Empire of Shadows

In Goldport City, very few locals had attended Councilman Williams's family banquets; even the mayor hadn't been invited.

Lance's purpose in bringing William was clear to Councilman Williams, who was also willing to cooperate with William to a certain extent.

After all, there were only eleven council members in the city. The more he could gather, the stronger he would be in the fight against the Bay Area.

The Bay Area wasn't so easy to deal with, otherwise he wouldn't have cooperated with Lance. When these people controlled one-fifth or even one-third of the city's residents' jobs, the matter became increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, Lance would help him.

At the dinner table, Lance saw Councilman Williams's current wife.

The word "current" in front of "wife" seemed to carry a special flavor, but most men were like that, their tastes mostly fixed.

Some might like older women, but that's when they're not old enough themselves, like a twenty-year-old liking a thirty-year-old.

But no one would like a sixty-year-old when they're fifty, unless that sixty-year-old was particularly wealthy.

Councilman Williams's wife was said to have followed him since she was sixteen. To him, she was not only his lover and physical partner, but also a special spiritual sustenance.

Both daughter and wife, he liked this woman very much. She was only thirty-seven this year, looked very young, and exuded a mature charm.

The only one at the entire table who could compete with her was Patricia.

She was beautiful, young, and vibrant. Youth alone could kill some charm, for some people.

Arthur was also at the table, but what Lance found interesting was that Arthur's gaze would occasionally fall on his mother. A guy with an Oedipus complex, who would have thought?

Perhaps every bastard has a little special fetish.

Dinner was very sumptuous, showing that Councilman Williams had made special preparations. Both the chefs and the ingredients were fresh and delicious.

James was already engaged, but not yet married. In this era, it was relatively rare for someone his age to not be married.

However, Councilman Williams specifically mentioned this situation, saying that they would hold the wedding in November and hoped that Lance could come then.

Before, James could continue to delay, no one cared, and Councilman Williams didn't value it very much.

A capable man can marry at fifty without being late. Even if James was forty and wanted to get married, there would still be many eighteen-year-old girls who wanted to marry him.

But now that he was about to become a city council member, the issue of family obviously had to be put on the agenda.

Federal people trust politicians with families and stable family lives more. They like these kinds of politicians, believing they are responsible and have integrity.

In some ways, people's choices are actually the same as those of capitalists. Capitalists like workers who can bear the burden of the entire family, preferably those who still have loans, who can't lose their jobs and income, even if they are willing to take a pay cut.

People don't ask politicians to take a pay cut because politicians' job income isn't particularly outrageous, and the people aren't capitalists, they won't exploit politicians.

In short, it was a good family banquet. Councilman Williams's wife also asked Emily for her phone number and said that they could socialize together when they had time, which made Emily's face flush with excitement!

She actually had her own desired life. The upper-class socialite was everything she wanted, and now half of her wish had come true.

In the evening, Patricia didn't raise her head for a long time because Emily was a little crazy. They could even hear "oh, yeeeeees!" coming from Emily's room!

This made Patricia feel like she was burning up, entirely because of embarrassment and shame.

"She… she wasn't really like this before," she whispered in Lance's arms.

Lance hugged her from behind, his breath on her ear, making her feel very quiet.

It would be better if he didn't move.

Awkward, but a very interesting night.

The next morning, when Lance got up, Lawrence and his wife had already prepared breakfast. William looked at Lance a little awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Lance gave him a hug, "I understand."

This relieved William, "She… she's a little excited. Councilman Williams's wife is considered the top in Goldport City's social circle of ladies. The only one who can be on par with her is Councilman Wade's wife."

"But you know, Councilman Wade took them away, so now in the female social circle, Councilman Williams's wife is the top!"

Soon she would be promoted to "Mayor's Wife", and she would represent the face of Goldport City's social circle of ladies. Now that Emily had a good start with her, she would also have a place in Goldport City's social circle.

Thinking of this, this exquisite middle-class lady could hardly control her emotions.

They learn flower arranging, fashion design, and everything fashionable and trendy, certainly not just to fill themselves up.

Their husbands are enough to fill them up. They do these things entirely to cope with social interactions.

Emily was also a little embarrassed, but only a little, "You explained something that wasn't embarrassing, and it became embarrassing!"

She looked at William with her hands on her hips. William could only pick up a piece of bread that had been toasted in a toaster, spread butter on it, and placed some vegetables, bacon, ham, and some sauces on it to show his position of shutting up.

