Empire of Shadows

The moment he pushed open the car door, a large group of reporters swarmed over. The constantly flashing lights made the Liji Group’s president frown.

His bodyguard and secretary immediately raised their briefcases to shield the president from the cameras, preventing him from having an adverse reaction to the flashes.

“Mr. President, what is your take on the Supreme Court accepting your appeal?”

“The currently released information and evidence don’t seem to contain grounds for an appeal. Is it true, as the outside world says, that you intend to default on your debt again?”

Most of the reporters’ questions focused on the word “default.” The Liji Group was no stranger to negative news; they had long since stopped caring.

There was too much news like “beating farmers to force them to sell their crops” or “Liji Group violates professional ethics by tearing up contracts.” It happened every year, and quite a lot.

But the people at the Liji Group didn’t care, the shareholders didn’t care, and the investors in the financial market cared even less.

As long as it could bring in stable profits, who the fuck cared where you robbed or stole the money from?

As for the negative impact?

It did exist, but the Federation is a country that values evidence and law. If you think the Liji Group did something wrong, you have to produce evidence.The group’s spokesperson had publicly stated more than once that they were willing to accept the final judgment of the court and hoped that all media would take the court’s judgment as the benchmark for the truth of the event.

They would reserve the right to sue all media that spread rumors.

Because most of the “victims” were just ordinary people, and they happened to have relatively strict control over these ordinary people, in the end, the vast majority of problems were left unresolved.

Ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of them.

Some farmers resolutely refused to sell their goods to the Liji Group. They had tried to resist.

But what was the result?

Their agricultural products ended up rotting in warehouses and fields. It was impossible for Baileyde and Danong to open up a separate transportation channel for a small profit.

For businesses involving logistics, transportation, and storage, they would not rashly open up a new route. Most of them would continuously try to push forward on the basis of the original market.

At the same time, the policies they gave to the farmers in these “war zones” were also the most favorable, precisely to consolidate their territory.

The farmers and households in the “hinterland” did not have such a good life.

After all, large farms with their own sales channels like the Lawrence family were a minority.

This was not a simple matter. It wasn’t just about growing things from the land, harvesting them, and then literally transporting and selling them.

There were actually many problems in this that ordinary people could not solve, such as the rough and fine processing of agricultural products, transportation, storage, how to sell, where to sell, product competition, and a whole bunch of corresponding problems.

This required extraordinary organizational skills, capital investment, and business operations. Did you expect those farmers to be able to do this?

And they might not really be able to get enough profit from the sale of their own agricultural products to do so. So in the end, they still had to rely on these agricultural product channel distributors who came to their door to buy.

You just had to negotiate a good price with them.

These few days, the Baileyde Group had even dispatched harvesters to help the farmers reduce unnecessary expenses and to strive for more farmers to join them.

This was an industry where small profits and huge profits coexisted. As long as you lowered your moral bottom line a little, you could make more money.

Since the moral bottom line had been lowered, who cared about these things anymore?

The chairman strode into the luxurious office building, no change in his expression. Having experienced a lot, he was used to it.

The secretary on duty, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately held a large stack of documents and clicked across the marble floor on her high heels, following closely behind the president. “These are the several documents that were sent late last night…”

“This is… a report submitted by the department this morning. You need to make a decision before 9:35.”

“…Sir called the office a short while ago and asked if you had time to have a brief chat with him.”

“Today’s morning schedule is…”

The two entered the elevator. The secretary also took the initiative to press the floor button. Then the elevator doors closed, making this place and the outside world two separate worlds.

This was the president’s exclusive elevator. It would go directly to the outside of the president’s office. The secretary recounted today’s work arrangements. The president made some simple adjustments, signed a few words, and the elevator doors also opened after a bell rang.

“Let’s leave it at that. Has today’s newspaper been brought in?”

The secretary, following the president’s brisk pace, said in a small trot, “Yes, it has been placed on the desk at your door.”

The president nodded with satisfaction. “Very good. I’ll call you if I need anything…”

The moment the president’s office door was pushed open by him, the secretary stopped outside the door. Without the president’s permission, she was not allowed to enter the office.

Even if the president was here.

After taking a few documents that he needed to deal with immediately from the secretary, he entered the office and picked up the phone for the publicity department. “Give them some money, have the reporters outside the door get lost. I don’t want to see them again when I go out for lunch.”

“Also, find out what’s going on, why the matter of the appeal was leaked.”

He didn’t wait to see if the person on the other end understood or got it, and just hung up.

Didn’t hear clearly?

Didn’t understand?

Can’t do it?

It doesn’t matter.

The next successor will do it well.

