Empire of Shadows

“Hey, Johnny!”

A gloomy Johnny sat on the sofa. He had been out of the hospital for a while, but he hadn't gone back to work at the docks.

Firstly, his broken arm prevented him from doing his previous job, so he had to continue resting.

Moreover, he had hung his work card at Lance's office, and now someone was working for him, giving him sixteen yuan a month.

This was also one of the conditions Alvin gave him to shut him up: until he recovered, someone would work for him.

Secondly, Lance had broken his arm in front of many people, and now when he returned to the docks, he didn't know how many people would laugh at him.

During this time, because of some "greetings" brought by Alvin, he was able to stay at home, but it wouldn't last too long.

Just like now, a few of his workmates were pounding on his door. These workers at the docks basically lived in the port area—after coming out of the docks and ports, there were large coastal blocks and houses.

Further west was the industrial area, so the port area and the Imperial District were where the most poor people lived, filled with the lower class of society.

Johnny's house wasn't too far from the docks, which made it convenient for him to go to and from work.

He walked to the door and opened it, "Hey, my door!"

His workmate was wearing thick clothes, looking excited, "Are you still sitting around?"

"Hurry up and get dressed, let's go to the club together."

Johnny stood by the door, not planning to let his friend in. First, the house was messy and dirty.

Secondly, he actually wanted to go out for a walk, "What's up with the club?"

His friend said loudly, "Lance has contracted the club, today is the first day of opening, it is said that there are affordable drinks!" He lowered his voice for the last sentence.

This made Johnny feel a burst of excitement. Now the price of alcohol was too damn expensive. Beer bombs already cost thirty cents, another five-cent increase. Those damn bloodsuckers couldn't wait to suck every penny out of them.

He hadn't been to a bar for a drink in two days, which was unbelievable for him, but thinking about his reduced income, he could only do this.

But now, hearing about alcohol, his mouth uncontrollably began to secrete saliva. He licked his lips, glanced at the room, picked up the clothes on the hanger by the door, and shouted, "I'm going out for a walk!" Without waiting for his family to respond, he put on his clothes and went out.

Walking on the road, they found that many people were heading towards the docks, and almost all of them were workmates from other doors. Everyone greeted each other enthusiastically when they met.

Of course, there were also people who teased Johnny, asking how his arm was recovering.

It looked like they were concerned about Johnny, but if their laughter wasn't so vile, perhaps the concern would be genuine!

Amidst the "fucks," Johnny gradually recovered some spirit. A dozen people shrank their necks and walked towards the port.

Heavy snow was falling, and the weather was freezing, but it couldn't stop the men's desire for alcohol.

In fact, from a certain point of view, this "social experiment" of the upper class was successful. They successfully curbed people's desires through legislation.

And it did effectively improve the industrial production, which was their core purpose—

To stifle the desires of the lower class and increase productivity.

If they could obtain more data, perhaps they would start considering not treating the lower class as human beings.

Stifling more of their desires, depriving them of more rights, all to make them stay on the assembly line longer and provide more economic value to the factory.

But it can't be considered a success yet. It's only in the initial stage of the experiment. After the desire is suppressed, it is released more violently, like a spring!

The harder it is pressed, the higher it bounces!

It's not obvious now because it's still accumulating power. When it finishes accumulating power and starts to rebound, those lords who made these rules will realize they have failed.

But now, they are celebrating!

The two-kilometer road couldn't stop people's desire for alcohol and stress release. Many people came to the docks. When Johnny arrived at the significantly larger club, he saw Lance's people at the door.

Lance was explaining work to several family members. There were too many workers coming today, making their manpower a bit strained.

These workers weren't all honest people, and a violent incident might suddenly break out, which would definitely be a terrible thing for the newly opened club.

Johnny saw Lance, and Lance also saw Johnny. After the two looked at each other for a moment, Lance took the initiative to walk over, "If you're here to have fun, we welcome you."

"But if you're here to cause trouble, then you'll definitely regret coming here tonight."

Johnny was a little nervous, "I understand, I... came with friends, planning to have a few drinks."

Lance wasn't as strong as him, nor was he as tall, but in front of Lance, he seemed to be the small one!

Even now, the scene of Lance raising the bat that day was still deeply engraved in his mind, and his broken arm inexplicably started to hurt again.

The two looked at each other, and the huge pressure made Johnny a little breathless. After about a few seconds, he tore at his collar and looked away, preparing to go back when Lance showed some smile.

The heavy atmosphere that made Johnny's friends afraid to breathe suddenly eased.

Lance punched Johnny in the chest, not hard, "Today I'll treat you and your friends to a drink, go tell the bartender, the biggest glass!"

