Empire of Shadows

The manager stood upstairs, holding the phone, watching the growing crowd below. He dialed the dockworkers' union again, but Vaughn was still unavailable!

"Damn it, he's never around when you need him! Are we just wasting money on these people every year?"

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The manager slammed the receiver onto the base. He paced back and forth by the window, his eyes fixed on the workers gathering below.

From his vantage point, he could see even more workers converging. It had been two years since he'd seen so many workers gathering together during work hours.

He also resented the idiots under his command. All it was was giving Johnny a different job, so why did they have to make it like this?

Even if there wasn't a suitable position, couldn't they just give him a raise?

What a waste!

Although those in positions of power often thought this way, because a small loss created a potentially huge risk, they would feel that the people under them were not flexible enough.

How could they mess up something so simple like this? Wasn't he just a waste?

But in reality, for people in the middle and lower levels, they didn't actually have any real decision-making power. The only thing they could do was abide by the company's rules and regulations.

Many capitalists even created a "work manual" to help them quickly establish the correct work ethic, which recorded many things they might encounter in the work process.

But it never taught them to flexibly predict the future.

The security captain ran up from downstairs, panting, "The people's emotions are getting a little agitated now."

That was only half of what he wanted to say. He didn't say the second half, just stared straight at the manager.

The people's emotions were getting agitated, and so many people had gathered here. A mass incident could break out at any time!

This was not a good thing. If the situation couldn't be controlled as soon as possible, in the security captain's experience, it would slide into the abyss.

The second half of what he left unsaid was actually very simple, which was, "You have to do something." But as a subordinate with a work manual in his heart, he knew very well what could be said and what couldn't be said.

You want the manager to take responsibility?

Do you even want to keep working here?

As for whether the manager would misunderstand, that wasn't his business. He had done his duty.

The manager turned and looked at the people below constantly shouting various slogans. He always felt that this matter was not that simple.

The sudden ringing of the phone startled him slightly. The security guard's eyes shifted from his trembling hand to other places.

The manager answered the phone. It was a director from the board.

The board of directors was very dissatisfied with today's sudden situation and wanted him to resolve everything here as soon as possible, otherwise he would lose his enviable job!

In order to keep this job, for the mortgage, car loan, and children's college loans, for all the good life and the promising future, the manager took a deep breath.

He looked at the security captain, "Can I trust you to protect my safety?"

The security captain wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. He still had to put on a serious and mission-driven look, and said, "I will be by your side at all times, sir!"

"Very good!"

"I like your attitude."

The manager put on a thin coat and left the office.

He was actually very nervous, because he wasn't sure if he could handle these people.

Soon, he arrived in front of the office building and saw the crowd whose emotions had become even more agitated. He gritted his teeth, glanced at the security captain, and strode out.

The noise stopped abruptly. Every dockworker knew what the manager looked like.

Because every day before they entered the dock to start work, they would pass by an "Excellent Employee Bulletin Board", and the manager was usually placed in the "Star of the Week" position.

Although no one knew what he had done for the prosperity of the dock.

"Wor..."

He had just opened his mouth when someone threw an egg at him, hitting him on the head and making him tremble so hard that he almost fell to the ground.

He seemed to be frightened silly. He had never experienced such a thing in his life. The laughter from the crowd made his face flush. He couldn't wait to run back to the office and order all these people to be fired!

But he knew he couldn't do that. He could deal with these people slowly in the future, but not now.

The yolk and egg white dripped down his hair. The security captain tried to hide him behind him, but failed.

The manager stood out like a warrior. He wiped the egg liquid from his face, "I'm here to solve the problem!"

The laughter of the people was a little less, at least it seemed that the manager was not a complete waste.

He was a little worried, but he still braced himself and came to Johnny. Now, besides a security captain, there was no one else around him.

Most of the people here could beat him to a pulp. He was very nervous.

His nerves were tense as he said, "Johnny, you can tell me what conditions you have. There is no need to make it like this."

If this was Johnny's own business, he might make some demands now and then leave with the benefits, but this was not his own business, this was Mr. Lance's business.

His eyes suddenly became filled with a kind of incomprehensible pity, and these pity made the manager obviously very angry.

He clenched his fists, "We don't want bad things to happen, tell me your conditions, any conditions, we can discuss them."

Johnny looked at the people around him. The crowd gradually quieted down, as if people were waiting for the subsequent development of the matter.

He had never experienced this feeling before. Under the spotlight, he liked this feeling!

He licked his lips, "The first thing, I want you to let the guy in that office and others who participated in beating me apologize to me and fire them!"

