Empire of Shadows

At 9:40 PM, the secretary entered the study. The Mayor was still at work.

He was contemplating who would fill the vacancies left after the Five Families were completely wiped out, as well as considering how to develop the New Bay Area and the new port district.

These two districts were projects he was strongly promoting. Success would mean Golden Port’s throughput capacity could rise to a new level.

From then on, it would be far ahead of all other ports and docks in the Federation, becoming a unique existence.

And this honor would accompany him for his entire life. Even if he passed away one day, died, people would still remember him.

Because it was he who made Golden Port the most developed port city in the Federation, bar none.

People might even build a statue of him to commemorate everything he did for this place.

By that time, all who were once his enemies might have completely vanished into the long river of history.

Only he, in another form, would have achieved true immortality.

Unless Golden Port was destroyed by war, or the entire Federation became a colony, neither of which was very likely.“Director Dale called just now. He said he has arranged for people to go to the docks to raid a warehouse of the Lance Family’s smuggled liquor.”

Hearing his voice, the Mayor’s eyes rolled up, looking at him from the gap between his eye sockets and forehead.

He stared for about two or three seconds before straightening up again, leaning back in his chair, and taking off his glasses.

He pressed his eye sockets with the palms of his hands and took a deep breath that filled his entire lungs. “Lance…”

He said.

Every time he heard this name, it stirred up some inexplicable emotions within him. This might not have been the first person to refuse his goodwill, but he was the first to refuse his goodwill and then give him a slap in the face.

Even now, he had already heard that the assassins he hired had failed.

Lance was still alive, but one of the assassins was dead and the other had run off, still not found.

He had tried to get rid of Lance several times, but Lance always miraculously escaped death. This made him wonder if Lance had some kind of luck attribute. Why was he always able to escape?

“Are you sure it’s Lance’s warehouse?” he asked.

The secretary nodded. “It’s said that Dale planted an undercover agent in Lance’s gang, but they were never able to get any valuable intel, until today.”

The Mayor shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

He stated, “If they couldn’t get valuable intel before, why could they get it today?”

“Don’t tell me you think this is reasonable,” he looked at his secretary. He often raised questions and discussed them with his secretary.

This was a way to keep his own mind active. As a superior, a ruler, the thing to fear most was having one’s thinking constrained.

Once a ruler’s thinking is confined to a narrow space, he will fall into a terrible cycle of thought from which he cannot escape.

So, activating one’s ability to think was very important for every ruler, especially an aging one. At the same time, it also seemed like he was grooming his secretary.

The secretary smiled. “I asked Director Dale that question. He said the undercover agent’s identity is very special and has preliminarily gained the trust of the Lance Family.”

Only then did the Mayor nod, though it was unclear whether he accepted this explanation or the whole affair.

The secretary then brought up the events of the afternoon. “There was a conflict between the dock management company and the dockworkers this afternoon. Do I need to handle it?”

The Mayor raised a hand, stopping his idea. “You don’t need to do anything. Those guys in the Bay Area won’t allow this matter to continue to worsen.”

“You have to understand, the interests of most of them are tied to the docks. If something happens at the docks, they are more nervous than we are.”

“So we just need to watch.”

The secretary grew curious again. “Then what if we give it a push from behind?”

The Mayor, who had been relaxing with his head tilted back and his eyes slightly closed, opened them wide upon hearing this. He looked the secretary up and down, then said with a smile, “You’re starting to look like a mature politician, Owen.”

“As politicians, the process, the means, everything is not that important to us. What’s important is whether we can achieve our goal.”

“Your idea is good, but I don’t recommend using it, because the traces will be very obvious.”

“This matter is a bit strange, but regardless, it doesn’t conflict with our goals. For now, don’t worry about them.”

“The Bay Area, the dockworkers’ union, the dock management company—they will handle the problems with the workers.”

“Instead of worrying about these things, you should consider how you will handle the city’s political affairs when I am hospitalized.”

The Mayor would be shot and hospitalized on Wednesday, just four days from now. At that time, he certainly wouldn’t be able to manage the city’s daily work, so he would temporarily hand over the authority to control the city to his secretary.

That would be the real test of a person. Doing this job and watching it be done are two completely different things.

