Empire of Shadows

There is a force that you may not be able to see, but you can feel it.

The power of the sun.

The sun in March already had some “power.” It was warm on the body. The grass on the lawn had sprouted tender green shoots. Everything was full of vibrant life.

A beautiful time, especially when a gust of wind blew, carrying the fragrance of the earth and the breath of the times, blowing through people’s hearts.

It was clearly just the life in front of them, yet it gave people an imagination that could see through the long river of time, to see that brilliant summer of orioles flying and grass growing and skirts flying!

When Director Dale had just arrived in Manteno, he was a little unaccustomed to it, because here… looked a little worse than Golden Port City, even though this was the capital of the entire state.

But it didn’t matter. He had not come here for a vacation. He had come here to work.

Because of that “super phone call,” and of course, it was also possible that the congressional side had given a heads-up to the local Prohibition Committee, they were very happy and delighted with Dale’s joining.

Not only did they hold a grand welcome ceremony for him, but they also took the initiative to introduce each other and expressed that they would support Director Dale’s work during his time in Manteno.

They also hoped that Director Dale could bring out the ability he had used to deal with those private liquor dealers in Golden Port City to help with the implementation of the Prohibition.To give those private liquor dealers a heavy blow!

He was a little overwhelmed by the favor, but he also quickly realized that this was actually also a kind of pressure.

Lance trusted him very much, which was why he had given him such an opportunity, such a huge stage.

If he couldn’t handle the work that Lance had entrusted to him, then some things would not be others’ problem, but his own problem.

Whether it was failure, or something else, it was all his own problem, and had nothing to do with others.

After a simple understanding of the nature and content of his work, on the Monday morning of the second week after he had arrived in Manteno to take up his post, he had breakfast, and before he went out, he stood in front of the mirror and straightened his attire.

Light-colored attire. Now in the Federation, this kind of ivory white or off-white suit was very popular, and then paired with a hat of the same color.

His wife stood by his side, looking at him with a look of admiration. “You look as handsome as you did twenty years ago, dear.”

The current Executive Committee Member Dale couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re always saying such things to make me happy!” he kissed his wife on the forehead. “You too. You are always the most beautiful person in my heart!”

The two of them had a simple, warm hug. In fact, in these years, Director Dale had also had an affair, and had also experienced the things that those with a little ability had to experience.

Tobacco, alcohol, money, women, everything!

But in the end, he had returned to his family. He loved his wife. This was his inseparable family.

“Alright, I can’t be late on the first day of the first week of my official work. I have to go.”

Their child had not come with them. Manteno now indeed did not look as vibrant as Golden Port City, and the buildings were not as numerous, nor as tall as in Golden Port City.

Mayor Williams had recently had the idea of building a “tallest building in Likalai State.” He was actively communicating with the new and old two batches of capitalists.

However, Lance privately did not think this was a smart plan, because this place was by the sea.

Before the war, building such a building would only allow the enemy warships that might appear outside the port to aim a little more accurately.

Dale came out of his room, carrying his briefcase, and hurried into the car.

He was now assigned a driver. After all, at his current status, he was already qualified to accept the services of others, instead of serving others.

The vehicle soon stopped in a relatively not-so-central place in Manteno. A five-story small building that looked not bad on the side of the road was the office of the State Prohibition Committee.

As soon as he got out of the car, the guard on duty at the door immediately stood at attention and opened the main door of the office building for him. “Good morning, Executive Committee Member Mr. Dale. I hope you have a pleasant day!”

The doorman’s attire and even his tone were very formal. Dale actually quite liked this. He touched his hat and made a small gesture. “You too!”

The doorman smiled, then bowed slightly and watched Dale pass by him and enter the office building. Then he closed the door of the office building and turned back to face the street with an expressionless face.

“Good morning, Mr. Dale.”

“You too. Are these the documents for today?”

A lady stood by his side, holding a large stack of documents. “Do you need my help?”

“No, no, no need. These are like… the simplest things for me.”

The elevator soon arrived on the first floor. A small five-story building with four elevators. It had to be said that the Prohibition Committee was indeed rich.

It’s just unknown whether these elevators were originally there, or were they installed later.

Taking the elevator to his brand-new office, he pushed open the window. The wind from outside, wrapped in the taste of the times, swept in. He rested his hands on the windowsill and looked at the city, a slight, unnoticeable smile on his face.

There was a work meeting at ten o’clock in the morning, which would last until 11:45, a little over a hundred minutes in total.

The chairman of the State Prohibition Committee was concurrently held by the president of the state senate, but he would basically not come here, nor would he interfere with the work arrangements here. He was just a figurehead.

When there were tricky matters that they could not solve, or that required the help of the state senate, the role of the senate president could be reflected.

