Empire of Shadows

Chapter 644: A Glimpse [666+5]

Yesterday evening, it snowed, and the morning in Jincheng Port was sunless, the whole world dim and gloomy.

In the dark room, a pair of eyes suddenly opened, blinked, and then looked towards the window.

The curtains, not fully drawn, allowed a sliver of light to penetrate, but this ray was so faint that it made one question the time.

He tried to close his eyes again and drift back into sleep, but unfortunately, he failed.

He closed his eyes for a while, then opened them again, unable to sleep.

People with worries are like this; once they wake up early, it's hard to fall back asleep.

Only his wife, someone so carefree, could lie down and fall asleep at any time. He envied her 'superpower.' He wished he could fall asleep anytime, anywhere, but he couldn't.

He slowly sat up from the bed and threw back the covers.

The room had heating; the copper pipes in the walls made the whole house warm.

Living in a detached villa in the Bay Area meant no worries about heating in the winter.

The boiler in the basement cost several hundred dollars in diesel fuel for the whole winter, but it ensured the house was warm all season.

He left the bedroom in his pajamas.

Even as he left, his wife didn't wake up.

He was a… businessman, owning his own factory in Jincheng Port, mainly engaged in import and export trade. He couldn't be called particularly wealthy, but he was definitely not short of money.

Recently, he had encountered a problem.

Because the old industrial zone was going to be demolished, it was blocking the city's path to further development—

Jincheng Port was bordered by the sea on the east and south. In other words, if Jincheng Port wanted to continue expanding its urban area, it could only expand to the north and west.

To the north were some small mountains. Although the Federation had the technology to flatten these mountains, the cost was too high. To the northwest was Creek Valley City. Unless the Licarrie State government decided to let Jincheng Port annex Creek Valley City, developing in that direction would involve many troubles and restrictions.

Thus, developing to the west seemed to be one of the few options.

Unfortunately, the industrial zone was located on the west side of the city, so moving it became an unavoidable choice.

He sat in the study, without turning on the light. The sky outside the window was still dark, but he could already feel that dawn was approaching.

It was the moment before dawn, the breaking of day was imminent!

He drank some water from the night before and then lit a cigarette.

In the dark room, the inconspicuous light of the cigarette butt became the brightest thing.

As he took a drag, the tobacco in the cigarette made an audible crackling sound in the silent night.

That was the sound of the tobacco being ignited.

He inhaled a thick mouthful of smoke into his lungs.

The problem he faced now was whether to continue raising land prices with everyone else, waiting for an opportunity, or to choose to align himself with Mayor Williams.

Mayor Williams had already arranged for someone to talk to him. If he was willing to hand over his current land to the city hall through a 'replacement plus subsidy' arrangement, then he could choose a piece of land in the new industrial zone to rebuild his factory.

The land would be free, he could choose a larger plot, and there would also be some preferential policies and subsidies.

Although called subsidies, they could actually be seen as 'land purchase funds,' government subsidies for building new factory buildings, about two thousand dollars per acre.

It seemed like a considerable loss, but if you added the policy support promised by the city hall later, it was actually very cost-effective.

The other option was to continue raising land prices.

As the saying that the 'old industrial zone is to be demolished to build a new core' became more and more popular, the land and houses around the industrial zone began to rise in price.

Now the price of one acre of land in the old industrial zone had risen to more than twelve thousand dollars, which was obviously an unreasonable price.

But… the profit was amazing.

He had about sixty acres of land in his hands. If calculated at market prices, that would be more than seven hundred thousand dollars.

But if he chose the replacement, seven hundred thousand dollars would become one hundred and twenty or thirty thousand dollars, a loss of six hundred thousand dollars at once!

He couldn't sleep because of this.

Some friends were trying to connect everyone, asking them to hold on.

As long as most people stood together against the city hall, then they would definitely be able to eat this dividend.

His only confusion now was, was the city hall's, or rather Mayor Williams's, favor so easy to take?

He had a premonition that this was not a good favor, and it wouldn't be easy to take.

As a businessman, it was quite difficult to convince himself to reject such a large profit. Until now, perhaps only a little more than twenty percent of people had chosen the replacement and subsidy.

The rest were all holding on, continuing to push up land prices.

They've gone crazy!

After finishing a cigarette, he still sat there, motionless, as if he were dead.

The sky outside the window slowly brightened. He didn't know how long he had sat there, nor how many cigarettes he had smoked. There were already many cigarette butts in the ashtray in front of him.

When the sunlight tore through the gloomy clouds and used a golden sword to break through the darkness, it was dawn.

