Empire of Shadows

Mr. Charles sat behind his desk, the elbow of the hand holding the phone pressed against the tabletop to support his balance. His other hand held a cigarette, and in front of him was a cup of coffee with whiskey.

His collar was slightly open, not quite befitting his status, making him look a bit… haggard.

The events of the past few days had put him under pressure.

An interest group is like a large tree. No matter how big its crown is, as long as the woodcutter finds its main trunk, it can be easily felled.

So for an interest group, what they need to do is to let the layers of the tree crown form a barrier, to protect their main trunk in the very center, so that the woodcutter cannot find it, let alone get close to it.

Now, Mayor Williams was frantically chopping down their branches, their tree crown.

Several small businessmen had already given in to the pressure and chosen to compromise. More importantly, Mayor Williams had changed his attitude a little. He stated that if they were willing to sign, then he could still continue to provide replacement compensation.

Originally, he had said that after the ultimatum, he would no longer provide these. This was tantamount to pushing this group of people who had held on onto a tightrope, with no way back.

So even if those people had no other way, they could only hold on, trying to compensate for their losses from the expected profits brought by maintaining the land price.

But now, Mayor Williams had suddenly decided to give them another chance. Many of the people who were already unsteady on the tightrope immediately chose to retreat.Once these people had all left, their persistence would be meaningless. At the same time, the authority of the Bay Area interest group would also fall to rock bottom.

People would all recognize a reality.

This time, they were no match for the mayor!

So now it was no longer just a matter of cracking down on Lance to deter Mayor Williams. They needed to be a little more radical.

His words, asking Mr. Hoff if only a very small number of people knew of the existence of those people, made Mr. Hoff feel that something was wrong.

He tugged at his collar and said softly, “We need a heavyweight bargaining chip to get Williams to sit down and talk with us, to have him take the initiative to talk to us, instead of us begging him to talk!”

Mr. Hoff said with a stiff upper lip, “Isn’t getting rid of Lance a heavyweight bargaining chip?”

Mr. Charles took a puff of his cigarette. “He’s the mayor, my brother.”

Just a “light” sentence left Mr. Hoff in a situation where he couldn’t respond.

Yes, he was the mayor. He could appoint the heads of almost all the government agencies in this city, the police chief, the director of the Bureau of Commercial Services, anyone within his power.

“If it were a few days ago, before he proposed that he could provide subsidies again, I wouldn’t have thought so.”

“The fact that he didn’t give in was actually a good thing. It’s like you want to go and see your old lover, and your wife is not willing to let you out. You would scold her and then slam the door and leave.”

“The problem is not too serious yet.”

“But if you start to deceive your wife, then the problem is much more serious than slamming the door!”

“He’s already able to go back on his word in order to break us up. Can you understand what I mean?”

“When you have already started to have no principles for a certain matter, that is when you will absolutely not back down!”

“Lance’s death will not stop him. It will only continue to escalate the situation and make him more determined to deal with us.”

“We need a heavier bargaining chip!”

After listening, Mr. Hoff had to admit that Mr. Charles was right. He also had a headache now and didn’t want to think about what his purpose in doing this was anymore.

“What on earth do you want them to do?”

The next second, the name that Mr. Hoff least wanted to hear, but had already heard, came from the receiver: “Arthur.”

“Fuck!” he cursed directly. “You’ll break the rules like this. He’s still in office!”

Mr. Charles took a puff of his cigarette and threw the remaining part directly into the ashtray. “This has nothing to fucking do with me. I only know that if we don’t deal with them, we will be dealt with.”

“Once they no longer trust us, the Bay Area will soon be split. Those traitors and speculators will stand on their side and then find a way to put us on the dinner table.”

“Just like we did before!”

“You think about it.”

Mr. Hoff was silent for a moment and then cursed again and hung up the phone. The matter of kidnapping Arthur made him feel that Mr. Charles was really crazy!

Everyone knew that Mayor Williams’s favorite was his younger son. Although his younger son would not be the heir to his political legacy, the visible favoritism was a fact!

To touch Arthur might really leave no room for reconciliation between them, but not to touch him…

Since when did these things in the city become so troublesome?

Perhaps it started when Mayor Sidney wanted to make a final stand. Although he did not succeed, he also overturned the delicate balance of the city!

A little later in the evening, Mr. Hoff finally made a compromise. He also inquired about what had happened in Golden Port City these days when he was not there, and even heard that the shareholders of the docks seemed to be colluding and up to something.