Johnny's face first showed an incredible expression, but then it was joy, and even a little... touched!

"Mr. Lance, I..." he didn't know how to express his emotions at this time.

Lance patted his arm, "Go have fun, enjoy the night!"

Johnny and his friends said goodbye to Lance and followed the crowd into the huge club.

The club had been expanded, connecting to a large warehouse, which had been completely transformed. The atmosphere inside was very good, especially...

"Look, look up there!" His friend nudged his waist with his arm. The two looked up. There were many steel pillars here, originally used to support the warehouse structure.

Now, at the upper part of these steel pillars, a circular platform with a diameter of only about 1.5 meters was welded, and some dancers were performing hard on it.

Pole dancing, the colorful lights constantly flowing from their bodies made everyone who looked at them feel a desire flowing in their hearts!

There were more than a dozen such performers here, and they already felt that the atmosphere was rising.

Following the crowd, they quickly arrived at the first bar, where several super-large tanks were connected to an interface. They saw many people were getting beer here.

"We want... uh, Mr. Lance said, treat us to two of the biggest glasses." Johnny was a little embarrassed, but still said it.

The young man who was dispensing the wine changed two large glasses, and then pushed a lever. Soon the beer flowed out of the spout.

Two large glasses, each with at least 1.25 liters of beer, were placed in front of them. Both of them were full of joy when they picked up the glasses.

His friend still asked, "How much does a glass of wine like this cost?"

The young man dispensing the wine shrugged, "Fifteen cents."

"Fifteen cents?!"

Both of them exclaimed, "This is too cheap, isn't it?"

The two looked at each other, and wanted to say something, but were pushed by the people behind them, "Don't fucking block the front, is your mom's ass there?"

"Take your wine and get out of there, it's our turn now!"

The two quickly left. In front of alcohol, what workmate or not?

If they blocked it for a while, maybe someone would drag them into the corner.

The two came to the side with their beer, took a sip, and with just one sip, they immediately had an indescribable feeling, like... the whole person was comfortable.

"This is it!" Just being able to drink such cheap beer, they felt it was worth it!

The two continued to walk inside with the crowd. There were more various entertainment facilities around, and they even saw some arenas.

Slapping competitions, arm wrestling competitions, sledgehammer competitions, wrestling competitions, screw-tightening competitions, knotting and knotting competitions...

Except for a few competitions that they had not been exposed to, such as the slapping competition, most of the others were related to their professional skills.

Both of them specialized in tightening screws on the docks, so they would naturally come to the game venue where they were best at.

There were four arenas here, with the kind of screws and nuts commonly seen on the docks. The host introduced the rules of the competition.

Each arena only supports two people to compete. A and B first tighten their respective three screws and nuts, and then go to loosen the other's screws and nuts.

Whoever takes off the other's screws and nuts first wins.

There is no penalty for the loser, and the winner has two choices, continue to challenge, or go for a drink!

If you continue to challenge, as long as you win three opponents in total, you can advance to the next round of the competition.

Lance had already negotiated with the Dock Workers Union. Every month he would hold a "Worker Skills Competition" here, except for slapping and the like.

The participants are these workers who have won three times in a row. They will conduct the next round of knockout matches until the final champion is produced.

The champion will receive a cash reward of three hundred yuan, the runner-up is two hundred, as for the third place?

Sorry, there is no such thing as third place in this era.

And!

The Dock Workers Union will award the champion and runner-up a certificate, proving that they are "Technical Winners"!

It might seem like a small honor, but in this era, skilled workers never have to worry about finding a job!

Johnny and his friends were already feeling a surge of excitement at this, whether it was to show off in front of tens of thousands of fellow workers,

or for the two or three hundred dollars in bonus money, or for the certificate representing a special honor, something ordinary people almost never had the chance to touch in their entire lives, they were all tempted.

Soon there were participants on the stage. Johnny knew them. Those below the stage were all workers who specialized in tightening screws. Some cheered, some cursed, amidst the noise and laughter.

Perhaps the beer here had a slightly high alcohol content, as Johnny's face quickly turned red. He waved his hairy arms, using the dirtiest words he knew to hype up the atmosphere.

So much so that a worker who was losing the competition suddenly threw his wrench on the ground and started yelling at Johnny, "If you're so good, why aren't you up here?"

"If I hadn't seen you, I would have thought some whore had run out, with her mouth full of Dick's精华. Next time, wash your mouth before you go out on the street, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from beating you to death…"

The two men, one on the stage and one below, shouted insults at each other.

One said, "If you come up here, I'll beat you to death."

The other said, "If you come down here, I'll beat you to death."

