Empire of Shadows

The prosecutor's intern didn't press the issue of who would deal with this blood-soaked tycoon.

Because he knew.

In King's Harbor, if anyone could handle these kinds of people, it would only be two: Mayor Williams, and Lance White.

Mayor Williams had plenty of troubles of his own lately; he probably couldn't spare the attention. That left only one answer: Lance White.

As a righteous soul, the intern instinctively felt this was wrong.

Justice shouldn't be executed by darkness, but he couldn't immediately find a good way to refute it, because he'd already encountered similar cases back in school.

Like when a tycoon raped a woman, and she sued him for assault, but ended up being sentenced to twenty years in prison for extortion, and then disappeared without a trace, vanished silently, no one knew where she went.

Or how everyone knew a certain tycoon had committed murder, and there was evidence to prove it, but the court still declared him not guilty and released him.

Even more infuriating, years after being acquitted, he wrote a book called 'Getting Away With It,' detailing how he killed the victim and how he won in court through perfectly legal means!

Because federal law stipulates that a closed case cannot be reopened. As long as he didn't commit another crime in his life, he truly got away with it!

This kind of thing happened frequently in the Federation, and many of these cases were used as typical examples in schools.

Professors would tell them the best way to handle such cases.

He had privately asked a professor if the methods he taught in class were truly effective.

After a long silence, the professor told him, with a discouragement that defied description, that unless he was richer and more powerful than the suspect, he would be just as helpless, just as powerless.

The law often doesn't reach the end!

The bad guys never get the punishment they deserve, and the good guys always seem to play the victim in case after case.

If this tycoon on trial really killed someone and could be out in two or three years, he would completely lose hope in the entire federal justice system!

Seeing the intern's distress, the prosecutor sighed. "I'm willing to cooperate with Lance, not because Chief Prosecutor Terry is pressuring me, nor because I can get any benefits from Lance."

"It's simply that Lance, at this moment, can play the role of a dark knight, achieving the justice we can't obtain, through his own means!"

"In any case, justice has descended upon the world. Does it matter whether the one wielding the sword has the wings of an angel or the wings of a demon?"

"Justice is justice!"

The intern was deeply shaken. Although he didn't entirely agree with the prosecutor, he had no rebuttal, or rather, he didn't want to rebut.

The perpetrator ultimately paying the price—who could refuse that happy ending?

It wasn't just one tycoon; many faced the same problem.

For those tycoons with some wealth, Lance would still use the prosecutor's office and the prosecutor to help them make decisions. For some insignificant characters, he would directly demand they sign the papers.

Sign, or see you at the bottom of Angel Lake!

This once again taught people a lesson: the success rate of stuffing a corpse into an oil drum and dumping it into Angel Lake is one hundred percent.

The people who dumped thousands upon thousands of corpses into Angel Lake would never allow anyone to disturb the souls beneath—

It sounded like the filial piety of devoted sons, but in reality, they were just afraid of causing bigger trouble.

During this time, some people tried to contact people from Manteon, seeking help from government officials or party members to solve their current problems.

Before, this would have been a problem. Within the party, within the state government, there were too many people with power and influence for Lance to deal with.

He could completely ignore one or two, but if the number of people affected increased, Congress would definitely be alarmed.

Acquiring the shares of King's Harbor Investment Company through this kind of cunning and forceful way, and then alarming Congress, would leave Congress with the concept of a 'stupid robber with no artistic talent' and an unfavorable impression.

It was better to do things directly and domineeringly with the privileges given by Congress, so people would only see a Lance and the White family with immense power!

Although the things he did were all the same, the effects they produced were two different things.

The effect was good. The people from Manteon refused to give them help, because Senator Cleland and others had already made arrangements. Since neither side was willing to mediate, fine, then you can each rely on your own abilities.

This was also why Lance still placed the main battlefield in King's Harbor. If it was in Manteon, things wouldn't be so smooth.

Even if Chief Prosecutor Terry could cooperate with him, what about other departments?

Would they cooperate with him so readily?

So, bringing these people back to King's Harbor to launch the killing blow was the only way to truly strangle them.

For several days in a row, many rumors spread throughout King's Harbor. Coupled with the events after the New Year, several conflicts broke out within the refugee community.

