Empire of Shadows

Ten minutes later, the dock management company's manager drove over.

The dock was very large; walking would probably take twenty minutes or so.

He had an awkward expression on his face. After getting out of the car, he took the initiative to walk over and shake hands with the general manager. "I came to see what happened."

The general manager of Liji Group looked behind him, his emotions clearly fluctuating, and raised his hands. "Where are the workers?"

"Our goods are waiting to be loaded onto the ship. Can we let them load these things onto the ship first, and then discuss this?"

These orders also have penalties for breach of contract. The proportion of liquidated damages is not large; many are 50%, but this still requires compensation!

The manager's awkwardness didn't diminish. "I tried, but I failed."

The general manager's expression became even more displeased. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to say it!" The dock management company manager's eyes were a little scattered, constantly looking around. "They said...they refuse to provide services for all of Liji Group's business because you look down on them."

"They said they feel insulted in their personal dignity working for you, and they refuse to continue working for you, even if we deduct their wages."

"F*ck!" the general manager cursed. "I didn't look down on them, and you have to help me sort this out. We signed a contract!"

There were formal contracts for renting warehouses on the dock and using the dock management company's workers.

To be precise, after they rented the warehouse, the dock management company would provide corresponding labor to help them complete the work that required manpower.

Hearing the offensive words from the other party, the dock management company manager was no longer so polite. "We did sign a contract, but it doesn't say you can insult our workers!"

"If you think we've breached the contract, you can sue us!"

This was the method Liji Group used most often to respond, but now it was thrown back in their face. The general manager took a deep breath and suppressed his temper.

The most important thing now was to ship these goods out.

"I'm sorry, I'm too nervous. Our goods have to be loaded onto the ship and shipped away before 2:00 PM, but now there's no one here who can help us."

"I apologize for my inappropriate remarks just now. Can you see if we can coordinate a solution through some other means?"

In his heart, he hated his employees and the workers here so much that he gnashed his teeth, but he still had to pretend to be "it's my fault." He was about to explode with anger!

"Can you bring those workers over?"

"I'll talk to them again. I can compensate them for some things, financially or otherwise."

The manager on the dock shook his head. "I accept your apology, but they said they won't see you."

Considering that the other party was a major customer of the dock and would continue to cooperate in the future, he lowered his voice slightly and reminded, "There are many casual laborers outside the dock. You can hire them to work for you."

"Anyway, it's just for one day, just pay them daily. Many of them are familiar with the work on the dock."

"One or two hundred dollars is enough for you to solve today's trouble."

"But don't tell anyone I told you this!"

These casual laborers are actually the dockworkers who lost their jobs before. Companies or individuals who rent warehouses or need other services on the dock can use the labor provided free of charge by the port according to the contract.

That is, the dockworkers in blue overalls now.

They can also find a group of workers to work on their own. This is allowed, but even if they find their own workers, the cost of using equipment and other expenses will not be reduced.

These are a complete set of service plans. Whether you use it or not, you have to pay.

The general manager nodded, said thank you, and then watched the other party leave.

He turned his head and glanced at those employees who already knew they had caused trouble, and drove to the outside of the dock gate.

A casual labor market existed outside the dock long ago. In the past, most of them were illegal immigrants, squatting or standing together, listless.

When someone who looked like they were going to hire workers passed by, they would stand up.

Looking at these low-level casual laborers who obviously exuded a strange smell approaching, the general manager, who had just gotten out of the car, was almost frightened back in!

The obvious disgust in his eyes made those casual laborers tactfully not get too close to him.

"I need some people who know how to load and unload goods in the dock warehouse. Today's work must be completed today, two dollars."

He quoted a little more money. In fact, someone would be willing to do it for one dollar, but for safety's sake, he gave one dollar more.

Incidentally, he added, "Must be strong, preferably those who have done this work before."

In an instant, the crowd was like boiling water, and people kept raising their hands and squeezing over!

He took two steps back and took a fancy to a big beard, "You, have you done it before?"

The big beard nodded repeatedly, "I used to be a worker on the dock, and I was also a worker representative."

This made the general manager feel a moment of confusion. Of course, he knew what a worker representative meant, but he couldn't understand how a worker representative could become a casual laborer.

But now he didn't have time to think about this. He pointed to the big beard and said, "Help me recruit a hundred workers. I need you to go to work immediately."

The big beard's face was full of joy, and a considerable part of the crowd around him sighed and began to leave on their own initiative.

The big beard is the representative of the local casual laborers. He has many friends. If he chooses, those immigrant casual laborers, illegal immigrant casual laborers, and refugee casual laborers who come to find opportunities will have no chance at all.

