Two Realms Shuttle Gate: Don't Call Me a Demon!

Now that the Beautiful Country is unreliable, they have even less opportunity. It's better to opt for short-term pain and abandon the East District Six States early, to avoid being targeted by Jieke Group, which is fully expanding towards India.

"As for the Beautiful Country, they have already withdrawn three carrier strike groups, only two remained here."

Liu Yingying continued, acknowledging the established fact that Jieke Group has already dominated Southeast Asia, the Beautiful Country no longer has the intention to persist in warfare against Jieke Group.

If they wanted war, they should have stepped in when Jieke Group acted against Temasek, Jawa, and Luzon.

They didn't go to war back then, so now facing Jieke Group's complete occupation of Southeast Asia, they're less likely to do so.

Since they won't wage war, and Jieke Group isn't afraid of their deterrents, they won't bring out such a massive fleet just for show.

Carrier strike groups are needed to uphold the Beautiful Country's global interests. Staying near Jieke Group long-term wastes time and money without benefits.

Originally, the Beautiful Country arrived with great poise, but upon arrival, they could only watch Jieke Group annex one Southeast Asian country after another, and then retreat with their tails between their legs.

"I've underestimated the Beautiful Country's endurance; as the Blue Star Dominator, their level of tolerance is not something ordinary people can learn."

Su Jie shook his head, speaking with deep sighs.

Originally, Su Jie planned to confront the Beautiful Country head-on, defeat their famed carrier strike groups at sea, then annex Southeast Asian countries and incorporate them into his resources granary.

However, the Beautiful Country retreated too quickly, so that Jieke Group didn't even need to take action, as the Beautiful Country withdrew from the Southeast Asian influence area.

What once required war to obtain is now freely given by the Beautiful Country, making Jieke Group's takeover of Southeast Asia very easy.

War serves political purposes, originally choosing warfare with the Beautiful Country was for Southeast Asian land. Now, achieving the goal without war makes Jieke Group more justified in devouring Southeast Asia.

"Indeed! I thought several times that the Beautiful Country would intervene when we took Temasek, occupied Changi Naval Base, and attacked Jawa and Luzon, yet they didn't."

Liu Yingying couldn't help but complain; at that time in Chan Country she was actively preparing combat supplies to ensure shifts to wartime production and smooth logistics once the war against the Beautiful Country began.

Turns of events made all preparations go unused, as the Beautiful Country chose retreat.

"The Beautiful Country acted sensibly, saving us trouble."

Su Jie embraced Liu Yingying, saying: "I'm leaving for a while, remember to take care of the family."

"Okay!"

Feeling Su Jie's mischievous hand and knowing he would leave soon, Liu Yingying couldn't resist meeting his lips with hers.

As emotions peaked, they engaged in an intense battle of passion, waves crashing, spending a sleepless night.

.......

The formation of the South Alliance sparked a huge reaction worldwide after the announcement.

Unlike the loosely structured European Union, where national members mostly independently manage their affairs, military and political aspirations stay separate, each nation carries its own agendas even in economic integration.

But the South Alliance is entirely different, as its charter and treaty clearly show it's more of a military alliance.

Dominated by Dragon Coins in the economy, integrated military equipment, coupled with the so-called South Alliance forces and the vast powers of the Supreme Leader of South Alliance, all indicate it's a vast military alliance, centralized and dictatorial, under Jieke Group's comprehensive leadership, essentially a realm controlled by Su Jie's single voice.

The establishment of the South Alliance implies a formidable and dangerous authoritarian entity holding immense power.

For the Beautiful Country especially, emotions are complex, as Jieke Group grew step by step right under their nose.

Initially noticed when Jieke Group was just a small warlord, the Beautiful Country paid attention and targeted them.

But they couldn't fathom that in merely a few years, Jieke Group would grow into a powerful country with near five million square kilometers of territory, six hundred million people, and comprehensive naval and aviation forces, filled with malice against the Beautiful Country.

Sadly, regrets come too late now for the Beautiful Country, as they can only withdraw their carrier strike groups from the sea areas surrounding Jieke Group's Southeast Asia influence.

Due to South Alliance's presence, it fully controls maritime passage between Europe and Asia, circumventing routes is impossible, unless diverting to Pacific Ocean routes, which incurs unacceptable shipping time and costs.

Almost instantly after South Alliance's announcement, Jieke Group declared price hikes for Western countries' shipping companies, raising canal transit fees.

Moreover, Southeast Asian countries continue to serve as manufacturing and assembly centers for low-end manufacturing by Western countries, with significant investments in factories from companies like Apple and Samsung in the Southeast Asia region.

This includes the semiconductor industry, a key tech sector, where Southeast Asia holds about twenty-five percent global share.

While mainly engaged in the low-end semiconductor industry chain, their share is immensely large, and high-end semiconductors exist too, with Temasek focusing on high-end sectors; talents and infrastructure there attract global chip giants, investing over 300 billion US Dollars in semiconductor industries in Temasek.

Because of the cheap labor and relatively complete infrastructure in Southeast Asia, labor-intensive industries, such as automotive, mobile phones, chips, and computers, flourish here.

Shortly after South Alliance forms, Jieke Group learns from India's contractual spirit and decisively imposes hefty fines on Western nations' big corporations, exacting environmental demands, worker pay raises, and increased taxation.

Remember, these Western countries retain sanctions against Jieke Group, with restrictions in various aspects, although Jieke Group can resort to smuggling, it's vexing!

Now, the tide has turned, as Jieke Group controls Southeast Asia, forcing compliance based on their whims.

If you can sanction our Jieke Group, then we can reasonably sanction your nations' enterprises too.

What, you say Jieke Group isn't a company? Jieke Group won't concede; it's a bona fide company, just slightly larger in scale — with territories spanning millions of square kilometers, billions of customers, own currency and private military, why not a company then?

Confronted by Jieke Group's extortion, these Western nations turned green, filling grievances and seeking connections.

But it's futile, as Jieke Group remains unyielding, eager to fleece you, might not handle the Beautiful Country, but surely can deal with these small firms.

Indeed, through Jieke Group's perspective, even a global market leader like Apple ranks merely as a microenterprise.

As said, newly appointed leaders often ignite a passion, with South Alliance's first blaze setting these Western corporations in cries of anguish.

Ultimately, these Western firms can only comply, pay fines, and settle matters dutifully.

Business must go on; truly withdrawing factories from Southeast Asia poses nowhere else to find fertile grounds filled with abundant labor and infrastructure — few places globally offer this, thus global corporations flock to Southeast Asia for factory setups.

This shifting trend in manufacturing only progresses towards suitable regions, hence even if Jieke Group imposes exorbitant fines, there's no alternative.

Genuinely removing factories would prompt Jieke Group to outright ban your products through their canals, cognizant that targets of Jieke Group's sanctions are multinational giants; alone, the enhanced transport difficulty and cost increases would spell their collapse, potentially crippling them in Asian markets.

By owning Southeast Asia land, Jieke Group excels in choking crucial points, commanding hubristically, leading by far.