Darkstone Code

The business of the Duncan Clan...

is ultimately not legal.

In a world moving towards de-slavery and starting to respect human rights, there are still people capturing, training, trading, abusing, and even killing slaves. These businesses are not only illegal in every country but are also condemned by society at large.

Yet, this is the core industry of the Duncan Clan!

Some people become addicted to doing horrible things.

Sociologists have discussed the issue of grading power to better observe the interaction between power and social structures.

Of course, what we need to understand is not how power plays its special role in the social structure, but simply to understand the hierarchy of power.

High-level power has a characteristic: it allows one to take the life of another without any reason.

Throughout history and even now, despots and dictators exist who are infatuated with the pleasure this high-level power brings them.

But it is not only tyrants and dictators who enjoy this; some well-dressed, glamorous high-society elites also indulge in it.

Perhaps, at the beginning, it might have been accidental for them—for instance, accidentally killing someone while deriving pleasure from abuse—but they find that the thrill of killing others is significantly stronger than mere harm, leading to an obsession.

Any addictive desire ultimately leads to destruction. These people can’t randomly kill, but through the Duncan Clan, they can occasionally pay money or engage in other exchanges at some secret location to achieve such gratification!

Savage and frightening!

The international community remains civilized; these people hide behind the scenes, obtaining what they need through other means.

Nothing serves as a more appropriate target than "missing persons," especially those from Nagariel.

The Duncan Clan has dozens of slave-catching teams in Nagariel. These people don’t capture slaves every day; based on clients’ orders and specific requirements, they screen the targets they can access.

They observe the potential targets, find the right moment to capture them, train them, and then wrap them in a beautiful bow and box to be sent to their clients!

Beyond this, various meat factories—a harsh term, but it accurately describes the situation.

Low wages, no protection, and high risks leave these factory workers without any safety guarantees.

Some products and production processes banned in the Federation are replicated in Nagariel.

Coupled with some collaborations between the Duncan Clan and medical groups, large numbers of people are sent across the globe from their hands each year, quietly disappearing thereafter.

There were once rumors that the largest flesh business behind the Federation was secretly operated by the Duncan Clan.

In reality, the flesh trade in the Federation has entered the first tier; it may not seem conspicuous, but the annual profits from these businesses are not less than the annual revenue of major consortia.

Many rumors surround the Duncan Clan, and in the past, they remained unshaken, but this time, the situation has become subtle.

A father-son ideological standoff at the dining table ended with Mr. Jeruno’s son lowering his head.

This forty-something "child" is not a simple person; he knows some things cannot be exposed.

He just doesn’t believe that the Workers’ Union, which doesn’t even deserve respect from dogs, can inflict serious damage on them.

Mr. Jeruno could have avoided this confrontation over such a minor issue, but recent unrest or other circumstances within the family forced him to take notice.

He must show that as long as he stands, the family will not fall.

Seeing his son’s head lowered, he withdrew his sharp gaze and continued to enjoy his roast venison.

"The infiltration capability of the Workers’ Union is too strong. Once a person gains substantial benefits through the Workers’ Union, their experiences spread like a virus."

"We have too many things that can’t see the light of day, things that perhaps didn’t affect us much in the past, but now, we must hide them."

"Some factories should be temporarily halted; we don’t need a bit of money..."

"As for..."

Mr. Jeruno paused for a moment, saying, "Tell some medical companies that we don’t want samples to leak out!"

Medical groups are significant clients of the Duncan Clan, and the Federation has many strict regulations in the medical field.

In the past, medical groups recruited many patients suffering from certain diseases under the pretense of a "free trial of special drugs," conducting direct clinical trials.

Several major incidents occurred, resulting in severe complications and even the death of a large number of patients involved in these new drug trials, leading the Federation to enact related regulations.

Now, clinical trials must be permitted by the Federation Food and Medical Safety Inspection Bureau, based on multiple safe animal testing results, to be used on humans in small batches.

They also had to promise to provide maximum safety assurance for test subjects, including but not limited to rescue at any time and subsequent medical care.

This significantly increased the cycle of drug development for medical groups, and as the Federation Drug Administration’s requirements for new drug development grew stricter, development costs continued to rise.

But in this world, there is never just one path, which is also why medical groups collaborated with the Duncan Clan.

In the underdeveloped Nagariel, there are surprisingly advanced but unknown medical laboratories; surely, their goal is not to find inspiration in Nagariel witches’ formulae.

They are there to facilitate various experiments.

The Duncan Clan provides them with suitable and cheap samples, which are used and then discarded like mice or monkeys in cages.

The data collected from these people helps local medical groups save massive funds and shorten development cycles. Consequently, the Duncan Clan has built deep connections with medical groups and even became one of their shareholders.

Mr. Jeruno essentially means that he doesn’t want any test subjects to leave those institutions alive.

He took a sip of light wine, rinsed his mouth, and then spat it out.

After cleaning the wine stains, oil, or blood from his lips, Mr. Jeruno looked at his son, "We are facing some problems now. As core members of the family, our first priority is to handle every issue we encounter cautiously."

"Not to indulge in blind arrogance, thinking that nothing can topple us."

"Keep those emotions until we’ve resolved this mess; for now, we need only caution!"

Recently, Mr. Jeruno felt that kind of pressure. He was friends with both the Chairman of the Conservative Party and the Chairman of the Progressive Party, but recently when he called to invite them for a chat, both claimed to have no time.

It’s only September—not the end of the year, not an election year. They may have all the time from dawn till dusk, but they have no time for his invitation, which speaks volumes.

As for the President, in Mr. Jeruno’s eyes, it’s just a position anyone can sit in, so the President’s weight might not be as considerable as people perceive.

He’s been looking for the source of the problem lately—what has allowed some situations to start spiraling out of control—but has found no leads. He always feels an unseen force propelling certain events towards an undesirable endpoint.

Therefore, at this time, every issue must be treated seriously.

He doesn’t believe the Duncan Clan will fall in this storm; this is just a small challenge, like countless others before it!

September’s weather is already slightly cool, and meteorologists predict the winter will be harsher, prompting some "winter escapees" from Northern cities.

That’s how the media describes it: people going south for the winter and returning north only after the season ends.

This makes Northern cities especially desolate in the winter, causing many factories to close.

"Some have proposed establishing a winter support system to ensure people can survive the winter."

"Otherwise, the winter escapees will increase, and some cities might gradually disappear."

Mr. Truman handed a document to the President; the two were sitting in the President’s office discussing government business.

It’s not the low temperatures that are the greatest issue but the lack of resources to withstand the cold in extreme weather.

Some people don’t return after leaving the North.

You can find work in the South; it’s not as cold in the winter, so why return to hardship in the North?

People from all walks of life are escaping, and even large companies face workforce shortages, prompting local government and citizens, under capitalist influence, to come up with some ideas after researching and discussing.

After reading the document, the President scratched his head, "They want the government to supply heat?"

"That doesn’t sound easy to achieve."

The plan has been discussed in Congress: if temperatures continue to drop, Northern winters will become people’s nightmares.

But the North can’t be abandoned; it’s rich in mineral resources, including one of the Federation’s largest oil fields.

If Northern work comes to a halt during winter, it would significantly impact the entire Federation’s raw materials supply.

To maintain stable raw material supplies from the North and ensure oil supply stability and pricing, people proposed the "Warm Winter" plan.