Empire of Shadows

“Are you… Roger from the Empire Chamber of Commerce?” The young man’s expression was a little off.

They had just encountered Lance’s “goodwill,” and now Roger had come to their door saying he wanted to report a crime. It was hard for him not to have other associations.

Roger did not know about the things in here. He nodded. “Yes, I am Roger from the Empire Chamber of Commerce.”

“What, do you know me?”

He did not know that these young people had just arrived here. He had thought that this young man had been working here all along, so he thought that it should be a very normal thing for someone to know him.

The Empire Chamber of Commerce had been operating grain recently, and several successful investments had made many people aware of this potential and low-key chamber of commerce.

There was no problem with Roger asking this, but in the young man’s ears, he seemed to feel that Roger’s words were suggestive.

He looked at Roger’s eyes, and then stood up. “This matter is very important. I have to report it to the director.”

Roger naturally would not refuse. “Should I just wait here?”

He looked around. This was the front desk. There wasn’t even a place to sit down. His first impression of this what-the-fuck Federal Bureau of Investigation was already ruined!The young man quickly led him to the reception room next door, and also poured him a cup of coffee, and then he went to Director Derek’s office and recounted the matter.

Director Derek also frowned after listening. His mind had already started to storm. What he was thinking now was whether this was another test from Lance, or something else.

In short, it was definitely not for no reason to come and report a crime. For him to have Roger do this, there must have been a purpose.

Before he had come to Golden Port City, Director Derek had already, through some channels, obtained an introduction to Lance and the Lance Family, and also the situation around Lance.

He was very clear that behind Roger was Lance. Without Lance’s instruction, it was definitely impossible for Roger to run here to report a crime.

But now, no matter what the reason, what Lance was doing, what he was thinking, they could only respond.

“I’ll receive him. You stay by my side.”

Soon, Roger saw Director Derek.

Director Derek was worthy of being a former prosecutor. He was very shrewd, not at all like he was here for official business.

As soon as he entered the door, he enthusiastically shook hands with Roger, and then they sat down on the sofas on both sides. He also boasted a few sentences about the brilliant achievements that the Empire Chamber of Commerce had made under Roger’s leadership.

This made Roger’s impression of this Director Derek much better at once. This was what a mature official should do, not to be cold and not understand anything!

As they chatted and exchanged pleasantries, the atmosphere between the two also became much better. Only then did Director Derek turn his head and ask, “I just heard from my subordinate that you are here to report a crime?”

Roger was getting old. Sometimes when he chatted, he would chat until he had forgotten about the proper business. He patted his head. “Look, my damn head has almost forgotten about the proper business again.”

“The situation is like this. I am indeed here to report a crime.”

“Recently, some people have contacted me…”

He recounted what he had encountered and his own guesses. “As a citizen of the Federation, what I detest the most are these people and things that sell out the country’s interests. The fact that these people can be active in the Federation for a long time certainly means that someone has sold out certain national interests to them.”

“Director Derek, Mr. Lance has recommended you to me, saying that you are a responsible, reliable, and capable government official, which is why I have come here, instead of going to other places.”

Director Derek nodded. “I also have the same hatred for these people. The things you have said are very important to us. I will immediately start to handle them.”

“Now I also need you to add some details, for example, the names of these people, their appearances, and where they often appear.”

After a long while, after Roger had had his fill of talking and had left, Director Derek personally saw him off and then came back. He looked at the notebook with these materials recorded in it.

A few of the young men came over and looked at him with some worry.

Director Derek looked at them with amusement. “What, are you worried this is some kind of trap?”

They all nodded, a worried look on their faces.

Director Derek, however, shook his head and said, “This is not a trap. It is very likely a kind of goodwill, a kind of probing.”

“Now is wartime. The priority of an espionage case will be very high. If we have just taken office and have solved an espionage case, even if it is not an espionage case in the true sense,”

“We will also be able to stand out among many of the branches. For some of the more utilitarian people, this is full of temptation.”

“Don’t forget Dale.”

He mentioned Dale. In fact, they also knew Dale’s situation, and also knew that Dale, after a period of silence, had already taken refuge with Lance—

If it weren’t for Lance, through his connections in the Prohibition Committee, having operated Dale to the State Prohibition Committee, this guy would have long since disappeared somewhere.

Any of the main controllers, the executors of a powerful law enforcement department, once these people have left their work positions and have lost their power, there is a high probability that they will not have a good end.

How glorious they were when they were in office, how many great things they had done, these things would accumulate and would retaliate against him fiercely when he lost his power.

So for Dale to have taken refuge with Lance for the sake of power could also be said to be within reason. Now that Lance was using such a method to test him, he was not surprised.

“Alright, you guys don’t think about those things for the time being. Your job next is to investigate these people, these matters.”

“First, we have to confirm whether these clues are true. If they are true, and there is a certain amount of evidence, then we can carry out the arrest.”

