Empire of Shadows

Boxing actually has a long history of development, but on this land of the Federation, people’s love for boxing actually comes more from the slavery era, the love of civilized people for the barbaric.

This is actually a very strange thing, which fully demonstrates the contradictions of human beings!

The more people live in luxurious residences and enjoy the best food, the more they hope to eat the most original and primitive ingredients.

Just like the gentlemen and ladies living in a civilized society, yet they like to watch their own kind kill each other in a small area.

In the past, they would have slaves fight each other to decide who among them could live, or who could get better treatment, food, women, and money.

And they would bet on these slaves to earn more profits.

The current society no longer allows them to be so barbaric, so boxing and the like have become a new direction for them to seek.

People like to watch evenly matched boxing matches, and any other form of combat, not because an even match makes it impossible to guess the result.

But because an even match can make both sides use all their strength to kill each other in the most primitive way under the lights of civilization!

What they want are the wounds that split open on every part of the body and the blood-stained ring, not for all the fighting to end with one punch after the referee says “begin”!This is not what they want. What they want is the adrenaline rush brought by the slaughter!

But it is undeniable that the influence of boxing is becoming greater and greater.

The coach Morris found for Ethan looked pretty good. He also had a large physique. He was very satisfied when he saw Ethan.

He felt Ethan’s body. When he heard that Ethan was only twenty, he was even happier.

“I can be his coach, but you need to pay a tuition fee.”

“$1,500, for one year.”

He was about to explain why he was asking for $1,500 when Lance opened a drawer, took out a stack of money, and then added another $500, putting them together.

Seeing this $1,500 being taken out so easily, the coach suddenly felt that he had set the price a little low.

He asked half-jokingly, “Is it still too late for me to say $1,800 now?”

Lance also responded with a smile, “It might be a little too late.”

He showed a regretful expression, “If I had known, I would have said more.”

But he was still very satisfied with being able to get $1,500 at once. About half of this money could be used on Ethan, and the rest would go into his pocket.

He also told Lance some other rules, for example, that three-tenths of the prize money Ethan won would be his, effective within the contract period.

And for another example, Ethan needed to live at his training ground and accept high-intensity training, possibly with only one day off a week.

Lance did not object to this, and neither did Ethan himself.

His mind was now full of becoming a golden belt boxing champion, so that everyone could have a more positive understanding of Empire immigrants because of him.

Although there was a lot of training time every week, he could still come back on weekends.

In the Lance Family, everyone has their own position and job.

Ennio was now running around outside all day, contacting the Empire gangs in the surrounding areas to help the Lance Family expand its influence.

Morris collected all kinds of intelligence on enemy gangs every day to ensure that he could provide it as soon as Lance needed it.

Elvin had even more things to do. His workload was only more than others, not less.

Lawn, Mello…

Everyone had their own work to do. Even Gerald, that handsome to the point of being beautiful guy, had his own job. Only he didn’t know what to do.

He was big and not suitable for surveillance. Others could see him at a glance.

In terms of social skills, he didn’t have Ennio’s talent to quickly build friendships with people and have in-depth conversations.

Not to mention his brain. Just looking at those family affairs would give him a headache.

He couldn’t help much with the work at the bar either. It seemed there was nothing he could do. Most of the time, he just sat on the sofa in the company’s lounge.

Perhaps it was time to find something for himself to do.

Lance was very happy that he could have such an awakening. Although even if Ethan did nothing for the rest of his life and was just like this, he wouldn’t mind, but as a friend, a brother, a family member.

He still hoped that Ethan could have a little career of his own. Only with one’s own career can a person find the spirit and goal of striving!

“I hope we can see Ethan on the ring as soon as possible.”

When saying goodbye to the coach, Lance expressed his expectations, putting a little pressure on the coach.

The coach nodded repeatedly, “I will, but the overall progress still depends on Ethan’s training level. Also… does he have a social security number or something?”

This was indeed a problem, but for Lance, it was no longer a problem, “You will be able to get this number soon.”

“Then there’s no problem. When there’s a suitable match, I’ll sign him up.”

“Winning or losing is not that important right now. What’s needed now is to let him feel the atmosphere of boxing.”

“You decide!” Lance shook his hand again, “If you have any problems, give me a call.”

Ethan packed his things and left with the coach. Although he was leaving for now, everyone knew that it was a bright future!

The city had become more and more chaotic these past few days. Besides still maintaining the public security in the Bay Area, Charlie had gradually reduced his public security management in other areas.

In fact, the Bay Area didn’t have that many public security cases for him to be responsible for. The criminals who caused the riots were not fools.

