Empire of Shadows

Weak fish, when facing deep-sea predators, will gather in schools, making them appear as one giant entity.

Although most of the time it's useless, and instead allows predators to eat their fill without having to swim too far, it… should ultimately have some effect.

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Huddling together for warmth is something that both animals and humans do.

After the car got on the road, it headed southwest. Chief Dale already understood the mayor's meaning and now needed to think.

Thinking requires time, and the mayor just happened to provide that time.

He took another sip of his drink, "Why not?"

The mayor smiled, expressing his goodwill, and then started to chat.

"When I first came to Gold Harbor City, I had many ideas. This city's geographical location is too good. It will definitely become one of the most important cities in the Federation in the future."

"The first thing I did when I came here was to inspect the Gold Harbor Wharf, the place that created miracles."

"I come from an inland city. I have never seen such a large and sophisticated wharf. It was a crisp autumn morning, and the wharf was shrouded in a thick fog. The sun had just risen, and the golden light made it hazy, simply as beautiful as a fairyland!"

"I stood there and watched for a long time, a very long time."

"When people began to go to their work posts, the thick fog was blown away, and a more realistic wharf appeared."

"Countless ships come here to leave cargo and then load new cargo to leave. Every ship that docks represents an increase in income for the city and the people who live here."

"I have never seen such a city!"

Chief Dale picked up his glass and took a sip. He had to agree with this point. He came by ship, and he witnessed the prosperity and solidity of the Gold Harbor Wharf.

"Yes, it's a miracle, a world miracle!"

The mayor nodded slightly, "Actually, it was only six years ago that the utilization rate of the Gold Harbor Wharf had reached seventy percent."

"In other words, as long as the world economy experiences another round of growth, the Gold Harbor Wharf may be operating at full capacity."

"So, at that time, my idea was that, for the development of the city, we must build a new port to cope with the economic boom that could erupt at any time."

After listening, Chief Dale quite agreed with the mayor's point of view, "The economic level of the whole world is increasing, the population is increasing, and the wealth created is also increasing. On this point, you are not wrong."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking. I also held a municipal meeting, and everyone smiled and said to me that this was a very good idea and they would all support me."

"And then…"

He shrugged, "They welcomed me enthusiastically in their own special way."

"After the New Port Area plan was completed, problems kept arising. They weren't particularly big problems, but these problems were continuous."

"Either workers were injured by falling objects, or the workers went on strike, or there was a shortage of raw materials. Anyway, they always had ways to slow down the construction of the New Port Wharf."

"I gradually understood that I had touched their interests. They couldn't openly oppose me because I was the mayor appointed by the federal government, I was a member of the Socialist Party, and I also had my own circle."

"So they used this method to fight against me."

"At that time, I thought their approach was very naive. Slowing down the construction period and not letting me finish the work, would that make me cancel these decisions?"

"At that time, I didn't think they were anything great, some municipal councilors, some gangsters. This is the Federation, not their back garden."

"I found some investors from other places and told them my plan: to build a new wharf around the New Port Area, and a new residential area, New Bay Area."

Chief Dale suddenly laughed, "Mr. Mayor, no offense intended, but just listening to you mention the names of these administrative planning areas, I feel… you are declaring war on them."

The mayor also laughed and said, "Yes, yes, did you see that?"

"I'm telling them that I'm going to ditch them. I can still do what I want to do without them, and I don't think I'm doing anything wrong."

"These investors from other places have cooperated with me before, and there is a foundation of trust. Materials, workers, we brought everything in from other places."

"Maybe they hadn't seen such a situation before. At first, it did catch them a little off guard, not knowing how to deal with it."

"The New Bay Area… was also partially built."

"But soon, their revenge came…"

The mayor suddenly fell silent for a while, seemingly recalling those bloody days.

"They unscrupulously assassinated the investors I favored, openly discussed and prohibited people from buying real estate in the New Bay Area, so that now those houses are still stuck in the hands of the investors."

"The workers from other places were harassed, they poisoned the food, and a large number of workers were threatened with death, and soon they ran away."

"Even if we gave them more wages, they were unwilling to stay in this terrible place."

The car had now reached a deserted section of the road, and a huge new wharf stood there by the coastline.

But compared to the Gold Harbor Wharf, the New Port Wharf was obviously much more deserted.

Some ships also docked here because the fees here were lower, but it could only attract a small number of supply ships.

Large freighters still dock at the Gold Harbor Wharf. They not only have to unload goods there, but also load goods there.

Most of the goods are piled up at the Gold Harbor Wharf. If they are to be transported over here, there will be transportation costs, so some ships would rather wait a few days than load and unload here.

The main costs of sea transportation are fuel costs and crew costs. If these freighters are just docked at ordinary wharves, or even anchored at sea, as long as they don't start the engine, the costs will be very low.