Whether he himself was going to get out or his subordinates were going to get out, the manager made a decision without even taking a second, "No problem, is there anything else?"

Perhaps his decisiveness made people see some of his sincerity, and the originally tense situation suddenly eased a lot.

Johnny said the second requirement, "There is also one thing, which is a raise!"

Some people in the crowd booed, but Johnny didn't explain anything, and some people showed some disappointment.

The manager agreed again, "No problem, I heard they adjusted your job, I'll have someone adjust your job back and give you a raise...two dollars!"

He thought Johnny would agree, but people only saw Johnny shake his head.

The manager frowned and cursed a greedy bastard in his heart, but he still squeezed out some smiles, "I can make the decision and give you a raise..."

He wanted to say a raise of three dollars, but thinking that if Johnny was not satisfied, there might be accidents, so he decided to give Johnny a raise in one go, "Give you a raise of five dollars, forty-three, Johnny, this income has already allowed you to reach the per capita income, and it is also a very high income on the dock."

His subtext was, don't be ungrateful, but Johnny still shook his head, and he said loudly, "I'm not asking you to give me a raise, I'm asking you to give everyone a raise!"

"This is what you owe us!"

One sentence, almost shouted out, the people around were stunned after hearing it, and some big guys waved their fists and came to Johnny's side.

They rubbed Johnny's hair and patted him on the shoulder to express their love for him.

The workers on the dock were so simple. If they hated you, they would make it clear.

If they liked you, they would also let you feel it.

At the same time, the topic of raising wages for everyone also triggered a faster response and support from the people!

The manager looked at Johnny in disbelief, as if he was looking at an idiot!

Even if he gave Johnny a raise of fifty dollars, there would be no problem. If this could solve the trouble, the board of directors would praise him fiercely.

But if he relied on giving everyone a raise of one dollar to solve this problem, he might not even have to wait until next month, and the board of directors would let him get out!

Perhaps these workers were not as terrible as he imagined, and he became bolder, "Can I talk to you alone?"

Some people began to stop him, but he just looked at Johnny.

Johnny raised his hand to signal everyone not to be nervous and excited, "Let me go and listen to what he has to say!"

People no longer stopped him, and Johnny was pushed aside by the people behind him, and then the manager also walked over.

"Give up those unrealistic ideas, Johnny, I can give you five hundred dollars, and this matter ends here!"

Johnny shook his head, "That's not enough."

When he heard this sentence, a flash of contempt flashed in the manager's eyes. Although he suddenly proposed to raise wages for everyone, which caught the manager a little off guard, Johnny was really not smart.

If he accepted this condition, then Johnny would become a "sinner", which might be one of the best endings the manager could see.

Since the other party was willing to talk, then he could continue to add more.

"Eight hundred dollars, eight hundred is not a small amount, Johnny, even if I give you a raise of forty dollars a month, you have to not eat or drink for twenty months to get this money!"

"And we all know that you actually can't save much money every month!"

He had to drink alcohol, and occasionally he had to spend one or two dollars to solve his personal physiological problems, so he really couldn't save much money.

But Johnny just looked at him. After cursing Johnny a few more times in his heart, he offered an even higher price, "A thousand bucks!"

"Alright, Johnny, you just got beat up. They'll apologize to you and get fired, and you'll also get a thousand bucks."

"If we switched places, I would have agreed when you offered five hundred!"

He eagerly wanted Johnny to nod in agreement, but Johnny still shook his head.

This attitude made the manager grit his teeth, "Fifteen hundred bucks, that's the most I can offer!"

"Too little!" Johnny said.

If it weren't for Lance's request, he really would have agreed at five hundred bucks, just like the manager said.

But now, this was the task Lance had given him, and he couldn't let Lance down with his 'trust'!

"Damn it, you greedy bastard, do you know how stupid you are?"

The manager bent down, revealing a contemptuous and somewhat狰狞expression. His features were all twisted together. "Two thousand bucks, that's the last number I can give you!"

Johnny stared at him for a few moments, then pushed his wheelchair back. The manager was a little caught off guard by Johnny's sudden toughness!

Was this still the trash from the docks that he knew?

He looked at Johnny in disbelief, "Another two hundred, I'll pay it out of my own pocket. That's all I can give you!"

Johnny pushed his wheelchair back to the crowd without turning his head. He said loudly, "That guy said he would give me two thousand two hundred bucks to persuade you all to go back. I refused!"

"I don't understand any grand principles. I only know that we haven't had a raise in two or three years!"

