Empire of Shadows

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Just as Lance and William were discussing Mr. Jobav becoming their opponent, Mr. Jobav was also chatting with the mayor about this.

“…Lance’s status in the hearts of the Empire immigrants is very high. If he supports that William fellow to run for election, it’s hard for me to say I can secure a stable victory.”

The mayor sat behind his desk, frowning at the documents on the table. He held a cigarette in his left hand and hadn’t smoked it for a long time.

So much so that a considerable amount of ash had accumulated.

It was as if he had figured something out, or perhaps Mr. Jobav’s words had startled him. His hand trembled slightly, and the cigarette ash fell onto the edge of the desk.

He quickly picked up the document and blew hard towards his side.

The ash was blown away. After shaking the document, he remembered that Mr. Jobav was still here.“Wait a moment.” He took out a pen and made some notes on the document, then put the document into a file bag.

After tightening the cap of the fountain pen, he looked at Mr. Jobav, “What did you just say?”

Mr. Jobav, sitting on the sofa, could clearly feel the mayor’s lack of regard for him. He was not a fool; he had only been a bit “naive” before.

He had also experienced many things and met many people. He could feel the mayor’s indifferent attitude towards him.

But he wouldn’t take it to heart. This was a necessary part of his journey to success and entry into high society.

“I was saying, Lance will support William’s campaign for the Empire District councilman. I might have a big problem.”

The mayor frowned, “William… what’s his last name?”

“Lawrence.”

“William Lawrence… I seem to have heard this name before.” He picked up the phone and dialed a number, “Do you know a person named William Lawrence?”

Soon, the person on the other end of the line told the mayor everything he wanted to know.

He hung up the phone and looked at Mr. Jobav, “William used to be a civil servant in our municipality. He recently resigned and is now running for the Empire District councilman, and the reason is that Lance is going to support him?”

This sounded like an affirmative sentence, but it was actually a question.

Mr. Jobav nodded, “I’m afraid so.”

The mayor let out a “Ha.” He leaned back in his chair as if he had heard a relaxing joke. “On what grounds does he support a former civil servant to run for city council?”

“Also, why do you think he will be your opponent, even a big problem?”

Different heights, different perspectives. From the mayor’s point of view, a “civil servant family” was just that, a civil servant family.

In the Federation’s administrative system, this could only be considered the very bottom of the political world. He didn’t take it to heart at all.

When did a city mayor ever start worrying about an ordinary, low-level civil servant and his family?

This was also why he couldn’t understand Mr. Jobav seeing this as a problem on his campaign trail!

A gang leader and a former low-level civil servant are now making you, a banker supported by the mayor’s faction, feel troubled. Are you f—king kidding me?

Actually, Mr. Jobav had already said it once, but now he had to say it again. This was the price of success, he told himself.

“Lance’s status in the hearts of the Empire immigrants is no lower than mine. As long as they are qualified for university, he will provide money to help them complete their dreams.”

“He doesn’t collect any protection fees in the Empire District and even started an Empire Merchants Association…”

The mayor lit another cigarette. Listening to Mr. Jobav talk about the things Lance was doing now, he couldn’t help but glance at Mr. Jobav a few more times.

That look, as if looking at a piece of trash, was not caught by Mr. Jobav. Otherwise, this would become another one of the “prices” for him to squeeze into high society.

From the mayor’s perspective, Mr. Jobav’s base in the Empire District was large and solid, but besides collecting deposits and lending money to the poor, he didn’t seem to have done anything particularly meaningful.

Holding regular gatherings counted as one. Free food and… water could indeed make people grateful to him, but it was only gratitude.

He could actually have done much more, more and better than what Lance did, but he had done nothing.

It seemed that besides running his bank and investments, he had no other achievements, in terms of influence.

Even his influence was only because he was very rich and was treated as a kind of “totem” by people. If you stripped away these external factors, he really had nothing praiseworthy.

“So it seems you have indeed encountered a problem.” The mayor flicked his cigarette ash. “I heard Lance is a local, but some of you say he’s from the Empire. What’s going on?”

Mr. Jobav wasn’t too sure either, “I heard he changed his identity through some channels and then became a local.”

“Is this useful to us?”

The mayor shook his head, “If William had done this, then it would be very useful. But whether Lance changed his identity or not has no effect on William.”

“People might even support him precisely because he is from the Empire!”

After speaking, the mayor fell into thought. It was his idea to have Mr. Jobav run for city council.

In this kind of battle, one more on your side means one less on the other side. This is definitely not a difference of “one,” it’s a difference of “two.”

He didn’t know if Lance and William supported the locals, but at this time, all fence-sitters were enemies.

