Empire of Shadows

In the morning, Lance was on the phone with Elvin, talking about some matters in Indeno State.

”On the Gold Label Distillery’s side, I hear they plan to drop the case of Richard’s death, and their attacks on us have also completely stopped.”

”This might have something to do with the governor’s election. In another six months, the governor’s election will start to warm up, and Wade’s approval rating is very high right now.”

Lance had given the money he had earned to the mayor, to the local police group, to the local law enforcement group and the interest groups. For them, only when Mayor Wade came to power could these interests be preserved.

So they, more than others, hoped that Mayor Wade could defeat the lieutenant governor in the election.

At the same in_action, because the several economic development plans proposed by Mayor Wade had achieved certain ”results,” many people believed that he was a good hand at managing the economy, and would be helpful in helping the sluggish economy of Indeno State to find new growth points.

Although a part of it was due to luck, and he had benefited from the war, overall, his performance was much better than others.

The voters of Indeno State believed that even if he was not a good governor, he was a governor who could get the economy going.

There were also some who felt that he did not have any specific interest or nepotism in Indeno State, and could pay more attention to the issue of increasing everyone’s income, instead of ganging up to put money into their own pockets.

An election needs money. Even if there are many people who support Mayor Wade now, his election also needs money.He himself actually has money, but how many politicians’ campaign funds come from their own pockets?

”Mayor Wade has contacted me these few days. He talked about his campaign plan for the second half of the year.”

Lance said ”hmm,” signaling for him to continue.

”The overall campaign plan will start in about June, and will end in September. The final vote will be in October.”

”Mayor Wade said that he hopes we can donate at least 500,000 in campaign funds, to be used for the various election activities he will hold during the summer vacation.”

”Five hundred thousand,” Lance repeated.

Elvin said, ”Yes, five hundred thousand.”

500,000 is actually not a large sum, for a governor’s election.

The current governor had used about 2.7 million in funds when he was elected. This year, some consulting agencies generally believed that with the Federation gaining more benefits from the war, the economy had begun to move upwards.

The funds needed to be invested in an election would also be a little more than in previous years. The preliminary estimate might be to increase by 20% to 30% on the basis of the last election’s funds.

That is, a little over three million.

In the next general election year, the predicted campaign funds for the president would need to reach over 17 million!

The assessments made by these assessment and consulting agencies based on the laws of the election expenses over the years had a certain reference significance. If there was a possibility of a relatively troublesome competitor, the campaign funds would continue to increase.

A little over three million was Mayor Wade’s own view on the funds to be invested in the governor’s election.

He could afford this money. The Wade family could be said to be the most powerful in Golden Port City. Even the Williams family could come up with this money, let alone the Wade family.

But to take out this money would hurt their vitality, and if they failed, what they might face was a situation of losing everything.

So politicians will not use their own money to invest in their campaign funds, unless this person is very rich, so rich that he can not care about how much money he has to spend.

Lance thought for a moment and then said, ”Give him a million, double it.”

”But you also have to tell him that I hope this investment is meaningful, and valuable.”

Some words don’t have to be said too clearly, but they have to be said.

Never underestimate the bottom line of a politician, because they have no bottom line, and are ready to break through the bottom line at any time.

What if at that time he says that he thought this was just a pure campaign fund, Lance would, on the contrary, find it not so easy to get him.

If he makes it clear, and he plays dumb, then he can’t blame Lance.

”I will pass it on to him!” Elvin paused for a moment. ”Hiram has been telling me recently that he wants to go to Rapa to play.”

With the current ”state of war” in Indeno State terminated, Hiram had nothing more to do, and was just wandering around bored all day.

He had had enough of this peaceful life. Recently he had read in the newspaper that Rapa was like hell on earth, and he had become interested in this.

It wasn’t that he wanted to observe up close what a person who had starved to death was like. He had seen it in the Empire. He just had a hunch that Lance would soon have some big moves.

Many years ago, when he was still wiping the hull of a ship in a shipyard, at that time his ultimate dream was to become rich.

To be able to have his own house in the Federation, and then to have a few hundred in his pocket.

To get married, to find a girl who was not necessarily compatible with him, but must be good-looking, and then to have children, and to live a happy life.

He had long since realized his dream. Logically, he should be able to stop and rest, but his past dream, for him at this time, seemed a little dull.

A stimulating life was what he wanted.

The feeling of speaking with bullets on the battlefield was what he was after!

He wanted to go to Rapa, but without Lance’s permission, he couldn’t.

Elvin, seeing that he was too bored here all day, so bored that he had come to trouble him, so he was also a little moved.

”Gold Label Distillery will have to wait until March or April to assemble those machines. From trial production to formal production, it will be at least after June or July.”

”He is now here like a giant fly. No one likes him, but there is nothing they can do about him.”

”So... if it’s possible.”

