Empire of Shadows

“I'm a little nervous!” Patricia squeezed Lance's hand, her palms sweaty.

Lance comforted her, “William and Emily will be here soon, and you probably know a lot of people here. There's nothing to be nervous about.”

Patricia looked at him, “But those are senators!”

“My God, do you know how shocking this is to me?”

“I'm actually attending a party attended by senators. God, I'm going crazy!”

She was indeed going crazy, and Lance was almost going crazy too, because she spent more than two hours just picking out clothes.

If time hadn't been running out, she might have continued picking!

She had to try on every piece of clothing, and then try different combinations. She didn't want to lose face at the party.

Losing her own face, and Lance's.

In fact, from Lance's point of view, her cleanliness and beauty surpassed everything!

“No one will be harsh on a beautiful girl.”

Patricia rolled her eyes, “Do you think senators haven't seen pretty girls before?”

“Those girls in the special zone are more elegant and prettier than me!”

Lance squeezed her hand, “But there's one thing they don't have that you do.”

Women seem to be very interested in similar topics. They hope they are unique, or better than others, “What don't they have that I do?”

Lance said with a smile, “Only you are in my heart!”

“God!” Patricia quickly covered her cheeks. Although she glared at Lance, she was still happy in her heart, “You're making me blush, Lance. They'll think I failed with my makeup later!”

Lance laughed, “It doesn't matter, because in my eyes you're always perfect!”

Although the girl kept rolling her eyes, she had to admit that her emotions gradually stabilized.

The luxurious motorcade arrived at Senator Williams' manor. They were actually acquaintances. Senator Williams and Senator Cleveland had at least been in contact before.

Before even approaching the manor, police officers were already on duty by the roadside.

Some people say that federal politicians never abuse their privileges. It's not that they don't abuse them, it's that ordinary people simply don't have the right to see it.

The motorcade was stopped by the police. The police officer bent down, glanced at Lance sitting inside, saluted, and then took the initiative to step aside.

They didn't dare to ask Lance to get out for inspection or questioning, and he was indeed on the list.

Further on, there were police officers on duty every so often. Today, anyone not on the invitation list was not even allowed to walk this road, just to ensure the peace and security here.

Lance's car slowly entered the manor gate and parked at the entrance. James immediately ended his conversation with the people around him when he saw Lance, and walked over with a smile.

“Lance, you're here!” He took Lance's arm, shook hands with him, and then his eyes fell on Patricia, “Is this beautiful lady Ms. Patricia?”

He bowed slightly, but did not reach out to touch Patricia, because Patricia was not married to Lance and was still an unmarried woman.

Unless she herself allowed it, no one could actively touch her. It was very impolite.

Patricia also returned the courtesy, “It's a pleasure to meet you, Jam… uh, I mean Mr. Williams.”

James laughed after hearing this, “Don't be so formal. You can call me James. Lance and I are very good friends!”

Lance also nodded slightly, which made Patricia's quickly warming face slightly better, “Sorry, I may have made a fool of myself, James.”

Lance turned to look at her, “That's your privilege. No one will blame you!” He then turned to look at James, “Will you blame her?”

James quickly raised his hands in front of his chest, “No, no, of course not!”

After joking for a while, he talked about the approximate personnel who had already arrived, and then took Lance into the manor with him.

In fact, Lance didn't know many people here, but many people here knew him!

Senator Williams was also chatting with others. He raised his glass to signal when he saw Lance, and Lance also nodded in return, which made more people focus their attention on Lance.

Senator Wade has now taken office as mayor. He has taken away everyone he can take away. Now, the only political figures in the entire city that can be shown off are the mayor and Senator Williams.

The mayor is finished. He wasn't even invited to such an important occasion today. You must know that today's main guest is a senator from Congress!

There are state secretaries, state attorneys general, and some state government officials.

Plus local celebrities, it can be said that recognized social celebrities and upper-class people have all appeared here today.

People from the five major families have all come, but the mayor is the only one missing.

He was abandoned. He screwed everything up. The Congressional side communicated with the governor, and the tone was very stern, because they almost triggered a nationwide strike.

The sudden appearance of the Labor Federation, and the news revealed by Lance, showed that they were indeed preparing for a nationwide super strike.

Whether or not this strike could be avoided, at least for the governor, it shouldn't have happened in his state.

So he also felt strong dissatisfaction with the mayor. He felt that he had been deceived by the mayor. The mayor told him that the purpose of the militia entering the city was just to suppress those gangsters!

