Empire of Shadows

Besides Eric, everyone else in the room was looking at Lance.

Lance nodded slightly, "I understand."

Lawyer Orson was a little surprised, but he hid his expression very well, "In that case, from this moment on, you are the manager of the Empire Nightclub."

"This is my business card. Call me if you have any questions. You can also call me if you need personal legal assistance, and I can give you a discount."

He placed a gold-plated business card on the table, then collected the other documents, "If you need to review these documents later, you can also call me, but they will not be kept here."

"Are there any other questions?"

Lance shook his head. Lawyer Orson politely extended his hand, but behind this "politeness" was a hint of "condescending" arrogance.

The two shook hands, and Lawyer Orson quickly released his grip, "Goodbye, Mr. Lance!"

With that, he left with his little follower and Eric, leaving only Kairu, the accountant.

Kairu looked to be about thirty-four or five years old, wearing round-framed, brown-black glasses, her hair combed back into a braid, and wearing a relatively conservative dress.

According to questionnaires from some magazines and research institutions, when people choose service personnel related to their important interests, such as lawyers, doctors, and accountants, they tend to prefer those who dress formally and conservatively.

Especially accountants, the more conservative their attire, the more they are recognized by employers.

The two looked at each other for a while. Kairu's eyes did not show any other emotions. She was just an accountant from an accounting firm. They gave her money, and she worked here.

"Where is my office?" she broke the silence.

Lance pointed to the corridor outside the door, "Any room you like can be your office."

"By the way, do you mind working with several people?"

Kairu pushed up her glasses, "I don't like being crammed into a room with other people. If possible, I'd prefer to have my own office."

Lance returned to his chair, "I understand."

Kairu left with her things. In fact, Lance didn't need to worry about anything now. He just needed to redecorate the place and hire enough staff to open for business.

Who keeps the daily money and which account it is deposited into are all handled by Kairu and Lawyer Orson. What Lance needs to do is to manage the place well and make it profitable.

These damn vampires…

He couldn't help but laugh at this thought. Half a year ago, he was being bled dry by Johnny, and half a year later, he was being bled dry by the mayor and his nephew. It seemed like he was still stuck in the same place.

But at least the people who were bleeding him dry were different. Perhaps this was the so-called "class elevation."

Renovating the Empire Nightclub was a big job, but Lance didn't plan to completely renovate it. The first floor only needed simple maintenance. The second floor added some rooms so that more guests could enjoy a moment of peace here.

The third floor was a little troublesome, but this trouble shouldn't be too big. He would talk to Lawyer Orson about it then.

There were several gambling tables on the third floor, and these gambling tables had to pay taxes to the Koda family every quarter. If it was the mayor, maybe he wouldn't have to pay taxes?

If he didn't have to pay taxes, perhaps 30% of the income from these gambling tables could make up for his loss in profits.

Like some other underground bars, there were no clear legal documents or employment contracts. They just arranged for accountants to tally how much money they could make each day.

How much was Lance's, and how much was theirs.

Those kinds of places would never be legal anyway, so they wouldn't leave any evidence.

The Empire Nightclub might also have illegal projects, but these were all the personal decisions of the manager, Lance, and had nothing to do with its owner, Mr. Eric—

At this time, Lance could already imagine Lawyer Orson holding up the contract signed by Lance while asserting his rights to the court and prosecutors if these matters were to go to trial.

They had fully entrusted Lance to manage the business. If Lance couldn't produce any evidence that he had received "instructions" to operate those illegal projects, then he would definitely bear all the responsibility.

Lance spent two days touring all five bars. They didn't need much renovation and could be reopened directly.

Seeing that he was about to go to Yalan, Lance gathered everyone together and held a family barbecue party in the evening.

Large pieces of beef and mutton were cut and placed on the grill. Although the weather was cold, everyone was very happy.

This was the first happy New Year they had spent since coming to the Federation.

They had thick clothes to wear, beef and mutton to fill their stomachs, hot coffee and wine, and all kinds of delicious food. Perhaps these were the happiest days in the world.

As dusk approached, it became colder and colder outside, and they all returned to the house.

The dining room was too crowded, so they went to the living room. The whole room was filled with the aroma of food.

Lance sat in the middle of the living room, surrounded by the others, sitting on the sofa, shelves, coffee table, and even the floor.

Everyone ate meat, drank wine, and chatted casually.

They talked about many topics that they themselves didn't know where they came from. As the dinner gradually came to an end, Elvin looked at Lance, "Can I ask a question?"

