Empire of Shadows

"You must resolve these issues as quickly as possible!"

"The governor himself called me, and this isn't what you promised me either."

"You have three days. If you can't resolve it in three days, do I need to tell you what will happen?"

On the phone, the director, who had expressed great appreciation and agreement with the manager and his decisions just two days prior, completely changed his tune, his tone filled with threats.

The manager held the phone with both hands, doing his best to explain, "We need time to hire people, and we've already recruited some…"

"I don't want to hear that. That's your problem. I don't even need you to tell me when you can resume operations."

"You only have seventy-two hours!"

The phone slammed down. The manager slowly lowered the receiver, his face grim as he sat back in his chair.

Those damned bastards!

His furious curse could be heard by everyone outside the office, each wearing a slightly different expression.

Some were very worried. These were the manager's staunch supporters, his confidants.

If the manager was in trouble, they would surely suffer as well.

Some appeared calm. These were the centrists, doing just enough work for their pay and not participating in the company's internal power struggles.

Still others showed a hint of a smile. Although it was a terrible situation for the company, they saw opportunity.

A small office, ten people, at least twelve different thoughts.

"Get in here, all of you!"

The manager's roar forced those outside to re-enter the office, his face as dark as the bottom of a twenty-year-old stockpot.

"I know some of you are waiting to see me make a fool of myself, thinking some of you will have a chance after I'm kicked out."

"But I'm telling you, you're dreaming!"

"We're a team. Whether you admit it or not, we're a team."

"Now, the board isn't just dissatisfied with me, they're dissatisfied with me and you, my team!"

"I don't care how you explain it. In short, if I get kicked out, unless some of you can climb into the directors' beds, you won't have a good outcome either!"

"The best-case scenario is being transferred from here to the outside, joining those lackeys of yours to endure the wind and sun."

"The slightly worse scenario is packing up your personal belongings and leaving the port like me!"

"So, whether it's for my sake or for your own, we must unite at this time and overcome this difficulty together!"

He paused, giving them time to process and accept this.

After waiting for about twenty seconds, "I don't care what methods you use, immediately help me do a few things."

"I won't assign specific tasks to specific people. I don't know if you can do it, pick what you can do."

"First, find people to work from the surrounding labor agencies as soon as possible. Illegal immigrants are fine. I can pay them twenty-two."

"Legal immigrants or locals, all are thirty-five dollars and five cents plus a two-dollar subsidy."

"For every person you bring in to work, as long as they can stay stable in the position, I'll give you two dollars!"

"Second, I don't care what methods you use, persuade those influential worker representatives to stand on our side!"

"Vaughn is a son of a bitch, I don't count on him anymore!"

"If they are willing to take money, promise them money."

"If they want other things, as long as they don't ask for a raise for everyone, then we can talk."

At this time, an employee suddenly asked, "Why don't we meet their demands?"

"I heard they only asked for one dollar and fifty cents!"

The manager grabbed a pen in a rage and threw it at the person, who deftly dodged it.

He dodged the pen, but he couldn't dodge the manager's loud voice.

"One dollar and fifty cents?"

"That's more than twenty thousand in extra expenses per month, nearly three hundred thousand in extra expenses per year! You call that one dollar and fifty cents?"

"And that's all?"

"If you can do it, do it. If you can't, you can pack your things now!"

The person's face turned red and then white, but he stood there, doing nothing.

He didn't pack his things, nor did he say harsh words.

They were all adults. He knew the cost of impulsiveness. He wasn't one of those workers outside. He had his own family and his own bills. He couldn't lose this job!

The manager didn't feel like saying anything more after yelling, "In short, that's it. I don't care who you find or how you deal with those worker representatives. Of course, if you can persuade the workers to return to their jobs, that's fine too!"

"In short, I want to see the dock restore order within seventy-two hours!"

"Now, get out and work!"

People left the manager's office, but a few remained. These were the manager's confidants, his true confidants.

The manager didn't give them a pleasant look either. He was about to be fired. Except for the board of directors, he didn't need to give anyone a pleasant look!

"Do you have other things?" he asked.

One of them said, "I have a suggestion."

The manager sat back in his chair, lighting a cigarette. "Speak."

A simple "Speak" was enough to reflect his inner emotions.

"We can put a little more pressure on them…"

The manager looked at him, his eyes a little sinister. "I don't want to ask one question and you answer one. Are you confused about the situation or what?"

"This isn't an enlightening little game in kindergarten. If I lose this job, you're all going to get the hell out, understand?"

