Empire of Shadows

The name Lance Family was brought up for the first time in such a solemn and formal occasion by Senator Cleveland, but no one found it funny, or felt that the Lance Family should not be mentioned.

Gangs were becoming politicized. This was what the country was currently experiencing. The five major families of the Federation all had the shadow of Congress behind them, because for the big shots, the ”trash can” of the gangs was too useful!

An old soldier assassinating the president, and a gang member assassinating the president, for society, the one that was relatively less explosive was definitely the gang assassinating the president.

After all, gangs are all bad. For a bad guy to do a bad thing, this is common sense.

”Lance White, I know this person.”

The president nodded. He did indeed know Lance. ”But can he do what you said?”

Senator Cleveland expressed his point of view. ”I have cooperated with Lance many times. This is a very smart young man. He is very mature.”

”He has a maturity and rationality that his peers do not have. He knows how to get things done in the most beautiful way, and he is also a sufficiently decisive person.”

”Anyway, we are just trying. We can consider letting him give it a try.”

He paused for a moment. ”Lance has a good relationship with that what’s-his-name ambassador from Rapa. That ambassador is also willing to cooperate with our work. We can let them try. Maybe there will be an unexpected result.”After the others had thought for a moment, they all agreed. Mr. President, on the other hand, had inquired about where Rapa was. Only after he had figured out where Rapa was did he agree.

After all, the president did not need to know geography. A good grade in geography would not make one a president.

This matter was considered to be over. Then there were some other discussions. ”During this period, the federal financial system has been discussing, they plan to actively push for a federal interest rate hike, and it is an unprecedentedly large one!”

All the gentlemen in the room became focused again. This was also a very important topic of discussion.

The federal government and some of the major financial groups were in frequent and active contact. Relying solely on the federal government was simply impossible. They had to rely on the power of the federal financial groups. They planned to use this war to harvest the wealth of the whole world!

A little later, Senator Cleveland gave Lance a call.

”Is it convenient to talk now?” Senator Cleveland lit a cigarette and asked.

He was wearing glasses, squinting slightly, and looking down at some of the documents on his desk.

With a cigarette between his fingers in one hand, and the receiver in the other, this was his most common state during this period. Several things were concentrated together, and he really didn’t have so much time to do each thing separately.

The meaning of this sentence was to ask Lance if it was possible to talk about some sensitive topics, and also to have not too many people around him.

Some people’s ears are very good. Even a very small sound can be heard. Senator Cleveland had seen this kind of person.

And also those lip-reading experts and the like. They could stand at a very distant place with a pair of binoculars and could replicate everything the target had said.

Lance had the people in the room leave, and only then did he say, ”It’s fine now.”

”You have a week. You pay attention to this matter yourself.”

Lance said ”hmm,” and at the same time, he cautiously raised his own question. ”I noticed that there seems to be no change on the base’s side.”

”You don’t have to mind him. Just pretend you don’t know. And don’t tell anyone else. This is a top secret, you know?”

To know that the Dantra people were coming to attack, and not to make any response, this matter, at any time, in any period, would be an absolute scandal if it were to be exposed!

All the insiders would have to be sent to the dock, and some of the people involved might even have to be secretly executed!

Lance knew the seriousness of the matter and would naturally not speak recklessly, but he also understood what Senator Cleveland meant, to let Admiral Miles take a beating.

The struggle for power between the navy and the army had completely angered the army, so they needed to teach the navy a lesson, to let them know who was the real ”military” of the Federation!

”Besides this, you must have other things to call about,” Lance took the initiative to speak again after a period of silence in the receiver.

Senator Cleveland had actually been a little distracted just now. At this time, Lance’s voice had brought him back to his senses. ”Ah... yes, that’s right.”

”There’s something I need you to do.”

”Please speak!”

Senator Cleveland brought the ashtray to his side and flicked the ash into it. ”You have a good relationship with that ambassador from Rapa, right?”

Lance laughed lightly. ”From the looks of it, it’s not bad.”

How could it be not bad?

Lance had given Ambassador Cassia a blatant opportunity to take bribes. He had provided a house for the Rapa embassy for free, and then Mr. Cassia had sublet a part of it. Of course, this was an internal statement. To the outside, he had said nothing.

Now some of the people in New Golden City knew that there was a bar in the Rapa embassy where you could drink freely without breaking the law, because it was allowed by the law.