Lance gnawed the last piece of meat off the lamb rib, "Of course, we are family. There is nothing we can't ask."

Elvin's voice was not loud, and his speech was slow, just so he could stop at any time, "About the nightclub and… those few bars."

Lance took a hot towel from a girl and wiped his face and hands, "You mean we only get 30% of the profits, which is a loss, right?"

He said thank you and returned the hot towel to the girl.

Everyone else looked at him. He knew that this was also what everyone had been thinking these past few days, "Do you think I will persuade you to accept this unreasonable distribution?"

"No, I won't persuade you, and I won't persuade myself. This is an unreasonable distribution method, but we have no way to resist."

"Because we are not only facing an Eric, but also his uncle, the ruler of this city, our dear Mayor!"

Maurice interjected, "I heard that he is the mayor's illegitimate son with his mother, and his father is actually his uncle…"

The young men and women burst into laughter. Such private matters of big figures are very popular everywhere.

For example, the story between His Majesty the Emperor, the Empress, and the Prince. Even if there was nothing between them, under the rumors, there must be something.

People are keen on these things, they will discuss, process, and then spread the mutant version.

Lance raised his hand and pressed down, and the laughter quickly subsided, "We are strong, we can easily kill a person, but we are also very weak. In politics, we are isolated and helpless."

"Maybe you think, at worst, we risk our lives to give him a few shots, and he can eat us?"

"Without considering whether doing so will succeed, even if we succeed, then what?"

"The entire federal political arena, from the president to the city councilors, will become our enemies."

"The police will no longer take our money, but shoot bullets at us."

"Passersby on the road will scream and go to the phone booth to call the police when they see us, because each of us has a large bounty on our heads."

"This country, and even the places within its sphere of influence, will have no room for us to survive."

"We will be expelled, those Imperials will also be expelled, and it may even trigger a new round of anti-Imperial movements, and they may even promote legislation to bring discrimination and differential treatment to Imperial immigrants."

"I hope our compatriots can live a good life, and I don't want my selfish actions to make them worse."

"So, I won't persuade myself to think that this is a reasonable result, but I will accept this result and keep this injustice in my heart."

"I have always thought that I am still very young, nineteen years old. If I can live to sixty, I still have forty years."

"Forty years, how long?"

"Then, in these long forty years, do I have a chance to return the humiliation they have inflicted on us?"

Lance looked at these young people, nodding his head constantly, "Yes, there is a chance, I believe I have a chance."

"The humiliation they give us today will eventually become the bullets fired at them, but it will take some time, it will take some patience."

He said here, and Elvin nodded, "I understand."

Lance smiled and shook his finger. He couldn't help but take out a cigarette. If he could have a cup of hot tea and then a cigarette after eating something greasy, that would be extremely comfortable!

Hiram quickly took out a match and leaned over to light Lance's cigarette.

He knew that Lance didn't like the smell of kerosene, so he never used a kerosene lighter.

Lance patted his hand, took a deep breath of the cigarette, and slowly exhaled, "In fact, we haven't gotten nothing."

"We have gained a backer that doesn't belong to us, but can be used by us, the Mayor!"

"That Eric doesn't look like a smart person at all. I have ways to deal with this kind of idiot."

"Besides, the part that we should have given to the police can also be reduced, after all, this is the Mayor's business!"

"Not only can't they come and suddenly inspect our business, but they also have to find ways to protect it. This is related to whether the mayor's pockets can be filled."

"And…", he sat in the crowd, a cigarette between his index and middle fingers, his thumb against the tip, his arm slightly raised diagonally. The rising smoke added a mysterious haze to his smiling face.

"They didn't stipulate that we can't run our own businesses!"

Some of the smarter people had already slightly opened their mouths, and then their faces revealed excited smiles!

Indeed, no one stipulated that Lance could only own one nightclub and five small bars in the Imperial District.

He could completely open other nightclubs and bars himself. Mr. Eric couldn't interfere with these, and Lance wouldn't allow him to continue interfering in this area.

But soon, Elvin had new doubts, but now he seemed more active than before. "If these few can't compete with our own business, will they…?"

Lance shook his head. "I can withdraw and let them run it themselves, or whatever else."

"Isn't that Eric guy pretty arrogant?"

"Let him run it, or let him find someone else."

"We may not be able to say no to them, but there's more than one way to say no."

Seeing that everyone seemed to gradually understand, or were informed by the people around them, and smiles appeared on their faces, Lance revealed a satisfied smile.

