Empire of Shadows

When it comes to emotions, to deceive others, you must first deceive yourself.

You have to throw yourself into sparking emotional collisions with someone you may not necessarily like, and find some merits in them.

A professional con artist can quickly extract themselves from the role they're playing after getting what they want, but Lisa is clearly not that professional; she's somewhat immersed in the role she's playing.

The moment Panda unreservedly gave her the money, she fell.

Perhaps not too deeply, but she has fallen.

The initial difference between standing on sand and standing on quicksand isn't that significant, but as the quicksand flows and one struggles, it only gets deeper and deeper.

At the same time, Lisa began to feel a sense of worry, a fear, that if one day... Panda found out her identity, knew about all of this...

To ensure that Lisa could complete the task he assigned her well, and also so that she could find her ideal home, Lance made a suggestion: "I'll find people to play your parents, and then, when necessary, make them disappear."

Lisa covered her wide-open mouth in disbelief, "You're going to kill them?"

Lance rolled his eyes, "I'm just going to make it look like an accident, and then they'll disappear from your life, but nothing will happen to them; they'll live somewhere else."

In this era where information dissemination technology isn't advanced, people living in two separate cities are unlikely to meet in their lifetime without special connections.

Lisa was very tempted, but she also knew that while these things were free, free things are more expensive, "I'll help you take care of Panda..."

The next day, Alvin, following Lance's instructions, separated some of the recently recruited people and assigned them to work in different bars, saying it was to familiarize them with the business.

The Viper Gang has become a thing of the past; Lance plans to take back the nightclubs and bars.

In name, they do belong to Eric, but Lance believes that Eric would be willing to sell them to him at a very low price, say, a dollar.

So this requires a large number of people to familiarize themselves with the work in advance; this excuse is suitable, and no one has any strange associations.

Finding an undercover agent is actually a very complicated matter, which requires observation for a period of time, or Panda can get the information of those undercover agents.

In the afternoon, Patricia called Lance, inviting him to attend Barbara's family gathering that evening.

She had a little admiration for this cousin who worked at a financial company because Barbara always wore the most fashionable clothes, had the most fashionable makeup, and had a good job that everyone envied; she was almost the object of envy for most girls in the family!

Including Patricia, she always felt that her job was very boring, spending every day assisting others in filling out forms, not dashing or cool at all.

Lance drove to pick up Patricia in the afternoon, but he didn't expect William and Emily to go with them, of course, they would drive their own car.

William now has some of his own supporters in the Imperial District; he's more willing to lower himself than Councilor Lewis and knows what the people at the bottom want better than Mr. Chobaf.

Now, every time he holds a street event, many admirers follow him and cheer him on, which is actually a kind of success.

When the people around him know him, or when some of the people around him are supporting him, his winning the constituency is inevitable!

As a family member who is about to become a city councilor and achieve a class leap, William now has a not-low status within the family.

He can also have others chat around him, instead of him chatting around others.

Although everyone is family, even within a family, there are different levels.

Two cars, one in front and one behind, parked in the parking lot; there were no parking spaces left outside Barbara's large villa; many people came today.

On the way, they met some of William's relatives who greeted them, and Patricia introduced these people to Lance.

Some of them didn't know Lance at first, but when Patricia mentioned his name, their smiles became even more sincere!

They also suddenly understood why William, who hadn't made much progress in twenty years, suddenly wanted to run for city councilor.

When they arrived on the lawn of the villa, there were already many people there; Emily immediately let go of William's hand and went to discuss tea art with the women of the family.

And William gave Lance a hint, then walked towards the middle-aged people who were talking about national affairs.

Lance and Patricia got some food, and then stood with the other brothers and sisters.

After Jack saw Lance, he took the initiative to walk over, and after the two shook hands, they stood aside.

"I have some news that you'll definitely be interested in," Jack handed Lance a cigarette.

Lance tapped the cigarette on the matchbox to tamp down the tobacco, "I hope it's good news."

Jack smiled ambiguously, "It's hard to say whether it's good news or bad news..."

He trailed off slightly, then said the news, "The Congress feels that the Coast Guard hasn't played its role, and smugglers all over the world are transporting alcohol to the Federation."

"So the Coast Guard will receive key support in terms of policies and resources, and will focus on increasing efforts to combat smuggling ships."

He lowered his voice slightly, although no one would eavesdrop, "They've also equipped the patrol with gunboats."

Lance's eyes widened slightly, "In that case, congratulations, Jack, the role of customs will become more important."

