Chapter 63: The Welcoming Ceremony

This was the first time Akado had eaten a formal Western meal in a place like this. Compared to appetizers, side dishes, main courses, and desserts, he much preferred the braised pork and eggplant over rice from the restaurant near his university in his past life—or the mashed potatoes mixed with a bit of beef stew from the Reichswehr High Command’s canteen. So he very consciously handed the menu to Mercedes. “You order. It’s my first time eating here. I don’t know what’s good.”

“The French baked escargot here is not bad. The foie gras is also very famous, but I prefer the smoked salmon,” Mercedes said, thinking for a moment. “The head chef here is a Frenchman. His skills are quite good.”

It’s over. A skilled French chef, plus a plate of high-quality foie gras—that’s two tank wheels I’ve just eaten. Akado thought with some resignation.

Though his heart ached, the meal had to be eaten. He had heard that treating such a beautiful girl to a meal would cost tens of thousands. Akado felt that since this money had been saved for him by Krupp and the others, it was only right to eat something good.

This was not to say Akado was stingy. If every report you received each day was about a lack of money here and insufficient funds there, and you had just gotten your hands on a hundred thousand while facing millions in deficits from all directions, you wouldn’t feel you should be wasteful either—at least, you shouldn’t be eating a grand French meal.

While Akado was pondering these things, the beautiful Miss Mercedes on the other side had already ordered dinner for both of them. The two began to chat again about all sorts of strange topics. For example, Akado talked about a watch company called Patek Philippe that he had recently acquired, and that he himself was wearing an exquisite pocket watch with time and time zone functions that was specially designed for him.

All women like exquisite things, so when Akado took out his pocket watch and handed it to Mercedes, Mercedes fell in love with it. “It’s so beautiful. I heard that in 1851, both Queen Victoria and her husband bought this type of watch. I hear they are very expensive. I never expected it to be your company.”

Akado would never tell her that he had acquired the Patek Philippe company because he wanted to create a new type of timer to precisely control the detonation of bombs… and of course, there was the small goal of making money. “If you like it, I can have them make one for you too. A bit smaller than this one, inlaid with gold filigree. It should be very beautiful.”

Hearing that Akado wanted to give her a gift, the girl’s face turned slightly red, but she still lowered her head and politely said thank you. Akado also felt it was a bit presumptuous to give a gift on their first meeting, so he began to talk about other topics. The two happily chatted about the food in front of them, and then about the Daimler-Benz company. Mercedes knew much more about these two topics. She introduced Akado to the origin of the dishes, the preparation process, and how to eat them, and also chatted with Akado about the recent booming performance of the Benz company, which she had heard about from her father.

“I hear your father and Mr. Karl Benz are good friends? How long have they worked together?” Akado asked, swallowing a mouthful of steak and looking up at the beautiful woman before him.

“My father is responsible for distributing Mercedes-Benz cars in the Central European region. Because the quality of Mercedes-Benz cars is superior and their design is novel, the sales are particularly good, so my father has also made some money. That’s how he and Mr. Karl Benz became good friends. They often discuss the needs of car customers together,” Mercedes said, putting down her knife and fork.

The two of them chatted about this and that until the end of dinner. Akado drove Mercedes back to her residence in Berlin in that brand-new Mercedes, and only then did he drive back to his office to continue his seemingly endless work.

Although the Reichswehr had given him a month-long vacation, he didn’t dare to easily leave the center of power for a whole month. Who knew if he would be pushed out of the core of the Reichswehr’s power a month later? So Akado maintained the habit of returning to the office once every two days.

Of course, given the current situation, he often went to the office and forgot that he was on vacation, frequently working in his office until dawn the next day—this was one of the reasons why most of the officers at the High Command admired him so much. It could be said that he truly led by example.

As expected, the next morning while he was still asleep on the office sofa, the old fellow Karl Benz, with a wicked smile on his face, appeared before him.

“Mr. Chairman, how was last night? Was Miss Mercedes to your satisfaction?” The moment he entered, he swaggered over, found a seat for himself, rested his cane between his legs, and asked with a bit of a grin. If he didn’t know the old fellow’s true age, Akado would have really mistaken him for a male host at some club.

“We are a community of shared interests. There’s no need to use such feudal tricks to maintain our relationship, is there?” Akado didn’t answer the old fellow’s question but complained with a frown.

“A trick that has been used for a thousand years has its reasons for existing. I’ve seen that lovely girl; she is absolutely a devastating beauty. You should be thinking about how to win her heart,” Karl Benz said proudly. Suddenly, as if he had remembered something, he handed Akado a rolled-up document. “This is the resume of Miss Mercedes’s father, Jellinek Cassia. He has always been a by-the-book businessman, with no blemishes on his record.”