He quickly dealt with the most urgent documents, and then had the secretary send in a pot of coffee, and at the same time, take these documents away to be processed.

He finally had a little free time. While savoring the coffee beans that cost dozens of dollars a pound, and picking out some news reports that interested him to read… his internal phone rang.

“President’s office.”

“It’s me.”

“Mr. Chairman, is there something?”

His tone became a little more respectful. The chairman of the board was the absolute core of the company. Even if he could be disrespectful, he had to maintain a respectful attitude.

“I’ve inquired about the Supreme Court appeal through some friends. There’s no problem.”

“But I always feel that something is not quite right. You should have a talk with him.”

The president was silent for a moment. “I also feel that something is a bit strange, but this is not a bad thing for us.”

They were talking about the matter of “why the Vice President could suddenly get through the connections and have the Supreme Court accept this appeal.” They themselves had also spent a lot of money on public relations and couldn’t be sure of getting it done.

But the Supreme Court had suddenly accepted this case, and the Vice President said it was achieved through his public relations. This was a bit hard to understand.

What was his status, what level of person was he, how could he do public relations so smoothly?

In addition to the fact that the media had also gotten the news now, the chairman couldn’t help but suspect that the Vice President had been used.

He had not thought that the Vice President would stab them in the back. After all, they were on the same side.

The Vice President held shares in the company, not many, and was also on the company’s decision-making level, but also not the core decision-making level.

The Vice President’s identity, status, and wealth were all closely related to the company.

If the company did well, he did well.

If the company did not do well, he did not do well.

So they were not too worried that the Vice President would betray the company, just worried that he might have been deceived.

The president did not refuse. “I will talk to him as soon as possible.”

“Mm, remember to let me know if there are any results.”

After hanging up the phone, the president made a call to the Vice President, asking him to come to his office.

A few minutes later, the Vice President walked in, seemingly full of energy and high spirits.

He couldn’t help but be in high spirits. He was about to be promoted to group president and would be able to increase his holdings of the company’s stock.

He had also established a bit of a relationship with the Baileyde Group, and there was also a chance to get in touch with a congressman through Lance as a springboard.

He had been bowing and scraping for decades in his life. Suddenly, he had stood up. How could he not be happy?

And he himself had also thought about it. Even if the corporate group was severely damaged financially, it would only be for a time.

Even if the company lost a large number of users because of this, even if it was cut in half, they would still have a 20% market share, which would still bring him massive profits.

The company had lost, the shareholders had lost, the investors had lost, but he had won. What was there to be dissatisfied about?

“You were looking for me?”

The president came out from behind his desk. He had the Vice President sit by the sofa and casually asked, “The court hearing is in a few days. There are some things I still want to ask you. How did you get through the connections with the Supreme Court?”

“You have to know, we also tried, but the progress was not very obvious.”

Since they dared to do this, they had naturally also found a suitable reason for the Vice President. It was nothing more than that he had found a “key person” through some connections.

And this key person had a certain influence on the justices. After paying a debt of gratitude and a certain amount of money, and having this key person make a move, the Supreme Court had accepted this lawsuit.

You can’t say there are no problems, but in terms of logic, there isn’t a very big problem. And the Vice President hadn’t used much of the company’s money—

He had used a favor, his father’s favor. To use his own family’s favor for the future of the company, isn’t that what capitalists pursue?

Listening to the president, who seemed to believe the story-like but also incredibly plausible account, the president’s doubts were gone. He highly affirmed the Vice President’s dedication to the company.

“You’ve done a great job on this. After the trial, the materials and evidence we have won’t be enough to drag the result out for too long.”

“So you still need to work hard on your side. If you need anything, just let us know. As long as we can do it, we will do our best to provide it for you.”

“After the middle of next year, I will consider proposing to the board of directors that you increase your stake in the company.”

How much power a manager has in a company is not determined by how high his position is, but by how many voting rights he has.

If a janitor owns 66.7% of a company’s shares, then even if this janitor is just a gatekeeper, he is the supreme king of this company—

Because the voting rights in his hands exceed the “majority,” both the shareholders’ meeting and the board of directors become his one-man show. He can pass any plan he wants to pass and can also oppose any proposal he doesn’t want to pass.

To have the Vice President continue to increase his stake in the company was actually to increase his power within the company.

Besides the circulating shares, the other shares of the company are all numbered and have owners. If the Vice President wants to increase his holdings, then someone must reduce their holdings. This actually already involves the adjustment of the company’s shareholding structure and is not a small matter.

But whether this promise would be fulfilled, no one knew. Perhaps because of something he did that did not conform to the president’s or the board of directors’ wishes, it would be shelved.

