Empire of Shadows

Wolf chewed on his chewing tobacco. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people were chewing tobacco; instead, cigarette sales were constantly hitting new highs.

Both chewing tobacco and cigarettes delivered nicotine from tobacco, but chewing tobacco had some unpleasant aspects. For example, those who didn't know how to chew properly would end up with tobacco shreds all over their mouths, or they might accidentally swallow some.

Absorbing nicotine by inhaling cigarette smoke was clearly more popular.

Clean, hygienic, neat, and providing the same experience, people had plenty of reasons to choose cigarettes over chewing tobacco.

However, some people still liked chewing tobacco. It was a habit in their lives, and some even regarded it as tradition.

But this tradition hadn't really been around for many years. Still, in the Federation, a few decades was enough to be called "history."

Wolf also smoked, but most of the time, he preferred chewing tobacco.

He liked the taste of the juice squeezed from the tobacco fibers, mixed with saliva and tobacco essence, when he bit down hard on the tobacco with his incisors. It gave him great satisfaction.

He got his tobacco from an old native who made it by hand, and the price wasn't too expensive, three dollars a pound.

Many people who tried it even thought it wasn't as good as the one-dollar-a-pound chewing tobacco, but Wolf liked its "raw" strength and its native heritage.

Taking a chew was like chewing on a bomb, making his whole body feel comfortably blasted.

He looked at John slowly and deliberately, not even taking his feet off the table, giving the impression that he didn't take John seriously.

"I paid the money, John," he said after thinking for a moment.

John glared at him. "But I fucking told you not to cause trouble at the docks these past few days."

Wolf rubbed his finger over his upper and lower gums, then took a sip of water, rinsed his mouth, and casually spat it on the ground. "But I did pay the money, John."

It seemed like he only had this one sentence to say, which made John feel a bit stifled.

"There's some kind of event going on at the docks these days, and a lot of people have come. Today, your people not only chased someone onto the docks, but they also opened fire on the docks!"

"Do you know how much trouble this will cause?"

Wolf rolled his eyes. "You took my money, John, so you have to help me solve the problem."

John's voice also got louder. "I fucking took money from a lot of people. Does that mean I have to solve everyone's problems?"

Wolf seemed to agree with his statement. "Why else would we give you money?"

"Instead of you giving us money?"

The two stared at each other without giving way. John also seemed to have a headache because he knew that Wolf was backed by the mayor's faction.

And the mayor had the power to get rid of him. Someone had already been gotten rid of before. He had spent so much money to climb to this position, and he wouldn't easily let himself be taken down.

This was also why he was willing to take money from these people, because they also had people behind them.

He didn't dare gamble on whether the mayor would make things difficult for a small fry like him because he couldn't afford to fail.

Finally, his gaze moved from Wolf's face to the faces of the others in the room. "I'll compromise. Hand over the people who went today, and this matter ends here."

Wolf couldn't help but laugh. "You run into my office and then ask me to hand over my brothers? Is that how the gangs in Goldport City do things?"

The surrounding people all laughed, as if it was a very ridiculous thing. At the same time, they subtly moved closer to the center, surrounding John in the middle.

This was a threat, a deterrent.

Wolf picked up something from the table and casually threw it back down. "The Wolf King doesn't betray his brothers in the pack, and neither will I!"

He looked at John as if he were looking at a clown. "You're quite annoying, John. How do they tolerate you?"

Feeling Wolf's disrespect, John's eyes became somewhat grim and a little glazed.

He stared straight at Wolf, as if he wanted to eat him alive!

He knew that he couldn't show any timidity at this time, or things would be very bad. He leaned forward slightly, placing his hands on the table. "I just want to solve this problem. You've disappointed my good intentions, Wolf."

"The Lance Family isn't the Red Dog Gang. They have more people, more guns, and they're more ruthless!"

"Don't think I'm playing with you. I'm helping you!"

Wolf didn't have much of a change in expression when he heard the name Lance Family. His face had a faint arrogance. "We're different from Snake and the Viper Gang."

"They're afraid of Lance, but we're not!"

John was very angry. He looked around. No one respected him. He slowly stood up, his face drawn out. He placed one hand on his duty belt and leaned over to tap on Wolf's table, as if to warn and remind him. "I hope you won't regret what you've done today."

Saying that, he turned to leave. Since he couldn't deal with Wolf, there was no point in staying here.

Wolf sneered and looked at John's back with some disdain. "Starting next month, we won't be paying our dues."