It’s like… you can be an expert at pleasuring yourself and have mastered many techniques while enjoying it, and you think you’re a master.

But if you have to pleasure someone else, those techniques of yours might not be of any use.

You might even draw a complete blank, with no idea what to do.

This was a test, and for the secretary, it was also an important experience.

In the future, he could openly write this line on his resume—

While serving as the Mayor’s secretary in Golden Port, I was authorized to manage Golden Port for X number of days when the Mayor was hospitalized due to injury, until his recovery and return.

Although he wasn’t the real mayor, he had managed a huge city. This kind of experience on a resume would be extremely impressive anywhere and impossible for anyone to ignore.

The secretary took a deep breath. “I’m a little worried about whether I can do a good job.”

The Mayor smiled benevolently; no one who knew him had ever seen him so benevolent. “Everyone has a first time!”

Yes, everyone has a first time. One must take the first step to face a better life.

The secretary motivated himself, clenching his fists. “I will do everything I can to do my best!”

“Just do your best!” The Mayor didn’t ask for too much.

At that very moment, a large number of police cars and armored vehicles drove out of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials’ courtyard. Lukar himself drove a car at the tail end of the convoy.

They didn’t turn on their lights or sirens the entire way. Everything was quiet.

They decided on a surprise attack. To avoid being spotted by anyone staking out the Bureau, they even took a detour.

At this time, some of the workers were still in the club, chatting about everything that had happened that night. Normally at this hour, more than half the people would have already left, as they had work the next day.

But what happened tonight was indeed infuriating and concerned everyone’s interests. They were all discussing how to negotiate with the management company tomorrow.

Johnny was also here. Usually, he wasn’t very welcome here, but today, he was surrounded by a crowd of people.

There were several men here who held considerable prestige among the workers. A big-bearded man raised his glass and clinked it against Johnny’s. “You acted like a real man today, Johnny. You’ve made me see you in a new light.”

The two of them gulped down some liquor. The bearded man wiped the foam from his mouth. “I’ll be with you tomorrow. That way, even if they try to pressure you at the negotiating table, we can help you out a bit.”

“About your proposal to give everyone a raise…”

Johnny had already drunk a lot. Not a single drink tonight had been paid for by him. When he stood at the bar, someone would immediately jump up and offer to buy him a drink, making him feel a bit embarrassed.

This was the most glorious moment of his life. He felt a sensation he had never experienced before, and he didn’t know how to describe it.

If being a bully, the pleasure from picking on other workers and immigrants was like a cheap thrill…

Then the feeling now was like the real thing, like entering a very sweet place.

His whole body was about to tremble.

Johnny also took a big gulp. “I’ve been saying this all along, actually!”

“They have been stealing the fruits of our labor. Other industries get a raise every six months or a year. Even if it’s not much, at least it’s a raise.”

“What about us?”

“We haven’t had a raise in two years. I used to think it was the fault of those immigrant workers.”

“They were willing to do any work, accept any low wage, and that’s why our wages haven’t changed.”

“But recently, I suddenly figured it out!” He made an “explosion” gesture next to his temple. “Just like that, in a flash, I understood.”

“Whether we get a raise or not is the capitalists’ decision. It has no direct relationship with the immigrant workers who are exploited just like us!”

“They just absolutely do not want to give us a raise, that’s all!”

“Someone has to stand up and say something. I didn’t want to be that person, but they forced me to do it, so I have no choice but to stand up!”

He raised his glass. “No matter what, in these next few days, I will definitely carry everyone’s wishes and have a good talk with the management company, to fight to get everyone’s wages up, to at least forty dollars!”

The people around him all smiled. A raise of two or three dollars seemed to be a very exciting thing for them.

Perhaps some might also wonder, if it’s just a matter of two or three dollars, why is the dock management company unwilling to compromise?

But in reality, there are over ten thousand people working at the docks. If everyone gets a raise of two or three dollars, that’s an expense of at least thirty thousand dollars more each month.

As capitalists, they would not agree to it.

Just as the men were discussing how to make the capitalists kneel on the ground and beg for their forgiveness, someone suddenly shouted from outside the club’s door, “Lots of police cars…”