Lance thought for a moment and agreed. ”Let him choose a date himself. Tell me the ship number before he comes...”

The call had not yet been cut off when there was a knock on the door of the room. Lance said a few simple words and then hung up, and at the same time, he said, ”Come in.”

The person from outside the door walked in. It was Andy.

Lance was a little surprised, because this Andy’s brain was a little not so good. Even in front of him, Andy would behave a little arrogantly, although he didn’t know what this guy named Andy had to be arrogant about.

However, he was not very concerned. As long as this guy did not affect his plan, Lance could also pretend that he had no reaction to him.

”Mr. Lance, Pedro said he will call you in five minutes. He has something to talk to you about.”

Lance nodded. ”Got it.”

Then he looked at the other party. Andy also looked at Lance. After the two had looked at each other for a while, Andy had gradually been a little unable to withstand the pressure hidden in Lance’s calm gaze, and he had averted his gaze.

But then he had suddenly felt a little ashamed, and had looked at Lance again. But at this time, to look at Lance again, even if he had made some constructions in his heart, he still felt that he was a head shorter than Lance.

”Is there anything else?” Lance asked, which was a clear sign of seeing him off.

Andy also understood this point. He pursed his lips. ”No, no.”

Lance tilted his head slightly, which was probably to say, ”Then what the fuck are you still standing here for?”

Only then did Andy, with a cold face, say his goodbyes to Lance, and then left the room.

In fact, Pedro had first called Andy. He had mentioned in the phone that he wanted more aid.

More grain, more money, more medicine, more intelligence.

And, also weapons.

He had clearly put forward a request for some weapons, but Andy had not agreed.

Although they had a plan to aid with weapons, it was not at this time. They still had to wait for the situation to deteriorate a little more, for these ”seeds” that had been selected to have already begun to sprout, and when they had the idea of overthrowing the rule of Diego, only then would they consider aiding them with some weapons as appropriate.

Congress and the Department of Defense had discussed these issues before. They believed that they should not push too fast, too actively. That would be a little too obvious, too deliberate.

And once the Federation’s weapons had flowed into Rapa, it would mean that there would be no turning back for some things.

So this matter needed to be treated with caution, and more caution.

He couldn’t reach an agreement with Pedro. Pedro had suddenly proposed the idea of talking to Lance.

He had tried his best to explain that he had no relationship with Lance, but Pedro was just convinced that Lance was the one who could make the decisions.

He was not willing to waste so much time talking to Andy, a person who couldn’t make a decision. He had demanded to speak directly to Lance.

Originally, Andy had wanted to refuse, but under Pedro’s tough attitude, in the end, he had no choice but to agree.

So this scene had happened.

Andy felt... that he had been humiliated by a mud-legged dog.

It was not referring to Lance, but to the high school teacher named Pedro.

That was just a high school teacher in a backward, poor place like Yalan, which was far from the center of the world, far from civilization!

On what basis did he think that he was just a lackey, and on what basis did he think that Lance was the boss behind the scenes?

And his attitude towards him, that tone, had also made Andy very annoyed!

He felt that he had been humiliated, but he also didn’t know how to handle this. And it involved an arms deal, so he could only let Lance know.

If it were other matters, he would just not have passed it on, but it was clear that this Pedro might have some big action recently.

After Andy had left, Lance had waited for less than two minutes when the phone rang.

The voice that came from inside was a little familiar to Lance. During the seminar, Pedro had also been an ”active member of the federal system.” He had been very fond of the stuff that the Federation had been promoting to the outside, and had also brought it up for discussion many times.

The federal system of free elections, in Rapa, which had a low level of education, and where most people were illiterate, would it be feasible?

The people of Rapa, would they be able to understand what the candidates were saying in their campaign strategies?

And would they be able to understand and comprehend what the ballot in their hands meant?

Lance had been very encouraging of them to discuss these matters. The more a truth is discussed, the clearer it becomes.

So he had a relatively deep impression of Pedro, and his voice was also remembered in his mind.

”Pedro?”

”Yes, sir.”

”Mr. Andy just said that you have something you want to say to me?”

There was a gap of about three or four seconds in the receiver before Pedro’s voice came through again.

”That’s right, Mr. Lance. He can’t make the decision, but I believe that you can, on this matter.”

”We need weapons!”

His tone was very firm, with a resoluteness that could cut through steel, which had given Lance some speculation about his current situation.

He said, guessing, ”Have you run into some trouble?”

Pedro did not deny it, but he did not admit it either. ”The Rapa’s army is chasing us very closely. It is very difficult for us to stop.”

”And, Diego has said that we are an anti-government force. We have now completed all the procedures for voting, and we will soon announce it to the outside world.”

Lance asked, ”Announce what?”

Pedro’s tone was mixed with a fanaticism that even he himself had not realized. ”Of course, it is to announce that we are real!”

