Empire of Shadows

When Carl took off his hat and held it in his hand, his slicked-back, shiny head of hair was revealed.

Every strand of hair was in its proper place, never to be out of place.

In the past, Carl, who had to consider spending five cents to fill his stomach, now, to do his hair, he had spent three dollars without hesitation.

Money decides everything.

He took off his coat and also held it in his hand. It was not until the person standing by the door took his coat and hat from his hand that he said a word of thanks, and then he came before Lance.

”Mr. Lance?”

Lance pointed to the sofa next to him, letting him sit down.

During this time, Carl had hired two private tutors. One taught him the social etiquette of the middle and upper-class social circles in the Federation.

The theoretical stuff was definitely much more complicated than the practical, but he was able to endure hardship and had been working hard to learn.

The other private tutor taught him some of the more common, common-sense things, in all aspects. This was for him not to make a fool of himself in front of others.If it were a high-tech knowledge, if he got it wrong, he got it wrong. But if it were some common-sense things, to get it wrong would invite people to laugh at him.

For a better life in the future, he was now going all out.

The matter of the House of Pleasure, although it did not let him be directly responsible for that part of the work, the funds still went into his hands. It was just that he no longer showed his face. For him, there was no substantial loss.

And Lance had also stood up for him.

Miles, in order to protect these three soldiers, had directly sent them to the front lines. Whether they were dead or alive was still unclear, but Lance had privately told him that as long as they came back, no matter what they had done outside, whether they had made a contribution or not, they were all done for!

Carl was not a cold-blooded person. Otherwise, he would not have taken other people’s dreams as his own ideal for so many years.

He had just become mature, but it was not that he could no longer be moved. He knew that Lance was using him to do some things, but he was also really good to him.

In this world, even his parents had not been so good to him. So even if Lance was using him, he also hoped that he could have a greater use value, instead of wanting any freedom, any autonomy.

At this time, Lance had summoned him in the middle of the night. He had come immediately, without any delay.

”Has there been any change in the number of refugees in the new district recently?” Lance gave him a cigarette. He respectfully took it and then lit it.

”Mr. Lance, the number of refugees is a little more than before, and I don’t know how to say it, there are also some more people from the Dantra side.”

Lance was stunned for a moment. ”Refugees from Dantra?”

”What are they here for?”

Carl shook his head. ”I caught one and asked. He said that the Federation was about to attack, so they came out in advance.”

Hearing this, Lance couldn’t help but laugh. A good reason.

He associated it with the things that Senator Cleveland had told him. Perhaps these people were also a part of the spies.

He did not continue on this issue. ”How are these people feeling about life here now?”

Carl pursed his lips and shrugged. ”What else can they feel?”

”Despair.”

”Many of them have spent a lot of money, almost emptying all their money, to come to the Federation. In other words, even if they want to go back now, they can’t.”

”And you know the situation on our side. The government is investigating the matter of deserters. To go back now will only get you sent to the most tragic front line. Everyone is not willing to go back.”

”The Federation... although there are all kinds of inconvenient places,” he looked at Lance’s expression cautiously, and only after confirming that saying so would not provoke Lance did he continue, ”but in the end, this place is much better than going back, so everyone is still persevering.”

Lance nodded slightly. He thought for a moment. ”Have you heard anything about the parades and protests recently?”

Carl had no concealment from Lance. He nodded and said, ”I’ve heard. Many people in the factories are talking about this.”

As he said this, he reached out to the ashtray and tapped the ash.

His social etiquette tutor had told him that when a superior was having a face-to-face communication with him, if the other party offered him a cigarette, or a cup of coffee, he could not refuse.

To refuse would on the contrary offend the other party. Only to accept is a sign of submission.

You can’t finish a cup of coffee in one go. The first sip should be a little less, but at the end of the conversation, you have to finish the coffee.

Similarly, when you smoke, you can’t really keep smoking. The smoke you exhale will more or less affect the superior.

The best way is to take the first puff when you light it, and then to take the last puff when it’s almost finished.

This way, you can take two puffs from one cigarette, which not only complies with the superior’s request, but also does not exhale too much smoke to affect anyone.

He was not sure if these social etiquettes were appropriate, but he had been abiding by them.

Lance thought for a few more seconds and then said, ”I need you to do some things.”

He quickly put the cigarette into the ashtray, and then sat up straight and obediently.

Looking at Carl like this, Lance found it very interesting, and could also feel his strong desire to obtain a better life.

A person who does not yearn to become a member of the upper class will not go and learn these things!

To have motivation, to have ambition, to have desire, this is a good thing!

If a person has no desire at all, who can use him with confidence?

”The parade and protest this time is aimed at me, but they have made some precautions in advance. I have no way to directly deal with them.”

”After thinking and thinking, you are the most suitable people.”