King's Harbor completely took a spectator's stance on these conflicts. Lance even had the police maintain order, of course, after they had been fighting for some time.

The other outcome is that a small number of hardliners become even harder. The reason for this change is that some of them believe the leader's failure was because he wasn't strong enough, wasn't tough enough!

If he had been strong enough and tough enough, he wouldn't have fallen. They become more radical!

This is also the main reason for the current division and even conflict within the refugee community. These 'evolved' hardliners inherited some of Hope's views and ideas. They become more unstable and more volatile.

At the same time, they want to coerce more ordinary people to stand on their side.

If this had happened before, it might not have been a problem, but as representatives like Mr. Fitz, who loved peace and advocated for exchanging labor for living space, and understood how to endure and be patient, began to emerge and gain the support of some people.

Irreconcilable contradictions and conflicts arise between the two sides.

You think I'm wrong, and I think you're wrong. If they were debating, then they would only be debating.

But they're not actually debating. The core purpose of expressing their positions and views is to gain more 'chips'.

The people are the chips. Whoever has more chips in their hands has more political initiative. Both sides want their chips to be the most, so they can't coexist peacefully.

Mr. Fitz is gaining support—

Lance gave him five thousand equal job opportunities. The wages for these five thousand jobs are not 'discriminatory'. They can get the full wage, which is about forty-two dollars.

These forty-two dollars can solve many of their problems. Five thousand families, and about twenty thousand people affected, can live a normal life as a result. How could people not support Mr. Fitz?

This is also one of the most terrifying aspects of capital eroding politics!

When people choose politicians to represent them, they often hope that this representative can obtain some benefits for themselves and their group.

If there is capital supporting this politician behind the scenes, those things he promised to the voters can be fulfilled immediately, then naturally his approval rate will become higher and higher, and more and more people will support him.

Who can refuse a politician who can deliver on his promises?

The Federals can't refuse, and the refugees can't refuse, even though Mr. Fitz is not a politician!

Mr. Fitz proved the correctness of his theory with his concepts and attitudes. Otherwise, why would the Federation give him so many job opportunities, and equal-paying ones at that, instead of giving them to the previous Hope and the current hardliners?

Because they are not recognized!

One side is peaceful, embracing the new life in a way they can accept.

The other side is tyrannical, never seeing the shadow of the new life.

The choice is simple.

During one of Mr. Fitz's speeches, some hardline members attacked the venue, and Mr. Fitz's head was broken.

The police arrived in time to arrest some of the attackers, but the merciful Mr. Fitz took the initiative to request the release of those young people.

He believed that they were just being蛊惑 by some conspirators to create new conflicts, preventing refugees from ever finding happiness in the Federation.

Some even said that these were conspiracies of the Dantela Republic, or the means of some people in the country, just to force them to return home and serve the ruling class!

In short, with the driving force, all kinds of theories emerged, but they could not change one situation: Mr. Fitz's peace faction is rapidly rising.

"How many shares do we have in hand?"

Lance sat at his desk, smoking a cigarette, while Melo and Sean were sorting out the documents on the desk.

With the help of lawyer Robben, Sean entered his former university to study law, and this was already the second winter vacation.

Last year, not to mention the winter vacation, he was always in school even during the summer vacation. His foundation was weaker than others, so he needed to work harder to avoid being left behind, and even catch up with and surpass other students.

Poverty and hardship are indeed the best whetstones in the world. They can not only smooth out sharp edges, but also make people understand the true meaning of life.

Extravagant good days will never inspire people's fighting spirit, but will only make people more incompetent!

After a year and a half of hard work, Sean, if not excellent, is at least a representative of excellent students among the students near him.

This winter vacation, besides really missing everyone too much, he also wanted to... solve some personal problems.

Lance did not treat him harshly in terms of expenses. This group of old people is of great significance to Lance, and Sean is the same as others.

In addition to various bonuses and basic wages, he can also share in the company's profits.

It may not be much, maybe less than one percent, but it is also a very generous income.

Money, in any era and under any cultural background, is a universal pass.

In school, because of his excellent learning ability and wealth, he quickly gained his love, and of course, his good friends.

This winter vacation, he brought them to meet Lance.