John had almost reached the door when he heard this sentence. He stopped again, turned around, and walked back to the table. He placed his hands on the table, his condescending and slightly leaning posture full of aggression. "Paying dues is the rule, Wolf."

"You can choose not to pay, but I guarantee that every time you have a fight, we'll be there, and we'll arrest your people!"

"This isn't Fides, this is Goldport City. This isn't a place where you can mess around."

Wolf was not threatened. "You can try it and see who's going to be unlucky first!"

John straightened up. He didn't want to stay here any longer. "I'm a cop, you're a thief."

"Remember that!"

After saying that, he turned and left. His anger had been completely ignited. Not one of them respected him!

He was a police officer, the branch director. He had the law enforcement power in this area, but it made him feel like anyone could come and step on him!

Moreover, he had just been promoted to branch director. If the Wolf Gang didn't pay, and it led to other gangs not paying, his position in the police system would plummet.

The old director didn't not take money back then, it was just that he didn't take money from the Wolf Gang. He believed that the Wolf Gang wouldn't last long, and he didn't want to treat the Wolf Gang as "one of his own."

If he took it and then couldn't collect it, he would become a laughingstock.

He slammed the door shut with a loud "bang," and the entire wall seemed to shake.

The people in the room all showed disgusted expressions, and some even asked Wolf if he wanted to stop John. Wolf shook his head. "Keep him here for dinner?"

"Idiot!"

"Let him get lost. Just looking at his face makes me want to throw up my breakfast. What the hell!"

John returned to the car, slammed the door shut, and cursed under his breath.

He had never been so angry before, but now, he was really angry!

His partner looked at him and asked, "What do we do now?"

Lance and his Lance Family were not easy to provoke. They had unified the Imperial District, defeated the Viper Gang of Fides, and ambushed Snake outside the city. Their decisiveness and ruthlessness were already remarkable.

Even law enforcement officers, if it wasn't necessary, were generally unwilling to provoke Lance and the Lance Family.

They indeed had no past of attacking law enforcement officers, but you didn't know if you would become their first target!

John's breathing was rough. "Do I care?!"

"This is the Port District, not the Imperial District. I'm not that softie Blue. If he wants to try me, let him come and try!"

"I'll let him know who's in charge here!"

That's what he said, but in the end, he still took the initiative to call Lance and tell him that the Fides Wolf Gang was responsible.

He had tried to bring back the people who had caused trouble at the docks, but he had failed. In the phone call, he bluntly told Lynch that the Wolf Gang wasn't buying his account.

As for the three thousand dollars, he didn't mention a word.

Wanting him to spit out the money that had already gone into his pocket?

It wasn't impossible, but the possibility was small!

Lance didn't say anything on the phone. After he finished speaking, he waited for a while and then hung up directly, which made him very dissatisfied.

This was not at all the "chief's life" he had imagined!

But then the phone rang suddenly again, and he picked it up casually.

Before he could say anything to ask the other party's identity, the person on the other side spoke first.

"John, do you want to be the chief of the city police department?"

......

The disturbance caused by the docks quickly spread with astonishing speed. Everyone knew about it, and Chairman Scott hated those gangsters to the core.

But fortunately... everyone knew that this matter really had nothing to do with him. It was just an accident, and it had nothing to do with his ability.

The gang problem was not just a problem in Goldport City at this time.

Even the capital and the special zone were the same as here, with rampant gangs!

Even in Congress, many senators had dealings with gangs.

Sometimes, when holding some large-scale events, or even during elections, gangs would participate in maintaining order or protecting the president's safety.

These situations had penetrated into all aspects of society and could absolutely not be fully described by just one "organized crime." It was a part of the Federal society, and an important part!

Even the mafia has become an important cultural symbol of the Federation, accepted and well-known by the people.

Both the Labor Federation and the General Confederation of Trade Unions expressed their understanding and willingness to continue participating in the second and third days of the conference, which relieved Chairman Scott slightly.

At the same time, he was also praying that no more problems would arise!

Lance had just hung up John's phone and lit a cigarette.

The reason he was angry today was John's nonchalant attitude. He messed things up but didn't seem to care, and even had an annoying smile!

That's why Lance was angry.

If he had apologized sincerely, instead of that perfunctory attitude of "I'm giving you face, it's my problem, let's just leave it at that," Lance wouldn't have lost his temper.

He looked at the other young partners in the room, "For us, the port area is a very important place. The port, some of our industries, and core industries all rely heavily on the port area."

