Empire of Shadows

From Lance and Mayor Williams’s perspective, they could see the changes happening in the square at first glance.

“There’s another group,” Lance said, seeing the people in police uniforms also using the same methods to attack the demonstrators.

Mayor Williams took a sip from his wine glass. “Crude tricks!”

Lance walked to the desk and picked up the phone. “Some rats have mixed into our game. Be sure to identify them.”

He put down the phone and returned to the window, watching the chaos unfolding in the square.

The two groups were not large in number, yet they could chase and disperse a large crowd. They were supposed to be a single entity, but now they weren’t functioning as one.

At this moment, the principle that a people without a leader is like a heap of loose sand was demonstrated to its fullest!

It wasn’t just Lance and Mayor Williams observing what was happening in the square. Behind many windows of the City Hall building, many people were watching this scene.

From a “historical” perspective, these newly arrived Slad people were gradually clenching their fists, forming a force, a force capable of shaking society.

But their demands were too aggressive, and their “leader” was too greedy, so much so that before they had truly formed a force, they were betrayed and scattered.And this time, after being scattered, it would be very difficult for them to gather again into a single force.

This would be the last display of the Slad people’s strength. After today, they would be like pitiful creatures with their backs broken, finding it difficult to unify their thoughts, twist into a single rope, and become a single force!

They would be broken up into many groups, and each group would have its own political主張. They would fall into a vicious circle—

Each group would want to gain the recognition of the Federation’s mainstream, and to do this, they would have to propose some theories and standpoints that were beneficial to the Federation’s society, and suppress the other groups as much as possible.

Only by gaining the recognition of the Federation’s mainstream society could they receive various forms of help from it.

Financial, political, or in other aspects.

The more they relied on this funding, the more they would deviate from their original ideas. Then, one by one, the ideal groups would become interest groups, becoming a paradise for speculators.

In order to obtain more benefits, to achieve more success, they would have to sell out the Slad refugees behind them even more vigorously.

They would fall into a long period of internal strife and would no longer be able to pose a threat to the rulers here.

Could the Slad people not see these things clearly?

No, they could see them clearly, but they couldn’t change them. In fact, they themselves were a part of the whole plan.

If you want to become a person of a higher class, if you want to live a rich and extravagant life, you have to hold the bargaining chips.

And the people are the best bargaining chips.

They would be tamed by multiple forces to become the most docile lambs.

“The development of Golden Port City needs a large population. If we can swallow all these people, it will be very beneficial for the subsequent development.”

“The city’s expansion will take several years. This cheap labor is the best consumable. I think we can relax the refugee entry system.”

“Didn’t they say you were too conservative?”

“Then you can completely try to relax the policy as if you were ‘acting out of pique’.”

The people below were already in a chaotic fight, but Lance and Mayor Williams were discussing the subsequent development of the city and some policy changes regarding the Slad refugees.

Mayor Williams quite agreed. “But to have them completely settle here is not an easy matter.”

Lance laughed twice. “This is the Federation, full of freedom and all things beautiful. They will hope to live here.”

“Just like us.”

Who could refuse to live in such a prosperous and developed country and city?

The attraction of a big city to the poor is unparalleled. Many people sell all their assets in the countryside to come and live in the big city. This is their ultimate dream.

It was the same for the refugees. The harder and more painful their lives were, the more they longed to become a part of this place.

Look at those early immigrants!

For example, Ennio’s father. His life was a mess, but he still desperately wanted to gain a foothold in this city, to obtain the most basic decency!

To achieve this, they could pay any price they could!

Just like Carl, who was charging and killing in the crowd at this moment. He also wanted to pursue a happy life, and also wanted to obtain the qualification to live a decent life in the Federation.

So even if what he was doing now was something he had never thought of before, and he was still a little resistant to it in his heart, he would still bite the bullet and do it.

He was panting, and a puff of white mist would come out with every breath. The hilt of the knife in his hand was a bit cold, but his body was hot.

He kicked the guy in front of him hard, and then slashed with his knife, making him “get out of the way,” and then searched for the next target.

He didn’t feel much guilt, nor did he have any intention of killing anyone. He just wanted to drive these people away and make them look like they had serious external injuries.

At this moment, he felt his body was full of strength. A crowd that was ten, dozens, or even hundreds of times larger than his group was being chased around by them.

At this very moment, he was looking at everything that was happening here from another perspective.

Weakness!

Because of weakness, one is bullied, and all this happens, just like him in the past.

But now, he was no longer weak. He had mastered power.

In the future, he didn’t want to be a weak person either. He wanted to make himself stronger and not be easily bullied by others.

Just as he raised the weapon in his hand, he was stunned.

Boni, supporting a woman, appeared in front of him. The gazes of the two met in the air, stuck together, but not romantically.

