Empire of Shadows

A drop of rain, prepared, fell from the clouds with the help of gravity.

It plunged towards the ground from high above with indomitable courage, its mission to create a small splash in a shallow puddle on the ground.

The gray, gloomy clouds had nurtured it, so it too was gray and gloomy.

After it had passed through an unknown number of meters, the silhouette of the city appeared before it.

Is this the city?

The halo of colorful neon lights spreading through the misty city was a beauty it had never seen in its life.

In that instant, it somewhat lost its desire to crash into the ground. It wanted to see this world better.

But it had already used all its strength in the process of falling. It could no longer stop this from happening.

It looked greedily at this prosperous city, its distance from the ground getting closer and closer.

It saw a large patch of black umbrellas and people in raincoats, standing in the rain, doing who knows what.Interestingly, among these people, one person stood there. He wore no raincoat, held no umbrella, just stood in the heavy rain.

The gloomy sky, the gray rain, the black figures, and that lonely soul.

The little raindrop inexplicably took on a philosophical air. It saw that this person’s soul was also emitting a gray color, lifeless, without vitality.

With a splat that perhaps no one would notice, a small raindrop landed on the ground, creating a tiny splash.

Mr. Jobav wouldn’t notice this either. He was just looking at the people around him.

The water soaked his hair, making him look like a madman who had fallen into the water. He repeated his earlier words, “I’m sorry.”

The expressions of the people around him changed. One woman, who looked to be in her forties, her face pale and her lips trembling, said, “Don’t scare me. What do you mean by ‘I’m sorry’?”

Mr. Jobav stood there stunned for a long while before letting out a heavy sigh. “The bank… is out of money.”

“I don’t believe it!”

Someone immediately shouted, “You must be joking with us, Mr. Jobav?”

“How could a rich man like you possibly have no money?”

“Alright, I admit you’ve tricked me. You’ve scared me so much I can barely stand. So can we go in and withdraw our money now?”

This person’s voice was steady at first, but it soon began to tremble. Anyone could hear the terror in his heart.

Mr. Jobav seemed to have accepted this fact. “I’m not joking with you. The bank has no money now.”

An old woman threw her umbrella to the ground and rushed up to Mr. Jobav. She grabbed him by the collar, using the toughest posture to speak the weakest words.

“Please, Mr. Jobav, this is mine and my husband’s life savings. You can’t do this…”

“We trusted you…”

Mr. Jobav let the rain beat down on him. The only thing he could do now was to say “I’m sorry.”

The people’s emotions could no longer be controlled. Someone spat at him, someone came up and punched him, and someone else kicked him to the ground.

He curled up, holding his head, letting the rubber-soled shoes land on him like raindrops.

He couldn’t feel the pain, because his heart hurt more.

The wail of police cars appeared. They pushed the crowd away and arrested a few people, finally helping Mr. Jobav up from the very center.

His face was covered in blood and water. The soles of leather shoes were not soft leather; they had cut several gashes when they stepped on his head.

The blood mixed with the rain made him look even more pathetic. He endured the physical pain and bowed. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.”

In the crowd that had been angrily shouting, someone suddenly broke down and began to cry out. They had really deposited their life’s savings in the bank.

They had trusted Mr. Jobav too much. The older the person, the more they trusted him, because to a certain extent, he had become a special “symbol” among the Empire immigrant community.

But it was this trust that had made them miss the chance to make up for their losses.

Actually, based on the things he had mortgaged, a portion of the money could still be squeezed out, a hundred thousand, or two to three hundred thousand. But even if he got this money, it wouldn’t change the current situation at all.

Looking at the people who had collapsed to the ground, his whole body was numb.

“I will give everyone an explanation.”

He said this, then turned and went back into the bank.

The bank staff were all looking at him with worry. He squeezed out a smile. “I don’t know what to say. In short, thank you all for your hard work over the years.”

“I have let you all down.”

The employees were all silent. Although they had long been mentally prepared and had foreseen the arrival of this day…

But when it happened, it was still very difficult for everyone to accept it calmly.

Some of the ladies even started to cry.

This was not just a huge emotional blow. Some of them had worked here for more than a decade, two or three decades. This place was like their second home.

Now, all of a sudden, this home was about to be broken up. How could they not be sad?

In addition, it also meant that they were about to lose their jobs. The younger ones might be slightly better off.

They could still find jobs outside, but what about the older ones?

At the awkward age of around forty, factories wouldn’t want them, and other banks wouldn’t want them either. They might never find such a comfortable job again because of this.

The emotional damage, the confusion about the future—all of this made everyone very pained and sad.

Mr. Jobav took out his pocket watch and handed it to the supervisor. “This watch is still worth a little something. Take it, exchange it for money, and pay everyone this month’s salary.”