”You go and recruit a group of people who are willing to get rid of their current situation. Not too many, but not too few either. Four or five hundred people.”

”Divide them into ten teams. You need to put the people you trust in as the leaders.”

”When the parade and protest completely breaks out, have them disperse to the points of the parade and demonstration to create a conflict.”

Creating a conflict is just a part of the whole plan.

If there were too many refugees in this attack on the parade and demonstration, it would cause a series of other problems, and Mayor Williams might also be implicated.

For example, a thousand, two or three thousand refugees actually had an organized and large-scale attack on the parading team. What would the governor, Congress, think of this matter?

This was a typical case of mismanagement, but if it were just a small batch, and in the public and public opinion, it was not considered a ”threat,” then Mayor Williams would not be overly criticized.

At most, he would be asked to solve some problems as soon as possible, to be held high up and put down gently.

In the end, the ones who really needed to make a move were still the police of Golden Port City.

The police of Golden Port City, after these two years of expansion, already had 20,000 people. This was a super weapon.

Because the First Amendment of the Federal Constitution allows the public to spontaneously parade, demonstrate, and protest, so the police have no right to stop them from doing so.

But, the police have the right to stop violent incidents from happening.

When the two sides begin to conflict, causing a bloodshed, the police’s side will begin to intervene. They will focus on arresting the people who are parading and demonstrating, and let go of the refugees, letting them go and create more conflicts.

This parade and protest, which would have originally affected the entire city, and even the entire state and the entire Federation, can be suppressed in this way.

A single spark can indeed start a prairie fire, but what if it is extinguished before it can start a prairie fire?

Carl listened seriously to every word Lance said, and firmly remembered these words in his heart. He asked, ”Mr. Lance, what... what extent do we have to go to?”

”To use sticks, daggers, long swords, or guns?”

”Although this question is quite stupid,” Lance commented with a smile, ”but it shows that you are indeed very attentive!”

”Just use sticks. Try not to cause any deaths, but it has to look very tragic. It’s best to use those square pieces of wood.”

”Not the very heavy kind, but a little lighter. Even if it hits the head, it won’t cause a fatal injury, and at the same time, it can still cause a wound.”

”Anyway, you can judge for yourself.”

”We will have a lot of work to do in the future. The territory will be expanded a lot. Besides our own men, your side can also recruit some men.”

”The action this time is also a very good touchstone. Absorb those who you think are not bad. We will have a use for them in the future.”

As he spoke, he picked up a leather case from the ground by his side and placed it on the coffee table. ”Here’s 100,000. It’s the funds for this event.”

”How much to give is up to you, but don’t mess up the matter I’ve entrusted to you, understand?”

Carl didn’t even glance at the leather case. He had been maintaining a look of lowered eyebrows and submissiveness all along. He nodded repeatedly. ”I see.”

”Hmm...” Lance was very satisfied with Carl’s performance. This was a talent, so he didn’t mind chatting with Carl for a little longer.

”Now that the proper business is over, we can talk about some small talk.”

”I haven’t been in Golden Port City recently. Has the military district’s side caused any trouble?”

Carl shook his head. ”They are much more obedient now. The military police have been patrolling.”

Soon, as the two were chatting, they came to the topic of Carl’s family. ”Have you considered bringing your family over?”

Carl nodded. ”I have, but it’s very difficult now.”

”The Slad official has issued a new policy, and has already banned leaving the country without reason. Even if you spend money, it’s very difficult to get them over.”

When he said this, Carl’s mood was still a little low.

Lance took out a piece of paper and a pen and handed them over. ”Write down your family’s information for me. I’ll arrange it for you.”

To do what big things, Lance’s ability might not be enough, but just to get a few people from the Slad side over, this was very simple.

Even without using Admiral Miles’s connections, he still had connections in the military, in the Department of Defense.

Carl looked at Lance in disbelief, but he also felt that it was within reason. Then he began to write.

He wrote very smoothly. You could feel the beauty of the shape of his writing, which was clearly something he had practiced.

”You’ve been working hard!” Looking at the information on the paper in his hand, Lance praised him.

This made Carl a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and smiled without speaking.

Then Lance had him go back and make preparations first.

Time passed day by day, and some of the atmosphere in Golden Port City had also become more and more subtle.

On Monday noon, in a factory that did upstream and downstream supporting work, the workers came out of the assembly line. The clothes they were wearing did not look very thick. Although some people were wearing coats, when they walked, you could also see the short sleeves inside.

The temperature in the assembly line was too high, a full twenty or thirty degrees.

The problem with the machinery, the temperature generated by the people, and the physical consumption during work would all make them generate heat.

After a morning’s work, it was finally lunchtime.

They had half an hour to eat and rest, and then they would have to go back to their busy work.

