Empire of Shadows

After Lance left, Mr. Chobaf's assistant immediately came over, and the former handed the glass in his hand to the latter.

His assistant looked at the glass in his hand, and sensing the change in Mr. Chobaf's mood, he whispered, "Didn't you reach an agreement?"

He shook his head, "He thinks fifteen percent is too little."

The assistant couldn't help but exclaim, "Fifteen percent is still too little?"

"If he knew that all the debts added up to nearly two hundred thousand, would he still think this amount of money is small?"

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A debt of two hundred thousand, fifteen percent of which is thirty thousand. Many people, let alone thirty thousand, have never even possessed three hundred in cash.

This is a wealth that is hard to resist. At least the assistant feels that if he had the ability, he wouldn't be able to refuse this temptation.

Mr. Chobaf glanced at the assistant, his tone a bit angry, "He wants ninety percent, and that's considering that I'm an Imperial citizen."

The assistant didn't know what to say anymore. This was too arrogant!

Mr. Chobaf was in a bad mood. The bank had many problems now. The conflicts between natives and immigrants manipulated by politicians were intensifying, and the bank was developing in a bad direction.

Depositors were now experiencing some income problems. Many illegal immigrants had lost their jobs, and they all needed to withdraw the money they had saved.

Although a bank run had not yet formed, this practice of constantly withdrawing money from the bank made Mr. Chobaf very uncomfortable.

What was even more uncomfortable was that there were still people asking him for money.

Yes, asking for money, not borrowing money. Although these people would sign various contracts, the money they took away was never returned.

For example, Mr. Williams' youngest son had already taken 17,500 yuan from him.

Mr. Williams was a veteran councilor in Goldport City, who had worked here for more than twenty years and had a very high reputation, especially in the eyes of the Old Federation people.

Even the mayor was not as influential as him in this city at certain times.

Mr. Chobaf met him at a capitalists' exchange meeting. The two had a brief conversation, like ordinary social interaction, exchanging business cards and saying a few polite words with a smile, and then separated.

It was a very ordinary social interaction, but the next day, Mr. Williams' youngest son ran over to borrow 2,500 yuan.

Mr. Chobaf was eager to expand his upper-class social network in Goldport City, and 2,500 yuan was not much, and the other party was willing to sign, so he lent it to him.

Then it was five thousand yuan, then ten thousand yuan.

When that little bastard came to him to borrow ten thousand yuan, he tried to refuse, but Mr. Williams' youngest son told him that there were rumors that Mr. Chobaf's bank was suspected of money laundering, and that he had stopped the rumors.

If Mr. Chobaf didn't want his bank and all his accounts to be investigated, then he had better know what he was doing.

Of course he knew what he was doing. He took out ten stacks of ten-yuan bills from the safe, put them in a paper bag, and handed them over.

He even had to put on a flattering smile to this young man who was thirty years younger than him, and express his sincere gratitude to the other party, after that little bastard had just blackmailed him!

There were many such people here.

If only a few privileged people came here to ask for money, he could still endure it. What he couldn't endure was that some businessmen borrowed money in the name of these people, and they would borrow thousands or tens of thousands at a time.

They would sign any contract, but they just wouldn't pay back the money. There was no way to do anything except file a lawsuit, but even if they won the lawsuit, it was still difficult to get the money back.

He regarded the money lent to those privileged people as having been thrown into the water, thrown into the fire, and didn't plan to ask for it back.

But he still wanted to get back the money from those businessmen or ordinary people who borrowed money in the name of these people, which was about two hundred and twenty thousand.

If Lance could get this money back, he was willing to give the other party thirty-three thousand yuan, but now Lance was only willing to give him ten percent, which was twenty-two thousand yuan, even more stingy than him!

For a moment, he didn't know what to do.

If he kept it in his own hands, he would definitely not be able to get a penny back, and he would have to spend a lot of litigation fees, or it would just sink.

If he asked Camille's gang or other gangs for help, they wouldn't guarantee that they could get the money back, and at the same time, he would have to spend about one hundred thousand in recovery fees.

In fact, even if he got the money back, it would only be tens of thousands of yuan at most, and some of it might not be recovered, and he might even lose hundreds of thousands directly and not get a penny back.

It seemed that Lance's proposal was the most suitable, after all... he could still get back twenty-two thousand yuan.

Looking at Mr. Chobaf looking at the sky with some irritability, the assistant's mouth was already a little unable to close.

"You... wouldn't really agree to his such harsh conditions, would you?"

Mr. Chobaf shook his head slightly, "You don't understand."

"Actually, I had a premonition from the beginning that this money would not be recovered, and the current efforts are just the last attempt."

"What I actually want is to make them realize that my money is not so easy to take."

"It's just that the price he offered was beyond my expectation, and it's difficult for me to accept."