The man's face paled a little at his words, and he didn't dare to squeeze out the words one by one, saying everything in one breath.

"Those worker representatives aren't so easy to deal with. If they could be bought, they wouldn't be worker representatives."

"We have to change our thinking and directly threaten them. If they don't come to work at the dock, find someone to hurt them, or hurt their families."

"I know this idea is a bit despicable, but…"

The manager suddenly retorted, "Where is it despicable?"

"They don't plan to give us a way out, why should we consider them?"

"So, where is it despicable."

Several people stared at the manager, as if they were seeing him for the first time.

The manager took a hard drag on his cigarette. "I don't know any gangsters, and I estimate that small gangs can't solve this matter. Do you have any ideas?"

"After this incident, I will propose to the company to add a position of deputy manager or manager consultant. If you can help me get through this, you will be that person!"

Drawing cakes was too simple for the manager. He even dared to directly add a job position without the board of directors. It was just an extra sum of money each month, not much more, and no one in finance would care.

The man's face, which had been a little pale just now, turned red in an instant. "I know that there is a very powerful gang in the port area recently, the Wolf Gang!"

"They have unified the gangs in the port area and are a very powerful organization. If we can ask them to help us, I think there is a high probability that we can handle this matter."

The manager pursed his lips. "Asking them should cost a lot of money, right?"

The man said, "You can talk to them. Maybe they don't want money?"

The manager leaned back in his chair and thought for a while. If the other party wanted a lot of money, he could still bargain or have the head office pay.

But if the other party didn't want money, it wouldn't be easy to handle!

As a manager, he knew very well that the more free things were, the higher the price you actually had to pay!

There is no innocent love in this world. If he can give you a dollar's worth of things for free, he will inevitably take more than a dollar's worth of profit from you. He can't give it to you for nothing!

But now there was no time to think so much. He only had seventy-two hours left. If he couldn't resolve the strike by Monday morning, he would be finished!

"Do you know their people?"

"Help me contact them, I want to talk to them!"

The manager made a decision in a very short time, and it was not difficult to make this decision.

His confidant nodded repeatedly, "My… son is one of them."

Listening to a long string of relationships, the manager only felt a headache. "Whoever it is, implement it now. I'm waiting for your news!"

Soon, this young man who had gone through many twists and turns came to Professor's office. Professor was responsible for everything in the gang, big and small.

Most of the time, Professor seemed more like the leader of the Wolf Gang than Wolf.

"The manager of the dock service company?" Professor didn't react at first when he heard this title.

They were the Wolf Gang, a gang. The things related to them were criminal activities. When did this kind of 'decent person' contact him?

But he quickly reacted, "What does he want from me?"

The gang member briefly explained, and Professor roughly understood.

He thought for a while, asked the person to go out and wait, and then he dialed a number, "The dock management company wants me to deal with those striking workers. Should I agree?"

The other end of the phone was obviously a young voice, it was Owen.

Now that Owen had the duties and powers of the municipality, when he received the call, he only pondered for a few seconds before giving positive feedback. "Promise them."

"The docks are important. The impact of the strike hasn't fully spread yet. If they can't handle these people, it might impact our plans."

Owen had been by the mayor's side for years. What he saw and heard gave him more political experience than his peers.

He was well aware that the mayor's way of making a final decision had a flaw: the militia could solve all the problems at once!

If someone linked the strike with the militia, it might cause the matter to be repeated!

When he said 'handle it,' he didn't mean dealing with the gangsters, but completely crushing Councilor Williams' last resistance.

Gangs can be quickly grown with a little support. Losing a few isn't important to those in power; they can easily cultivate a large number of new ones.

What he cared about was the impact of the strike itself.

After receiving the answer, the Professor hung up. He called the person in. "Tell that ridiculous manager of yours that if he wants to talk, he can come here and talk to me!"

The message quickly returned to the dock management company's manager. He came to the Wolf Gang's headquarters with the person who had made the suggestion.

In the office, he met the Professor and relaxed.

The Professor's appearance was deceptive.

That wasn't entirely true, because that's how he was. It's just that people aren't likely to understand and accept that a middle-aged man with the aura of a teacher is the leader of a gang.

So after his brief shock, he accepted the fact, which made him feel a lot more relaxed.

At least this person didn't have a scar on his face, spout profanity with every other sentence, or act like a brainless idiot who only knew how to use his fists.

