Empire of Shadows

Standing outside the casino, Sarif looked at Alberto and Francisco walking out of the room, a hint of a smile on his face.

If these two hadn't followed him out and were still inside, he would have had to consider leaving Goldport City.

He could fight the Cassia family, but he couldn't fight others.

The Koda family might not seem so powerful in his eyes, but they really had a lot of money and could mobilize some political connections.

These connections, this money, could allow the Cassia family to end this war as soon as possible.

You don't even need to think to understand that they must be in cahoots!

But now that there were still people standing on his side, he was confident that he could continue to make trouble for these people!

"They dream of using a few words to make us let go of our hatred, which is absolutely impossible!"

"Alberto, we need to form an alliance to deal with them together!"

"Otherwise, relying on the strength of just one of us, I'm afraid we won't be their match."

Alberto nodded, "Besides, I have an ally who is very interested in taking care of them, maybe we can sit down and talk."

Sarif was a little curious. In Goldport City, anyone who dared to be "interested" in the five major families would not be an unknown nobody, "Who is he?"

"Lance!"

"Okay, I got it... No problem, that's it, see you then."

Lance hung up the phone. The call was from Alberto. He had already rejected the Koda family's mediation. At the same time, the Tita family was also very opposed to this matter. Now the two sides were united.

But to fight against the two traitorous combinations, as well as the Keane family, whose position was still unclear, they needed some outside help.

This outside help was Lance.

This matter was not a small thing that could be explained in a few words on the phone. It had to be discussed in detail, which was related to how the benefits would be distributed after the success of the matter.

Only by sitting down and talking, talking well, and stabilizing the situation, could they start taking action.

Lance walked to the mirror, tidied up his attire in the mirror, and then left the room with his hat.

"Call me if you need anything, you know the number!" he said to Elvin, who nodded.

He was going to attend the Lawrence family's gathering, partly because the major families of the Federation often had a tradition of gathering every once in a while, and partly because William was about to run for city councilor.

Although from all aspects it seemed that he had no chance of losing, it was still a very important matter for the family members, they needed to make William feel the power of the family!

Many people who didn't know much about the Federation always heard rumors about the "independence" of the Federation people and families, such as "Federation people move out of their homes after graduating from high school at the age of eighteen" or "Federation people earn their tuition and living expenses by working part-time after going to college."

In these rumors, it seems that every Federation person and Federation family is independent, hardworking, and excellent, but is the actual situation really like this?

Of course not. Moving out of the house after graduating from high school simply means that the parents can no longer afford, or are unwilling to continue to bear, the cost of the child's subsequent life.

Unless they pay their parents a daily expense, they can continue to live in their parents' house.

Otherwise, they will be required to go out and live on their own, at least not to continue to increase the economic burden on their parents.

The situation of many college students working part-time is also the same. Not everyone can have their family take out a large sum of money for them to enjoy college life without worries after paying their college tuition.

Most college students have heavy student loans, which have already drained their family's short-term financial situation. If they don't work part-time, they can't get more financial help from their families.

On the contrary, those who should represent the middle and upper classes of the Federation society, especially the upper class, are completely opposite to the rumored Federation people.

They live in large manors, and every child is arranged as close to them as possible. Even if the children want to go out and live independently, the elders will be reluctant.

Family relationships are always related to the amount of wealth. The wealthier the family, the more harmonious the relationship, and the more unwilling family members are to leave each other.

Who the hell would want to voluntarily leave a millionaire grandfather and run out to live a hard life?

On the contrary, the poorer the family, the more indifferent and independent the relationship between family members.

When your grandfather owes a lot of debt, you just want to stay far away from him!

The Lawrence family is not a bottom-level family, a typical landlord class. The wealthy life may make them not live together like those richer families.

But they still gather every once in a while.

As Patricia's boyfriend and William's "political partner," it was obviously necessary for Lance to attend.

Elvin nodded, "You've told me the number, have a good time tonight!"

Lance smiled, "Thank you, you should also consider this matter."

After he finished speaking, he put on his hat and left the company.

A two-million-dollar luxury car fleet looks different, and the traffic on the road has changed because of its entry.

Lance first picked up Patricia and the Lawrence couple, and then came to Barbara's villa together.

Although they were brutally scammed by the fraud group, and the debt problem was also solved by Lance, in addition to the loss of some cash that was really painful, it had not reached the point of hurting their bones.

