Empire of Shadows

The intern at the prosecutor’s office did not press further to ask who would take care of this wealthy man.

Because he knew.

In Golden Port City, if there was anyone who could handle these people, then there were only two: Mayor Williams and Lance White.

Mayor Williams had a lot of trouble on his own plate recently. He probably couldn’t spare the attention for this. So, there was only one answer left: Lance White.

As an emissary of justice, the intern instinctively felt that this was not right.

Justice should not be carried out by darkness, but for a moment he couldn’t find a good way to refute it, because in fact, when he was in school, he had already come into contact with some similar cases.

For example, a wealthy man had raped a lady. The lady had sued the wealthy man for assaulting her, but in the end, it was this lady who was sent to prison for twenty years for the crime of blackmail, and she had disappeared in prison, disappeared without a trace. No one knew where she had gone.

For another example, everyone knew that a certain wealthy man had killed someone, and there was even evidence to prove it, but in the end, the court had acquitted him.

What was even more infuriating was that a few years after he was acquitted, he had specially written a book called “Getting Away with It,” and the content was about how he had killed that victim and how he had won in court through means that were not illegal!

Because the judicial regulations of the Federation stipulated that a case that has already been closed cannot be reopened. As long as he does not make a mistake in his life, then he is truly “getting away with it”!This kind of thing often happens in the Federation. Many of these cases will be used as typical cases for explanation when studying in school.

The professors would tell them that if they encountered such cases, how to handle them would be the best way to handle them.

He had also privately asked the professor if the handling methods he had mentioned in class were really effective.

After a long silence, the professor had told him with an indescribable sense of discouragement that unless he was richer and more powerful than the suspect, he would also be helpless, powerless.

The law, in many cases, may not really be able to be implemented to the end!

The bad guys never get the punishment and results they deserve, while the good guys, it seems, always play the role of the victim in one case after another.

If this wealthy man under interrogation had really killed someone and could get out in two or three years, then he would have completely lost hope in the entire judicial system of the Federation!

Looking at the intern’s pained expression, the prosecutor sighed. “You’ll get used to it. I’m willing to cooperate with Lance, not because of the pressure from Attorney General Terry’s side, nor because I can get any benefits from Lance’s hands.”

“It’s just that at this time, he can play the role of a dark knight, to achieve the justice that we cannot obtain, through his own way!”

“In any case, justice has descended upon the world. As for whether the person holding the sword has the wings of an angel or the wings of a demon, does that matter?”

“Justice is justice!”

The intern was greatly shocked. Although he felt that what the prosecutor said was not entirely right, he had nothing to refute, or rather, he was not willing to refute.

The perpetrator ultimately pays the price. Who can refuse this grand finale?

It wasn’t just one wealthy man; many wealthy men were facing the same problem.

For those wealthy men with some family background, Lance would still use the prosecutor’s office and the prosecutors to help them make a decision. As for some of the less conspicuous minor characters, he would just nakedly ask them to sign.

Either sign, or see you at the bottom of Angel Lake!

This matter once again taught people a lesson: the insurance rate of putting a body in an oil drum and throwing it into Angel Lake is 100%.

The depositors of the thousands or tens of thousands of corpses under Angel Lake would absolutely not allow anyone to disturb the souls of the dead under the lake—

It sounds like the filial piety of a great filial son, but in fact, they are just afraid of causing greater trouble.

During this period, there were also some people who tried to contact the Manteno side, seeking the help of some government officials or party officials to solve the troubles they were currently in.

If it were before, this would have been a troublesome matter. Within the party, within the state government, those with power, with influence, there were too many people for Lance to deal with.

One or two, he could completely ignore, but when the number of people involved was large, even the congressional side would definitely be alarmed.

To obtain the shares of the Golden Port Docks Investment Company through this method of robbery, and then to alarm Congress, leaving Congress with the concept of a “stupid robber with no artistic cells,” and an unlikable impression.

It’s better to be like now, holding the privilege given by Congress, and acting domineeringly and directly. People will only see a Lance and a Lance Family with power that reaches the heavens!

Although the things he did were all the same, the effect of these things was another matter.

The effect was very good. The people on the Manteno side had all refused to help them, because Senator Cleveland and the others had already given them a heads-up. Since both sides were unwilling to mediate, fine, then you can rely on your own abilities.

This was also the reason why Lance still kept the main battlefield in Golden Port City. If it were in Manteno, this matter would not be so smooth.

Even if Attorney General Terry could cooperate with him, what about the other departments?

Could they also cooperate with him like this?

So to let these people return to Golden Port City and then launch a killing move was the only way to truly strangle them here.

For several days in a row, many rumors were spread in Golden Port City. In addition, after the New Year, several conflicts also broke out within the refugee community.

