Empire of Shadows

Watching his men begin to unload, Polly's face broke into a wide smile. He walked over to a box of liquor, opened it, and took out a bottle.

"Brandy?" he glanced at Jimmy, who was directing the unloading, and Jimmy nodded.

"All brandy and wine. There's some whiskey, but not much."

Polly frowned slightly. Brandy and wine were more popular in the mid-to-high-end consumer market, but his bars didn't cater to such an upscale clientele.

In other words, the people who drank at his bars were all damn poor. They could only afford the cheap whiskey that cost twenty-five cents a glass, not the more expensive brandy and wine.

Especially the wine, who would drink that in a bar?

Maybe some people would, but at least Polly's bars didn't have anyone who drank it. He had been happy, but suddenly seeing this shipment made him less so.

What he didn't know was that Heller had obtained these goods specifically for the mid-to-high-end market. The low-end smuggled liquor market in Goldport City was actually in a state of near-saturation, and the prices were stable.

On the other hand, the mid-to-high-end liquor market, which had previously been ignored, was beginning to show increased potential. There were many wealthy people in Goldport City, and they couldn't possibly drink cheap, low-grade liquor like those dockworkers. They needed mid-to-high-end liquor.

Whether for their own consumption or to entertain guests, they needed bottles that cost at least five dollars.

Given the current prices in the liquor market, liquor that used to cost five dollars, such as Gold Label Napa Whiskey, had now risen to over twelve dollars.

But the truly wealthy were unlikely to serve Silver Label to their guests. The rich sometimes cared more about appearances than the poor, so Gold Label and the like became their only choice.

Some wealthy people might use a dozen or even two or three dozen bottles at a party in a single day. This liquor could not only make him a lot of money, but also give him the opportunity to gain connections with some members of high society.

If others couldn't get high-end liquor, but you could, people would be willing to befriend you.

Heller, like Mr. Chuboff, although one was a gang leader and the other was an immigrant banker, both had a heart to become members of high society!

Polly could understand this desire to squeeze into high society, but he wouldn't do it.

He was from the very bottom of society, and his years of living at the bottom had taught him a truth: some things were predetermined from the moment you were born.

What is, is; what isn't, isn't. It's not something you can easily change.

Even though he bought a villa in the Bay Area, he rarely lived there, because he could see contempt and mockery in the eyes of his neighbors.

Even if he lived in a high-end community, in their eyes, he was no different from a dockworker.

No one would truly treat him as a person of importance.

"Let our bars try selling it first, let them discuss a price," Polly opened the bottle in his hand and had someone bring him a glass.

It had to be said that it tasted much better than the cheap whiskey he had drunk, but it was also possible that this was due to the weighted value of the material.

He patted Jimmy on the arm, signaling him to follow him.

The two left the warehouse, and the sea breeze was actually a bit cold. He handed the bottle to Jimmy, who tilted it to his mouth and took a big gulp.

His face, illuminated by the lights outside the warehouse, clearly began to turn red, and he quickly exhaled a breath of hot air, and his face slowly returned to normal.

Under Polly's influence, almost everyone in the Brotherhood didn't like adding ice to their liquor.

Young people, especially flamboyant young people, always wanted to be different, but in this boring society, the price of being different was very high.

He could only seek difference in places where he didn't have to pay a huge price. Drinking liquor without ice was one of his choices.

He regarded drinking a large gulp of liquor without ice as a "game of the brave," which led to almost everyone in the gang being like him.

Finishing a glass of liquor in one or two gulps, without ice, gradually formed a kind of gang culture.

Jimmy held the bottle in his hand, because Polly didn't ask for it back.

"When you were gone just now, Pete called me."

Pete was a well-known broker in Goldport City's high society. He was involved in almost every field and had connections in all of them.

This was thanks to his family. His family had produced a governor and a speaker of the state senate (equivalent to the deputy governor), and even now, there were still family members in the state senate and state house of representatives.

They were active members of the old local Socialist Party.

This kind of all-round broker was almost everywhere in the Federation, from the city to the state to Congress and the federal government. They were all over the Federation and the federal political system.

Because they themselves were not politicians, they were not bound by some rules.

At the same time, they had enough influence in politics, the economy, business, and even the underground world, so many people needed them.

Some people didn't want to get their hands dirty, but they wanted to get the dirty work done, and they became the choice of these decent people who didn't want to get their hands dirty.

Jimmy had heard of this name, but he didn't know Pete. His level wasn't high enough for him to know such people, so he could only nod, which was equivalent to "I understand."

"Chuboff asked some connections, and Pete took his commission and told us to stop this matter."

Only then did Jimmy react, and he immediately became angry, "So I took a bullet for nothing?"

Polly turned to look at him, "You won't be injured for nothing. He agreed to take out twenty thousand dollars to settle this matter."

