Empire of Shadows

The Tide is one of the newspapers with the largest circulation in Indeno State, known for its relatively neutral stance.

There is nothing absolute in this world, but compared to some other newspapers with obvious political stances, they can treat some of the events that have occurred more rationally.

Readers with political stances, besides reading the newspapers they like to read, which have obvious political stances, also want to see what the opposition and the neutral parties are saying, and how they are evaluating them.

Especially the neutral parties!

Some of them are not willing to read the newspapers of the opposing stance for fear of being angered, but the neutral ones are different.

People quickly realized the influence of the Tide in Indeno State. The supporters and members of the three major parties would all send their own opinion pieces, hoping to be able to dye the Tide into the color they wanted.

Every day they would deal with a lot of manuscripts. Only a small portion could be used directly. The majority still needed to be reinvestigated and revised.

The editor-in-chief poured out the materials in his hand. He casually picked up one of the pages and began to read.

A page he had casually picked up. He didn’t know what was on it.

He frowned and read for a while, his expression becoming serious. Then he took the glasses that were on the corner of his desk, unfolded them, and put them on the bridge of his nose.With his lips slightly parted, he began to read the content on this piece of paper, and then quickly picked up another page.

He had spent more than ten minutes reading a part of it, just a part.

More than ten minutes later, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, and then rubbed his cheeks to relax himself a little.

”Who mailed this?” he looked up at the chief editor. The chief editor shook his head. ”It was placed together with the other press releases.”

He had actually already read a part of it, which was why he had brought it over.

The things recorded in it... were simply too horrifying!

He had only read half of one of the pages and did not dare to continue. He had sent him over directly. He was afraid that some accident might happen to him.

Behind such an explosive piece of news, there were often the contests between some of the major powers.

The aftershocks from the collision of such a large-scale power were enough to shake a small newspaper chief editor to death.

So he had given this opportunity to become famous to the editor-in-chief, hoping that the editor-in-chief could withstand it.

In fact, he had overestimated the chief editor, because the chief editor might not be able to withstand it either.

But he did want to report it, if the content of this news was true.

He took a deep breath and lit a cigarette.

The warm-colored light of the desk lamp shone on the rising smoke of the cigarette, which actually made it less obvious.

After the editor-in-chief had taken a few puffs, he called the director on duty during this period. After the two had communicated for a while, the editor-in-chief packed up the things on his desk and then went to see the director alone.

The chief editor did not know what the editor-in-chief and the director had talked about. Half an hour later, the publisher, and several directors and shareholders had all come over.

The editors, the reporters who were still working at night in the newspaper office, all felt a hint of a tense atmosphere.

They didn’t know what had happened, but they knew that this must be a major event. Otherwise, there would be no need for so many ”big shots” to appear here at the same time.

Every night, before the final draft was set, was the busiest time for the newspaper office.

In fact, the newspaper office was not as people imagined, where everyone worked during the day. Many people actually worked at night.

On the one hand, to write a draft, you had to compile and sort out the materials you had obtained, and the results of the interviews, and only after finding an entry point could you start to write the draft.

So usually, this time was at night.

They could write at home, but the home lacked some of the atmosphere. On the contrary, the atmosphere on the newspaper’s side was also a little better. If there was something you couldn’t remember for a moment or needed to ask for advice on, it was also a little more convenient.

And if the draft was finished early, maybe you could even catch the newspaper for the next day’s release.

On the other hand, the temporary withdrawal of a draft and the insertion of a new one was also a very normal thing. All of these required someone to cooperate, and also to work.

So there were also many people in the office at night. Most of the people’s attention was focused on the door of the conference room.

There were also some who would from time to time look at the chief editor, and even take the initiative to find him to ask for some information, because everything had only happened after he had sent some materials to the editor-in-chief’s office.

The chief editor’s mouth was very tight. He was not at all as bold as when he had been a reporter, who had dared to say anything.

After about forty minutes, the high-level of the newspaper office finally came out of the conference room. The directors went to another room alone, and the editor-in-chief also called some of the chief editors to his office.

”You go and get some documents and files, to see if we have saved...”

He casually said some of the contents that needed to be investigated, which were basically all related to the case of a highway serial killer.

Besides the first chief editor who knew why he was doing this, the other chief editors all thought that it might be that another serial killer had been caught!

This was big news!

The degree of attention people paid to these matters was simply unimaginable. Tomorrow’s newspaper would definitely sell out.

If the newspaper sold well, then these people would have a bonus. They hoped that the newspaper could sell like hotcakes even more than the boss.

A group of people immediately began to work.

They had also reported on many cases of highway serial killers in the past. The interview drafts and files of these cases were all kept.

Soon, the newspaper’s side had gotten the files of some of the past cases. After comparing a portion of the criminals’ testimonies, the editor-in-chief believed that the authenticity of the ”news materials” that had been mailed over was very high.

