Empire of Shadows

The ringing of the telephone startled Mr. Chobaf, who was sleeping soundly. The mayor had hosted a gathering the previous night, to which he had been invited.

Several representatives of the state's society were among the attendees. The mayor confided in him that these gentlemen not only had the right to speak at the meeting but also held very high positions.

Many people, especially those from the lower levels of the Federation, would readily mention senators and representatives, even the Speaker of the House.

It seemed that, in their eyes, the political figures of a city or even a state were not worthy of their attention.

But Mr. Chobaf knew that this was because ordinary people only knew about the top officials—what they did and who they were—while remaining completely unaware of those in the middle.

They didn't know who the President of the State Senate was, nor did they know who the Speaker of the House was. They might not even know who the Deputy Governor was, let alone the top and second-in-command officials of various departments.

Yet, it was precisely these individuals, largely unknown to the general public, who truly controlled the pulse of a state and a city, and who genuinely determined the fate of the people.

Just like the President, who couldn't decide whether an ordinary person could live happily, but the mayor and the governor could.

And those who could decide who was qualified to hold these important positions were these representatives.

Although the federal government was actively promoting the implementation of suffrage, individual candidates simply didn't have any influence, at least not at the moment.

These people, whose names might never appear in newspapers, were in some ways more important than the mayor. He had no reason to refuse them.

He had never had such an opportunity before, nor was it likely he ever would. He cherished this chance.

Naturally, he was honored to contribute over five thousand dollars to cover all the expenses of the gathering, as it was the right thing to do.

This five thousand dollars was one of the smallest expenses he had incurred since joining the mayor's inner circle. He even felt a bit unreal—had they really let him off so easily?

It was no wonder he felt this way. When he joined the mayor's small group as a 'banker,' he took on the role of an extra money bag.

The mayor himself didn't run a business or accept bribes, so where would his money come from?

As for political donations?

That money should obviously not be used for private wining and dining. The mayor was a man of principle, but he was extremely grateful to have a banker friend named Chobaf.

This banker friend always generously helped him solve any problems that money could solve, and never asked for anything in return.

This sincere friendship moved the mayor so much that he would invite Mr. Chobaf to any event he organized.

He had exchanged business cards at yesterday's gathering and could sense that those people still didn't value him much. He wasn't surprised, because he was currently what Lance called a 'whore'—you couldn't possibly respect a whore.

Unless, one day, he was no longer just someone who paid the mayor's bills, but had a higher status and greater influence.

This was what he had been actively seeking. He planned to establish a Federation Advancement Fund, selecting hard-working Federation citizens from across the Federation each year who were actively striving to realize their social value, awarding them bonuses, and publicizing their deeds.

The Federation people would definitely love this kind of thing. They would like anything that helped with governance and stability.

He had actually talked to the mayor about this matter privately, though not formally. The mayor was very interested after hearing about it and asked him to come up with a plan.

This would not only help him better integrate into the local, even social and political circles, but also help him gain great influence among the Empire immigrants.

A win-win situation.

In a dream not long ago, he dreamed that he was invited to the Presidential Palace to give a speech, and the topic was 'I come from the Empire, but I have a Federation dream.' He stood on the podium, delivering a passionate speech, and even the President and the bigwigs of Congress stood up and applauded for him.

But he couldn't hear clearly what he was saying. Those people under the stage were so annoying. Couldn't their applause be a little quieter?

That way, he could copy down his speech from the dream and wouldn't have to rack his brains to compose it in the future.

Just as he was about to reach the peak of his life, the ringing of the telephone echoed in his dream. Everyone's movements suddenly stopped, and they looked at the bedside table that had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

There was an enamel telephone. The sudden silence of the lecture hall made him feel scared, and also somewhat angry, because this might be the highlight of his life that he would never truly achieve!

At this moment, the dream was awakened by the ringing of the telephone. He felt a little frantic, but still opened his eyes.

The beautiful ceiling of the bed and the curtains were also very beautiful, but for some reason, he was just very upset.

He propped himself up on his elbows to sit on the head of the bed, glanced at the phone, and picked it up, 'This is Chobaf...'

'Sir, it's me. We may have encountered a little trouble...'

The assistant was standing in a public telephone booth outside the 'Jinda Bank.' Jinda Bank was a local bank in Gold Harbor City and only had a certain influence within the Empire district.

Because this bank belonged to the Empire banker Mr. Chobaf, anyone who was an Empire citizen, regardless of whether they had legal Federation status, could open an anonymous account in this bank and deposit money into it.

Of course, they also provided check services, but more people didn't recognize them, so basically, they only engaged in cash deposits, withdrawals, and loan services.