"They said you want to cooperate with us?" the Professor asked, pouring the man a glass of wine.

The manager licked his lips when he saw the wine. He hadn't had a drink in a while, not because he couldn't afford it, but because it was too expensive and he couldn't bear to spend the money.

He picked up the glass and took a small sip. The familiar taste entered his mouth, went down his throat, and into his stomach, making him feel comfortable all over.

He sighed, feeling a little lost, but then he suddenly remembered that he was talking to the Professor about the situation at the docks, and he quickly sat up straight again. "Yes, someone is inciting the workers to strike. They're trying to use the strike to coerce us into giving them a raise, which is very foolish and unreasonable."

"It's not that I don't want to give them a raise, it's just that I don't think the reason for a raise should be based on coercion through a strike..."

The Professor raised his hand. "I don't care about that. What I care about is, what can you give me?"

The manager thought for a moment, then flipped his wrist. "Money?"

The Professor shook his head. "A bar can bring us at least a few thousand yuan in pure profit a night, and we have seven or eight such bars."

"You can't impress us with money."

Hearing the Professor say that the bars were so profitable, the manager was a little tempted. He couldn't help but exclaim, "That much?"

"Doesn't that mean the workers' club can earn tens of thousands every day?"

The Professor's eyes lit up. "Tell me about the workers' club."

The manager then explained the situation, and when the Professor heard that the workers' club had previously been run by Lance, he couldn't help but chuckle.

He didn't expect that he had hidden a super bar here!

The Professor made a decision. "Leave the liquor business of this workers' club to me, and we also need some secure warehouses and a long-term partnership."

The docks were important to Jincheng City, and he knew this well. If he could control the docks, it would mean they had another layer of protection!

The manager considered it for a while and agreed directly, but he also explained the situation. "The workers' club is run by the workers' union and has nothing to do with us."

"But I can take the initiative to provide you with a warehouse to operate the bar, and you can also use the name of the workers' club."

In his opinion, who was the legitimate owner didn't matter.

The Professor stood up, and he quickly stood up as well, then extended his hand. "Happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

The two sat down again, and the Professor poured him some more wine. "If you like to drink, I can give you two cases every month after we solve all the problems."

The manager's throat began to roll, but he couldn't say no, nor could he refuse, so he could only say "Thank you."

The Professor waved his hand, indicating that these were small matters. "How do you plan to have me help you?"

The guy sitting next to the manager finally had a chance to speak. "Here's what I think, sir,"

"You can take people to the homes of those workers who are leading the trouble and use your identity... I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

The Professor raised his hand, signaling him to continue. "No need to mince words. We are the Black Gang, this is our job and style."

The man breathed a sigh of relief. "Intimidate them, threaten them, with their families and their own lives."

"As long as these influential people withdraw from the strike first, our work will be much easier."

"If you encounter any tough nuts, you can step in."

"After this stage is over, you may need to show your faces at the docks, although it may not be very good to do so, but this time they started the trouble first."

The Professor pondered as he asked, "So, my job is actually to deal with ordinary people who have no ability to resist?"

"Looks like it's an easy job!"

The manager's confidant quickly echoed, "Yes, it's not difficult at all."

Although the Professor was a little disdainful of these two people, this was the job. "Then who should I start with?"

The people from those small gangs had been sent out to die. The core of the Wolf Gang was still there, and these things could be handed over to them.

This way, others wouldn't have any objections, after all, they were also working and striving for the development and growth of the gang!

The manager's confidant immediately took out a list that had been prepared long ago and handed it over. "These are the people, and the following are their current addresses."

"Mr. Boss, it's best if you can be faster and quell the strike as soon as possible. It will be more beneficial to us both, to all parties."

Looking at the list in his hand, the Professor nodded slightly. "In a day or two, you will see results."

As he spoke, he took out a kraft paper bag from the drawer and put the wine bottle in it. "I have other things to do here, so I won't keep you."

"Just go back and wait for my good news."

"This bottle of wine is a new variety, you can just help us taste it."

The manager smiled and took the kraft paper bag. "Then I'll leave the matter of the strike to you."

Coming out of the Wolf Gang headquarters, the manager's face was no longer as serious as before. He glanced at the subordinate beside him and handed the kraft paper bag over. "The people you know are quite diverse. What the deputy manager needs is someone like you."

"Knowing all kinds of people in society, I will recommend you to the board of directors."

"Take this bottle of wine back and taste it, and remember to tell that gentleman inside what it tastes like..."