Empire of Shadows

Our

advanced chapter at /caleredhair

Watching his men begin to unload the cargo, Polly’s face brightened with a smile. He walked over to a box of liquor, opened it, and took out a bottle.

“Brandy?” He glanced at Jimmy, who was directing the unloading, and Jimmy nodded.

“It’s all brandy and wine, with some whiskey, but not much.”

Polly’s brow furrowed slightly. Brandy and wine were more favored in the mid-to-high-end consumer market, but his bars didn’t cater to such high-end clientele.

In other words, all the customers in his bar were poor bastards who could only afford twenty-five cent cheap whiskey, not the more expensive brandy and wine.

Especially these wines, who would drink that in a bar?

Maybe some, but at least no one in Polly’s own bar drank it. He was happy at first, but suddenly seeing these goods made him less so.

He didn’t realize that Heller’s purpose in acquiring these items was for the mid-to-high-end market. The low-end smuggled liquor market in Golden Port City was actually in a semi-saturated state with stable prices.On the contrary, the mid-to-high-end liquor market, which no one had paid attention to before, began to show increasing potential. There were many wealthy people in Golden Port City; they couldn’t drink cheap, low-grade liquor like those mud-slinging commoners. What they needed was mid-to-high-grade liquor.

Whether for their own consumption or for entertaining guests, they needed at least five dollars a bottle or more.

At current liquor market prices, liquor that used to cost five dollars or more, such as Gold Label Napoleonic whiskey, now cost over twelve dollars.

But it was unlikely that truly wealthy people would entertain guests with Silver Label. The rich sometimes cared more about appearances than the poor, so Gold Label and similar products became their only choice.

Some wealthy individuals might use dozens of bottles, even twenty or thirty, at a single party in a day. These liquors could not only bring him large profits but also offer him opportunities to gain connections in high society.

Others couldn’t get high-end liquor, but he could, so people were willing to befriend him.

Heller, like Mr. Jobav, despite one being a gang leader and the other an immigrant banker, both had a desire to become high-society figures!

Polly could understand the idea of trying to worm one’s way into high society, but he wouldn’t do it himself.

He was at the very bottom of society, and years of living at the bottom had taught him a truth: some things are predetermined from the moment you are born.

Either it is, or it isn’t; it cannot be easily changed.

Even though he bought a villa in the Bay Area, he rarely lived there, because he could see contempt and mockery in the eyes of his neighbors.

Even if he lived in a high-end community, in their eyes, he was no different from a dock worker.

No one would truly regard him as a person of importance.

“Let our bar try selling them first, and let them discuss a price,” Polly opened the bottle in his hand and had someone bring a glass.

It must be said, its taste was indeed much better than the cheap whiskey he had drunk, but it could also be due to the weighted value of the substance.

He patted Jimmy on the arm, motioning for him to follow.

The two left the warehouse, and the sea breeze, surprisingly, felt a little cold. He handed the wine bottle to Jimmy, who tilted his head back and took a big gulp from the mouth of the bottle.

His face, illuminated by the lights outside the warehouse, visibly began to turn red. Soon, he exhaled a puff of hot air, and his complexion slowly returned to normal.

Under Polly’s influence, almost everyone in the Brotherhood disliked adding ice cubes when drinking hard liquor.

Young people, especially flamboyant young people, always hoped to be unique, but in this dull society, the cost of being unique was high.

He could only seek uniqueness in places where he didn’t have to pay a huge price. Drinking strong liquor without ice was one of his choices.

He regarded drinking a large gulp of strong liquor without ice as a “game of the brave,” which also led to almost all members of the gang doing the same.

Drinking a glass of strong liquor in one or two gulps, without ice, gradually formed a gang culture.

Jimmy held the wine bottle in his hand because Polly didn’t ask for it.

“When you weren’t here, Pete called me.”

Pete was a well-known broker in Golden Port City’s high society. He was involved in almost every field and had connections in all of them.

This was thanks to his family, which had produced a state governor and a state senator (equivalent to a lieutenant governor). Even now, there were still family members in the state senate and state assembly.

He was a long-standing active member of the local Socialist Party.

Such all-around brokers were almost everywhere in the Federation, from cities to states, and even to Congress and the federal government. They were spread throughout the entire federal and federal political system.

Because they themselves were not politicians, they were not bound by some rules.

At the same time, they had enough influence in politics, economics, business, and even the underworld, so many people would need them.

There were always some people who didn’t want to get their hands dirty but still wanted to get the dirty work done, and they became the choice for those respectable people who didn’t want to get their hands dirty.

Jimmy had heard the name but didn’t know Pete. He wasn’t at a high enough level to know such people, so he could only nod, as if to say, “I understand.”

“Jobav pulled some strings, and Pete took his commission, telling us to put an end to this matter.”

Jimmy only reacted at this moment, instantly annoyed. “So I got shot for nothing?”

