Empire of Shadows

”We haven’t assigned him a room for the night. Should we target him?” Chief Bruce asked Lance in a low voice over the phone.

Mr. Walter was still in the interrogation room. He meant to ask Lance if he should be placed in one of the multi-person cells.

The holding cells in the police station were not like the cells in a prison. Each room had only two or four beds. Here, it was a large room, and on the side of the wall were some benches that were welded to the wall. In a corner was a toilet, to prevent the people inside from randomly urinating and defecating.

There were single-person cells, which were smaller, but you could lie down and stretch out.

However, most of them were multi-person cells. If you were lucky, there would be seven or eight people together. If you were unlucky, a dozen or twenty people would be crammed together.

Most of these thugs who were arrested were not enough to be sentenced. For example, for fighting, if no one sued them, neither the police’s side nor the court’s side would be willing to waste time and government resources to handle these small matters.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, there was no cost to handling these matters, but in fact, this was also a job.

As long as it was a job, there was a labor cost problem.

To use a few hundred or a thousand in labor costs to handle a case that might be worth a few dozen dollars was not cost-effective no matter how you thought about it.

Although no one was willing to calculate the things that happened in this country in this way, a capitalized society was just like this. Everything had a price.These people were not enough to be locked up in prison, so they could only be locked up in the police station for seventy-two hours, and then they would be released.

After a long time, the thugs on the street were also not so afraid of staying for free for three days. Some even, when they got into trouble outside, or did not want to get into trouble, would take the initiative to create an opportunity to be arrested, and then come in to hide for a while.

These thugs who often came in were very familiar with this part of the police in the police station. Sometimes when the police wanted to mess with someone, they would arrange for that person to be put in these multi-person cells.

They didn’t even have to say it directly. Some tacit glances or small movements would be enough to make these thugs find trouble with them for three days, and then beat them every day.

To be beaten here was to be beaten for nothing.

If Mr. Walter were to be locked in a multi-person cell, he wouldn’t be able to get a good night’s sleep, at least not tonight.

Lance considered it for a moment and rejected the proposal. ”There’s no need. The case on him now has already made it impossible for him to turn things around, but we can’t let him off so easily either.”

”Have him pay for a single room. You can split the money among yourselves.”

A smile immediately appeared on Chief Bruce’s face. ”Okay, I know what to do.”

Soon, Mr. Walter was taken out of the interrogation room. He knew that he might have to stay here for a while.

The police officer in charge of taking him to the cell said to him in a low voice, ”Do you want to stay in a single room or with others?”

Mr. Walter was stunned for a moment, and then he said, ”I want to stay in a single room!”

The police officer nodded. He did not immediately take him there, but stopped. He lowered his head slightly, but his eyes were fixed on Mr. Walter. ”They all say you’re a big shot.”

When he heard this sentence, Mr. Walter knew that he was being extorted. He wanted to laugh a little, but he knew that now was not the time for him to express his own thoughts.

He had heard of some of the rules in the police station. In the past, it was just a... a topic that could provide some entertainment when he was bored.

Now this knowledge had helped him.

”How much do you want?”

”If it were someone else, I would have asked them for fifty a day.”

”But for a big shot like you, without two hundred a day, I can only send you to a multi-person cell.”

Looking at this police officer extorting him so openly, Mr. Walter himself was also a little dumbfounded.

However, he soon realized that this might not be strange, because this was Lance’s territory. They knew that he and Lance were not on good terms, which was why they would so unscrupulously extort him.

He did not hesitate for too long and nodded in agreement. ”A very reasonable price, but I can’t pay you now.”

The police officer led him towards the single room. ”Your lawyer will be here tomorrow. You can have him pay for you.”

”By the way, you have to stay here for at least half a month.”

Half a month, that was three thousand. When he heard this number, even though Mr. Walter did not take three thousand seriously, he was also shocked by the greed of this little police officer.

It took him a long while before he came back to his senses. ”Aren’t you afraid?”

A meaningful smile appeared on the police officer’s face, and then he said a sentence that he had heard before, but had never quite understood—

”This is Golden Port City!”

Before he could say anything more, the police officer had stopped outside the single cell. He opened the door of the cell. ”Alright, you can go in.”

Then he closed the iron door and turned and left.

Looking at the space of only about five square meters, Mr. Walter let out a heavy sigh.

”Motherfucker!”

The news quickly spread back to the Labor Federation. The Labor Federation’s side also attached great importance to this matter. After all, Mr. Walter, as the rotating vice president, he himself now represented the face of the Labor Federation.

The rotating vice president of the Labor Federation took turns in a two-plus-three manner. If, during the first two-year rotation, he had obtained the recognition of the Labor Federation for his work, then in the vote, if more than half of the people believed that this vice president could continue to serve in his job, then he could continue to serve for three years.

After the end of the second term of three years, he could enter the cooling-off pool.