To coordinate the communication between the committee and the state legislature and the state government, so this was actually also a very important job. It was just that within the Prohibition Committee, he had no actual power, and he would not come when he was not needed.

This week, the people here had roughly inquired about the situation of this former dogleg from Golden State, how he had suddenly been promoted to the state office, and was also an executive committee member with real power.

From the information they were not able to fully obtain, this matter was the decision of an executive committee member of the Congressional Prohibition Committee.

Generally speaking, if a decision of an executive committee member was not rejected, it meant that it was a result that they all agreed to. So if these people did not plan to directly ruin their future, then they had better cooperate with the brand-new “Executive Committee Member Mr. Dale”!

Many people had already arrived at the meeting table, or rather, they had all arrived.

Dale was stunned for a moment when he came in. He raised his wrist and glanced at the gold watch on it. There were still about seven or eight minutes before the meeting began.

But everyone had already arrived early. He could only apologize for his “lateness.” “The road was a little congested. I’m sorry, I’m late.”

A gentleman sitting on his left said with a smile, “It’s Monday. The government departments will all be doing something today, so the road will definitely be congested.”

“And you’ve come at just the right time, or even early, so you don’t need to apologize.”

Dale smiled and nodded at this person. He didn’t know what this guy’s background was, but from the attitude of the others towards him, he should be the one with the highest status here.

This guy was named Andrew Conant, from Golden State, and should have some connection with Congress.

“Anyway, I am indeed later than all of you!” he put down his briefcase, emphasized, and then looked at the others. “So can we…”

Mr. Conant nodded. “Of course.”

After Dale sat at the table, he looked at the others. He had such experience and experience, so he was not stage-frightened at all. “This is my first time presiding over a weekly meeting. Since Mr. Conant told me last weekend that I would be presiding over the new week’s work meeting, I have been considering what I should say all weekend.”

Mr. Conant couldn’t help but say with a smile, “It seems I have disturbed your vacation.”

Dale waved his hand. “Not entirely. At least I have been thinking seriously. Since I handed in the last test paper of my life in my graduation year from college, I have never thought so seriously again!”

“To let my rusty brain turn a little occasionally can ensure that I won’t become a blockhead when I get old!”

Another series of light laughter sounded in the conference room.

Mr. Conant nodded slightly and did not continue to pick up the conversation. That would not be polite.

“It is precisely because I have thought for two days that I have figured out what I should say.”

“The senator asked me to come here not to have a good vacation environment. He, they, hope that I can do something specific.”

“When I was in Golden Port City, I had actually noticed that our team is not pure.”

This was a very serious accusation. Originally, everyone still had a relaxed smile on their faces, but because of his one sentence, they all became serious and grave.

“Of course, I am not talking about you all, but about the agents who are specifically in charge of the work on the front lines.”

“When I was in Golden Port City, I noticed that they were dealing with private liquor dealers, bar managers, and gangster bosses all day.”

“The temptations they face are much more than ours. You should understand the tricks that the gangs use. They will have no moral bottom line. As long as they can do it, they will do it.”

“To achieve their purpose, they will stop at nothing!”

As he spoke, he paused for a moment and couldn’t help but take out a cigarette. He lit the cigarette himself with a lighter. After all, the people on his left and right were not very suitable to light his cigarette for him. That would be too… over the top.

“Some people on the Golden Port City side have been corrupted by the gangs, by the criminals.”

“They took black money, sold information to the gangs, which led to the failure of our arrest operations.”

“I believe this is not an isolated case!”

“How profitable the business of smuggled liquor is, I believe you all know this better than me. A bottle of wine that costs forty or fifty dollars can be sold for four or five hundred in a flash.”

“A profit of ten times, or even higher, is enough to make them trample on all the laws and rules in the world!”

“If we want to do a good job and have results that we can show, first of all, we have to make the tools in our hands work well.”

“At least when we are using the tools, we will not have some problems that we are unwilling to see, for example, barbs or the like.”

Mr. Conant had heard enough by now. “Mr. Dale, what is your meaning?”

Dale licked his lips. A trace of a passion for power flashed in his eyes. “I am willing to believe that our soldiers are all good soldiers, but we also have to be alert that the bad guys are hiding among the good guys.”

“So I plan to rotate the agents in a part of the state. For example, to transfer a part of the agents from… these places and send them to other places.”

“Let the new and the old pair up. In the case where both sides have some scruples, it will be very difficult for them to respond at the first opportunity.”

“This way, if we have an arrest operation, the probability of failure will not be so great!”

As he spoke, he opened his briefcase, took out a stack of documents, and handed it to Mr. Conant, who was sitting next to him. “This is my plan. Do you see anything that needs to be supplemented?”

His secretary also began to distribute these documents to the others.

The document talked about the rules for the rotation of agents, and the benefits of doing so.