Polly turned and looked at him, “You won’t be injured for nothing. He promised to give two hundred thousand dollars to resolve this matter.”

“I guarantee that these two hundred thousand dollars will be given to you without a single cent missing,” the other meaning of this sentence was that Polly and the gang would not take a cut from this, and would give it all to him.

Jimmy had actually already agreed in his heart. When he heard that Jobav had sided with the mayor, he knew that this grudge would be basically impossible to avenge.

To lay hands on the mayor’s lackey, even Polly wouldn’t dare to do that.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t do it, but that they didn’t dare. If they did, they would have no place to stand in Golden Port City.

The mayor already had a high reputation within the Socialist Party and was planning to run for governor. You just took a lackey, and then you go and kill the lackey.

Are you killing the lackey, or are you slapping the mayor in the face? No one could tell.

Such a person needed only one word, and they would be hunted down and killed.

Their own past was not clean, and those law enforcement agencies would not even need to collect evidence to find trouble with them; they could just take direct action.

Even though he inwardly agreed, he couldn’t immediately stick out his tongue and smile in agreement, which would greatly lower his status with Polly and even within the gang.

Seeing Jimmy lower his head and say nothing, Polly placed his hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re very unhappy with him, but I’m under a lot of pressure too!”

“How about this, I’ll give you a choice.”

“I’ll make him pay an extra ten thousand, or you go retaliate against his assistant’s nephew.”

“Pete told me that all the arrangements were made by that young man: the people he chose, the weapons he provided, the assassination he orchestrated.”

Another difficult choice. If he weren’t in the Brotherhood, Jimmy would definitely choose to ask for an extra ten thousand dollars, but here, and in front of Polly, he could only choose the option that better suited their gang’s temperament, “I choose the latter.”

Polly smiled and patted his shoulder, “I knew you’d understand me!” he said, gesturing for Jimmy to hand him the bottle.

He took a gulp, his face flushing. “This matter has put you in a tough spot.”

“It’s nothing, it’s all for the gang,” Jimmy said a nice platitude.

That night, Polly arranged for people to send a batch of brandy to the bar to sell. Because the price of this batch of liquor was very high, they had tried their best to price it down, with each two-ounce glass of brandy costing only ninety-nine cents.

In terms of total selling price, a bottle could be sold for twelve dollars. This price, if placed in the terminal sales market for whole bottles, could only be considered a current market price product.

But in the sale of loose liquor in bars, its profit margin was far lower than other products, arguably even razor-thin.

But even so, the sales volume for the night was dismal. It was the same for several bars; the three bars currently operated by the Brotherhood didn’t sell a single glass.

The two bars they supplied only sold one glass, and it was said that seven or eight people shared one glass.

Compared to ninety-nine cents for a glass of brandy, the poor dockworkers, whose pockets held only a few coins, preferred a large glass of beer plus an ounce of whiskey for twenty-five cents!

This also made Polly realize that this batch of liquor, at least for him, would be difficult to offload. He would have to find other ways, perhaps send it to the Bay Area.

But he didn’t have connections in the Bay Area right now, though he would find a way. Pete, that broker, was one way.

The next morning, Heller called Polly. “Hey, Big Polly, are you satisfied with this shipment?” Heller expected to hear Polly’s praise, but instead, he was met with a barrage of complaints.

“Heller, if you had told me your damn shipment was all brandy and wine, I wouldn’t have even touched it!”

“Last night, out of five bars, only one glass was sold. There’s simply no market for this mid-to-high-end liquor at the dock!”

Heller, sitting in his office, showed a slight smile. Of course, he wouldn’t say that this was the effect he wanted.

The gangs he found to take over were all low-level gangs. If he really wanted to get rid of this batch of liquor, why didn’t he go directly to the five major families?

The five major families had credibility and weren’t short on money; they could definitely pay him the full amount. Why would he still look for low-level gangs?

Besides being a little afraid that the five major families would swallow his goods, he mostly wanted to get this batch of goods back.

“I didn’t know you couldn’t offload these liquors. How about this, you return the liquor to me,” he said what was on his mind. “Since you helped me pick up the goods, I’ll give you five thousand dollars.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a while. Just as he was about to add another two or three thousand dollars, Polly’s voice came through, “Two hundred thousand, cost price to you.”

Heller held the receiver in front of his eyes and looked at it, as if… he suspected he was hallucinating.

He hadn’t even received his hundred thousand dollars for this shipment, and now Polly was asking him for two hundred thousand? Was Polly crazy, or was he crazy?

He brought the receiver back to his ear. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I only asked for a hundred thousand for this shipment. Now you can’t sell it, and I’m helping you solve the problem, and you want two hundred thousand from me?”

Polly’s voice carried a hint of ruthlessness, “This batch of liquor can sell for three hundred and fifty thousand, don’t you dare tell me you don’t know that!”