Looking at the people who were dispersing, the general manager vaguely realized something, but he didn't care.

What he needed was someone to solve his troubles, not to solve social contradictions.

Soon, a white team was selected. The big beard's face was full of smiles, but in his heart, he had a different feeling.

"Boss, the people have been selected. I guarantee they are the best lads on the dock!"

The general manager's mouth twitched slightly. Why are the best lads outside the dock, not inside the dock?

He didn't dwell on this, just nodded and said, "Then let's go to work."

"After you finish your work, my staff will settle the wages for you!"

"I still have something to do. He will take you to the dock."

The commissioner was coming soon, and he had to prepare.

He asked the staff to take these people away and went to the station.

Liji Group has many cooperative relationships with various railway companies in the Federation. Large-scale agricultural products inevitably choose cargo ships in sea transportation.

Then on land, train transportation has become their only choice.

It's not that cars can't do it, but from the current technology, the carrying capacity of trucks is far worse than that of trains, and the transportation cost is higher.

The railways and trains of the Federation belong to private companies. Liji Group is their major customer, so these railway companies provide Liji Group with a "symbol of honor"—

Exclusive personnel rest special carriages, and even more advanced exclusive carriages!

Just like the carriage the commissioner is riding in now, it comes from more than forty years ago. It is a very luxuriously decorated carriage, and it doesn't look like sitting on a train at all!

Exquisite furniture, furnishings, as well as offices and lounges, to ensure that even on the train, distinguished guests can get a good rest and work space.

To have such an exclusive carriage, in addition to the three major agricultural product channel providers, only those resource companies have it.

They are also heavyweight customers of railway companies.

When the train stopped steadily in a large cloud of steam, a gentleman in a suit and a wide-brimmed fedora that looked very delicate stepped out of the car.

He looked to be in his thirties, about the same age as the general manager, but the other party was already a commissioner of the company.

"Commissioner, I am the local person in charge."

The commissioner nodded a little arrogantly, "I've heard of you..."

Seeing a smile appear on the general manager's face, he continued, "But it's not good news!"

"In one year, the company has sent two commissioners over. To be honest, I have doubts about your ability. I hope the board of directors has not been blinded by anything."

He didn't give the general manager any face. This kind of person is very common in the company. They all belong to the "official business" interest groups.

To put it more simply, they care more about the system and abide by the system than anyone else, and because they strictly abide by it, they are selected by the company and become the company's middle management.

Even if their relatives make mistakes in their work in the company, such as parents, or close brothers and sisters, they will not hesitate to fire them and pursue responsibility, completely with an attitude of righteousness and extermination of relatives!

This is their code of conduct. Perhaps they will have a little human touch in life, but in work, they are more like a machine than a person!

The general manager's smile suddenly froze on his face. Several staff members followed him out of the carriage, "Where's the car?"

The commissioner asked, "Our time is very tight, let's skip the socializing and just tell me what needs to be dealt with."

The general manager took a deep breath. He thought of the previous commissioner and his fate.

Suddenly, he had a little expectation, expecting this commissioner to anger Lance, and then arrange an "accident" for him.

Soon, they returned to the company. Out of a sense of dark humor, the general manager placed the "car accident toy" that someone had given him in the temporary office prepared for the specialist, in a very conspicuous place.

The specialist saw the model at a glance. He looked back at the general manager, then threw it into the trash can.

"Get out, I need to work."

The general manager hadn't even returned to his own office when his secretary ran over, "There's another incident at the dock…"

Big Beard led the workers to the dock to start working. Johnny immediately called Lance, "Big Beard is leading people to help them. Should we intervene?"

Big Beard had directly opposed Lance during the strike. Later, he was directly fired by the management company. He made trouble, he was beaten, and ultimately, he chose to compromise with reality.

Some people went to the industrial area to try their luck, but there were also some who were still looking for work opportunities at the dock.

Although temporary work was unstable, it could barely sustain their lives.

The dock management company didn't completely cut them off, and whether or not to hire them was up to the clients themselves. They wouldn't interfere.

Lance was often a generous person, but at times, he wasn't so generous!

He was actually very good to these workers, always helping them fight for their rights. But when they discovered that there was a greater benefit ahead, and the cost was abandoning, or even harming Lance's interests, this group of people abandoned Lance.

Lance couldn't be generous towards these people, let alone when it involved the conflict between him and the Lijee Group.

"You don't need to worry about it, I'll arrange someone to go."

He hung up the phone, "Have Alan come over."

Hiram, who was sitting on the sofa, walked to the door, "Alan, come here!"

Soon, Alan came to the room.

He was very useful, obedient, and flexible. Most importantly, he was reliable.

