Empire of Shadows

What Lance said to President Scott, he had actually already said to Vaughn, but he was worried that Vaughn would consider some issues and put it very euphemistically.

The biggest problem with relaying a message is this: the attitude, emotion, and expression can never be exactly the same.

As long as it’s not exactly the same, problems can arise.

Perhaps some of Lance’s demands, for example, that he must sit on the main stage, might be passed on by Vaughn as “Lance hopes to sit in a more conspicuous position,” and thus he would be arranged in the front row below the main stage.

This kind of thing is very likely to happen, and has already happened many times, in other places or matters.

It was difficult for Vaughn to say these things as forcefully as Lance. As long as his attitude was euphemistic, he would express the wrong meaning.

So Lance had to express it himself.

President Scott didn’t think it was excessive. The man had spent the money. He had worked at the docks for so many years, he no longer had some of the unrealistic ideas of his youth.

He immediately nodded and expressed his attitude more strongly, “Lance, you can trust me. I’m not the kind of person who forgets his roots!”

“You’ve helped me so much, you are one of my best friends. If there’s anything I can be of use for, I will definitely not refuse!”A very good statement, at least for this moment.

After ending this somewhat private topic, they began to “rehearse,” mainly the organizers rehearsing the general process of the entire event.

Lance’s position was originally on the far right of the main stage, but now it was moved closer to the middle, roughly at the three-quarters position on the right. Scott was very clever.

Including going on stage to present awards, it was also done in turns by several people.

Of course, who went first and who went later, they still had some allocation. Lance was probably ranked fourth, closely following the vice president of the Likalai State Federation of Labor, the commissioner of the national union, and the president of the Likalai State Dockworkers’ Union, to present medals, prize money, and so on, even one position ahead of President Scott.

This was the value of a sponsor. If it weren’t for the people from the Federation of Labor insisting on joining in the fun, Lance would definitely be ranked third.

If it were another event, as a sponsor, Lance would definitely be ranked first or second, but this time it was different.

Under the slogan of “Workers’ Great Unity,” the working class of the Federation at this time believed that they had the power to change the world!

So capitalists could not be ranked above them!

This was also the most troublesome problem for the Federation government and the capitalists, because they really had this power!

When the Federation of Labor launched a general strike, both the Federation government and the capitalists had to pay the price for it. An industry or even the entire society could come to a standstill!

They were studying ways to solve this problem, through what means to make the “key” in their hands invalid, but it seemed that it might still take some time.

The entire process was arranged in great detail. What surprised Lance a little was that he also saw a very special young man.

There were also some people surrounding that young man. Even when President Scott saw him, he took the initiative to excuse himself from Lance and went over to greet him.

“Who is this?” Lance had never seen this young man before, but from his attire and temperament, he should not be an ordinary person.

Vaughn looked at Lance strangely, “This is the mayor’s secretary, but some people also say he is an aide.”

Perhaps noticing the gaze from this side, that young man actually smiled and nodded at Lance. Lance also politely reached out and touched his hat.

Vaughn said in an envious tone, “A graduate of a prestigious university in the Alliance. He was spotted by the mayor as soon as he graduated and became his secretary, right up to this day.”

“Many people say that the mayor is grooming him as his own political successor. Everyone believes this. You see, he’s the one doing everything, not that person.”

The “that person” Vaughn mentioned was obviously the rumored illegitimate son, Eric. But based on Lance’s past dealings with Eric, Eric was indeed not up to this job.

And there would be no chance in the future, because he had a very strong dependence on painkillers. No one liked a patient who needed pain relief anytime, anywhere, and his status as an illegitimate son was not so presentable.

To cultivate another one seemed to have become a choice that had to be made.

Lance also thought of more things. If the mayor had no heir by blood, then he would not have many enemies in the political arena.

He had no blood descendants to inherit his glory and hatred, which meant that everything would come to a perfect or imperfect end the moment he lost his ability to work.

Perhaps this was also one of the reasons why he could come to Golden Port. No one was worried that he would become the next “king of the hill”!

But what made Lance find it even more interesting was Vaughn, “You seem very familiar with these people from City Hall.”

Vaughn also heard the joke-like sarcasm in Lance’s words. He didn’t care at all, “This is also part of my job. I have to find out who I should go to when the workers are persecuted, in order to solve the problem.”

“I agree with your statement.”

Vaughn laughed out loud after hearing this, “I don’t need your agreement, Lance. This is my job!”

As they were talking, that person walked over with President Scott. When there were still a few steps to go, the young man extended his hand, “Zink.”

“Lance.” The two shook hands. Lance found it very strange; this young man named Zink had no need to get to know him.

But soon he found out. It turned out that the mayor also knew about this matter, but he… it wasn’t convenient for him to appear here, so he sent this Zink to attend.