Capitalists know too well how to make a dog wag its tail like crazy without spending money.

“Thank you for your and the board’s trust!” The Vice President timely showed his excitement.

The president maintained a smile. He raised his hand and pressed down. “This is what you deserve. you have also done a lot for the company over the years. You have proven your attitude towards the company through practical actions.”

“The chairman and I were just talking a few days ago. He’s not young anymore. In a few more years, he plans to step down as the chairman of the board. At that time, I might step down as the executive president and take over his work.”

The president smiled and patted the Vice President on the shoulder. “At that time, you will be the best candidate for the group president!”

The Vice President had a look of excitement. “Even without these, I would still work for the company. This place is like my second home…”

After the two of them had exchanged commercial flattery for a while, the president had the Vice President leave. He then made a call to the chairman of the board. “No problem, it’s normal.”

The chairman still felt that something was not quite right, but he couldn’t say what was not right. He just instructed, “Be attentive.”

“Also, arrange for someone to investigate how Steven died. I suspect this matter has some connection with Lance and his crew.”

The chairman had finally remembered Lance’s name these few days. The president naturally would not object. “I’ll call the police department later.”

The police chief, for the powerful, was like a trash can. Whoever wanted to use it could use it, and it didn’t even cost money.

These past two days, Luca had also come from Golden Port to New Golden City. The huge city made him, who originally had a “city person” feeling, suddenly feel a little short of breath.

There were too many high-rise buildings here. Everywhere you could see were taller and larger buildings than in Golden Port, more pedestrians on the street. But what made him feel a little incredible was that the traffic situation here was actually much better than in Golden Port.

“As the political core of the Federation, Golden State, the development of New Golden City is all orderly and inherited.”

Lance, sitting in the back of the car, explained this problem to him. “Anyone can be the mayor of Golden Port, people from any place, with any background. As long as their rise to power is in line with the interests of the party, then even a cat or a dog has a chance to be mayor.”

“Some of them have tried to develop the Creek Valley District, some have focused on building the Golden Port docks, the Port District, and some have wanted to shake off the previous rulers and create their own political achievements.”

He was talking about the “New Port District” and the “New Bay Area,” that is, the current mayor.

“The city is constantly expanding in a disorderly succession. Everyone has their own ideas.”

“But the inheritance of New Golden City is orderly. Behind every mayor, there is a clear or unclear line, so they can better connect the past and the future in urban planning and design.”

When everyone’s concept of urban development is the same, the development of the city will become more unified and beautiful.

Luca praised from the bottom of his heart, “You know so much.”

Lance smiled and changed the subject. “Your task this time is relatively easy. There will be media interviews with you soon. At that time, you just need to show strong indignation.”

Luca was a little worried. “If they take my picture, will I expose my identity?”

Lance shook his head and said, “No, someone will do your makeup, and you will wear a pair of glasses. Even people who are very familiar with you won’t remember who you are for a while.”

“And who stares at a man’s photo when they read the newspaper?”

Hearing Lance say this, he was relieved.

Now both sides of the “competition” were in their positions. Next was the competition time.

The day after Luca arrived in New Golden City, many media outlets came to interview him. In front of the media, he bitterly complained about the vile actions of the Liji Group, accusing them of delaying the delivery time, causing the Sky Garden Trading Company to suffer huge losses in its business on the Tanfit continent.

It was impossible for the reporters to really go to the war-torn Tanfit to verify whether there was such a company, and whether this company had paid a large sum of money in compensation for breach of contract.

What they cared about now was only one thing: whether the Liji Group could win this lawsuit, and whether justice could be served.

Some well-known social activists had already stated that if the Liji Group could still win this lawsuit, then it would be a failure of the Federation’s judiciary, a failure of fairness and justice.

However, some people had also raised objections, believing that this case should be tried together with the case of the dockworkers’ retaliation. There was a clear causal relationship between these two cases.

The possibility of commercial fraud could not be ruled out, and this was also the reason why some people believed the Liji Group’s appeal was reasonable.

There were still two days before the trial. Suddenly, a large number of short-selling of the Liji Group’s stock appeared in the financial market. For a time, the Liji Group’s stock experienced a large fluctuation.

Many consulting firms gave a “wait-and-see” hint, not thinking that now was a good time to enter the market.

But some enterprises also gave opinions of selling or holding. These were obviously judgments with speculative behavior.

It was clearly not a particularly important lawsuit, but some people had gradually felt that something was not quite right, because the media’s heat was too high, and the public opinion’s participation was also too high.

It was as if there was an invisible black hand, pushing all this forward from behind the scenes.

(End of chapter)