They can use small boats to send the crew to the wharf to relax, which is considered a vacation for them, thereby reducing some labor costs.

Of course, most of the time, the Gold Harbor Wharf is not crowded. This is just a very rare situation.

Compared to the bustling Gold Harbor Wharf, this place is like a nursing home. It is clearly a newly built wharf, but it has a mismatched sense of twilight.

Workers stood in groups of three or five at the edge of the wharf chatting or walking around. You couldn't see any sense of a tense working atmosphere at all.

The mayor sighed, "They held a banquet and invited me to go."

"Eleven local municipal councilors, representatives of the five major families, they stood together and said to me, 'Welcome to Gold Harbor City'."

"At that time, I felt it was very ridiculous. I wanted to ask them, does this place belong to the Federation, or does it belong to them?"

"But I knew that they would say in their hearts that this place belonged to them, but they wouldn't admit it verbally."

"From that day on, I understood a profound truth."

"Gold Harbor City belongs to the people of Gold Harbor. It does not belong to, and cannot belong to, outsiders."

He picked up his glass, threw back his head, and drank it all in one gulp, then looked at Chief Dale, "Before, there was only me as an outsider. I was not their opponent, but now, there's you."

"Dale, don't think about joining them. Of course, I'm not telling you not to do that. You can try, and then you'll find that they won't truly accept you."

"Because you are ultimately just an outsider, unless you can marry a daughter from one of their families and take root here, otherwise you will never be able to integrate into this city."

"This damned city, filled with extreme xenophobia from top to bottom!"

"Before, I could only rely on myself, but now, there is another option."

The car slowly stopped, and the two got out of the car and stood at the edge of the port. One step forward would be the surging sea, and the New Port Wharf, like a giant ship, across from them.

The sun was at noon, brightly but not scorching, illuminating the world.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty smell, brushed against their faces, and before them was the sea. That kind of refreshing feeling spread out all at once.

It was as if the world had become bigger, and their ambitions were soaring!

Neither of them spoke, feeling the greatness of the world. After a while, the mayor turned to look at Chief Dale, "If we don't stick together, we will never be their opponents!"

"Here, we will have a hard time moving forward!"

Chief Dale didn't actually expect the situation here to be so complicated. It was clearly the most important economic engine of the Federation, but it was firmly occupied by stubborn local forces.

He thought about many things, from the central government to the local government, from Congress to himself.

"You will be leaving in two years. After you leave, I will become their target."

This was not a refusal, but a negotiation, because both he and the mayor knew that they would arrange for a new mayor to come over in two years.

They could still stick together.

The mayor smiled, "If nothing unexpected happens in two years, I will go to the state legislature to serve as the Speaker of the House. I can still give you help, and even more help."

"At that time, I will be in the state legislature, you and the new mayor will be here, and we will form a new triangle."

"In terms of law enforcement, management, and the assistance I can give you from a higher position, you can do more of what you want to do, instead of like this."

"Dale, this is how it is when facing evil. If you can't take one step after another to force them to retreat, then they will turn around and constantly test your bottom line, making you retreat."

"We all want to do something. Don't let us regret our lives."

Director Dale gazed at the sea for a while, contemplating many things. It seemed that aligning himself with the mayor had become one of the few beneficial options available to him.

The current situation was, to say the least, as bad as it could possibly get, so why not give it a try?

Half a minute later, two hands clasped together. Director Dale seemed a little more relaxed. If the mayor could really make a difference, he might still be able to salvage the situation.

This year, or rather this month, these past two weeks, had been the most incredibly dramatic two weeks of his life.

Constantly challenging his understanding, he had pulled out all the most impressive maneuvers he had ever known, yet he was still collapsing step by step. This was the only turning point; he needed the mayor, far more than the mayor needed him.

"So, how do you plan to proceed?"

The mayor stroked his chin, his stubble slightly prickly. He needed a shave. "Start with the gangs."

"These gangs and local political groups are sometimes hard to tell apart. Sometimes they are in opposition, but sometimes they are one and the same."

"Rather than directly targeting people like Williams and Wade, which would unleash a series of hurricanes and tsunamis, it's better to start with these gangs."

"They are black, and we are white. Our job is to clean them up. Even if the case goes to Congress, we have no chance of losing!"

"Now that the profits from alcohol are so high, they will inevitably try to engage in liquor smuggling. As soon as they do, we'll catch them!"

This was a great starting point. The price of liquor was changing every day, and with the Goldenport City Hazardous Materials Administration explosion, it became more widely known and talked about, and the prohibition became even stricter.

Congressional senators believed this was a challenge to the authority of law and order by criminal groups and alcoholics. If they couldn't strike back hard, the Prohibition would soon become a joke.

