Empire of Shadows

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Everyone in the room, except Eric, looked at Lance.

Lance nodded slightly. “I understand.”

Attorney Orson was somewhat surprised, but he skillfully hid his expression. “In that case, from this moment on, you are the manager of the Imperial Night nightclub.”

“This is my business card. If you have any questions, call me. If it’s for your personal legal assistance, I can give you a discount.”

He placed a gilded business card on the desk, then put away all the other documents. “If you need to review these documents later, you can also call me, but they won’t be kept with you.”

“Any other questions?”

Lance shook his head. Attorney Orson extended his hand politely, but behind his “politeness” was a “charitable” arrogance.

They shook hands, and Attorney Orson quickly released his grip. “Goodbye, Mr. Lance!”With that, he left with his small entourage and Eric, leaving only Kailu, the accountant.

Kailu appeared to be about thirty-four or thirty-five years old, wearing round, dark brown glasses, her hair tied in a braid, and dressed in a relatively conservative dress.

According to some magazine and survey questionnaires, people tend to prefer formally and conservatively dressed service providers, such as lawyers, doctors, and accountants, when their important interests are involved. Especially for accountants, a more conservative attire makes them more accepted by employers.

The two looked at each other for a while. Kailu’s eyes held no other emotions; she was just an accountant from a firm. They paid her, and she worked there.

“Where’s my office?” she broke the stalemate.

Lance pointed to the corridor outside the door. “Any room you like can be your office.”

“By the way, do you mind if a few people work together?”

Kailu pushed up her glasses. “I don’t like sharing a room with others. If possible, I’d prefer a private office.”

Lance returned to his chair. “I understand.”

Kailu left with her belongings. Actually, Lance didn’t need to manage anything now. He just needed to renovate the place and hire enough staff to open for business.

Kailu and Attorney Orson would handle who kept the daily money and which account it was deposited into. All Lance needed to do was operate the place well and make it profitable.

These damned vampires…

He couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. Six months ago, he was drained by Johnny; six months later, he was drained by the mayor and his nephew. It seemed he was always treading water.

But at least the people draining him were different. Perhaps this was the so-called “class advancement.”

Renovating the Imperial Night nightclub was a big job, but Lance didn’t plan a complete overhaul. The first floor only needed simple maintenance. The second floor would have more rooms added, allowing more guests to enjoy a moment of peace there.

The third floor was a bit troublesome, but this trouble shouldn’t be major. He would discuss it with Attorney Orson then.

The third floor had several gambling tables, and these tables still had to pay quarterly taxes to the Kodaks. If it were the mayor, perhaps he wouldn’t have to pay taxes?

If he didn’t pay taxes, the thirty percent profit from these gambling tables might offset his losses in terms of benefits.

As for other underground bars, there were no clear legal documents or employment contracts. They simply arranged for accountants to tally how much money was earned each day.

How much was Lance’s, and how much was theirs.

Such places would never be legal, so they wouldn’t leave any evidence.

The Imperial Night nightclub might also have illegal operations, but these would be solely the personal decisions of manager Lance, unrelated to its owner, Mr. Eric—

At this moment, Lance could already imagine that if these matters went to court, Attorney Orson would hold up the contract signed by Lance and assert his rights to the court and prosecutor.

They had fully entrusted Lance with the management. If Lance couldn’t prove he was “ordered” to operate those illegal businesses, then he would certainly bear full responsibility.

Lance spent two days visiting all five bars. They didn’t need much renovation and could reopen immediately.

Seeing that he was about to go to Yalan, Lance gathered everyone for a family barbecue party that evening.

Large cuts of beef and lamb were placed on the grill. Although the weather was very cold, everyone was happy.

This was their first happy New Year since arriving in the Federation.

They had warm clothes, beef and lamb to fill their stomachs, hot coffee and wine, and all sorts of delicious food. Perhaps this was the happiest time in their lives.

As dusk fell, it grew colder outside, and eventually, they all returned to the house.

The dining room was too crowded, so they went to the living room. The scent of food permeated the entire room.

Lance sat in the center of the living room, surrounded by everyone else, who sat on sofas, shelves, coffee tables, and even the floor.

Everyone simply ate meat, drank wine, and chatted.

They talked about many topics they didn’t even know where they came from. As the dinner gradually came to an end, Elvin looked at Lance. “Can I ask a question?”

Lance gnawed the last piece of meat off a lamb rib. “Of course, we’re family. There’s nothing you can’t ask.”

Elvin’s voice was not very loud, and he articulated slowly, ready to stop at any moment. “About the nightclub and… those few bars.”

