Empire of Shadows

At six o'clock in the morning, the docks were still bustling with workers. Some ships arrived at Golden Port Wharf in the middle of the night, but they couldn't stay long and had to unload their cargo overnight.

In addition, some docks needed to sort and organize the goods that were rushed to be unloaded during the day, some might need to be restacked, some might need to be put into warehouses, and some would be sent directly to trains to leave.

In short, there was a lot of work to do in the middle of the night, and the wages at the docks were relatively high, about thirty-nine dollars.

The workers who stayed at the docks in the middle of the night were basically immigrants and illegal immigrants, with a small number of local workers, but not many.

They preferred to take a little less pay rather than work in the middle of the night. Night work was more tiring and uncomfortable than daytime work.

As soon as Lance arrived at the dock, people greeted him. Most of the people here wore blue work clothes, and only they were willing to work in the middle of the night, just to earn two more dollars than during the day.

Lance also greeted them constantly, and several people who were not wearing blue work clothes took the initiative to greet Lance and asked if they could join Lance's firm.

"This is not easy to do. You know, they signed with my firm because they... all don't have work cards and legal immigration status."

"They were not protected by the union before. In fact, only the dockworkers' union will provide them with some convenience. In other places and industries, the union still closes its doors to them."

"That's why I stand up and do some work that I shouldn't be doing. I hope that each of us can have a good life and tomorrow."

"Instead of being placed in different classes because we come from different places, with or without legal status, with different but roughly the same bleak future."

"But you are all locals, with your own work cards and social security numbers. The union will not reject your applications. You can do whatever work you want to do."

"If you also come to my firm, it will be somewhat in conflict with the role of the local union."

As Lance spoke, he took out cigarettes and gave one to each of the people in front of him. This simple act made them feel flattered!

They had never had this kind of experience... a big shot giving them cigarettes. Everyone lit them up with relish.

More people gathered around.

"I don't dare to compete with the union for jobs. They will break my head!" people laughed softly, but they didn't think it was true.

However, Lance quickly continued, "I know these thoughts of yours. Someone mentioned it to me before. I have also been considering this matter recently."

"Maybe we can do it another way, but we still need to think about it now."

"Compared to this, I hope you will be interested in our upcoming workers' club..."

"It has more activity experience halls, stress-relieving projects, and I even specially added some entertaining competitions. You will definitely like it when the time comes."

"And!"

He emphasized it. The surrounding low voices of discussion stopped at this moment. Lance stood in the cold wind, and the breath he exhaled would form a cloud of water vapor under the illumination of the lights, and then be quickly blown away by the wind.

"We provide cheap wine!"

At first, they didn't react, but then the faces of these workers showed surprised expressions. Cheap wine, isn't that what they need most?

Someone asked impatiently, "Mr. Lance, will it be open all night?"

Lance nodded, "Yes, it's open 24 hours a day, and I guarantee you one thing: only you and my people can enter. I don't allow other people to enter."

"This way, outsiders will come to our docks and compete with our workers for cheap alcohol and cheap food."

At this time, someone in the crowd said, "The union can't be so kindhearted!"

His intention was to say that Lance might be lying, but this sentence helped Lance a lot. He was originally thinking about how to explain that all of this was not given to them by the dockworkers' union, but by him, Mr. Lance.

As a result, this questioner provided the most powerful assist!

He looked in the direction of the voice, then nodded and said, "I have to explain that I have contracted the dockworkers' club, so I am responsible for these operating things. The workers' union does not have any expenses, so you can rest assured."

"It won't suddenly close one day because it doesn't make money, or only open once a week for other reasons."

"I believe you will be shocked!"

When the workers heard that this was not done by the union, but by Lance, the questioning voice from before spoke again, "Mr. Lance, will you charge us fees?"

Although Lance didn't find this person, he was still very grateful to him, "Of course, but I only charge you the cost of your consumption itself. Otherwise, even if I am the richest person in Goldenport City, I can't afford for more than 10,000 workers on the dock to come and have a few drinks every day."

"What I can guarantee is that I won't make money from you. I know someone will definitely say, Mr. Lance, are you so kindhearted?"

"In fact, when we gather together, we are already a powerful force, and this force can be exchanged for money!"

"It's just that you can't turn the power that unites you into cash, but I have a way. Part of the money I earn will go into my pocket, and another part will be used to subsidize it. You will see a completely different club by then."

In the distance, three cars slowly parked on the internal road of the dock. One of the cars honked its horn, and Elvin got out of the car and stood beside it.