In these few conflicts, the Golden Port City side was completely on the sidelines, watching the fun. Lance also had the police go over to maintain order, of course, after they had been fighting for a period of time.

The fall of a hard-line “leader” often brings two relatively extreme results.

The first outcome is that the hardliners’ backbone has been shattered. Compared to the compromise faction, they are now like maggots writhing in the dirt, terrified of attracting notice and retaliation.

These people have lost the determination and courage to resist. They are already useless and can no longer pose a threat. At the same time, they will also be the “black sheep” in their own group.

The other result is that a small number of hard-liners will become even more hard-line. And the reason for this change is that some of them will think that the leader’s failure was because he was not strong enough, not hard enough!

If he were strong enough and hard enough, he would not have fallen at all. They will become more radical!

This is also the main reason for the current division and even conflict within the refugee community. These “evolved” hard-liners have inherited some of Hope’s views and thoughts. They have become more unstable and more irritable.

At the same time, they want to coerce more ordinary people to stand on their side.

If this kind of thing had been put in the past, there might not have been any problem, but with the emergence of representatives like Mr. Fitz, who love peace, advocate exchanging labor for living space, and know how to be patient and tolerant, and who have gained the support of a portion of the people, an unavoidable conflict and clash will arise between the two sides.

You think I’m wrong, and I think you’re wrong. If they were in a debate, then they would only be in a debate.

But they were not actually in a debate. The core purpose of them expressing their position and views was to obtain more “bargaining chips.”

The people are the bargaining chips. Whoever has more bargaining chips in their hands will occupy more initiative in politics. Both sides hope that they will have the most bargaining chips, so it is impossible for them to get along peacefully.

Mr. Fitz, in gaining support—

Lance had given him five thousand equal job positions. The wages for these five thousand job positions were not “discriminatory.” They could get the full wage, which was about forty-two dollars.

This forty-two dollars could solve many of their problems. Five thousand families and about twenty thousand people could thus live a normal life. How could people not support Mr. Fitz?

This is also one of the most terrible places where capital erodes politics!

When the people are choosing a politician to represent them, they often hope to be able to get some benefits for themselves and their group through this representative.

If there is capital supporting this politician from behind, the things he has promised to the voters can be immediately fulfilled, then naturally his approval rating will become higher and higher, and the number of people who support him will also become more and more.

Who can refuse a politician who can fulfill his promises?

The people of the Federation cannot refuse, and the refugees cannot refuse either, although Mr. Fitz is not a politician!

Mr. Fitz has proven with his concept and attitude that his set of theories is correct. Otherwise, why would the people of the Federation give him so many job positions, and equal-priced job positions at that, and not to the previous Hope, and the current batch of hard-liners?

Because they are not recognized!

On one side is a peaceful way to embrace a new life in a way they can accept.

On the other side is a tyrannical way, where the shadow of a new life is always out of sight.

Who to choose is very simple.

During one of Mr. Fitz’s speeches, some hard-line members attacked the speech site, and Mr. Fitz’s head was also broken.

The police arrived in time and arrested some of the attackers, but the merciful Mr. Fitz took the initiative to ask for the release of those young people.

He believed that they were just instigated by some conspirators to create a new conflict and prevent the refugees from ever finding happiness in the Federation.

Some people even said that these were all conspiracies of the Dantra Republic, or the means of some people in the country, just to force them to go back to their country and sell their lives for the ruling class!

In short, with the driving force, all kinds of statements have emerged, but they cannot change one situation. Mr. Fitz’s peace faction is rapidly rising.

“How many shares do we have in our hands?”

Lance sat at his desk smoking, while Mello and Sean were sorting out the documents on the desk.

With the help of Roben the lawyer, Sean had entered his former university to study law. This was already the second year of his winter vacation.

Last year, let alone the winter vacation, the summer vacation was also spent in school. His foundation was a bit weaker than others, so he needed to work harder to not be left behind, and even to catch up with other students, to surpass other students.

Poverty and hardship are indeed the best whetstones in the world. They can not only not erase the sharp edges, but also let people understand the true meaning of life.

A life of luxury and pleasure will never inspire people’s fighting spirit. It will only make people more incompetent!

After a year and a half of hard work, Sean, not to say how outstanding he was, but at least among the students in his vicinity, he was already a representative of outstanding students.

This time he came back for the winter vacation, besides missing everyone too much, he also, by the way… wanted to solve his personal problems.

Lance did not treat him harshly in terms of expenses. This batch of old people was of extraordinary significance to Lance, and Sean was also like the others.

Besides all kinds of rewards and basic salary, he was also able to eat the company’s dividends.

It might not be much, probably less than 1%, but that was also a very handsome income.