This also meant that this would be a super scandal, and a super bomb!

Whether this super bomb should explode, whether it should be ignited by them, he was not yet clear. This was something that the publisher and the board of directors and the shareholders needed to think about, but he would become the guy who held the torch and lit the fuse!

He was waiting, waiting for a phone call. As long as the publisher’s side notified him, he would change tomorrow’s layout.

Before the printing press started to work, he would change the entire content, to let the people of the whole state be shocked for a whole fucking day!

At this time, the publisher, who could decide whether this news would appear in tomorrow’s newspaper, was on the phone, talking with the real owner of the company, a capital group in Indeno State.

In the Federation, any person, organization, company that dared to stand on a neutral position, and had done a great job, and had not yet been swallowed by a certain camp, could be understood to have a backing behind them that allowed them to do so.

Of course, it was also possible that these matters could not be decided in such a short period of time.

This was a very complicated process. Any political contest is not something that can have a result with just a pat on the head.

The next morning, no newspaper had reported any news related to the major criminal matters suspected within the state police department, as if... all the newspaper offices had not received those news materials.

But in fact, the influence brought by this matter was still continuously spreading, among some groups of people.

The lieutenant governor was the first to know about this. At a little after seven in the morning, the phone had been ringing constantly.

They were all calls from his friends, his acquaintances. These people had learned of this matter through various channels, and then they had urgently notified the lieutenant governor.

The choice of the chief of the state police had been made by the lieutenant governor, and at the same time, he was also in charge of this part of the work.

For such a big scandal to have occurred in the state police department, if it was true, then he would definitely have an unshirkable responsibility.

If it were only one or two people who had called, then he might have thought that this one or two had very good sources of information.

But when there were more and more people who had called, he knew that it was Mayor Wade who was forcing him to make a choice.

To give up, or to die protecting.

If he gave up, what would be the consequences?

If he died protecting, what would be the outcome?

He had to be fully mentally prepared for his choice!

In the morning, he had no mind for work and had been thinking about these matters all along.

He had carefully recalled the relationship between himself and the chief of the state police. Besides accepting the transfer of interests, he had no more relationship with the state police’s side.

It could be said that he was the most innocent person in this whole matter!

He had not pushed these police officers to commit crimes, nor had he helped them to cover up. He didn’t know anything!

In the afternoon, the lieutenant governor had taken a leave of absence. He returned to his own villa and had his office members all come over.

The lieutenant governor also had another office, or to put it in a more direct way, he also had his own work team.

This team worked for him, not for the state government or some government agency.

These people were also responsible to him. He paid these people a salary every month. He was the boss, and these people were the employees.

These people were usually mainly in charge of his various government work, and at the same time, they would also provide him with some intellectual support.

There were secretaries, drivers, bodyguards, and aides.

At this time, he was sitting with his aides, talking about how to handle this matter.

”I am very passive now. Once people start to discuss this matter on a large scale, and are guided to me by that bastard Wade, when it comes to the gubernatorial election, our approval rating will be very terrible!”

”I am already fifty-five. If I lose this opportunity, the next time might be when I’m in my sixties.”

”I’m not sure if I will still be competent for this job at that time. This is no less than the last attempt of my life, so I don’t want it to fail.”

The lieutenant governor looked at the high-paid aides he had hired in the conference room. They had outstanding performance in their respective fields, and also in terms of intelligence. Otherwise, he would not have spent a large sum of money to hire them.

”Give me some ideas, think of a way. Don’t just sit there!”

With his urging, the aides began to talk about their own ideas.

Some advocated for protecting the director, but not his job. This matter would definitely implicate him in the end. It was better to have the director bear all the problems himself, and not to let the problem continue to spread.

As long as it did not implicate the lieutenant governor, not only could the lieutenant governor get out of this matter, but he could also protect the director.

This was a trade-off, a deal.

The aides’ views on the chief of the state police were all consistent. He would definitely be implicated by Police Captain Matthew, and Mayor Wade had already begun to do so.

The meaning of forcibly protecting him was almost zero. To protect him would require a large amount of manpower, material resources, and personal connections, but what could be obtained?

Only a bad name!

People would think that he was an official who sheltered a corrupt official. When it came to the election, they would be more inclined to vote for Mayor Wade.

So the meaning of protecting the director was not great.

On this point, the lieutenant governor also had the same view, but he was very worried. ”The director’s side will send over a lot of benefits every year. I’m worried that if he gets too deeply involved in the case, it is possible that he will, in order to protect himself, say some things that we don’t want to see him say.”

”If he is deeply implicated, what will be the result?”

”In the case where we cannot interfere with the judicial justice!”

