Empire of Shadows

“Reporters from the Federation Daily want to come over for an interview, but these…” Major General Bruney said, at a loss for words as he watched a worker suddenly collapse in the crowd. The people around him lifted him by his arms and legs, tossed him into a shady spot, and went back to work.

Lance, however, appeared very calm. “Their country is suffering from war and aggression, and their compatriots are being slaughtered.”

“The Federation is a country with a sense of international responsibility. We will become the front line of resistance, opposition, and even a counter-attack against the Dantra military alliance.”

“Whether it’s for the civilized society of mankind or for themselves, this is what they should do.”

“Help us build up the Federation, and then counter-attack Dantra.”

He paused for a moment. “I will arrange for someone to be interviewed. If you have anything you want them to say, you can tell me in advance.”

Major General Bruney nodded. “I see.”

Lance took him to visit some of the underground fortifications and the coastal artillery batteries that were under construction.

Near Golden Port City, and even in the surrounding area, there were no obvious bay or strait structures, so the role of coastal artillery was basically nonexistent.

If the commander of the Dantra navy wasn’t obsessive-compulsive and insisted on landing under the bombardment of the coastal artillery, they could completely move a hundred kilometers to the left or right to land.Building these coastal artillery pieces was of no use at all, with no military value whatsoever!

But as it happened, the construction of these coastal artillery pieces was also a major project.

Lance casually joked, “Your Excellency Major General, do you think that when we need to rely on these things to resist the attack of their warships, will it still have any value?”

Major General Bruney was a standard civilian general, but he had also graduated from a well-known military academy. He knew what Lance’s words meant.

When the Federation’s navy was annihilated and could only rely on coastal artillery to protect the security of the homeland, then in fact, they had already lost, and lost very thoroughly.

“You are a smart man, Lance, but not everyone is very smart.”

“Those politicians, ordinary citizens who are not clear about these things, they will not understand that the value of this thing is just to give us some more time to escape.”

“They believe that these coastal guns can protect them, and those reporters also hope to see powerful gun barrels.”

This was actually a face-saving project. A portion of the senators, as well as the Department of Defense, they all needed these.

The group took a tour of the construction site. Overall, Major General Bruney was very satisfied. Everything was as Lance had promised, fast and good.

And this mainly depended on the cheap labor.

The money to hire one federal worker could hire more refugee workers. In the absence of building complex buildings, just leveling the ground and pouring concrete, having a large number of people was definitely an advantage.

After returning to the hotel, Lance had the mayor’s secretary leave first. Major General Bruney did not ask him to stay either. He knew that the rest of the matter had nothing to do with him.

So he immediately stood up to leave.

When he returned to the villa, the mayor was not surprised that he had come back so early, but was rather interested in asking about what had happened today.

He recounted everything in detail. “I think Lance and this major general from the Department of Defense knew each other before, and their relationship is very close. It doesn’t look like an ordinary official business.”

The mayor was a little amazed, and also a little emotional. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Lance is a magical guy. I can no longer see him clearly.”

“A city’s gang leader and a major general from the Department of Defense. This is simply not a relationship they have a chance to come into contact with.”

“His development is too fast…” he was silent for a moment. “You can get on good terms with him. In politics, temporary waiting (hibernation) is not shameful.”

“On the contrary, if waiting can bring you more advantages, you can completely rely on him as your object of reliance in the early and middle stages.”

The mayor’s evaluation of Lance was already very high. He also knew very well that the reason he would lose was because he lacked the support of high-end power.

If at that time, he also had a senator from Congress who was willing to support him, he might not have lost to the local forces. Then the situation would be different now.

This shortcoming existed in his political career, and his secretary would inevitably have the same shortcoming. This was also the most common problem encountered by grassroots political forces in “pioneering.”

They could not reach the high-level politicians. If they only relied on their own accumulation, it would take at least several generations of effort to reach the middle level of the political arena.

At this time, they needed a backer, a reliance.

Lance was a good choice. He had people in Congress, and he himself also had ability. This was a good thing.

After the mayor’s job was adjusted, he would soon go to a second- or even third-tier job. He would not be in charge of any department or work with any actual power. His political life was equal to ending at this moment, and he could not provide any assistance to his secretary.

If the secretary wanted to go further, he had to have someone help him.

At the level they could currently reach, Lance, on the contrary, had become the optimal choice.

The secretary nodded. “I understand.”

The two of them did not discuss this topic anymore, but talked about some arrangements after the mayor retired.

At the same time, the secretary also had a small doubt in his heart. After he left, what would Lance and Major General Bruney do?

What would they do?

Of course, they would do some things that were not convenient for others to be present for.

“There are four million here…” Lance gave a bank account number and password to Major General Bruney. “This is the first sum of funds. Soon we will have a second sum, at least this amount.”

