Empire of Shadows

A minor character, and he’s in Golden Port now?

“What about him?” This was the last bit of “respect” Tom had for this minor character, proactively asking about him instead of passively waiting.

Lance said with a smile, “He is now the director of the Golden Port City Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Hazardous Materials. You know, sometimes people also call them the ‘Prohibition Bureau’.”

“Yes, yes, I know, but it’s not actually just that.” This “folk” view actually couldn’t influence the decision-makers, nor could it influence the people around the decision-makers.

“He’s a bit in the way, blocking the road. I’m considering whether to move him from that position.”

Tom said jokingly, “Does the ‘move’ you’re talking about mean to make him disappear?”

“Uh-huh, there’s that possibility.”

“I want to know if this will bring any trouble.”

Tom thought for a moment. “His boss and we don’t have any conflict of interest, but this matter needs to be handled with some caution.”

“Prohibition is one of the core policies that Congress has been promoting in recent years. You know, the people who can push for the implementation of this law are all people who hold power in Congress.”“Actually, if that kind of minor character is really moved, then he’s moved. But the problem is, anything can be used as a reason for a political struggle.”

“Maybe one day when certain people need something to start a new political war, and he just happens to provide such an opportunity, you will become the next fuse.”

“Lance, you know, the job of a fuse is to detonate the explosives, and then be blown up into the sky with the explosives!”

“What I mean is not that you can’t do something to him, but you have to do it with artistry, so that people can’t find a reason, instead of directly ‘moving him’.”

He changed Lance’s “move” to “move away,” deepening the context a bit to make the content easier to understand.

Lance said “hmm.” “I know what to do.”

Tom said with a smile, “If you have any other questions, give me a call anytime.”

“I will, goodbye.”

After hanging up the phone, Tom turned and walked towards the living room. His family was still waiting to watch TV with him.

Although there were only three channels, its appearance still shocked people to the point of dropping their jaws!

On the other side, Lance frowned after putting down the phone. Although Tom said there was such a possibility, not that it would definitely be like this, there was indeed such a risk.

And this risk would not decrease and eventually disappear with the passage of time. On the contrary, it would constantly increase with the passage of time.

In this world, especially in the Federation, there is no eternal unity. As long as interests are constantly changing, political groups will also constantly change their positions and camps.

Four years ago, Mr. President and the Socialist Party were as close as a family, but now he had broken with a part of the Socialist Party, and there were also some problems within the Socialist Party.

This was a phased change, just to better control power and at the same time reduce “losing points.”

This was a relatively common political means. For example.

The Socialist Party has the support of a hundred people, but because of a recent policy of theirs, eighty of the hundred people have become dissatisfied with them.

If nothing is done, and they insist on “although we are wrong, we will not change,” then a considerable number of these eighty people may change their political camp.

But if at this time the Socialist Party splits into two parts, one part continues to insist on “although we are wrong, we will not change,” while the other part puts up the banner of “we are indeed wrong and we plan to actively change.”

Then among these eighty dissatisfied people, they will lean towards the latter, while the twenty people who have no ideas will continue to maintain their position.

This way, the Socialist Party will not have a large number of voter defections.

As for why they don’t directly propose the idea and action of “we are indeed wrong and we plan to actively change,” it’s actually very simple, because there are still twenty people who are insisting.

They can be divided into two groups, fight for a bit, and finally complete the integration and unification again. Maybe in the next election or the one after that, these split groups can be reunited again.

In the coming period of time, no one knows if friends will become enemies, nor if enemies will become friends.

Once the political landscape changes, what follows will be a war for interests, a purge.

Every time it changes, this risk increases by a point, so Lance plans to change his line of thought.

He then talked to Ponda, and Ponda accepted his proposal.

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed. During this time, Congress had been playing the role of the “protagonist,” firmly attracting people’s attention.

The entire Federation, all the people of the Federation, seemed to have realized something, and the atmosphere in society had also become a little heavier.

This afternoon, Director Dale was in his office, thinking about some future matters. Suddenly, Ponda gave him a call, saying that they had discovered something while on duty and hoped that he “had better go and have a look.”

This request was actually a bit out of line. Director Dale, who was a little worried and at the same time a little curious, finally decided to go and see.