But now, they were telling him that he even planned to let the militia suppress the strike!

Although the governor himself believed that this possibility was not very high, everyone was a politician and understood the stakes, but many times politics is not one plus one equals two. There is a connection, but there is not necessarily a certainty!

In other words, even if the militia did not suppress the strike, they would publicize that they had suppressed the striking workers.

These things shouldn't be put together!

If you come out of your sister-in-law's bedroom with your pants up, and your brother happens to come back from work and see you, you can't explain it!

In short, he was finished.

Senator Williams even declared in private that he would run for mayor, which was basically a certainty.

The Social Party's state party committee will definitely nominate and support him. Within the city, people will also be more inclined to elect a local ruler, because he will protect the interests of the local people more than others!

Lance is now very close to Senator Williams, and it is very likely that they will form a complementary force.

Senator Williams handles the work during the day, while Lance helps him handle the work at night.

It is foreseeable that once Senator Williams becomes mayor, he will definitely be the mayor with the strongest ruling power in recent years.

With Lance's help, they will definitely be able to control the entire city to the greatest extent!

This makes people have to take a second look at Lance.

This is power!

It's the power that makes people look at him with admiration!

This was the first time that Patricia had been stared at by so many people. She was so nervous that her body seemed to be trembling slightly. Lance tried to raise his arm slightly to support her body.

“Imagine them as pigs in a pigsty, and you won't be so nervous.” He said softly, and Patricia couldn't help but laugh.

She had already imagined such a scene, because her family really had a pigsty!

Or rather, the Lawrence family, this big landlord, farmer, and rancher family, still has large farms and ranches to this day.

There are cattle, sheep, and pigs in it. She had seen them when she was playing at her grandfather's house when she was a child. She could imagine those scenes!

Once she brought these people into those pig heads, she didn't seem so nervous!

She hit Lance, “How can you be like this?”

“If they knew, it would be too offensive!”

Lance laughed twice, “Offensive is offensive, at least my princess won't feel nervous!”

Patricia's eyes were filled with love when she looked at Lance. If there weren't so many people here, she would have even wanted to kiss Lance, “Honey, you're too sweet!”

The two of them entered the party venue while talking. The senator hadn't arrived yet, but the people around him had already arrived.

Although these people don't have any specific party or government positions, they are still surrounded by many people.

Tom took the initiative to walk over after seeing Lance and handed him an envelope, “This is the senator's business card. You did a good job with this matter. You are a capable person, Lance.”

Tom now behaved very “equally” and didn't have the arrogance he had when they first met.

Capable people are worthy of respect everywhere, and the Lance family has strong execution. They cooperated with the police to solve the riots of thousands of people in one day. This is ability!

Lance put the envelope in his pocket, “Thank you for the senator's recognition. It is my honor to work for the senator!”

Tom couldn't help but laugh after hearing this, “Has anyone ever told you that your lies are obvious?”

Lance blinked, “Is it obvious?”

Tom nodded and said, “I can't see awe in your eyes!” He paused, took out his business card and handed it to Lance, “This is my business card. You can call me if you have anything in the future.”

Lance didn't quite understand when he looked at his business card, but Tom just smiled and said, “You will know.”

He patted Lance's arm and then turned to leave.

In fact, Senator Cleveland was also one of the “beneficiaries” of this incident. Jin Gang City's benefits to Congress will include his share. This is one of the reasons why he came to Jin Gang City!

Councilman Williams certainly wouldn't personally handle such a large transfer of benefits. It's a bit… not good. If discovered, it would be a big trouble.

So, this part is very likely to be handled by Lance. He's responsible for getting the money into everyone's hands.

Obviously, Senator Cleveland wouldn't personally receive the money either. It will stay in the hands of someone he trusts. So, it seems Tom should be the one handling this.

This involves millions, or even more, in annual transactions. They will definitely deal with each other, and many times!

Later, William and Emily also arrived, completely taking advantage of Lance's influence.

Because Councilman Williams and James were responsible for this invitation list, Lance had them add William and Emily's names. This was to facilitate William's campaign for city councilman, providing early promotion and momentum.

It was obvious that the couple was a little nervous. After all, from this moment on, they were truly entering the upper class of Goldport City!

Everywhere were well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, each holding a glass of wine in the context of Prohibition. This was the most coveted and admired life, possessing everything they wanted, everything!

"You look absolutely beautiful today, darling!" Emily hugged her daughter, and then Patricia affectionately took her arm.