Money, in any era, any cultural background, is a universal pass.

In school, because of his outstanding learning ability, and because he was rich, he quickly reaped his love, and of course his good friends.

This winter vacation was to bring them to see Lance.

In Golden Port City, the Lance Family was definitely a famous name, but in the entire Likalai State, it was not so famous. It was only limited to those who were interested in this side and had some understanding.

It just so happened that there were a lot of things to do during this period, and Sean, this university student, had come back, so Lance had pulled him over to do these jobs.

Mello gave Sean a hand. Soon Sean had finished the statistics. “It’s about a little over 35%.”

Lance nodded in satisfaction. These shares had not come easily.

They were all 1-2%, or even a few thousandths, gradually accumulated.

There was still a considerable portion in the hands of the bank and some major shareholders. For example, Mr. Charles, the shares he held alone accounted for 7%, and he was the largest individual shareholder.

Of course, there were other shareholders behind this batch of shares, but they had merged and authorized Mr. Charles to hold the shares on their behalf.

Currently, the shares in the hands of Lance and the group of people he had previously gathered, added up to about 50%, which was already very considerable, far exceeding his plan.

As for the remaining shares, if he wanted to get all of them, it would not be an easy matter.

The bank, of course, needless to say, although he felt that he was very strong now, but robbing a bank was something he still couldn’t do, at least not at present.

As for the shares in the hands of the major shareholders, they were not so easy to get. Countless pairs of eyes were staring, and besides the shares in Mr. Charles’s hands, Lance was not considering moving on the others.

If he were to get all the shares in his own hands, then in the future, it would be him who would be competing with the new capital behind Sidney. He didn’t like this.

Leaving these people, letting them cause competition and balance, was much easier than doing it himself.

After dealing with some of the matters at hand, Lance looked at Sean. “When are you planning to get married?”

Sean pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose with some embarrassment. His companions by his side were also pushing him.

It wasn’t that they were bullying him, but a way of expressing their inner emotions.

“This summer vacation.”

June and July are good months for getting married. Many of the Federation’s people’s weddings are set in June and July.

Immediately, someone started to heckle. Lance was also a little curious. “Why are you thinking of getting married so soon? Your college life is only halfway through!”

A happy smile was on Sean’s face. “She’s pregnant. We plan to have the wedding with the baby.”

“Holy shit!”

“You’re fucking good!”

“People go to college, you go to make a baby!”

The horseplay of his companions made Sean also feel a long-lost, unburdened joy. “We didn’t expect it, but since we have it, we can only have it.”

“Her family is a very traditional church family. Abortion is as serious as blaspheming God for their family!”

So far, many states in the Federation have laws prohibiting abortion. Once a woman is pregnant, she must give birth.

Abortion has also become an illegal surgery. If you are reported and caught, you will face a very serious prison sentence.

This also led to a very special phenomenon in this period, which was that many skilled women had children.

Many of them would bring their children to work, to receive customers. This was also the reason why the number of perverted killers in the Federation would skyrocket in the next ten or twenty years!

Because the men who spent money to help these girls get pleasure would never know what they would bring after a single ejaculation. In addition, with the prohibition of abortion, many skilled women could only accept such a result.

After everyone had laughed for a while, Lance raised his hand and had them quiet down. “Then your girlfriend and her family, can they accept your identity as an Empire immigrant, and your gangster background?”

Sean nodded slightly. “I’ve talked to her father. He has accepted it.”

This made some of the young men couldn’t help but ask, “How the fuck did you convince those old stubborns?”

This kind of traditional believer family is a typical conservative. They reject excessive contact with immigrant groups. Some of the young men are also facing similar problems, or are about to face similar problems. They hope to get some help from Sean.

Morris, sitting next to him, was also listening carefully. His girlfriend’s parents were also believers. In fact, almost most of the old Federation families in this period were believers.

They more or less had prejudice against immigrants.

Sean shrugged. “I put two thousand on the table and told him I wanted to marry his daughter. Then he said, ‘Welcome, my child’!”

After a short period of calm, the entire room was filled with happy laughter.

Money is a fucking good thing!

The arrival of Sean with his girlfriend and friend gave people a feeling of indescribable change, as if people had suddenly stood still and looked back at the road they had come from, only to realize how far they had walked.

On January 8th, Mr. Charles was tried in the Golden Port fast-track court, and was sentenced to three months in prison.

His lawyer had provided a lot of material to prove that Mr. Charles, outside of prison, could make a greater contribution to this society than he could in prison, but the judge still believed that no matter what, he had to at least serve a sentence in prison for this crime.

He could not be pardoned of his sentence just because he was rich. This would only encourage his contempt for the judiciary.

Then Mr. Charles stated in court that he would appeal…

(End of a Chapter)