More and more unfavorable news made him also become anxious. After a painful thought, he believed that Arthur might be a dose of poison, but when this poison could first extend their lives, then this was a dose of divine medicine!

After dinner, Mr. Hoff found both Richie and David in his room.

As soon as they sat down, Richie asked, “Is it time to make a move on Lance?”

Mr. Hoff shook his head. “I’ve already had someone make an appointment with Lance. I’ll let you know when I have news.”

“Now I want to talk to you about another matter. I need you to kidnap someone for me, for Mr. Charles.”

Richie glanced at David, who also glanced at his Boss. The expressions on both of their faces became somewhat grave.

Richie said in a joking manner, “A big shot like you still needs to kidnap someone?”

“You just have to make a phone call and have him come over, right?”

Mr. Hoff stared at Richie for a while, until the latter uncomfortably looked away and looked elsewhere, before saying, “The situation has changed a little now. Just dealing with Lance alone will not meet our and your requirements. We also have to deal with one more person.”

“Mayor Williams.”

David was originally somewhat curious, but after hearing this name, he shrank back and lowered his head, as if he did not exist.

Richie had an expression as if he were listening to a joke. “You want us to kidnap the mayor?”

“What the fuck… how can I describe how crazy and stupid you are?”

Mr. Hoff quickly waved his hand and said, “No, not to kidnap Mayor Williams, but his younger son, Arthur.”

He briefly introduced the relationship between the Williams family and Lance, as well as the current situation.

“You are outsiders. Without our support, it would be very difficult for you to gain a foothold locally. You just need to know this.”

“We need a chance to sit down and negotiate with Williams. I didn’t ask you to hurt Arthur. you just have to tie him up and then stuff him somewhere.”

“A few days later, let him out, and the matter will be over!”

“After the matter is over, we will fully support you to rule the entire underworld of Golden Port City.”

After listening, Richie did not take a stand immediately. He realized that this was not something he could decide. “I have to give Joshua a call.”

Mr. Hoff stood up and walked to the door of the room. “Please do. Let me know when you have news. I’ll be in the living room.”

After the door was closed, Richie picked up the phone and dialed the number of Joshua’s church.

He explained the situation here. Joshua supported his forehead with his hand and closed his eyes to think.

The people of the Federation were not willing to make a move on a politician in office, because the aftereffects were too many!

They have their party comrades, their relatives and friends, and also the cloak of their party. To touch them casually is like sticking your dick into a hornet’s nest. The taste is definitely not a joke!

“You guys don’t make a move first. I’ll talk to Charles and the others and then we’ll see.”

Joshua had suffered a loss before, so he did not immediately agree.

Soon he was on the phone with Mr. Joshua. What he didn’t know was that Mr. Joshua was cursing Mr. Hoff a hundred times in his heart!

He didn’t want to be on the front line himself. As a result, now the call had come. He knew he was already exposed. Although the exposure was certain, it was too early now.

Even if he was exposed, he still had to face this matter.

“We can’t just make a move on a politician in office. And the Williams family has a certain influence in Likalai State. I also hear that he has connections in Congress.”

“I don’t want to see the army surround my home and my family one day just because we did something we shouldn’t have.”

Joshua was still very gentle when he said these words. Most of the time, as long as he didn’t fall into paranoia and become hysterical, he was a gentle and charming person.

Mr. Charles coughed twice. “I have a plan…”

Twenty minutes later, Richie received a call from Joshua. “Do as Mr. Hoff instructed.”

Then he hung up the phone without any explanation.

Richie looked at the receiver in his hand. Based on his understanding of Joshua, this was definitely a guarantee.

He glanced at David. “You do this.”

David pointed at his own nose with wide eyes. “Me?”

“I’m going to kidnap that Arthur?”

“Can I do it?”

His tone was filled with a lack of confidence in himself. He felt that he couldn’t bear this responsibility.

Richie didn’t indulge him either. “Do you want me to do it?”

The two looked at each other for a moment. David was a little annoyed. “Alright, alright, you win. You’re the Boss. Shit!”

Soon they left the room and appeared in the living room. When Mr. Hoff saw them come out, he put the cigarette he had just lit and hadn’t taken two puffs of into the ashtray, and then stood up and looked at them.

David rolled his eyes. “Tell me about that what’s-his-name Arthur…”

(End of a Chapter)