"Continue recruiting, recruit another fifty people, then veterans, recruit thirty from our hometown."

"Maintain around two hundred people. We don't need too many people for the time being. What we need are elites."

"Heller had so many people, but weren't they scattered by us?"

"So, having a lot of people isn't necessarily a good thing. If everyone can't unite together, with their hearts and strength aligned, the more people there are, the more cumbersome it becomes."

"I'm going to Yalan in a couple of days, the matters here…", he looked at Elvin, "You're more clever, you make the decisions. If there are decisions you can't make, discuss them with everyone."

"After I get there and settle down, I'll call you. If there are any emergencies, you can contact me directly."

"Also, Hiram and Laun, prepare yourselves and come with me to Yalan."

Hiram tossed his hair, slightly raising his chin, "No problem, Boss."

Laun just nodded, without speaking.

In the evening, Lance found Elvin alone and asked him to find a suitable place near the suburbs to build a winery.

He also asked him to call Nick over and set up the stall together first, to prepare the equipment and make the necessary preparations, so as not to be too late when the time comes.

In addition, he had to order some grapes, corn, potatoes, and wheat as soon as possible, as these would be needed for winemaking in the future.

Take advantage of the fact that the price hasn't risen yet, and stock up first.

He told Elvin to be sure to find a reputable distributor, preferably a large company or a listed company, and sign a guaranteed contract, with a penalty of at least fifty times the amount in case of breach of contract…

"Remember, we don't pay all the payment at once. This part is the deposit."

"At most, we can't pay more than ten percent of the deposit. I need you to use these 50,000 to leverage 500,000 worth of grapes."

He didn't mention the issue of futures and spot goods. Elvin couldn't possibly understand that. "Order evenly for this summer, autumn, next summer, autumn, and the summer and autumn of the year after."

Elvin calculated for a moment and nodded, "No problem."

Elvin often runs to the port. There is an agricultural product trading center there. It is said to be a center, but it is actually a free trading market, where a large group of people stand together shouting quotations.

There is a large sign that records some sales or purchase information.

Currently, the price of ordinary grapes is seventy-six yuan per ton!

That's right, seventy-six yuan per ton, two thousand two hundred pounds, equivalent to three and a half cents per pound.

This is the wholesale price. The retail price is about six cents a pound to seven cents a pound. Seems cheap?

In fact, it has already started to rise in price!

With the full implementation of Prohibition, the easiest thing to make wine at home is wine. It only needs to be fermented, without distillation or adding some flavoring agents, antioxidants, etc., to make a "drunken beverage."

This new word has only recently appeared, because some beer manufacturers protested to the federal government, arguing that beer is fermented wheat juice and does not belong to the category of alcohol.

Moreover, the very low alcohol content is just a fermentation style of this wheat juice, and does not represent subjective addition. Beer is just a common name. When this word is broken down, there is not a single letter related to "alcohol."

But Congress rejected their protest. The newly introduced Prohibition ushered in its first amendment, and alcoholic beverages became "intoxicating beverages."

As long as it can produce a drink that produces a similar effect to drunkenness, whether it is drunk or not, whether it contains alcohol or not, it must be prohibited.

This made many beer companies very angry, and they have begun to form groups to prepare to sue the federal government.

Sometimes these capitalists really can't figure out the situation. You sue members of Congress in Congress, and have members of Congress themselves try the case?

Hope they succeed!

It is said that tobacco merchants are also contributing behind the scenes, because some people say that water soaked in tobacco will also make you drunk…

In short, the raw materials for winemaking have begun to rise in price.

Perhaps it won't be long before the first boom caused by the advent of Prohibition will arrive: crazy agricultural speculation!

Lance now hates not having much money in his hands, otherwise…

He suddenly thought that there were hundreds of thousands of credits in his safe, but this would have to wait until he returned from Yalan.

The next morning, he went to see Patricia. The girl finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although she heard William say that Lance was safe and sound, she was still very worried.

Fortunately, he finally came to her, which relieved the girl's hanging heart.

After the two said some sweet nothings, Lance said goodbye. He really had too many things to do.

During this period, he also went to Mr. Chobaf, intending to cooperate with Mr. Chobaf to buy at the bottom, but Mr. Chobaf temporarily went to another place.

Although he didn't know what he was going to do, Lance knew that it was definitely not a good thing, so he didn't bother him for the time being.

On January 10th, Lance and Alberto boarded the cruise ship to Yalan. They would stay at sea for three days before arriving at Yalan's first stop, the Republic of Aldera.