Empire of Shadows

For several days, William acted like a truly family-loving father, staying by Emily’s side. Of course, Victor also needed him.

Without this old father, drinking milk would have been a dangerous affair for him.

He might have become the first child in the Lawrence family to choke to death on milk, becoming the laughingstock of the entire family.

To protect this boy, William worked very hard every day.

William had also received a higher education, but in this matter, he still maintained that spirit of exploration and curiosity.

He could never figure out how the food he ate was transformed into milk and then flowed out.

Fortunately, he was not the president. Otherwise, he would definitely have to set up a project to figure this out.

After a few days, he returned to his busy work. Because the projects in the New Port District and the New Bay Area had restarted, it had brought a lot of work for City Hall. As a municipal councilman for the Empire District, he also needed to contribute in this aspect.

For example, to fight for enough jobs for the residents of the Empire District!

This might sound… not quite like what a municipal councilman should do, but in fact, this was precisely one of the core jobs of the grassroots municipal councilmen—To satisfy the reasonable demands of the people.

Wanting a job was a reasonable demand.

The people in the office all knew that God had blessed him with another child. Along the way, they were all greeting him and congratulating him on becoming a father for the second time.

His secretary was the same, and had even prepared a small gift.

William’s originally happy mood, the moment he saw his little secretary, the smile on his face became a little stiff.

He walked into the office, considering how to get rid of this woman.

In fact, there was no emotional basis between him and this woman. He had just found a free substitute when his wife was inconvenient.

And what this woman wanted was not his love, but the power in his hands, Lance behind him, an upper-class society.

One wanted to vent his emotions without taking responsibility, and the other wanted to use her own body to enter the upper-class society. It was like two magnets of opposite sexes attracting each other, meeting at a special time.

The little secretary walked into the office with a cup of coffee. “I haven’t had a chance to congratulate you yet. I hear you have a new son, named Victor.”

She walked to William’s side, placed the coffee on the desk, and then went around behind the chair. Her hands skillfully slipped into William’s collar and caressed his body.

Nimble, gentle, but with some strength. In the end, they returned to his shoulders and cervical spine, kneading them a few times.

Just these few movements made William feel a sense of relaxation.

Their first intimate contact had also started from “I’ve learned a massage, I can try to help you relax.”

He raised his hand and grabbed the little secretary’s hand. It was very soft, very delicate, as if it had no bones, very comfortable to hold.

“Do you want it again?”

Her other hand lifted her hair, preparing to do something for William. William stopped her. “I want to talk to you.”

The little secretary realized something. Her expression became very ugly. She asked him directly, “Are you trying to dump me?”

Seeing the change in her momentum, William frowned. “I want to have a good talk with you, not with you when you’re emotional. Can you calm down?”

The little secretary’s emotions became tense. Her hands were constantly waving to show the rapid change in her emotions at this time.

“You approached me just because you couldn’t fuck your pregnant wife, so you chose me?!”

“Fuck you, William, fuck you!”

“Now that you’re going back to your family to be your good old self, you’re planning to just kick me to the curb?”

She took a few steps back, her hands apart at her sides, her eyes wide as she looked at William. “Not a fucking chance, understand?”

William’s frown deepened. “I will give you thirty thousand in compensation, and help you arrange a more decent job in Manteno.”

“What do you take me for?” the little secretary was even more unhappy after hearing this. “A prostitute?”

“You think you can just give me a little something and send me away?”

“William, this is not as simple as you think!”

William looked at the little secretary, who was a little out of control, and his tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. “Come on, don’t make yourself out to be so pure. You just want to rely on me to get into the upper class.”

The little secretary glared at him fiercely. “I gave my feelings. You just treated me as a… garbage can for venting!”

William shook his head slightly. “You should calm down. We can have a good talk. This is not as complicated as you think!”

“This isn’t complicated?”

The little secretary looked at him with a look of disbelief. “You’ve played with me for half a year, and now you’re giving me thirty thousand and want to send me to Manteno. You’re a fucking bastard!”

As he spoke, he was about to leave. Seeing her so agitated, how could William let her leave now?

He reached out and grabbed the little secretary’s arm. “You calm down first!”

“I can’t calm down!”

A barely perceptible look flashed in William’s eyes. “Do you have to make me call Lance?”

The woman’s movements stopped at once, frozen in place.

She knew about the relationship between William and Lance, and also knew about the relationship between Lance and Mayor Williams, and the relationship between William and Mayor Williams.

If this matter were left to Lance to handle…

She felt a deep sense of unease, because she had heard too many rumors related to the Lance Family, such as dumping bodies in oil drums, sinking bodies at sea, and some people who had cheated in the casino would be thrown from the roof of the casino and smashed to pieces on the terrace.