The Bay Area had so many rich people. Why was it that in any riot or similar situation, the losses in the Bay Area were always the smallest?

Was it just because… people became civilized after entering the Bay Area?

No!

It was because the rich people in the Bay Area all had many bodyguards, and they could always get some information at the first moment, allowing them to deal with it more calmly.

It wasn’t that no one had ever thought of going to the Bay Area to make a score, but these people would often have a very miserable end. They couldn’t even see the face of a rich person before being riddled with bullets by bodyguards.

The key is that the bodyguards of the rich are not breaking the law by doing this. The judge not only supports it, but will even use their cases in court to encourage people to do so!

“To take up arms to defend every citizen’s own legitimate rights is a basic right granted to every citizen by the sacred constitution,” the judges told the people, and displayed those cases.

They would let everyone see clearly the fairness of the law.

But if an ordinary person did that, then they might face huge trouble. It wasn’t that they had misread the legal provisions, nor was it that they had a problem in executing them.

It was just because they had no money!

What is truly wrong in this world is poverty, not other things.

When a person meets someone poorer than himself, he is right.

But when he meets someone richer than himself, he becomes the wrong one!

The city was becoming more and more chaotic, which also gradually attracted the attention of the state government.

On Monday of the new week, the lieutenant governor called the mayor to discuss the recent serious decline in public security in Golden Port.

“…You have to learn to manage your city, not turn it into a mess!”

The lieutenant governor’s words were very impolite, almost directly saying that the mayor was an incompetent fool!

The position of Golden Port was very important, otherwise they would not have put the mayor in this position. It was also precisely because they knew that the mayor could handle it that they had given the mayor the opportunity to become the ruler of this city.

Now the words he said, the actual meaning was to express his, and the state government’s, dissatisfaction.

The mayor was not nervous at all. As long as the state legislature supported him, even the governor would have to think twice before dealing with him!

As a reward for the legislature’s support, he had released a lot of benefits to the state legislature. Those greedy old things couldn’t possibly not bow their heads.

“Your Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, I also very much want to stabilize the city’s public security as soon as possible, but you should also know the particularity of Golden Port.”

“Everything here is almost firmly controlled by local forces. I have tried my best to mediate the relationship, and even used my private connections, before it gradually improved a little, releasing some of it from the hands of those locals.”

“Now everything here is a process of ‘war’ between us. They are trying to create riots to force me to compromise.”

“I can compromise. It only takes a phone call for it to return to its former tranquility, but is this what you, the governor, and the legislators want?”

“To let it return to the hands of the locals?”

The lieutenant governor fell silent. Golden Port had developed too quickly, so quickly that they hadn’t had time to implement their layout before Golden Port was firmly controlled in the hands of a few people.

Sidney had pried open a crack in this hard shell. If there was anyone who could solve the problem of Golden Port, then it might only be him.

Whether it was removal, impeachment, or something else, it was very difficult to get the support of the legislature. Besides, he had made this call not to reprimand the mayor.

So after the mayor’s attitude became very tough, he instead began to comfort him, “I’m not saying you should give up. My meaning is, do we have other means to solve this problem?”

“Golden Port is very important, and the external problems are getting worse day by day. The senators are also very concerned about the changes in Golden Port.”

He was silent for a moment, “You have to get it stabilized as soon as possible. If you need any support, assistance, you can talk to me, and I will communicate with the governor.”

The mayor said what he wanted, “Wade has already promised me that he will leave Golden Port soon.”

“Although the people behind Williams have some strength, as long as we don’t give him a chance to interfere, he can’t manage this place.”

“Now all that’s left are those stubborn gang members. Actually, from the very beginning, we shouldn’t have allowed them to grow and develop!”

“They and the rich people in the local area have long had an unclear relationship, and those rich people in turn control the police department. I can’t mobilize these people at all!”

“They are now creating chaos to increase pressure on me, just to force me to compromise.”

“If I really compromise, everything will be over.”

“So I have an idea, an idea to wipe them all out.”

The lieutenant governor took a deep breath, “Sounds a bit scary. I hope it’s not a bad plan!”

The mayor laughed twice, “Not bad at all, and it can solve all problems at once.”

“Let the militia enter the city, let them directly deal with these gang families, and uproot them!”

The lieutenant governor almost laughed out of anger after hearing this, “Am I crazy or are you crazy?”

“The involvement of mobilizing the militia into the city is too great. Do you know that this could bring bad luck to many people!”

“The governor will not agree!”

Under non-essential circumstances, the army, even the militia, is not allowed to enter the city casually, let alone a place as important as Golden Port, a major maritime hub in the northern hemisphere.

