Empire of Shadows

“…I will keep an eye on these matters. I only know Major General Bruney at the Department of Defense. Can he handle the people in the Department of Defense?”

Admiral Miles shook his head. “He’s just an errand boy. This matter has to be approved by several lieutenant generals in charge of this area.”

Major General Bruney was actually not too bad. After all, he was a major general, and in the military establishment, he was already at the top of the pyramid.

But in the eyes of Admiral Miles, he was indeed just an errand boy, and in some aspects, his power and status were not even as great as a real-power colonel in the army.

The value of a civilian general was just to avoid conflicts arising from “civilians managing the military” when managing the army.

In different periods, countries, and systems, there had been problems with politicians managing military personnel. So when it came to the Federation, they used military personnel to manage military personnel.

Giving the politicians in the Department of Defense the rank of general seemed like a superfluous act, but it was particularly effective for the middle and lower ranks of the military.

Even if they were dissatisfied that many of the civilian generals had never been on the battlefield, their attitude towards them was still to treat them as “one of their own.”

So this Major General Bruney was just a mid-level politician with no real power. It was not surprising that Admiral Miles looked down on him.

He knew that Lance did not know the lieutenant generals of the Department of Defense. He then said, “I might have to go to Golden State after the New Year. You can come with me.”“At that time, I will introduce these people to you.”

Lance nodded. “That would be best. We can sit down and talk. Money is inexhaustible. A frank talk can prevent us from being unhappy because of this small amount of money!”

Admiral Miles also agreed.

If someone told him that tens of millions a year was a small amount of money, he would have sneered and thought that the other party was fucking talking nonsense (for the meaning, see “Blackstone Password”). But if this person was Lance, he would believe that the other party was telling the truth.

Lance had already shouted out that the liquor market in Golden Port City was worth 200 million a year. Even if the profit was only 25%, that was still a profit of 50 million!

However, he also reminded, “I can’t do anything about the congressional side.”

“Your Excellency General, you don’t have to worry about this. On the congressional side, I also know some people.”

Admiral Miles looked at Lance with a meaningful look. He now raised his level of importance for Lance by more than one notch.

To be able to make money, to be willing to give money, plus now that he was beginning to establish his own network of relationships in both the military and political circles, in the future, he might be another shadow family that had a profound impact on the Federation!

This was not Admiral Miles being too flattering. He was really speaking from his heart.

His nephew was in his twenties and had only become a major with his own care. But look at what Lance was doing in his twenties?

Trying to corrupt him, corrupt the high-ranking generals of the Department of Defense, and had already corrupted some of the senators in Congress. If he didn’t fall midway, he would definitely become a big shot in the future!

“You’re always so polite. I said, call me by my name!”

Last time, Admiral Miles had reminded Lance not to be so formal and to call him by his name directly.

But that time, he was being falsely sincere and truly polite. It was just a forced social nicety as he was not yet so familiar with him.

But this time, he was being sincere from the bottom of his heart.

Lance could also feel it, so this time, he did not continue to maintain that polite but distant state.

They had already talked about a bribe of tens of millions. If they were still formal, then one of them must have a problem.

After Lance and Admiral Miles had finished talking business, he then brought up what had happened in the afternoon.

“Do you know what happened outside?” Lance asked.

Admiral Miles did not hide it. “I know. They said the police killed a lot of refugees. I remember they were your men.”

Lance nodded. “Some minor problems can be solved quickly, but nothing can be 100% guaranteed.”

“If some problems beyond our ability occur…”

Admiral Miles immediately continued, “Give me a call. You have my number.”

Compared to thirty million a year, being scolded by someone from the Department of Defense was nothing.

A high-ranking general like Admiral Miles, as long as it wasn’t treason, there was basically nothing he couldn’t do.

Let alone letting the soldiers go out to maintain the order of the city, even if they really went out and killed some people, it would be because they had attacked the army first.

This was actually another important reason for Lance to be here. If they were really no match for the Bay Area in this internal struggle in Golden Port City, then there had to be a final say.

Everything must serve the war, and everything must make way for the war. This was the biggest trend at present.

Under this big trend, whether it was the Bay Area or the state government, they would be crushed by this big trend.

But this could only be used as one of the backup plans and could not be used directly from the beginning. A dagger is always most deterrent when held in the hand, just as the most unsettling moment of a bullet is not when it is fired from the muzzle, but when it is in the chamber.

As for him making a move himself, he would not consider this unless it was absolutely necessary. Now the social level was different from a few years ago.

A barbarian running around naked, the whole society was more tolerant and inclusive of their behavior.

But a person from a big city running around naked, someone would come to find trouble with him.

At the very bottom of society, you can fight and kill, but in the middle and upper classes of society, what is compared is the wrist, not who has bullets and who doesn’t.

