Empire of Shadows

There are brokers in the political world. As long as you are willing to pay the price—money, promises, sex, or whatever others need—they will solve your problems for you.

From a factory’s pollution clashing with nearby residents that can’t be resolved, to a presidential candidate wanting to use off-the-books moves.

As long as the price paid is large enough, you will definitely be able to get the result you want.

A broker is a profession that will always exist. This profession solves the pain points of all those who are in the process of advancing to the greatest extent—

Having unequal resources but no way to exchange them. So, in a strict sense, a broker is a resource exchange specialist.

There are brokers in the political world, there are brokers in the entertainment industry, there are brokers in the capital circle, and in the underworld, there are also brokers.

These brokers are active in the underworld of the Federation. They are like greedy hyenas, locking their eyes full of desire on every injured prey.

They will not personally participate in the hunt. They will only, after the hunt is over, take a mouthful of grease.

The call that Joshua was about to make was to a broker in the underworld, a very resourceful person.

Once his men couldn’t deal with Lance’s men, and Lance was preparing for revenge, he would have to consider a way out.From the fact that Lance could mobilize the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, the state police, and even the state prosecutors to attack him, it was not difficult for him to imagine that when Lance really arrived here, it would definitely not just be a gang with weapons.

There would also be police, law enforcement officers, and even… the army.

He needed to buy himself an insurance before all this appeared.

The call was quickly answered. Joshua could even hear the lively laughter from the receiver, like a party.

“This is Adams. Who are you looking for?”

When he heard this name, Joshua had a bit of a headache. “I’m Joshua.”

“Joshua?” Mr. Adams’s tone rose slightly. “I thought you had already found someone else!”

As he spoke, he laughed, because he knew very well that the worse Joshua’s situation was, the more flesh he could dig out from Joshua!

“Wait a moment. It’s too noisy here. I’m going to the study. Don’t hang up.”

After about three or four minutes, a voice came from the receiver again. “There’s a party at home, a spring break party. It’s a bit noisy. It’s better now, it’s quiet.”

“So… Joshua, what can I do for you?”

Joshua’s face was very ugly, but he had no good solution. “You should know what has happened recently.”

Adams still had a lot of power in the southern region of the Federation. He had friendships with many gang leaders, but he had not yet established a relationship with Lance, mainly because Lance had not encountered any trouble that he could not solve.

In this situation, even if Adams was very capable and had connections, he had no way to smoothly get close to Lance.

Only when Lance encountered trouble could he appear in front of Lance as a “savior,” to help him and get his promise and personal favor.

However, besides Lance, he basically had more or less a good relationship with other gangs.

Naturally, he also knew about the major events that had happened these few days.

The Holy Bell Party in Likalai State had suffered a heavy blow. A large number of criminal facts had been thrown in front of the public, giving them no time to react.

In particular, some girls had also stood in front of the camera and narrated a series of things such as their being kidnapped, violated, and abused.

They had exposed all the things that could not be exposed!

For the conservative large landowner class, things like human trafficking, racial discrimination, they didn’t care about these at all, and even supported them.

Not many of the early farmers in the Federation were good people. Many of them would take the initiative to kidnap passersby and force them to work for them, including assault and abuse, which were commonplace.

But they firmly opposed all things that violated tradition, such as smuggling and selling liquor, selling paid escort services, and the like.

For some ordinary people, they didn’t think there was any problem with smuggling and selling private liquor. After all, everyone sometimes had a need, including soliciting prostitutes. This was great, wasn’t it?!

But they could not accept racial discrimination, could not accept human trafficking, and even more so could not accept assault and abuse and the like.

So in one go, they had offended everyone. In addition, with their religious background, now even the patriarch of the southern region had begun to condemn them for tarnishing the name of the Lord.

From top to bottom, everyone was staying away from them. Their trouble was big.

Adams and some other friends he knew, who were also broker friends, had talked about this matter when they were chatting. After all, it was too hot.

They all believed that the only way out for the current Holy Bell Party was to disband on the spot and then re-form a gang.

However, they also had a troublesome place, which was that they were too deeply bound with religious beliefs. Once they disbanded, it was very likely to cause unpredictable consequences.