But neither of them had any intention of taking the initiative. Fortunately, the host persuaded them for a while, and with the encouragement of Johnny's friends, they didn't continue arguing.

This was just a corner of what was happening in the entire club. The constant cheers and laughter from everywhere made the workers' club a sea of joy and stress relief.

The entire club felt like a large "dock carnival." Lance stood on the second-floor platform and had someone with a camera take pictures of everything.

President Coste, Vice President Vaughn, and others had also come. Now, looking at the lively scene, they felt that Lance was a genius.

Of course, they had no intention of replacing Lance, because they didn't have the most basic requirement—alcohol.

These people could see very clearly that those "small games" might indeed be attractive to them, but what really set the atmosphere was the endless flow of alcohol!

The union people discussed it and felt that it was actually quite good. The workers were releasing their stress, and the "skills competition" proposed by Lance allowed President Coste to grasp some mysterious things.

He could vaguely feel that if he could figure out the pattern here, then he would have a great chance to enter the Federal Dockworkers Union!

He needed quiet, so he quickly got up and said goodbye, followed by the others. Although they were the presidents and cadres of the workers' union, they were not workers after all. They couldn't stand the smell here, and they weren't used to being so close to so many workers outside of work.

However, everyone very much recognized the changes in the club now. This was positive emotional feedback!

After Lance saw them off, he stood on the second floor, holding a cigarette, looking at the dense crowd of heads below. He slowly exhaled the smoke.

This is power!

Some people realized this, but they didn't have the means to control the power.

Some people didn't realize this, which gave him the opportunity to obtain this power now.

In fact, it was easy to make money from these people, by opening some stalls and recruiting some sponsors, but he didn't plan to do that.

Because the more pure the power, the better!

By a little after one o'clock, many places here had become empty, with only less than a hundred people left.

They were all sitting at the bar drinking beer. The cheap, strangely flavored beer (750 ml) was very popular, as was their potato liquor.

Some employees began to clean up the venue, while others sat in Lance's office, calculating the evening's income.

When the last five-cent coin was dropped into the money box, everyone looked at Sean expectantly.

After Sean took out his notebook and scribbled for a while, he said, "We lost more than two hundred dollars…"

Although it wasn't much, it wasn't a small amount either. They all looked at Lance, but Lance shook the wine glass in his hand, his expression not serious at all. "It's much better than I imagined. Let's continue tomorrow…"

Some people who didn't know that the workers' club had opened, learned about it from their colleagues the next day and rushed over to see the excitement before getting off work.

Vaughn came once in the morning, and then the club temporarily rested, with business hours from 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM.

Some workers ran over for a drink in the morning, which greatly affected the normal working order of the dock. Lance actively cooperated after knowing this.

After all, the stability of the dock was what made these workers power.

If the dock was unstable, these workers would not be power.

Although some people were very dissatisfied, they did see the high-proof beer for ten cents a glass, and they also saw a lot of interesting equipment, which made them look forward to life after get off work even more!

At the same time, Senior Agent Lukar was getting off the train.

They had finished their intensive training. He thought this kind of training should be more focused on the clerical part, such as how to handle case reports or the process.

Who knew that their training content was actually mainly combat, supplemented by cultural classes.

The instructors used a large number of case studies to tell them what they should do in what situations, and what kind of law enforcement power they actually had.

The rest of the time was spent on military training, fighting, shooting, climbing…

The congressmen deeply hated those who were secretly selling and drinking alcohol under Prohibition. It could be seen that they couldn't wait to kill these people!

After the training, he and the other students gathered in the state capital for two days before returning to Goldport City.

The swirling snowflakes the moment he got off the train made him feel an unprecedented sense of comfort. The power of the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Dangerous Goods was great enough to support him in doing many things.

The first thing after returning was to report to his new work unit, which was not far from the city hall and not too far from the city police station.

Lukar was a native of Goldport City and was recommended by the law enforcement system, so no matter what other people thought, at least on the surface they were very welcome to him.

After agreeing to have dinner together in the evening, Lukar went to the police station to see Chief Charlie.

"Not bad, you look much more energetic. It seems that those people did teach you something."

Lukar was still very polite when facing Chief Charlie, who took great care of him, "Yes, they taught me a lot of things. I have to thank you, Charlie."

"If it weren't for you, I might not have had this opportunity!"

Chief Charlie smiled and said nothing. Helping Lukar was helping himself, and he understood this very clearly.

"So, now that you're back, you must have your own plan. Can you talk to me about it? Where do you plan to start?"

Lukar didn't hide his thoughts. "I heard that Lance wiped out Camilla's gang and took their territory."

"So, is there any smuggled alcohol on their territory?"