If he didn't let these people see his methods, these people would only endlessly ask him for money, and he couldn't not lend it to them.

In fact, at this time, he already had some wavering in his heart, but only some.

If he accepted Lance's offer, it would let other people see his weakness, which was a very difficult choice.

Lance didn't know that Mr. Chobaf was already a little wavering. He quickly found Mr. Boton in the crowd. He was on the periphery of a small circle, looking ugly as if he wanted to participate but couldn't get in.

"Mr. Boton.", he shouted. Mr. Boton immediately greeted him when he saw him.

"Good morning, it's nice to see you again, Mr. Lance. I heard you've been doing well recently?", he seemed very enthusiastic. He would be very enthusiastic to any fellow countryman who had money.

"Not bad!", Lance shook hands with him, "I was just chatting with Gerald and wanted to ask him to come and work for me, but he seems to say that he has to listen to you now?"

Mr. Boton nodded immediately, "He doesn't have a permanent residence permit from the Federation. He currently lives in our house and has a temporary residence permit based on our relationship."

"If he leaves us, there may be some trouble, so..."

"What are you planning to have him do? Although he can't leave now, you should know Robb, that's my son. He can also work for you. He's a clever young man. Everyone who knows him says he's very smart."

Lance found a reason, "I've only just started a business, and I can only take out thirty-five yuan a month, and there's a lot of heavy physical labor."

The expectation in Mr. Boton's eyes quickly faded, "That's a pity. Robb's body is not very good. He has fractured his tibia. The doctor said he can't do heavy physical labor..."

"But this price can find suitable people among those illegal immigrants who are willing to do anything."

"I just saw you chatting with Mr. Chobaf. Your relationship with Mr. Chobaf is really good. It's very enviable, Lance."

"Perhaps you can bring me along next time you chat. I also have some personal insights on finance..."

After saying goodbye to the annoying and oblivious Mr. Boton, the morning gathering was almost over. Young people were very interested in the new job that Lance gave them. After all, there were not many such opportunities.

Most Imperial citizens just honestly find a job, and then take a meager salary, and have to hand over part of it to the family.

What they can leave for their own use may only be a few yuan each month.

If they can do the things Lance gives them well, then they may have a few yuan, or even a dozen or dozens of yuan more in their hands each month, which is full of temptation for young people in their teens, twenties, after all, this is the age when their hormones are stirring, and they need money.

Sunday's "Goldport Today" continued to mention the disadvantages of alcoholism. It seemed that the state government was determined to join the alcohol prohibition alliance, and there were already some trends in the city.

The prices of alcohol in some bars have begun to rise, and people are also discussing these things.

If Goldport City really starts to implement an alcohol prohibition order, it would be a very bad thing for many people, but many people still think that Goldport City cannot implement an alcohol prohibition order.

Because it is one of the largest ports in the world, and the consumption of sailors from all over the world here is also an important part of the city's income.

Even in Johnny's bakery, people were discussing these things.

The bakery has reopened. Johnny has been discharged from the hospital. His medical insurance has reached the reimbursement limit, and he needs to pay for hospitalization himself, and he has no money now.

The Goldport City Police Department has arrested those burglars based on the apprentice's confession, but unfortunately, of the more than one thousand yuan that was robbed, only a few dozen yuan were left.

The police officer in charge of the case said that when these people were caught, they found a house full of strippers, countless alcoholic beverages, and good cigars.

But Johnny felt something was wrong, but he didn't have a good way to deal with it.

After returning to the bakery, he couldn't make bread himself because of comminuted fractures in both arms, and his daughter couldn't insist on long-term heavy physical labor, so this job eventually fell on her boyfriend.

Although Johnny was reluctant, he still taught the recipe and craftsmanship to his daughter's boyfriend.

The bakery just reopened on Sunday, and a lot of people came immediately.

People sympathized with Johnny's experience, but they were also very enthusiastic. They all liked the bread Johnny made.

After a busy noon, Johnny looked at his daughter with longing eyes. His daughter, with some impatience, took out a painkiller from the bag around his waist. "You should use this less, the doctor told you."

Johnny's temper suddenly became a little irritable. "What you need to do is put it in my mouth, not lecture me!"

His daughter sighed and stuffed the painkiller into his mouth. The originally irritable Johnny quickly calmed down, and even apologized to her for his previous outburst.

"Johnny, these pills are like they have devils living inside them. You're a completely different person with and without them!" his daughter complained.

Just then, the bakery door was pushed open, and the bell hanging on the door frame jingled. Johnny's daughter immediately said subconsciously, "We're temporarily closed. We'll reopen after five o'clock."

But the person didn't leave, instead standing in the doorway, looking at them. "I'm not here to buy bread."

A police officer.

Johnny suddenly had a bad feeling, because today was the first week of September...