Seeing the luxurious car fleet parked outside, Barbara upstairs quickly ran down from the second floor, while running she shouted to her father, "Uncle William is here."

The fat man took a deep breath, and with his wife and daughter, walked towards the door together.

"I thought you would be a little late," he hugged William. The two brothers didn't have much to say, and saying too much would make them seem unfamiliar.

The two ladies also greeted each other simply, and everyone's eyes focused on Lance and Patricia.

Today, Lance chose a blue headband with pearl and shell hangers, a pair of amethyst earrings, and a beautiful gemstone necklace for Patricia.

Her skin was very fair, and she could support any color accessories. Even though it was already evening and the light was not so strong, it made her look so radiant.

"Sister Barbara!" Patricia released Lance's arm and took the initiative to go over and hug Barbara's face, "You look so beautiful!"

Barbara smiled and flattered her, "When you don't speak, I thought whose princess came to attend our party!"

Her eyes focused on the jewelry, and then holding Patricia's hand, she looked at Lance.

Her father took the initiative to walk over and shook hands with Lance, "Thank you for your help last time, otherwise I really don't know what to do!"

While shaking hands, Lance patted his arm, "Don't be so grateful to me, it's just a very simple little thing for me."

"Whether it's troublesome or not for you, you have helped us!"

"Thank you!"

Lance smiled and patted his hand, "We are all family."

After they let go of their hands, Lance greeted his wife and Barbara, and the family walked inside.

In fact, at this time, almost all the Lawrence family members had arrived. They also knew about the things that had happened before, and also felt how important it was for the family to have a strong character!

They didn't have a chance before, but now, they seem to have such a chance.

"Let me formally introduce you..."

"This is Heather..." A blonde woman in her fifties looked a little fierce, but she was very enthusiastic about Lance and spoke very gently.

"This is Marian..." Marian is the youngest sister of their generation, now less than forty years old, only thirty-nine years old, but she says she is only thirty-eight years old, more energetic and younger.

"This is Bennett..." Barbara's father is the eldest, Bennett is the second, and is also a civil servant and a lawyer.

"This is Deans..." Deans is the youngest boy among them, thirty-seven years old this year, and works in the family business—

Speaking of family business, it is actually a company specializing in agricultural and animal husbandry products. Every year, the Lawrence family's farms have a large number of agricultural and animal husbandry products that need to be sold, and he is mainly responsible for these matters.

He introduced the formal members of the family to Lance. There are eleven people in their generation, and four people in the generation above them.

That is, their father and uncle's generation. These people are not in Goldport City now, they are on the land that the Lawrence family has inherited for generations.

That is, they are taking care of the crops and livestock on the farm.

It sounds like... it gives people the feeling that these people should be wearing leather overalls, a sweaty shirt with many holes in the upper body, and a straw hat on their backs, holding a large handful of green fodder in their hands, standing in the cow dung and horse manure to feed the livestock.

But in fact, they don't do these things themselves, because they simply can't do it.

That is a very large farm, which also includes a small section of the river. At least a team of nearly a thousand people is responsible for the daily work on the fertile land.

Grain, vegetables, fruit trees, and pastures.

They also have horses.

According to William, Patricia's grandfather, that is, his father, has always wanted to cultivate a few champion horse kings.

The four brothers were all members of the Federal Jockey Club, and their rankings weren't low.

They were used to country life, and bringing them to Goldport City would only make them suffer. Besides, being in the countryside didn't mean they didn't enjoy life.

Removing the older generation and William's generation, there were still more than twenty young people, and potentially even more children.

Many of Patricia's generation were married, so the actual number of people who came here today exceeded sixty.

They still sat separately at four different tables. Last time Lance came, there weren't as many people; it was just a normal gathering for Barbara's birthday.

But this time, there were a lot of people, and basically everyone who could come, came.

Because William was very likely to be the first in the family to become part of the "upper class." Once he successfully ran for city councilor, the Lawrence name would once again shine with its former glory on this land!

People constantly came over to greet William, and also to greet Lance.

The Lawrence family's influence might not be as keenly felt by non-locals who lived locally, but for the true natives, it still had a great impact.

There was alcohol at today's gathering. It was normal for the landed gentry to have their own stocks and cellars. Even the constitutional amendment only mentioned production, transportation, and sale, but not storage and consumption.

Although the Department of Justice had added some supplements, such as not being able to drink publicly, this was now a private occasion. As long as they could prove that the alcohol came from the family's storage, the Bureau of Dangerous Goods would have no choice but to fight a lawsuit they were unlikely to win.