"The price of beef is going up, the price of bread is going up, everything is going up, except for the bitches outside the docks, and us!"

"I'm not here for myself today. I'm here for all of you who are like me. They must return the wages they owe us!"

"He would rather give me two thousand two hundred bucks to shut me up than let me say what needs to be said. That's who they are!"

The lower classes are the easiest to be incited because their ability to empathize is very strong. They don't even need to be catered to with flattering words; their emotions can be stirred up!

"You did the right thing, Johnny!" A strong man walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and almost broke his shoulder.

The manager on the other side cursed "Fuck" after seeing this scene and felt a little helpless. While he was still considering remedial measures, someone suddenly started shouting "Apologize, raise wages!", and then more and more people waved their fists and shouted.

The rhythm was fast and intense, gradually forming a force, rather than a simple slogan!

Especially when it comes to their own vital interests, and someone takes the lead.

The invisible power from each individual, under the effect of these slogans, twisted into one, becoming indestructible. This is the power of the workers!

Seeing this scene, the manager's eyes went dark, and he almost fell to the ground. He watched all this happen in despair. He knew that he was about to be finished!

The workers' continuous pressure made the atmosphere at the scene extremely heavy and serious. Some security guards also became uneasy. Some even picked up the wooden sticks in their hands, indicating that these people should not get too close.

At this time, everyone's emotions were a little high, so how could they calm down in a short time?

Seeing that the friction was about to escalate, the manager tried his best to appease the workers, asking them to calm down, saying that everything could be discussed.

But his strength alone was too weak. He could only separate the people in front of him, but there were more people around!

At this moment, a security guard, under the stunned gaze of all the security guards, including the security captain, suddenly swung the stick in his hand and beat a worker in front of him until his head was bleeding. The conflict escalated in this instant!

Countless harsh骂声started to ring out, and the two groups began to push each other, and then they fought into a团!

"The security guards are beating people!"

"The management company is beating people!"

At this moment, the manager, who had been hit a few times, also became fierce. He ran to the back, grabbed the security captain's collar, and said fiercely, "Give them a taste of their own medicine!"

Anyway, he was bound to lose his job, so he might as well vent his anger before the power in his hands expired!

He even snatched the stick from the security captain's waist and rushed towards Johnny!

Both sides were constantly increasing their manpower. More security guards rushed over from all parts of the码头, and more workers who heard about the conflict joined in.

The most striking thing was a large group of temporary workers wearing blue work clothes. They also joined the resistance group and fought with the security guards!

The workers, who had originally had some prejudice against these people, at this moment, at least at this moment, suddenly felt that they were actually pretty good!

The super melee on the码头lasted for more than forty minutes before the police arrived late. Many people were beaten until their heads were bleeding, and so was the manager.

He originally wanted to give Johnny a few hard blows, but he didn't expect to be given a few hard blows by them.

When he was helped up from the ground, he couldn't even stand still!

There were several bumps on his head. If someone hadn't been扶着him, he would have fallen down again long ago!

"Murder, this is murder!"

"Officer, they almost killed me!"

The manager shouted a little hysterically, but the police obviously knew how to deal with this situation.

"You can tell the judge, not me."

Of course, his tone was not so rigid. He also recognized that this was the manager, but he didn't know that the manager might not be the manager in the future.

"Do you need me to call a doctor for you?"

There were many doctors on the scene who were treating the wounded, and they were a little short-handed.

The manager calmed down a little, shook his head, walked aside, asked for a piece of gauze, pressed the wound, and returned upstairs.

The phone kept ringing. He was a little scared, but he still answered it in the end.

As soon as he answered, he heard all kinds of harsh骂声from the earpiece. The骂声continued for quite some time.

After about two or three minutes, the person on the other end of the phone's tone was slightly better, "How could it have become like this?"

The manager told the story of what happened, and the person on the other side immediately felt that there was a conspiracy in it.

But even if he knew, he wouldn't say it. Such a big thing happened, and someone must be held responsible, and the manager was a good choice.

"First appease the workers' emotions, let them send representatives to talk to us, I will call沃恩to clean up the mess for you!"

The man repeatedly嘱咐, "Don't anger them anymore, and don't do anything stupid!"

The manager quickly agreed. He certainly wouldn't do anything stupid.

Everything that happened at this moment began to spread inside the码头. The workers' club was obviously the best place to exchange information.

There was nothing that could compare to having an ice-cold beer while chatting about these things!

At eight o'clock, when the workers' club was full of people, Lance asked Elvin and the others to bring the "undercover" over to unload the goods…