They looked at each other. At this moment, this minute, this second, time seemed to have played a joke on him, freezing at this moment!

He thought of the times they had looked at each other when they were children. The children of poor families huddled together for warmth. From a young age, they knew that as long as everyone was together, they would not be bullied.

Boni was the one with the most ideas in this group. Many of his peers listened to him. He had his own opinions, his own ideas, and he united everyone so that they would not be bullied.

Many people admired him very much. After all, for children who were poor and had been bullied since they were young, their fathers might not even protect them, but Boni could.

From that time on, their small group had regarded Boni as their leader. They were engrossed in the magnificent ideals that Boni spoke of, unable to extricate themselves.

It was only now that Carl understood that he had never really wanted to be a great person. He just wanted to be a person of a higher class, a person who was respected.

As if crossing time, his younger self looked at Boni with admiration, and his current self looked at Boni with a more rational gaze. He was overlapping with his past self, replacing his past self!

He didn’t know who had bumped him from behind, knocking him off balance. And it was this stumble that brought his time back to normal.

He looked at Boni again, then turned and walked away in another direction. Although they had walked on different paths, at least they had once been friends.

After all, they had been together for too long, longer than his relatives had been with him. This was also a kind of bond.

He didn’t want to find trouble with Boni, but Boni took the initiative to find trouble with him. He let the woman go to a safe place, and then ran over to chase him. “You’re crazy!”

“Why are you doing this!” He grabbed Carl’s arm, his eyes turning red!

Carl didn’t want to talk to him and broke free from his entanglement. Just as he had walked two steps, he was grabbed again.

Someone was looking over here. As the “Boss” of this group, he had encountered trouble. His subordinates were all asking with their eyes whether he needed help.

These people also knew Boni. Some of them had been in their current “company” before. At that time, Boni was the Boss.

“Don’t make it difficult for me!” The stares made Carl a little uncomfortable. He pried Boni’s hand open and pushed him away. “This is the last time. Don’t cause trouble for yourself!”

After saying that, he turned and strode towards the nearest few people.

But Boni still chased after him. He reached out to grab Carl. Carl was finally pissed off. He turned around and hit Boni. Seeing the blood dripping from Boni’s head, he was stunned for a moment, his eyelids blinking uncontrollably, and then he turned and left.

He didn’t want to go back to that oppressive life of the past, where no matter what he did, he had to be careful, bend his back, and lower his head, guessing other people’s emotions.

He had been bending his back for too long in his life. He wanted to stand up straight, to stretch his body.

Whoever helped him was his friend.

Whoever stopped him from standing up straight, who pressed his head down and made him continue to bow, was his enemy.

No matter who that person was, whether he knew them, didn’t know them, or… Boni!

He had lived a very fulfilling and happy life during this period.

Countless riches had filled his heart, which he didn’t even know was empty. He had gained a kind of happiness and sense of accomplishment that he had never experienced before.

Friends?

Brothers?

No, he didn’t need them!

What he needed was to just keep moving forward!

Boni held the wound on his head and looked at the departing Carl. He finally realized that it wasn’t just that he and Carl had different ideas. They had walked on two completely opposite paths!

Perhaps it was the conflict with Boni just now that had made Carl a little distracted. He was pulled several times before he came back to his senses.

“What’s wrong?”

A subordinate by his side said, “Time’s up.”

He raised his wrist and glanced at the gold watch he had bought for 350 from an antique shop. It was indeed the appointed time.

He waved his hand, and he, as well as some of the key members, began to retreat.

In the original script, a small number of people were to be caught. Although this was a “performance,” it couldn’t be too fake.

It was impossible for no one to escape. Some would definitely escape, but some would definitely be caught.

After Carl and these key members and some others had left, some people were still driving away the rallying refugees. They were the ones who were going to be caught later, and they would be the ones whose identities would be exposed in front of many people!

This was very important!

About a minute or so after Carl and his group had withdrawn, suddenly, the wailing of police cars instantly resounded throughout the entire square.

A large number of police cars and police officers poured out from the alleys on all four sides, surrounding the square so tightly that not even water could get through.

According to the police dispatch regulations of the Federation, when a serious case occurs, the siren must be sounded. Its purpose is not to remind the criminals that “the police are here,” but to let the criminals, by knowing that the police are here, interrupt their crime and reduce the loss and casualties of the victims.

Logically, they should have sounded their sirens from a long way off, and these fake police officers should also have been able to hear them early on.

But the moment the siren sounded, the police appeared. This was obviously a bit strange. They were too fast!

But before they could react, the police had already formed a line and raised their weapons. A voice from a megaphone demanded that everyone put down their weapons and kneel down to surrender.