The assembly line is the most soul-crushing place. Any person with a spirit, when they come here, will slowly be turned into a numb person.

Day after day, year after year, repeating the same work. You either erupt in silence, or you go crazy in silence!

There is also the phenomenon of forming factions among the workers, for example, the people on the same production line, or the people in the same production workshop.

A few workers, with their lunch boxes, walked out of the workshop. From a distance, they saw some people gathered together.

The worker in the very front stopped. He looked at the people by his side, and then the group of them walked over.

As soon as they got a little closer, they could hear someone in the very middle of the crowd speaking.

”Worker brothers!”

”We are facing the worst situation in history!”

”I’m sure you already know that the Wanli Labor Introduction Agency is in talks with the factories in the new industrial district about the labor support.”

”They have already exported seven thousand workers to the new industrial district. Do you know what this means?”

The surrounding workers were all looking at him. No one was speaking. The person in the middle then said loudly, ”This means that seven thousand jobs have been taken away by those illegal immigrants, refugees, and the like!”

”They have snatched these jobs from our hands, and there will be more and more people competing with us for jobs. In the end, each of us will become unemployed!”

”Although I don’t want to admit this, I have to admit that compared to the cheap price of those illegal immigrants, we are obviously much more expensive.”

”But, worker brothers, this is precisely the labor reward that supports ourselves and our families. This is the reward we deserve for our labor!”

”What we want is not just to be able to live, but also our life. They can’t treat us like this, and they can’t snatch the jobs from our hands!”

”We have to unite. We have to resist the atrocities of the Wanli Labor Introduction Agency, and to resist the indifference of the city’s administrators to these matters!”

”The Labor Federation and the workers’ side are actively encouraging and calling on us to hold a major strike and a parade and demonstration this month to express our demands.”

”This concerns the legal rights and interests of each and every one of us. I hope that everyone can stand on the side of our working class, this one time!”

”The worker brothers who are willing to come can all get food stamps. Although it’s not much, it’s a little something.”

”What we want is to let these capitalists see our united strength, just like in the past, to face them and to smash their unrealistic fantasies with an iron fist...”

Soon, some of the workers had been persuaded, and had signed their names on a registration book. In the words of the person who was promoting it, they would, in the end, distribute the food stamps according to this registration book.

Not much, two dollars worth of designated food stamps for each person. These food stamps were actually also sponsored by some capitalists, and could only be used to buy certain goods.

But in any case, a two-dollar food stamp was still very attractive.

And this parade and demonstration was for themselves. Soon some people began to sign, indicating that they were willing to respond to the call.

Among these people, besides those who really responded to the call and believed that the great unity of the working class should fight against the capitalists and the labor introduction companies, there were also some who were purely for an extra day off.

But not all of them were willing to participate. There were also some non-union workers who were not willing to pay the union fees, who were just watching from a distance.

Some workers also didn’t like the union, feeling that the existence of the union would on the contrary make the labor-capital relations more tense, and that they often organized some activities, which would delay their making money.

So these people just watched for a while and then left to enjoy their lunch.

The owner of the factory was watching these people in the factory area from his office. His face was very ugly. There were also the manager and some of the backbones in the office.

After watching for a while, he returned to his chair and sat down. ”These people, the union, are like a cancerous tumor rooted in our bodies.”

”They grow by sucking our blood and flesh!”

”What’s more disgusting is that they actually told me that even during the parade, I still have to pay them at least 50% of their wages.”

”What a fucking ghost!”

The people in the office were all silent. The union’s side had contacted them yesterday. The parade and demonstration would last for about five to a week. During this period, the workers who were participating in the parade and demonstration were completely off-production.

But he had to pay at least 50% of the salary for these workers, on the grounds that if he did not pay the salary, he would have violated the First Amendment of the Federal Constitution and had obstructed the freedom of demonstration.

Then they might target his this factory and hold a longer strike!

This was the place where the union and the labor federation were most hated by the capitalists, but there was nothing they could do, a strike.

Once a strike, the order schedule will have problems. Some orders may even face a claim for overdue, and there are all kinds of troubles.

This is also the reason why many factories, while knowing that they will offend the union, are still willing to cooperate with Lance.

Those refugees, illegal immigrants, have no fucking such problems. No matter what happens outside, those who should work are still working!

After he had vented his anger for a while, the boss finally calmed down his emotions. ”Continue to contact those workers. Tell them that we will increase the on-duty wages during the days of the parade and demonstration.”

This was the only way he could think of to retain more of these workers on the assembly line. Those non-union workers would definitely continue to work.

But to do this line of work, about a large half of the workers were registered members of the union, which meant that his orders would have a big problem!

The thought of this made him curse again. Then he picked up the phone and dialed the number of the labor introduction agency.

He needed some temporary workers to come up. The labor introduction agency was clearly the most suitable choice.