Empire of Shadows

It was more than a day later when he returned to Golden Port City. When he emerged from the train station, the platform had been completely cleared.

A passenger, taking a step out, was so frightened by the sight of those men in dark trench coats, red armbands, and soft felt hats standing in rows on the platform that he retreated.

No one dared to exit the car door. The atmosphere outside seemed completely frozen, until—

Lance walked out of the door. He looked at the old brothers who had come to welcome him, smiled, and walked over to hug them one by one.

He had been gone for almost four or five months, which was a long time apart. This was also the longest time they had been separated from each other.

As they escorted Lance away, the air on the platform, which had been frozen like a wall, finally relaxed and began to flow again.

People also began to discuss, discussing the people in this event that could be their gossip topic for some time to come, and that man!

Just like this, unbeknownst to most, the legend of Lance began to spread to farther places.

Back in his long-missed office, Lance patted the fleshy armrest. He sat in the dirty, fully-enclosed chair and let out a long breath. ”It’s still better at home!”

The others immediately started talking all at once, talking about some of the things that had happened after Lance had left.In fact, nothing much had happened. Golden Port City, as the base camp of the Lance Family, had already become infinitely stable here.

Although there might still be some new, small gangs being born in the city, these small gangs were, in a certain sense, ”benign.”

They didn’t rob, and they didn’t engage in any vicious crimes. At most, they would steal, or organize some of the girls who were willing to come out and walk the streets.

And only these few, small criminal businesses could maintain their income. Besides this, there was no other way.

Now, in the entire Likalai State, and even in the gangster circles of the south, it was being said that Likalai State, and Golden Port City, were the most unsuitable areas for gangs to exist.

Because here, there was the Lance Family. The Lance Family had set the rules of the game.

Of course, in other cities, they did not demand that the gangs not commit vicious crimes, but naturally, those gangs would also, as much as possible, let their men engage in less criminal activities of a vicious nature, to avoid one day being unlucky, and being chosen by Lance as a ”bargaining chip” to warn the other gangs in the region.

So the gangs in the entire Likalai State were so civilized that they didn’t seem like gangs. There were no terrible fights. This was the current situation.

In fact, this also reflected from the side the feasibility, and the effect, of the current social control plan of the federal high-level.

Their purpose in indulging the expansion of the gangs was to ”use gangsters to control gangsters.” Now they had achieved it.

Almost all of the people at home had gained a lot of weight, including Morris, who had also gained a lot.

His body looked much better than before, and there were more smiles on his face.

Their attention was all focused on the things that Lance and Rapa had done. When they had heard that Lance had just used a little trick to push a country from stability to turmoil, their eyes, as they looked at Lance, were filled with a luster of worship.

A very naked worship. This emotion was like looking at a ”god”!

Someone couldn’t help but ask, ”Do we have a chance to go to Rapa?”

Lance had actually seriously considered it for a while. ”You can.”

”Actually, I’ve come back this time, and there is one more thing I want to talk to you about.”

Lance looked at these old brothers who had fought their way here with him, with a slight smile on his face. His gaze would linger on each person.

Whenever his gaze stopped, he could clearly perceive that the person he was looking at had straightened their spine.

”Alright, if you look at them any longer, they will all have to pull themselves up,” Mello joked with a smile. ”Do you need our cooperation?”

Lance nodded slightly. ”This matter in Rapa will have a huge effect on our future. To put it simply, we will be having a very close cooperation with the federal government.”

”We will help them to subvert Rapa, and from this, we will get a large amount of benefits, and also the connections of the high-level of the federal government.”

Lance had never talked to them about the future. It just so happened that he would take this opportunity to have a good talk with them.

He took out a cigarette. Mello, who was leaning against the side of the desk, took out a lighter and helped him to light it.

Now more and more people were starting to use lighters. After all, a lighter, whether it was for carrying or for other uses, was a little more convenient than matches.

Lance patted his hand, signaling for him to put his lighter away. After taking a deep drag, he exhaled and said, ”From what I have learned so far, the negotiations between the Federation and the Slad people have already achieved a decisive victory.”

”Although they haven’t announced it to the public yet, I know that this negotiation will lay the foundation for what role the Federation will play in this war that will affect the world’s pattern.”

”What does this mean?” he looked at the others.

The others looked at each other. They had not received a higher education, and they couldn’t analyze anything from these.

The only university student, Sean, was not here.

Mello looked at the young people and said with a laugh, ”We can’t guess. You just say it.”

Lance looked at him with a grin. ”It represents that the power in the hands of the federal government, and also their authority, their influence, will be unprecedentedly enhanced.”

”The victory of the war will bring a large amount of war dividends. These dividends will not only be obtained by the ruling class, but will also be fully released to every class, every corner of society.”