Lance sat behind the desk, his hands clasped together, "The Lijee people have hired a group of casual laborers to load and unload goods, but I don't want to see them being able to load the ship on time, you understand what I mean?"

Alan nodded, "I'll take care of it."

Lance nodded slightly, and even kindly reminded him to bring more people.

After Alan left the room, he went to the lounge. He called a few captains, "Take your men and clubs and come with me, bring your weapons too."

The faces of these captains immediately lit up. They ran to the back to call their men, and then followed Alan to collect their weapons and set off for the port.

Everyone knew very well that Alan was very likely to be promoted to a cadre, so even though everyone was a captain… they still listened to Alan very much.

Not only because he had good relationships, but also because his future was bright!

This time, a total of thirty or forty people came. These young men were wearing roughly the same uniform.

As the weather gradually cooled down, trench coats could be worn again. The red armbands made them seem somewhat out of place with the dark and gloomy dock at this time.

Alan pinched a cigarette with his thumb and forefinger and strode towards the warehouse. He learned this from Lance, and he thought it was very cool!

Seeing that the warehouse was already in sight, some workers who were not wearing work clothes were loading and unloading goods. He took a baseball bat from his subordinate's hand, pointed at that group of people, "Hit!"

He rushed to the front, wanting to make the other young men respect you, you can't shrink back, he understood this principle.

He directly saw a somewhat familiar Big Beard in the crowd, and without caring whether the other party was the person they were looking for, he swung the baseball bat and hit him.

For a time, the warehouse was filled with screams and curses. Although these casual laborers were actively resisting, compared to these more professional young men wielding baseball bats, they seemed to be lacking something.

In less than ten minutes, many casual laborers were lying on the ground outside the warehouse, and more casual laborers ran away in the chaos, watching from afar.

Alan handed the baseball bat in his hand to the person next to him. He carefully straightened his trench coat, this suit was specially tailored.

When he saw a clear blood stain on his clothes, his heart ached!

He kicked the casual laborer who was lying next to him a few more times, "You son of a bitch, f*ck!"

In the distance, the police cars were approaching from afar. Many onlookers had already gathered around the workers. A few minutes later, the police car arrived.

When the police officers from the port branch saw the attire of these gangsters standing outside the warehouse, their originally cold and indifferent expressions became gentle.

"What happened?"

Alan dropped his cigarette and crushed it with the toe of his brown leather shoe. He walked over and said, "There was a little conflict, officer."

The police on the port branch side received "wages" from the Lance family. They recognized Alan, but it wasn't convenient to show that familiar look now.

"I have to take you and your people back for questioning."

Alan didn't resist, but instead raised his hands, "Do you need to put on handcuffs?"

The police officer shook his head, "We won't handcuff you until we're sure you've committed a crime."

Alan smiled and nodded, "Okay, can I drive my own car?"

"Of course!" The police officer still didn't make things difficult for him.

He expressed his gratitude, and then, when he turned around, he swept his cold eyes over those guys lying on the ground and walked towards his car.

Soon, this group of people left with the police. The police asked if they wanted to call an ambulance for these injured people - the cost would have to be paid by themselves.

As a result, everyone refused the ambulance service. They had to get up from the ground and report to the branch office and explain the situation.

Among them, the most severely beaten was Big Beard, his face was covered in blood.

He looked at the direction in which the police car and those gang vehicles left, and a trace of regret finally appeared in his heart.

A moment later, Duke, the director of the branch bureau, called Lance, "Lance, next time, can you not do this kind of thing in front of so many people?"

"It's difficult for me to handle!"

Thirty or so people, should they be arrested or released?

If no one saw it, they could arrest the victims and intimidate them, and then mediate, and the matter would be over.

But so many people saw it, it's not easy to operate, after all, there are too many witnesses, and some people will always have a sense of justice.

"Handle it as it should be handled, I'll have someone pay the bail, tell them, if you want to sue, then sue, we accept it all."

In the Federation, fighting is a very vague "case", which often needs to be resolved through litigation, and there also needs to be "witnesses".

If there are no witnesses, the judiciary can only handle it fifty-fifty, and the party that clearly inflicted the harm may be detained in this process, but Lance's side will pay bail, so Big Beard and the others, in a sense, are equal to being beaten for nothing!

Even if the judge rules, this kind of minor injury is at most some restriction of movement or community service and compensation.

But do they dare to ask Alan for compensation?

No, they dare not!

With Lance's authorization, then the following things are much easier, and in less than ten minutes, lawyer Robben paid the bail.

The people who beat people went home immediately, but the people who were beaten had to accept investigation at the police station.

Perhaps, this is the most psychedelic scene of the Federal judiciary…

It's my birthday today, there's still one more later