Empire of Shadows

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The moment Mr. Mayor pushed open the door and returned to the main hall, a seemingly very sincere smile appeared on his calm face.

A politician is always able to have the right self-expression and performance at the right time, in the right place.

Holding a glass of wine, he walked into the crowd. This was a small gathering, and the people who came here were all invited by him.

Among them were some capitalists from out of town who supported him, some local disgruntled speculators who could never break through the class barrier, and a variety of other people.

Some were new friends, joining such a gathering for the first time, but some were old friends.

Mr. Mayor came to the very center of the crowd and sat down on the sofa.

He had been sitting here before. After he left, no one had sat here. Even though there were no more sofas or places to sit nearby, people still wouldn’t touch this spot.Now he sat back down, and the crowd instantly quieted down, all looking at him.

“Eric got into a fight with those local young people…”, he took a sip from his glass, “His head was broken…”

Some people gasped, and some quickly asked if Eric was still safe. The mayor just smiled and said that he was fine.

“I’ve been thinking about a problem. We have backed down for six years, but our continuous retreat has not brought peace.”

“Our investments in Golden Port have been terminated, our construction has been delayed, and our interests have not been realized.”

“Now, even our children are being beaten.”

“This is not a kind city. Its name is ‘City of Angels,’ but angels do not live here. What lives here are demons.”

“When Mike and the others came over some time ago, we had a chat. We talked about the development of the New Port.”

The environment, which had been filled with low whispers because of Eric being beaten, once again fell silent.

The new friends did not have a deep understanding of these matters, but they could still feel the dissatisfaction radiating from the people around them.

“The Socialist Party’s state office is very supportive of us continuing to strengthen the imprint we’ve left here. The Golden Port Docks have been around for a long time, although they were also built under the auspices of the Socialist Party.”

“But for the younger generation, they don’t have a very deep impression!”

“They feel that the Golden Port Docks already existed when they were born. They won’t trace back who proposed to build the Golden Port Docks, who saved this city from a group of plantation owners and farmers.”

“They will take everything for granted, and then skim over it when studying local history.”

“We need a stronger imprint, to let the people of this era still remember everything the Socialist Party has done for this place.”

“To make people realize that their happy lives come from us.”

“If we let the New Port Docks start accelerating again, the state government and the Socialist Party will support us.”

For some of the people who had invested a lot of money in the New Port District and the New Bay Area, this was indeed good news.

It meant that their previous investments would be rewarded, which was also the reason they closely followed the mayor—friendship might be part of the reason, but it was more for the benefits.

But some people also appeared worried. “Sidney (the mayor’s name), I don’t mean to dampen your enthusiasm, but the local forces are still too strong. It’s very difficult for us to fight our way out of their encirclement.”

The person speaking was a businessman who had participated in the first development of the New Port District. They were “lured in to be killed.” After a large amount of capital was invested, the locals immediately changed their tune.

Their large initial investment couldn’t be said to have gone down the drain, but it was far from receiving the returns they had expected, and it also dragged their energy into this matter.

Actually… they were all very clear that the purpose of the locals doing this, apart from not wanting to develop a new port district, was also to swallow up their basic investments.

Once the mayor left, they could take the opportunity to annex all the infrastructure and investments in the New Port District, which could save them a lot of money.

Now, the contest between the two sides was not fair, nor could fairness be found.

The mayor did not deny this point. “So I want to introduce a new friend to you!” He glanced at the watch on his wrist. His personal secretary pushed open the door and left for a moment. When he returned, he was with a smiling, chubby blond man.

Not very fat, but fatter than the average person.

His obesity made his clothes look a bit ill-fitting, but no one would laugh at him, because they all recognized this danger.

“Dale, also our new friend!”

The mayor proactively stood up to introduce this “familiar stranger” to everyone. Soon, everyone began to shake his hand and introduce themselves.

After a round of introductions, the mayor beckoned for Dale to sit beside him.

“If it weren’t for Dale’s joining, I would have let you all maintain the status quo. We don’t fight, we don’t snatch. We wait until I get promoted to the state assembly, and then we’ll slowly free up our hands to deal with these people.”

“But with Dale’s joining, our ‘revenge’ cause will be accelerated like never before!”

People’s eyes turned to Dale. Some still maintained their doubts, but some people’s eyes began to burn with passion!

Not everyone failed to understand what the mayor meant, but of course, to make those who didn’t understand, understand, he didn’t mind explaining in more detail.

“That old dog Charlie’s nickname is the ‘Hound of the Bay Area.’ He is a dog raised by the locals. When it doesn’t involve the interests of the locals, he will listen to me.”

“But when a matter involves the interests of the locals, he will once again become that loyal dog, barking at us around his masters’ feet.”