This is no longer just cracking down on gangs; this is a huge political event!

The mayor was not at all anxious or angry because of the lieutenant governor’s statement. He just maintained his attitude and said unhurriedly, “What if I get injured?”

“Someone tries to assassinate me, I get a gunshot wound, and I can’t show up for a short time, and the whole city falls into even more frantic riots?”

The lieutenant governor fell into deep thought. If everything was really as he said, then the governor could indeed request the militia to enter the city to suppress the riot, and at the same time, Congress would not think this was an “excessively drastic” means.

After all, the entire city was beginning to be in a state of anarchy, and Golden Port was so important that it absolutely could not be allowed to become completely chaotic.

This way, everyone doesn’t have to bear the risks and turmoil brought by the soldiers entering the city, and can also complete the mayor’s idea, but there is actually a problem here.

That is, the mayor’s gunshot wound has to be able to stand up to inspection.

“Have you thought it through?”

“You have to know that once things happen, the Congress side will arrange for a medical team to help you recover as soon as possible, so that you can return to work.”

He made it even clearer. On the surface, it was Congress arranging for a more professional medical team to help him recover from his injuries, but in fact, it was to check if his injuries were real.

If they were real, then there would be no problem. The Congress side would appease him.

If they were not real, then he would definitely be “sacrificed”!

After all, the matter of letting soldiers into the city is very taboo.

The mayor laughed twice, “For the future of Golden Port, for the future of Likalai State, Your Excellency!”

The lieutenant governor was silent for a while again. He could feel the mayor’s determination, “I will give you a call later in the evening. I have to communicate with the governor first.”

The phone was quickly hung up. The lieutenant governor couldn’t make the decision on this matter, nor could he possibly make the decision.

If things were done well, and there were no problems, he would not get any benefits. The governor would only think that he was making reckless decisions.

If it was not done well, then it would be even worse!

The governor wouldn’t even need to think of some rhetoric to communicate with Congress; he would just push the responsibility onto him.

So he had to communicate with the governor and let the governor make this decision.

But regardless of whether it was him or the mayor, they both felt that this matter was highly likely to be executable.

There were too many people who wanted a share of the huge profits of Golden Port. The locals firmly held onto those profitable businesses and did not let others interfere.

They had actually also broken a taboo!

After hanging up the phone, the mayor’s secretary was by his side. He looked at the mayor and asked softly, “Is this necessary?”

He was referring to the matter of the mayor being attacked. To shut the mouth of Congress, he had to really get shot!

There was a hint of something indescribable in his eyes, shock, incomprehension, and also some admiration!

The mayor lit a cigarette, a meaningful smile on his face, “Whether it’s worth it or not depends on how much benefit we can get from this matter.”

“If I get shot and get no benefit, then I definitely won’t do it. After all, this is getting shot!”

“But what if getting shot can bring us great political and financial benefits?”

“This gunshot wound, in the future, on many occasions, I can use it, especially in speeches.”

“When I talk about clothes, the shock it brings to people is far more intense than me speaking for two hours.”

The secretary sighed after listening, “You have paid too much!”

The mayor was not as sentimental as him, but said honestly, “That’s because I want to get more!”

“I once chatted with a magician. I don’t know if you still remember…”

He suddenly paused as he spoke, and when he spoke again, he had obviously skipped what he had originally wanted to say, “It’s that magician who pierced his own body with a sword.”

The secretary nodded, “Yes, I remember. He inserted many swords into his own body, completely piercing through his body.”

The mayor kept nodding, “That’s him. I chatted with him. He told me that there are many places on the human body that actually don’t have anything.”

“If these places are pierced or shot through, there won’t be any terrible consequences. Of course, the premise is that you must choose the right weapon and bullet!”

“If you use a shotgun, anyone will die!”

Both of them laughed.

“So during this period, I will discuss it with our gunman. It will give people a very shocking, but not very harmful wound to me!”

The secretary’s expression changed slightly as he looked at him, with some worry and some excitement.

The mayor raised his hand and stopped him from saying any more, “I’m actually not young anymore. The opportunities in the future are actually not as many as you imagine.”

“It took me most of my life to go from a councilman’s assistant to a mayor. For many people, this is a simple step, but it took me half my life.”

“There isn’t much time left. If I can’t run forward, it will be very difficult for me to go further.”

He suddenly became a little depressed. Anyone who has spent half their life at the very bottom of the political world would find this a very frustrating thing!

But fortunately, he had gotten through it, and had a chance to go further.

Neither of them spoke. They both looked at the bright sunlight outside the window. For a moment, the room became quiet, without a single other sound!