It’s easy for you to break the rules. Others will also bypass the rules to deal with you because you trample on the rules unscrupulously.

After a few more simple words about going to Golden State after the New Year, Lance took the initiative to stand up and say goodbye. It was already past nine o’clock, and it was time to let Admiral Miles rest.

Admiral Miles called his nephew back and asked him to see Lance off. He also specially instructed that he should be sent to the gate of the military base.

The reason was that the patrol team at night was managed quite strictly. They didn’t know Lance, so as to avoid trouble.

In fact, there was no need to consider this situation. His car had a pass, and with just one phone call, the patrol team would not go and provoke this trouble coming from the headquarters.

His doing so was actually also a sign of goodwill.

Although Admiral Miles’s nephew didn’t know what they had talked about, he knew very well that not many people could be escorted to the gate of the base by him.

Either those people were high-ranking generals of the Department of Defense, not “minor characters” like Bruney, or they were politicians of the rank of senator from the Department of Defense.

Lance was neither a high-ranking general of the Department of Defense nor a senator in Congress, nor had he heard that he was a frontman for anyone. At this moment, he was full of curiosity about Lance.

If his uncle had him do this just for a few tens of thousands of dollars, or a few hundred thousand a year, he would be the first to not believe it.

Where was the problem?

He was full of doubts, but he also smiled and agreed, and then very enthusiastically led Lance to the parking lot, and really intended to see him off.

Lance was polite with him for a bit, asking him to go back first, but he did not agree, so he was not so polite anymore.

There was some distance from here to the main gate of the military base, so he sat in Lance’s car.

“Mr. Lance, it’s a bit presumptuous to say this, but I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“Adrian, Adrian Miles, Navy Major.”

He extended his hand. Lance shook his hand and also smiled and introduced himself. “Lance White. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Major Adrian.”

Adrian waved his hand. “Just call me by my name. You’re not in the army. We don’t need to use military ranks between us.”

He used a little trick to avoid some of the problems with social titles, quickly closing the distance between the two sides without seeming abrupt.

Adrian was a good socializer. He chose a topic that didn’t need that much time to get through the topic from the parking lot to the gate of the naval base—tourism.

And he mentioned that he had a vacation in a while and hoped that Lance could find a tour guide to show him around the real Golden Port City.

He did not ask Lance to accompany him. That was obviously unrealistic and too “arrogant,” so his request was simple and unadorned, and would not make people feel uncomfortable at all.

After the two had exchanged contact information, the car had almost arrived at the gate of the naval base. Adrian took the initiative to get out of the car.

The soldiers on duty immediately had someone let them pass when they saw it was Adrian.

“Then… Mr. Lance, see you later!” He bent over and looked at Lance in the back seat through the car window, not at all like a “second-generation military man.”

Lance also held his hat and raised it slightly. “See you later!”

Adrian’s hand patted the roof of the car. The driver slowly stepped on the gas pedal, and the convoy quickly left the naval base.

He stood under the light at the gate until he could no longer see Lance’s convoy before he straightened his clothes and turned to walk towards the command post.

At this time, Admiral Miles had not yet rested. There was a place to rest in the command post. His family was still in other places and had not come over yet, and he had not let his family come over either, because it was too dangerous.

Everyone didn’t think that the Dantra military alliance had the ability to directly attack the Federation’s homeland, but what if?

As the front line for the southward advance, the most important military port, the probability of it being attacked was much greater than that of Golden State!

Once an attack occurred, it would be absolutely terrible, so he directly had his family stay in Golden State.

Without his family, he was too lazy to go to the villa to spend the night in the evening. Staying in the rest room of the command post was more to his liking, and also safer.

Adrian came back from outside and closed the door.

“Seen him off?” Although it was a superfluous question, Admiral Miles still confirmed it.

“Seen him off!” Adrian walked to a place closer to him. “You value him very much?”

Admiral Miles nodded. “He can bring more strength to the family. Whoever can do this is qualified to be our friend.”

“The federal government’s aversion to factionalism and its determination to destroy these factions are becoming stronger and stronger. Isn’t this war an opportunity?”

“Sometimes, in some matters, we need to make more considerations, to consider the issue of retreat.”

It wasn’t just the local government that had factionalism and regionalism; the army also had this situation.

These were also inherited.

The gentlemen in the oil paintings probably didn’t think that the power in their hands would become a kind of “family inheritance,” to be inherited by their descendants generation after generation.

They would never have thought that their respective descendants would also have some internal struggles because of the power they inherited.

Hearing these words from Admiral Miles, Adrian vaguely realized that Lance was very important.

Even more important than him, the admiral’s own nephew!

