Robert Cronin had come to invite Martinez Silva and Hamilton Fish to dinner.

The so-called "dinner together" is just a pretext, and Hamilton Fish wants to communicate privately with Martinez Silva on how to avoid today's hot scene from happening again.

If this happens again today, it will affect not only the work of the joint working group, but also the reputation of the Canal Company and the Colombian government, and then the construction of the Panama Canal, which neither Hamilton Fish nor Martinez Silva wants to see, although for some people with bad intentions, as long as the canal is in the hands of the Americans, it is better that the Panama Canal never starts.

The importance of the Panama Canal to Colombia, the Caribbean, and the Americas is undeniable, and Martínez Silva wants to end these controversies as soon as possible and get everything back on track, so Martínez Silva did not refuse Robert Cronin's invitation.

Hamilton Fish had arrived at a restaurant just across the street from the Martinez Silva Residence, and considering the importance of Hamilton Fish, the Panama company provided careful protection for Hamilton Fish, two cars were parked outside the restaurant, which completely covered the entire restaurant door, and on the street outside the restaurant were more than a dozen heavily armed gunmen, all armed with two weapons, one long and one short, similar to the equipment of the Colombian presidential guard.

The restaurant is even more heavily guarded, and there are eight big men sitting at the two tables closest to the door, although they are sitting in the restaurant, they have no intention of eating at all, and the table in front of them is a short-barreled shotgun, and the barrel of the black hole under the armpit is on standby at any time.

Hamilton Fish sat at the innermost table in the restaurant, there was no one around except Hamilton Fish's secretary, and the nearest bodyguard was ten meters away from Hamilton Fish, which gave Hamilton Fish plenty of space not to worry about the conversation between Hamilton Fish and Martinez Silva leaking.

Martinez Silva did not wait for Hamilton Fish to greet him this time, Shi Shiran came to sit down opposite Hamilton Fish, and looked at Hamilton Fish with a wry smile.

"It's been such an embarrassing scene, and I'm sorry to say to you, it's the staff here who didn't think it through, I thought there would be a perfect dinner, but I didn't eat anything—" Hamilton Fish buttered, completely devoid of his demeanor as secretary of state, and focused on the steak in front of him.

In South America, American pride is reflected in all aspects of life, such as the daily consumption of steak and coffee, which Americans have to ship from home, and do not give a disdain to local Colombian food.

This is, of course, an impolite thing to do, but the Americans simply do not realize that Martinez Silva, as a diplomat, has become accustomed to the arrogance of the Americans.

"I thought it would end soon, it seems that I was too optimistic, we still have a lot of problems to deal with, not only those that have erupted, but also those that have not been exposed, but I believe that as long as we all have the determination to solve them, these problems will be properly solved in the end." Martínez Silva expressed cautious optimism.

In fact, for solving the problem in the short term, Martínez Silva has no hope of having any hope, and Martínez Silva now only wants Bogotá to transfer Ignatz Russell back, otherwise Martínez Silva would rather resign than be angry with this splint anymore, out of sight is clean, and love whoever he loves.

"Compared to the Panama Canal, I am more worried about the problems within your Colombian government, tonight's incident seems to be an accident, but it is actually the explosion of the accumulation of contradictions within your government, we may be able to solve the aftermath of the conflict, but we can't do more, if your internal problems are not solved, then sooner or later there will be other problems." Hamilton Fish is still very forward-looking, and he can see the crux of the matter at a glance.

"We only do what we have to do—" Martinez Silva does not deny the existence of the problem, but is not willing to say too much about it, and he can't afford to lose this man.

The Colombian government is indeed full of contradictions, the original Colombia was originally composed of two regions, New Granada and Venezuela, the father of the liberation of South America, Bolívar can lead Colombia to drive out the Spanish colonists, but can not lead Colombia on the road to prosperity, Bolívar was alive, Venezuela withdrew from Colombia, after Bolívar's death, the Quito region also announced its withdrawal from Colombia, the establishment of the Republic of Ecuador, now Colombia, The Conservative Party, which represented the landlord class, and the Liberal Party, which represented the merchant class, alternately competed for power, and the political situation was chronically unstable, even leading to frequent civil wars.

What Bolívar can't do, Martinez Silva can't do, so Martínez Silva can only be pragmatic and do what he can, which in Colombia is already considered a conscientious official, much better than those officials who only know how to fight for power.

It is true that Martinez Silva is not perfect, but in this world, no one is perfect, Martinez Silva certainly has his personal stains that he can't wash off, but he also has his shining points, otherwise he would not come to the joint working group as a leader, you must know that even Hamilton Fish is only a deputy leader.

"It's a pragmatic choice, so let's talk about work, in Bogotá we didn't have the opportunity to listen to the people involved, and now that we're in Panama, we should ask for more advice – Robert, come and tell us, what are you going to do?" Hamilton Fish easily took control of the conversation, allowing Robert Cronin to introduce the Panama Railroad.

Robert Cronin, who had been prepared, rushed to hear the sound, first gave a mature and steady smile, then sat down and took out two documents from his briefcase and handed them to Hamilton Fish and Martinez Silva respectively.

Seeing that Robert Cronin took out the papers, Hamilton Fish's secretary immediately called on the bodyguard at the door to bring a few more candles, otherwise Hamilton Fish, who was already old and dizzy, really couldn't see what was written on the documents.