The collapse of faith is not a joke, so they all believed that Joshua and his father’s success was due to their combination of a gang and a faith, and the biggest drawback was also here.

In simple terms, it was a dead end.

The more of a dead end it was, the more a broker like Adams could eat his fill.

“I don’t quite understand why you went and provoked Lance, but things have come to this point. What are you planning to do?”

Adams knew that Lance had connections in Congress. He had even heard that Lance might have proposed a certain plan in Congress, which had received the support of many people.

His status, his network of connections, knowing these was already the limit, so he felt it was very funny.

A child holding a tree branch to provoke a giant carrying a large-caliber howitzer. If this isn’t seeking death, what is it?

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the entire federal society is almost overrun by gangs. This is actually just another kind of “social experiment.” Once the congressional side feels that there is no need to continue in this way, the gangs will soon be cleaned up.

Lance was the truly smart one, quickly beginning to seek change.

It was just that he knew these things, and he couldn’t just tell Joshua or others for free. And others would not take the initiative to ask about this problem that might require the payment of a personal favor and had no direct relationship with them.

So among the gangs, besides the top ones, not many knew.

“I want you to help me, to mediate when necessary.”

“And is there any way to suppress the heat of public opinion?”

“As long as people no longer discuss this matter, we will have a larger space to handle it.”

Adams fell into thought. Joshua did not dare to disturb him, but just hoped that there was such a possibility.

After four or five minutes, Adams finally spoke. “It’s easy to suppress public opinion, but mediation is not so easy. I, and the people around me, have no direct relationship with Lance. He may not give us face.”

Joshua also knew this situation. He added some emphasis to his tone. “What if we have the Five Families step in?”

The Five Families he was talking about were certainly not the “Golden Port City Five Families” that had become a thing of the past, but the five “Federal Crime Emperor Families” in the true sense.

These five families were engaged in a large number of criminal businesses, all over the Federation.

Many gangs had business dealings with them, or some personal favors. At the same time, it was said that there were also congressmen supporting them from behind.

To ask such a high-level big shot to mediate a conflict should be possible.

Adams sucked in a breath of cold air. He hadn’t expected Joshua’s idea to be so “big.” “Have you considered it?”

“How much of a price will you have to pay to get the people of the Five Families to act?”

“It’s possible that you will directly become a subordinate of one of their families, or they will take away most of what you have now.”

Joshua was actually mentally prepared. Compared to going to a dead end, these were acceptable.

“And, Adams, I’m not saying I want to find them now. I will first confront Lance and test his ability.”

“If I’m not his match, I will call you. What I mean is that you have to be prepared first.”

“But what if I win…”

Adams whistled. “If you win, you’ve made a big profit. You’ll have a chance to participate in this summer’s joint conference.”

The joint conference he was talking about belonged to the “Congress” of the federal underworld, a joint meeting composed of the leaders of the major gangs in the Federation.

They were actually just imitating Congress. They would hold it once every one or two years to solve some business disputes, and then re-divide their respective business scopes.

The Five Families were equivalent to the initiators, organizers, and on the surface, the highest-ranking committee members of the joint conference.

Many people longed to join the Federal Gangster Joint Conference. This was not only a symbol of status, but also represented countless benefits.

If Joshua could replace Lance and control the smuggling in Golden Port City, then many of the international smuggling businesses of the surrounding gangs would pass through him.

As long as he didn’t interfere, and at the same time ensured the safety of these goods within the territory of Likalai State, he could propose to get a share of the profits from it.

To make money without doing anything, this was the reason why they wanted to join.

Whether it’s a salesman, a politician, a congressman, or a gang leader, from this other perspective, everyone is actively working hard, and everyone hopes to go higher!

Indeed, the Federation is a country full of hard work, struggle, and miracles!

Joshua drove the image of himself sitting at the long table from his mind. He coughed. “Anyway, you try to find out during this period and see who is willing to take this job.”

“At that time, when necessary, I will call you. You can also directly activate it, so as not to waste time.”

Adams considered for a moment and then said, “This job is a bit difficult. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, give me 150,000. If I help you contact someone, give me 500,000, and at the same time, you will owe me a favor.”

At the critical moment of life and death, let alone 500,000, he would be willing to give five million!

“No problem. Give me an account…”

(End of a Chapter)