Glancing at the completely puzzled Akado, Karl Benz continued, “He is a very talented man, more than capable of serving as a deputy minister in some government department. What’s important is that he has no background. I chose his daughter from dozens of beautiful women mainly because I wanted to recommend a reliable helper to you.”

“To be honest, are you businessmen trying to place your people in government departments?” Akado was a little annoyed. He didn’t mind ambition, but to start infighting when the great cause was not yet accomplished was definitely not a good sign.

“No, although this man is a businessman, he does not have a strong commercial background. He does not belong to any financial consortium,” Karl Benz laughed heartily and said, “The consortium and the business alliance wanted to place a woman by your side, so they came to me. I know that some things can be compromised on, while other things are worth insisting on. So I chose her, because her father can become your helper.”

“Aren’t you part of a consortium yourself?” Akado looked at this old man who was nearing the end of his life.

“I was before. Now I am your man. From the moment you acquired my life’s work, the Daimler-Benz company, I have served only you,” Karl Benz said, standing up and walking towards the door with his cane. “I am very old. There is not much more I can do to help you. I can see your ambition, and I admire that you have such extraordinary achievements at such a young age—originally I wanted to persuade you to be content with what you have, but your actions have convinced me.”

He reached the door, stopped, and as if talking to himself, said with a sigh and a trace of melancholy, “If I had been born twenty years earlier, I would definitely have followed your steps and charged forward bravely. What a pity, what a pity.”

“Karl!” Akado suddenly called out.

“Hmm?” Karl Benz turned his head.

“The weather is getting cold. Take care of yourself,” Akado urged him very solemnly.

“You kid. When you have time, come over to my place for a visit. Old Karl here doesn’t have many other skills, but I can still introduce you to a few trustworthy friends,” Karl Benz said, then pushed open the door of Akado’s office and walked out, trembling slightly.

Akado couldn’t help but sigh. Karl Benz was already 82 years old this year. The time he could spend with him was indeed not much longer. He should find some time to visit Karl Benz’s home and let the elderly man rest for a while.

The next day, Merkel, who had just flown back to Berlin from the Soviet Union, was dispatched by Akado to meet a middle-aged man named Jellinek and appointed this former Mercedes-Benz distributor for Central Europe as the Deputy Head of the White Orchid Group’s distribution department.

As for Akado himself, he took full advantage of being seen in public with the daughter of the deputy head of his own conglomerate, Miss Mercedes. The two of them were even seen at Berlin’s largest opera house, watching an opera that praised Akado’s signing of the “New Treaty of Versailles.” Akado explained at her side how the situation at the time was so different from the portrayal in the opera, which made Mercedes laugh until she almost cried.

In the early morning of September 28, 1926, the door of Akado’s office, who had just put on his overcoat and was preparing to sleep, was knocked on. Judging by the rhythm, the person knocking was extremely anxious. Akado had no choice but to sit up from the sofa again and order, “Come in.”

The head of the intelligence department, Gascoigne, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, walked in. His expression was somewhat flustered. He opened the file folder under his arm, pulled out a document, and handed it to Akado. “General Akado, the person you asked me to keep a close eye on was released last night! It was a parole granted privately by the local government. We received the news too late.”

“What’s going on?” Akado was still a little groggy, but he immediately became wide awake. He looked up at Gascoigne. “Are you saying Hitler has been released from prison?”

“Yes! The leader of the Nazi Party you’ve been so concerned about, Adolf Hitler, was released on bail last night! The Nazi Party bribed the local judge and the prison warden to get Hitler out of prison on the grounds of ill health,” Gascoigne said, a little nervous. He had once sworn to Akado that Hitler would not be able to get out of prison until 1928. Now it seemed he had spoken too soon.

“Is there any way to get him back in?” Akado asked with a frown. Hitler’s release was not good news for him.

“I’m afraid there’s no way. Our foundation is all in the military. The local government is unlikely to do us any favors. Moreover, over there, the Nazi Party has many followers, and their influence is no weaker than our Greater Germany Party. It’s not easy to make a move,” Gascoigne said after some thought.

“Forget it. Since it’s like this, then let’s just wait and see what happens,” Akado said with a sigh. He then stood up, slapped his own cheeks, and said, “Conduct a secret political purge of the army. Expel all the Nazis! Including the communists and Nazis that have accumulated over the past year. Clean them all out.”

He looked at the sky outside the window, which was about to brighten, and said with narrowed eyes, “This campaign to purge the Nazis from within the army will be his welcoming ceremony for being released from prison!”