Empire of Shadows

“I remember arranging for some girls to come over before.”

Lance looked at Elvin, who nodded. “I had Corinda pick out some of the good ones and send them over.”

The Lance Family itself didn’t run a call girl business, but there were some Empire girls, immigrant girls, who were unwilling to work hard in factories for a meager income to get by.

The prosperity and impetuosity of the Federation had invaded their hearts. They wanted to make quick money, and were even unwilling to learn to striptease.

Earning a dozen or so dollars in forty minutes, and having to share it with the venue, was not what they wanted.

What they wanted was a place to lie down, and then lie there, without having to do anything.

A few minutes later, they could get $5, or even more, from the hands of the customer who was pulling up his pants and walking out.

By just receiving two customers a day, they could reach the astonishing figure of over $300 a month in income. The Lance Family didn’t run the business directly themselves, but they accepted affiliations. These Empire girls, immigrant girls, needed someone to provide them with protection.

Otherwise, they would often encounter customers who would stiff them, and might even hit them and then rob them of their money.

In Golden Port and even the whole world, doing this line of work without someone providing security was undoubtedly very dangerous.But now, they only needed to pay $30 a month to be able to do this work on Lance’s turf, with no extra charges.

If they wanted to do this work in a venue run by Lance, then they had to hand over $50 a month.

$50 was not much for these girls. If they could be a little more diligent and could receive seven or eight customers a day, then their monthly income could exceed a thousand. Sometimes life is like this. If you can be a little more flexible with your bottom line, making money becomes very easy.

However, most girls couldn’t make that much money because they would have their period, and also a “psychological period.”

To put it simply, they might suffer psychological damage in the process of transacting with customers. Not all customers would treat these girls as their girlfriends or wives in a passionate love affair.

They would project their dirtiest, most filthy, most obscene fantasies onto these girls, and naturally, they would not be so polite.

Obscene language, hurtful words, would sometimes make these girls have an emotional breakdown, and they would have to rest for a few days.

A call girl who didn’t have a company forcing her to work would have an actual working time of only about two weeks a month, and possibly even less.

So most people couldn’t earn as much as they ideally wanted.

These girls were currently under the charge of Corinda and Milian (another girl). It was mainly a passive coordination job.

If someone was bullied, or wanted to go to a place run by Lance to work, or needed some help in life, they were the ones responsible.

With the bar here about to open, Lance had them transfer a batch of the best quality girls over, but it seemed the manager didn’t like them very much.

“Mr. Lance, I don’t know how to say it!” He clasped his hands together, then quickly spread them apart. “I’m not saying they’re not good, but this is the Starlight District.”

He chose his words carefully, his voice not loud. “The people who come here to consume are all the kind…” he flicked his wrist, “who can casually take out hundreds of dollars a night for pleasure.”

“And although those girls are very young, they lack a heart-stirring temperament. I know it’s not right to say this, but they really can’t attract customers here.”

“They are too cheap!”

Lance hadn’t considered this problem before, but the manager had a point.

A $2, a $5, a $10 and a $50 or even a $100 one—just from their external appearance, you could see that there was indeed a big gap.

Although they were all of the same age group, and should look about the same, but a $5 one and a $50 one could be told apart at a glance.

They just had a very cheap feeling about them. And cheap things, in the Empire District, in the Port District, were definitely what people loved.

But in the Starlight District, people didn’t like cheap things.

To avoid creating a negative reputation, the manager had directly withdrawn all these girls from here.

Lance looked at him. “Do you have any good suggestions?”

“How did you solve this problem before?”

The manager replied, “Dover… uh, that traitor was somewhat famous in the Starlight District, and at that time, the business atmosphere here was still very good. We didn’t need to actively look for those girls; they would come over on their own.”

“We didn’t need to do anything, and they would fill this place.”

“But now, Mr. Lance, you know, we haven’t been in business for a while. Those girls have gone to other bars and places. It will be a bit troublesome for us to find them again.”

“We might have some conflicts with other bars.”

After listening, Lance agreed with his view. He thought for a moment, “I’ll solve this matter later. Are there any other problems?”

The manager also proposed some rectification plans, including publicity aspects.

On the way back, Elvin asked Lance, “Where are you going to find those high-quality girls?”

“I only know that some modeling agencies are in this business, but to have them send girls to the bar, it might not be realistic.”

The prices of those girls were not cheap. Even if they did nothing, it would be at least $30 to $50 a night.

A bar would need at least twenty or thirty girls. The cost for one night would be over a thousand.

But this cost referred to normal business activities. To have them seduce men… Elvin didn’t know if that counted as normal business activity, but certainly some would be unwilling to do it.