“We don’t have our own law enforcement power, so we have always been passive, just like the great strike that year and the events that followed!”

He was talking about the great strike five years ago, shortly after the official start of construction of the New Port Docks. Because a worker was “accidentally” injured, they demanded at least twenty thousand dollars in compensation from the investors.

To appease the workers’ mood, they paid this money, and then a second injured worker appeared, a third, and more.

This was clearly extortion. The outside businessmen who had invested in the New Port Docks refused to pay this money, and then the great strike began, limited to the New Port Docks.

At that time, the mayor realized this, but he believed that everything was still under control. He asked Chief Charlie to investigate these injured workers to see if they were really injured and if there was a case of fraud.

But Chief Charlie clearly told him perfunctorily that without any investigation, it was determined that there was no problem with them.

He knew that this was a conspiracy.

But the decisive power was not on his side. He couldn’t possibly investigate these issues himself. He was just the mayor, not the police chief.

Even though he knew what had happened, he ultimately had to accept the workers’ various unreasonable demands because the construction schedule was very important.

But even if he accepted, the workers’ work was constantly delayed. They constantly demanded wage increases, increased welfare benefits, and reduced working hours.

As long as they were not satisfied, they would immediately go on strike.

But if they were satisfied, they would only work four or five hours a day, and most of the time they didn’t work at all.

Later, the mayor and the investors brought in a batch of workers from out of town to continue the construction. After about four months, just when they thought there was no problem this time, a new round of attacks began.

Gang members constantly sought out trouble, creating conflicts and clashes. Although Chief Charlie arrested many gang members, he also arrested many workers.

His reason was that the two sides might have been brawling, not a one-sided beating, so they all had to be taken back for questioning.

The workers were sent to detention rooms filled with gang members and were soon covered in bruises.

At the same time, the workers on the dock construction site were constantly being poisoned and falling down because someone had poisoned the food.

Although not many people died, this series of actions ultimately successfully persuaded the workers to quit.

They came here just to earn some money, not to leave their lives here.

With the law enforcement agencies clearly showing favoritism, the mayor and his supporters lost completely.

Actually, you couldn’t blame Chief Charlie for this. For him, although the mayor was a big shot, he would eventually leave this city.

Only local political forces like Councilor Wade and Senator Williams, who were deeply rooted here, and the Five Families, would always exist.

If he didn’t want to wake up one day to find his entire family stuffed into oil drums, ready to be thrown into Angel Lake, then he had better figure out why he was called the “Hound of the Bay Area,” and not the “Hound of Justice” or the “Mayor’s Hound.”

With the Federal Bureau of Investigation still focusing its core business on “who the hell is bad-mouthing the president,” and local law enforcers led by Chief Charlie all siding with the locals, having Dale, this “outsider law enforcer,” was equivalent to filling the most important gap in their struggle against the locals!

From the perspective of political struggle, law enforcement power is the most direct and deadliest weapon. Whoever controls more law enforcement power is closer to victory.

So all along, the mayor had never initiated a frontal war. He had no weapons in his hands, how could he go to war with these people who were holding guns and pushing cannons?

But now, not only did he have a powerful weapon, but it was also stronger and better than the opponent’s. So he had the qualification to go to war.

These words made some people finally understand why the mayor suddenly had the drive again. One of them asked, “So where do we start?”

The mayor raised his glass and took a big gulp. “We start with Eric being beaten…”

…

In the Starlight District police precinct, the precinct chief stood in front of his own desk. Why wasn’t he sitting?

Because his “chief’s throne” was occupied by a middle-aged man.

This middle-aged man was Fleming’s uncle. He looked to be in his mid-forties, dressed very elegantly, and even wore a bow tie. He must have attended some event tonight and rushed back before it ended.

He pressed his hands on the desk, pushing at his brow bone, covering most of his face.

He rubbed his brow bone hard to get some relaxation that he himself didn’t know if he had or not.

The faint smell of alcohol emanating from him let people know that he must have drunk a lot tonight.

The Kodak family had many social engagements, because it wasn’t just locals who gambled at their casinos; outsiders, state government officials, and those gentlemen would also come to their casinos to gamble.

As long as you warmly received any one of them, you had to warmly receive the others.

Similarly, as long as you received them once, you would definitely have to receive them every time in the future. This was a matter of face.

No distinguished guest wanted to be the one who was ignored and neglected, so the Kodak family had a large number of reception tasks.

This was clearly the precinct chief’s office, but at this moment, it was as if it were his own office.

He was sitting, and the precinct chief was standing.

“So… I can’t take Fleming back?”

“Did you see his nose bleeding?” the middle-aged man dropped his hands. He had a somewhat handsome face.