”A very simple example...” he waved his hand. ”The war has destroyed many cities of Slad, including Dantra, and has destroyed their industries. They need to rebuild, and they also need to solve the livelihood problems of the people.”

”Grain, clothes, daily necessities. They need these things, but these things are not just born out of thin air.”

”These things are produced in factories. They can’t produce them themselves, so they can only hand them over to the Federation for production.”

”It can be foreseen that the Federation’s production capacity will, because of the continuation and victory of the war, continue to increase, and the economy will continue to go up, and it may be maintained for ten years.”

”People’s incomes will also undergo a huge change. I’ve heard that they think that the wages of people may exceed fifty a month. I think they are too conservative.”

”Maybe by the second half of next year, or the first half of the year after, people’s wages will exceed sixty.”

”The more the development trend of the war is in our favor, then the greater the benefits that the federal government, the society of the Federation, will draw from the war, and the more everyone will get.”

”The government’s ruling power will soar as never before. At that time, do you think they will still need a large number of gangs to help them to maintain the stability of the bottom of society?”

After Lance had said these words, everyone in the room had fallen into a kind of an absurd train of thought. Mello also frowned tightly. ”But now there are many gangs in the Federation. They may not necessarily be able to handle us.”

Lance turned to look at Mello. He was the oldest among them, and had also experienced many things. After all, he had lived for a few more years.

In some of his cognitions, he was clearly more than a little stronger than the others.

For his point of view, Lance did not immediately deny it, but began to discuss, ”Do you think that the gangs have made the federal government completely helpless?”

Mello nodded. ”Because the number of gangs is very large, and we have some weapons, and we also control the bottom of society.”

”It’s no exaggeration to say that now Golden Port City, without Mayor Williams, can still operate normally.”

”But without us, then this city will immediately be in chaos!”

The others also nodded one after another. They all had the same cognition.

The mayor manages the higher-end things, while the bottom of society, the daily order, is firmly in the hands of the gangs.

Lance shook his head. ”You’ve got one thing wrong.”

”The chaos in society is because of the existence of the gangs. The gangs have to fight, to snatch territory, and to kill each other for benefits.”

”So this society will become chaotic. But if the federal government is determined to clean up all the gangs in the country, for example, the police station that Chief Bruce and his men are controlling now, is replaced by the people from above.”

”The police will no longer be under our control, but on the contrary, will come over to surround and intercept us.”

”For example, Attorney General Terry. What if he is not on our side now?”

”The police, the prosecutor, the court and the judge, and also the military.”

”Especially the military, the soldiers who have just come down from the battlefield. Do you think they are no match for the gangs?”

”As long as the federal government is bent on doing this, and the public will 100% support it, then for the gangs, it will be a disaster!”

This was not Lance telling a story to scare them. This was the inevitability of historical development!

Everything brought by the war would make the federal government and Congress more highly centralized. The people would also blindly trust them. In addition, the gangs, in the vast majority of areas, were indeed not good things.

So in order to take back the right to manage the bottom, and not to be constrained by the gangs, there was a high probability that Congress would pass a proposal like the ”Anti-Organized Crime Act,” and then would begin to make a move on the gangs.

On that day, it would be a nightmare for all the gangs. Even the five major families of the Federation would not be able to withstand the huge pressure from the top down, of ”de-gangsterization.”

This pessimistic description of the future had made the young gentlemen in the room all look worried. Morris coughed twice. ”You must have a way, right?”

Lance nodded and said, ”Yes, I have a way. This is the reason why I’m planning to talk to you.”

”In fact, it is easier for us to transform than the ordinary gangs, because we have never harmed the ordinary people.”

”And we have a good foundation among the public. They do not oppose us, so it will also be very difficult for the federal government to want to send us to court.”

At this time, someone had suddenly interjected, ”Boss, aren’t you very familiar with that what’s-his-name senator?”

Lance did not deny this. ”I am indeed very familiar with the senator, and with the congressional side, but this is not a conflict, is it?”

”It’s like you have a friend with a good relationship. He is now in some trouble, and is in urgent need of money.”

”You let him come to the company to borrow a sum of money. This doesn’t mean that we won’t charge him interest.”

”And this is a major trend. In the face of politics, friendship is the most worthless thing. It breaks with a single touch.”

”And we also have a certain representativeness. A representative thing often has more value in being destroyed.”

The person who had spoken asked, ”Then what do we do next?”

”Transform!”

”Transform into a combination of capital and politics. This Rapa problem is an opportunity.”

”We can play a more important role in this, and it can also let you all have some fun.”

”In the process of subverting the Rapa regime, I also need some manpower. Of course, this may be a little dangerous. After all, the things we are doing are quite unsettling.”

”If any of you are interested, you can sign up, and at that time, you will go with me.”

”Of course, not to sign up does not mean that you are shrinking back, because Golden Port City’s side also needs some people to stay behind. This is our basic foundation.”

