Empire of Shadows

The last incident alarmed the entire company headquarters' board of directors. Besides losing a huge amount of profit, they also fired some people from the evaluation department.

This was clearly because these employees didn't observe the future price trend of agricultural products closely enough, their evaluation wasn't accurate enough, and their deduction wasn't bold enough!

If they had known from the beginning that the price of grapes would skyrocket, would they still have encountered so much trouble?

No!

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They wouldn't have any trouble, wouldn't need to litigate with anyone, and they could completely rely on their accurate grasp of the market to earn more money!

The general manager's words reminded the vice president of the high multiple penalty for breach of contract. "I remember the board of directors discussed that contracts with excessively high penalties for breach of contract are not allowed."

He was hinting whether this contract violated the board of directors' decision.

If it did, then they would hold the manager who signed the contract accountable.

Many people would think... although an employee of a company is given the title of manager, they are essentially still just an employee.

Even if you hold her accountable, how much of the loss can be compensated?

If only looking at compensating for losses, it indeed cannot compensate for much of the loss, but capitalists have never wanted "compensation for losses."

They don't expect to get back something that can't be recovered.

The purpose of holding people accountable is to create a tragic example for other employees in the company to follow.

Look, someone didn't listen and caused huge losses to the company. Now she can't even afford pants.

If this person can be forced to commit suicide, that would be even better, it would have an even greater effect!

Capital is always cold and ruthless. If dipping into people's blood to eat the dividends brought by death is something people find unbearable,

Then directly stuffing corpses into their mouths is the bottom line of a business.

The general manager quickly explained, "This contract complies with all the company's rules and regulations."

If there was a problem with this contract, he would also bear joint liability. He didn't want to bear joint liability.

The vice president was silent for a while, "Send me the information of that person or company, and I'll have someone check it out."

Soon, the names Lance White and Luther Buffon came into the vice president's view. After he hung up the phone, he contacted a friend of his in King's Harbor City.

Monopolistic channel vendors like Ligee Group have friends everywhere.

As long as there are supermarkets in this area, as long as people live there, as long as they need agricultural products, then even if they don't order goods from Ligee Group, they will maintain a good relationship with them.

Capital operation has never been a simple thing.

The person on the other end of the phone quickly answered. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the vice president turned the topic to his purpose.

"There's something related to King's Harbor City. I'm not very familiar with the situation there. Perhaps you can give me some help?"

His friend also knew that this was the main topic, and said with some caution, carefully considering his words, "I'll do my best to help you."

He picked up the piece of paper with the names recorded, "There are two people here, one is called Lance White, and the other is called Luther Wood."

"I want to know who they are, what's special about them?"

"Lance White?"

The vice president caught some surprised emotion from the other party's tone, "Do you know him?"

His friend pondered for a while, "In King's Harbor City, I only know one person called Lance White, and that is the leader of the 'Lance Family'."

The vice president asked somewhat cautiously, "The family you're talking about... isn't it a gang?"

In the Federation and even the world, "family" is a very broad concept.

Gangs can also be called families, capital groups also have families, political interest groups also have families, even his rural farmer mother has a family!

So he had to figure out what kind of family this "Lance Family" was.

His friend agreed, "Yes, a gang entrenched in the Imperial District and the Port District. You can think of them as a very large and successful gang."

"And this Lance is very young. He has very strong skills, everyone says he is a powerful character."

He also said one or two practical things related to Lance to prove his point that Lance was a figure.

But the vice president suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

A... gang leader?

Well, although the underground order of many cities is indeed controlled and operated by gangs now, from the upper dimension of this country, gangs still seem a bit insignificant.

"As for the Luther Wood you mentioned, I don't know this person, I can't provide any information."

The vice president's mood had changed a lot at this time, "Thank you for your help, I think I know what to do."

"Recently I plan to buy a yacht, and I can put it in King's Harbor Pier at that time. If you need to use it, you can take it."

The two chatted about ordinary topics for a while, then hung up the phone.

For the vice president, the most well-known gang in King's Harbor City is the Five Great Families. If Lance and the Lance Family are just a gang, then finding the police is obviously not as effective as finding the gang!

He knew people from the Coda Family, Bandy, Corey, and Bandy's son, Fleming.

Fleming graduated from King's State University. Ligee Group's headquarters is in Kingsstate, and most of the children and family members of the board of directors are also students of Kingsstate University.

King's State University belongs to the Elite University Alliance. The concept of "Elite University Alliance" was proposed by a senator, and was previously called "Human Elite Alliance."

Later, because some people thought that this name might cause misunderstandings and had some sensitive positions, the word "human" was removed.