Lance took a hot towel from a girl’s hand, wiped his face and hands. “You mean we’re losing out by only getting thirty percent, right?”

He said thank you and returned the hot towel to the girl.

Everyone else looked at him. He knew this was the thought on everyone’s mind for the past few days. “Do you think I’m going to tell you to accept this unreasonable distribution?”

“No, I won’t tell you to accept it, nor will I tell myself. This is an unreasonable distribution method, but we can’t resist it.”

“Because we’re not just facing an Eric; we’re also facing his uncle behind him, the ruler of this city, our esteemed mayor!”

Morris interjected, “I heard he’s the illegitimate son of the mayor and his mother, and his father is actually his cousin…”

The young men and women burst into laughter. Such private affairs of important figures were popular everywhere.

For example, the story between His Imperial Majesty, the Empress, and the Prince. Even if there was nothing between them, under rumors, there had to be something.

People were enthusiastic about these things, discussing, processing, and then spreading altered versions.

Lance raised his hand to quiet them, and the laughter quickly subsided. “We are strong; we can easily kill a person. But we are also weak; politically, we are isolated and helpless.”

“Perhaps you might think, at worst, we’ll fight for our lives and shoot him a few times. Can he eat us?”

“Without considering whether doing so would succeed, even if we did, then what?”

“The entire political arena of the Federation, from the president to the city councilors, will become our enemies.”

“The police will no longer take our money but will shoot us.”

“Pedestrians on the street will scream and run to phone booths to call the police when they see us, because each of us will have a large bounty on our heads.”

“This country, and even places within its sphere of influence, will have no place for us to live.”

“We will be expelled, and those Imperials will also be expelled. It might even trigger a new wave of anti-Imperial movements, and they might even push for legislation that leads to discrimination and differential treatment of Imperial immigrants.”

“I hope our compatriots can live good lives, and I don’t want them to suffer more because of some selfish actions of mine.”

“So, I won’t convince myself that this is a reasonable outcome, but I will accept this outcome and keep this injustice in my heart.”

“I’ve been thinking, I’m still very young, nineteen years old. If I can live to sixty, I have forty more years.”

“Forty years, how long is that?”

“So, in these long forty years, do I have a chance to return the humiliation they inflicted upon us?”

Lance looked at these young people, nodding continuously. “Yes, there’s a chance, I believe I have a chance.”

“The humiliation they give us today will eventually become the bullets fired at them, but it will take some time, and some patience.”

When he reached this point, Elvin nodded. “I understand.”

Lance smiled and wagged his finger. He couldn’t help but pull out a cigarette. After eating greasy food, if he could have a cup of hot tea and then a cigarette, it would be extremely comfortable!

Hiram quickly took out a match and lit Lance’s cigarette.

He knew Lance didn’t like the smell of kerosene, so he never used a kerosene lighter.

Lance patted his hand, took a deep drag from the cigarette, and slowly exhaled. “Actually, we didn’t get nothing.”

“We gained a backer that doesn’t belong to us, but whom we can use—the mayor!”

“That Eric clearly isn’t a smart person. I have plenty of ways to deal with that kind of fool.”

“Besides that, the share we were supposed to give the police can also be reduced, after all, this is the mayor’s business!”

“Not only can they not suddenly inspect our business, but they also have to find ways to protect it. This is about whether the mayor’s pockets can be filled.”

“And…” He sat among the crowd, holding a cigarette between his index and middle fingers, his thumb resting against the filter, his arm slightly raised diagonally. The rising smoke added a mysterious haziness to his half-smiling face.

“They didn’t stipulate that we can’t run our own businesses!”

The smarter ones among them already had their mouths slightly agape, and then excited smiles appeared on their faces!

Yes, no one stipulated that Lance could only own one nightclub and five small bars in the Empire District.

He could perfectly open other nightclubs and other bars himself, and Mr. Eric wouldn’t be able to interfere with those. Lance wouldn’t allow him to interfere in that aspect either.

But soon, Elvin had a new question, though now he seemed more active than before. “If these few businesses can’t compete with our own, what about over there?”

Lance shook his head. “I can withdraw and let them run it themselves, or whatever.”

“Isn’t that Eric quite arrogant?”

“Let him run it, or let him find someone else.”

“We might not be able to say no to them, but there are other ways to say no than just with words.”

Seeing everyone gradually understand, or being informed by those next to them, and smiles appearing on their faces, Lance finally showed a satisfied smile.

“Continue recruiting. Recruit fifty more, then veterans, recruit thirty, from our hometown.”

“Maintain around two hundred people. We don’t need too many hands for now; we need elites.”

“Heller had so many people, and weren’t they still scattered by us?”