Let alone opening a bar to sell wine, even if one of them had killed someone, they could also, by hiding in the embassy, avoid the judicial process.

Ambassador Cassia, besides being able to get a monthly rent, could also get a dividend. The total was twenty or thirty thousand, which was enough for his family to live a decent life in the Federation.

He himself was a diplomat, a diplomatic ambassador. Now he also had money, and the life of his family had become completely different.

If you didn’t take the initiative to say that they were from the poor place of Yalan Rapa, you could no longer see that kind of poor and backward rusticity on them.

Mr. Cleveland seemed to have read something from Lance’s laughter, and a few more smiles appeared on his face. ”This matter needs you and your friend to cooperate. We will use Rapa as a pilot. you need to dismantle their resistance forces. Do you know what I mean by this?”

Of course Lance knew. This was what he had wanted the most after he had pushed for this plan—control!

Why was he so sure that this matter would fall on him, and not on some... resistance organization?

In fact, the reason was very simple. For the Federation to smoothly turn Yalan into the territory of the Federation, they had to solve the rulers on this land.

They could bribe these rulers, or directly kill them.

To directly kill them was not appropriate. It would only create hatred between the two sides and make the rule difficult.

But to bribe them was also not good. These federal politicians did not trust these indigenous rulers to still have a full ruling power over Yalan.

The few states in the Federation that did not listen to the federal government were already annoying enough. If there were a few more, it would definitely be a headache for Congress.

You can’t bribe them, you can’t kill them yourself. Then is it a good choice to support some resistance forces?

In fact, this was also not a good choice. The resistance army that was supported would go from being a warrior to a new evil dragon, and a young, strong, and aggressive one at that.

These new regimes that had come to power through means such as a military coup would be more difficult to deal with than the previous corrupt regimes. If you wanted to deal with them, you would definitely have to pay a greater price, and it was also possible that the relationship with the local people would continue to deteriorate to a freezing point, which would cause a greater obstacle for the Federation to rule this region.

So the best way was to not give the local Yalan any chance to rise, not to let anyone have a chance to become a new ruler, but to directly use a non-official force like Lance to eliminate them.

The politicians of the Federation, at least the politicians of this period, still had a great deal of political wisdom and ability. They fought with their own people, with the financial groups, and were also coveting the whole world.

Greed, ambition, and power had outlined the ugly faces of the ruling class of the Federation!

But this was also an era full of opportunities for everyone. As long as you seize it, you will definitely be able to take off!

Lance did not answer immediately, but after a serious thought, he gave an answer that made himself look more cautious. ”I already have a set of plans.”

”You already have a plan?” Senator Cleveland’s tone was full of disbelief, but he immediately associated it with something.

For Lance to have so vigorously pushed for this plan, and to have promoted his idea to himself, perhaps all of this was because he had wanted to do something.

However, Senator Cleveland did not spend too much of his brain on this issue. He and Lance were still in their honeymoon period. The stronger Lance was, the more usable power he had in his hands.

If one day Lance could also become a behemoth like the five major families of the Federation, he would only be happy, not worried!

”It’s good that you have a plan. At the end of June, the beginning of July, the congressional hearings will begin. At the latest, in August, our plan will be out. you still have about three to four months.”

”You have to be prepared. This is definitely a rare opportunity for you.”

”By the way, on the matter of dealing with the Labor Federation, you’ve done a good job!”

”Your performance has already received a great deal of praise, which means you will have more opportunities in the future. Keep it up, and you will become a miracle!”

”If you run into any trouble, you can give Tom or me a call. I will solve whatever I can for you.”

”In addition, you have to be careful that they don’t use some out-of-bounds means. These people are not clean!”

The two had a simple communication for a few more sentences and then ended the call.

A more accurate time. Lance sighed lightly and then shook his head.

At the same time, the ”bounty hunters” invited by the Labor Federation had already entered Golden Port City.

These people did not look as tough as people imagined. They looked more like travelers, carrying large and small bags of things.

This team had a certain reputation in the bounty hunter group.

This time their target was Carl. As long as they could bring Carl out of here alive, then they could get a bounty of 100,000 from the broker.

They didn’t care who the broker was serving, nor did they care who was paying this 100,000. They only cared if they could get this money.