Empire of Shadows

A few days after payday, Lance's several bars in the Imperial District had already begun operations.

This book is first published on the entire network by 𝕥 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

Inexpensive sparkling wine and tropical fruit wine have become new choices for people besides beer and cheap whiskey, and here, the bars also offer an "upgrade" service.

That is, adding spirits with a higher proof to the wine, priced at fifteen cents per ounce.

It doesn't seem cheap, but the landed cost of potato wine, which is no more than a dollar, allows it to be used only as an auxiliary material to increase the alcohol content, and each bottle can be sold for about three dollars and fifty cents.

The profit is close to two times.

In fact, Lance could ask for more, because the prices in other bars are not cheap, but now is the stage of grabbing market share, so he won't raise the price.

Moreover, the concept of "people's bar", under his promotion, has gradually begun to spread among alcoholics.

"Let everyone have a drink after work" is the slogan of these nameless bars.

However, everyone knows who they belong to, and they are very grateful to Mr. Lance for making the price of alcohol so low.

Even if it's only five cents cheaper, this has already made many alcoholics unable to refuse.

Not to mention, here, girls are free, and each girl can get a free glass of tropical fruit wine.

Plus, Lance told the girls that they don't have to worry about encountering danger when spending money here. As long as they feel unsafe, they can tell the bartender and any bar staff, and they can stay overnight in the bar.

Or the bar will arrange for someone to take them to the place they specify.

This move has been welcomed by many avant-garde girls who want to explore nightlife. With more girls in the bar, naturally, there will be more male customers.

This is a positive effect of mutual achievement.

In the afternoon, he returned to the Empire Nights Nightclub. No matter what, he is still the manager here. Before he even entered, he saw some people directing others to take away the gambling tables.

Lance did not participate in the gambling table matter. The mayor probably felt that a small character like him was not enough to negotiate with the Coda family, and he has always entrusted it to Attorney Olsen.

It seems that the result of the negotiation was not very pleasant. The Coda family may not be afraid of the mayor, this "outsider."

Lance watched the excitement for a while, and after watching them move the gambling tables and gambling equipment onto the truck and take them away, he returned to the office and made a phone call to Attorney Olsen.

"This is the Grand Law Firm of King's Port City, how can I help you?" A sweet girl's voice came from the receiver, a very sweet one.

If you have to describe how sweet it is...

It's probably like the voice of a girl with golden hair in pigtails, a pretty face, a hot figure, wearing a horizontal striped pink and white short T-shirt, sitting at a desk, biting a lollipop.

People love blonde girls!

"I'm looking for Attorney Olsen, this is Lance."

The girl seemed to know who he was, "Wait a moment, don't hang up."

She pressed a waiting button on the advanced telephone. This button would not make the operator mistakenly think that the call had ended. While maintaining the connection, it would not let Lance hear any sound, nor would it delay her from continuing to use the phone.

She pressed another colored button, and the call was quickly connected. Internal calls are always so fast.

"Mr. Olsen, Mr. Lance wants to talk to you, he's on line seven."

"Understood, thank you, I'll take his call."

After the girl hung up the phone, she continued to do her own thing. She didn't need to do anything else. Attorney Olsen only needed to connect to line seven to continue talking to Lance.

"What's the matter?"

Soon Attorney Olsen's voice came from Lance's receiver, "When I came just now, I saw people who should be from the Coda family, taking away the gambling tables. Do you want to stop them?"

Attorney Olsen leaned back, the back of the chair had a noticeable depression, making him more comfortable to lean on.

"No, there's nothing to do, let them take the things away."

Lance fueled the fire, "Do we have a law here that stipulates that opening a casino must be approved by the Coda family?"

Attorney Olsen laughed twice when he heard this, "No… Alright, Lance, I know you're a little dissatisfied with Eric's decision."

"It's not just you who hates him, I hate him too, but what can we do?"

"Do your own thing, I'll have Carol give you some compensation."

"If there's nothing else, then that's it."

"Okay, goodbye, Mr. Olsen."

"Goodbye, Lance."

Soon, a staff member came over to ask what to do with the empty space that Lance had vacated. Lance asked them to make some independent private rooms.

The Empire Nights Nightclub also provides blowjob services, but the prices here are not cheap.

If the average strip club represents the market mainstream, a thirty-minute lap dance plus a final blowjob is around ten dollars, then here, the price starts at fifteen and has no upper limit.

The quality of the girls here is better. Before they had this job, they would perform on stage as actresses.

If a guest takes a fancy to them, they can ask the waiter whether they can provide additional services for themselves.

If they don't object, then they can go to other independent private rooms with the guest.

Immigrants only account for about 30% of these girls, and the rest are federal native girls and local natives.

In a society constantly being eroded by capital and vanity, many concepts are quietly changing, such as how Federals used to hear about co-educational schools as if they had heard the most terrible thing.