He also did not avoid the disadvantages, for example, the agents were not familiar with the local situation and the like, but overall, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

After Mr. Conant had finished reading, he couldn’t be sure for a moment whether this was Dale’s meaning, or the meaning of the higher-ups, or the meaning of the “Mr. Lance” who was hidden behind the scenes in Golden Port City.

The person above him had told him that the Prohibition Committee and Lance now had a very close cooperative relationship, and that he should not make a mistake in his stance.

This was tantamount to telling him that Lance was a hot piece of lava. Don’t fucking touch it!

So he was also not clear whose meaning this was. After all, to make such a big move from the very beginning, if he said that there was no one behind it giving instructions, he would not believe it.

Dale was relatively unfamiliar to him. In the past, they had only had work-related dealings. But he was very familiar with Dale. After all, he had also come from Golden State.

He knew that it was impossible for Dale to have the courage to make such a decision himself, so he was more inclined to believe that all of this was instigated by Lance from behind the scenes.

As for why it wasn’t Congress?

That was too simple. If Congress had these plans, they could just talk to him directly. There was no need to go through Dale’s hands again.

At this time, Mr. Conant had also seen enough. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “A shocking document. I didn’t expect that so many of our agents have already betrayed their faith.”

“Corrupt police, corrupt agents, gangs. It sounds like the greatest mockery of our efforts!”

“Mr. Dale, I very much support your ideas and plans. Just tell us what to do, and we will definitely cooperate with you!”

It was stated clearly and plainly, without a single flaw. Dale smiled and thanked him for his support. “My plan is like this…”

These few days, the priest in Tomato Town had felt that something was not quite right. The wrong thing was that many new faces had come to the Bureau of Hazardous Materials’ side, all of whom he had never seen before.

Tomato Town was not a small town. Because there were very rich river resources here, and the land was fertile, so there were also more people who made a living here.

Tomato Town had a population of about 30,000, which was not a small scale. Every day, it could bring about three or four thousand in profit to the Holy Bell Party.

A month, at least a hundred thousand or so. This was not a small sum of money.

The Bureau of Hazardous Materials would not establish an office in every town, because it was completely meaningless.

Some towns had only three or four thousand people. If an office was to be established for these three or four thousand people, it would obviously be sprayed by the rolling tide of taxpayers.

So they might send a few agents to be responsible for a town and the surrounding area.

Tomato Town, as the largest town in the vicinity, had a small office here, with only one senior agent and six agents, a total of seven people.

Just yesterday, four new people had come here. At the same time, the four people, including the senior agent, had been directly transferred away. It was said that they were going to other places for rotation.

They would come back after a period of time.

For the decisions of the gentlemen above, these lowest-level executors had no right to resist. They could only obey.

But for some reason, the priest always felt that this matter was not quite right.

That night, he had the bar side restrain themselves a little.

The senior agent before had been bought by them, and along with him, the entire team had already rotted.

Compared to a salary of seventy or eighty a month, the priest’s side threatened and lured, plus a “high salary,” so they just turned a blind eye.

But now, it seemed that the situation was a little different.

A small town has its advantages. It is closed, easy to manage, and outsiders can be easily discovered.

To say it a little exaggeratedly, the doorman of a bar can tell if the person knocking on the door is from this town with just one look.

To silently figure out the liquor sales situation in this town is basically impossible.

But this also had a drawback, and that was that it was too closed. In a big city with hundreds of thousands of people, it might not be so easy to find a drunk person.

But in this town, as long as you pay a little attention, you can definitely find it.

The priest immediately found one of the three remaining agents. “What is the situation with your new colleagues?”

The agent he was talking to was also at a loss. “I don’t know. Now they are talking about some kind of post rotation. After a while, we may also go to other places.”

The priest’s brow furrowed when he heard this. “When are you coming back?”

The agent did not speak. He didn’t know either. He had heard that it would be a continuous rotation, and there was a high probability that it would take a long time to come back.

The priest knew that it was meaningless to ask further, so he changed his line of thought. “Can you ask your new supervisor out?”

“Let me get to know him. Maybe he is a very easy person to persuade?”

The agent was not very willing to take this job. He found an excuse. “He just came. We are not familiar yet. If I rashly talk to him about this now, I’m afraid the matter will not be settled, and I myself will be finished.”

“So you’d better wait a little. When I get familiar with them, then I will help you talk about this.”

The priest stared into the agent’s eyes. His eyes did not have a trace of God’s mercy, only the brutality of the devil!

“Do you think this money is so easy to take?”

The priest leaned forward slightly and looked at him. “Either you go and tell your new supervisor, and have him come to the church for a sit-down.”

“Or…” the priest said nothing, but saying nothing was more unsettling than saying something!

(End of a Chapter)