government organization.
"Leader, how would you like to become the first Prime Minister?"
"Absolutely not," she replied instantly.
I was rejected.
"Lord Kawagon... no, His Majesty the Grand Duke Leo Kamishiro Chronos! Why not just annex us into Chronos instead?"
"Absolutely not. There are several reasons why that’s a bad idea. Our religions are different, our ethnicities are different, our food is different... basically, none of my people want to be stationed here. Besides, Chronos has a policy against holding colonies. It might make money for a while, but my honest feeling is that I'd rather not deal with a powerful enemy rising up against us in the future."
"B-but... this is too difficult for us..."
The fact that she understood her own limitations made her competent in my eyes. But she was right—it was a mess.
So, I reached out to Karen-san next.
"Karen-san, how would you like to try being the Prime Minister of Lepsitol?"
"And if I refuse?"
"At worst, the nation will perish. Everyone knows that, which is why no one else is volunteering."
"As for becoming a Chronos colony..."
"We don't want it. We just need to resolve the Zen God Race issue."
There was no need for us to be greedy. The end result of expansionism was always collapse and ruin. My honest desire was simply to increase our allies against the Zen God Race and continue doing business at a relaxed pace.
"...Understood. I will do it. However! Chronos must promise a ceasefire with Latarnia. Furthermore, you must guarantee support from both Latarnia and the Taikyoku Nation."
"I've already prepared for that. However, the major conglomerates will be investigated, their leaders arrested, and the organizations dismantled. You must also promise a complete resolution to the Latarnian slave issue and the extradition of the culprits to Latarnia."
Even Latarnia wouldn't complain as long as proper discipline was enforced. I mean, it was perfectly acceptable to say, "The culprits all died, so we can't investigate further." Latarnia wasn't going to demand the impossible.
The plan was to create a "List of Suspected Criminals Lacking Evidence" and then turn a blind eye while Latarnia’s assassination units handled the rest.
No way were these powerful elites going to escape. The nation was angry enough to go to war; at that point, they were already checked. No matter how much power they thought they had, it was cheaper for the new government to cut them loose. Katsuyama was on the chopping block too. I planned to split Mike & Hammer into several smaller companies as well.
The next step was drafting the laws. Oh, wait. I almost forgot.
I ended the transmission with Karen-san and called my primary contact. I was sure he had heard the news by now.
"It’s been a while, Raymond-san."
"The devil has come! Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Raymond-san was being quite harsh.
"The entire Faculty of Law at the Imperial Capital’s university... no, even the Courthouse and the military are out in full force drafting the Six Codes! The Constitution, the Penal Code, the Civil Code, the Commercial Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and even the Code of Civil Procedure!"
In short, they were rebuilding the entire legal framework from scratch. The existing social system had been complete garbage. Essentially, the very framework of their society was broken.
"I am terribly sorry for the great inconvenience..."
"What is with this piece-of-junk society?! Every single law is biased toward corporations and doesn't function! I've even handed over the post-coup organizational structure to the political scientists!"
Indeed, a small army of humanities scholars was working together to draft the laws. Once they were finished, I planned to present them to Latarnia and Taikyoku for a summit.
"I am deeply, deeply sorry..."
"Wahhhhhhh! Make sure to apologize to the comparative cultural studies scholars too! They're staying up all night analyzing Lepsitol’s culture!"
"Ah, yes. I have prepared rewards and letters of appreciation in the name of the Grand Duke of Chronos."
"...Also, on a serious note," Raymond continued, "the team in charge of public finance and tax law found a major abnormality. It’s too specialized for even me to understand, so be careful. Professor Zaichen's Economics Group is heading your way."
"Ah... I figured as much..."
Public finance wasn't like a household budget, so you could hide a lot with bookkeeping magic—to an extent. But if the nation had been bankrupt from the start...
"Oh dear, oh my..."
All I could do was offer a pitying sigh.
I decided I should probably inform the King of Latarnia as well. I forwarded the translated documents Raymond had provided to both him and the Taikyoku Nation. They might not follow the exact same economic theories, but they would get the gist.
After that, I began setting up the professors' schedules. I intended to have them meet with the finance officials from Latarnia and Taikyoku as well.