The youngest of the five, the handsome big boy, couldn’t help but ask, “Are we really going to work for him?”

Director Derek refuted his statement. “Your idea is wrong. This is not working for Lance, but working for the Federation.”

“These spies are not Lance’s spies. Lance will not benefit from our arresting these spies. He just wants to test some of our attitudes.”

“And, the credit that he has taken the initiative to send to our door, why not take it?”

“When our strength is far inferior to theirs, the best way is to not let him think that we are a threat to him.”

“Only in this way can we smoothly complete our mission…”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s side soon began to arrange the investigation work. These matters were completely impossible to hide in Golden Port City. Lance just nodded after he knew about it.

This showed that Director Derek was not a rigid person. Since he was not rigid, then next time, Lance would create a more direct opportunity to get in touch with the other party, for example, to meet, to have a chat.

The Harvest Festival was getting closer and closer. The three old uncles had already made several phone calls to have Lance and the others go back on time.

The scale of the Lawrence family was getting larger and larger, which had made the three old uncles the center of attention among the farmers of Likalai State!

Especially the distilleries that stood in the farm, which had already become a continuous stretch. You could smell the fragrance of the fermented grains from a distance.

For an ordinary person, this might just be wine, but for those who were a little smarter, they knew that this was fucking money!

To turn grain into money, several times over!

Their eyes were about to turn fucking red!

It was said that during this period, the cowboys had already killed several groups of wanderers who were planning to steal something from the distillery. They had not been handed over to the police for handling, but had been directly shot dead by the cowboys and had been thrown into the wilderness. In a few days, only the skeletons were left, and sometimes even the skeletons were gone.

In mid- to late October, Lance had taken his family back to the Lawrence Farm in advance. It was said that more members of the Lawrence family had come back this year!

There was another reason for going back in advance. Patricia’s belly was already very big, and it looked like it was already bulging high.

According to the private medical team of the manor, Patricia’s due date was probably at the end of November, to the middle of December.

In other words, Lance was also going to be a father soon.

So this trip would be a little slower than usual. He would not drive the car back in one go, but would drive for a period of time, and then rest for a while.

A journey that would have taken two and a half days had taken a full five days this time.

When Lance saw the sign of “Lawrence’s Farm,” he also saw the people who were waiting for them under the farm’s sign.

Many people had come. Several people from William’s generation had come, as well as some of Patricia’s cousins and sisters.

Old Schubert had also brought the old butler and was waiting on the side of the road on horseback. Originally, so many people did not need to come, because from here, from the main gate of the farm, to the farmstead, there was still a journey of about a dozen kilometers.

But they just wanted to come and welcome Lance, and also William.

Lance’s liquor business was getting bigger and bigger, and the money they were making was also more and more.

In the Federation, whether a family has power depends entirely on how much wealth they have!

The convoy stopped at the entrance. Lance and William both got out of the car, as well as Patricia and Emily.

Schubert dismounted from his horse, came to Lance’s side, looked him up and down for a while, and then gave him a hug with a smile. “You look much stronger than last year. This is a good sign.”

“Thanks to you, everyone’s life is much better now. If I hadn’t held them back, more people would have come!”

Lance also said a few modest words, and then greeted William’s brothers and sisters, and also Patricia’s brothers and sisters.

The large group of people did not continue to drive back. They had gotten a modified horse-drawn carriage for Patricia, with shock absorption treatment, and the carriage was also covered with a soft couch. Sitting on it was not bumpy at all.

And the others all rode back on horseback.

William also had his own horse, and Emily also had one, but she hadn’t ridden it for a long time, and she also had to take care of little Victor, and would be riding back in the horse-drawn carriage with Patricia.

At this time, it was the harvest season. There were agricultural machines and workers everywhere. The golden ears of wheat, under the blowing of gusts of wind, formed waves of wheat. Looking over, it was as if you were in the middle of the sea.

To feel that the world was so vast, and that people were so small.

Lance looked for a while, and then pulled the reins again and caught up with the team.

He was not very worried about safety now, because he had already noticed that there were at least seventy or eighty, and possibly more, cowboys with guns roaming around them.

These cowboys had been born on the Lawrence Farm since they were young—

Some were born in the town, but the entire town almost all worked for the people of the Lawrence Farm, or rather, it was the parents of these cowboys, the farmers who worked for the farm, who had lived together to form the town.

So from a young age, they were a part of the farm.

What was interesting was that many of these cowboys were semi-literate, but it didn’t matter, because they didn’t need to master too much knowledge. They had been working for the Lawrence family since they were young, and would continue to work until they were old and could no longer work.

Their children, and their children’s children, would also still work for the Lawrence family, for generations to come.

The loyalty cultivated in this environment made them dare to pull the trigger even when they were facing the government army.

So Lance was not worried about his own safety at all. These cowboys were the guarantee of safety.

It was already afternoon when they returned to the farmstead. Lance and the others first got something to eat.