He pointed out, "The correct operation of society requires the elites of human society to control the direction. The Federation should concentrate its efforts to cultivate a group of elites who can lead the Federation to glory and truly realize the Federal Dream of all Federal people."

Under the leadership of this senator, some well-known universities in the Federation joined the Elite University Alliance to cultivate elites for society!

Interestingly, these Elite University Alliance institutions do not completely look at their learning ability and grades when selecting students.

More often, they look at the letters of recommendation in their hands.

Perhaps to the ruling class, the so-called elite is naturally their children.

The vice president had seen Bandy twice in some activities organized by the school.

Bandy was very enthusiastic about Fleming's studies, and every year he would take out a lot of money to let Fleming organize various activities at the school.

Although Fleming went to Kingsstate University, an elite institution, in the eyes of the real "elites", he was just a money bag, a lackey.

Therefore, the vice president met Bandy, who was handing out business cards everywhere, and learned about the Coda Family.

A wealthy, violent gang organization.

He always boasted that in Licarai State and King's Harbor City, there was nothing they couldn't do, and he did know that some people had solved some problems through Bandy, so the vice president also believed that they could solve this problem as well.

He directly called the general manager, "Go talk to those people. It's best to reach an agreement. If you can't reach an agreement, you don't need to be too polite with them."

"We do not accept any fraud or coercion. If they want to sue, then let them sue!"

"Also, find out why those wheat sprouted."

"When necessary, I will take action."

Hearing the vice president say this, the general manager naturally had no other concerns, "I know how to handle it, Mr. President."

After ending the call, he made a call to the dock, "Bring that Mr. Luther here, I will talk to him personally."

At this time, Luka was still standing uneasily on the dock, the delivery note in his hand was tightly clenched, and the contract was also in his briefcase.

Those people were obviously flustered. He probably knew what Lance had done, but he didn't know exactly how it was done and what the result was.

But now it seems to be very successful.

This gave him more confidence, "The above said that I can load the ship before 2:00 PM. I want to ask, can I see my goods?"

At this time, a staff member corrected him, "Mr. Luther, before you pay the final payment, this wheat is not yours yet."

Luka seized a small loophole, "Are you trying to breach the contract?"

The man didn't speak. Without a doubt, they were very likely to breach the contract!

At this moment, someone suddenly walked over, "Mr. Luther, the general manager hopes to talk to you in person."

Luka hesitated for a moment, nodded in agreement, and then got into a car arranged by their company and arrived at Ligee Group's office building.

The floor that reflected his figure made him feel a little dazed. The moment he stepped into the hall, a beautiful blonde woman appeared in front of him.

She looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, dressed in very professional workplace attire, and also wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

This did not affect her appearance, but added a kind of impulse to profane her. She had a smile on her face and bowed slightly, "Mr. Luther, I am the manager's secretary. The general manager has been waiting in the office for a long time. Please come with me."

Luka was still very reserved and polite in front of beautiful women. He nodded slightly, tidied up his clothes, and followed her towards a separate elevator.

His attention was completely focused on the female secretary's buttocks, which were very round and full, but not exaggerated.

The aesthetics of the Federation people have not yet evolved to the point of needing an exaggerated big butt; they appreciate a natural beauty more!

The secretary could also vaguely feel the hot gaze from behind, and the more it was like this, the more she twisted her butt.

"Damn, that's hot."

Luca licked his lips; he could now take on two, maybe three, people at once.

His eyes were fixed on the butt in front of him, and when that butt stopped, he didn't even react at first, almost bumping into it!

Feeling the faint pressure from behind, the secretary rolled her eyes. She knocked on the door of the general manager's office, "Mr. Luther is here."

"Come in…"

Luca entered the office and saw the general manager sitting behind his desk at a glance. He took a deep breath and walked over.

The general manager came out from behind the desk, shook hands with him at the edge of the desk, and then asked the secretary to bring in two cups of coffee.

It's morning, not afternoon, so there's no need for pastries.

Before the general manager could speak, Luca spoke first, "I wanted to pick up the goods at the pier just now, but your company's people kept talking about other things. Did something unexpected happen?"

The general manager had been observing the expression of this "Luther" Mr. He suddenly said, "Don't you know what happened?"

Luca showed a very brief expression of surprise, hesitation, and suspicion, but it was this very short, perhaps momentary, change that was captured by the general manager.

He was even more certain that this Mr. Luther must be connected to Lance, or even be part of the same group.

Thinking of this, he leaned back in his chair, his expression becoming more calm.