"Damn it, it's terrible here, I miss the fluorescent lamp in Washington, it's the most important invention of the Kufner Group to the world, and we should give the Zefma Group a one-ton medal—" Hamilton Fish pulled out his glasses and stuck them on his glasses, his mouth still muttering.

Martinez Silva was a little distracted, remembering the few times he dealt with Li Mu when he was in Washington, Martinez Silva had to admit that only the current United States can give birth to a freak like the Horse Group, if only Colombia had a company like the Horse Group - although he knew that it was impossible, Martinez Silva still couldn't help but think so.

"Before you arrived, we have reached an agreement with all the families of the victims to pay a lump sum of $1,000 to all the families of the victims as compensation, and we will provide a job opportunity for each of the victims, and for those injured employees, they will also be compensated accordingly, and when their injuries are healed, they can return to work for the railway company - these compensation has been paid, and the training of new employees is also underway, and we will resume the operation of the Panama Railway as soon as possible. And it is guaranteed to be more efficient and profitable than the previous Panama Railway, and contribute more to the entire Panamanian Isthmus. "Robert Cronin was prepared, and the solution he came up with left Martinez Silva speechless, although there is no official agreement yet, but the actual aftermath has been completed, which is the standard American way.

In South America, in recent years, the United States has left the impression of most South American countries as the traditional European aristocracy, who seem to be polite and thoughtful, but they will give the impression that no one is in the eyes, and this kind of nobody is from the heart, ostensibly smiling, but in fact the mask of the smile hides a real contempt from the heart.

Such Americans are not welcomed, and many people call Americans "hypocritical Americans", which is why they are here.

"It seems that our actual work barriers are no longer there, so I will say, the Canal Company is a responsible company, and the Panama Railways is a responsible company, and if we had known all of this earlier, maybe our task would have been accomplished a long time ago." Hamilton Fish expressed his satisfaction with Robert Cronin's work, and at the same time meant that the matter would not have dragged on until now if it had not been for the Colombian government's petty fuss.

"Very good - thank you very much to Panama Railways for taking the initiative to compensate the families of the dead workers, which is what we have been asking for, but we still need to know more about the situation, and in the next few days, we will be in contact with the families of the victims to understand the actual situation, and if Panama Railways really does what they promised, then I think this matter will be perfectly resolved soon - completely resolved." Martínez Silva also breathed a sigh of relief, in Bogotá, the canal company's bottom line is that it will never compensate the families of the workers who died, although Robert Cronin used the word "compensation", but this is already a rare concession, and Martínez Silva does not want to pursue these side effects.

Then the atmosphere is much more harmonious, Martinez Silva and Hamilton Fish are both diplomats, adjusting the atmosphere is an expert, Robert Cronin can be the manager of the Panama Railway, the people are also transparent, several people deliberately show goodwill, the atmosphere is immediately friendly like an old friend, considering that there is no dinner in the evening, Robert Cronin is busy beckoning the kitchen to serve food, Hamilton Fish arranged for the secretary to open a bottle of red wine, Martinez C. Silva invited Hamilton Fish to have time to sit at Martinez Silva's house.

Martínez Silva is a Panamanian.

When the atmosphere in the restaurant became more and more enthusiastic, more than a dozen figures sneaked up on the hotel where the Colombian staff of the joint working group were staying.

All of them were tall and burly, and they were all dressed as common vagrants and sought-after clothes in Colombia, with cowboy hats on their heads pressed so low that they almost covered half of their faces, and the triangular scarves that used to be worn around their necks were now worn on their faces, making it even more difficult to distinguish their facial features.

"Solve the problem with a knife as much as possible, never shoot unless necessary, take care of your spices in the finishing team, burn them all out later, remember, never spare anyone, kill them all-" The leader had a thick Mexican accent, and his voice was very hoarse, sounding like he had been injured in his vocal cords before, like the sound of metal and leather rubbing violently.

"No problem—"

"Whew-"

"Roger—"

The voices of the replies are strange, slang, military terms, and Jianghu slang, which fully shows that the identities of these people are strange.

The Colombian government officials were not in a good mood because of the unpleasant afternoon, some had gone to bed early, some were still drinking in the restaurant, and some were ready to go out and have some fun, but only Martinez Silva's strict prohibition did not go too far.

Ignatz Russell was drinking with two officials who knew each other, and it seemed that they had been drinking for a long time, and there were several wine bottles thrown on the floor around him, and half of the unfinished steak, and the table was even more disorganized, Ignatz Russell blushed, drunken with a glass of wine and shouting: "That guy Martinez Silva is going to be unlucky, he thinks that his Washington does that no one knows, in fact everyone knows, He must have made some kind of deal with the Americans, otherwise the Panama Canal would not have been handed over to the Americans for digging at all, no one had pursued it before, but now it is different, I must expose Martinez Silva and let him get the trial he deserves-"

Ignaz Russell's two drinking buddies still kept some sense, although they knew that Ignatz Russell said this was inappropriate, but they did not stop it, and it seemed that they also complained about Martinez Silva.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of dense footsteps outside the door, and as soon as Ignatz Russell turned around, he saw a bright knife light slashing straight at his throat.

In the silence of the night, the flames rose into the sky.