"I guarantee that this twenty thousand dollars will be handed over to you without a penny less." The other meaning of this sentence was that Polly and the gang would not intercept a portion of it, and would give it all to him.

Jimmy had actually agreed in his heart. When he heard that Chuboff had joined the mayor, he knew that this revenge was basically difficult to achieve.

Attacking the mayor's lackey was something that even Polly didn't dare to do.

It wasn't that they couldn't do it, it was that they didn't dare. If they did, Goldport City would no longer be their place to stand.

The mayor originally had a high reputation within the Socialist Party and was planning to run for governor. You just took in a lackey, and you went over and killed the lackey.

It wasn't clear whether you were killing the lackey or slapping the mayor in the face. No one could say for sure.

Such people only needed a word, and they would be wiped out.

Their own asses were not clean, and the law enforcement agencies didn't even need to collect evidence to find trouble for them. They could just take action directly.

Although he was willing in his heart, he couldn't immediately stick out his tongue and show a smile to express his agreement. This would greatly reduce his position in Polly and even the gang.

Seeing Jimmy lower his head and not speak, Polly put his hand on his shoulder, "I know you're very dissatisfied with him, but I also have a lot of pressure!"

"Like this, I'll give you a choice."

"I'll make him pay an extra ten thousand dollars, or you can go and retaliate against his assistant's nephew."

"Pete told me that all the arrangements were made by that young man. He chose the people, he provided the weapons, and he arranged the assassination."

It was another difficult question to choose. If it wasn't in the Brotherhood, Jimmy would definitely choose to ask for ten thousand dollars more, but here, still in front of Polly, he could only choose the option that was more in line with their gang's temperament, "I choose the latter."

Polly smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "I knew you could understand me!" He said, signaling Jimmy to give him the bottle back.

He took it and took a swig, and his face also turned red, "This matter has wronged you."

"It's okay, it's all for the gang," Jimmy said a beautiful word.

That night, Polly arranged for someone to send a batch of brandy to the bar to sell. Because the price of this batch of liquor was very high, they had tried their best to set the price down. Each two-ounce glass of brandy was only ninety-nine cents.

According to the total selling price, a bottle could be sold for twelve dollars. If this price was placed in the end-market sales market for the whole bottle, it could only be regarded as the current market price.

But in the sale of loose liquor in bars, its profit margin was far lower than other products, and it could even be said to be a small profit.

But even so, the sales volume was pitifully small overnight. Several bars were like this. The three bars currently operated by the Brotherhood didn't sell a single glass.

The two bars they supplied only sold one glass. It was said that seven or eight people drank one glass.

Compared to brandy at ninety-nine cents a glass, those poor ghosts who worked at the docks and didn't even have a few coins in their pockets preferred a large glass of beer plus an ounce of whiskey that could be bought for twenty-five cents!

This also made Polly realize that it would be difficult for him to digest this batch of liquor, at least on his own. He had to think of other ways, he had to send it to the Bay Area.

But he didn't have any connections in the Bay Area right now, but he would think of a way. Pete, that broker, was one way.

The next morning, Heller called Polly.

"Hi, Big Polly, are you satisfied with this batch of goods?" Heller thought he would hear Polly's praise, but what greeted him was a rant.

"Heller, if you had told me that your so-called goods were all brandy and wine, I wouldn't even have touched them!"

"Last night, five bars only sold one glass. There's no market for this kind of mid-to-high-end liquor on the docks!"

Sitting in his office, Heller smiled slightly. Of course he wouldn't say that this was the effect he wanted.

The gangs he found to help him take over were all low-level gangs. If he really wanted to solve this batch of liquor, why didn't he just go to the Five Families?

The five major families have credibility and aren't short on money. They would definitely give him enough money, so why would he look for a low-level gang?

Besides being a little afraid that the five major families would swallow his goods, he mostly wanted to get this batch of goods back.

“I didn’t know you couldn’t handle these wines. How about this, you return the wines to me,” he said what was on his mind. “Considering you helped me receive the goods, I’ll give you five thousand.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a while. Just as he was about to add another two or three thousand, Polly's voice came through, “Two hundred thousand, at cost.”

Heller held the receiver in front of his eyes and looked at it, as if… he suspected he was hallucinating.

Damn it, he hadn't even received his hundred thousand for this batch of goods, and now Polly was asking him for two hundred thousand. Was Polly crazy, or was he?

He put the receiver back to his ear, “Are you fucking crazy?”

“I only charged you one hundred thousand for this batch of goods. Now that you can’t sell it, I’m helping you solve this problem, and you want two hundred thousand from me?”

Polly's voice had a hint of ruthlessness, “This batch of wine can sell for three hundred and fifty thousand, don’t fucking tell me you don’t know!”

“Also, Heller, watch your fucking language. I’m not an Empire citizen. If you use that on me, I’ll bring my men and my guns to find you tonight!”