The atmosphere in the square was a bit… I don’t know what to say. Twenty or thirty young men with weapons in their hands threw down their weapons and then honestly knelt on the ground.

But in the distance, another group of fake police officers didn’t know what to do.

They were playing the role of fake police, not real police.

A fake police officer tried to deceive the police. He just took a few steps towards the police with a steel pipe in his hand. The police officer he was facing directly pulled the trigger.

The gunshot made the square erupt in even more shrill screams, but after the screams, there was calm.

Many of the terrified fake police officers all dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.

After the last riot, they knew that the federal police really dared to open fire!

Lance, seeing this scene from the mayor’s office, shook his head slightly and returned to the side of the sofa and sat down.

Mayor Williams, on the other hand, still had the desire to continue watching. He turned to look at Lance. “Why aren’t you watching?”

Lance picked up his wine glass and took a sip. “The script was written long ago. It’s just a competent performance. There are no surprises.”

Outside the window, the fake police officers were handcuffed. They were arranged to stand together. Someone in the crowd of the rally suddenly exclaimed, “Isn’t that… so-and-so’s kid?”

“My God, I’ve seen that person. It’s the fourth person from the left. He lives in the square next to ours!”

As more and more people were recognized, this performance finally came to an end.

The Slad people who were recognized on the spot lowered their heads in shame, including some on the fake police side who were also exposed. After all, they were all Slad people, and someone would always know them.

Boni, who had originally wanted to accuse the thugs who were not wearing police uniforms of being instigated by the Federation people, unexpectedly chose to remain silent after seeing the few people on the fake police side.

Among those people, he saw some familiar faces, some familiar faces who had been in and out of Hope’s house.

He wasn’t a fool. He knew what had happened, and he knew what it meant.

His face was very ugly. He was sitting by the side of an ambulance, accepting on-site stitches from a doctor. He didn’t even notice that he had been stitched up without any anesthesia.

Because compared to the pain from the wound on his head, the wound in his heart was obviously more painful.

Chief Bruce immediately launched an investigation. Carl’s men confessed very smoothly that Hope had hired them to do this.

Although Hope was already dead, they said that it was a while ago that Hope had found them and hired them to do this, and had even paid a deposit of 20,000.

Originally, after Hope’s death, they had not planned to continue to perform this job, but soon Hope’s assistant had contacted them and hoped that they would continue to do it and not stop.

For the sake of that money, they had decided to act according to the plan.

The interrogation on the fake police side also went very smoothly. Many people confessed that they were also hired by Hope. The purpose was to play the role of the federal police, to create opposition and hatred…

The news quickly caused a huge stir in Golden Port City, and even the Secretary of State and the Lieutenant Governor called to inquire about what was going on.

Mayor Williams very easily recounted the story according to the script. This was also thanks to Mr. Charles and those people. They had also used the same trick, which made this performance more realistic.

After hearing the complete ins and outs of these matters, the lieutenant governor asked him to come to Manteno as soon as possible.

If they didn’t deal with it, who knows how many more things they would stir up.

The only thing to be thankful for was that this matter was an internal problem of the Slad people, not between the Federation and the Slad people.

Of course, as the lieutenant governor, he could certainly guess something, but as long as there was no evidence, then they could not admit it.

Mr. Fitz also took the opportunity to stand up. He vigorously publicized that the late Hope and the people around him had created this tragedy.

They had tried to use the creation of terror and confrontational emotions to use everyone to attack City Hall for their own profit.

In his description, Hope became an ugly clown. Everything he did was just for wealth, status, and power.

Fitz had some real and fake evidence in his hands, for example, the account that Hope had opened at the Golden Port Bank, and the huge deposits in it.

For another example, Hope’s villa in the Bay Area was not bought by him, but was a gift from someone, a gift from a person of the Federation.

He was not really trying to seek welfare for the Slad refugees. He was using everyone to do business!

This evidence, accompanied by the “truth” that had just broken out, made the public instantly furious. These lower-class people who lacked the ability to think and distinguish were too easy to manipulate!

These people went from being extremely supportive of Hope to now spitting on him.

Even though he was already dead, there would still be people who would spit on him, and on his tombstone.

The guidance of public opinion was very successful, and Fitz also gained a huge reputation. However, what he might not know yet was that no one would let him be the sole dominant one.

After the matter was over, on the second day of the New Year, Mayor Williams, after dealing with the urgent work in his hands, went to Manteno with Lance.

In the luxurious carriage of the train, Mayor Williams was in a good mood.

“Fitz did a good job. He has already gained the support of many refugees.”

Lance nodded, and at the same time gave him some advice. “We can’t let Fitz become the next Hope. We have to find him some opponents of similar strength, otherwise he might get out of our control.”

Mayor Williams smiled. “It’s already been arranged…”

(End of a Chapter)