If it was in the form of a call girl, then the price of a high-class call girl was also not cheap, and there were time limits.

Lance shook his head. “We don’t need them. I have a way to solve it.”

Elvin immediately became curious. “How are you going to solve it?”

Sometimes he felt that Lance was a bit too smart. Most things couldn’t pose a problem for him.

He and Lance were not from the “same place,” just met on the boat. He didn’t know how Lance had behaved in the Empire.

Just judging from the time he met Lance on the boat, everything Lance had shown was indeed amazing.

That’s why everyone let him be the Boss, and not someone else.

“Two ways!” He held up a finger. “There are many young girls who come to Golden Port and Creek Valley City to chase their dreams. They need money, a safe and reliable channel. We can provide it for them.”

“Creek Valley City has already become an important location for filming exterior scenes, and their mayor is very smart, using tax rebates to attract many film crews.”

“There are many young girls who want to become stars trying their luck over there.”

“Housing, food and expenses, these are all money. If they go to the studio and the casting office every day to try their luck, their money is simply not enough for their expenses.”

“So we can provide this way of making money.”

A smile appeared on Lance’s face. “If they can get their ‘friends’ to order a drink at the bar, fifteen percent of the liquor profit will be directly counted as their commission income.”

When Elvin heard this, he asked, “Won’t that be too much?”

“Too much?”

“No, not at all.”

Lance shook his head with a smile. “It looks like a lot, but in fact, it only accounts for a very small part, because these girls can bring us more profit.”

“And their value is not just here. Some of them might become actresses, minor stars in the future, then people will talk about them having consumed in our bar.”

“You know what I mean. There are always some people who like this, for example, that Shaina.”

The “battle for the flower of opera” was already over. Shaina, because of the mayor’s illegitimate son’s participation in the courtship competition, had gained a high reputation in Golden Port.

Regardless of whether her reputation brought positive or negative things, at least she was very famous now.

There were more people pursuing her, but these people were not planning to marry her, just wanting to try the comfort of the flower of opera, that’s all. This also made Shaina very distressed recently. Many negative rumors about her were circulating in Golden Port.

Especially since she didn’t take a stance on her suitors but accepted their gifts. Gradually, some people also developed a dislike for her.

Some even directly asked her in a semi-public occasion how much money it would take for her not to go back at night. This also led to Shaina planning to leave Likalai State. Her reputation here was a bit tarnished. She planned to go to Golden State to seek refuge with her uncle.

Of course, that’s a side note. For those who like Shaina, those crazy fans, even the dance shoes she had worn, someone would offer a high price to buy them.

If Lance’s bar was in the future confirmed to have had many stars, then people would become curious about this place, thus expanding the influence of the bar and Lance.

Lance gave Elvin a positive answer. He then asked, “Then what’s the second method?”

Lance’s gaze went out the window. “University students.”

“As far as women are concerned at the moment, besides the ladies who are well-off in life, some of the most elegant girls are in the universities. They have been nurtured by higher education and will naturally show a feeling of being cleaner and having a higher social level than others.”

“If we can introduce some of them, I believe this will also become a selling point of the bar.”

“As for how to introduce them, it’s actually very simple: fifteen percent of the profit.”

“Don’t forget the loans and the university tuition fees.”

After returning to the villa, Lance called the director over to talk about this matter. The bar in the Starlight District was very important to Lance.

The director was more familiar with the situation in Creek Valley City, and with the operation of Wanli Film Company, he was also considered a somewhat famous manager.

“I want to attract a group of girls who are trying their luck in Creek Valley City to my bar. Do you have any good ideas?”

Lance’s simple and direct question made the director’s mind unable to turn for a moment, but he soon understood what Lance meant.

He thought for a moment and then said, “This matter is actually not too complicated. The market for girls in Creek Valley City is already saturated. As long as some news is revealed, we can quickly recruit people, Mr. Lance.”

“May I know what they can get if they come here to work?”

Lance considered for a moment and then said, “First is a sum of money, that’s for sure. In addition, I will consider providing them with some performance opportunities on a case-by-case basis. What do you think?”

There was a subtle change in the director’s expression. If they could provide performance opportunities, then there was no doubt that these girls would use all their means to make those customers leave their money behind. Among them were a large number of fanatical daydreaming girls who wanted to become stars. Now, besides the “audition girls” who were everywhere on the streets, the most famous thing in Creek Valley City was the “scammer producers.”

Every day, there were girls who called the police, claiming they had been cheated, of money and sex.