Major General Bruney put away the card with the account number and password. He nodded slightly. “But there can’t be any problems with the quality of the project. This is the bottom line.”

Lance used a large number of refugees, but when the Department of Defense was costing, they were costing according to federal workers.

The costing was very reasonable. For example, a worker, according to the current per capita wage of the Federation, would be costed at about forty-eight dollars.

Considering that this was a heavy physical labor, requiring better nutritional supplements, etc., another fifteen dollars or so of food subsidy was added.

Now was the hottest season of the year. They might face heatstroke, sun exposure, and other medical needs, so there was also a ten-dollar medical subsidy.

The probability of construction workers encountering danger was a bit higher than in other industries, so each person also had a two-dollar commercial insurance premium per month.

After all the miscellaneous calculations, the total expenditure for each person per month was about ninety dollars.

No wonder everyone says that the Federation is a civilized and developed country. It’s just that their civilization and development are often concentrated in clerical work.

Forty thousand people, ninety dollars each, that’s 3.6 million in worker-related expenses a month. But in fact, these refugees, they could only take away about fifteen dollars from Lance’s hands each month.

The cost of hiring one local worker could hire six refugee workers. With the same forty thousand deaths, just this part of the cost could save three million a month.

A four-month construction period, twelve million.

Of course, Lance would definitely have to earn a little from it. Plus some unexpected expenses, the kickback on the workers’ side was about nine million.

A very suitable number. This was also something Lance could directly operate.

As Lance spoke, he took out another small card and handed it over. On it was still an account number and a password.

Major General Bruney looked at him with some confusion. He explained with a smile, “This is my personal gift to you.”

“Your Excellency Major General, we still have many opportunities to meet. You will gradually get to know me. I am a very generous person, and also a person who likes to make friends.”

“You gave me such an opportunity to make money, so I must definitely repay your kindness,” he tilted his body slightly, leaned closer, and lowered his voice a little, “on a personal level.”

As he spoke, he swayed his body back. “I have always believed that if you do something that is beneficial to a friend, you must be rewarded.”

“If you help me this time, and I don’t know how to be grateful and repay you, then the next time you encounter such a thing, perhaps you will not take the initiative to interfere with the result.”

“In my hometown, there is a saying, ‘If someone helps you, besides being grateful, you must also repay the other party’.”

The meaning between the lines of what Lance said was to tell Major General Bruney that if he had similar things in the future where he could be of use, he could still come to him.

Besides the official part, there was also a private thank you.

Major General Bruney thought for a moment and then showed a smile. “Call me Bruney. The title ‘Your Excellency Major General’ sounds too formal.”

He glanced at the small card on the desktop, pursed his lips, as if he were looking at a rather interesting, what’s-it-called, something that moved him. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. “Then I’ll accept it.”

Lance nodded. “Of course!”

The two looked at each other and smiled. They immediately felt that their relationship was much closer, not just because they had Senator Cleveland as a connection, but because their point-to-point relationship had become much closer.

The great power of wealth was vividly demonstrated at this moment. Before this, he had never corrected Lance, and had also accepted the honorific title “Your Excellency Major General,” which implied a difference in status.

But at this moment, they became friends.

After this small episode, Lance timely brought up a small request of his own. He had just opened his mouth when Major General Bruney tilted his head slightly and looked at him.

He first pretended to be stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile, “Bruney…”

Major General Bruney nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Alright!” Lance maintained his smile. “There’s something I might need your help with.”

Asking for a favor right after giving money, for a federal politician—a civilian general is also a politician—was actually a good thing.

If you don’t ask them to do something, they will be uneasy, because they will suspect whether there is a deeper problem behind this money, or this transaction.

But if you ask them to do things, they will understand that this is a power-money transaction, and it will become simpler.

Major General Bruney smiled and nodded. “Tell me.”

“The Coast Guard over there is managed by the Department of Defense, right?”

Major General Bruney nodded again. “Yes, we’re in charge. What’s wrong?”

The Coast Guard has a special department in the Department of Defense called the “Coast Guard Headquarters.” What’s unexpected is that the current “Commander-in-Chief” in charge of this part is a full general. Of course, he is also a civilian, but it is a concurrent post.

In fact, the specific work is still the responsibility of the brigadier general of the headquarters.

And the entire Coast Guard’s duties are also linked to military rank.

“I have a friend who is now a team leader in the local area. He is very responsible in his work and also has a strong sense of responsibility.”

“We’ve talked many times. I think we should give him some more responsibility, but I don’t know who to talk to about this…”

After hearing this, Major General Bruney showed a smile. This was so fucking simple!

“I’ll make a phone call.”

“Please do.”

To do a favor openly, no one is a fool.