"Before, the port area was under Bill's control. His relationship with us was okay, and he didn't dare to touch our interests casually."

"But now he can't control the port area anymore. The growing Wolf Gang and Viper Gang have the same problem: they are not on our side."

"So…"

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, and the spark on the end suddenly brightened, visibly burning backward.

As he finished inhaling, he removed the cigarette from his mouth, tilted his head slightly, and a thick cloud of smoke billowed from his mouth and nose, exhaled upward.

He said what everyone was expecting, "…we need to take over the port area."

Hiram immediately stood up excitedly, "We should have done this a long time ago, Lance!"

"We should give those bastards some shock from the Empire!"

A positive and proactive team always needs someone to pour cold water on the decision-maker's decisions.

Preventing overheating is important; sometimes, fanatical emotions can make people overlook some problems, and Elvin played this role.

He also seemed very rational, "We haven't completely digested the Empire District yet. If we expand outward now, we might not have enough manpower, and it might have some impact on the Empire District."

Lance frowned, "How many people do we have now, all together?"

Mero gave Lance a relatively accurate number, "Four hundred and thirty-three."

A gang size of over four hundred people is actually not small, but if these four hundred people are used to control an area with nearly two hundred thousand residents, they would be diluted to the point of being invisible!

Excluding places like bars, warehouses, breweries, and factories, only one to two hundred people can actually be mobilized at any time.

If these people are mobilized, the safety and order within the Empire District may be affected.

Those street families are always popping up. A few young people get together, rack their brains, and plan to start a family from scratch like Lance. Isn't that where the trouble comes from?

The characteristics of organized crime, in addition to being "organized," are "crime." They will make a mess of things. Only by maintaining a visible force on the streets can this trend be curbed.

The Camila Gang, which previously controlled half of the Empire District, had more than three hundred core members and several hundred peripheral members. This is the most realistic picture of a gang.

"Recruit people while scouting out the situation in the port area. Don't reveal this matter to the outside world for now, but we must be prepared."

Lance's will is the supreme will of the Lance family, and soon Elvin began to continue recruiting people.

Many young people in the Empire District are willing to join the Lance family, and there are even more illegal immigrants. They never worry about not recruiting enough people, only about the poor quality.

The next day, the dock activities continued, but there were far fewer people watching today. Some people who didn't know the truth were unsure whether those people with the enemy were at the dock because of other things or simply wanted to disrupt the event.

They were unwilling to risk watching, so the number of onlookers was reduced by more than half, and even many of the contestants chose to give up.

This also had a benefit, which was that the progress of the competition was much faster than expected.

Everywhere on the dock, you could see gunmen wearing dark suits and red armbands. They stood together in groups of three or five, and some even carried submachine guns!

However, their presence not only did not make the dockworkers feel scared but also gave them a sense of familiarity.

Most of the dockworkers lived in the port area and the Empire District, and these people were very familiar to the workers living in the Empire District.

They introduced the Lance family's situation to workmates who didn't know the Lance family and even took the initiative to greet those gunmen or even ran over to ask for a light to prove that they weren't lying!

This was also the first time that people on the dock knew that Mr. Lance's Lance family was really not the same as other gangs!

Those other gangs?

If they were gathered together when you walked by, they would either tell you to get lost or let you pass—and then search every penny in your pocket before telling you to get lost.

This is also why federal people would actively avoid gang members when they saw them. Who knows what sudden ideas they might have to use on you.

In the evening, a group of people sat together chatting about the issues of the athletic competition. Lance, as the main sponsor, also joined in.

While chatting, the vice president of the state labor federation talked about technical issues.

"Our current evaluation of workers' skills is very simplistic, with only skilled and unskilled workers, which is actually an inaccurate classification."

"We discovered this during this dockworker skills competition. For example, when tightening screws, those who can complete it in a standard time are skilled workers, and those who can't are unskilled workers."

"But among skilled workers, some are very fast, and some have just reached the standard line. They are all skilled workers, but their technical abilities are very different."

"We have discussed this internally before, but we have never found a good solution. But now, after your athletic competition, we seem to have found a good direction."

"We can score skilled workers. Everyone has their own score, which can reflect their performance in professional skills."

Lance coughed lightly, and everyone else's attention turned to him, "Why don't we grade them?"

"If it's just scoring, maybe they're not in good shape or they're overperforming. This still can't truly represent their ability."

"We should use a more appropriate way to grade them, such as first-level technicians, second-level technicians…"