Empire of Shadows

The convoy slowly came to a halt, and some people immediately noticed it. Elvin was the first to get out of the car, followed by Ethan, and then the others.

Quite a few people came, including Mador and the other "instructors."

Everyone's clothes were bulging, and without needing to show it, people knew what was inside.

After confirming there was no danger, Lance got out of the car, and Alberto and another person came to greet him.

"This is Muller, he's Paul's cousin," Alberto didn't introduce him further, but just the special relationship of "Paul's cousin" was enough for Lance to know his position in the Pasreto family.

Then he introduced Lance to Muller, "You should know him." He didn't directly say the name, seemingly wanting to see if Muller knew anything about Lance.

As expected, there were no surprises. Muller obviously knew Lance, "You actually wanted to test me with such a simple question?"

As he spoke, he stopped looking at Alberto and enthusiastically shook hands with Lance, "Lance, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've actually been hearing rumors about you. You're the most special young man in Goldport City in recent years!"

Muller exclaimed sincerely. To be able to make Paul take the initiative to step back, although it was for Dover's sake, it was still a very rare occurrence.

Only when Paul believed that Lance had reached a certain level would he make such a choice.

If it were another small gang, Paul definitely wouldn't even bother explaining and would directly have people wipe it out.

This actually reflected a fact from the side: with the two unifications of the Imperial District, the five major families had also begun to value Lance and his people!

For older people, witnessing the birth of such a "new myth" would bring a sense of恍惚 (huǎnghū - daze).

It was as if… they saw their former selves, or their elders, in Lance!

They knew better than anyone how difficult it was to carve out a territory of one's own in the underground world of Goldport City!

He had always wanted to see Lance in person. He had a slight imagination before this happened, but when he really met Lance, he realized that Lance was even more outstanding and remarkable than he had imagined.

The imagined picture didn't shatter, but instead became more three-dimensional!

Lance also shook his hand tightly, "I'm honored that Mr. Paul and you were able to invite me to this special meeting. I'm also very happy to meet you, Mr. Muller."

"This isn't the place to talk, please come with me!" He said, releasing his hand and inviting Lance into the Top Sheng Hotel.

Some gang members were standing in the hotel lobby, their eyes fixed on Lance's group, filled with scrutiny.

Some of them had already guessed Lance's identity. After all, at this age, the number of people who could be greeted by Muller in Goldport City was very small.

If you remove the young masters from the Bay Area and narrow the scope to the underworld, then the answer is obvious.

Perhaps in the past, they needed to guess, because besides Lance, there was also Polly.

But with Polly's death, only Lance was left in Goldport City.

Their gazes were strange and varied.

Some people's eyes were filled with admiration, some were surprised, and some were filled with distrust and dissatisfaction, each with their own expression.

Lance didn't care about these ordinary or unfriendly gazes. Elvin might have been a little affected, slightly frowning as he met those obviously unkind gazes.

After the five entered the elevator, Lance said, "You don't need to care about those people's gazes and their thoughts, just like a lion never considers what its prey thinks."

"No matter what their gazes are like, it can't change one fact."

Lance straightened his clothes to make sure he wouldn't be rude later. The elevator car's mirrored surface reflected his appearance.

He slightly raised his chin, smoothed out a small wrinkle on his clothes, and looked at Elvin through the reflection of the elevator door mirror, "Food only affects the taste, not the emotions!"

Muller nodded in agreement after hearing this, "A very special saying, Lance. I've never heard anyone say that before. Did you invent it?"

Lance smiled and slightly retracted his chin, which made him look a little more humble, "If no one else has said it, then yes, I did."

"It's hard to imagine that a young man like you has such a state of mind. What did you do before?" These words made Muller think more and more about it, and he became curious about Lance's previous job.

Lance said with a smile, "An ordinary person. Maybe I'm just better at thinking?"

"When I imagine myself as a lion on the grassland, and those who are watching me are just my prey, I don't think there's anything special about their gazes."

"They're just remembering my appearance, so that the next time they see me, they'll run far away, because they know that if they don't run, they'll become food."

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened, and Lance's words stopped.

Under Muller's initiative, the five walked out of the elevator car one after another.

It was obviously more lively here. There were already many people in the hall, adults and young people alike.

They were clearly divided into different groups, all sizing each other up.

It was rare to see such a scene, gathering so many gang leaders together. Even during the heyday of the five major families, it would have been difficult to see.

Paul was chatting with an old man with white hair. When the sound of the elevator arriving at the floor rang out, he looked over and saw Lance.

He excused himself to the person next to him and quickly walked over, extending his hand two steps away. Lance took a step forward, and the two hands clasped together.

