Administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon!

How can it be!

How could Marcos give up this spot that he worked so hard to get!

No, no.

Sheikh Dan told himself over and over again in his heart.

Hesitation, disbelief, excitement...

In short, his mood now cannot be described in words.

He didn't believe that such a good thing would happen, but he hoped that such a good thing would really happen to him.

"What I need is peace, not war." Meng Shaoyuan said with a serious expression: "What I also need is win-win cooperation between both parties, rather than mutual defeat. Therefore, every word I say now is serious.

What do you think Marcos’ real goal is? Just to be the administrator of eight provinces in Northern Luzon? No, his political ambitions go far beyond that. He sees further. The presidential election in the Philippines will officially begin soon.

, and that was when he started his true political path.

He will enter the presidential palace, hold a position close to the president, and then seek further political heights!"

Sheikh Dan believes this.

On more than one occasion, Marcos talked about his political ideals.

However, many ideals seem too naive and childish in the eyes of others.

It's simply unrealistic.

For example, Marcos once openly declared after being drunk that one day he would stand at the top of the Philippine political stage.

what is that?

What else but the President?

No one believed what he said.

It was only after he was appointed as the administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon that everyone discovered that Marcos's promise might not be fulfilled.

Now, when these words come out of Meng Shaoyuan's mouth, they seem to have added something different.

Sheikh Dan couldn't make a decision for a while.

"He has visited Roxas." Meng Shaoyuan said without concealment: "Although Roxas was once an important member of the puppet government, you obviously know that he has received strong protection and will participate in the Philippine general election.

.

Why does Marcos want to visit Roxas? What is his real purpose? I think you already have the answer in your heart at this time. No one can stop Marcos from pursuing his dream. So, once he really starts

Action, what about the position he currently holds?

We need balance. We don’t want too much power concentrated in the hands of one person. When he enters the core political circle of Manila, who will take over as the administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon? We will never see another one.

It is not in our interest for someone from the Marcos family to take over."

Sheikh Dan's heart was pounding.

Now, he began to believe it.

Yes, Americans need to strike a balance in the Philippines.

It is impossible for them to leave all their interests in the hands of one family.

Someone must take over the position left by Marcos.

What could be more suitable than the Narendasan family?

There was no way Xie Hedan could hide his expression from Meng Shaoyuan.

This is where the difference between Sheikh Dan and Marcos lies.

Sheikh Dan only focuses on immediate interests.

But Marcos took a longer view.

Meng Shaoyuan then struck while the iron was hot and said: "In the eight provinces of Northern Luzon, there is not only one Marcos family, nor only one Narendasan family, but also many other families. Maybe it is you, maybe someone else, who sees this family

Are you willing to fully cooperate with us?"

"Colonel, I think I should think about it carefully." Sheikhdan took a deep breath: "I want to know what we need to pay."

"Reconciliation, comprehensive reconciliation." Meng Shaoyuan stared at him: "We don't want to see any more unnecessary bloodshed. We want to see peace in Manila and even the Philippines. As for the conflicts between families, I think they can be temporarily

has been put on hold.

Mr. Narendasan, profit is the only one. If you continue the bloody battle, or you become the administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon, you will have to make a choice, and this choice is in your hands."

"One day, Colonel." Sheikhdan immediately said: "In one day, I will give our final answer."

"Okay, Mr. Narendasan." Meng Shaoyuan said with a smile: "I'm waiting for your answer. It's right here. I hope it's the answer I want to see."

Sheikh Dan left with great excitement.

But just as he left, Levi appeared.

Meng Shaoyuan smiled bitterly: "Mr. Levi, every time you show up, something always happens, right?"

"Yes." Levi looked extremely serious: "Colonel, do you know the 'Silver Star'?"

"'Silver Star'?" Meng Shaoyuan was startled: "Is that a battleship?"

"No." Levi looked solemn: "That's an American merchant ship, an American merchant ship in 1940."

…

In February 1940, Captain Smith of the American Silver Star was sailing in the Strait of Malacca.

The hot voyage and the humid sea breeze made the crew drowsy, and even Captain Smith felt a little sleepy.

However, a rapid knock on the door woke Smith up.

The person who knocked on the door was the ship's correspondent. He reported to the captain that just now, an emergency Morse code had been intercepted.

Smith immediately went to confirm. The crew gathered around the telegraph machine, waiting for the correspondent's deciphering results.

Smith felt a little anxious, but also a little excited. The deciphering result finally came out.

"This is the Man of Medan. We are floating. All the crew, including the captain, are dead. I am trapped in the chart room and cockpit. Maybe the whole ship is dead."

What followed was a noise and murmur that the crew could not understand. Just when Smith was about to give an order,

They heard a second Morse code message. This message was very brief, but the deciphered result made all the crew members hold their breath unconsciously.

"I'm dead too."

After that there was no more signal.

Captain Smith realized that the shipwreck encountered by the other party might be far more serious than he imagined, and he could not wait any longer.

He immediately ordered a search for the target ship, and at the same time, another merchant ship received a distress signal.

After the "Silver Star" communicated with him, it determined the approximate location of the distress signal through triangulation. The "Silver Star" was closer, so Smith took on the search and rescue mission first.

After several hours of searching, they finally found the "Man of Medan".

This is an old-fashioned steamship. It is drifting aimlessly on the sea. It does not use any power for propulsion, and no crew activity can be seen. There does not seem to be any damage on the outside.

Smith, who was holding a telescope, was a little confused. It didn't look like he was being attacked at all. Could it be that the distress signal was fake?

He asked the crew to sound the whistle and sent a contact signal to the other party, but received no response. The sound of the signal was as calm as the sea.

After thinking about it, Smith decided to lead some crew members to board the ship to check. But when they boarded the "Man of Medan", what they saw not only proved the authenticity of the distress signal, but also made them shudder.

The sailors were lying messily on the deck, some holding their arms tightly, as if to protect themselves. Some curled up their limbs, as if to avoid something.

Each of these sailors stared at the sky with their eyes wide open, their expressions frozen in horror, as if they had encountered a horrific scene like a nightmare, and their skin had begun to rot. The sailors had obviously lost their lives.

Smith and others were still approaching the deck of the ship when they discovered a pet dog. He was facing forward and frozen in a growling posture.

"In all my years at sea, I have never seen anything like this." Smith recalled afterwards: "When we stepped on the deck, we found the skin of sailors, their eyes staring at the sky, their mouths open, so

Horrible sight, and their faces!"

Smith later recalled "I will never forget their faces."

Afterwards, Smith led the crew to conduct an in-depth investigation.

The boiler room has been operating normally. The temperature in the cabin even reached 40 degrees Celsius.

But when they first entered the cabin, the crew of the "Silver Star" felt a biting chill for a moment.

The captain was found in the cockpit, and the pilot also maintained a posture similar to that of the sailor. It was as if he was trying his best to avoid the fate that had befallen the sailor.

Even the boatmen in the cabin inside have the same expression and posture.

The only difference is probably the correspondent.

He was lying next to the telegraph machine, still maintaining the posture of sending the telegram. It seemed that he was the one who sent the distress signal to the "Silver Star" and died after sending the last brief signal.

However, at this time, Smith suddenly discovered something very strange. The correspondent's skin also showed signs of corruption.

It only took a few hours from the time the "Silver Star" received the distress signal to the time it discovered the Man of Medan.
To be continued...