But now, on the contrary, church girls' schools are starting to become fewer and fewer.

Of course, after saying so much, the most core issue is still poverty.

Lying down and making money is really the best choice for many girls who are unwilling to work or have no job opportunities.

As for the natives, they have no choice but to do so.

The federal government does not allow them to farm, does not allow them to mine, does not allow them to have proper jobs, and even does not allow them to enter and leave reservations at will.

The Federals have many ways to force them, and the reason is very ridiculous, just to respect and ensure that the traditions of the natives are not disturbed by civilization.

On one side is a hunting life that is no different from ancient times, and on the other side is a prosperous metropolis.

Almost the vast majority of native young people do not have the opportunity to be educated, which also leads to the fact that they cannot actually have very good job opportunities.

Coupled with various operations, they seem to have no way out.

Participating in criminal activities and selling their bodies have become some of the few ways for native young people to survive in big cities, and to survive quite well.

People who are used to eating fine grains always want to gnaw on some coarse grains.

The ancestors stepped on their corpses and spat on them, and now the Federal guests ride on them and spit as well, thick and viscous.

Erwin pushed the door open and saw Lance staring out the window. He walked over curiously and took a look. The gambling tables had all been transported away, and the other gambling equipment was still being loaded onto the truck.

"If the nightclub loses these gambling tables, the income will be greatly reduced."

Erwin had managed it for a while, and he knew very well that the nightclub's income mainly came from two parts: alcohol and casinos.

When the price of alcohol was not high before, the income mainly came from casinos and girls, but now that the price of alcohol has increased, the profitability of the girls has weakened instead.

After losing the gambling tables, maybe the income next month will only barely exceed ten thousand, at most one or two thousand.

Lance agreed with Erwin's point of view, "Too little."

Erwin didn't react for a moment, "What?"

Lance watched a few people pick up some scattered chips on the ground and throw them into the car. He turned around and went back to his chair to sit down, "The income has been reduced too little."

"Our bars will definitely have a huge impact on their bars, but it is impossible to steal all their customers in a short period of time."

"This month, the bars and nightclubs have provided the mayor with at least forty to fifty thousand in income."

"Even if the casino is gone and alcohol sales drop, cut it in half, he still has more than 20,000 yuan in income every month."

"It seems like it's half less, but he still has so much, so I said, it's too little."

"We have to find a way to make his income lower."

Erwin looked at Lance blankly, seemingly not understanding why he was doing this. Lance explained, "If the income in the Imperial District is always high, he will always stare at the business here."

"Only by making him feel that he can't make money here will he take his eyes off of it."

"In addition, if the income does not decrease, Eric will come to take the money every month, and there is always money, so we have no way to get him into trouble."

Erwin gradually reacted, "You mean…"

Lance didn't care whether he really understood, and slightly raised his chin, "We have to help him chase that female celebrity or something, find a way to make him spend more money, and then let him reopen the casino."

"I remember Kent still had some gambling tables and gambling equipment confiscated by the police, right?"

Kent was Will's younger brother, the unlucky guy who was "stuffed to death". There were still several gambling tables and corresponding gambling equipment in his casino.

After Kent's death was discovered, these gambling equipment was naturally confiscated.

He didn't have a license, so this was an illegal business, and those things should still be piled up in the police station.

Erwin nodded, "It seems like that."

Lance took out a cigarette case, tossed one to Elvin, lit one himself, and said, "Go to the old tailor and have him arrange a few decent suits for Morris. Let him find a way to investigate what Eric has been up to lately."

"See if there's an opportunity to create conflict between him and other competitors, or find a way to help him spend more money."

"Someone with such a poor brain should be easy to deal with!"

Elvin stood up. "I'll go do it now."

After he left, Lance picked up the phone and dialed the Jin Gang City Police Department's director's office. Chief Blue of the Imperial District branch answered, "This is Blue from the Imperial District branch..."

Anyone who could call him directly on his desk was either his superior, whom he couldn't afford to offend.

Or his 'benefactor,' whom he had to serve carefully, so he kept his attitude very low.

"This is Lance, Blue."

"You scared me, Lance. I thought some big shot was dissatisfied with me."

Lance sensed something amiss. "What happened?"

Blue seemed to have a desire to confide, "Hey, how should I put it?"

"A group of even more powerful masters came to do some kind of public opinion survey. The city hall requires us to make the streets look pretty and to be careful not to have any criminal activity."

"Thanks to you guys, Lance, otherwise we would definitely be worked to death. But even so, out of the entire police station with more than three hundred people, less than twenty were left. The rest were sent out on patrol!"

"These damned bureaucrats, they simply don't know how much pressure and expense this will add to us!"

Policing has always had a cost, but many people don't seem to know this, or rather, ignore it.

As Blue complained, Lance roughly understood the cause of the matter. The Social Democratic Party representative of Licar State will be conducting a public opinion survey in Jin Gang City during this period.