"Thank you for coming, Lance!" Paul breathed a sigh of relief, seeming a little more relaxed.

Lance shook his hand a couple of times, "Is the situation very bad right now?"

Paul nodded, "I'll talk about that later. We're still missing one person. They should be here soon."

"In short, I'm very grateful that you could come!"

Lance heard the heaviness in his tone and couldn't help but ask, "Has something happened?"

Paul didn't know how to explain it. He gathered his thoughts, "You know, those people from the Cassia family, and the people from the Koda family, have betrayed us."

"And some lower-level gangs have also sided with them. I didn't expect this to happen so quickly!"

"We've reached a time when we must unite!"

Just like how the Wolf Gang dealt with those small street families and small gangs in the port area, he wouldn't actively infringe on their interests, and provide them with alcohol and security, incorporating them.

It looked like those small gangs were still independent, but as the time they were "incorporated" increased, they would gradually begin to get used to this superior-subordinate relationship, and eventually completely obey them.

Many small gangs began to change their positions and joined the mayor's camp. They didn't have to worry about the Hazardous Materials Administration targeting them, and they could freely do moonshine business.

As long as they didn't go too far, the Hazardous Materials Administration wouldn't deal with them. In this era where alcohol was more expensive than gold, stable profit was what gangs pursued!

For these newly emerging small families and small gangs, they didn't have much awe for the five major families and some gangs that already had great reputations.

These young people were like the "spirit of questioning" that was spreading in society now. They were even full of distrust and questioning of the five major families, and even had a desire to challenge them!

The mayor was using the current chaos to re-establish a new order. Once the new order was established, just like the arrival of every new era, everything old would be狠狠的摔在地上 (hěn hěn de shuāi zài dìshàng - smashed hard on the ground), shattered to pieces, including the five major families!

Paul and the others had been under a lot of pressure recently, because a big thing had happened that forced him to decide to do something, instead of sitting and waiting for death.

But now wasn't the time to talk, so Paul didn't tell Lance. After saying a few words to him, he went to entertain the others.

After Paul left, Lance didn't plan to socialize with the others either. He basically hadn't had any contact with the other gangs here, and everyone kept their distance from each other.

He found a place, got some food, and chatted with Elvin while eating, talking about the surrounding gangs.

When it was 9:20, and some of the people present were already getting restless, Paul returned here with a沉着脸 (chénzhuóliǎn - somber face).

"The people from the Doug family aren't coming. Tonight, it's just these of us."

As he spoke, he had someone open a side hall next to the main hall. Inside was a huge round conference table. As people poured in, the table quickly filled up.

Lance found a place to sit that wasn't next to anyone. Paul naturally sat in the seat of honor, surrounded by middle-aged people and even old men.

Lance didn't know any of them. Fortunately, Alberto sat next to him and introduced the origins of these people to him.

"That white-haired one is Figal's father, Old Keane. Next to him are his two sons."

"The one to Paul's right is Salifu, the current head of the Tita family. I don't like him very much."

Alberto knew most of the people here. Before he opened his own company and had his own "career," he had followed Paul for quite a long time.

This was also a custom, a habit, of the Sumuli people.

They would only let their descendants leave them to run their own businesses after confirming that they had the ability to work independently.

Of course, a considerable portion of Lezhu's profits is still handed over to the family, which is the family's reward for taking care of Alberto.

After everyone was seated, Paul exchanged a few words with the two people beside him before saying loudly, "Before we talk about our affairs, I must tell you something: Councilor Wade is about to leave King's Harbor."

The surrounding people immediately exclaimed in surprise, all with incredulous expressions.

Lance didn't have many opportunities or times to come into contact with the upper class here. He had only heard some stories about the Wade family, but he didn't have a direct understanding of Councilor Wade and his influence.

Unlike the true locals here, some of them had slight changes in their expressions.

Paul pressed his hands on the table in front of him, "Councilor Wade has been transferred to Usmir State to serve as mayor. You should have heard of that place; it's in the west."

Not just the west, but very far west, separated from Licarri State by a federation!

Someone couldn't help but ask loudly, "How did they convince Mr. Wade?"

"I can't believe this is all true!"

Paul's expression was slightly strange, with a kind of crying-laughing expression, "He will serve as mayor and will receive the gubernatorial nomination."

With just one sentence, everyone who had doubts about this matter fell silent.

Gubernatorial nomination.

Having a nomination doesn't guarantee becoming governor, but in this day and age, without a nomination, it's absolutely impossible to become governor!

Moreover, Usmir State is also the Socialist Party's territory. Strictly speaking, Councilor Wade's real opponents are only one or two other gubernatorial nominees from the Socialist Party.