"You don't know, Mom, I'm so nervous!"

"I've only seen these people in the newspapers."

"Everything feels like a dream!"

Emily stroked the girl's hair, "You need to adapt to all of this." She glanced at Lance, "Lance will often be in such occasions and interact with the people here. A female companion is also the most important part of socializing."

"If you don't adapt to these things, other bad girls will steal your position!"

Her eyes stared at Lance as if they could talk, her purpose self-evident.

Lance quickly raised his hands, "Patricia is the only one in my heart."

Emily shook her head, "Some things are hard to be changed by one's will, Lance."

"Ahem… I don't think this is a good place to discuss this issue," William knew it would be his turn if they continued.

Patricia might not know what they were talking about, but Lance could understand. He looked at William with an expression that said, "Your life is so damn interesting."

William rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Emily took the initiative to say, "Pat, let me introduce you to the ladies here. They actually want to get to know you more than you think!"

"Give the men some space."

After the two women left, Lance nudged William with his elbow, "Are you having an affair?"

William took out a cigarette, gave one to Lance, "It was a business arrangement before. The people I was entertaining specified that they wanted to go to that kind of place. I couldn't just not take them, right?"

"After going in, you can't just watch them have fun and not participate yourself."

"Sometimes being sober is a sin, you know?"

Lance took out a match, struck it, and lit the cigarette. The two leaned in to light their cigarettes. He squinted as he smoked, flicking the match to extinguish it, "Yes, I understand."

"You're not there to monitor them, you're there to have fun with them. But I'm curious, how did Emily find out?"

William shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it."

But Lance really wanted to know, "Then I'll go ask her later."

"Holy crap, is your curiosity that strong?" Meeting Lance's probing gaze, he sighed, "A bitch stuffed her panties into my pocket, and I didn't notice."

People who are drunk never know what's in their pockets, nor do they care.

Then he went home drunk, and Emily found a pair of panties in his pocket that didn't belong to her.

The couple had a cold war for a few days before reconciling. This is the most common situation in the middle class. Their understanding of 'loyalty' is somewhat different from the lower classes.

For the lower classes, the body is the only thing they can be loyal to.

But for the middle class, family and career are the core of loyalty, not just the body.

If William sleeping with other women could bring about a class leap, making them richer and more powerful, Emily wouldn't care at all!

Hearing this, Lance patted him on the back, "Next time you go out for entertainment, remember to wear clothes without pockets!"

Some handmade suits have their pockets sewn together and cannot be used directly. To use them, you must cut the thread with scissors.

The purpose of this is to ensure that the shape of these clothes does not change because the pockets have been opened.

For example, if some clothes have things in their pockets, it will deform them.

This is why many people put small things in their jacket pockets instead of the outside suit pockets.

William nodded, but then suddenly looked at him, "Damn it, what the hell are you talking about?"

Lance laughed and put his arm around his shoulders, "You're going to be the mayor in the future. Do you think these temptations will be less?"

His expression froze, suddenly becoming a little unclear. After a while, he said, "You have to protect Patricia. She's my angel. Don't hurt her."

"Otherwise, I won't let you go, although I might not be able to beat you!"

Lance nodded and said, "Actually, you didn't need to say the last sentence. It sounds like you're compromising with me in advance."

As they were talking, Senator Cleveland arrived at the scene, and everyone surrounded him, including Lance and William.

He was the absolute core of tonight's party. Councilman Williams stood beside him, first chatting with him about some things, everyone wearing a flattering smile on their faces.

This is the value of peak power. Everyone is a good person, and you are the focus of everyone!

Lance stood in a relatively outer area. As a "gang leader," it was obviously impossible for him to have close conversations with Senator Cleveland in such a public setting.

Even if he wanted to, the senator wouldn't agree. This involved many issues, so he never actively thought about going over or anything.

He stayed in the periphery all the time.

"I was just talking with Councilman Williams, and we are all very pleased to have resolved this thrilling crisis and rescued it from the hands of evil!"

"Goldport City has a very long history and plays a very important role!"

"Politically, economically, and in terms of international influence, it is the same."

"I am very honored to be standing here today, standing among you to say these words. I also hope that it and you can become better, and that the Federation can become better!"

He raised his glass, "To the ever-improving Federation and its people!"

People raised their glasses one after another, as if the Prohibition didn't exist at all at this moment!

"To the Federation and the people!"

"Cheers!"