One sentence silenced Heller.

“Think or do as you like, Polly. Since you rejected my good intentions, then I won’t interfere in this matter anymore.”

“Also, give me the money, what we agreed on before,” he was quite angry, but ultimately gave up. After all, he believed Polly might really bring a group of people to kill him tonight.

The disdainful laughter from the receiver made his blood pressure rise again, and his eyes were a little red.

Since becoming the gang leader, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

“I’ll give you the money after I sell this batch of wine, or you can come to my office to get it now.”

“I don’t want to say much more to you. Before noon. If you don’t come, then wait until I sell it.”

The beeping busy tone made Heller slam the receiver onto the phone base.

You son of a bitch, he cursed, lighting a cigarette.

But to personally go to Polly's office to ask that madman for the hundred thousand, especially after they had a conflict over the phone, he didn't have the guts.

After a while, he heavily exhaled a breath of turbid air. Forget it, he'll wait until he sells it.

In just two days, all bad news.

Precisely because of this, he increasingly loathed Will, who had become a dead ghost, and his damned brother, as well as the Lance family who caused all of this to happen.

He took his cigarette and went to the window. There were still two police cars parked downstairs at the nightclub, so yesterday's business had become much worse.

Now the police are watching very closely. Once they stop watching, he will definitely make that Lance family pay the price!

At this time, Lance, who he was thinking about, had already arrived at Lezhu Company and was sitting in Alberto's office.

“…Those cars have all been disposed of cleanly. No one can connect them to you.”

“There will definitely be no shortage of police watching you during this time. It’s not a good time for me to take you to see Mr. Pasreto. I’ll take you there after the police aren’t watching you so closely.”

He shook his head slightly, “Lance, you have a little bit of fame in Goldport City now. Many people have heard that you killed Will of the Camilla gang.”

“I’ve heard some discussions about the ‘Lance Family’ from more than one person. You’ve gained this attention faster than I did when I first came to the Federation.”

Lance looked very relaxed.

Johnny's family probably… more or less knew some people in the gang forces. When they heard the name “Lance Family”, they were frightened.

They went with Hiram to persuade Johnny to let go of his hatred, and Johnny did choose to give up.

He was just a dockworker, relying only on his strength and a few friends around him to do some workplace bullying.

He was not a gang member, and he didn't really yearn for gangs, so when he really encountered a “Family”, he chose to compromise at the first moment.

He took the initiative to explain to the Port District Branch that this was just a misunderstanding, and hoped to drop all charges against Baker (the scapegoat), and that they could reach a private settlement.

The Port District Branch was actually willing to see this situation. On the one hand, this would reduce some of the police station's workload. After all, if they were to go to court, they would need to use some police resources to investigate some things.

Don't think that the police go to work every day with a salary and that it doesn't cost them anything to do investigations. In fact, there are costs involved.

The branch management would definitely not disagree with reducing some of it.

On the other hand, the money that Lance gave to Officer Feren and his partner also played a role.

Now he's not afraid of being investigated at all. Even if he's being watched by a bunch of police, Lance isn't afraid of anything.

Gaining attention is not necessarily a good thing, but it's not a bad thing either.

After all, fame is often a protective charm.

“Alberto, are you familiar with the movie industry or something?” Lance changed the subject.

Alberto was stunned for a moment, holding his cigar, “Have you taken a fancy to some actress?”

“If they are too famous, it won’t work. You may not know, some of the top actresses have even entered the Presidential Palace.”

“But for those who aren’t so famous, there’s no problem at all.”

At this time, the Federation's film industry had not yet been recognized by mainstream society. Although the film industry was booming, it was still in the early stages of development.

Compared to an opera with grand stage effects, it was obviously a level, or even several levels, lower.

Currently, the few big stars in the Federation who can be recognized by mainstream society are not recognized for their identity as actors, but for their identity as capitalists!

Therefore, the upper class doesn't pay much attention to the film industry, but the film industry has become one of the most important forms of entertainment for the middle and lower classes. A five-cent movie ticket can buy about an hour of happy time.

Currently, many movies are mainly comical and funny, which can indeed make people happy to a great extent. It and the circus are the most popular entertainment activities among the lower classes!

So in this period, even the most popular movie stars, as long as they are not capitalists and do not have a prominent background.

They are essentially just playthings of the upper class, and this situation will continue for a hundred years, or even longer.

Lance shook his head, “I’m not too interested in that. I have a brother, he has a very good foundation, I think he can become a big star.”

Alberto became a little curious, “Then why don’t you let him go sing opera?”

“Opera actors are more respected.”

“Opera?”

“Without decades of time and some luck, he won’t be able to make a name for himself at all. On the contrary, I think the film industry will become the fastest-growing industry in the next ten years…”

“Moreover, this industry can help me.”

“Or rather, us.”