He rubbed his neck, and a decision had already been made in his heart.

His father had once told him that businessmen should be greedy, but they shouldn't be greedy for things that were clearly beyond their ability to bear the consequences.

Opposing the mayor in the mayor's territory, he didn't think it was a smart decision, although he really wanted that money!

At nine o'clock, the phone rang. It was from his good friend.

The friends of the poor are poor, and the friends of the rich are also rich.

His friend had known him since childhood. Their fathers were also friends. Both families came to Jincheng Port from other places to do business.

They had been good friends since childhood, going to school together, high school, and only separated when they went to college.

But after graduating from college, they both returned to Jincheng Port because they had to inherit the family business. More than twenty years had passed, until today.

"Have you made a decision?" his friend asked.

Because today was the city hall's 'final ultimatum.' Those who registered after today would no longer receive the replacement and subsidy.

This could be seen as a way for Mayor Williams to force these people to express their positions, and also a means of establishing prestige.

Having figured it out, he had already realized that there would definitely be a series of actions after today.

So he nodded and said, "Yes, I've decided to sign the replacement agreement."

"Are you crazy?"

The voice in the receiver rose an octave, as if someone had pinched the throat of the person in the receiver and then punched him in the balls, making his voice sharp and shrill!

"That's hundreds of thousands of dollars!"

"You only get a subsidy of a little over ten thousand for the replacement. The difference is too big!"

"How long does it take you to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars?"

"Two or three years?"

"Or even longer?"

He was silent for a while, "That's not money I earned through my own efforts…"

"Sh*t, you still believe that sh*t?"

"Your brain is really broken!"

The person in the receiver spoke very quickly, making him silent again for a while, "I don't know if it's broken, but I know that in this city, the mayor is the biggest."

A disdainful laugh came into his ear, "The previous mayor thought so too."

He continued to argue, defending his point of view, "But the previous mayor wasn't a local. Williams is a local, and also from a local prominent family!"

"But he can't represent the Bay Area!"

The two argued endlessly, and after a while, they gradually calmed down.

"In short, once you've made a decision, you can't go back on it. My suggestion is to wait and see."

His friend was still trying to persuade him, but once he had made a decision, he would not change it.

After saying another sentence, he hung up the phone, then changed his clothes and chose to go out. He was going to the city hall to sign the replacement agreement!

He had a feeling that he might not be able to earn such a large fortune by digging a hole for the city hall.

But at least he was safe.

There was a saying that he had always thought was right: in the face of high-risk choices, losing less is winning!

In this game, he won!

There were not many people on the city hall's side, because those who were willing to replace had already replaced, and those who were unwilling to replace were unlikely to come today, the last day.

Only people like him, who hesitated for a long time, would come on the last day. There were not many such people.

After all… those who wanted to please the mayor would definitely come as early as possible. Those who firmly stood on the side of the Bay Area, like his friend, wouldn't have come before, and were even less likely to come now.

Under the guidance of the staff, he came to the outside of the mayor's office. Originally, this kind of work didn't require Mayor Williams to do it himself, but now was the time for him to establish his authority, and he needed to personally receive these people.

"Please wait a moment, the mayor will be right over," the secretary said, bringing coffee before leaving on her own accord.

After about seven or eight minutes, the door of the room opened, and Mayor Williams stood at the door with a smile on his face.

His face immediately filled with a warm smile as he quickly walked forward to shake Mayor Williams's hand. It was at this moment that the smile on his face suddenly froze, and his steps paused.

He saw that behind Mayor Williams, someone was putting on a hat and passing by the door. At the same time, that person glanced at him.

That familiar face… everyone in Jincheng Port knew him. There was only one person who was handsome enough to be recognizable.

His stiff smile became enthusiastic again, and he quickly stepped forward to shake Mayor Williams's hand, "I hope I didn't disturb your work."

Mayor Williams shook his hand with a smile, "No disturbance at all. Today, I've set aside the whole day to serve those of you who are willing to support my work. As long as it's before 24:00, I'm ready to serve you anytime, anywhere!"

He paused, released his hand, and invited the businessman to sit down. "Shall we sit and chat for a while?"

The businessman nodded repeatedly. The two walked to the sofa and sat down; this was the reception room, not the mayor's office.

Mayor Williams looked at him, observing the man. Originally, he wanted to delve directly into the topic, discussing the exchange and subsidy aspects.

But he noticed that the businessman's expression seemed a little off.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

The businessman tentatively asked, "Just now, I saw a gentleman leaving from behind you, was that…"

"Mr. Lance?"