Empire of Shadows

Quite a few people came to Morris’s wedding. Besides the members of the Lance Family, there were also the bride’s parents, relatives, and friends, as well as Morris’s own friends.

Morris was now the general manager of the Golden Port Casino, fully responsible for the entire casino’s business operations.

The Golden Casino had not yet officially opened due to a series of reasons, including the war. Lance had set the opening time for after the war ended.

Right now, because of the ”war tax,” people didn’t have much money in their pockets, even though wages were constantly increasing—

It must be said that the rate of wage increases in the last two years has been very fast. Almost all companies have met the ”standard” of increasing wages once every six months, and the amount of the increase is not small.

This is the most direct manifestation of rapid economic growth.

In the previous years of recession, companies that didn’t raise wages for two or three years were everywhere.

If you don’t do it, someone else will.

And not only are these people willing to do it, they are also willing to take the initiative to lower their salary expectations and work desperately.

In the past, when capitalists wanted workers to work overtime, the union leaders would immediately come knocking, saying they were exploiting and oppressing the workers.But at that time, it was normal to work twelve or even thirteen or fourteen hours a day, but only get paid for ten or eleven hours.

With the economy in decline, a large number of factories went bankrupt, and federal workers had been taking home wages of only thirty-something for at least five or six years.

But look at now, the economy is on the rise. Because of the war, the Federation’s goods are being dumped in half the world, and there are also a large number of military equipment orders.

Millions of laborers have been drafted to the battlefield, creating a labor gap in the factories. They have all begun to raise wages to recruit workers.

It is said that this year, the wages of some workers in Golden Port City have risen to around 52, 53, 54, 55. In places like New Golden City, the average wage of workers in car factories has already exceeded sixty.

As for some engineers and the like, their incomes have all broken a hundred, and even one hundred plus, or even two hundred.

The current wages are increasing as if in retaliation, trying to make up for all the lost years in one go.

But this doesn’t mean that people have more money than before. After the war broke out, a nationwide tax was imposed, and the tax rate was not low. Most people’s wages had increased, but the disposable income they had in the end had decreased.

So the Golden Casino was in no hurry to open. One Golden Port Casino was enough.

Therefore, in Golden Port City, in terms of casinos, Morris was definitely the top in this industry.

He had made many friends, including those who were specialized in casino financial work, which is to say, loan shark companies.

There were also other suppliers, such as gambling equipment suppliers.

In large-scale casinos, gambling equipment can be said to be consumables. Sometimes some customers will feel that a certain deck of cards is not very friendly to them, and they will ask for a new deck.

The dealer will then place the playing cards in use on the table, show them to everyone to ensure that there are no extra or missing cards, and then tear them up in front of everyone and throw them into a shredder to be completely destroyed.

If they encountered the kind of customer with a bad temper, they would demand a new deck every time they lost, and the casino would definitely cooperate.

Don’t think that encountering such a customer will cause the casino to lose money. In fact, in the process of their gambling, the ”table tax” they pay is already enough to support them in changing more decks of cards.

The Golden Port Casino can consume thousands of dollars worth of various gambling equipment every day. This money may not be a lot for Lance, for Morris, or even for any rich person.

But for those small businesses, if they can get a part of it, they don’t even need all of it, it can already bring them very rich profits!

So Morris was very well-connected in society. In the past, Lance thought Ennio was a good hand at public relations, but now it seemed that Morris was not bad either.

After all, he had grown up in a casino and had dealt with all kinds of people since he was a child. How could he not know how to interact with people?

”Mr. Lance!”

Lance turned to look at the two gentlemen who were walking towards him. These two gentlemen, at a glance, were somewhat different from most of the other people at the scene.

They carried an arrogant reserve. This was a hard-to-describe feeling. In short, it could make people feel that they were out of place with most of these people.

Lance patted the back of Barbara’s hand. The latter rolled her eyes at him, but still very politely curtsied to the two gentlemen, and then took the initiative to leave.

”I hope I’m not disturbing you!” The guy in the front was in his late thirties. His face and hair were meticulously handled, and he should have a very good grooming habit.

The middle class is just like this. In the pursuit of the so-called ”high-quality life,” they are definitely at the forefront, even better than the rich people of the upper class.

The reason he said this was because Barbara was not Patricia. She was a female star. They might not know what Patricia looked like, but they knew Barbara.

He didn’t know the relationship between Lance and Barbara, and there might be some misunderstanding. Lance did not correct their misunderstanding.

It wasn’t that he was deliberately doing this, but that he felt it was irrelevant.

”No,” Lance replied concisely.

”Let me introduce you. This is Dr. Eisen,” the guy in the front was the head of the ”Conhealth Medical” research center in Likalai State, and could also be said to be the manager.

At the same time, he was also the head of a hospital in Golden Port City.

Conhealth Medical is one of the five major medical groups in the Federation, and they cover many industries.