Rich people are rarely ugly. Wealth and status give them more opportunities to improve their genes than ordinary people.

His brown, slightly curly hair gave him a noble air. It was hard to imagine he came from a gang.

“Mr. Gorry, the mayor said not to let Mr. Fleming leave…”

The middle-aged man he called “Mr. Gorry” leaned back in his chair. “I won’t make things difficult for you. I’ll take him to get his injuries treated. After the doctor says his condition is stable, I’ll bring him back. How about that?”

The precinct chief still wanted to say something, but Gorry slowly stood up and looked at him directly.

Finally, the precinct chief nodded. “I think that’s fine, Mr. Gorry.”

Mr. Gorry showed a slight smile. He walked towards the office door, and as he reached the precinct chief, he straightened the chief’s slightly messy collar. “Think about where every cent of your salary comes from. Next time, I don’t want to hear any refusal!”

He then patted the precinct chief’s cheek and walked out.

In Golden Port, there was a… common knowledge that only locals knew, which was that the salaries of local civil servants all came from the taxes of the Kodak family.

This was not a joke or a fabrication; it was a fact.

Perhaps it was slightly exaggerated, but definitely not by much.

The taxes from the casinos were very high, and Golden Port had far more civil servants than other places. Relying solely on the taxes paid by the rich was simply not enough to support the huge civil servant system.

So the Kodak family filled this funding gap. It was said that someone had calculated that about forty percent of municipal expenditures, including the salaries of civil servants, were paid with this money.

The Kodak family supported most of the civil servants in Golden Port. This was no joke!

The precinct chief’s expression was ugly, but thinking that the other party was a core member of the Kodak family, he finally took a deep breath and comforted himself with “I don’t need to get angry with a bastard,” and then followed him out in a few steps.

He was like a follower, coming to the main hall with Mr. Gorry. Fleming was sitting there, holding his nose, with several police officers taking care of him.

He stood up when he saw Gorry. “Uncle.”

Gorry nodded slightly. “It’s alright. Go to the hospital and get your nose checked, Fleming. I can’t imagine you actually got beaten up by an outsider!”

Fleming had a helpless expression. “He ambushed me…”

“Alright, I don’t want to hear your excuses,” Mr. Gorry raised his hand and stopped him. “You have to get back the face you lost yourself.”

He shook his head as he finished speaking and walked out. He still had a lot of work to do.

Fleming looked displeased. He slanted a glance at the precinct chief, and finally gathered his things and left.

When the others saw him leave, they also stood up one by one. In a short while, all these arrested young masters had left.

But some of them also left some of their lackeys behind to take the blame, for example, Arthur.

He left a lackey behind, saying that he himself hadn’t fought, it was all the lackey who was fighting.

Although the precinct chief had seen Arthur jumping up and beating a guy when he first arrived at the scene, he ultimately accepted Arthur’s self-certification.

He didn’t want Senator Williams to call and greet him at this time. He still wanted to live a few more years.

Looking at the chaotic hall, the precinct chief sighed heavily. What the hell is all this?

Just when the precinct chief thought today’s “bad luck” was over, the mayor’s secretary suddenly came over in person, with some people.

Just a moment ago, he had just sneaked a little drink in his office to relax his nerves. In just this short while, he had been made so tense by these young masters with terrifying backgrounds that he felt like he was about to fucking suffocate!

Only a drink could make him feel a little relaxed.

But just as he was indulging in the effects of the alcohol, the moment the mayor’s secretary pushed the door open and came in, his heart almost stopped beating!

“Where is Fleming?”

The mayor’s secretary asked with a serious face, “I didn’t see him in the holding cell.”

The precinct chief didn’t know what to say, how to explain. He stared at the other party with a dazed look, his mouth half open, unable to say a word for a long time!

The mayor’s secretary walked to his side and sniffed. “You’ve been drinking.”

The precinct chief nodded slightly. The mayor’s secretary sneered, “Congress and the Presidential Palace have been talking about the Prohibition, yet you, as one of Golden Port’s law enforcers, are drinking on the job.”

“I am very disappointed in the Golden Port police system. Have Charlie come over, right here. I’ll wait for him here!”

It was obvious that the precinct chief knew he had been drawn into a high-level struggle.

But at this time, he had no other choice but to obey.

He dialed Chief Charlie’s number and explained the situation. Chief Charlie cursed “useless” a few times in his heart and then hung up.

He was thinking of countermeasures. He knew what had happened tonight, so he had hidden away at the first opportunity.

He thought the matter had been resolved, but he didn’t expect the mayor to suddenly not act according to their tacit understanding.

Now he needed to make a choice.

Whether the mayor’s stick would ultimately fall on the precinct chief or on himself was a troublesome matter!

(End of this chapter)

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