Empire of Shadows

Making friends is not simple at all.

If a beggar wants to become friends with a prince, it's highly likely the prince will feel the beggar is insulting him and order his guards to kill the beggar.

To become friends, people need an equal relationship.

This doesn't mean both parties should ignore their backgrounds, status, or anything else, but rather that their "value" should be roughly the same.

If today, a gang leader were to send a solid gold baseball bat to the Attorney General, that person would likely end up in the electric chair.

It's not that the gift isn't good, but that he did something he shouldn't have done, and absolutely couldn't do!

An old man not accepting your bribe doesn't mean he's not greedy, but that you're not worthy!

Ignoring Lance's other qualities, simply based on his status and position, he's actually not worthy of being friends with a state's Attorney General.

But who told them to have the same "friend", Senator Cleveland?

Senator Cleveland needs a large amount of benefit transfer to consolidate and continue to improve his position in Congress, and Attorney General Terry must have a big shot to protect him if he wants to go further.

And Lance is another link in the entire machine. Although there is nothing between him and Terry that can be used to deal with each other, under the blessing of a special bridge, they are qualified to make friends, they are equal.

Since they have become friends, then some things are easy to say.

Terry very politely told Lance to call him by his first name, but Lance would never be so reckless.

It's like Senator Cleveland told Lance to call him by his first name, but would Lance do that?

Not only must he be addressed respectfully, but also with his title.

Big shots use this method to show a kind of intimacy, not really to let you call them that!

"I heard from Tom that you're here this time because you need my help with something?" Terry got up and walked to the dining room, "Whiskey?"

Lance nodded and said, "There are some problems with the police force in Goldport City, which have seriously affected social stability, but... you know, the situation in Goldport City is a bit complicated."

"We are gradually getting it back on track, but our strength alone is not enough, and we need higher-level power."

There are currently three departments that can investigate corruption in the federal police system, but only two departments can really do it.

One is the internal discipline department of the police. Letting the internal discipline department of the police investigate the police force is as ridiculous as "I investigate myself".

Due to system issues, the chief has almost all the authority. Even if an investigation is launched, as long as he feels something is wrong, he can immediately replace the people in the discipline department, and the investigation will naturally not be carried out.

There are two other departments, one is the judicial department, but the judicial department generally does not directly interfere in the integrity of local police forces.

Then there is only one department left, the prosecutor's office and the prosecutor.

Letting the prosecutor in Goldport City investigate the corruption of the Goldport City police force, it's still unknown who will be investigated.

The Bay Area has ruled Goldport City for so many years, and the prosecutors to judges basically have more or less contact with them.

The easiest way to bring down Charlie is to link him to the corruption of the police force, and then use the relationship of the Ministry of Justice to directly suspend his position as a city councilor, and then accept investigation, and finally convict him and send him to prison.

As long as he doesn't have that layer of "politician" skin, then it will be too easy to concoct him.

Politicians don't have much sympathy for the losers of political infighting, and dealing with these people doesn't require as much trouble as dealing with those politicians who haven't failed yet.

History has shown these things more than once—

Before a certain senator fell, his enemies could only try to bring him down through splashing dirty water, fabricating evidence, political infighting, and other methods.

But no one ever said they wanted to assassinate him, to harm his family.

But since he was brought down, he died accidentally, his wife died accidentally, his children died accidentally, and the whole family was almost wiped out as if they were cursed!

This is the game rule and bottom line that federal politicians have always adhered to, and it is also the highest "high-voltage line" in federal politics.

Even if Charlie is just a low-level politician, Lance will not directly attack him before destroying his "golden body".

So, someone needs to step up!

Terry didn't find it difficult after hearing Lance's request, "The things you said are exactly what we plan to do."

"The police corruption problem in Goldport City last year has already attracted the attention of the state government, us, and the Ministry of Justice."

"Since the beginning of the year, we have actually been investigating the problems of the Goldport City police force, but it has always been in a secret investigation stage, so you may not be clear."

"Since you have such a request..." He pondered for a moment, "How about this, I'll give you a phone number, it's the number of the leader of this investigation task force, you can provide him with any evidence."

He didn't ask Lance who he wanted to report, nor did he mention other things, because at his level, he was already very clear.

Since these things can be connected to him through Senator Cleveland, then this matter must involve the issue of games at the congressional level, and he is not suitable to ask in depth.

Only by doing this beautifully will Senator Cleveland naturally remember him. Many times, for those who want to work hard and make progress, it is enough to get acquainted with those who can determine their future!