It's not like he'll be directly nominated as soon as he arrives; he'll serve as mayor for six years first, and then receive the nomination.

In other words, they gave him time to work hard and prepare.

Usmir State is not a particularly economically developed region, which is one of the reasons why they are willing to accept Councilor Wade. They hope that Councilor Wade can bring some of King's Harbor's advanced concepts and development models to help Usmir State achieve a breakthrough in economic growth!

If it were just the position of mayor, Councilor Wade would most likely not leave, even if it meant offending the big shots in the state.

Becoming a mayor in another place is far不如 continuing to be his local emperor in King's Harbor.

But the mayor, in order to kick him away, this time went all out and gave him a gubernatorial nomination!

You should know that Sidney himself has not yet obtained the qualification for the Licarri State gubernatorial nomination, and even the nomination for the Speaker of the House was obtained with a lot of effort.

Although the economically developed Licarri State and a backward place like Usmir cannot be confused, a governor is still a governor. In this era, a governor can even be said to be the king of this land!

Faced with such temptation, Councilor Wade, who had always claimed that he would not leave King's Harbor, was finally tempted!

What if he succeeds?

If he succeeds, Usmir, a region far from the federal heartland, will become his new "private plot."

He is confident that in a few years, he can turn Usmir into another, larger King's Harbor!

Maybe it won't be as rich as here, but it will definitely be Usmir under his control, his kingdom!

This matter has risks because he still needs to run for election to know the result, but risks come with opportunities. If there were no such risks, he would not have such an opportunity to stabilize the governor's position!

So he will not refuse, nor can he refuse, even if he knows that this is the mayor's trick to transfer him away from here, he still took the bait!

As long as he can become governor, he will perform even better!

Councilor Wade ate the sugar-coated bullet fired by the mayor, patted his butt and prepared to leave, but the troubles were all left to the people in King's Harbor who continued to fight against the mayor.

He has many connections in Licarri State, which can play a very important role in fighting against the mayor.

During this time, he and Councilor Williams seemed to have done nothing, but in fact, they had already used their connections to put pressure on the mayor through the state government, so that he would not disrupt the economic development of King's Harbor for his "own selfish interests"!

Some people within the Socialist Party also called him, telling him that "he should let go after getting certain benefits, and excessive greed will not have good results!"

With these two people, at least on the political level, they can still check and balance each other, and with the police department still under the control of the Bay Area, everyone can only say that their strengths are equal.

So during this time, the main conflicts in King's Harbor broke out in the underworld, wars and mergers between gangs, rather than happening in the light.

But now, two of the five major families have been disintegrated, and Councilor Wade is about to run away, the balance has been completely lost!

This is the most frightening thing!

Perhaps those small gangs can't feel this suffocating feeling, but the three major families standing at a higher level have already felt the breath of doomsday!

Looking at some people's faces still retaining the expressions of "What the hell are you talking about" and "What does this have to do with me," Paul explained, "Once Councilor Wade leaves, Councilor Williams may not be able to withstand the mayor's pressure."

"In other words, once Councilor Williams can't withstand the pressure, the Bay Area's position will change."

"Everyone, the Bay Area's position represents the will of King's Harbor. Once they also fall to the mayor's side, we can only face death."

The conference room was silent. After a long while, someone asked, "Can we also defect to the mayor?"

Another person suddenly slammed the table and stood up. He pointed at the person who spoke earlier and shouted loudly, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm asking if we can also defect to the mayor?" The man, not to be outdone, also slammed the table and stood up. Everyone is a gang leader, just bigger or smaller. Before fighting, who is afraid of whom?

Seeing that things were about to get out of control, Paul slammed the table heavily in annoyance, "Sit back!"

Although the five major families are now in decline, their former prestige is still there.

The two glared at each other unconvincingly and sat back down. Paul looked at them, "We are discussing, we are negotiating. I allow you to have all kinds of ideas."

"You all know that I actually invited more people, but these people didn't come, including the Doug family from the Bay Area."

"It's not that they have something they can't come for, but that they have already fallen to the mayor's side!"

"Just now you said that we can also defect to the mayor?" He pointed at the person who spoke earlier.

The person felt a little scalp tingling when Paul pointed at him. He dared to glare at others, but he didn't dare to do that to Paul.

He could only squeeze out some smiles and reluctantly found a reason, "I... I'm just making an analogy."

Paul shook his head slightly, "Actually, you can try it."

"I'll tell you the truth, all the people who didn't come were invited by them to join them."

"And you people, including me, Keane, the Tita family, we are not on the invitation list."

"Do you know why?"

His face revealed something that made people feel uncomfortable, "Because he needs to use our blood to wipe away the old rules!"

"And then write his new rules with our blood!"