You’re either with us or against us, there is no middle ground!

He quickly made a decision, “But you don’t have to worry too much about this. As long as Lance disappears, and no one provides William with campaign funds and popular support, he will definitely not be your opponent.”

“A local guy versus a successful immigrant of their own kin, they know who to vote for to truly represent themselves.”

Mr. Jobav wanted to say something. He could vaguely understand what the mayor meant by “disappear.”

He wanted to say that this was their “internal” problem, but in the end, he said nothing, because this was also the “price,” the “price” of climbing up. Someone had to be sacrificed.

Either him, or someone else.

Of course, the mayor also sensed Mr. Jobav’s low spirits. “Joe, do you know what your biggest problem is?”

Mr. Jobav, having recomposed himself, immediately asked, “What is it, sir?”

The mayor raised his finger and pointed at him, “It’s your weakness, Joe.”

“If someone else were in your position, you would already be a member of Golden Port’s high society, not like now. I heard even those gangs can extort you.”

“You have over two hundred thousand supporters here. This force would make anyone in Golden Port dare not mess with you. Once these two hundred thousand people demonstrate and march, affecting the city’s operation.”

“Then whoever caused all this would be the enemy of all vested interest groups in this city.”

“But look at yourself. So many years, and not a bit of development or change. It really makes one not know what to say.”

He shook his head and said, “With a personality like yours, even if you become a city councilman, I’m afraid you won’t last long.”

A trace of dissatisfaction flashed in Mr. Jobav’s eyes, along with a trace of anger and an indescribable sense of understanding. Yet, he smiled on his face, “Yes, you are right. I am indeed too weak sometimes.”

The mayor nodded slightly, it was unclear what he was nodding for. “It’s not too late to realize your own problems, at this time.”

“You can go ahead and prepare for the election with peace of mind. Lance hasn’t established any charity foundation yet, has he?”

“You go start one in the city, specializing in helping immigrants from the Empire who are in financial difficulty. You don’t need to give every single one of them money or things. Pick a few typical cases. You should know better than me.”

Mr. Jobav nodded, “Yes, I know what to do.”

The mayor continued, “Joe, you see, you know everything, but in the past, you did nothing, and let a young man get the jump on you.”

“But it’s okay, there’s still time for everything.”

After letting Mr. Jobav leave, he dialed his personal secretary’s number. “Tell Brinton and his men to get to work once they’ve rested. Uproot Lance’s group as soon as possible. I get annoyed just hearing their names now.”

A minor character dared to refuse his recruitment?

Whether he was a local or not, this made him feel very disgraced, especially Orson the lawyer’s seemingly smiling yet not smiling expression, which made him very angry.

Hanging up the phone, he got up and walked to the window. The cool evening breeze blew in, making him squint his eyes slightly.

If one didn’t consider the issue of power struggles, retiring in Golden Port was actually a good choice.

He looked at the cars on the city roads and fell into new thought.

At the same time, Rob’s heart was beating violently. He left the bar, slightly drunk.

The people here didn’t respect him.

When he was about to order another drink, the bartender refused him and told him he was already drunk.

What was needed now was not “another round,” but to “go home, get into bed, and have a good sleep,” and “don’t forget to have a glass of milk before bed.”

When the bartender said these words, the people around were all laughing out loud. Only Rob wasn’t laughing.

He was really drunk. He had already consumed two “bombs” and two glasses of whiskey today. He was starting to lose control.

But this damn bar was really fun. It was full of young girls who were willing to respond to his advances, which made him very happy.

Even the pain of losing Selena seemed to disappear in the process of flirting with these girls.

Now, he just wanted two more drinks, one for himself and another for his “female companion.” He felt he had a chance to take this girl home today. He came by car.

But the bartender not only refused him but also turned him into a joke. He cursed “f—k” and seemed about to do something impulsive, but he quickly controlled his emotions.

Because two bouncers were standing behind him.

“If it weren’t for your father’s sake, I would take you to the back right now, instead of letting you leave!” The bartender tilted his head, and the two bouncers dragged him to the door and threw him out.

The moment the bar door closed, he vaguely heard the crowd’s laughter. His flushed face was indistinguishable between being from drinking too much or from anger.

He came to a phone booth diagonally across the street from the bar. He glanced at the few people standing outside the bar’s alley in the distance, took out two one-cent coins, and inserted them into the public phone’s coin slot.

“This is the Bureau of Hazardous Materials complaint line. How may I help you?”

“I want to speak with Officer Lukar.”

“One moment…”

After about twenty seconds, a voice came on, “This is Lukar, who’s there?”

Rob’s heart beat more forcefully and faster. He felt his mouth was dry, probably from drinking too much. He should have listened to the bartender and had a glass of milk.