Mr. Walter was currently in his second term, and there were also many people in the Labor Federation who supported him.

After the legal representative had reported his current predicament, the Labor Federation had immediately held a meeting overnight, and at the same time, had also connected with the legal representative.

”...My idea now is that you send a new team that does not belong to the same law firm as us. We will discuss it with each other. Maybe they will have a new solution.”

”Besides this, my personal view is that the Labor Federation has to do a good job of related public opinion public relations.”

”I have always been pessimistic about this matter. Once he is convicted and has to go to prison, with the current practice of the federal mainstream media, they will definitely report on it in a big way.”

”The image of the Labor Federation in the minds of the public will encounter some problems. For the upcoming formation of a workers’ party, it might be a heavy blow!”

If people find out that a future high-level of the Workers’ Party is actually a pervert who has tried to assault a low-level waitress, they will not only be disappointed with Mr. Walter, but also with the entire Labor Federation!

The lawyer’s words made the faces of the gentlemen in the conference room not very good-looking. They had been cooperating with the legal representative’s law firm for a long time, and they also knew this legal representative very well. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to go to Golden Port City with Mr. Walter to deal with this crisis.

Since the other party had already said so, it meant that there was a high probability that it could not be salvaged.

”What if we now get the understanding of that... victim lady?”

Is it possible to turn this case into a misunderstanding?

The legal representative’s voice was as stable and neutral as ever, without much personal emotion. ”This is clearly a trap set by the Lance Family. It is very difficult for us to break it, unless we can persuade the congressional forces behind Lance to put pressure on Lance from the top down.”

”Otherwise, it is unlikely that the local court and the circuit court will support an acquittal for Mr. Walter, and the Supreme Court is almost in the hands of Congress.”

”No matter if you want to solve this matter through the court, or not through the court, the only way is to go the high-level route.”

The other gentlemen communicated with each other for a while, and another rotating vice president on duty said, ”Thank you for your suggestion. We will contact you again if there is any news.”

”You’re welcome. This is what I should do.”

”In addition, I have a bill on my side. I have already faxed it back. I need you to handle it.”

”I won’t disturb you any longer. Good night, gentlemen.”

After the call was over, the rotating vice president looked at the people around him. ”Tell me your thoughts.”

These were all the high-level of the Labor Federation, and also the high-level of the future Workers’ Party. Of course, it was not out of the question that some people might not be willing to go to the Workers’ Party, and would just be willing to stay in the Labor Federation.

But in any case, the high-level are always the high-level.

”The lawyer just said that this is a trap, a trap that cannot be climbed out of. Both the local court and the circuit court are influenced by the Lance Family and will give us an unjust judgment.”

”You also know the situation of the Supreme Court very well. Congress will not show us any goodwill. We have no way out on this issue.”

Another high-level member then said, ”That is to say, Walter’s ending is very difficult to be changed, and now we also have another public opinion public relations crisis to deal with.”

Someone asked, ”Is it okay if we just talk to Lance directly?”

”Our most important work now is to form a workers’ party. The fact that he is doing this in Golden Port City to de-unionize will have a certain impact on us, but the impact will not be too great.”

”But if Walter’s matter comes out, it is on the contrary more likely to have a huge negative impact on us.”

”We can hand over Golden Port City and even Likalai State to him, in exchange for him releasing Walter.”

To solve this kind of a trap case is very simple. As long as the plaintiff, that is, the girl, stands up and clarifies that everything was actually a misunderstanding, then the problem will be solved.

But it was clear that this girl would not stand up, so they could only consider using other methods.

To give up a state, to get through this crisis, it didn’t seem impossible, but... this was not the best choice.

After all, they had abandoned the millions of worker brothers in Likalai State. This was very likely to create some conflicts and even a split internally!

So for a short period of time, they had not been able to come up with a solution.

One of the high-level members had hesitated several times, and his situation had been discovered by the rotating vice president, but he had not made a sound.

After this temporary meeting was over, he had pulled this guy into his own office alone.

Because not everyone was here tonight, so there would be another meeting tomorrow with more people.

But before that, he wanted to hear what his colleague was thinking but didn’t dare to say.

”I saw that you wanted to speak several times in the meeting but stopped. Do you have any good ideas?”

Seeing that the other party was still hesitant, he took the initiative to comfort him. ”We are all for the Labor Federation and the Workers’ Party. As long as your idea is meaningful and valuable for us to solve the current problem, we will definitely adopt it.”

”The Labor Federation is a brotherly organization. You shouldn’t have such a strong sense of guard!”

The high-level member pursed his lips. ”We can actually change our line of thought and directly give up Walter.”

”We were also deceived by his hypocritical side.”

”We will not shelter him. We believe in the just law. Which organization doesn’t have a few scumbags?”

”As long as our attitude is good enough, positive enough, and the more we press him down, the more people will on the contrary not reject us.”

Listening to this person say such words, the rotating vice president’s face showed no change, but in his heart, there were some waves.

