Empire of Shadows

“Liji Group?”

The general manager sat behind his desk, looking at the middle-aged man in front of him.

He found it hard to imagine how down-and-out this fellow used to be, now that he was actually discussing Liji Group's commercial insurance with him.

His gaze swept over the middle-aged man repeatedly.

If he didn't consider his attire, it would be almost impossible to see any connection between him and the word "success."

But looking at that handmade suit, the word "success" seemed to be written all over his face.

The manager was also a little unsure whether he was successful or not.

But in any case, he wouldn't offend someone who might be successful and had no vested interest in him.

Enio's father nodded, "Yes, Liji Group."

The manager pondered for a moment, "It should be handled by Edron Commercial Insurance.

Edron and Liji Group have been cooperating for many years."

The boss of Edron Commercial Insurance was named Edron, a very shrewd man.

His business acumen was as flexible as his bottom line.

His flexible skills and bottom line allowed him to have many friends, and many insurance people were working hard to emulate him.

He kept observing Enio's father's expression, "You want to discuss cooperation with Liji Group?"

"Is it convenient to reveal some details?"

"Who are you working for now?"

Enio's father smiled, "I don't work for anyone…"

He paused for a moment, "Do you know any supervisors at Edron or anything like that?"

The manager's eyes changed slightly.

He sized up Enio's father again, "I don't understand."

He wanted to say something about industrial espionage, but he didn't think it was the case, because this kind of information could be found out by anyone.

This wasn't top-secret information.

Moreover, both Edron Insurance and Liji Group would include information about the flow of funds in their financial reports.

However, in the end, he decided to introduce Enio's father to a colleague.

Insurance company salesmen and supervisors were competitors, but also colleagues, and possibly even friends.

"If there's any good business, remember to take care of me!"

This was the manager's request, his hand resting on the telephone receiver.

As long as Enio's father nodded, he would immediately dial the number and introduce him to the manager of Edron Insurance.

In the Federation, there was a very interesting, even magical, phenomenon.

People at the top didn't believe that people at the bottom would honestly and faithfully deal with everything.

They always felt that people at the bottom would be opportunistic and deceitful.

And people at the bottom generally believed that those big shots would never break their promises.

They felt that even without the constraints of a contract, big shots would keep their word because they were big shots.

Big shots represented correctness and direction.

But in reality, the opposite was true.

The group that truly kept their word was the middle and lower classes.

Perhaps because credit and other "moral wealth" were among the few things they could offer.

They weren't like those rich people, with countless amounts of money, or high social status, or other material things.

The value of the rich didn't exist in themselves.

But for the poor, they themselves were their value, their core value.

And their good qualities were among their few assets, including keeping their word.

The more they valued credit, the more they would abide by their beliefs, unlike those big shots in the upper class.

Even if you signed a contract with them, they would tear it up if they felt it was inappropriate.

They might not be able to stick to their word, because excellent qualities weren't how they demonstrated their value!

In the manager's view, Enio's father was still within the scope of "credit."

Enio's father nodded, although he couldn't imagine what matters in the future would require the assistance of this manager, he still nodded in agreement.

Soon, he obtained contact information.

When saying goodbye to the manager, the manager still wanted to get to the bottom of things.

He thought there was a big business opportunity here, but Enio's father didn't reveal a single word.

Later that evening, he contacted the manager of Edron Insurance in his office.

"So… is there anything I can do for you?"

Enio's father was now performing even better.

In the manager's office, he discovered that "showing off" wasn't a difficult thing to do, so he now appeared more composed.

He even crossed his legs and proactively took a cigarette, lighting it and saying in a seemingly relaxed manner, "I want to check the insurance situation of Liji Group."

Edron's manager looked at him as if he were an idiot, "This is a trade secret, sir.

If you've come to ask about these things, I think you've come for nothing…"

"How much money would make you talk?"

Enio's father interrupted him.

The manager was stunned for a moment, "Sorry, what did you say just now? I didn't hear clearly!"

Enio's father flicked the ash of his cigarette, "I'm asking, how much money would make you lift your butt off that chair and then put what I want in front of me?"

He was already starting to get a little excited and really liked this way of talking, "Is five hundred enough?"

The manager understood, but understood to the point of not quite understanding, "I don't understand…"

"One thousand?"

The manager shook his head, "Before I ask you to lea…"

"Two thousand?"

Enio's father was actually starting to sweat a little.

He only had two thousand dollars on him now, but he had to keep bidding.

Lance said that anything that could be solved with money wasn't a problem.

This gave him an indescribable sense of pleasure.

He was experiencing the joy of being a boss, looking at the manager with a surprised expression, biting his cigarette.

The movement of his teeth made the cigarette bob up and down, "Or rather, three thousand dollars?"

The manager fell silent.

After about ten seconds, he said softly, "I have to bear a great responsibility!"

"Five thousand dollars!"

"I have my professional ethics!"

This was the manager's last resistance.

Enio's father shook his head, "You are a person worthy of respect.

You have your bottom line, but I believe that not everyone has a bottom line."

As he said this, he was about to stand up when the manager suddenly slammed the table, "Deal!"

He was a little breathless, "But this matter can't be known to others!"

Enio's father nodded.

Soon, the manager walked over with a file box.

As a manager, he had the authority to access these materials.

In fact, it wouldn't cost so much money to find someone to look through these materials.

The salesmen below could also access these materials.

Perhaps five hundred dollars would be enough to make them compromise.

Just like this gentleman said, not everyone has such high moral standards and bottom lines.