If the Coast Guard is patrolling with gunboats and Congress allows them to attack smuggling ships, it means that the difficulty of smuggling from the sea will increase.

Especially large-scale smuggling, the target is too big and easily detected.

If smuggled goods are seized by the Coast Guard, it's almost impossible to get them back, so ultimately they're likely to find ways to smuggle through customs.

Disguising the goods as other things, or entering the Federation by land from other places.

So in any case, customs will become more important, for smuggling groups.

Jack's face had a touch of restrained smile, he knew that Lance could understand this, "This news may not be released until late June, and I heard that there are still some details that have not been agreed upon."

"But in general, nothing will change, only the vote after the problem is resolved."

Lance nodded slightly, "This is indeed very important news, I have to prepare."

Once sea smuggling is curbed, the price of alcohol will usher in a new round of skyrocketing, he has to do something, this is another opportunity to make a fortune.

It's not entirely unexpected that Congress would do this, after all, while strictly investigating smuggled alcohol, it's almost defenseless against sea smuggling, and Congress will definitely notice this.

Once they notice this, it means that the good days of sea smuggling are coming to an end.

Those Coast Guard members definitely wouldn't dare to fight fully armed smuggling ships with speedboats, but when they switch to gunboats, they have nothing to worry about.

The two chatted about other things for a while, and Jack inquired about the conflict between Lance and the Riggi Group, and after learning that they were in a lawsuit, he cursed a few words about the federal capital groups in accordance.

They have always been the most annoying and jealous group of people, in fact, everyone hopes to become a hunter instead of prey, but this can only appear in their dreams.

Lance's "success" made many of Patricia's brothers and sisters take the initiative to come over and greet him, they also heard their parents talk about it sometimes, with Lance's joining the family, it is possible to go to the next level.

Especially after William becomes a city councilor, status, power, wealth, including military force.

These things can give the family the foundation to rise, so they are very enthusiastic about Lance.

Chatting with everyone here and there, feeling a long-lost sense of ease, although most of the topics discussed are relatively boring, this is the true face of real life.

No power struggles, no bullets and death, only complaints and longings for life and work.

As dinner was prepared, everyone came to the table, they had prepared four large dining tables, and everyone sat at different tables.

Lance was somewhat surprised to be invited to sit at the first table - these are the backbone of the family, they are all civil servants in various departments, or middle and lower-level managers of enterprises.

He was arranged to sit next to William, in the fifth position on the right hand side.

Presiding over this family gathering today was Barbara's father, he had a big belly, and the suit and bow tie made him look a little comical, especially since the federal suit was slightly loose, it looked like he was wearing a black cloth on his body.

He gave a series of impassioned speeches, the general idea being that the Lawrence family has existed on this land for 150 years and will continue to exist.

Although they are not as prominent as the Wade family or the Williams family, he believes that with the efforts of some family members, the family will eventually achieve leapfrog development.

He also named William, saying that William would become the light of hope for the family's rise.

This made William's mouth not close throughout the entire meal, they didn't call him that in the past!

The dinner was very rich, in fact, from a practical point of view, the Lawrence family can be said to have touched the edge of the privileged class, now there is only the last step, and William and Lance are the last piece of the puzzle.

The family dinner atmosphere was relaxed. There were no restrictions on young people speaking, and everyone was discussing food and other things.

At Lance's table, the discussion was relatively "high-end," focusing on the international situation.

Recently, the first rebel army of the Empire was destroyed, and the head of the rebel leader was sent to the Emperor.

The image of the Emperor holding the rebel leader's head while standing on the city wall was widely circulated in many countries.

In the Empire, they reported these news stories with headlines like "His Majesty the Emperor is Suppressing the Rebellion." However, in the Federation, "The International News" used the title "Brutal Imperial Emperor Wantonly Murders Civilians," fabricating a story based on the picture, claiming the Emperor relaxes by killing civilians every day.

The people of the Federation believe this. They believe he is a brutal, brainless Emperor, who suffered from polio, and possibly even the result of royal incest, a brain-damaged Emperor with obvious genetic defects.

But it is this Emperor who is gradually reclaiming everything that was lost!

Subsequently, they discussed the war in Tanfitt. The tension between several major powers was growing, and military friction had even occurred in some areas.

Far away on another continent, in the Federal Golden Harbor City, a group of civil servants sat around a table, discussing the possible development of the war and its trends if it broke out.

Everyone had their own ideas, but on one point, everyone agreed.

"Lance, do you think war will break out?"

Recently, Lance had also been reading "The International News." When reporting on the conflicts in Tanfitt, they were noticeably more neutral.