This was not not a solution. As long as they showed the position of the Labor Federation, and absolutely would not, because Walter was one of their high-level, protect him, but would on the contrary turn to protect the rights and interests of the low-level laborers, this would definitely make the workers feel that they were a just organization.

The rotating vice president, thinking of this, already had some light in his eyes. ”Your suggestion is very important. I will mention it to the chairman.”

The guy who had proposed this idea scratched his head. ”Can you not say to the outside that it was my suggestion?”

As the one who had proposed to give up Walter, even if he were to be promoted, and to be in a more important position, it would be very difficult for him to form a trusting relationship with others in a short period of time.

Who the fuck would want to be friends with this kind of person who would give up their own people at any time?

Are you not afraid of dying fast enough?

This was also the reason why he had hesitated several times in the meeting. If he said it, he would only offend Mr. Walter, but at the same time, he would also become more distant from others.

The rotating vice president nodded. ”I won’t say it...”

At the same time, a large allied fleet was sailing on the East Ocean. They were still three days’ journey away from Golden Port City.

”Surprise Attack on Golden Port” had given everyone some thoughts about this war, and had also made the Dantra’s navy consider whether the Federation would establish an observation mechanism on the Yalan side to observe the nearby sea area.

If they could not strike a heavy blow to the Federation’s homeland, it would be very difficult to pull the Federation’s attention to the war away from the main battlefield of the Tanfit continent.

With the Federation’s current control over the situation of the war, to let them act wantonly on the land battlefield, the Dantra Republic was really not necessarily their opponent.

The Federation’s war potential was too strong. A continuous stream of troops was being pushed to the front lines. The homeland, far from the war, was crazily producing blood for the war.

A surprise attack on Golden Port, from a side view, was also the result of having no other way.

The Dantra’s naval plan was to completely cripple, or even destroy, Admiral Miles’s line of the navy. This way, the Federation’s other naval fleet would not be able to casually leave the Federation’s sea area, to avoid the coastal cities from being bombarded again.

You know, Golden State was also a coastal region, and New Golden City was right by the sea!

The core of the Federation’s politics, economy, and culture was within the range of naval guns. Their fleet would definitely have to protect New Golden City. If New Golden City was bombarded, the Federation would lose a great deal of face.

This way, on the East Ocean, only the Dantra’s navy would be able to roam freely, whether it was to press in on the Federation’s coastal cities, to have them increase their defensive forces on their homeland.

Or to cut off the transportation of supplies between the Federation and the Tanfit continent, it could be of great help to the war!

If it weren’t for the Federation’s current blood transfusion, and the provision of all kinds of scarce supplies, it would be very difficult for the Slad side to maintain their current morale!

Of course, what was more important was that the Dantra people did not want the federal people to truly hold a dominant position in the Slad military alliance. Even if Dantra was ultimately defeated, they also hoped that the one who would accept their defeat would be the Slad people, not the federal people, who had already exposed their ambition and greed!

The Slad people’s victory might not harm their foundation, but the federal people definitely would!

For the fate of Dantra, for the future of the Dantra people, this was a just war!

In the conference room of the command ship, the commander-in-chief of the navy, who was in charge of this attack plan, had, through the radio, contacted the captain of every warship.

”The side says we will be able to arrive in Golden Port City in seventy-two hours, so this may be our last pre-war meeting before the war.”

”This battle is related to whether we can regain the initiative in the upcoming war, so everyone...” the commander-in-chief’s voice paused here. Although he did not make any more sound, and remained silent, a force could be felt, which was spreading silently.

This gave the captains a great deal of pressure, but it was not entirely pressure, but more of a trust, an encouragement, a mobilization!

”On our shoulders, we are carrying the direction of the war and the fate of our country. At this time, it has already come to the moment when we need to be mentally prepared for sacrifice.”

”If anyone does not advance when they should, and does not retreat when they should, I guarantee that you will not even see the day when you are tried by a military court!”

”I am already prepared for sacrifice. I hope you are too!”

He paused for a moment, his tone slightly softened. ”Of course, this battle may not necessarily be a failure. The federal people do not know our combat plan, nor will they have thought that a movie of theirs has actually given us so much inspiration!”

The captains who were listening to the radio all let out a light laugh. To formulate a battle plan based on a federal war movie, this sounded like a joke.

But as it happened, it was really happening!

They themselves could not have imagined that it could be like this. The federal people would be even more unlikely to have imagined it.

”After our plan succeeds, the Federation’s navy and military will become a joke, and we will be the ones who have created this joke!”

”Everyone, for the glory of Dantra, please bet everything and fight for Dantra!”

The rapidly advancing warships left a series of white marks on the sea, and then they quickly dissipated, without a single trace, as if no one had ever been here.

The commander-in-chief raised his head and glanced at the wall clock in the combat command room. There were still seventy-one hours and fifteen minutes before they would enter the combat zone!