Lance also had the same breakfast. If it weren't for the fact that there was no social media in this era, perhaps Emily's first thing to do every day after making breakfast would be to let everyone know what she had made.

"After I deal with the aftermath of Mr. Chobaf, you won't have to worry about these issues anymore."

Emily specifically came over, put her arms around Lance and pressed her face against his, "A big house, you're so considerate, dear!"

William also had some yearning in his eyes. Who wouldn't want life to get better?

When Lance sent Patricia to work, she was still a little speechless, "She's too crazy!"

"It's over, dear," Lance said as he drove, knowing what she was talking about.

Patricia covered her face, "I don't even know how to face you, running into this kind of thing!"

Lance couldn't help but laugh and said, "Then next time your shouts are louder than hers, so I can't hear her, and I won't be embarrassed!"

The two talked and laughed and made a fuss, and the car stopped in the parking lot of Patricia's workplace.

Many people greeted her and Lance.

Lance's status in Goldport City was constantly being recognized as the Lance family continued to expand.

No one felt that… there was anything wrong with a gangster dating a civil servant. There are even more fantastic things in this world than this.

Besides, until the judge finally confirms that Lance is a gangster and the leader of a gang, no one can say that he is the leader of a gang, the head of a criminal group.

After sending Patricia away, Lance returned to the company. He brought in Burton and asked about some of the follow-up matters of Mr. Chobaf.

Burton was very familiar with Mr. Chobaf, of course, it was a one-sided familiarity before, plus his informants are now all over the two districts, so it was right to ask him about these things.

"Mr. Chobaf's family heard that he was bankrupt and owed a lot of money, and no one was willing to collect his body for him, fearing trouble."

"So his body is still in the funeral home. If no one handles it within a month, there is a high probability that he will be disposed of."

Lance looked at him, "What do you mean by disposed of?"

"Sent to some medical universities as anatomical teaching materials. Fresh corpses are not easy to obtain."

Lance sighed. It was a bleak ending. He couldn't even find someone to bury him. It wasn't to say that he himself was so unsuccessful. In fact, most successful people would be the same after encountering the same thing as him.

People are worried about getting into trouble, so they won't take the initiative to bear these things.

"How much does it cost to bury him?"

Burton shook his head and said, "It doesn't cost much. Thirty dollars at most, including choosing a cemetery."

A coffin costs ten dollars, then five dollars to choose a cemetery, and the remaining few dollars are used for the priest. This is the cost of a burial.

"Advance this part of the money. No matter what, he was once a respectable gentleman!"

Burton didn't object and did it immediately.

When someone takes the lead in doing this, it will naturally become very fast. The word "efficiency" is immediately reflected.

This is why it is difficult for ordinary people to do something in many cases, but it is very easy for people with power, influence, or money to do something.

Everything was arranged that afternoon, and it was scheduled to bury him on the weekend.

After he is buried, he will truly die, because people will start to forget him.

It's like turning a page of a book. People won't look forward, they will only look back.

In the afternoon, Lance made a call to Jonathan (Deputy Branch Manager of Parkway Bank), and talked about the situation of drug mortgage.

The two talked for more than twenty minutes. Now special anti-inflammatory drugs and other drugs are very popular internationally. Although sales have not been stopped in the United States, the number of purchases has also been restricted.

Ordinary people can only obtain three or seven days of medicine at a time with a doctor's prescription. It is basically impossible to obtain more.

The price of this batch of drugs is higher internationally than domestically, so Jonathan can give Lance 90% of the valuation.

"If you're not willing to repay the money, I believe the board of directors will be very happy!" he added at the end, taking the initiative to bring up the matter.

Lance smiled and said, "If you can value me at fifteen million, I can decide not to repay it."

Jonathan was taken aback because his initial valuation was approximately between five million five hundred thousand and six million five hundred thousand.

He wouldn't really take Lance's number as a joke. He believed the number must have a basis, "Do you mean the price of the drug will skyrocket?"

Lance didn't answer directly, "Life is priceless, and there will always be people willing to pay a premium to get a chance to keep people alive."

Jonathan didn't understand and couldn't guess what Lance meant.

The Federation's position hasn't changed yet, but as the Tanfite war continues to erupt, the Federation will definitely have its own stance.

Once the export ban takes effect, then these things, not just medicines, but other things in the smuggling field will skyrocket in price!

After ending the call with Jonathan, he had Rogerov handle these matters and also asked him to finalize the grain acquisition.

Recently, the growth of wheat has been astonishing, from three dollars and sixty cents a barrel in March to four dollars and forty-five cents now, an increase of more than 23 percent.