“Also, Heller, you goddamn watch your language. I’m not an Imperial. If you try that on me, I’ll bring my men and my guns to find you tonight!”

Just one sentence silenced Heller.

“Think and do as you please, Polly. Since you refuse my goodwill, I will no longer interfere in this matter.”

“Also, give me the money, we agreed on it,” he was furious, but eventually gave up, after all, he believed Polly could really come with a group of people at night.

The contemptuous laughter from the receiver made his blood pressure rise again; his eyes were slightly red.

Since becoming a gang leader, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

“After I sell this batch of liquor, I’ll give you the money. Otherwise, come to my office yourself now to get it.”

“I don’t feel like talking to you anymore. If you don’t come before noon, wait until I sell it.”

The busy tone made Heller slam the receiver onto the phone cradle.

That son of a bitch, he cursed, lighting a cigarette.

But he didn’t have the guts to personally go to Polly’s office to demand that one hundred thousand from that madman, especially after their phone conversation turned into a conflict.

After a while, he let out a heavy sigh. Fine, he’d wait until he sold it.

In just two short days, it was all bad news.

Precisely because of this, he grew increasingly disgusted with Will, who was now dead, and his damned brother, as well as the Lance family, who had caused all of this.

He took his cigarette to the window. Downstairs, two police cars were still parked outside the nightclub, which had significantly hurt business yesterday.

Now the police were watching closely. Once they stopped, he would definitely make the Lance family pay!

Meanwhile, Lance, who was being thought of, had already arrived at Lezhu Company and was sitting in Alberto’s office.

“…Those cars have all been dealt with cleanly. No one can link them to you.”

“There will definitely be a lot of police watching you during this period. It’s not a good time for me to take you to see Mr. Pasoretto. I’ll take you when the police are less closely watching you.”

He shook his head slightly, “Lance, you’re gaining a bit of a reputation in Golden Port City. Many people have heard that you took down Will of the Camilla gang.”

“I’ve heard discussions about the ‘Lance Family’ from more than one person. You’ve gained this attention faster than I did when I first arrived in the Federation.”

Lance seemed very relaxed.

Johnny’s family might… more or less know some people in gang circles. When they heard the name “Lance Family,” they were terrified.

They went with Hiram to persuade Johnny to let go of his hatred, and Johnny indeed chose to give up.

He was just a dock worker, relying on his strength and a few friends to do some workplace bullying.

He wasn’t a gang member and didn’t aspire to be one, so when he truly encountered a “family,” he immediately chose to compromise.

He proactively informed the Port District Police Station that it was just a misunderstanding and hoped that all charges against Baker (the scapegoat) would be dropped, and that they could reach a private settlement.

The Port District Police Station was actually also willing to see this situation. On one hand, it would reduce some of the police station’s workload, as if a lawsuit had to be pursued, they would need to use some police resources to investigate certain matters.

Don’t think that police officers, getting paid every day, don’t incur costs for investigations; in fact, there are still expenses.

If a part could be reduced, the precinct management would certainly not disagree.

On the other hand, the money Lance gave to Officer Feren and his partner also played a role.

Now that he wasn’t afraid of being investigated, even being watched by a group of police officers, Lance wasn’t scared at all.

Gaining attention isn’t necessarily a good thing, but it’s not a bad thing either.

After all, reputation is often a protective talisman.

“Alberto, are you familiar with the film industry or anything like that?” Lance changed the subject.

Alberto, holding his cigar, paused for a moment. “Are you interested in a particular actress?”

“If she’s too famous, it might not work out. You might not know, but some top actresses have even visited the presidential palace.”

“But for those who are relatively less famous, there’s absolutely no problem.”

At this time, the Federal film industry had not yet been recognized by mainstream society. Furthermore, although the film industry was flourishing, it was still in its early stages of development overall.

Compared to operas with grand stage effects, it was clearly one, or even several, levels below.

Currently, the few major stars in the Federation who were recognized by mainstream society were not recognized for their status as actors, but for their status as capitalists!

So high society didn’t pay much attention to the film industry, but the film industry had already become one of the main forms of entertainment for the lower and middle classes. For five cents, a movie ticket could provide about an hour of happiness.

Many films at this time were primarily comedic, and indeed, they could greatly make people happy. They were tied with circuses as the most popular entertainment among the lower classes!

So, at this time, even the most popular movie stars, unless they were capitalists with prominent family backgrounds, were essentially just playthings for high society, and this situation would continue for a hundred years, or even longer.

Lance shook his head, “I’m not very interested in that. I have a brother who has an excellent foundation, and I think he can become a big star.”

Alberto became a bit curious, “Then why don’t you let him sing opera?”

“Opera singers are more respected by people.”

“Opera?”

“Without decades of time and some luck, he wouldn’t even make it. On the contrary, I believe the film industry will become the fastest-growing industry in the next decade…”

“And this industry can help me.”

“Or us.”