He handwrote a number for Lance, and a name, Dean, a prosecutor.

"Prosecutor Dean is a very excellent prosecutor. He has very professional abilities, his own ideas at work, and a very good relationship with me."

"I believe you can get along very happily!" Terry hinted, he wasn't sure if Lance felt his hint.

Fortunately, Lance felt it and quickly gave positive feedback, "I believe I can become good friends with Prosecutor Dean."

Terry nodded with a smile, "I think so too."

Lance put away the note, and the topic turned from business to other aspects.

Attorney General Terry is a very good talker and very enthusiastic, which is very consistent with the perception of "the higher the level of officials, the less pretentious" in the eyes of the people at the bottom.

The two people talked about a lot of things. At first, he just had the idea of polite socializing, but as the things they talked about began to become deep or cutting-edge, Lance was actually able to keep up, and his impression of Lance changed again.

At least Lance is not the kind of pure tool without any culture, he still has some value.

After declining Attorney General Terry's invitation to stay for dinner, Lance left, he didn't plan to spend the night here.

After returning to the hotel to rest, he met with the local leader of the Imperial Gang, simply talked about selling another 250,000 bottles of wine, and then got in the car and embarked on the journey back to Goldport City.

The weather in early April is getting warmer and warmer, but a certain atmosphere in Goldport City is getting colder and colder.

A lot of things have happened in the past two days.

First of all, the chief of the city police station was killed, and it is still unknown who did it.

Although there are many rumors among the people, vaguely pointing to the Lance family, this can only be a rumor in the absence of concrete evidence.

The police station also arrested some rumor-mongers for this.

Speaking of the police station, I have to say that after Chief Blue took office, he did not immediately make large-scale adjustments to the personnel of the police station, but continued to use the personnel arrangements of the Hunter period.

But even so, some police officers protested to the city hall, believing that Chief Blue was involved with the gang and was not qualified to lead the work of the city police station.

After reviewing some of the举报信 (舉報信) [reporting letters], the mayor also publicly stated that in the absence of any evidence, he would not consider replacing the candidate for the chief of the police station for the time being.

For a time, the focus of the entire city's storm was actually concentrated on the position of the chief of the police station, rather than the confrontation between the Lance family and the Coda family.

On such a morning, Lance's convoy returned to Goldport City. After a day and a half of trekking, he felt very uncomfortable.

The feeling of being unable to stretch out in the car made him very uncomfortable. As soon as he arrived at the parking lot behind the office, he couldn't wait to get out of the car.

At the moment of standing on the ground, the whole body stretched out, that feeling is like... the curled seedlings stretched out at once under the nourishment of sunshine and rain, growing vigorously!

"What happened in the past two days?"

Lance sat in the chair, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette. During his absence, Elvin was responsible for the operation of the gang and the daily work arrangements of the company, as well as observing those "struggles".

He brought coffee to Lance and said with a smile, "I heard that Charlie is colluding with the police to strike to get Blue to step down."

"You know, once the police strike, the city will definitely fall into chaos. By then, whether Blue is at fault or not, the only thing he can choose is to resign."

Lance held the coffee and smelled it. The fragrant and rich oily aroma wafted over him. He took a small sip, the taste was very "thick", the kind he liked.

"Looks like he's in big trouble."

Elvin smiled, "But I believe the trouble won't be trouble, haven't you come back?"

Lance laughed and put down the coffee cup, "When did you learn to flatter me?"

Erwin put down the coffee pot and sat opposite him. "It's not flattery, it's that I have confidence in you. You've always been like this."

Lance thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Not a big problem!"

As he spoke, he picked up the phone and dialed Chief Blue's number. After Chief Blue took office, he was just like Hunter. He directly abandoned Hunter's office and had it completely demolished.

Then he bought a new batch of furniture and re-selected a room as his new chief's office.

Lance had been on the road for the past few days, so he didn't have much time to talk to Chief Blue. Now, this phone call made Chief Blue, who was a bit overwhelmed, breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank God for listening to my prayers, you're finally back!" Chief Blue was exaggerating, as if… he couldn't handle these things without Lance!

And the truth was indeed so, because of Lance, he was pushed to a position he could never have climbed to. He wasn't the kind of person who could sit in this position through his own efforts.

In terms of talent, he was even inferior to Hunter!

If it was just the police's job duties, and the chief's job duties, such as personnel arrangements and work arrangements, he could still handle it.

Now that it had involved political struggles, his level was simply not up to these. Even if he knew that those police officers couldn't be allowed to collude to go on strike, he didn't have any good solutions.