“This is the last thing I can do for you.”

The supervisor took the pocket watch, his pain somewhat inexpressible. “Mr. Jobav, is there really no hope at all?”

He shook his head. If the Mayor had won, then this would not have been a problem. Those banks would have been very willing to give him a loan, even if he had no collateral.

But now, the Mayor had lost, and he had lost all chances of turning things around.

He pursed his lips. “That’s it.”

“If you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to leave soon.”

“Remember to go out the back door. You might not be able to get out through the front.”

The front of the bank was already crowded with people. If they left through the main entrance, they would have to face the surging crowd.

The supervisor still wanted to say something, but Mr. Jobav waved his hand. He could only swallow those words. “Then we’ll be leaving now, Mr. Jobav.”

He nodded. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

“Remember to lock the door…”

Mr. Jobav returned to his office. He thought about many things, but still had no solution.

Suddenly, someone threw a brick, breaking the office window. The curses from outside began to quickly pour in through the broken window.

The people were cursing terribly, greeting his family, his wife. Even the fact that they had no children became an object of their attack.

The rain poured in, landing on the expensive floor, the chairs, all sorts of places. He just watched blankly.

After a long while, he changed to another room, picked up the phone, and made a call to his cousin.

“Joe?”

“I heard the bank went bankrupt. What happened?”

Mr. Jobav was silent for a moment. “It’s just as you heard. I’m bankrupt.”

“My God… is there anything I can do for you?”

Mr. Jobav sighed lightly. “No, you’re not capable of doing anything for me. Don’t get involved in this.”

“I just wanted to say, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Greet everyone for me. Everything will be fine.”

“There will always be a solution to things, just as an opera will always have an ending.”

His brother heard that something was not right with Mr. Jobav’s words. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I have lost everything, but I still have family. It was really happy to have had you all…”

He hung up the phone, then returned to the break room. He took a comb and tidied his hair, and even changed into a new set of clothes.

He took a very thick book from the office bookshelf, opened it. Inside was a small, flat flask, containing about three ounces of liquor.

He poured himself a glass of liquor, faced himself in the mirror, and raised the glass.

A moment later, he smashed the glass on the floor. The sound of the main door being smashed could already be heard from downstairs.

He was Jobav, the light of the Empire immigrants. He would not accept such a pathetic failure.

He pulled open a secret compartment in a drawer. Inside was a pistol.

The wind howled outside, and the rain was blown into the room, some of it landing on his face.

He sat in a daze for a long time.

He couldn’t face the depositors outside. Just as that old woman had said, a family’s life savings were all in the bank, but he had lost them.

He couldn’t forgive himself, nor could he compensate these people for their losses. At this moment, besides dying, it seemed there was no other way for him to go.

To atone for his mistakes with his own life, perhaps this was the only solution he could think of.

He glanced at the pistol in his hand. This was the pistol he had his assistant buy the first time he was extorted. At that time, he had told himself that if anyone tried to extort him again, he would use this gun to kill them.

But until this moment, this gun had never been used.

Those who had extorted him had not been punished. On the contrary, he was constantly being extorted, being blackmailed.

What was wrong with this world?

He didn’t understand.

A mocking smile appeared on his face. He never thought that the pistol he had to protect himself would be used for its first shot on himself.

He raised the gun with a trembling hand, pointed it at his temple, looked at the gloomy sky outside the window one last time, and silently said “goodbye” before pulling the trigger.

The bullet pierced his skull, carrying some blood and hitting the wall. He fell there, motionless.

Ten minutes later, the bank’s main door was pried open by the angry crowd. They rushed into the bank and also saw Mr. Jobav sitting in his chair.

At that very moment, the weather, which had been raining for a long time, suddenly and miraculously cleared up.

The dark clouds were disintegrated by the sunlight, melting into the azure sky.

The whole sky seemed to have become bluer, and the sun, also more intense.

The police didn’t call an ambulance. For this kind of injury, no one could help. They just had the coroner come with a body bag.

It was an obvious suicide scene, without any significance. The coroner also believed that everything here was consistent with the conclusion of suicide.

Mr. Jobav was put into a body bag and, under the watchful eyes of the public, was sent to the morgue.

The bank was sealed off, but the people standing outside were bewildered.

Mr. Jobav was dead. Who should they ask for this money now?

The savings that those families had accumulated over one or even two generations, who could give it back to them?

Lance learned of this news the moment Mr. Jobav committed suicide. The people from the Empire Merchants Association had been paying close attention to the situation here. After all, the vast majority of them were lucky.

Under Lance’s reminder, they had already withdrawn their funds from the bank in advance.

At this time, a large number of members of the Empire Merchants Association had gathered at Lance’s company. The house was actually not too small, but with so many people in the room at this moment, it looked very crowded.