“So, more people aren’t necessarily better. If everyone can’t unite, with their hearts and efforts together, the more people there are, the more of a burden they become.”

“I’m going to Yalan in two days. As for things here…” He looked at Elvin. “You’re quick-witted, so you make the decisions. If you can’t make a decision, discuss it with everyone.”

“Once I’m settled there, I’ll call you. You can contact me directly if there’s an emergency.”

“Also, Hiram and Lawn, prepare yourselves. You’re coming with me to Yalan.”

Hiram flicked his hair, lifting his chin slightly. “No problem, Boss.”

Lawn just nodded, not speaking.

That night, Lance met with Elvin privately, asking him to find a suitable location near the city outskirts to establish a wine-making factory.

He also asked him to call Nick over and set up the operation together. They should prepare all necessary equipment and make all preparations in advance, so they wouldn’t be rushed later.

Additionally, they needed to quickly order grapes, corn, potatoes, and both wheat and barley, all of which would be needed for future brewing.

They should stock up before prices rose.

He told Elvin to be sure to find legitimate distributors, preferably large companies or publicly traded ones, and sign guaranteed contracts, initially ordering for fifty thousand.

Elvin showed an incredulous expression. “Fifty thousand?”

“Isn’t that too much?”

Lance didn’t think it was too much at all. “We don’t have much money readily available right now; otherwise, I’d want to buy even more.”

“Then you go find Attorney Reuben and have him accompany you to sign the contracts with them. If they breach the contract, they must pay at least fifty times the liquidated damages…”

“Remember, we are not paying all the goods at once; this part is the deposit.”

“We can’t pay more than ten percent deposit at most. I need you to leverage that fifty thousand to move five hundred thousand worth of grapes.”

He didn’t mention futures or spot goods; Elvin wouldn’t understand that. “Order evenly for this summer, fall, next summer, fall, and the summer and fall of the year after.”

Elvin calculated and nodded. “No problem.”

Elvin often ran errands at the port, where there was an agricultural commodity trading hub. It was called a hub, but it was actually a free market, where a large group of people stood together shouting out prices.

There was a large board where information about sales or acquisitions was recorded.

Currently, the price of ordinary grapes was seventy-six dollars per ton!

You read that right, seventy-six dollars a ton, two thousand two hundred pounds, which translates to three and a half cents per pound.

This was the wholesale price. The retail price was about six to seven cents per pound. It sounds cheap, doesn’t it?

Actually, the price had already started to rise!

With the full implementation of Prohibition, the easiest thing for home brewing was wine. It only needed fermentation and didn’t require distillation or the addition of flavorings, antioxidants, etc., to produce a “intoxicating beverage.”

This new term had only recently appeared because some beer manufacturers protested to the Federal government, arguing that beer was fermented wheat juice and not an alcoholic beverage.

Furthermore, they argued that a very low alcohol content was merely a fermentation style of this wheat juice and did not represent intentional addition. “Beer” was just a colloquial term, and when the word was broken down, not a single letter in it was related to “alcohol.”

However, Congress rejected their protest. The recently enacted Prohibition law saw its first amendment: alcoholic beverages became “intoxicating beverages.”

Any drink that could cause a similar effect to intoxication, whether consumed or not, and whether it contained alcohol or not, was to be prohibited.

This greatly angered many beer companies, who had already begun to form groups to prepare lawsuits against the Federal government.

Sometimes these capitalists really don’t understand the situation. You sue congressmen in Congress, and they get to judge themselves?

Hope they succeed!

It’s said that tobacco companies are also exerting influence behind the scenes because some people say that water infused with tobacco can also make you drunk…

In short, the raw materials for brewing were already starting to rise in price.

Perhaps soon, the first boom caused by the arrival of Prohibition would arrive, crazy agricultural product speculation!

Currently, Lance regretted not having much money at hand, otherwise…

He suddenly remembered that he still had hundreds of thousands in claims in his safe, but that would have to wait until he returned from Yalan.

The next morning, he went to see Patricia. The girl finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although she heard from William that Lance was safe, she was still very worried.

Fortunately, he finally came to see her, which put the girl’s anxious heart at ease.

The two spoke softly for a while, then Lance excused himself; he had too many things to do.

He also made a trip to see Mr. Jobav, intending to collaborate with him on a bottom-fishing scheme, but Mr. Jobav was temporarily out of town.

Although he didn’t know what he was doing, Lance knew it wouldn’t be anything good, so he decided not to bother him for the time being.

On January 10th, Lance and Alberto boarded a cruise ship bound for Yalan. They would spend three days at sea before arriving at their first destination in Yalan, the Republic of Aldera.

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Additional chapters: /caleredhair