Compared to last year, the increase is more than 40 percent.

A barrel is about 36 liters, using international standards. In trade, these grains, such as cereals, including corn, are settled according to the "barrel" unit.

He can get at least five million in loans from the BHH Bank. If this money is used to buy grain, it will be an amazing deal!

Many trivial matters were worn away in this way. The impact of the firefight continued, and in the past two days, the "collection" work in the Imperial District and the Port District also came to an end.

"A total of 8,700 merchants in the two districts, according to our standards, we have collected a total of more than 66,000 dollars…"

Lance showed an obvious surprised expression upon hearing this, "Does this mean that after we pay the police's extra income, we may still have a surplus?"

Irving also looked blank because when they initially calculated, the money might not be enough, but now it seems there is actually enough money, maybe even more.

Lance was a little suspicious that they had made a mistake, "Check it again to see if anyone overcharged. This number doesn't seem right."

Irving immediately arranged for people to do it, but the news quickly came back that the numbers were correct.

The problem was that the number of merchants had increased.

"Last year, there were only more than 5,000 merchants in the two districts, but now, more than 3,000 new merchants have been added."

"So, the sanitation fees collected are much more than we imagined!"

With Irving's simple explanation, Lance understood.

In fact, this was also facilitated by him.

Stopping the protection fees from both the gangs and the police is equivalent to promoting commercial development in this area.

Some merchants came from other districts because there is more profit margin here!

Especially some small merchants, their monthly profit may only be tens of dollars. In the past, most of these tens of dollars would be taken away, and they were at most equivalent to doing a very free job.

But now, they can indeed earn money, so naturally they will all come over.

With more merchants, the sanitation fees collected will increase. There are only more than 1,100 police officers in the two districts combined. According to the standard of forty-five dollars per person, there will indeed be a little more in the end.

"There are still about thirty merchants who are unwilling to pay."

Lance had heard about this last time. He asked, "How much money do they need to pay that they are unwilling to pay?"

Irving took out a well-organized document, "The most is seventeen dollars, and the least is four dollars."

Those who have to pay seventeen dollars in sanitation fees must be running a big business, at least running a big supermarket.

Looking at these people on the document, Lance asked again, "Did they pay other gangs and the police before?"

Burton stepped forward, "Some paid, some didn't."

Lance threw the document back, "Let those who paid before but don't pay us know that we can be merciful, and we can also be brutal."

"Let those who didn't pay before and are unwilling to pay now move to other districts and don't continue to stay here."

"Since they can't abide by our rules, then don't keep them."

Irving asked softly, "How should we handle the scale of this?"

Lance leaned back, "As long as no one dies!"

A successful person must have both a compassionate heart and thunderous means, because people always fear power and not virtue.

Simply put, people will not be afraid of you because you are kind. They are always afraid of you because you have hurt them!

With the "bottom line" proposed by Lance, other people also know what to do. For this point, Lance still trusts them very much.

After all, if you can't even do this kind of small thing well, then really go back and be an ordinary person.

Now that the money has been collected and it's the middle of the month, it's time to distribute it to the police.

The money will be put in envelopes. Each envelope is customized with a gold-stamped text on it, roughly meaning "Thank you for your efforts to protect the property and life safety of the people of Goldport City. All efforts deserve to be rewarded" and the like.

The back has a place to open the envelope, which is also gold-stamped, with the company logo printed on it.

When people open it, they can see at least forty-five dollars!

Each envelope is worth five cents. Lance believes this is necessary because ritual has a very special magic for the people of the Federation.

Once they get used to this ritual, it will become a dependency, and it will be difficult to change.

In the evening, the police officers who had worked hard all day returned to the police station to prepare for the shift change. At this moment, several cars suddenly drove into the parking lot of the Imperial Branch, and soon they came to the hall carrying and pushing several large boxes.

Chief Blue came out of the office and then announced the matter to everyone, distributing the money!

Every police officer's salary this month was deducted by one dollar. He had already explained that this one dollar was used to invest in the "Future Fund."

This fund will have a return every month, and now is the time for the return.

In fact, everyone knows that this is another kind of "fee", except that in the past, they directly collected it from the merchants, and then the branch distributed it.

Now, the process has become the Lance family collecting it and then transferring it to them in a legal way.

They also have to mention these incomes when filing taxes. The tax revenue from federal financial investments is very low, almost negligible.

In fact, Chief Blue had suggested that he could do it for them, but Lance still insisted on letting his people distribute the money, not Chief Blue or anyone else!