Empire of Shadows

Lance’s words made Morris a little confused.

There was a clear emotional fluctuation in his eyes, like excitement, and also like some kind of longing. ”Organs can be replaced too?”

Lance did not deny it. ”This is a medical prospect. Although I don’t know if they have already started researching surgeries like organ replacement, I believe they will definitely be able to do it.”

This was the greatest confidence Lance possessed. He knew what the future would look like. The future, which was a fog for almost everyone, was already an open hand in front of him.

On this huge gambling table, who could win money from a person whose hand was already revealed?

It was highly unlikely that they could win against Lance. The best they could do was not to lose. This was the limit of what they could do.

”Perhaps during this time, I will go and ask some people from the medical groups. And this matter is not just your own business. Maybe some of us, on a certain day in the future, will also be able to use it.”

Hearing Lance’s affirmation, the smile on Morris’s face became much more natural.

In life, apart from life and death, there are no other major matters. For him, who was now alone, if what Lance said could be done, his biggest psychological burden would disappear.

”I hope so!” he looked forward to the future, full of anticipation.Lance chatted with them for a while longer, and then let them all go back to their own things, but he had specially kept Ennio and Morris behind.

”Your brother is very concerned about you. I spoke to you about this once last time, but we didn’t talk in much detail.”

”Ennio is always worried about the relationship between that girl and you, afraid that she will hurt you.”

Morris glanced at Ennio with a helpless and somewhat depressed look. He turned around, put his hands on his hips, and looked at his good brother. ”I really don’t know how to say this. Haven’t we already talked about this before?”

Yes, they had talked about it once before, but not in much detail.

This is a situation that is more likely to occur between friends who have a very good relationship—

I thought you could understand me, so I didn’t explain it in detail.

In fact, if you think about it seriously, between a father and a child, between a husband and a wife, such an intimate relationship cannot achieve complete mutual understanding. How can good friends possibly understand everything?

Ennio’s voice was clearly louder. ”I don’t know!”

Morris turned to look at him. After confirming from his face that he really didn’t seem to understand what he meant, he sat down on the sofa again.

”You should have told me.”

Ennio also rolled his eyes and sat down. ”Every time I talk about this, you’re always impatient.”

Lance clapped his hands, interrupting their little dispute. ”Alright, since there are some misunderstandings between you, then let’s clear up this misunderstanding now.”

”So...” he looked at Morris. The latter also knew what Lance meant, and then he began to explain.

”Actually, I know her thoughts. The... ” Morris rotated his wrist, adding some emotionally progressive actions, ”...feelings she has for me, happened when she knew that my life might not be that long.”

”The doctor said I could live to be forty. From the looks of it now, I still have more than ten years.”

”She is a little younger than me. After more than ten years, she will only be thirty-seven or thirty-eight.”

”At that time, a part of my inheritance might be given to my mother, and the rest will all be given to her, if she can also bear me a few children.”

”So I know that for her, this is the only opportunity she can touch in her life!”

Ennio couldn’t help but interrupt him. ”Then you’re still with her?”

”She just wants your money!”

Morris looked at him with a more mature look than Ennio’s, which made Ennio himself a little embarrassed. ”I know.”

”But, brother, even if I change to another girl, do you think that in my situation, before I expose my identity and my wealth, there will be a girl who can like me?”

”Do I have time to meet those ordinary girls and then to have a two- or three-year relationship with them, which may not even reach the end?”

”Holy shit, I simply don’t have that much time to do this, which may be a very simple thing for an ordinary person!”

”Who are the people we come into contact with around us?”

Ennio stopped talking. He hadn’t considered these. The ones they had come into contact with the most were the girls who were in the flesh trade.

They didn’t despise these girls. Many of their friends were these girls, but this didn’t mean that they could marry these girls.

If they were just small-time hooligans at the bottom of society, perhaps there was still this possibility.

But they were not that kind of small character. They couldn’t possibly marry these streetwalkers or girls who were in the flesh trade. This way, the choices for Morris were almost gone.

Lance crossed his arms over his chest. ”In that case, your judgment and choice are undoubtedly, very correct.”

”Although this girl likes your money, her background is very clean.”

Morris nodded and admitted this. ”Yes, that’s what I think.”

Ennio no longer had the thought of making Morris change. He looked at Morris, walked over, and hugged him. ”You should have had a good talk with me. I can understand you.”

Morris also responded with a smile, ”Why didn’t you ask?”

Alright, the misunderstanding was resolved. Communication is always one of the best ways to resolve misunderstandings.

Then he had Morris leave. He was still in charge of the casino. Although it wasn’t that everything in the casino needed him, and his work was also very idle, he attached great importance to his work.

These words he had said to Lance, to Ennio, he had not said to others.

If it weren’t for his mother insisting that he get married, he might not even have gotten married.

To have a child, you don’t necessarily have to get married. In most regions, abortion is illegal, so as long as you can make someone pregnant, you can definitely have a child.