In the coming years, the prohibition situation would only become more severe, which would also make the profits from smuggled liquor even higher.

Those criminal groups couldn't possibly ignore such high profits. As soon as they reached out, they could be caught.

Even if they cut off an arm to survive, they couldn't keep cutting off arms forever!

Perhaps Director Dale had reduced the number of agents, allowing some illegal businesses to reopen, or perhaps he had no further measures, letting the "locals" see his attitude. In any case, the rumors that had been swirling around him disappeared in an instant.

People no longer mocked him for "understanding a little," and some letters of accusation and photos were put into safes by certain individuals. Everything seemed to have returned to the way it was two weeks ago; Goldenport City was still the glittering Goldenport City.

No one could see that a part of it, hidden in the corners, had begun to rot and fester.

But these things would definitely not disappear from people's memories as if nothing had happened.

Something must have happened, and some subsequent effects must have been produced, but people just couldn't see it yet.

Soon, Lance received a notification that his men had been released.

"Sorry, Lance, you know this is the decision from above, I can't refuse," said Chief Blue with an apologetic look.

In the past few days, some members of the Lance family in the Imperial District had been arrested for "suspected sale of smuggled liquor," but now it had been proven that these liquors existed before the Prohibition, so the illegal smuggling and storage charges were not valid.

However, they still violated the "prohibition of selling alcoholic beverages to the public," so they had to accept a fine and be shut down for a period of time, pending a court ruling.

The court also sentenced them to a fine and community service. After Lance paid the fine, he took the documents issued by the court to pick up his people.

Chief Blue was a little embarrassed and also a little scared, because the people were all being held here.

Lance patted his arm without any awkwardness, and didn't take the matter to heart at all. "These are all small problems, they won't affect our relationship."

As he spoke, he asked about the things he cared about. "Have you made a decision about the police get-together?"

Chief Blue nodded. He walked around Lance, went to the door, and closed it.

"I've talked to the other precinct chiefs. They want to know how this get-together will work and what benefits it will bring us."

"There are more than 10,000 police officers in Goldenport City. Who can participate and who can't? We need a detailed charter for all of this."

Lance looked at Chief Blue a little longer. Chief Blue touched his cheek with some confusion. "Is there something dirty on my face?"

He shook his head. "No, it's just that I didn't expect you to suddenly be so decisive."

"After I get back, I'll have someone make a plan and send it over. Then you can invite the other precinct chiefs and we can sit down and talk."

Chief Blue nodded. "They are also very interested in you."

Some people had privately estimated that it would cost a lot of money to hold a police get-together.

If the amount of money invested was too small, it would not have any effect and would be better not to do it at all.

If too much was invested… not just anyone could do it.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door. "Lance, everyone's here. We can go."

Lance said goodbye to Chief Blue and left with the convoy.

This imprisonment was actually a novel experience for everyone. It wasn't exactly hardship; Chief Blue didn't dare to make them suffer, but it certainly wouldn't be that comfortable either.

After all, there were other people inside too.

Sitting in the car, as dusk approached, the pedestrians on the road began to increase as it was time to leave work. The atmosphere of life was overwhelming. Clearly, there was nothing different from the past, but it always felt like something was different.

As soon as he returned to the nightclub, Lance saw a rare guest.

Mr. Chobaf's assistant appeared here, his expression somewhat complicated, especially after seeing Lance.

The two shook hands and sat down separately. Lance had people bring some coffee.

After the coffee was served, the assistant whispered, "There's something I might need your help with. Of course, don't worry, it's not for free. Mr. Chobaf and I will take out a total of 20,000 yuan. I don't know if that's enough."

Lance raised his eyebrows. "First, tell me what you want me to do. If it's something I can't do, please forgive me for not being able to agree."

The assistant said somewhat urgently, "You can definitely do it!" After he finished speaking, he realized that it wasn't right for him to say that, and he quickly apologized for it, and then said the reason for this trip.

"My nephew was killed by Jimmy. I want revenge. After thinking about it, only you can help us."

"Lance, I beg you to help me find Jimmy, and then I want to kill him with my own hands!"

The murder of his nephew had always been a guilt and torment in the hearts of Chobaf and his assistant. In the past, when Big Polly hadn't encountered trouble, even the mayor was unwilling to say much on this issue.

Chobaf didn't know the reason, but the mayor knew that he didn't talk about these things on the surface, but in reality, he found them disgusting and annoying.

Any small character might have some locals behind them. It wasn't to say that they necessarily had a strong connection of interests, but when their enemy became this outsider, these locals, who might have had some dirty secrets, would unite.

But now, Polly was dead, and the Brotherhood had become very chaotic. This was the perfect time for them to take revenge!