After all, they were his own people. He didn’t believe that those people would gang up to harm him.

When he arrived at the location, it was a small warehouse. They were standing outside the warehouse.

“What happened?” He got out of the car, his hand on his hip, squinting at the inconspicuous warehouse in front of him.

Ponda said a bunch of things he didn’t understand and then said, “You’ll know when you go in and see.”

Under Director Dale’s puzzled gaze, he entered the warehouse. The warehouse was very dark. The light from outside did not shine in at all, and the lights were not on. It was completely dark and he couldn’t see anything.

He could only see a small area in front of him—

The light coming in from behind him could only illuminate such a small area. In the places closer to these areas, he might be able to see some blurry outlines, but he couldn’t see anything further away.

He frowned and was about to turn around and ask Ponda why he hadn’t turned on the lights when suddenly, the warehouse door was slammed shut with a bang.

He was stunned for two or three seconds, and then a cold sweat broke out all over his body. The warehouse was instantly plunged into darkness.

He rushed to the side of the door and pounded on the small door with force, making a clanging sound. “Fuck, what are you doing, Ponda?”

“I, as the director, order you to fucking open this damn door!”

“Otherwise, I will dismiss you from all your duties!”

“Fuck, open the door!”

But there was no answer from outside the door. He pushed and pulled the door a few times with force, but there was no reaction. It was very firmly shut.

When a person is in the dark and cannot see anything, they will feel a kind of fear. This fear is difficult to avoid, unless it is a person who has been professionally trained.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t do that.”

The sudden sound from behind made Director Dale’s hair stand on end. He turned around abruptly. With a slight electric current sound, a light suddenly turned on in the middle of the warehouse.

Under the lampshade, there was a table and a chair.

A figure was sitting opposite the table. He was crossing his legs, his upper body hidden in the darkness.

“Who are you!” Director Dale asked.

That voice was a little familiar. It should be someone he knew, or at least had met.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

“We can have a good chat.”

“I can assure you that before our chat is over, and before you decide to do something stupid, you are safe.”

Director Dale was silent for a moment, and silently walked under the lampshade. Here, he still couldn’t see the appearance of the person in the dark, only an outline.

“Why don’t you show your face? This isn’t fair!” Director Dale said tentatively.

The man laughed. “There has never been such a thing as fairness in this world, Mr. Director.”

“A young man gets into an Ivy League university with excellent grades, only to realize in school that even if his academic performance is very good, surpassing the vast majority of people, he is still a victim of a solidified class.”

“I’ve heard some of your stories. I don’t have any intention of laughing at you. On the contrary, I think you are a person who can recognize himself.”

“Ninety percent of the people in this society can’t do this, but you did.”

“You shouldn’t stop here. You should have a better future and development.”

“But look at you now—”

“You’re nothing!”

“Sorry, this may hurt your heart, but this is what I have to say.”

“You shouldn’t always be so obscure, Dale.”

Director Dale’s expression was not good. He thought of those very bad things.

In school, he wanted to join a fraternity because the resources of the fraternity were the best. The people in it were either the sons of congressmen, the nephews of important party members, or the descendants of socialites and dignitaries.

That wasn’t a fraternity; it was a golden future.

But the conditions for joining them were very harsh. They made Dale run naked and also did some things that humiliated his personality.

But he had persevered. He knew that he was not the main character; these people were.

And if he wanted to live a better life, he could only follow by the side of the main character.

Scenes of the past resurfaced in his mind. The shame of these past events being known by others made his emotions a little angry. He slammed the table. “Enough. We all know you know me well enough.”

“Go on, what did you want to tell me by bringing me here?”

“You cowardly fellow, hiding your face!”

The person’s toes swayed slightly. It seemed that his mood was not affected by him. His voice carried a trace of joy.

“I’ve run into a little trouble recently, and you can help me solve this trouble.”

“It’s just that there are two ways to solve the trouble. This concerns your future. It’s not convenient for me to make a decision for your future, so I’m giving you the chance to make the choice yourself.”

“My trouble is, I need your position, but you just happen to be sitting in it.”

“The first choice I give you is, due to some accident, you die in the line of duty, and… just today.”

“The second choice is, you can do those things for others, why can’t you do them for me too?”

(End of a Chapter)