After giving money and being screwed for a few days, they found out that there was no such crew at all, or it was just a lie and a scam.

There were many girls who paid for their own rooms and for the daily consumption of the scammers, and ended up with nothing.

And this kind of scammer was not easy to define legally. They would first declare a project and a crew, with a script from who knows where that no one wanted, and then get a project number.

So in a sense, some of these scammers were not scammers in the true sense, at least the law did not support the view that they were scammers.

And those girls who were cheated of their money and sex would sometimes be cheated several times in a row, just because they wanted to become stars too much.

“Mr. Lance, if you go to Creek Valley City now, you will find that almost all the sales assistants and waiters in the shops are pretty girls.”

He showed an expression that all men understand. “So I can assure you that if you are willing to offer some performance opportunities, they will pounce on you like crazy.”

With the director’s guarantee, this matter was basically settled. As for whether they could attract some university students, it was no longer so important.

Lance and the director discussed for a while and finally finalized some rules, for example, the top ten girls with the best “sales” could get a letter of recommendation for an audition at Wanli Film Company.

This thing was actually the same as a university admission recommendation letter. With a letter of recommendation, the girl would, in any case, get an opportunity for an audition. This was also a very tempting payment for those girls.

And the first place winner could directly participate in the filming of a Wanli production without an audition, playing a role in it, even the female lead.

There was also a possibility of directly signing with Wanli Film Company and becoming a contracted artist of the company.

I believe that with these, those girls will definitely give everything for the work they love. While Lance and the director were talking, there was a knock on the door. It was Mador.

The director glanced at the visitor and, at the same time, noticed Lance’s expression. He took the initiative to stand up. “I should be getting back to work, or they’ll think I’m slacking off.”

The director was a person who knew how to read the situation. This was also directly related to the fact that he needed to pull in investments before.

If you don’t have a discerning eye, you simply can’t get sponsorship.

“Help me see the director out,” Lance instructed. Hiram stood up and took the initiative to walk to the door.

After Lance shook hands with the director, he watched him leave.

After the director left, Mador closed the door. “Someone has been driving around outside the company for several laps.”

Lance lit a cigarette. “Where are they?”

Mador shook his head. “I’ve arranged for someone to follow them, but they were shaken off.”

Since Lance had been assassinated several times, he had raised his vigilance. Outside the company, there were some guys who looked no different from ordinary people, observing the street outside from the shops on the roadside.

This observation was not continuous. After all, a person’s energy is limited. But there were quite a few observers, more than a dozen. So these intermittent observations were eventually connected.

There was a car with two people in it that had been circling around this vicinity. After one or two laps, people might not have noticed, but after several laps, it would definitely be discovered.

Who would drive around the headquarters of a gang for no reason? Mador immediately arranged for someone to follow them, but it was unsuccessful.

Lance frowned. If you were to say who he had offended recently, who might be watching him, then there were only two families.

The Liji Group, and the Kodak family.

“Arrange some more people for everyone. Try not to act alone. Also, arrange some bodyguards for William, Emily, and Patricia’s side.”

“Bring your guns and bullets. We need to be careful these few days.”

He picked up the phone as he spoke and made a call to Bolton. “Someone is watching me. Today they arranged for a car…”

He looked at Mador as he spoke. Mador described the car’s appearance and color, as well as the driver’s general appearance.

The car had stopped once diagonally opposite the company. The whole process was only about twenty seconds. Someone had seen the driver’s appearance.

Brown hair, and a small brown mustache.

After saying this, Bolton immediately knew his job. “I’ll have people investigate it thoroughly. As long as they live in the Empire District or the Port District, I can dig them out.”

“As soon as possible!” After giving his instructions, Lance hung up the phone.

Bolton immediately began to work. Now, the street “cameras” of the entire two districts were under his control. As long as he stated these characteristics, those old men who were worried about not having a place to make money would immediately take action.

At this time, a vehicle that matched Bolton’s public notice’s appearance was parked in the parking lot of a car-side fast food restaurant.

Two members of the Golden State Mafia were eating hamburgers and chatting.

“The taste here is too sour. I don’t like such sour ketchup.”

“It’s a bit cloying for me. My whole teeth are numb. It’s very uncomfortable.”

The driver complained. The taste in Golden State was sweeter, while the ketchup in Likalai State would have more concentrated lemon juice.

Some also said they used synthetic citric acid, but it was indeed very sour, sweet and sour.

The person sitting in the passenger seat was more interested in the sour taste here. “I think it’s pretty good. At least it doesn’t make people feel cloying.”

He added some more ketchup, took a bite, and it was sour and sweet. His appetite became even better.