Empire of Shadows

Before coming, the Labor Federation didn't have high hopes for the viewing appeal of this competition. After all, what kind of eye-catching skills could dockworkers have to show off?

It was only because Scott was the first to propose this idea that they came to see what was happening.

During internal discussions within the Labor Federation, some people suggested that welders and fitters should be brought together.

Technical competitions between these skilled trades would be more interesting and exciting. Of course, there were also welders and the like on the docks.

However, this group was small in number and was not included in the competition.

As the Vice President of the State Labor Federation, the Commissioner Representative of the Trade Union, and the President of the State Trade Union, among others, successively emerged from their cars, it was finally Lance's turn.

The three people who had already gotten out of the car felt the enthusiastic welcome, and everyone was in a good mood. They also stood on the podium and looked towards the fourth car.

As the host, whom Vaughn and the others had found from who knows where, began to announce the welcoming remarks, more enthusiastic applause, whistles, and other sounds rang out on the docks!

The Vice President of the State Labor Federation squinted slightly as he looked at Lance getting out of the car, and asked with some curiosity, "Is this person very rich?"

"It seems everyone is very welcoming to him."

The people from the State Trade Union knew a little more, "He has sponsored a lot of money, and he also runs the local club, so the dockworkers like him quite a bit."

The Vice President of the Labor Federation was a little puzzled, "Did you ask him to run it?"

Clubs in various industries are struggling to survive, partly due to funding and energy issues, for the working class in this era, at this time.

They actually don't have that many unrealistic demands. Their only demand is to have good food, especially meat, and then be able to eat their fill.

But even that is difficult to satisfy.

As for being able to have a drink after filling their stomachs, that's just a fantasy. Selling alcohol is illegal these days, and those unions wouldn't do such a thing... well maybe some unions would, but most wouldn't touch it.

Running a club is very difficult. If you give benefits to the working class, then the club is bound to lose money.

As a non-profit organization, unions only have a few ways to make money, which is not enough to support their spending on clubs.

So, the worker's clubs that were once thriving in previous years have now suddenly encountered neglect, and in some places and industries, they have even stopped operating altogether.

The only ones that are doing well are some industries that are booming, such as automobile manufacturing companies, power companies, etc.

But if you hand over the club to someone else to run, the capitalists' purpose is to make money. Then the club will not only fail to provide workers with recreation and relaxation, and a place to exchange experiences and ideas, but will instead become a big trouble.

They would rather close it down and not run it than transfer it out.

That's why the Vice President of the Labor Federation was very curious.

The President of the State Trade Union explained, "He asked to run it himself, and I heard that he loses several thousand dollars every month."

The Vice President of the Labor Federation showed some surprise, "Losing so much?"

"Then why does he continue to do it?"

The President of the State Trade Union had an expression on his face that suggested he thought Lance was an idiot, but he didn't really think of Lance as an idiot, "He said that as long as he loses enough money, no one will be able to take this thing away from him!"

The Vice President of the Labor Federation was stunned for a moment, and when he looked at Lance again, his eyes had widened a lot.

He understood what Lance meant. Making money wasn't important, the people who supported him were the most important!

Everyone around him was applauding, and he also began to raise his hand and clap gently, "Interesting."

Lance walked to the podium, shook hands with the three people, and found his place.

Next were President Scott, Sinke, and some other people.

A lot of people from the Labor Federation came today. Lance even saw Ms. Debbie, and he took the initiative to greet her, but Ms. Debbie wasn't qualified to sit on the podium.

She was only responsible for the skilled worker liaison and work arrangements for one category, and had nothing to do with the dockworkers.

After a series of warm-up speeches, Scott began to talk about the meaning and purpose of holding this event. He pointed out that "technology" is not something abstract.

When people use a standardized method to evaluate a person's technical ability, technology becomes concrete.

He believed that this grand event would be a grand event that would change the landscape of the working class. The Vice President of the Labor Federation also believed in his subsequent speech that this grand event would have a profound and significant impact on the entire working class!

Amidst the flying ribbons, a large number of items used to test skills were sent to the square.

Saying it was a square, it was actually just an open space.

The first to come up were the bolt workers, who were the most common on the docks, and everyone was unconvinced by each other.

Vaughn was personally hosting today's event, and he also wanted to show his face in front of colleagues from all walks of life to prepare for taking over from Scott.

"...Every bolt here has been soaked in seawater for a period of time in advance. After our testing, they are all 'rusted to death'."

"Now we need the contestants to use the common tools at hand to separate the bolts and nuts in the shortest amount of time."

They were all very ordinary tools, wrenches, crowbars, and some other things.