This is what federal political parties like to do most, after all, for politicians, 'public opinion' and 'approval rating' are as important as their two balls. If they can't touch them anytime, anywhere, they will feel extremely uneasy!

For a small character like Branch Chief Blue, party affiliation is actually not that important to him.

"Oh, right, after talking for so long, what's the matter with your call?"

After venting his emotions, Branch Chief Blue felt that his relationship with Lance had become closer. After all, Lance patiently listened to him complain. You should know that in the Federation, except for psychologists who would do this, others would shut you up the moment you opened your mouth.

"A batch of gambling tables and equipment from the Kent case were impounded at your branch. Are these things still there?"

"Wait a moment...", the earpiece transmitted Branch Chief Blue's roaring after covering the microphone, as well as some rustling sounds.

After about four or five minutes, the slightly harsh 'pop' sound caused by the pressure change when the palm left the microphone ended, and the voice returned to normal.

"The things are still there. It seems that this case has not been closed yet. Do you need these things?"

Selling exhibits is a tradition of the Federal Police Department. Not to mention a few gambling tables, they even dare to sell contraband to those bad guys by the kilogram!

Hearing that the things were still there, Lance smiled a little more.

It seems simple to open a casino, but in reality, it is not simple. The two most troublesome things are dealers and gambling equipment.

Dealers can still be found from other places, but even if gambling equipment is obtained from other places, it will be very troublesome.

And the local casinos are almost all monitored by the Coda family. Occasionally, there are some small fights, as long as they are not blatantly challenging them, and they are not on a large scale, they actually turn a blind eye.

Some people say that the local gambling equipment business has the Coda family's shares, so buying it is like exposing yourself.

"Of course, keep it for me. Actually, you don't have to worry too much about this case, because the person who reported it is also dead."

Blue didn't react at first, "What?"

"Then that's too bad, who is the reporter?"

"Will."

"..."

"Okay, that's indeed the case."

He paused, "When are you coming to pick it up?"

"End of the month, next month."

Lance mentioned the dart competition at the Imperial Branch again, which made Blue's emotions soar. "I have an idea. In addition to our dart competition, can we have a city-wide police get-together or something?"

"You take the lead."

Originally, Branch Chief Blue didn't want to answer, but when Lance said to let him take the lead, he felt that it wasn't impossible.

"I'll consider it. This involves tens of thousands of police officers in the city."

"No problem, you can also find someone to discuss it. Those big shots never care about us little characters."

"Besides ourselves, no one will care about us anymore."

"Waiting for your good news!"

After hanging up the phone, Branch Chief Blue knew what Lance meant. He hoped to make more friends with the Jin Gang City police.

In theory, he shouldn't stop him, after all, this is Lance's business, but he also knew that once Lance got to know more police officers, he might not be as valued as he is now.

He also has a little selfishness. A stable extra income of one thousand yuan per month, plus being valued, who would be willing to give this up.

But if he takes the lead in this matter, then the meaning is different. Everyone who benefits from this will owe him a favor, and this will definitely be of great help to his promotion.

But... if he really takes the lead, he will have to face Chief Charlie's anger. After all, the Bay Area Hound is just old, not dead.

With his position in the minds of those big shots in the upper class, Blue felt that he might not be able to withstand it.

But... if he gives up, he is somewhat unwilling, he is very conflicted.

Just as Branch Chief Blue was very conflicted about whether to risk offending Chief Charlie, getting the support of most of the police officers, or giving up this opportunity, William (Patricia's father) couldn't sit still anymore.

"I want to resign!" He put the resignation letter on the supervisor's desk.

As a civil servant, proactively resigning is also a very incredible thing in the Federation, and William is also a member of the city hall office.

This almost represents that he has reached a middle and upper level in the position of a grassroots civil servant.

Going up again is no longer something that can be done by relying on personal ability, he has no reason to resign at all.

When his supervisor finished reading the resignation letter, he was a little... surprised, "You're going to run for city councilor?"

Running for city councilor is something that will be exposed sooner or later. Hiding it is not as good as showing it openly, which is a way to build momentum.

He nodded, "I've been in the office for twenty years. Recently, I also want to go out. I'm not young anymore. While I still have the strength, I want to give it a try."

The supervisor did not try to persuade him to stay and put the resignation letter in the drawer, because when William wants to run for city councilor, it means that he must have received help.

Persuading him to stay at this time will not make William think he is a good person, but will make himself look like a clown.

"Give me a call when you need me. We've been colleagues for so many years, I'll support you."

Before the result comes out, the supervisor doesn't mind saying some nice words first, what if he succeeds?

The situation of the Social Democratic Party is a bit delicate now, and some voters in some places have turned against public opinion. William may not have a chance.

"Which district are you planning to go to?"

"Imperial District!"