The next day, all kinds of newspapers were completely sold out. Some weekly magazines also printed related news. The originally very peaceful city was filled with a smell of gunpowder that everyone could smell!

The front-page headline of the Golden Port Today was an empty grocery store, with a pool of blood on the floor. The glass window had been smashed, and the goods inside had been looted.

Next to this photo was a middle-aged and elderly man sitting in front of the camera, wearing only a pair of large underpants.

His hair had been shaved off. The nurse’s skill could only be said to be average. The deep and shallow patches were like they had been gnawed by a dog.

But you could also clearly see some obviously cleaner areas and the still swollen and red wounds, as well as the tightly pulled, which looked a little uncomfortable, thread ends.

On his face, chin, shoulders, arms, forearms, waist and abdomen, and the outside of his thighs, there were wounds and marks left by sutures.

The first half of this report was a conversation with the shop owner in the form of an interview. The reporter used very straightforward language that everyone could understand, but also had a little depth, to let people know what had happened.

“Those people rushed into my shop. They looked a little flustered. I asked them if they needed help, but one of them took out a steel pipe and hit me on the head.”

“The others started to rob my store. I shouted for help, but in return, they treated me more brutally. I thought I was going to die there!”

“It wasn’t until I woke up that they told me that the police had saved me.”

“It was only after I woke up that I learned that those people were refugees from the New Port District. Some people said that we shouldn’t stop them.”

“But if we don’t stop them, do we just let them continue their atrocities?”

“I don’t think it was wrong for the police to shoot decisively. I want to thank them for their decisiveness. Maybe if it had been a little later, I would have been dead.”

“On the contrary, for those who think that what the police did was wrong, I deeply suspect their stance!”

When people turned to the second page, there were some more photos, photos of the demolition site of the old industrial district, the dead who were lying in a pool of blood and no longer looked human, and below it were attached their real situations.

“Behind every deceased person is a complete family. They were once happy, or on the road to happiness, relying on their own efforts, striving forward.”

“But everything stopped on a certain day in December 1023. Under the incitement and planning of some people, they became the victims of the capital gangs’ pursuit of more interests.”

“Behind each and every deceased person is the shattering of a family. I dare not go and interview their families. I dare not face those painful and desperate eyes.”

“Because I’m afraid they will ask me, why do people condemn them, the innocent, and defend those thugs?”

“This is not the appearance of justice, not the appearance of fairness.”

“We sympathize with the refugees and are willing to accept them to live in our city, but this does not mean that the refugees are superior to us.”

“If, because they are refugees, because they are foreigners, we have to take care of their emotions, even if they have harmed us, we cannot stop them.”

“Then I am undoubtedly disappointed with this society, with the federal government!”

“But fortunately, we have a qualified mayor, a police chief with courage. They have dealt with the thugs and saved the innocent people. They should not be condemned.”

“The ones who should be condemned are those who created these things…”

The report directly pointed the finger at the interest group of the Bay Area. Of course, the term “capital gangster” also began to become popular.

It was defined as “an interest group that exploits and plunders and creates terror through capital.” This term would soon become a “hot word,” popular nationwide and even worldwide.

Along with these things, it will also become the background of this word and become popular.

People will be interested in the environment in which it was produced. Some people are destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame!

Early in the morning, many public-spirited citizens had united. They appeared on the outskirts of the New Port District, holding up signs like “Get out of our homes,” “You are not welcome here,” “Go back to hell,” and protesting against the refugees.

Many people came, at least a thousand, and it looked like there were more and more.

This was one of Mayor Williams’s counterattacks. “Public opinion” was something that every politician was fighting for. When it was not enough, not united enough, it was just a fart.

But when it began to unite and become a force that could not be ignored, every politician had to face it.

There were also many police officers at the scene to maintain order. It was just that compared to the “calmness” of the police in the past, this time the police were all carrying submachine guns, or slung rifles, and were looking at the group of refugees with great vigilance.

More media outlets had come to Golden Port City overnight. They were eager to get first-hand information here. Many reporters were taking pictures at the scene.

Also early in the morning, Lance was woken up by the ringing of the phone. He had dealt with some work matters after he came back last night and had gone to bed relatively late.

He squinted and looked at the not-so-bright sky outside the window, frowned and sat up, and then came to the study.

The call was from Tom.

“What on earth happened over there?” he asked.

Lance briefly explained the matter. Tom frowned after listening. “How are you planning to deal with this matter?”

Lance did not answer him immediately, but instead asked, “Are you concerned about this matter, or is the senator concerned about this matter?”

“Of course it’s the senator. Some reports say that Williams is going to expel the refugees?”

“Now many cities have refugees, and they also don’t get along so well with the locals. If Williams does this, it might trigger a chain reaction and cause us some trouble in international issues!”

(End of a Chapter)