It was time to get a bigger house.

Roger was a bit wistful. “I’ve known Mr. Jobav for at least thirty years. In my mind, he has always been a very capable person, in terms of running a bank.”

“I never thought… that he would go bankrupt, and would choose this path.”

Someone continued his words, “This was an inevitable result. He owed so much money, who could solve his problem?”

“And who can solve the problem of those depositors?”

Roger sighed. “The unluckiest are those old people who couldn’t withdraw their money in time. Autumn is coming soon, and their lives will be very difficult.”

Everyone’s expression was a bit pained. In fact, when Lance had hinted to them that Jinda Bank might have problems, they didn’t believe it was true.

Transferring the funds was only because they had made money with Lance, and in order to continue to follow Lance’s pace of making money.

But now, they could only feel fortunate.

However, some people still had some money in the bank and had not withdrawn it all. They had also known Mr. Jobav for a long time and were a bit embarrassed to do so.

Now, this money had disappeared, which also made them very depressed.

Roger couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Lance, where did all of Mr. Jobav’s money go?”

Lance sat in his chair, his hands resting on the armrests. “He had a lot of money, but he didn’t have the ability to protect it. So everyone who had the ability to tear a piece of flesh off him was attracted by his wealth.”

“Gangs, hooligans, including the Mayor.”

“He actually had many opportunities to make a change, but every time, he stood on the wrong option. It was this society that led to the tragedy, and it was also he himself who chose this path.”

“We are not strong, but we must make those who covet our wealth understand one thing.”

“They can covet our wealth, and even want to take it away, but at the same time, they must also be prepared to break their own teeth.”

“As long as we resist to the end every time, even if we lose, we won’t let them have an easy time. They will slowly understand that we are not to be trifled with.”

He paused. “International grain prices have been climbing recently. This is a good project to invest in. We can hoard a batch of grain.”

At the mention of making money, everyone’s pessimistic atmosphere was instantly swept away, and they became enthusiastic.

Roger licked his slightly dry and cracked lips. “Mr. Lance, we all know that grain prices are rising, but we don’t have much money in our hands now.”

“The money is all invested in that batch of medicine.”

The price of that batch of medicine had already risen by more than forty percent and was still continuing to grow, and at a not-slow pace.

This was a very successful investment. Everyone believed their net worth would double again.

The longer the war dragged on, the higher the value of these millions of dollars worth of medicine would be.

Of course, the rate of increase in grain prices was also very astonishing, it was just that its unit price was too low, so people might not have noticed.

Lance nodded slightly. “I know, but that’s not a problem. We can mortgage this batch of medicine to the bank, and then use this money to hoard some grain.”

Someone asked, “Mr. Lance, why don’t we continue to hoard medicine?”

“Medicine has now become a sensitive resource, and it’s not easy for us to get such a large amount of goods on a large scale anymore.”

The Pasoretto family couldn’t get a large amount of medicine now either. Medicine was one of the most important materials in war. The Federation had already begun to implement limited control measures.

If it were a reasonable purchase, that would be one thing. But for private hoarding like Lance and his group, it was basically very difficult.

Of course, it was no problem for the gentlemen to hoard goods. After all, their hoarding was for the country and the people, unlike people like Lance, who were just for making money.

To attract the attention of some people for the sake of making money did not conform to Lance’s current interests. In front of the real high-level figures of the Federation, he was still just an insignificant little character.

He explained simply that the rate of increase in grain prices was not slower than that of medicine, and it was also a core key material, and hoarding grain now would not cause unnecessary trouble. They agreed.

The Federation was not involved in the war, so grain was not yet a controlled material. The federal government did not believe they would be drawn into the war.

The matter was quickly decided. Everyone would contribute, and then find a way to fill the warehouses.

With a new money-making project, Roger’s steps became much lighter, not at all like an old man of his age.

The series of problems caused by Mr. Jobav’s death were still fermenting. Lance had Roben the lawyer quickly transfer the three large houses to his name to avoid any interest disputes.

The major banks were also pushing for the rapid completion of the property rights change of those mortgaged items, to avoid having to divide their residual value among the depositors later.

The fall of one bank did not cause any shock to the financial sector of Golden Port. On the contrary, it allowed these banks to eat a piece of fat pork belly.

As for the depositors who had collapsed on the roadside, they were never the object of concern for the rulers.

Nor did anyone care what would happen to them in the future.

It wouldn’t even be long before the focus of public opinion would shift from these issues. People wouldn’t even talk about them anymore.

Until one day they appeared in the newspapers a few months later, accompanied by sensational headlines like “Frozen to Death” or “Starved to Death,” once again becoming a pastime for people after tea and dinner.

(End of chapter)