"Lance!" Jack (Customs Inspector) waved his arm, holding a glass, and quickly walked over. The others who originally wanted to come and chat with Lance temporarily stopped.

With the Coast Guard's continuous strengthening, the customs business was becoming more and more profitable.

The truly profitable businesses were always written in the criminal law, which included smuggling.

The first hurdle smuggling had to face was the inspector. They had to open boxes and randomly inspect the goods. It was said to be a random inspection, but it could also not be random.

Therefore, Jack's position in the family had also improved.

Lance clinked glasses with him. There were no waiters here to come over with a tray to take away their glasses when necessary.

The two naturally walked to the side. "Is your cooperation with McCork still going smoothly?"

Lance nodded. "It's alright. He's a content man."

McCork nodded. "He's a smart man. He hasn't changed his car or his house. If you didn't say anything, I would have thought you guys didn't continue cooperating."

McCork would take the smuggled alcohol and sell it to Lance. It wasn't that he didn't want to sell it to others, but he didn't know how to contact them about it.

He couldn't possibly run up to someone and say, "Brother, I have a batch of smuggled alcohol, do you want it?"

On the contrary, Lance paid quickly and was very safe. He also knew the secret of him selling inspected goods, so he wouldn't break contact with Lance unless something changed.

"The worst thing about doing this kind of business is encountering idiots. There's no doubt McCork isn't one of them."

"How have you been lately?"

"Customs is becoming more and more popular now. I heard a lot of people are starting to look for connections in customs. Have you made a fortune?"

They naturally wouldn't be so secretive when talking about these things. Jack nodded. "Yes, people bring gifts and checks to me every day, but I don't dare to accept them much."

"Why?" Lance asked. He vaguely felt that this was related to Jack taking the initiative to come to him.

Jack licked his lips. "My superior is a bit stubborn."

Lance raised his eyebrows. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Jack glanced at his family members in the distance. He picked up his glass and took a sip. "Do you know anyone in customs?"

Lance shook his head and said, "I don't know anyone. Our goods used to bypass customs directly, so I don't have any connections with customs."

"Can your problem be solved with money?"

"If money can solve it, then I can solve it."

Letting Jack move up another level would be a very good choice, regardless of whether Lance would be involved in the smuggling business in the future.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know, I just think this person is a bit rigid."

Lance thought of James. "Give me his name, I'll ask James. Maybe he can solve it."

"Little Williams?" Jack was very sensitive to this name. "I didn't know you guys knew each other!"

He looked at Lance, his eyes sparkling.

These locals had their own social networks. They already knew that Councilor Williams was running for mayor and had no other competitors.

In addition, Little Williams, also known as James, would also announce his candidacy on September 1st for the position of Goldport City Councilor.

The era of two generations of father and son firmly controlling Goldport City was coming.

Although it seemed like only four years, four years later, Councilor Little Williams would gradually grasp a lot of power, and this place would become their back garden!

Lance didn't know any of this news. Of course, it wasn't that Councilor Williams didn't tell him, but that they hadn't publicized it.

Only some relatives knew about these things, and some of their relatives happened to be related to the Lawrence family by marriage, so the news spread.

"Is it strange that I know James?"

Jack's face was full of smiles. "If he can help me, this matter is still easy to solve."

Lance thought for a while. He and Jack walked into the house, found a phone, picked it up, and dialed James' number.

"I have something to ask you. Are you familiar with customs?"

"Customs?"

"Of course I'm familiar. We deal with them often, but if you want to cause trouble for them, you better find Arthur."

"Arthur is now in charge of this part of the family business. If he's more familiar with those people than I am, whether you want to cause trouble for them or give them money, Arthur is the best choice!"

As soon as Lance spoke, James probably knew what was going on. Only these two things could make Lance call him.

"I don't have his number."

"Write it down..."

Jack watched Lance call Arthur again, and Arthur patted his chest and guaranteed that he would definitely help him solve this matter. Jack suddenly became a little excited.

He had actually been stuck in this position for five years.

If he hadn't made any progress in five years, it would be even harder to make progress later. He didn't expect that a phone call from Lance would give him hope. How could he not be excited?

"Lance, thank you for your help. I guarantee that in the future, your goods will go through customs without anyone opening the boxes for inspection."

"Those things are with me, all exempt from inspection!"