Chapter 375: What is Happiness?

“Everyone who knows me knows that I am a miser who is reluctant to spend a single penny,” the German Führer said with a smile, facing the microphone, beginning his speech. “Fortunately, my stinginess has saved this country a lot of money.”

“I suppress those who betray me, throw those treacherous people who have betrayed the German people into prison, and let them atone for their sins for this country with their labor! I admit that I exploit the labor of prisoners, and I also admit that I have deprived them of their rights and have made their lives worse than death!” Akado said, as if telling a story, speaking the words he wanted to say, bit by bit. “But I have a clear conscience! Because even if I go to hell, I am willing to be doomed for eternity for you—for the rise of Germany!”

“I am not a good person, and I never have been!” Akado said passionately, standing at the podium. “I am a person who believes in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! The British think they can enslave the German people! Then we will fight until the British wake up from their dream!”

He slammed the table and laughed loudly. “Someone asked me, when will Britain face reality? I think they will never face reality! Because if they were even a little bit smarter, they would have thought of what a foolish thing it is to despise our Germanic people!”

The applause was long and unceasing. Akado had no choice but to pause and wait for the cheers and applause to subside. When the scene had cooled down, he continued, “We have already won the victory of Dunkirk! Hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers of the Anglo-French coalition have become our prisoners. We have already won the victory of the Battle of the English Channel. The powerful British Navy has been broken and has suffered heavy losses!”

He sneered and continued, “The British still think they can contend with our great power! They still think we are weak and can be bullied! So I want to announce to all the peace-loving people in the world that Germany will destroy Britain’s cities and sink their ships until they bow their heads and beg for surrender!”

“Long live the Germanic nation! Long live the great German people! Long live the Holy Greater German Third Reich!” Akado raised his arm high and shouted the strongest note before the end, his voice emotional.

“Heil Führer Akado Rudolph!” Even in the recording studio, Akado could hear the slogans of “Heil Führer” being cheered on the streets. The German people had never been so proud, nor had they ever been as glorious as they were today.

Akado was not wrong at all. He was indeed not a good person, and never had been. When Reinhard Heydrich had reported to him that 200,000 old people had died in Poland in the past year due to suppression and famine, Akado had only been silent for two seconds before he had given the order to continue to maintain the status quo in Poland.

“My Führer, your performance just now was really great!” Fanny said, walking over and, without any hesitation, she put her arm around Akado’s. Her magnificent, high bosom rested against Akado’s arm, and she spoke in a coquettish manner. “How is Miss Anna doing? I hear she is recovering well.”

“She insisted on coming out today, but the doctor suggested that she stay at the Führer’s Residence for observation for a period of time, so she arranged my itinerary and security,” Akado said with a helpless sigh. “It seems a bit exaggerated.”

It was more than a little exaggerated, because at this very moment, outside the main building of the German Propaganda Ministry, two helicopters were hovering, along with five armored cars and a full 240 fully armed special forces soldiers of the 0th SS Division. These soldiers were guarding the several blocks around, and even the interior of the Propaganda Ministry building had been repeatedly combed twice before the Führer had entered, before it was considered to have met the security standard.

“Don’t blame her. After all, she is also thinking of my safety,” Akado said. When he mentioned Anna, his face warmed up a lot. He no longer had the ruthless and sharp air of his passionate speech just now and was a bit like the harmless big brother from next door.

“How could I blame Anna… If I had made the arrangements, the scene would probably not have been any smaller than this.”

“Do you think I’m a little afraid of death?” Akado asked with self-deprecation. From beginning to end, the two tower-like, burly SS men standing behind him had not made any other move but had just stood behind Akado with their hands behind their backs, which had made the head of state of this country look a lot shorter, and also much thinner.

“I don’t think so. I just think that you should live well for this country,” Fanny replied.

“But I want to live well. To live for this country, for this nation is not the reason why I am afraid of death. I want more to live for you, to live for every person who loves me,” Akado said with an embarrassed smile. “Anna’s injury has made me understand many things.”

He stroked Fanny’s long, flowing hair with his hand. “Life is unpredictable. Since I already have this feeling of love in my heart, I should hurry up and say it while there is still a good time, otherwise I am afraid of leaving regrets.”

“My Führer… Akado… what you said makes me very happy,” Fanny, one of the strong women, replied after a moment of coyness, her face blushing, which made Hugo, who was taking pictures on the side, so scared that his hand trembled and he almost dropped his camera on the ground.