Because Mr. Chobaf had great influence among the Empire people in Gold Harbor City, many people trusted him very much and considered him the 'Light of the Empire,' so they deposited their money here.

The gathering of a large amount of funds made it easy for him to generate more money with money. Some people also said that he was secretly laundering money for some Empire nobles, but no one knew if it was true.

Now, the entrance of this bank, which was not usually too crowded, had actually started to have a queue.

Listening to the assistant's familiar voice, Mr. Chobaf pinched the receiver between his shoulder and ear and rubbed his eyes with both hands.

After rubbing away the slightly gritty eye boogers, he stretched and turned to sit on the edge of the bed. He wasn't too worried.

Because he was no longer the person he used to be.

Even if those who had some ability wanted to provoke him, they would have to think about whether they could withstand the mayor's anger.

'So, waking me up before eight o'clock, what's it for?'

Although he felt that the assistant did have a somewhat solemn tone, he had been like this ever since his nephew died, so he really didn't think anything major had happened.

Until, the assistant said the following words—

'Sir, there might be a bank run!'

Mr. Chobaf was still considering whether to doze off for a while longer, since he had nothing to do today, it was still early, and he was still sleepy.

But the next second, he was so frightened that he suddenly stood up, and his skin began to heat up, and he even started to sweat!

His expression also changed from indifference to full of fear. He quickly picked up the phone and walked to the window, looking out at the street.

The house was a bit far from the roadside, but he could see some, just some!

The street didn't seem like anything major had happened. He couldn't understand, 'What happened, why is there a bank run, are there many people?'

His voice was already a little unsteady. Once a bank run broke out, it couldn't be contained.

Human nature is like this, they will avoid fire when they see it, and they will eat when they see food.

When they encounter bad things, they will try to avoid them. Bank bankruptcy is obviously the worst thing!

In fact, not to mention banks with unhealthy capital operations, even healthy banks can't withstand bank runs, in this period!

He knew the situation in the bank better than anyone else. He couldn't really keep the depositors' money in the bank all the time, he would lose money that way.

So, about sixty to seventy percent of the money here was not in the bank. It was lent out in the form of loans to earn interest, including but not limited to investments, buying real estate at low prices, buying gold, and buying federal bonds.

If the bank run was only small-scale, he could completely handle it. He could even deal with it by urgently transferring a sum of money from other banks.

But he was afraid that someone was manipulating this behind the scenes!

While putting on his clothes, he dialed the mayor's phone.

Compared to him still sleeping just now, the mayor was already working.

Recently, Mr. Chobaf had been actively trying to show everyone his value, and the mayor's attitude towards him had also eased a lot, after all, he had 'extorted' almost four to five hundred thousand from Mr. Chobaf.

Of course, this money was not completely gone, but rather Mr. Chobaf invested in infrastructure to thank Gold Harbor City for giving him a place to settle down.

According to those people, these investments could pay off in twenty or thirty years.

But twenty or thirty years later... whether these hundreds of thousands will still be worth that much is another matter.

In addition to some other investments that were not related to urban construction, the mayor's attitude towards him was still good.

'What's the matter?'

The mayor put down his pen. In addition to seeing the specific development of Gold Harbor City, the state representatives also needed to have a grasp of the elections that would begin at the end of the year in various parts of the state.

They had always had good control in the state, but they still couldn't relax their vigilance in the elections. They had to better understand the choices of grassroots voters in the election situation.

Sometimes elections are like a tug-of-war, and often what determines the outcome is not the overall strength of the two teams.

After all, they can stand on the same field to conduct the final, the strength of both sides must be very close, at this time if only consider the average strength of both sides, then it is clear that the correct result cannot be truly predicted.

Because in an evenly matched game, what determines who wins the final victory is never the gap in overall strength.

But which side, someone makes a mistake first!

As a relatively important city, King's Landing is also a top priority for observing the election of voters here.

Of course, some expenses may be incurred during this process, tens of thousands of dollars, or more

Of course, it is impossible for him to pay for the money himself, but he will not let Mr. Chobaff pay for it all by himself, after all, there are others who are willing to pay for it.

But at least, Mr. Chobaff has to come up with about thirty-five thousand yuan, not counting yesterday's expenses.

No one can be indifferent to the future thirty-five thousand yuan, even the mayor, and thirty-five thousand yuan is just the beginning, there is a long way to go in the future.

Mr. Chobaff's voice was slightly anxious, "I don't know if someone is doing something, in short, there is a run on the bank, and I am going to rush over."

"I need some help, from the branch office, I am worried that there may be conflicts."

The mayor frowned, "Is the situation serious?"

While packing himself, Mr. Chobaff said, "I'm not too sure, I'll tell you the news after I figure out the situation."