The things on the farm were fresh. Of course, it could also be a psychological effect.

After eating, Patricia began to feel sleepy. The doctor said this was a normal phenomenon. Emily accompanied her to rest, while Lance went to inspect the distillery.

“More houses are being built. We don’t plan to build the new workshops too high. Just enough is enough. This way we can open up more land and build more farms.”

Old Schubert had already gone to do his own things. Now the one accompanying Lance was Hubert. Hubert was now in full charge of the distillery.

“Recently, the Likalai State Agriculture Committee called me. He said that we are not allowed to use too much grain for brewing, and that they will soon send investigators over, after the Harvest Festival.”

Lance frowned. “Because of the war?”

Hubert shrugged. “Besides this, I can’t think of any other reason, but I don’t plan to listen to them.”

Now, of the agricultural crops produced by the entire farm that could be used for brewing, basically 70% to 80% were sent to the distillery.

Just as Lance had said to Mr. Cassia before, a ton of grain was only a few hundred dollars, but a bottle of fine Golden Lion whiskey was worth five or six hundred, or even seven or eight hundred.

Can a ton of grain not brew a bottle of wine?

No, a ton of grain can brew at least a few hundred or a thousand bottles of wine. This is a profit difference of a few hundred or a thousand times.

The Agriculture Committee was worried that too much grain would be used for brewing, which would lead to a rise in the price of grain.

The temperature was about to drop. Once it got to winter, the price of grain would be even more expensive. At that time, many people would starve to death in the winter because they couldn’t afford to eat.

It sounds very incredible. How could a developed country like the Federation have people starving to death in the winter?

In fact, it wasn’t just in the winter that people could starve to death. People could be starved to death at any time.

In other countries, if you can’t afford to eat, there may be other ways to live, but in the Federation, if you can’t afford to eat, you can only wait to die, especially those who live in the cities.

They are not like the farmers here, who always have a way to get something to eat.

In the city, if you can’t afford food, you either have to rob, or steal, or you can only beg.

Lance thought for a moment. “Leave this matter to me.”

Hubert did not refuse. “I hear you also have a good relationship with the people in the state government?”

Lance smiled. “I have a little connection.”

This made Hubert very emotional. It was unknown which ancestor of the Lawrence family had produced smoke, but they were finally doing well.

They walked around the distillery for a large circle. Lance also specially went to see the place where the wine was cellared. A large number of wine barrels were piled up in one cellar after another.

These properly aged wines, when they came out, would be aged for many years.

The ones that have been aged for two years will be labeled as five years.

The ones that have been aged for three years will be labeled as seven years.

Those that have really been aged for five years, at the very least, would start at twelve years. If a bottle was not sold for at least two thousand, it would simply not be worthy of the five years of time cost!

Like those that had been aged for one year, in the future they would all be Silver Lion. He planned to completely pull apart the grade difference of the liquor. Now the gap between Copper Lion, Silver Lion, and Golden Lion was still not big enough, and there were still some problems with the selling price.

In the future, Golden Lion whiskey would basically not be sold to ordinary bars. He was going to make these liquors into “luxury goods.”

The cognition of the rich in the upper class of the Federation, and their consumption habits, were completely different from the poor at the bottom of society who pursued cost-effectiveness.

As long as it was in line with their wishes, let alone two thousand a bottle, they could accept even more expensive, and they would really go and drink it, not for collection or anything.

In the factory, Lance also saw Lake (the brewer). He looked very good in spirit now, and there were also a few young people around him.

Because Lance had helped his father to get justice, he had begun to work for Lance, which could also be considered a mutual achievement.

At the same time, Lake also told Lance one thing. He was going to get married soon, to a girl on the farm.

Lance had him tell him before he got married, and he would definitely come.

After walking around for a circle, the sky had basically begun to turn dark. When he returned to the farmstead, it was just in time for dinner.

At the dinner table, Lance brought up another matter.

“I plan to build a railway.”

As soon as his words were spoken, everyone stopped their movements and looked at him.

Building a railway is not a simple matter, and the cost is not cheap.

Lance put down his knife and fork and wiped his mouth. “The road to the farm is really not easy to walk. Now it’s all rammed earth. It’s fine when it doesn’t rain, but once it rains, it will be very troublesome.”

“Our business is getting bigger and bigger. We have to consider the matter of shipping and receiving goods at all times, so I plan to, from the farm’s side, build a section that connects to the main railway line.”

“At that time, we will load the goods directly from the farm, and then the train will directly send them to Golden Port City, and then to the whole state, the whole country, and even the whole world!”

“I will pay for the construction of the railway. You don’t have to bear it. Do you have any opinions?”

The three old uncles lowered their heads and discussed for a while. They all agreed with Lance’s idea. With a train, it would be more convenient to come and go.

As for whether it would affect the life in the countryside?

The farm is so big. It doesn’t necessarily have to be built next to the farmstead.

Soon this matter was settled…

(End of a Chapter)