But Morris’s mother was very eager for him to get married, so that she could find someone to take care of him.

His mother had already remarried, and had also given birth to two children. Morris planned to leave 30% of his assets to his mother.

The remaining 10% would be left to his wife, and 60% would be left to his own children, whether it was a boy or a girl.

He believed that Lance and the others would take good care of these assets of his.

He didn’t dare to give everything to that woman. Who knew if she would squander all this money?

After returning to the casino, he inspected his own territory, and then returned to his office.

Perhaps it was because his emotions were a little agitated today, or perhaps his activity level today was relatively high. He had been coughing all the way back.

Three bullets had pierced his lung. Although the doctor had, as much as possible, helped him to repair his organ, compared to a normal organ, there was still a great loss of function.

This was also the reason why the doctor had said that his lifespan would not be too long.

In the past, his mood had always been very low. The people who had caused these things were already finished, but the dead, and the injuries he had suffered, could not be restored.

For any person, to have lost the ability to exercise vigorously, and to know that he might not be able to live for a long time, then now, every minute and every second was a torment for him.

But now he felt much better, because Lance had said that in the future, people could have organ transplants.

Even if he didn’t rely on Lance, with his current wealth, he believed that he could hold on until that day, and to have the qualification for the surgery.

Sitting in his chair, he turned his head to look at the azure blue sky outside the window. An involuntary smile appeared on his face.

...

Lance was not a particularly important big shot. Many ordinary people didn’t even know that he had returned to Golden Port City, but these people in the upper class of Golden Port City all knew about this.

Mayor Williams had, at the first opportunity, given him a call, hoping to be able to invite him to dinner, to talk about some of the recent changes.

Attorney General Terry had also given him a call, and had also invited him to Manteno (the capital of Likalai State) for a chat, and it was very urgent.

The reason was very simple, because the Likalai State’s gubernatorial election was also about to begin.

Golden Port City, as an important voting bloc in Likalai State, with its rapidly increasing population, and also the number of voters, the inclination of Golden Port City’s side could often, to a large extent, determine the election trend of Likalai State.

This was not even to mention that Lance also had the Lawrence Farm behind him.

Whether it was the Lawrence family, or the small landlord class that was attached to them, these people were all an important source of votes in Likalai State.

So as long as they could handle Lance’s side, they would have a great deal of confidence.

Lance and Attorney General Terry had agreed on a time. In two days, he would definitely make a trip, but now, he needed to go and see Mayor Williams first.

For Lance’s acceptance of the dinner invitation, Mayor Williams seemed very happy. He had, very solemnly, had his whole family attend this ”family banquet.”

To have a family banquet, he seemed to be, through this way, to continuously strengthen and deepen his relationship with Lance.

Lance’s development speed was getting faster and faster, and was getting harder and harder for people to understand. However, he had a premonition that Lance would, in the future, definitely be a big shot who could influence the federal policies.

Even if he couldn’t get into the Senate, and couldn’t be the president.

Before the dinner had started, Lance and the men of the Williams family were chatting. Mayor Williams’s wife was also there.

She was already forty this year, but her affluent life had made her look like she was still thirty-four or thirty-five.

Whether a person is rich or not, you can tell from this person’s external performance.

The poor, because of their poverty, will encounter many troubles, and need to face a lot of work. They simply do not have the ability to take good care of their own bodies.

But the rich have no troubles and do not need to work. The speed at which their bodies age is already very slow, and at the same time, because they have better maintenance and medical conditions, they will appear younger.

Besides Mayor Williams and his wife, there were also James and Arthur.

What was noteworthy was that Mrs. Williams was sitting by Lance’s side, which allowed Lance to smell the expensive perfume on her.

This was actually a very normal social etiquette. For example, if Lance had finished his coffee, or if some of the pastries were too far from him, and he couldn’t reach, at this time, someone had to do this.

Some might think that these things should be done by James or Arthur, but they were men.

Mayor Williams was a relatively traditional federal male. This kind of person would, at certain times, have some stubborn persistence, for example, to abide by a certain rule.

To do so was, in itself, also to let the guest feel a warm friendship, something that could only happen after the relationship was strong enough.

If the relationship was not that good, then the one who would be serving Lance would be a full-time maid. She would stand by Lance’s side.

Constantly adding coffee or tea for Lance, constantly adjusting the position of the pastries and snacks, to make it convenient for him to get.

”Try this year’s new tea,” Mrs. Williams poured a not-so-full cup of tea. This was also Lance’s choice. Before a meal, he didn’t really want to drink coffee.

The tea looked very tempting. There were also some other things in the teapot. The tea was not green tea, but black tea, paired with some flower petals or even spices. In the end, it had formed this, which was called ”Palace Black Tea” by some of the upper-class people.

They said this was art...

To this, Lance’s evaluation was ”Hehe.”

