Chapter 974: The Obsolescence of Oil

The United States of America, home of the brave and land of the free. Forever a footnote in world history.

Like Athens before it, and the Roman Republic later, it descended into autocracy to save itself from its own failures, and then tore itself apart in the aftermath.

But unlike the Roman Republic, there was no Roman Empire to rise from this civil war. There were only fragmented states that inherited nothing from America but its rusted old skeleton.

For years, civil war, nomadic raiders, and refugee crises plagued the hellscape that had once been a rising superpower.

Now, the flames had settled, the ashes were dispersed, and several smaller states had firmly settled in their place.

Canada had forcefully withdrawn from the Northeastern portion of the United States, it simply became too costly to manage after the crisis at their borders increased, leaving behind a territory which inherited the heartland of the former government, but none of the preparations that Roosevelt had made for its resurgence.

There was no great conqueror and consolidator. Nor was there really a foreign interference that put an end to an era of raiders and brigands taking advantage of a fractured nation.

No, what ultimately stopped the spread of barbarism was the market. Banditry was bad for business, and eventually men who were ruthless enough and controlled enough capital and industry rose to power, overriding their failing local governments.

And in doing so, established peace by the sword. Ironically, these corporations acted more like feudal barons than merchant republics. Despite naming themselves as corporate enterprises.

All of this has happened before, and all of had happened again. Bruno had not cared much for the ruins of America, the longer that fire burned the longer it would take them to ever recover, if that was even possible.

Nor did he really pay attention when the fire finally settled. That was the Reich Intelligence Service’s job. They monitored global happenings and influenced regions in Germany’s favor, as they had always done.

Things functioned as they should, to the point where Bruno’s input was seldom required. Instead, the Chancellor spent the majority of his time commuting from Innsbruck to Berlin and back again.

Filling out paperwork, focusing on domestic developments, and guiding the New Kaiser on the path he and his heir had inherited from their forebears.

But just because Bruno had no interest in what was happening in the lands of his former conquests, doesn’t mean that his heirs did not.

Erwin, who had long since taken over the family conglomerate and its responsibilities found himself meeting with a representative from one successor states to the former United States of America.

They met in the port city of Trieste, located in Illyria, a part of the Archduchy of Austria. There Erwin sat at a table in a public space, his family’s Leibgarde silently invisible in the background, blending in so perfectly with the surroundings that nobody knew a meeting of importance was happening.

As for the representatives of the State, it was a young man, no older than twenty-five, he was dressed in a lavish suit, the fashion slightly outdated, clearly of a pre-war design, one that was still popular in many of the successor states of North America.

He didn’t speak. In fact, he was dead quiet, not confidently so, or maliciously so, either. Instead, he seemed almost intimidated by how advanced the German Fatherland was.

Nuclear-powered tankers, ocean liners, and naval warships floated in and out of Trieste’s harbor. While maglevs brought freight and passengers across the Reich.

But what was most shocking of all were the airships that floated effortlessly through the sky, a luxury that once only the filthy rich could afford, now afforded to everyday life.

Airships had replaced conventional heavier than air winged aircraft for civilian and freight use. With Tesla’s terrestrial resonance towers and wireless energy transference, these airships were the superior option for air travel.

It was a world that was almost inconceivable to those who had not been around to witness the advancements of the German Reich or the foundation laid decades ago.

Erwin had seen the look time and again, he no longer commented on it, or acknowledged it. He simply ate the food that had been prepared for him by the venue’s chefs.

As the man continued to look around, his mind eventually refocused. He clearly forced himself to get back into a "confident" mindset as he began to negotiate.

"As you may already be aware, our state holds the highest oil production out of those which emerged from the old United States, we would be greatly interested in the idea of gaining access to German markets."

Erwin looked at the man for a moment as if he stepped out of a time warp, pausing entirely with fork in hand, before placing it down and folding his hands.

He had to think politely about his wording. As he didn’t wish to offend the representative of another nation, even that nation held no relevance to the global stage.

The wait was... damning for his counterpart. Until finally Erwin spoke.

"I won’t be able to buy much oil as it is not a substance we use in transportation within the German Reich, we primarily use it for maintenance and production. Or as a strategic reserve for military equipment. If you wish to sell in volume, you are best served selling to one of our allies or strategic partners. But so long as the quality meets a certain standard, we will pay a premium for the quantity we desire."

It was then that it hit the man.... He hadn’t really noticed it, but he hadn’t seen a single petrol station on his way to the restaurant. He looked around once more and realized that the German Reich had completely transcended the need for oil as a means of transportation.

And when that hit him, he suddenly felt like his relevance outside his own small world was nonexistent.

Erwin ultimately didn’t waste time allowing the man to sulk at the existential realization, and instead negotiated a price they both felt was fair for a volume they both felt satisfied with.

Soon enough, the man was on a ship back to America. And Erwin was conducting other business.