He had to prepare for the worst. Once Mayor Wade launched an attack, he would definitely not give him a chance to interfere with the judicial justice.

As long as this case reached the litigation stage, under the scrutiny of so many people, even if the court and the judge all knew him, and their relationship was not bad, they would not be biased towards him in any way.

This huge scandal could simply not be covered up. It might even become a national scandal, known to the people.

In this situation, who would dare to act recklessly?

Among the aides was an aide who had graduated from the law department and had been studying the laws of Indeno State all along, to specifically provide legal advice and services for the team.

”This depends on whether he has hidden some truths from us. If he knew about the cases that Police Captain Matthew had done, and did not stop the other party, then he might be charged with multiple crimes.”

”For example, there will definitely be official crimes, the crime of harboring. If the judge’s side wants to use them to establish their authority, to show the justice and seriousness of the judiciary, he may also be sentenced as an accomplice.”

”Because as a police officer, while knowing that Police Captain Matthew was doing this, he not only did not arrest them but did not stop them. At the same time, he took a portion from the warehouse that these people had obtained and put it in his own pocket. He is an accomplice, and it is also possible that the crime will be more serious.”

”Like organizing and leading a criminal group, this is also a serious crime!”

The legal aide shook his head. ”He may be sentenced to more than twenty years in prison, or even be sent to the electric chair.”

The lieutenant governor, after listening to him with an ugly face, asked, ”If he wants to make a contribution, and confesses some of the content that the court has not yet grasped, for example, about us...”

The legal aide suddenly did not know how to open his mouth. ”He will definitely get a chance for a reduced sentence because of these meritorious performances, and sir, I think that your guess is very likely to become a reality.”

”If the state prosecutor’s office is in charge of this case, then they may try to induce a confession from Police Captain Matthew and the director. Once these two cannot resist the inducement and confess some testimony that is not beneficial to you, they can not only get a huge sentence reduction, but can also put some big trouble on you.”

This was what the lieutenant governor feared the most. The ”wild biting” in a political purge was definitely a super-killer move!

Even if people all believed that he was wildly biting, and was framing others without any real evidence, before you can provide evidence to prove that you have indeed been wronged, people will believe their nonsense and start to spread it.

It is very easy to destroy the image of a public figure. As long as someone says that they found your secretary’s face was ugly, her body was trembling, and your pants zipper was not zipped, it is enough.

What the truth is is not important. What is important is what people hope the truth is.

The lieutenant governor’s expression was a little grim. ”So we have to find a way to shut them up.”

This was not a question, but just a simple statement. The aides did not express any opinion on this question.

And the lieutenant governor did indeed have a great legal risk, and he had indeed also taken the money.

No matter what name the director had sent it under, in short, he had taken it.

Another aide said, ”We need to do two things now. Let all the people who should shut up shut up. In addition, we need a more powerful person to stop this matter, to intervene in this matter.”

”Although it looks very serious, before it completely erupts, there are still people who can press the stop button!”

The lieutenant governor looked at him, a guy who was even older than him. He also seemed to have heard the meaning in the other party’s words. ”You want me to find the governor?”

The aide did not deny it. ”What we need to do is to shift the conflict, to shift the conflict between us and Mayor Wade to the governor.”

”Once Mayor Wade has done something harmful to us, then the governor will also be harmed by him. He will have to consider whether to reach a compromise with us, to ensure his own interests to the greatest extent.”

The lieutenant governor was seriously thinking about what he had said. This was the value of a large sum of money every month. It wasn’t that his brain couldn’t think of it, but it was impossible to think of it so quickly.

Maybe by the time he thought of it, all the things that would make him regret and be too late might have already happened.

The aide continued, ”And with the governor’s intervention, some of the people who wanted to take advantage of our disadvantage and find benefits from us will have to consider whether they want to do so.”

”At the same time, we can also give the director a clear signal. If he can shut up, we can ensure the safety of him and his family to the greatest extent.”

”If he wildly bites, at that time he will not only offend us, but also the governor, and also the Mayor Wade and the Lance Family who have already been offended by him.”

”As long as he is not a fool, he should know how to choose.”

The lieutenant governor, while listening, was constantly nodding. This aide’s idea was very good. ”But how to achieve it?”

”How do we drag the governor down with us?” he looked at this aide, and also the others.

At this time, this aide pursed his lips. ”It’s actually not too difficult to do this. It just depends on whether you have the determination and the courage.”

Meeting the other party’s gaze, the lieutenant governor vaguely felt that this must be a very bold plan!

A group of people discussed for a long while. In the end, the lieutenant governor decided to take a risk and give it a try.

In fact, it couldn’t be said to be very risky, but... anyway, if he didn’t take a risk, he would also be implicated, but if he took a risk, it was possible that he would not be implicated. This was not a bad thing...