Major General Bruney did not avoid Lance either. He directly dialed the number in Golden State from the living room. After a few sentences, he covered the mouthpiece and asked, “What’s your friend’s name again?”

Lance immediately replied, “McCork.”

He turned around and continued to say something, and also mentioned this name.

A few minutes later, he came back and sat down, saying with a smile, “I don’t know how high your friend’s military rank is, but in any case, he will become a deputy chief next week. Are you satisfied with this result?”

“If you want him to be fully in charge of the police work in the Golden Port City sea area, he must be at the rank of major.”

Lance really didn’t know about this, but to have a deputy chief was already very satisfying to him.

As for that chief, he was more responsible for administrative work, that is, arranging what they had to do every day, how to do it, and who would do it.

The people who were really responsible for executing these tasks were still the deputy chiefs and the like.

Moreover, with the identity of a deputy chief, to continue to win over and corrupt the chief was also a small matter.

“I’m more than satisfied, Bruney. I really don’t know how to thank you…” he paused. “I have a few bottles of good wine over there. I’ll bring them over for you to taste later…”

At this time, to talk about money again would be a bit too “vulgar,” so Lance changed his way of thanking him.

Major General Bruney also liked Lance’s quick wit, and also liked his generosity.

He considered for a moment. “The naval commander in charge of this area will come over in advance before the end of the year. We can chat together then. You remember to arrange it.”

Lance nodded vigorously. “I guarantee it will be arranged very properly.”

Major General Bruney took the initiative to bring this up also to sell a favor to both sides. After the garrison arrived here, no matter what, they would have more contact with the local area.

In the contact, it was inevitable that there would be friction, and then a role was needed to solve these problems. Lance was a good candidate.

He introduced the person who could solve the problem locally to the naval commander, showing his ability to control the situation, and at the same time, he could also show his value and ability to Lance.

To make friends, you either have ability or you have money.

If you have no ability and no money, then you can’t be friends!

The news of Major General Bruney’s arrival in port quickly spread in Golden Port City. The matter of a civilian general being equivalent to a politician was not a secret. The concept of them being just “politicians in military uniform” was deeply rooted in people’s hearts.

The Department of Defense and a major general, when they came together, would be taken seriously by people.

Councilman Williams held a welcome ceremony. As a member of Senator Cleveland’s circle, Major General Bruney definitely had to give him some face.

In addition, Councilman Williams was about to become the mayor, so he readily attended the appointment.

At the banquet, the most talked about issue was the garrison issue.

Many of them were worried that the garrison would have a conflict with the local area. Once a conflict occurred, and it was during a war, many things would become very difficult to control.

The people who could come here, most of their interests were centered around Golden Port City. They, more than anyone else, did not want to see problems in Golden Port City.

This kind of worry was inevitable. The military was a super monster. Many times it would be suppressed by the federal government, but once it was released from the cage with the arrival of war, some things would be hard to say.

In response to this, Major General Bruney could only do his best to appease the emotions of these people, and this was also a part of his job.

It was also his arrival that made people smell the coming of war.

Major General Bruney stayed in Golden Port City for about a week. Originally, he was supposed to leave in three or five days, but Lance had asked him for a favor, and he had to see the result before he left. This also showed that he was a responsible person.

It was only after McCork’s orders were issued to Golden Port City that he said goodbye to Lance. Lance also gave him a box of wine.

The thing was not very valuable, a total of a few thousand dollars, but it was at least a gesture.

McCork’s promotion once again showed Lance’s “strength” to the interest network with Lance as the core. The Coast Guard was called the “sea police,” but in fact, they were a real military establishment. To be able to get a hand into the military, it could only be said that he had something.

The more things Lance had, the more enthusiastic the people around him became. Everyone hoped that they could become the next McCork and reach the pinnacle of their lives through Lance.

After Major General Bruney left, the matter of Lance continuing to win over these power departments was once again on the agenda. He handed over the matter of the court and the judges to Roben the lawyer.

Roben the lawyer had some connections in the Department of Justice, and he also had a certain amount of face in the local judicial system. In addition, he was also in this system, so these things were very simple to do.

On the prosecutor’s office side, because of Attorney General Terry, the local prosecutors had also met with Lance privately.

At first, they did not talk about anything too in-depth, but they left each other with a certain attitude, and would continue to follow up in the future.

Everything was changing for the better.

In late September, a sudden “recruitment advertisement” began to appear all over the streets and alleys of the Federation. Both the army and the navy needed to recruit, and there was no mention of the specific number of recruits.

In these recruitment policies, there was a very special policy.

That is, non-citizens who do not have a legal identity in the Federation but are currently temporarily residing in the Federation can obtain federal citizenship by joining the army.

For a time, a large number of refugees and illegal immigrants all began to actively sign up for enlistment to obtain this legal identity…

(End of a Chapter)