Chapter 1041: 356, Dictator

Donnie soon received a letter from Bobby Mozelle.

He didn’t expect Antonio Salazar would propose to meet him.

In fact, Donnie was just as concerned about Antonio Salazar as he was about Antonio Carmona. If Antonio Carmona was the dictatorial emperor of Portugal,

then during Antonio Carmona’s tenure, Antonio Salazar managed Portugal’s economy!

After Antonio Carmona became President of Portugal, he invited Antonio Salazar to serve as Portugal’s Treasury Department minister. However, Antonio Salazar resigned from his position as Treasury Department minister, but this did not cause a rift between him and Antonio Carmona. Instead, a few years later, he was appointed as Portugal’s Prime Minister.

Subsequently, Antonio Salazar also held multiple positions, including Portugal’s Minister of the Army, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Colonies.

After Antonio Carmona’s death, Antonio Salazar smoothly succeeded him as Portugal’s President, thus beginning his dictatorship in Portugal.

During this period, Antonio Salazar actively reached out to the UK and the United States, viewing them as his support.

Portugal’s dictatorial politics did not end until the fourth year after Antonio Salazar’s death, in 1974, with Portugal’s Carnation Revolution.

Nonetheless, Donnie agreed to meet with Antonio Salazar.

However, when Antonio Salazar arrived in Atlantic City, it was already the winter of 1925!

In that year, besides arranging matters in Portugal, Donnie was occupied in managing the impact of absorbing and merging the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. consortium’s assets within the United States!

Of course, the various companies under the Venus Group also made considerable progress that year.

The Venus Consortium was now increasingly powerful.

On this sunny day, the passenger ship carrying Antonio Salazar arrived in New York.

Antonio Salazar was only 36 years old that year, his hair perfectly combed, wearing a long overcoat. Standing next to him was a beautiful lady, Catherine Lemercier, a journalist from France’s “Le Figaro,” who had been sent by “Le Figaro” to Portugal to cover the Portuguese coup d’etat.

In the process, she met Antonio Salazar, and the two fell in love!

“Portugal could never have such a city!”

Looking at the bustling New York City before him, Antonio Salazar showed an envious expression.

Catherine Lemercier held Antonio Salazar’s hand, smiling, “The United States could never have an Antonio Salazar either!”

Antonio Salazar smiled, “No need to comfort me; after all, there’s only one New York in the whole world!”

Catherine Lemercier seriously said, “I’m not comforting you because there’s only one Antonio Salazar in the whole world!”

Antonio Salazar didn’t linger on the topic and asked Catherine Lemercier, “You’re a journalist; you must know a lot about Donnie Block, right? Tell me more about him since we are about to face him!”

Catherine Lemercier nodded and said, “The name Donnie Block spread to the United States in 1923 when Donnie Block’s ABC began to gain attention in Europe, sparking some interest in this emerging American magnate. It was then that ‘Le Figaro’ started investigating Donnie Block.

Yet, the more we investigated, the more ‘Le Figaro’ was astonished.

Because his development in the United States was unbelievably fast, according to the intelligence we obtained, he was an American soldier during World War I, returning to Atlantic City in 1919. During the war, although Donnie Block’s combat was fierce, it wasn’t exceptionally outstanding.

No one expected that he could achieve such massive success in the business world.”

Antonio Salazar nodded and said, “I also didn’t expect his growth would be so fast!”

Catherine Lemercier explained, “Within ‘Le Figaro,’ there’s a term we use for Donnie Block!”

Antonio Salazar curiously asked, “What term?”

“A child of destiny!” Catherine Lemercier said earnestly.

“A child of destiny?” Antonio Salazar pondered this and said, “Indeed, someone who in such a short time not only achieved significant accomplishments in the United States but also started influencing the European situation — what else could this be if not a child of destiny!”

Catherine Lemercier couldn’t help but remind Antonio Salazar, “Donnie Block is only 27 this year, and at such a young age, he achieved such monumental success. A person like that must be extremely resilient and strong-willed, and I worry that when you meet him, he might challenge you!”

Antonio Salazar laughed and said, “I think you shouldn’t worry about that. If Donnie Block’s accomplishments were merely those of a relatively successful businessman, he might behave as you describe. However, his achievements have already started to make many sit up and take notice; a person like that, no matter how proud they are internally, wouldn’t come across as arrogant, especially since Portugal is very important to him!”

Catherine Lemercier asked, “Do you really believe he’s using Portugal as a springboard for the New Jersey Consortium to enter the European market?”