He couldn't just run over to those officers who were planning or had already joined the strike and say, "You fucking quit immediately, or I'll make you regret it," right?

Fortunately, Lance came back at this time, and his emotions stabilized all of a sudden.

After listening to some more detailed information from Chief Blue, Lance thought for a while and gave him a solution, "First, arrest these people…"

He said some names, all of which he heard from Chief Blue. These police officers were all Charlie's loyal followers in the police bureau's management, and they were all veteran police officers.

The police force is a very special place, and there is also such a thing as "inheritance" here.

Behind a veteran police officer are often three, five, or even a dozen or twenty police officers who have a very good relationship with him. Arresting so many people at once made Chief Blue a little nervous!

But he trusted Lance. Lance had made him a real chief. What could be more convincing than this?

"What reason should I use to arrest them?"

"After arresting them, should I just lock them up?"

Lance hissed and took a puff of smoke, then, while speaking, he exhaled it from his mouth with the sound of his voice, "After arresting them, send them to the Empire District Sub-bureau and lock them up. Arrange for your trusted good hands to use methods to make them confess the relationship of interests between Charlie and them."

Chief Blue was stunned for a while before he suddenly reacted, "You're asking me to investigate their job-related crimes!"

"Not us, it's the State Prosecutor's Office. Just do as I say."

Chief Blue nodded and said, "I know what to do!" His tone became much lighter, but obviously, he didn't necessarily know completely.

Lance took the last puff of his cigarette and stuck the butt into the ashtray, saying as he stuck it in, "Regardless of whether they have done it or not, whether they admit it or not, they must write a confession."

"Don't they like to persuade our people to plead guilty and reduce their sentences?"

"Arrange that for them too…"

"You can go do it now!"

After hanging up the phone, Erwin looked at Lance curiously and asked, "Will this cause an excessive reaction from Charlie's side?"

Lance shook his head. "No, it won't. Not only will it not, but it will make those people become wavering."

"Humans are intelligent animals. As long as they are intelligent animals, they are selfish!"

Chief Blue acted very quickly. As soon as he hung up the phone, he called all his confidants to the office.

The news of a strike against Chief Blue that had been spreading within the police force for the past two days was raging. They were also a little worried, worried that once the police really went on strike, Chief Blue's chief's seat, which he had just warmed up for a few days, would have to be given up.

Everyone's face was a little worried, but the first to notice something was wrong was Duke. He saw a hint of a smile on Chief Blue's face, which was very wrong.

After almost everyone had arrived, he said, "You go back to the Empire District Sub-bureau, take people with you, and take the people on this list back for strict interrogation…"

He handed the list in his hand to Duke, who was closest to him. Duke took a look, and then passed it down.

This list not only included middle-level cadres and office directors of the City Police Bureau, but also several sub-bureau chiefs and office directors from other sub-bureaus.

When they saw this list, everyone's heart skipped a beat, and even more people looked at Chief Blue in disbelief, with an indescribable look in their eyes as if they were asking, "Are you fucking crazy?!"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and shook the match in his hand to extinguish the fire.

"After arresting these people, make them tell about the relationship of interests between them and Charlie, and what dirty work they have done for Charlie."

"If they can say it, that's the best."

"If they can't say it…" Chief Blue smiled, "Then let them make it up!"

"Try not to make too much noise when arresting people. If anyone dares to stop you, you can prioritize opening fire!"

His tone suddenly became stern, "Brothers, this is not the time to joke with you. This is a big deal about whether we will spend our future in prison or outside."

"You wouldn't naively think that if we are taken down by Charlie, we can get a 'good ending,' right?"

"He will try every means to kill us all, and may even send us to prison."

"What happens to a police officer who is sent to prison, you know better than me."

"So, gentlemen, whether it is for our future or for our safety, between us and them, we must do these things!"

"And!" He looked at these people, "Lance will cover for us!"

He spoke very plainly, and soon people acted. Although Charlie was trying to shake his position, before he was impeached or resigned, he was still the chief of the police bureau, and he held the moral high ground!

The wailing police cars quickly ran all over the streets, and police officers were suddenly pressed to the ground by police officers who rushed out from the surroundings and then taken away. For a time, more strange rumors began to circulate in the city.

At this time, Lance dialed the phone that Attorney General Terry had given him.

"Hello?"

"May I ask if this is Prosecutor Dean?"

"I'm Lance!"

In the hotel room, Prosecutor Dean stood by the window, with a lot of smiles on his face. "Hello, Mr. Lance, Attorney General Terry has already spoken to me. When shall we meet?"