There were many lights on the dock that could illuminate everything here. Lance nodded when he saw him, turned to look at the workers who had gathered around.

"The people picking me up have to leave. If you are interested in the upcoming new club, you will be able to see some of its progress recently."

He said goodbye to the people around him and left.

"I thought you would be back later," Elvin said with a smile when he picked up Lance. He had been under too much pressure these days.

Although he was fully responsible for all the family's work when Lance was away, he still hoped that Lance would be here, so he could feel at ease.

There were some things he didn't know what to do at all. It wasn't that he wasn't smart enough, but that he hadn't experienced it.

It was like a boy on his first date with a girl. Maybe for him in the darkness that night, the most despairing thing in the world was the zipper and copper button on the girl's jeans!

He could do anything, but he couldn't do anything!

Elvin hadn't experienced these things, and he had to go through a process of growth.

But this era is not the girl who can accompany you to grow up, from being ignorant and youthful to becoming mature.

It is a bitch. If you don't do well, it won't say "Dear, you should do this", but will kick you away and shout "Next!"

Lance got into the car, took out a stack of money and handed it to Hiram and Raun, "Go buy some coffee for them, we need them. Come back after you're done, and let them send it over themselves."

More than a hundred dollars, at least, the two nodded.

These dockworkers would be a real asset to Lance after he came to this world. Many people think of "the first pot of gold" as the first sum of money they earn through anything.

But for the more mature Lance, in his understanding, the first pot of gold does not refer to pure wealth, but refers to the power that can allow him to stabilize here and have the confidence to face some things!

Money is everywhere, but power is rare.

"Leave them a car," he ordered again, and then the two cars left quickly.

Hiram and Raun found a coffee shop outside the dock that sold coffee. It couldn't be completely called a coffee shop. It was a small storefront with two sleepy employees.

It was likely to be a couple. It was the primary stage of capitalist budding. If they could survive, they would start to embark on the primary stage of capitalist budding, start hiring workers, and then the next stage would be to exploit workers.

But before that, they were exploiting themselves.

The doorbell quickly woke the couple up. Hiram shook his hair and took out the money in his hand.

They had asked before they came. There were about two hundred people working at this dock tonight. There were seven docks in the entire Goldenport, but he obviously didn't need to send coffee to every dock.

Sometimes sending it to every dock would not make them feel grateful. It was necessary to reflect the "class difference" so that they would be moved, grateful, and thankful.

"Two hundred cups of coffee, not the best, nor the worst, delivered to Dock No. 3, how much?"

The couple didn't react at first, but quickly realized that this was a big business!

The wife took a pen and drew on the scratch paper for a while before saying, "Twenty dollars, sir."

"Do you have donuts?"

"There are not many, but there are many beef burritos..."

A large pile of burritos in the back kitchen, with some vegetables, a little beef and chicken pieces, was the dockworkers' favorite food.

Hiram had eaten this before, fifteen cents each, because there were beef and chicken pieces, it was considered a meat dish.

He used to eat it about once a week, but now...

He looked back at Raun, who also had something indescribable in his eyes, "Do you want one?"

Lorne nodded, then turned to the owner and asked, "Two hundred coffees and two beef burritos, how long will that take?"

"How much money do you have?"

The two calculated with sweaty brows before finally arriving at an answer of forty dollars. As for the extra two?

Consider it a thank you for their patronage.

A dozen or so minutes later, the workers at Pier Three received hot coffees and beef burritos from some of their fellow workers, with expressions of disbelief.

More than the physical warmth brought by the hot coffee and burritos, it was the warmth in their hearts that mattered more…

Meanwhile, in the car, Lance asked, "What's the situation now?"

Erwin, sitting in the passenger seat, kept an eye on the traffic while saying, "Sam is convinced we did it. He said he wants to talk to you when you get back."

"Lisa and the others are hiding out in Creek Valley, as you instructed. I told them not to contact us unless something unexpected happens."

Lance nodded after listening. "Good. Sam isn't important. What matters is the mayor's attitude."

"We'll know the mayor's attitude tomorrow."

"How many grapes did you buy?" After a short rest, Lance asked the question he was most concerned about.

Erwin was a little embarrassed. "The current grape suppliers aren't willing to sign long-term contracts. They're only willing to sign for grapes that will be on the market in May at the earliest."

"How much money?"

Erwin was stunned for a moment. "Ninety-nine dollars."