At least there wasn't some brain-damaged Emperor suddenly declaring war on the Federation, causing some people to suffer from severe mental illness as a result.

Lance put down his knife and fork and thought for a moment, "It will definitely break out, and I believe that once the war breaks out, it will be very large in scale, and may even affect the entire world."

"I don't want the war to break out, but obviously, my personal hopes or wishes will not change its course."

In fact, initially they asked for Lance's opinion simply to avoid neglecting him. It's like everyone is enthusiastically chatting about something, and someone who isn't speaking feels marginalized.

But this person is valuable, so the host will definitely try to get him to speak, so he doesn't feel isolated.

But as soon as this person opened his mouth, he used a very affirmative tone, even with some unsettling descriptions, attracting their attention.

At this time, these gentlemen had to consider whether this was Lance's true thought, or if he was deliberately saying something so sensational to gain attention.

"Is there any evidence?"

Lance did not answer "yes" or "no," but instead talked about the speed of technological development.

"The speed of modern warships is getting faster and faster, and so are the ships."

"It used to take us two or three days to go to Yalan, but now one day is enough."

"In other words, with the rapid development of technology, the world is shrinking."

"The friction between the several countries in Tanfitt cannot be resolved, due to race, culture, history, and geography, coupled with the constantly accumulating internal contradictions."

"Over the years, they have been prepared to open fire at any time. The people's desire for war is far greater than their fear of war. Everyone is holding their breath, waiting for the outbreak of war!"

"So once the war starts, it will be a full-scale war, not just a war between these countries, but it may also trigger a series of diplomatic reactions, and may even trigger a world war that affects the entire world!"

"As the Federation, which currently has the fastest economic development and the most significant economic achievements in the world, has become qualified to be invaded."

"Wealth!"

The gentlemen at the table were thinking about the possibility of what Lance said, and some even frowned.

He didn't say it in great detail, but these civil servants already understood Lance's concerns through those words.

William was also thinking the same thing. Perhaps this is the advantage of the Lawrence family, worrying about the affairs of the presidential palace with the mind of a low-level civil servant.

"If it really breaks out... a world war, is that what you're saying, right?"

"That must be the most terrible thing. Golden Harbor City's location may not be good. We are very likely to suffer heavy losses."

"Gentlemen, we cannot sit idly by. We have to do something."

Lance looked at William, picked up his spoon again, scooped a spoonful of soup, and joked, "Are you going to call the President?"

"I hope you have his phone number."

William didn't care too much, "Lance, this is the difference between you and us."

The others also showed some smiles. These smiles made Lance feel inexplicable, while William looked at him with a slightly proud expression, "You are non-partisan, and we are all partisans."

"We can contact local opinion leaders, or directly contact party representatives. As long as they approve of our views, they will pass them on."

"Eventually, these issues will be placed on the desks of congressmen, becoming one of the problems they have to solve!"

"This is the benefit of a party. Although I don't have the President's phone number, I have ways to influence him!"

"Moreover, after I become a congressman, I will have greater influence, both within and outside the party."

Lance was also a little surprised. He really didn't think of this, "Okay, Congressman William, you convinced me, but I will not join the Federal Party!"

The surrounding gentlemen suddenly laughed, some of them were almost crying with laughter. This joke was extremely funny!

William was also laughing, "What we lack is an opportunity!"

Barbara's father laughed and said, "You guys were saying this a hundred years ago!"

William couldn't help but start fighting back, "At least the Federal Party has not been split into two parties. We are very united!"

He was referring to the fact that the Liberal Party had split into the Liberal Party and the Socialist Party. For a long time, this was a big blow to the liberals, and even made them question whether the Liberal Party's program was meaningful.

But fortunately, they persevered, and it seemed that the Liberal Party had a good chance of winning the election in three and a half years!

Sitting at another table, Emily looked back at the first table, where the voices were obviously louder than the other tables, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. "I really can't understand why he is always so passionate about politics, even more than he puts his energy into me!"

The other women immediately giggled. Compared to the gentlemen's world situation and nationalism, they chatted about more ordinary things.

For example, what position can last the longest. Those men didn't know that their most important privacy secrets had long been revealed by their closest people.

Someone couldn't help but ask, "Emily, are you showing off?"

Emily raised her eyebrows and said without hesitation, "Showing off?"

"A little!"

"William is now full of energy, like a dog in heat. We do it at least several times a week, sometimes even back-to-back!"

The ladies suddenly let out envious and jealous exclamations...