Empire of Shadows

Sitting in the car, Fleming didn't show any狰狞可怖 or other terrifying expressions. The Coda family had long since abandoned the lowest-level gangster family form.

Fleming had received a very orthodox elite education since he was a child. He was even a university graduate.

If his surname hadn't slightly troubled him, he might have been able to attend an Alliance institution and obtain a ticket to the upper class of the Federation.

From the current "official" point of view, he was the deputy manager of "Goldenport Baida Betting Company", responsible for some of the company's daily work.

This work was all legal, including the company, which was also legal. They paid taxes normally, hired employees in accordance with local regulations, and had nothing to do with criminals or crime.

In the past decade or two, criminal organizations had developed rapidly, and they had mastered the correct way to deal with the federal government.

When the law was not sound enough, these organizations, families, and gangs had many means to circumvent judicial risks.

You clearly knew that he was a member of a criminal organization, even an important figure, but you just couldn't get him to confess.

As for whether it was really impossible or just pretending, that was another matter.

"Did you find out who threw the bottle?" he asked, lighting a cigarette. His nose had been hit pretty hard, but the doctor said the bridge of his nose wasn't broken.

Although Eric's punch was heavy, it wasn't too bad, but it still made him very uncomfortable. The burning pain had been persistent, and it might take a few days to subside.

The swelling in his nasal cavity changed his voice somewhat, making him sound like a cold patient, with a nasal tone throughout.

The loss of control of the situation today was entirely due to that bottle. If that bottle hadn't flown out and smashed Eric's head, he wouldn't have lost control to the point of taking action.

As long as he didn't take action, the situation wouldn't have escalated like this, so the core of this conflict wasn't him or Eric, but the bottle and the person who threw it.

The person beside him shook his head. "I didn't find out, but it must have been thrown from our side. I took a look at the bottle, and it was Golden Label Whiskey."

Fleming frowned. Currently, only one place in Goldenport City was selling Golden Label Whiskey, and that was the Pasleito family.

But he didn't believe that this was done by someone from the Pasleito family. The five major families were opposed to each other, but they were also more often allied with each other.

If they couldn't band together, then Councilor Williams, Councilor Wade, and the like would devour them little by little.

The greed of these old local political forces had never been small. If swallowing the five major families wouldn't break their teeth, they might have already started taking action against the five major families.

So at this time, Fleming's first thought was that this matter might have been done by people from these councilors.

"What was Arthur doing before the bottle flew out?"

The person beside him shook his head. "Arthur was at the very back. I didn't notice what he was doing." He seemed to realize something. "Are you saying that Arthur might have done it?"

He said, laughing at how ridiculous it was. "I don't think it's likely to be him. We all know he's timid…"

But as he laughed, he stopped laughing, because Fleming didn't laugh, just looked at him calmly.

He didn't like Fleming's calm expression and calm eyes, which gave him a feeling of oppression. He finally gave two dry laughs and closed his mouth.

"Tell my father about this and let him judge for himself. I need you to do one thing: find out where Eric's money came from."

He still didn't believe that the mayor would give Eric so much money and support him in spending it on a woman who was obviously not so easy to get.

The person beside him nodded and said, "I'll find out."

Fleming leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "Let's go back first. What a terrible day…"

He had plenty of time to get back the face he had lost. Before the dust settled, no one would really think he had lost face.

On the other side, Eric returned to the manor after being stitched up and met his uncle.

"I heard you were seriously injured?" the mayor said, sitting behind the desk, looking at Eric, with a slightly concerned look that made Eric feel a strong sense of fatherly love.

His nose felt sore, and his eyes were slightly red. "It's not too serious, a dozen stitches." But soon, he lowered his head. "Did I do something wrong?"

The mayor was thinking and was interrupted by this sentence. He didn't react immediately. "What did you do wrong?"

Eric continued to maintain his attitude of admitting his mistake. "I shouldn't have fought with Fleming and the others."

After hearing this, the mayor laughed heartily. He even stood up, walked around the desk to Eric, and hugged him. "No, on the contrary, you did a great job."