”We have also specially chosen a name for our cause—”

”The Rapa Democratic Rights Front!”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh out loud after hearing this. ”It does sound like the name of an anti-government force!”

He paused for a moment. ”How much do you want?”

This sentence had made Pedro overjoyed. He had even shouted ”Yes!” and his emotions were clearly a little agitated.

”This is the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. We are now moving in a northeasterly direction. Diego’s hand can’t reach this far yet.”

”If we want to take root here, we need money.”

”To fight against them, we need weapons!”

”And more of everything!”

Lance, after listening seriously, asked, ”You have to give me a number. The money and other supplies, I can find a way to send them to you soon.”

”But the weapons may take a few days. I have to order a batch from the Federation.”

”How many do you want?”

Pedro actually already had a number in his heart.

At first, he had only wanted a hundred, and handguns would have been fine.

But soon he had dismissed this idea himself, and it had become two hundred.

When he had been on the phone with Andy, because of his agitated emotions, he had directly mentioned a scale of three hundred.

But now, the moment he had opened his mouth, three hundred had become five hundred.

After he had finished speaking, he had closed his mouth, his mind thinking of a countermeasure. He didn’t know how much these weapons would cost, but in his impression, they shouldn’t be cheap.

He had heard before that when the Department of Defense was procuring the federal military equipment, it had mentioned the Gray 1010 bolt-action rifle that they were equipped with. This bolt-action rifle came from the Federal Gray Industries, and the selling price was 180 Federal Sols.

As for the bullets, he was not very clear.

180 Federal Sols each. He had asked for 500, which was a full 90,000, an astronomical figure. And he also wanted more aid!

So when he had said this request, he himself was a little unsure if Lance would agree.

In fact, he didn’t know that the outbreak of war had brought many changes, including this classic bolt-action rifle produced by Gray Industries. Its price had already dropped to fifty.

Besides the fact that the output was very large, the Department of Defense had already started the first re-equipment plan in the war.

The soldiers on the front lines needed weapons with more firepower. They sometimes needed to suppress the enemy, not to use a weapon where you had to pull the bolt, and to shoot one shot at a time.

So Gray Industries, according to the requirements of the Department of Defense and the military, had, in a very short time, designed a brand new automatic rifle.

The Gray 1024 fully automatic rifle.

It had been upgraded on the basis of the 1010 bolt-action rifle. Now it could fire 35 rounds continuously, and its maintenance was simple. However, its reputation on the front lines was polarized.

Some people thought that it was very suitable for the battlefield. To be able to pour out all the bullets in three to five seconds, gave a great sense of security.

But there were also some who felt that this would waste bullets, and that you had to change the magazine in no time, and it was possible to encounter danger in this process.

But no matter how it was evaluated, it was being fully equipped.

Naturally, the 1010 bolt-action rifle, which had been completely abandoned by the military, and whose output had come up but had no large orders, and whose overall value had been squeezed dry, its price was even lower.

For Gray Industries, or for some of the arms dealers who had an inventory, if they did not get rid of these rifles as soon as possible, they would soon become a burden.

Not only did they have to hire people to manage them, but there were also storage costs and maintenance fees.

So now, as long as they didn’t lose money, there were plenty of arms dealers who were willing to sell. This, on the contrary, was not an expensive expenditure.

Lance did not immediately agree, but was thinking, and recalling if anything had happened in the past two days that he had overlooked.

The fact that Pedro had, in excess of the plan, proposed the idea of using force to resist Diego, should have been a situation that would only appear in the next ”version.”

Why was he performing it in advance? This had made Lance feel curious.

He thought for a moment, but there was nothing special.

In this process, Pedro had not rushed Lance. He knew that this did indeed require thought and time.

After about two minutes, Lance had opened his mouth. ”In principle, we should not be smuggling weapons to Rapa, but I have also seen the crazy rulers here, and the ordinary people who are living here as if they are in hell.”

”So I can agree.”

”But, Pedro, there is a condition. I can’t possibly give you all the weapons at once. You still need to prove to me that you won’t use these weapons to kill those innocent civilians.”

This sentence was said so righteously, that for a moment, Pedro had a hint of suspicion, suspecting if Lance was a good person!

But soon he had dismissed this unrealistic thought of his.

He asked, ”How do you want me to prove it?”

Lance said without thinking, ”To have a piece of your own territory.”

”Attack a city, and then completely occupy it.”

”I will first send you fifty rifles, and also 5,000 bullets.”

”After you have taken that city, I will send you the rest.”

”I have to ensure that these weapons I give you are all used in the great cause of fighting against a brutal rule. I hope you can understand what I mean.”

Pedro thought for a long time. To attack a city now was actually not very suitable. They had not yet developed.

Only after they had a certain strength could they do so.

But now he had no choice. He was not willing to lose Lance, this ”generous and kind good person,” so he had agreed.