Soon, he found some of the things Lance wanted in these insurance policies.

All flammable materials stored for more than two weeks would be reported, but the reported prices weren't high.

They wouldn't invest too much insurance in these agricultural products, which already had low profits.

Moreover, it wasn't that easy to cause irreparable losses on the docks.

There were water dragons and pumps everywhere, and they could quickly extinguish fires.

So, about 70% of Liji Group's warehouses weren't insured.

"I need to verify this information.

I can pay you two thousand dollars first."

He took the envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the table, "After I confirm this matter, someone will send you the remaining three thousand dollars."

The manager looked at the two thousand dollars in his hand, revealing a satisfied smile, "I look forward to the next cooperation…"

Forty minutes later, Lance received the information and had someone send over three thousand dollars.

To be a person, one must have integrity.

In the evening, a large number of blue-uniformed workers entered the dock.

This should have been a normal thing, but many dockworkers looked at these people with strange eyes.

Because they didn't recognize any of these people, these people might be a little off.

Someone reported this to the security guards, but the security guards ignored them.

They reported to the management company, and the management company sent someone to take a look and quickly left.

Since they didn't care, the workers didn't care anymore.

A group of people arrived in front of a warehouse.

A guy carrying a small box fiddled with the lock a few times, and the door opened.

Inside were mountains of agricultural products…

After the Saint-Nong Festival, it was the peak season for agricultural trade.

A large number of agricultural products and fruits had completed their harvesting work, and then came the long winter.

Various enterprises needed to start storing agricultural products.

If they waited until winter arrived before storing them, the prices would be much higher than now.

So, almost all the warehouses were piled high with goods.

These goods wouldn't stay here for too long, three to five days, at most a week, and they would be taken away.

At the same time, this place would be filled with newly arrived agricultural products until winter truly arrived!

Liji Group's general manager had just finished his social engagement.

He sat back in his chair with a hot towel over his face.

He was talking to the head office.

"Be vigilant and wary of them sabotaging.

We have already arranged for a specialist to go over and connect with you.

When the time comes, just hand this case over to the specialist."

"Whether it's litigation or other means, we won't be afraid of them."

"The company spends so much on public relations every year, it's not for nothing!"

The general manager was a little worried.

He worked in Goldport City, and he knew very well what the situation was in Goldport City, "If they use some… extreme measures, what should we do?"

"Extremist measures?"

"What extremist measures could they use?"

"Kidnap you, or kidnap our employees?"

"Or perhaps block the company gates and prevent us from working?"

While voicing these conjectures, the vice president almost couldn't stop laughing!

"Please, they're just gangsters. They can't do anything that would give us a headache. Are you suggesting they could empty our warehouse overnight?"

Saying this, he burst into laughter again, "If they were really that capable, I would actually think highly of them!"

His laughter gradually subsided, his tone laced with disdain and contempt, "Just a bunch of gangsters, nothing to be afraid of."

"Besides, even if they resort to gangster methods, we have the ability to deal with them. You need to trust the company, trust the board of directors!"

The general manager remained silent for a moment. Although he felt the vice president was being somewhat arrogant, he decided to trust the company and the board of directors, as requested.

"I understand. I will monitor their actions, but I won't interfere."

"I'll notify you of any problems."

The vice president was very satisfied, "Good, that's it."

"In addition, we need to adjust the price of some grains and other commodities, and no longer ship them out on a large scale."

The general manager was curious upon hearing this, "Why?"

The vice president lowered his voice slightly, "The Dentala Republic delegation didn't have a very good discussion with the Secretary of State. Information from channels suggests that the talks may collapse."

"Do you know what a collapse would bring us?"

The general manager had drunk a lot of wine, and his mind was a little slow to react, "I don't quite understand."

"The global situation will become more tense, the price of grain will continue to rise, and the presidential cabinet may include grain in the list of important strategic resources. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Once it's included in the list of important strategic resources, its price will increase again, and the price on the Tanfitte continent will be even higher!"

"We can sell these things to the Dentala Republic through… you understand."

Yes, selling these things to the Dentala Republic through third-party channels. For capitalists, the nation comes after profit; profit is always the top priority!

The general manager immediately agreed upon hearing this, "I will have them control the type and price of shipments…"

The two chatted about a few more topics and then ended the call.

The next day, early in the morning, while the manager was still asleep, the phone kept ringing.

He opened his eyes impatiently, looking at the phone with a disgusted expression, "F*ck, what time is it?"

Rubbing his aching head, he squinted and answered the phone, his face full of annoyance, "It's only… six forty!"

"General Manager, something bad happened, there's another problem at the warehouse…"

A chill ran down his spine, and he instantly woke up. He sat up straight and got out of bed, "What happened?"

He supported the receiver with his shoulder, and before he could even take a shower, he began to change his clothes.

"Those crops… have been splashed with a lot of waste engine oil, waste paint, and stuff like that!"

"F*ck, f*ck!"

"I'll be there right away!"

Twenty minutes later, he appeared in the warehouse. The warehouse was filled with a pungent smell. He looked at the barley in front of him, which was completely unsellable and mixed with waste engine oil and other things, and couldn't help but put his hands on his hips and circle the entrance twice.

"What's going on? Why is this happening?"

He looked at the person in charge of the warehouse and shouted loudly, but the person in charge didn't say anything.

After venting his anger for a while, he calmed down, "What about the situation in other warehouses?"

"Also, call the police immediately!"

There's one more chapter, suddenly low blood sugar, only 3.1,,, a bit slow.