He had heard too many terrifying rumors related to the Lance Family. If William really let Lance handle this…

She suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She supported herself with one hand on the edge of the table and began to gasp for breath, as if she were trying to swallow the air!

Her face also flushed because of the difficulty in breathing.

Although he didn’t know what was happening, William quickly stood up and walked to her side, helped her sit down in the chair next to her, and used physical contact to soothe her emotions.

After a long while, her condition gradually improved. The look in her eyes as she looked at William had also changed.

With some anger, and also some hatred, the two looked at each other for a long while before William lowered his head and apologized. “It’s all my fault.”

The little secretary closed her eyes slightly and looked away. “Can I choose a job for myself?”

William was stunned for a moment and didn’t react at all. She added, “In Manteno.”

“Of course, of course. You can tell me where you want to go, and even the position. I will find a way to get it for you.”

The little secretary looked at William, at the joy on his face from having gotten rid of her. Her heart was still full of hatred.

She grabbed his tie and pulled him towards her. “A hundred thousand.”

William agreed without even thinking. “No problem.”

The Lawrence Farm had made a lot of money from selling liquor with Lance. Lance was not a stingy person, and this was the Lawrence family, which was already one of his forces, so if he ate meat, the Lawrence family would follow and have some meat bones, and also meat soup to drink.

Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions, were not a small amount for the current Lawrence family, but it was not difficult to take it out.

The little secretary let go of her hand, looked at the surrounding environment, and was a little sad again.

“I will arrange for a new secretary to take over your job,” William said. Now that the little secretary was really leaving, William had a feeling he couldn’t describe.

Even if you have a cat or a dog for a long time, you will have feelings for it, let alone the fact that William was not a bad person, not an evil person.

After all, they had been together for so long, and recently for half a year they had broken the bottom line of morality. There was still something in his heart.

People are sometimes like this. Even if their mouths and reason all say they don’t love anymore, there is still some lingering feeling in their hearts.

The little secretary shook her head and turned to walk outside. “Have your new secretary come as soon as possible. Every day I stay here is another day of suffering.”

Soon the little secretary had a place she wanted to go. She wanted to do a clerical job in the state government. She didn’t need to have any particularly powerful office, just a stable civil servant job would do.

William told Lance her request, and Lance solved the matter with a phone call.

An official from an office in the state government directly called William, on the grounds that there was a new topic that needed her—to study whether the flapping of birds’ wings had a direct relationship with climate change.

Some scientists said that the frequent flapping of birds’ wings in the spring would increase the probability of storms in the summer. It’s unknown if this is true or false.

Every year, the Federation suffers heavy losses due to storms. If these two are indeed related, then they can use a very small amount of research funds to exchange for a calm summer. This is definitely a big win.

Even if nothing comes out of the research, it’s not a problem. Anyway, there is no loss for the Federation.

In just a few days, the transfer order from the Congressional Prohibition Committee arrived in Golden Port City.

Because Director Dale had performed excellently during his tenure in Golden Port City, and had played a crucial role in maintaining the promotion and implementation of the Prohibition, after research and discussion by the Prohibition Committee, it was decided to promote Director Dale to the position of executive committee member of the Likalai State Prohibition Committee, so that he could better serve the implementation of the Prohibition.

A member of the Congressional Prohibition Committee had even made a phone call to Director Dale, just as he had gotten the news and was standing in the office outside, preparing to say goodbye to everyone.

His secretary ran over in a hurry. “Chief, a call from Congress!”

Originally, the main hall was very lively. After all, Director Dale’s promotion to the State Prohibition Committee was actually a good thing for them.

The reason was very simple: they now had someone in a high place!

These people were all very low-level “workers.” They simply didn’t understand, and didn’t want to know, why Director Dale had been promoted out of the blue. They would be happy, but not specifically. Some even felt that… maybe Director Dale was just going to sit on the cold bench.

Until this moment.

Director Dale turned to look at his secretary and asked in a slightly exaggerated tone, “Did you say, a call from Congress?”

“A call from Congress to me?”

The secretary’s face was already a little flushed. “Yes, Chief. It’s a call from a senator. You’d better take it.”

There was not a single bit of noise in the entire hall. The people close to him even held their breath.

At this moment, Director Dale felt as if he had climaxed!

He took the phone with both hands, held it to his ear, lowered his head slightly, and bent his waist. “This is Dale.”

“Yes… good, thank you very much.”

“The support of Congress and the Prohibition Committee, and your support, are the foundation of our success…”

“Okay, okay, I understand. I will definitely work hard to win this war against private liquor!”

“I will definitely visit you when I have a chance. Goodbye!”

He put the receiver back on the phone, looked at the eyes that were staring at him in the office, and a sense of superiority arose spontaneously!