This avoided some problems, for example, the possibility that the mayor might not be sitting in the very center of the main stage. The people from the Federation of Labor don’t care if you’re the mayor or not.

Even with the president, the people of the Federation of Labor would want to arm-wrestle with him, let alone a mayor.

So he himself would not come, but sent Zink.

“I’ll be sitting next to you then.” Zink even took the initiative to give Lance a cigarette.

Cigarettes are always a social tool. Even two people who are strangers, or even in an “opposing” relationship, can have a few words of conversation.

Lance smoked his cigarette and sized him up again, “I thought you guys would hide.”

Zink’s eyes narrowed into a slit as he smiled, “Hiding won’t solve the problem, Mr. Lance.”

“And I don’t think there’s anything that can’t be discussed. Politics, gangs, economics, finance, trade, countries, even war, can all be discussed, can all be solved.”

This sentence gave Lance a different feeling, “Are you lobbying for the mayor?”

Zink straightened his back and shook his head at the same time, “Come on, do I really look like a fool?”

“You rejected his invitation before, and you certainly wouldn’t now. Everyone can see that he doesn’t have any advantage.”

“This city is as stubborn as a piece of steel. Even if there are some pits and bumps on the surface, it’s very difficult to find a crack big enough to tear it open.”

“The reason I say this is that we will have to leave sooner or later. When there is no opposing stance, we can actually still be friends.”

“I’m very interested in you, Lance.”

Lance took a step back, “I don’t oppose this, but I can’t bring myself to accept it either.”

He was stating his attitude, in a relatively mild way. Zink laughed out loud after hearing this, “I heard that you came from being an illegal immigrant to where you are today, and in a very short time, you used some little tricks to become a local. To be honest, that’s incredible!”

“So I find you very interesting and want to know more about you, maybe I can discover more of your magical methods.”

“And not…” His gaze went down, then he showed a slightly apologetic smile, “…I’m not interested in this either.”

The communication ended here. He extended his hand again and shook hands with Lance, “I have some other things to do. It was very interesting to chat with you, Mr. Lance.”

Lance also expressed at least superficial goodwill, “You are also an interesting person, Mr. Zink.”

Without any more conversation, Zink nodded to the others, then finally shook Lance’s arm and turned to leave.

Looking at his retreating back, Lance felt that this was a very strange person.

Vaughn and President Scott, who were chatting not far away, came back here again, “I didn’t know you knew each other.” President Scott found it a bit magical. Shouldn’t they be on opposing sides?

Lance smiled and didn’t answer, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go to the club to have a look.”

They did not refuse, so Lance walked directly to the club.

Along the way, workers greeted Lance enthusiastically. Lance also responded to them enthusiastically.

Everyone respected Lance very much, mainly because the liquor at the club was really too cheap, and the blue-collar workers spread the word that Lance lost several thousand dollars every month. His purpose in doing so was just to let everyone have a beer they could afford after work, or some other kind of liquor.

The working class is actually very easy to persuade, but of course, this is not to say that they are easily fooled.

They have a stronger sense of participation and empathy. They can feel Lance’s respect for them, so they respect Lance. This is very normal, and they also revere him along with it.

The club was not open until evening, but many people were already here preparing for the evening’s business.

They needed to clean the floor, then organize various things, including cleaning some props and so on.

Seeing Lance, the guy in charge here took the initiative to run over, “Lance…”

Lance bumped fists with him. This guy was named Robert, a fellow countryman of Elvin’s, and also considered one of the first to join the Lance Family.

“I just came over to see…” He noticed that many people’s photos were already posted on the wall, along with the honors they had received.

“They actually value this very much!” Because the business hours here were exactly reversed, he almost never went back to the house in New Bay Area.

He introduced the recent situation of the club to Lance, the people who could be hung on the wall, and the things they got.

A medal that was actually not worth much, a certificate of merit, and a bonus ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars!

“A little reward can make their work full of passion. Some dock companies and management companies have come to me, saying they want to give us some sponsorship, but I refused.”

As he spoke, he was a little apprehensive. Lance, however, looked at him with considerable appreciation, “Well done. We don’t lack money, and you have to let them understand that what they get is what I lose money to give them, not what those capitalists give.”

“When things don’t come so easily, they will defend us. But if they feel that anyone can do this, then we will become not so important to them.”

“At that time, they will feel that it’s all the capitalists’ money anyway. We are just an organizer in the front. They won’t be grateful to us, but will instead think we are the running dogs of the capitalists.”

“So maintaining independence and purity, continuing to lose money, is no problem.”

“The more I lose, the happier I am, and there’s no need to worry that this place will cause a huge loss.”

“The speed at which this money is lost is far from as fast as I earn it.”

“Pour the beer a little fuller, stuff more meat in the food, and pour more sauce.”