He pressed his hand on his chest, as if trying to make it stop beating so violently. “It’s me, Scarecrow.”

Scarecrow was his codename. In the Federation, a scarecrow had many special meanings. He felt he could be a watchman.

“Oh, Mr. Scarecrow, thank you very much for your last report, which brought a great step forward for the cause of justice. So this time, have you brought me good news again?”

Rob looked back at the intersection in the distance and lowered his voice a little.

He actually knew the other party couldn’t hear him, and it was impossible to hear the voice of someone talking on the phone in a phone booth dozens of meters away, but he still lowered his voice.

“In the Empire District… about one hundred fifty or sixty meters east on the road, there’s an alley that opens to the south. There are a few people standing at the mouth of the alley.”

“There’s a bar in here. You can find at least ten thousand dollars worth of liquor and money, and possibly one or two hundred drunkards drinking!”

Officer Lukar whistled, “No problem. Reward to be sent to the last account?”

“Yes!”

After saying that, he hung up the phone, then went back to his car, drove it far away, and stopped.

He wanted to personally witness the arrest process. That bastard bartender dared to laugh at him?!

Alright, let these people see how terrible the consequences and price of laughing at him were.

With definite news, Lukar quickly gathered a large team. He requested no sirens on the road.

Recently, there had been many “passers-by” around the Bureau of Hazardous Materials. They just stood brazenly around the main gate. As soon as they came out with sirens blaring, these people would immediately go to report it.

If they turned on the sirens, these people would quickly figure out where they were going, so now even if they had an operation, they wouldn’t use sirens.

And Chief Dale had told them to mobilize collectively when they were bored.

As long as they went out, all the bars in the city would have no peace!

And this could also numb these people, making them not know whether this operation was really to catch bars and bootleggers, or just to mess with them.

One armored car and five police cars left the Bureau of Hazardous Materials. The people at the entrance started making calls again. Although they were also very annoyed, it was necessary.

Lance’s bars also received calls. Elvin also arranged for people to stand guard at the entrances, but this time they were not heading south, but towards the Priliccia District.

So the person calling was not so nervous, and the bars did not close, but continued to operate.

But what they didn’t know was that after these cars entered Priliccia and drove around a couple of times, they suddenly began to accelerate towards the Empire District.

By the time the lookout at the alley entrance saw the convoy, it was already close at hand!

A lookout ran to the bar entrance and banged hard on the door, “The black skin dogs are here!”

The burly man guarding the door turned and ran. He forcefully slammed a button on the inner wall of the bar. The music and lights instantly disappeared, replaced by incandescent lamps.

“The police are here!”

After a brief few seconds, the entire bar exploded like a pot. While they arranged for guests to leave through the other door, others collected the night’s cash and had someone carry the most portable banknotes to leave first.

These people from the Bureau of Hazardous Materials were too fast. They quickly surrounded the building and soon found another exit in the next unit—a few drunk people were yelling loudly, which eventually attracted the agents’ attention.

When the machine gun on the armored car was set up, the people who were still making a fuss finally quieted down, and also sobered up.

Lukar walked in through the main entrance of the bar. The peculiar smell inside the bar had not yet dissipated. He took a deep breath.

This was the smell of fame and fortune!

He made a move, not even needing to speak. The large number of reinforcements who had arrived began to clean up the scene.

The customers were herded to the roadside, squatting with their hands held high. The bar operator, the bartender in the dark brown vest, was now standing at the very front of the crowd.

“Identify your people.”

Officer Lukar vaguely felt that this bar should be Lance’s property, which made him excited!

The bartender didn’t speak, just spat at him, but he dodged it.

The next moment, he delivered a backhand hook punch to the bartender’s stomach, making him unable to straighten up.

At this moment, a colleague came over, “The reporters are watching you. If you have anything to vent, you’d better do it after we get back.”

Lukar nodded, then gestured for the reporters to come up and take pictures.

He stepped on a few boxes of liquor, just as the ancestors of the Federation’s people had stepped on the corpses of those natives, holding a bottle of liquor in his hand, smiling for the camera…

Rob, who had witnessed everything from a distance, had a look of unprecedented, satisfying revenge on his face!

Lance had ruined his life, and now he had viciously retaliated. This made him feel an unprecedented sense of catharsis!

The news quickly reached Lance’s ears. He was also very annoyed about another bar being taken down.

“Check Lukar’s situation. Also, find out who is selling out the addresses of our bars?”

Elvin didn’t know how to answer this question, but soon the phone on the desk rang.

The call was from Morris. He brought a piece of news Lance wanted.

“Lance, I think I know who it is…”

***

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