“In my last life, I was just a poor teaching assistant, renting a house to live,” Akado said, looking at the main gate not far away. For some reason, he had started to talk about these things. “No girl liked the poor me. Sometimes, I couldn’t even afford to drink beer.”

“This is also the reason why I want to live better in this life,” he said, looking at Fanny beside him with a smile. “I want to be rich beyond the four seas and become the most revered man in this world!”

“My Führer, you are already the most revered man on the European continent,” Fanny said with a smile.

“I never dreamed that I could be favored by so many good girls,” Akado said, extending his hand and taking Fanny’s. The two of them held hands. “To be liked by all of you together—whether I can become the most revered person on the European continent, I don’t know, but I am already the happiest man in this world!”

In the German economic recovery report that had just been announced, Akado had once again, with bloody exploitation and ruthless suppression, fulfilled his promise of doubling the growth of the gross national product. Through the most brutal means, Germany’s local economic takeoff was already there for all to see. At least in the German mainland, the people’s standard of living had improved for the first time since the economic crisis.

Some of the things that had been mass-produced on a large scale were no longer subject to purchase restrictions for the civilians. Although steel and fine grain were still in short supply, at least potatoes and some inferior foods had achieved self-sufficiency.

Under the efforts of Bosch and others, the output of synthetic oil had doubled year after year. Including the imported crude oil from Romania, the German army had actually basically achieved self-sufficiency in fuel on February 1, 1938. Of course, the quality of the fuel was poor, and sometimes it even affected the performance of the equipment, which was also the main reason why all the fuel-using units complained.

Because before the start of the war in Germany, there had been no technology in the world to preserve natural rubber for a long time, the matter of Germany importing rubber on a large scale had not attracted the attention of countries like Britain and the United States. But in fact, under Akado’s request and supervision, Germany had already mastered the technology of re-purifying deteriorated rubber, which could purify 80% of the stored deteriorated rubber raw materials for use as new rubber. This technology, coupled with the raw materials that had been stored in advance, meant that Germany’s military production had more than doubled and had not been affected in the slightest.

Of course, under Akado’s care, there was another technology in Germany that had flourished, and that was biodiesel technology. The so-called biodiesel is refined from vegetable and animal oils and is commonly used in tractors, trucks, ships, and so on. It refers to a renewable diesel fuel that can replace petrochemical diesel, which is made from oil crops such as soybeans, rapeseed, cotton, palm, etc., wild oil plants and aquatic plants such as microalgae, as well as animal fats, food waste oil, and other raw materials through a transesterification process.

Although the quality of this thing was not as good as petrochemical diesel, its value was that its refining did not occupy precious petrochemical resources, and it could also produce different products such as glycerin. For Germany, which lacked oil resources, this technology could provide additives for gasoline and diesel, and could easily turn 95 tons or even 85 tons of diesel or gasoline into 100 tons.

Germany’s industry was thus flourishing, like a sponge crazily absorbing the surrounding nutrients, becoming more and more thick and solid. And including the regions of the Netherlands and Belgium, there had even appeared a trend of thought that supported the Greater German Party. The people in these occupied areas believed that only under the rule of Germany would their future be more beautiful and happy.

At this moment, Akado was triumphant, because he had three women of sinking-fish, falling-geese beauty who loved him without regard for their own safety, because he had an army of a million men who were loyal to him to the death, because he had a nation that fanatically worshipped him. He was now the Führer of that Reich, the Führer who could turn his hand to clouds and cover his hand to rain, who could destroy a country and a city with a single word.

Relying on the almost blind support of the public, he did not even shy away from stating that he had three women. He could even easily publicly admit it and be recognized by everyone for this matter. Who would dare to object? It would just be one more corpse or one more laborer in a concentration camp.

He must be happy, right? Akado thought to himself. He then took Fanny’s hand and walked toward the main gate. The servants on both sides helped to push open the heavy door. Outside were the people of Berlin, a sea of people.

“Hi, Akado Rudolph!” everyone shouted, raising their right hands and calling out an affectionate greeting. The sound was deafening, shaking the mountains and rivers. Every person’s face was full of pride, and every person’s mouth was overflowing with a smile. At least for them, this Reich was a happy home.

At this moment, Akado thought, he was happy, very, very happy.