To whitewash is really not an easy matter. The mine that Lance was going to set up this time was, in essence, a ”pledge of allegiance,” a way of proving to the ruling class that ”I am one of us.”

Not just the political world, but also the capital side. To complete the transformation before the federal government decided to solve the problem of the gangs, then he could survive.

If he couldn’t, then it would be very troublesome.

Lance had only stayed in Golden Port City for one day, and then he had gone to the Lawrence Farm.

When Little Ace had seen him, he was a little unfamiliar, but after he had been pricked by his beard twice, he had on the contrary become a lot closer to him.

After playing with the child for a while, Lance had gone to be intimate with Patricia. They had not fulfilled their mutual obligations for a long time, until the evening!

This time, Lance had definitely over-performed. The first battle could only be said to be mediocre, but soon he had rallied his spirits and had started the second battle.

The second battle was always more lasting than the first. In the end, the two sides could only end in a draw.

Lying in Lance’s arms, Patricia’s whole person had calmed down. ”When will you be back next time?”

She knew that Lance’s return was only temporary, and that he would be leaving soon. Although she was a little reluctant, she also knew that what Lance was doing was very important to them, to the Lawrence family.

Lance sighed lightly. ”I might be back for a trip during the summer vacation, and then for the Harvest Festival.”

”That’s still a long time!” Patricia was a little aggrieved. Lance could only hold her tightly.

Rapa was too dangerous. Otherwise, he would have brought Patricia over.

His warmth in Likalai State did not last for too long. He had only stayed at the Lawrence Farm for two days, and then he had returned to New Golden City. The first round of consultations had been preliminarily completed.

The Slad people and the federal government had already completely confirmed the content of the negotiations. After a short break, they would enter the intense negotiation stage.

After they had come to the negotiating table, the relaxed atmosphere would disappear, because the result of their negotiations would determine the development trend of the Federation and Slad in the next ten, or even twenty, thirty years.

This was a very grueling negotiation. The content involved was relatively large, not only in terms of politics, but also in terms of business, and culture. It was related to all aspects of society, and also included tariffs, and transportation permits.

In this leisure time, Senator Cleveland had taken Lance to participate in a small circle’s social gathering.

There were only about twenty people at the scene, all of whom were male, with no females.

In this era, it wasn’t that the Federation had no female officials, or female presidents.

But at this height, there really were none!

Here, besides those senators, the high-ranking officials of the Federation, there were also some people from the capital side.

Senator Cleveland had specially introduced to Lance the president and two of the board members of the ”Doerr Group.”

”The Doerr Group has very skilled methods and abilities in financial operations. The matter you talked to me about last time, they will connect with you and follow up.”

Lance had heard of the Doerr Group. It was one of the largest asset management companies in the Federation. No one knew how many company shares they held.

Before, he had read some books on finance, and in them, it had mentioned some things about the Doerr Group. Many of the ”Deterland Tragedies” had a certain relationship with the Doerr Group.

Some said that they were the ”biggest executioners on Deterland Street.” Although they had not personally executed anyone with a gun or other weapons, at least tens of thousands of investors had, in a span of fifty years, because of some of their financial operations, had chosen to end their own lives.

The Federal Financial Regulatory Commission had conducted many investigations on them. Most of the time, the results of the investigations were in line with the natural operation of the capital business market. Occasionally, there would be some operations that might not be so appropriate, and someone would take the initiative to stand up and take the blame.

Since Senator Cleveland and his group had decided to invest, they would not let the plate be so small.

To be a small-timer would be too unworthy of their status, so they had directly contacted the people of the Doerr Group.

As for how much to give them, Lance was not clear, nor did he intend to inquire.

After they had exchanged their business cards, they had temporarily separated.

”This time, the operation, leave it all to them.”

”Edward (the president of the Doerr Group) and I are old friends. He is a reliable person. You can have more contact with him, if you are interested in finance.”

Lance nodded in agreement. Then he had taken Lance to meet the others.

A very formal introduction. This represented that Lance was truly integrating into this circle.

Senator Cleveland’s formality had also made the others treat Lance very formally.

Their gazes, as they had looked at Lance, whether they were real or fake, were all filled with a satisfied look.

This was a small-scale social gathering. The content of the social gathering was also centered around Rapa. Lance, as the person in charge of the important figures in Rapa during this period, would clearly be the core figure of this social gathering.

This was also what Senator Cleveland had deliberately done. He had chosen the theme of the social gathering. Only in this way could Lance be taken seriously by people.

After he had gotten to know everyone, the topic of the people had naturally come to Yalan, the Yalan League, and the Rapa, which was now in the most serious trouble.

Someone asked, ”Lance, you have been pushing for the development of these things. What do you think is the best situation in our ideals?”