"In the past, we had to make appropriate concessions when facing these locals, but now, as long as they dare to provoke us, we will give them the strongest counterattack!"

After discussing many things in the evening, the mayor and Director Dale had reached a consensus on the action plan.

Two years didn't seem like much time, but in reality, a lot could be done.

At least, opening up a space in Goldenport City that belonged to "outsiders" was definitely no problem.

And this space would continue to be passed down with the constantly appointed foreign mayors and officials.

This space for survival would even be more politically helpful to him than the New Port Wharf!

It was precisely because there wasn't much time that their counterattack had to be fast, fierce, and convey a message to those arrogant locals.

Even if this was Goldenport City, it wasn't a place where these locals could cover the sky with one hand!

Eric, who had been praised, seemed a little excited. This was one of the few times that his uncle the mayor had praised him. He couldn't remember the last time he had been praised, which made him feel great, and even his headache was relieved a lot.

Looking at Eric's foolish appearance, the mayor showed a gratified expression. "Take a good rest. I've already sent people to find trouble for them."

"But it's very likely that they're no longer at the police station."

"If they try to attack you, I allow you to fight back without taking their lives."

"Also, take more people with you when you go out during this time…"

He patted Eric on the shoulder to encourage him. "Okay, go and rest. Your mother must be very worried about you."

Logically speaking, as a rumored illegitimate child, in the version where someone used strong means to possess his mother before he was born, he should be ashamed and angry when his mother was mentioned.

But he didn't have any such emotions at all, and even wanted his uncle the mayor to occasionally visit his mother.

However, in the end, he didn't say these words. He knew that whether the story was true or false, the mayor couldn't and wouldn't visit his mother.

"I know…" he nodded. "You should rest early too. I'm going back."

"Go ahead…"

The ringing of the phone suddenly rang, and the mayor didn't say anything more, but went directly to the table and answered the phone.

Eric took two last glances, quickly left, and carefully closed the door.

"Charlie said he was in a car accident on the way and can't come for the time being…" the secretary said, something that was unexpected but also expected by the mayor.

There was no way that old dog Charlie would really come to his door. He drove his car into a roadside public telephone booth and said he was a little injured.

In this way, he solved the mayor's problem of asking him to come over immediately to make things difficult for him, and also gave the locals a signal.

He would rather injure himself than see the mayor. He was still the Bay Area's loyal hound!

The mayor thought it was a pity that this old dog didn't go into politics.

He said, "I know," and just hung up the phone when the phone rang again. "What else?"

"Mayor, this is Bandi."

Bandi was the name of the current head of the Coda family, Fleming's father, an old man who looked very kind and benevolent and was enthusiastic about doing good deeds.

Someone had sarcastically said that he had killed far more people than he had helped!

You should know that he was a famous philanthropist in the Federation, and many people had received his help.

And behind this sentence was a bloody fact, that this seemingly kind old man was actually more terrifying than anyone imagined!

Although the person who said this revealed the truth, he later drowned in Angel Lake in an accident not long after.

Witnesses said he tried to swim across Angel Lake, while some people who knew him said he couldn't swim at all.

"I didn't expect it to be you, Mr. Bandi. Is there anything I can do for you?"

The mayor still maintained that very humble attitude, but his tone was far less gentle than the words he said.

Mr. Bandi could also sense the subtle change. He said with a smile, "Fleming told me about what happened tonight, and I am very sorry for this."

"He told me that someone was trying to provoke conflict between the children. I believe this disgusting little trick will not affect our friendship."

Mr. Bandi couldn't figure out what was going on. The mayor, who had always had no presence in high society, had suddenly become tough. He had to figure out what had happened before he could have a better countermeasure.

However, he also had some vague guesses, which might be related to Director Dale's repeated setbacks.

He felt a vague unease about the future, as if Goldenport City, stable for decades, was experiencing a subtle, unsettling tremor once more.

The mayor replied readily, "Of course, I wouldn't let a conflict between children affect our relationship. This is just a matter between the kids."

"You can rest assured, everything will remain the same…"

The remainder from last month's and the month before's tips is 387.3. An extra chapter will be released this month, and the remaining 54.3 will be added to next month's accumulation.