Many people think that a medical group may just be engaged in hospitals and manufacturing drugs, but in fact, it is not like that.

They are involved in many fields such as chemistry, materials science, industry, education, etc. If the military-industrial complex is a visible, a powerful, and a super-complex that is on its way to invincibility, then the medical group is, in the Federation and even the whole world, a super-giant that people are, with a high probability, unaware of, hidden in the shadows!

The entire field is under the control of these five medical groups.

Previously, some people had sued them for monopolizing the medical industry in the Federation, but Congress had set up a special investigation team. In the end, they had not investigated any actual monopolistic behavior.

Lance had contacted them because he wanted to have some cooperation with them, to push for the faster development of human medical science and technology!

Lance shook hands with Dr. Eisen. This was a very typical ”scholar doctor.” His hair was somewhat gray, and he looked tall and thin. His eyes were filled with a kind of indifference.

Not an indifference to Lance. He looked at everyone like this. He was indifferent to the human species!

In the laboratory, he had dissected too many humans, and had even, directly or indirectly, through some ”scientific rituals,” killed many humans.

From his perspective, humans are just materials that can be used for research and experimentation.

A doctor, an expert, may verbally express respect for the materials, but there is a high probability that it is not real respect.

”Bede told me that you are willing to sponsor some of my research projects.”

Bede was the manager of the research center in Likalai State, who was standing next to him.

Lance nodded. ”Yes...” he said, turning his head to look at Morris, who was socializing in the crowd. ”That guy over there, the groom, he suffered very serious gunshot wounds before. Many of his internal organs were severely traumatized.”

”The doctor judged that his lifespan would be greatly reduced due to these injuries, and he may already be feeling the irreversible changes that these traumas have brought to him.”

”He will often cough, and be out of breath. These are all his problems.”

Dr. Eisen nodded. ”Yes, I have seen this Mr. Morris’s file. His condition is indeed very bad.”

”So your purpose in supporting my research is to help him to obtain a better quality of life, and to extend his lifespan as much as possible?”

Lance did not deny it. Dr. Eisen was currently one of the experts who was moving relatively fast in the field of organ transplantation.

In fact, he didn’t need Lance’s sponsorship. Conhealth Medical alone would allocate a lot of money to him every year for various research.

Many people feel that medical expenses are expensive, and to spend two or three hundred on a fracture is a bit hard to accept.

This is because they have not seen the spending of those rich people on medical care. That is what is called ”astonishing”!

Organ transplantation has always been one of the core directions in human body research. Every medical group is researching it.

Lance nodded. ”Yes.”

Dr. Eisen glanced at the research center manager by his side. After the two had exchanged a look, he looked at Lance again. ”You know, my research is not short of funds.”

”There are many private funds that will allocate a large amount of money to me every year.”

Those who are afraid of death are, in the end, the majority. Many rich people, when they were young, had never cherished their bodies, so much so that their bodies were now a mess.

In some literary works, and even in some myths, blood, organs, these not only have a mysterious color, but are also a manifestation of health and youth.

To change an organ may be relatively difficult, but a blood transfusion is very easy. There are already some rich people who have received a blood transfusion.

Although there is no clear data to prove that their bodies have become younger after the blood transfusion, every one of them has said that they feel great!

This has also pushed people’s eager desire for organ replacement!

The meaning of Dr. Eisen’s words was to, again and again, confirm the words that those people had passed on.

What Lance was going to sponsor him was not money, but the materials that he was in short supply of.

At present, in the Federation, there are 200,000 to 300,000 people who go missing every year, and just completely disappear. The most interesting thing is that there are men, women, old, and young.

Among them, the young and beautiful women, and even the younger boys and girls, after they have gone missing, will often appear in the cages in the basements of some gentlemen’s manors, and become a toy.

As for the ordinary people, after they have gone missing, they will either appear in some farms or mines, or they will appear in these laboratories.

In the current black market of the Federation, the price of a living person is about 1,200 to 2,000, depending on their physical health.

If there are special needs, for example, if they are required to be particularly thin, particularly fat, or to have a certain special disease, then the price will be increased.

This is a very secret and terrifying market. Even Lance, with his current status, reputation, and influence in the underworld, he is unable to get in touch with this deepest, darkest.

Because what is hidden behind this darkness is not just the clean and superficial thing of a gang, but also something that is unexpected, and will make people feel fear.

For example, the gentlemen.

The research on topics like organ transplantation is not about theories. They have already almost completed the theoretical things. The rest is to constantly practice, to find and discover problems in practice, and then to solve them.

They have also done a lot of experiments on animal organ transplantation. The main purpose of using animals for organ transplantation is to verify some of the theories.

When it comes to the real practice, it still has to be based on humans.

They will recruit some people who are willing to participate in the experiment, for example, patients with severe, late-stage organ failure.

These people, if they don’t get an organ transplant, will soon die. They might as well just take a gamble.

Besides this, they can only buy.