Lance shook his head slightly. Looking through the rearview mirror, Erwin thought Lance felt it was too expensive, but before he could suggest trying to haggle, Lance told him, "Buy as many as you can. Mix in some cash, don't pay entirely with checks."

"Two-thirds checks, one-third cash."

"If they accept a lower-priced contract, we can give them an extra five dollars per ton."

"I don't quite understand…" Erwin was unsure if what Lance was saying was the same as what he understood.

"We can give them… a price of one hundred and five dollars per ton, but on the contract, they can't write one hundred and five dollars. They have to write it lower."

"That way they can pay less tax, and we can mix in more cash."

Using one hundred dollars to do the work of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, or even one hundred and thirty-five dollars, the tax bureau can pretend not to see it. It would be a headache for the tax bureau to really investigate every penny.

But if you use one hundred dollars to do the work of one thousand dollars, that's a bit too blatant!

If your pre-tax income isn't enough to support your spending, where did your money come from? Did you pay taxes on it? Are you hiding income and evading taxes?

Lower the price on the contract, for example, lower it to eighty-five dollars per ton. Lance can give about seventy dollars of legitimate income, and the rest can be paid directly in cash.

When they investigate, it will be reasonable, legal, and compliant. Unless someone is deliberately trying to make trouble for him, the tax bureau won't actively investigate.

But if you only have tens of thousands of dollars in income this month, but you buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grapes…

Now Erwin understood, but he was also a little curious. "Are these grapes really worth it?"

Lance also looked at him through the rearview mirror, a smile appearing on his face. "They're worth much more than you think!"

The power of alcoholics is infinite, and they themselves do need to make wine.

And he was very sure that this was just the starting point of its price, far from its end point, or even not even the starting point, only just the beginning!

The two cars quickly merged into the city's traffic, and then disappeared into the rhythm of the city.

News about "Lance is back" quickly spread at the pier. After all, those lucky guys at Pier Three each got a very good cup of coffee and a beef burrito.

Thirty minutes, is that a lot?

It can't be considered a lot, but it's definitely not a little. It's enough to make many people envious and jealous.

And the Pier Three workers who got the benefits kept bragging about how good Lance's coffee tasted and how delicious the beef burrito was.

Even though they knew it was from the small shop next to the port, they just felt it was delicious and tasty!

Someone revealed the reason for the deliciousness—anything that doesn't cost money tastes good, but it still made people envious.

The workers at Pier Three were also more "supportive" of Lance, although the word "supportive" might not be entirely accurate.

At the same time, news about the imminent reopening of the Pier Workers' Club and the availability of cheap drinks also began to spread among the workers.

There are many people who pay attention to the pier, so Sam was still sleeping in the morning when the phone rang, Booker calling. "Mr. Sam, Lance is back."

Booker has been outside recently preparing to select some more girls. Sam had talked to him about this, that Lance might not be easy to deal with, and they had to prepare for both possibilities.

But Sam didn't really think that Lance would fight him to the end. Everyone is doing things for the mayor, why should you be more noble than me?

At this time, he got up groggily, tidied up his appearance, ate something, and went to the phone.

Soon the phone was connected, and a voice different from Erwin's, cleaner, more determined and confident, sounded in the receiver, "This is the Empire Nightclub."

"Is that Mr. Lance?"

"It's me."

Sam changed his posture, lit a cigarette. "Mr. Lance, I hope you can return Lisa to me. She is very important to me and my business."

"You should know…"

Lance didn't give him a chance to continue, because no matter how much he said, it would be useless.

"I don't know where Lisa is. If you have evidence, you can come and find me."

"No matter who you go to, I will say the same thing. I don't know where Lisa is, and I'm not interested in where she is."

"But, Sam, you have to remember one thing. Your people injured my people. I will settle this account with you."

The check Sam sent was eventually retrieved by him. That person hadn't even had time to drive the car away before being stopped.

At this time, hearing Lance's firm words, he suddenly wavered a little, but after thinking it over, besides Lance having this possibility, no one else had the meaning and necessity to do so!

Lance's attitude was very tough, and his attitude softened a little. "Lance, I don't want to escalate this matter to… him."

"Although I will lose face at that time, you will also make him very angry. We should be friends…"

Lance interrupted him again, "Mr. Sam, I'm not interested in being your friend, and I feel a little disgusted."

"I will find you, and I must also warn you, if you dare to send the girls from the Empire, whether you deceived them, bought them, or whatever, into your Red High Heels."

"I guarantee that I will take it (referring to the red high heel neon light on the sign) down from your sign and stick it up your ass!"