“The senator just called and mentioned Golden Port City’s outstanding performance in the prohibition work in the past, mentioned me, and also mentioned you.”

“This is an affirmation and recognition of our work. Although I will be leaving here soon, I believe that even without me, you can still be competent for your work!”

“Gentlemen, ladies, I can only leave you with one piece of advice—”

“Remember your identity. When facing the people, be careful, cautious. When facing criminals, be careful, bold!”

As he spoke, he was being suggestive. Then he glanced at Ponda and beckoned to him.

“I have discussed it with a few senior agents. After I leave office, Ponda will take over my work.”

“Senior Agent Ponda has repeatedly cracked major cases during his tenure and is already a well-known prohibition vanguard in Golden Port City, and even in Likalai State. I believe that under Ponda’s leadership, you will definitely be able to shine even more brightly than when I was here!”

The agents began to applaud vigorously. They did not have much of a disgusted feeling about the old director appointing a new director, nor did they object.

The reason was very simple. He was not retiring, nor was he going to some other place that had no direct connection with them. Director Dale was just going to the State Prohibition Committee. He had been promoted.

As the superior department of the Golden Port City Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Hazardous Materials, and also one of the most important superior departments, it had direct management authority.

So if he had appointed him, he had appointed him. No one would deny or refute these things of his.

After Director Dale had them go to their respective jobs, he and Ponda came to his office.

Patting the armrest of the chair, he suddenly said, “I’m taking this chair back with me.”

Ponda nodded. “Of course.”

Whether it was him or Director Dale, they knew very well that the first thing Ponda would do after he took office would definitely be to change to another office.

This had almost become a… default behavior in the officialdom of the Federation. They did not like the rooms that their “predecessors” had stayed in, let alone the furniture, or other things with obvious personal characteristics that they had left in the rooms.

Except for the president, who really found it difficult to find another large enough room in the Presidential Palace to be a new office, everyone else would completely redecorate their office, or simply change to another office.

Countless times, Director Dale had been eager to leave this place, but now that he was really leaving, he was a little inexplicably sad.

He pursed his lips. “Your relationship with Lance is better than my relationship with Lance, so I believe you are not so stupid as to not know what you should do.”

He looked straight at Ponda. “Actually, I really want to give you a lecture. You know, people are like this when they get old. They always feel that their experience and qualifications can help young people.”

“But this era is changing too fast. I feel that I can no longer keep up with the progress of the times, so I don’t plan to leave you any ‘old antiques’.”

“The only thing I want to say to you is, if you encounter something you can’t figure out, then take the most conservative path!”

“At least he won’t let you fall, and he won’t let you encounter any unexpected problems.”

“There are many choices in life, Ponda. Challenging life is not the only thing we can choose.”

This was what he really thought and wanted to say from the bottom of his heart. He had once wanted to challenge life, but as a result, he had fallen and was covered in blood.

But when he began to submit to life, he found that in fact, life was not so bad!

He passed on everything he could, and then took a deep breath, stood up, patting the armrest of the chair. Ponda also stood up. “Alright, I won’t waste your time anymore. These are the documents you need to read, and then deal with and sign.”

“This part I have already signed. Of course, if you have anything you think is not appropriate, you can take it out and do it again.”

“As for the others…” he looked around the office, walked around the desk, and towards the outside, “that’s it!”

Ponda saw him to the door and watched him drive away. Only then did he turn and walk towards the director’s office.

He promised Director Dale that he would have someone send his chair over. The people who had been following Ponda all along now had a look of pleasant surprise and victory on their faces.

Many people actually knew very well that the reason why they could now get an extra income from the foundation, and could ensure that if someone was injured, or needed money, they could get it in time, immediately, was all because of Lance.

From top to bottom, no one felt that there was anything bad. On the contrary, after Lance had said “a market of 200 million,” it was not that there was no “crime” in Golden Port City.

More private liquor dealers were planning to transport their liquor to Golden Port City to sell. More small bars were secretly operating, stealing Mr. Lance’s money.

These people were all within the scope of their crackdown!

Ponda sat in Director Dale’s chair. He felt that this chair was terrible and didn’t like it.

However, there were no other chairs here now. He could only sit for a while. Looking at the people in the room, he nodded slightly. “Let’s have a meeting!”

The matter of Director Dale leaving Golden Port City and going to Manteno did not cause much of a stir. Everyone actually knew very well that the Prohibition Bureau in Golden Port had also been tamed.

It was impossible not to be tamed. The people who knew some of the details were all shocked by the fact that at the last moment, a senator had called and said a few pleasantries!

He was definitely not really congratulating a director who he might not even know, for climbing up a level.

It was Lance, it was Lance who was at work!

(End of a Chapter)