But now the gap in this aspect in the entire Federation is also huge. Dr. Eisen had already applied for a long time, and had only been approved for six ’consumables’. Then, in less than a month, they had all been used up.

Then he had applied again. The head office was very strict in managing this, after all, what if it caused some scandal, that would be too bad!

So in handling these consumables, they were all very strict.

Everyone is researching this topic. Whoever can be the first to get it, will be able to get a huge reputation and status in the medical industry. There are also other scientists who are researching. Dr. Eisen does not want to give up this opportunity.

Once he has missed this research, there is a high probability that he will not have any other chance to get all kinds of top medical achievements in his life.

So when Lance had said that he could provide him with some consumables, he had come over.

Lance had some small movements with his hands. ”I have invested in some enterprises on the Rapa side. The current Rapa is in the midst of a civil war. Every day, thousands of people will die.”

Dr. Eisen, while listening, was nodding. Although he lacked reverence and respect for life, at this time, he still appropriately, showed some emotion.

”My God, what a pity!”

Lance also nodded with great approval. ”Yes, to die just like this for some meaningless things, it’s better to let them make some contribution to the cause of medicine, what do you think doc?”

Dr. Eisen was suddenly a little moved. He looked at Lance, and then at the manager. The manager nodded slightly.

In fact, if it was just Lance, it would certainly not be possible to pry this plan loose. Someone in Conhealth Medical had contacted Congress. They had, after hearing about this, also been very supportive, which was why there had been such a development.

Dr. Eisen, after a slight thought, said, ”I can’t immediately confirm if this will work. I still have to go to Rapa for an on-site inspection, to see if the environment there is suitable for us to carry out these projects.”

”No problem. When you have decided on the time, just give me a call. At that time, I will arrange for people to protect your safety throughout the journey, and to let you get a closer look at those cruel facts.”

”From my perspective, to give these people a chance to live, this is doing a good deed.”

In a battle, many people, whether it was the government army or those anti-government armed forces, would, because they had been shot, and were unable to get timely treatment, in the end, die in some corner, or on a sickbed.

Lance’s idea was to establish an absolutely neutral hospital, to provide free aid to these wounded in Rapa.

On the one hand, it could be used to promote and to strengthen people’s good feelings for the Federation, and at the same time, it could also give Dr. Eisen a chance to get in touch with more consumables.

Not just for organ transplantation, but also to study some of the organs, when they are damaged, and their functions are limited, the limit and the time of the human body’s survival.

These will all be valuable data, and it is very difficult to do this in the Federation. After all, there won’t be so many patients who meet their requirements in the hospital every day, and who are also willing to cooperate with the hospital to record data, and to do all kinds of research.

This is a good thing, in fact!

The three of them were in the process of discussing some details, when some louder voices came from a distance. Manager Bede had ended the conversation between them. ”It seems that Mr. Morris’s wedding ceremony is about to begin.”

Lance turned his head and looked. It was indeed so. He excused himself. ”I am the officiant today, so I have to leave first.”

”If there are any problems, we will talk in detail later.”

He said as he bade farewell to the two, and came to the very front of the crowd.

Morris hugged him, and they talked in a low voice. People had seen Lance, and the originally somewhat noisy sound had, in an instant, become much quieter.

After Lance and Morris had said a few simple words, he had taken the initiative to walk onto the stage and had stood there. ”Welcome everyone, to be here today to attend Morris’s wedding. There should be no one who doesn’t know me.”

The people were very cooperative. There were also some who were very excited, for example, the relatives and friends of Morris’s wife’s side.

For them, this was tantamount to, through another way, to have realized their Federation Dream!

Yes, their dream had, at this moment, been realized. Everyone was so excited that they couldn’t speak.

They didn’t know how much Morris earned a year, but it must be a lot of wealth, so much that they couldn’t even count.

They were fantasizing about what they could get for themselves from this relationship in the future. Now that they had also seen Lance, a beautiful life seemed to be already beckoning to them.

”Morris has asked me to be the officiant. This is a very important role. I’m not sure if I can play this role well.”

”But no matter who it is, and what they do, there is always a first time.”

”Just like the first time we hold our wife’s hand, the first time we put a diamond ring on her, the first time we are tender, the first time we become a father or a mother. We have many first times in our lives.”

”For our lives, the first time often means the beginning of happiness. The first time we learn to walk, the first time we learn to run, the first time we learn to love!”

”I am very honored, on such a special day as today, for my good brother, Morris and his wife, to witness their love.”

”I hope they can go further in their love and marriage!”

”Brother, you can come up now. You’ve made me say this, which has tortured me a little. The gazes from below are too hot. It’s making me sweat a little!”

He made a gesture of wiping his sweat. Morris had soon come to his side. After the two had hugged, Lance had left from the side, and had returned to the first seat in the front row, on the left, and had sat down.

Morris stood on the stage, thanking Lance for his speech, and also thanking every one of the relatives and friends who could be present...