He carefully looked at the guy in front of him. He was very sure that this person should not be a member of the mafia.

He didn't have the street feel that mafia members have; instead, he gave people the feeling of a middle-class waste.

Luca shook his head cautiously, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The general manager tapped the armrest with his fingers, "Let's talk frankly. Is this Lance's idea?"

Luca shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about. We are an international trading company…"

The general manager raised his hand, stopping him from continuing, "You know better than I do what happened to the wheat. If you can't make the decision, let Lance talk to me. He's the one who can make the decision!"

Luca continued to play dumb, "I don't understand what you're talking about at all. What happened to the wheat?"

"And who is Lance?"

The general manager looked at Luca, who was unwilling to admit it, and spread his hands, "We can't load the wheat onto the ship, but we won't give you the money either. If you want to sue, then go ahead and sue."

"This is obviously a commercial fraud. You used despicable means to get more liquidated damages, but I think you've made a wrong calculation!"

In fact, regardless of whether this person is related to Lance or not, the final result is the same. Want to get liquidated damages?

Sue us!

This is also the simplest and most effective method for capital groups to deal with this kind of case. The Ligee Group faces so many lawsuits every year that they can be considered a kind of "litigation rogue."

This word may not sound very good and may leave a bad impression, but that doesn't mean they also have a bad impression in the judicial department.

If you want to make an impossible lawsuit possible, or make the judge make a ruling in your favor, you have to find a way to play some off-court tricks.

Bribery is illegal, but public relations is not.

And the difference between them is—

If you directly give the money to the judge, and the judge announces a verdict in your favor, this is bribery and a job-related crime.

But if you give the money to a public relations company, and the public relations company gives the money to the judge through their methods, and the judge is persuaded and adopts their reasoning, and makes a ruling in your favor, this is legal.

The Ligee Group's legal team has reliable relationships in most states and can use these relationships to influence states they are not familiar with.

The last failure was because their litigation target was an even bigger "rogue," the bank.

So they had no choice but to admit defeat.

But this time, they learned from the last lesson.

The company's legal team has sent letters to major banks to remind them of the possibility of this new type of fraud, and is also strengthening legal construction.

And they have already reported the case. Before the case is clarified, they don't have to rush to face the bank.

This will take a long time. What if the criminals are never caught?

Then just drag it on. Anyway, their wheat will not be delivered, and at the same time, they have eaten 25% of the deposit. They have made money.

As for whether the bank will sue Lance, that has nothing to do with them.

Luca looked at the general manager's indifferent appearance and didn't know what to do for a while.

Fortunately, Lance had told him that as long as he did what he was supposed to do, he didn't need to worry about the rest.

At this time, Luca stood up and looked at the general manager with a serious expression, "We will sue you."

The secretary came in with the coffee at this time, but saw that the conversation seemed to be over.

She was a little at a loss holding the coffee.

The general manager waved to indicate that she could leave the coffee, "I can finish it!"

Luca turned and left, humming softly when he saw the little secretary.

The secretary stood at the door looking at the general manager, who signaled her to put down the coffee, "I can finish it!"

After Luca left the company, he went directly to Lance's office. He told Lance everything that had happened at Ligee Company and looked at Lance a little uneasily.

After all, they had paid out 500,000, but got nothing in return. Ligee Company decided to renege on the debt again!

"Thank you for your hard work. I will solve this matter. You can take a short rest or go out for a walk."

"Leave the rest to me…"

After Luca left, Lance called Jonathan (Deputy Director of Baihui Bank, Jin Gang City), "I have a contract…"

After listening to Lance's description, Jonathan gave an unpromising answer, "This matter is not easy to handle. After we won the last lawsuit, Ligee Group sent a lawyer's letter."

"And just now, the head office called me and also talked about this contract."

"The bank gave a high-risk warning, so…"

"With such a large amount of funds, if the head office does not agree, I can't approve it for you, although I would be very willing to do so!"

If it did not involve a high-risk warning, then he could try his best to get it approved.

But now that it involves a high-risk warning, it is difficult to do this.

Although the bank has a lot of bad debts every year, judging from their cautious attitude, this should not be the case.

It can only be said that where those bad debts have gone, it may always be a mystery!

After listening, Lance was not discouraged, but instead comforted Jonathan, "It's okay, Joe, I just wanted to take a shortcut."

"Since they don't let me take a shortcut, then I have to do something that everyone doesn't want to see."

Jonathan was a little worried after hearing this, "Ligee Group has a lot of influence in the Federation. Maybe I can help you arrange a meeting with their board members?"

Lance refused directly, "They should take the initiative to invite me, not me invite them!"