After hanging up the phone, the mayor frowned, and then dialed the city police department's phone, "Where's Charlie?"

"Not there?"

"There may be some malicious runs and riots at the Jinda Bank in the Empire District, you and the Empire District Branch should arrange for people to go over to maintain order and find out about Mr. Chobaff's demands."

He didn't say to let them listen to Mr. Chobaff, which is not something a mayor should say, but he also said that they should find out about the other party's demands, which is actually very clear.

Soon the wailing sirens on the street pierced the tranquility of the Empire District's morning, and four or five police cars gathered in the cold wind, and finally stopped outside the gate of Jinda Bank.

The originally quiet crowd of people queuing up suddenly became a little agitated.

The Empire people who are in a weak position will instinctively feel afraid when they see these police, these are not police from civilized countries, they are federal police!

Mr. Chobaff also just arrived, he saw Blue, but he didn't know the police chief sent by the city police department, but fortunately Blue introduced him.

During the period, some people also greeted Mr. Chobaff, but he just barely smiled and dealt with it, which made other people unwilling to come over, and there were police officers beside him.

Then the three entered the bank, from the door queuing to the counter, there were only three counters here, all of them were people.

When the assistant saw Mr. Chobaff, he took the initiative to open the security door of the counter and let them in.

"What's going on?", As soon as he came in, he pulled the assistant to the corner.

The assistant shook his head, "I'm not too sure, but I asked a few people, they said they need money urgently."

"Urgent need?"

"How urgent can it be, so many people!"

He looked out again, "Find a way to keep them from queuing so long, it's easy to cause panic among others, let them come in time slots!"

Saying that, he looked at Blue, the branch director, and the police chief from the city police department, "You two take a break, maybe the problem here can be solved soon."

He came to the vault, opened it, and personally pushed a cart of money out of it.

The small trolley is actually not big, there is a tray on it, and the tray is full of money.

This money looks like there is a lot, but if someone counts it carefully, there is about three or four hundred thousand here.

But the visual impact it brings is definitely much stronger than its actual number!

"I need you to help me with a favor!", Mr. Chobaff said, the branch director Blue and the police chief would definitely not refuse.

Before long, the people who were queuing saw Mr. Chobaff personally pushing a cart of money out, he told everyone who came to withdraw money that there was enough money here.

Even if they all take it away, it doesn't matter.

But considering that the weather is too cold now, he is very worried that everyone will be frozen, so he invites everyone to have a cup of coffee in the nearby coffee shop, and then have two donuts.

"My treat!"

The people who were already a little tempted, when they heard that they could get a free cup of coffee and free donuts, they were moved for these not-so-rich people.

When the first old woman with a knitted hat walked out of the line with a smile on her face, Mr. Chobaff breathed a sigh of relief.

"After you fill your stomach and warm your body, I will arrange for staff to find you."

"You don't need to wait in the cold wind!"

"Mr. Chobaff, you are really a kind and generous person!"

The people queuing up were completely moved, and Mr. Chobaff quickly greeted the staff to send them to the nearby coffee shop, and told the boss to keep the bill first, and he would settle it before twelve o'clock.

Soon, the people queuing to withdraw money on the street disappeared, but in order to avoid similar things from happening again, Chobaff asked the assistant to do everything according to the current method.

As long as they come to withdraw money, as long as they can't withdraw it immediately, let them go to the nearby coffee shop first.

Mr. Chobaff, who has been in the banking business for decades, knows very well that once a panic occurs, it will be too late!

His business scope is in the Empire District, and it doesn't take long for people here to come over, he is dead!

Although it will lose a little money now, it will not let the bank close, and he doesn't feel distressed at all compared to the appetite of the mayor and those people!

"A very clever trick, Mr. Chobaff!", the police chief from the city police department praised, "Now that you have solved it here, can I go back to work?"

"These days are the official working days of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Dangerous Goods Administration, so we are a little busy… …"

"But Blue will stay here to continue to assist you, right?"

Right? was said to Blue, who nodded repeatedly, "I won't go anywhere until the problem is solved."

Mr. Chobaff nodded, reached out and shook hands with the other party, "Thank you for making a trip, if you are free tonight, we can eat something together."

The police chief smiled and refused, "We are fully booked this week, so… …"

"There will always be opportunities!", Mr. Chobaff added.

Soon they drove away, leaving only the branch director Blue.

They actually knew each other before, and when Mr. Chobaff faced Blue before, he couldn't say that he felt that the other party was superior to him, but after all, he would be a little afraid of trouble.

Now, he doesn't feel that way anymore.

"Do you want to have a cup of coffee, and by the way, get some coffee and food for your colleagues… …"