The bolts they needed to unscrew were as big as an adult's outstretched hand, and the reddish-brown rust already made people feel how difficult it would be.

As the timer started, the workers immediately began to think of ways to manipulate the bolts in front of them.

On the podium, President Scott also began to introduce the situation to the Vice President of the Labor Federation and others, explaining that bolts rusting to death often happens on the docks.

The corrosiveness of the seaside is very strong, and anti-corrosion paint is not very useful, so rusting still often occurs. Therefore, this tests the skills and methods of the bolt workers when tightening the bolts.

Watching them use various methods to slowly unscrew the bolts, the people around them also began to applaud.

Vaughn scored them and replaced them with the next batch. The person with the highest final score will become the champion.

In addition to tightening screws, there are many other projects, such as—

"Wiping the deck faster..."

"Skillfully tying eighteen kinds of knots..."

"Finding the part in a pile of parts that is no longer suitable for continued use and picking it out..."

It can be seen that these skills are indeed very common, but... they also make people feel a little unrefined. But watching everyone's interested eyes, Lance could only pretend to be very excited.

It took more than an hour to compete for the first place. When the Vice President of the Labor Federation presented the "Working Expert" medal, certificate, and five hundred dollars to the winner, the entire dock seemed to fall into a strange climax!

So, being a worker also has... a moment to stand in the middle of the stage!

At this time, many workers secretly vowed that next time, they would also stand there and receive a five-hundred-dollar bonus from others!

The whole process went very smoothly, but it couldn't be resolved in one day. Lance sat for most of the day, and it wasn't his turn.

There were almost ten thousand workers, and many people had signed up more than once. Although there had been a simple screening before, there were still too many people and too many projects.

People's attention was all focused on these interesting competitions, and they didn't notice that at a distance of about a kilometer from the port, several cars were speeding on the road.

The car in the front looked dilapidated. A pedestrian on the side of the road looked at the owner of the car worth several thousand dollars with some doubt, wondering why he didn't cherish it so much, and fantasizing about how much he would cherish the car if it were his.

Suddenly, some gunmen with pistols emerged from the three cars chasing closely behind, and they fired a burst of shots at the car in front!

The window of a shop on the side of the road was suddenly hit by a stray bullet and shattered all over the ground, or sparks suddenly appeared on the ground for no apparent reason.

After a brief daze, the people around immediately screamed and hid everywhere!

Gang shootout!

This may be the most common thing in the port area recently. The car in front kept shaking and changing its trajectory to avoid being shot from behind.

Bill gasped for breath, his hands were shaking, and he couldn't even complete the action of changing the magazine!

Looking at the pistol magazine that he couldn't align no matter what and couldn't insert, he cursed "F**k" several times in a row, and then suddenly started frantically slapping the pistol with his hand.

I don't know if the goddess of luck hasn't given up on him yet, but in his frantic movements, the magazine clicked into place!

He was stunned for a moment, grabbed the gun, turned around, and started pulling the trigger at the car behind him.

The three cars that were about to catch up with him suddenly slowed down and were thrown a distance away. No one wanted to get too close to be hit.

The four cars kept swerving back and forth on the road, and the constant gunshots filled the streets with screams!

They chased and fled very quickly. In a short while, maybe... twenty or thirty seconds, they had already approached the port.

The people at the port were still cheering for the competition and didn't notice any of this.

"Go, go to the dock!"

Bill, who had shrunk back again, was now slightly calmer, and he told the driver to drive to the dock.

If he continued to drive along this road, he would be killed by these people sooner or later. He could only use the terrain advantage first to see if there was a chance to get rid of them.

Besides that, Bill also had an idea. If he abandoned the car and ran away at the dock, the dock was so big and there were so many places to hide, it would definitely be safer than running all the way on the road!

He could already feel that the other party's car was getting closer and closer to him!

The driver abruptly swerved the steering wheel, cutting across the road and heading towards the pier.

As they neared the pier, Bill was relieved to see police officers, but the people behind them didn't seem to care about the police at all, continuing to chase them in a firefight!

The two police cars parked by the roadside and the four officers looked at each other, and finally they decided to request backup.

The gunshots at the pier finally alarmed the skill competition that was being held!

There was obvious commotion at the scene. Lance stood up and walked to the front of the stage, giving Haram a look, and the latter immediately left with his men.

President Scott also reacted and quickly began to explain, "The security in Goldport City has been a little bad recently. Please rest assured that this definitely has nothing to do with us. I will handle everything!"

He also hurriedly left the stage and walked outside.

If there was anyone who was the most angry at this moment, it would definitely be President Scott!

This was related to whether he could enter the General Labor Union!

These damned gangsters!