In Goldport City, the Lance family is definitely a resounding name, but it is not so well-known throughout the entire Licarlei State, only limited to those who are interested in this area.

It just so happened that there were many things to do during this period, and Sean, a college student, came back, so Lance pulled him over to do these tasks.

Melo helped Sean, and Sean quickly completed the statistics, "About thirty-five percent more."

Lance nodded in satisfaction. These shares did not come easily.

They were gradually pieced together by one or two percent, or even a few thousandths.

A considerable part is still in the hands of banks and some major shareholders, such as Mr. Charles. He alone holds 7% of the shares, making him the largest individual shareholder.

Of course, there are other shareholders behind this batch of shares, but they have merged and authorized Mr. Charles to hold the shares on their behalf.

Currently, the total shares held by Lance and the people he had previously recruited are about 50%, which is already quite a lot, far exceeding his plan.

It will not be easy to get all the remaining shares in hand.

Needless to say, banks, although he feels that he is very strong now, he still cannot do the act of plundering banks, at least not yet.

As for the shares in the hands of major shareholders, they are not so easy to obtain. Countless eyes are watching, and except for the shares in the hands of Mr. Charles, Lance does not intend to move the others.

If he controls all the shares in his own hands, then he will be the one to deal with the new capital behind Sidney in the future. He doesn't like this.

Leaving these people to trigger competition and balance is easier than doing it himself.

After finishing some things in hand, Lance looked at Sean, "When are you planning to get married?"

Sean shyly pushed the glasses on his nose, and the companions around him were also nudging him.

Not the kind of bullying him, but a way of expressing inner emotions.

"This summer vacation."

June and July are good days for weddings. Many Federation people's weddings are scheduled for June and July.

Someone immediately started to boo, and Lance was also a little curious, "Why are you thinking of getting married so soon? Your college life is only halfway through!"

Sean's face was full of happy smiles, "She's pregnant, and we plan to have a wedding with the baby."

"Holy crap!"

"You bastard are really something!"

"People go to college, you go to create people!"

The teasing of his partners made Sean also feel the long-lost, burden-free joy, "We didn't expect it, but after having it, we can only keep it."

"Her family is a very traditional church family. Abortion is as serious as blasphemy to their family!"

So far, many states in the Federation have laws prohibiting abortion. Women must give birth once they are pregnant.

Abortion surgery has also become an illegal surgery. If someone reports it and catches it, they will face a very serious sentence.

This has also led to a very special phenomenon in this period, that is, many women with skills have children.

Many of them will bring their children to work and pick up customers. This is also the reason why the Federation's perverted killers will explode in the next ten years or even decades!

Because those men who spend money to help these girls get happiness will never know what their shivers will bring, coupled with the ban on abortion, many women with skills can only accept such a result.

After everyone laughed for a while, Lance raised his hand to calm them down, "Then, can your girlfriend and her family accept your imperial identity and your gangster background?"

Sean nodded, "I talked to her father, and he accepted it."

This made some young people couldn't help but ask, "How the hell did you convince those old stubborns?"

This kind of traditional believer family is a typical conservative faction. They avoid excessive contact with immigrant groups. Some young men are also facing similar problems, or are about to face similar problems. They hope to get some help from Sean.

Maurice, who was sitting next to him, was also listening carefully. His girlfriend's parents were also believers. In fact, almost most old Federation families at this time were believers.

They more or less have prejudices against immigrants.

Sean shrugged, "I put two thousand yuan on the table and told him I wanted to marry his daughter, and then he said, 'Welcome, my child'!"

After a brief silence, the entire room was filled with joyful laughter.

Money, it's really a good thing!

The arrival of Sean with his girlfriend and friends gave people a feeling of inexplicable change, as if people suddenly stood in place and glanced at the road they came from, only to realize how far they had traveled.

On January 8th, Mr. Charles was tried at the Goldport City Fast Court and sentenced to three months in prison.

His lawyers had provided a lot of materials to prove that Mr. Charles outside prison could make a greater contribution to society than he could inside prison, but the judge still believed that he must serve at least some time in prison for this crime.

His sentence cannot be waived just because he is rich, as this would only fuel his contempt for the judiciary.

Then, Mr. Charles stated in court that he would appeal...