Robert followed closely behind Lance, firmly remembering these things.

At a time when people didn’t pay much attention to spiritual satisfaction, Lance’s set of methods was definitely dominant.

It satisfied people’s appetite, satisfied people’s desire for alcohol, and also satisfied people’s spiritual needs.

Painkillers can only make people dependent because of pain, but these can help them overcome pain!

A few gunshots suddenly came from across the port, followed by intense gunfire, which lasted for about three or four minutes before completely ceasing.

Even from a great distance, one could feel the intensity of the firefight.

“The Port District is getting more and more chaotic. Now there are gunshots almost every day.” Robert said with emotion. This place used to be very quiet, but as the mayor no longer hypocritically hid himself, the conflict escalated, and the Port District became more and more chaotic.

Vaughn came running from a distance, slightly out of breath, “Should we find some police tomorrow to maintain order?”

“These gunfights are a bit too scary now!”

Lance thought for a moment and nodded, “Just right, I know the new precinct chief of the Port District. Leave this matter to me.”

In the afternoon, he went to the labor introduction agency. Now there were more than 9,000 illegal immigrants registered at the labor introduction agency, and some were legal immigrants and locals.

The total number of people that could be included in the statistics exceeded 13,000.

And as the scale of the Wanli Labor Introduction Agency grew larger, more and more locals who didn’t want to work but wanted to get money began to send their work cards over.

There were very complete resources and statistical methods here to ensure that everyone’s work card could be used to the maximum extent, allowing them to get a high salary of at least $40 a month!

Not having to work, and still having an income close to the standard average salary, this was like an advertisement, attracting more and more people to join!

This was a virtuous cycle, and it would only get better and better.

The entrance of the labor introduction agency had long been crowded with people. This place had also become a spontaneous “talent center.” Many companies directly posted their recruitment leaflets nearby, and indeed recruited some people.

After chatting with Sean for a while, Lance went to his office.

He hadn’t been here for a while, but someone cleaned it every day.

He sat down and dialed John’s number. The phone was picked up quickly.

“It’s me, Lance.”

“Hey, Lance, how was your day?”

“Very good. There’s something I hope to communicate with you about.”

“Go ahead, I’m listening.”

Lance cleared his throat, “Tomorrow there’s a dockworkers’ skills competition opening ceremony here at the docks. It’s going to last for a few days.”

“But the Port District has been a bit noisy recently. I hope you guys can help maintain order tomorrow, and it would be best if you could talk to those gangs and have them quiet down for a few days.”

After Lance finished speaking, he waited for a few seconds and looked at the receiver, “Are you listening?”

“Yes, Lance, I’m considering your suggestion, but I’m in a bit of a difficult situation right now.”

Lance raised an eyebrow, “What’s the difficulty? Perhaps I can help you solve it?”

“We don’t have this work content, for example, helping you maintain public security in the Port District. If police officers are dispatched to places outside their work, it might make the public very dissatisfied.”

“These petty citizens are very difficult to deal with. They will make complaint calls. You haven’t been a police officer, you don’t know how annoying they are…”

Lance interrupted him, “I’ll sponsor the Port precinct with $2,000.”

John’s voice in the receiver indeed became much lighter, “That’s not what I mean…”

“$3,000. If it’s any more, I’ll have Bruce cross districts to do it.”

John immediately agreed, “This is a matter within my jurisdiction. It’s not reasonable for them to cross districts, but I think what you said still has some truth to it.”

“I’ll arrange for people to be on duty tomorrow. I guarantee that there will be no shooting incidents in the Port District for the next three days!”

“Very good, it’s a deal. It’s best if there are no accidents.”

John’s cheerful voice came from the receiver, “I guarantee there won’t be any accidents, Mr. Lance!”

After Lance hung up the phone, he thought for a bit. Seeing no problems, he left.

In the evening, when he spoke with Precinct Chief Bruce on the phone, he talked about this matter. He expressed support for Lance’s choice.

It was indeed not very good for the police to work across districts; it was disrespectful to their colleagues. However, he also reminded Lance that John was a very greedy person. If he could avoid contact with him, he should try to have as little contact with him as possible.

The next day, before dawn, the entire dock was hung with colored flags, and many workers also brought their families here today.

Although there was still work to be done today, this was a grand event after all. Whether it was the dock management company or those enterprises, they all expressed their support.

As the time pointed to 9:30, the convoy, led by police cars, went straight from the hotel to the docks.

When the convoy entered the main gate of the docks, President Scott even ordered a cannon salute!

It could be seen that he had really spared no expense!

Lance’s car was the fourth. Today he had also specially changed into new clothes that the old tailor had just made a while ago. His whole person looked even more energetic!

When the car stopped steadily, a large number of reporters around were frantically pressing their shutters. This was definitely a historic moment!

For the union and the Federation of Labor!