The Mech Touch novel Chapter 986

Back at his quarters at the military base, Ves explained his misgivings to his case officer.

Leland Toll listened calmly. "It is not so easy to peer through the accounts of a large mech manufacturer of this scale. The KNG is involved with thousands of stakeholders. From individual suppliers to massive conglomerates, each of them either obtain payment from the KNG or pays them to render a large volume of goods and services. While I’m not an expert in running a business, even I know it is impossible for any single person to get a complete grip on such a large company’s financial state."

"I’m not asking for a complete record. It’d be swamped if I attempted to study all of their transactions. What I really want to obtain is their recent financial statement. As long as I can obtain their balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement, we’ll know if their business strategy works as intended and if not, where they are really getting their money."

"Are you asking me to supply you with all of that financial data?"

"You’re a Flashlight intelligence officer, right? Isn’t it trivial for your agency to obtain those records?"

"As a private corporation, the Kadar-Neyvis Group indeed has to disclose some records to the state." Leland said with a wry smile. "However, it’s a bit more delicate than you think. The KNG submits all of the necessary financial statements to the Ministry of Economic Development."

"Oh."

"Yes. MinEcDev is a particularly powerful ministry of the Republic, and they guard their territory extremely well. Even if we have planted agents in that ministry, they cannot casually rip out the relevant data from their databases."

This revelation emphasized how Kadar and Neyvis leveraged their connections to the point where their company was highly dependent on them. Ves already heard that the KNG maintained a close relationship with MinEcDev. The powerful ministry ostensibly offered a lot of financial assistance to the KNG to keep it alive during the current adverse economic climate.

"Does Flashlight has any clue where they get their money at all?"

Leland shook his head. "We aren’t aware of any major inbound cash flows besides the company’s own earnings and the financial assistance they received from the ministry. Even so, the financial statements they’ve submitted to MinEcDev might not even present the complete picture."

"It’s pretty daring to lie to the ministry."

"As far as we are aware of, every mech company makes use of creative accounting to some extent. Right now, we don’t have an accurate picture of the KNG’s true financial state. Spotlight is supposed to keep tabs on the company, but the company’s powerful connections to Rittersberg has left our colleagues leery of stepping on the KNG’s toes."

Ves could hear the disdain in Leland’s voice towards Spotlight. "How come that agency is so timid? I thought it’s Spotlight’s job to keep tabs on our own citizens and organizations. Shouldn’t they be fearless in discharging their duties?"

A sneer appeared on Leland’s face. "It’s exactly because they’re charged with watching our own people and organizations for treasonous behavior that they’re so inconsistent. Many of the policymakers at Rittersberg have considerable economic interests throughout the Republic. How would they feel if Spotlight exposed all of their improper dealings by shining a light on them? The Bright Senate has constantly passed laws restricting the powers and privileges of our sister agency. In addition, political appointees have taken up a much more substantial role in the running of the agency at the top."

"In other words, you believe Spotlight’s integrity and independence are both compromised."

"I wouldn’t put it that strongly. Many of the people that work for Spotlight are genuine servants of the Republic. However, it’s undeniable that Flashlight has taken on more and more cases that Spotlight used to handle."

Even though this was Leland’s personal opinion, Ves became struck by how much rot had set in.

MinEcDev supposedly regulated the Republic’s domestic industries. Instead, it morphed into a greedy entity that pursued its own profits above its stated goal as a regulator.

Spotlight should have kept tabs on its own citizens and organizations. Instead it turned into a toothless entity under the influence of the very same people it ought to keep an eye on the most!

"How can the Bright Republic tolerate such meddling?"

"Who in power can oppose these developments?" Leland asked back. "When it comes down to it, the Bright Senate that proposes and passes various laws and the cabinet that sets various policies are the ones responsible."

Basically, a conflict of interest from those in power caused various institutions to diverge from their intended role. Instead of serving the Republic as a whole, they instead benefited their masters that held the reins of power.

"So what does this have to do with our current mission?" _{freewёbnoνel.com}

Leland sighed. "Flashlight is very concerned about these developments. The gutting of Spotlight particularly upsets us as the weakening of our main domestic intelligence agency exposes our state to various misdeeds of our own citizens. Therefore, your investigation is of vital importance. We MUST find evidence of impropriety at the KNG in order to shock the cozy, lacksadaisal establishment into action."

The fire of conviction burned within Leland’s eyes. Ves found it to be very uncomfortable. "I’m working on it. While my tours at their various manufacturing and support complexes hasn’t allowed me to detect anything egregiously amiss, there are several sketchy points about how they are run."

"Good. We don’t have much time, so make sure to deliver a result to Flashlight within a couple of weeks."

"That’s not enough time. I don’t think I’ll be able to dig up any dirty laundry in that short amount of time."