He took the teacup from the lady’s hand and took a small sip. To be honest, the taste was a little strange. He couldn’t say it was delicious, but it wasn’t unpalatable either.

Fortunately, they had not added sugar. Otherwise, it would have been really terrible.

Lance gave a simple comment, and then took a piece of pastry from her hand, and then took a small bite.

Then his gaze shifted to Arthur. Today, Arthur was dressed very formally, and his expression had also become much more serious, not at all like his previous, debauched appearance.

Mayor Williams had noticed the change in Lance’s attention. A few more smiles had appeared on his face. ”Does he look a little better than the last time you saw him?”

Lance nodded and said, ”Yes, he looks more like an adult. What happened?”

Mayor Williams looked at Arthur. Arthur quickly straightened his back. ”I’m getting married.”

A smile had appeared on the faces of the whole family. They had arranged a political marriage for Arthur.

This was what his mother had taken the initiative to request. Originally, Mayor Williams’s meaning was to just casually arrange one, but his mother had not agreed.

He loved this little wife of his very much, and had even treated her as his own daughter. With the blessing of this dual identity, Mayor Williams had no resistance at all, and had, through his connections, found a good marriage partner for Arthur.

The other party was from the middle and high levels of the Socialist Party, and had a good prospect of development in the future. Of course, this also had a certain relationship with the fact that Mayor Williams was considered to be on Senator Cleveland’s line.

Some believed that if there were no accidents, the next ten to twenty years would be the golden time for Senator Cleveland’s core.

Their political influence would continuously increase, and would eventually reach its peak, and then would slowly decline.

However, even if it had declined to the extreme, it would still be much stronger than an ordinary senator. And they would not let this kind of thing happen.

There was a high probability that when their influence had begun to decline, they would immediately use their own seats as a bargaining chip for a political deal, and would jump out of Congress, and would form their own ”political office.”

This kind of thing, in New Golden City, could only be said to be everywhere. Every president, every speaker of the two houses, and those relatively influential senators, including the governors.

To form their own political office was their main job after they had retired. They could continue to use their own influence, and to start to be a political broker.

Don’t think that all brokers are just rats in the sewer. You know, the most powerful broker team in New Golden City now is the team of the former and the one-before-that president.

So for Senator Cleveland’s line, as long as they didn’t provoke the public’s anger, and had violated a principled issue, it was certain that their future was bright.

At a time like this, there were naturally some who had hoped to get closer to Senator Cleveland’s side.

The top-level politicians would directly invite them to attend private events, and then to show their attitude.

And for those who, relatively speaking, did not have a high enough status in the party or outside the party, and could not get in touch with them, they would find a way to have a good relationship with their subordinates.

Tom’s stock, recently, could be said to be scalding hot. This was the reason.

They had no way to directly contact, and to communicate with Senator Cleveland, but they could communicate with Tom, and to become his friend.

Hearing Mayor Williams’s words, Lance’s gaze had turned to Arthur again. ”When are you getting married? If I have nothing else to do, remember to give me an invitation.”

This was the reason why Mayor Williams had taken the initiative to talk about this topic. For a person like Lance, who was a core member of Senator Cleveland’s team, to attend Arthur’s wedding, would definitely add a lot of color to the wedding.

His face was full of smiles. ”I’ll have this bastard prepare one for you!”

A sweeter smile had also appeared on Arthur’s mother’s face. She had again, picked up a piece of pastry and had placed it on a plate, and had handed it over. ”Try this, Lance. It’s delicious.”

She could also be said to have worried herself to death for her child. The effect seemed to be not bad.

Soon the chefs had prepared the dinner. With Mayor Williams’s invitation, the five of them had come to the dining room, and had had Lance sit in the other main seat, opposite Mayor Williams.

At the dinner table, they had, very naturally, chatted about some of the matters on the Rapa side. The domestic attention on the Yalan region had been continuously increasing.

Especially some of the shocking photos, had, even more so, aroused people’s discussion of the Yalan region.

The reporters had, with their superb shooting skills and their incomparably cold hearts, had captured one after another of the chilling images!

Photos like ”The Vulture and the Child,” ”The Old Man’s Dinner,” and ”The Burden” had shocked every federal person!

Sometimes it had to be said that the federal people’s ability to empathize was still quite good. The public opinion had even, at one point, suppressed the heat of the discussion of the war!

And these photos, these reports, had also already locked in this year’s Golden Newspaper Award in advance.

People were full of curiosity about that place, including Mayor Williams and his family.

Lance had picked some of the things that could be said and had told them, which had made their faces show a kind of pity, of worrying about the people of Yalan, and they were constantly exclaiming in shock.

Of course, these emotional feedbacks could not affect their eating speed, as they were, on the one hand, listening to other people’s tragic lives, and on the other, enjoying the delicious food.

The taste, as if, had become even better!

After all, beauty is all about contrast!