Empire of Shadows

"I heard there was a car accident in the city?"

The mayor sat at his desk, looking at the documents in his hand as before. The dominance of this city had returned from the mayor's office to the hands of the "city's owner."

A failed battle, but he had once been only a millimeter away from victory!

Regarding this failure, he was actually more accepting of it than people imagined.

He had almost succeeded in fighting against the interests of an entire city single-handedly. Even if he ultimately failed, the losses of the city's owners were actually much greater than his!

Those favors, those behind-the-scenes compromises, transactions—these were all huge losses!

If you want to win a war, you must pay more than your opponent invests!

After the failure of the game, everything returned to the way it was before. Except for the fact that his future political career was almost ruined, there wasn't much else that was unacceptable.

He still had a "decent" outcome, which was already the most decent thing possible.

The secretary nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, the legal specialist of the Ligee Group and their team were hit. Only two survived."

The mayor put down the pen in his hand, took off his glasses, and couldn't help but laugh, "Who made the move this time?"

He knew too damn well about the filth in this city!

They had used this trick against the investors he invited, scaring those investors into leaving Goldport City overnight!

The secretary picked up the coffee pot, walked over, and poured him some coffee, "It seems to be someone from Lance's people."

"He wanted to extort four million in breach of contract fees from the Ligee Group."

The mayor showed some realization, "Is that him?"

"The first time I saw this guy, I knew he would become a big trouble for us, and the fact is indeed so."

"But as I told you, he will not only be a trouble for us, but also for others!"

Saying that, he was also a little amazed, "His appetite is really not small."

The secretary nodded with a smile, "There is actually another thing in this. He had previously done a business with the Ligee Group, buying millions of grapes at a very low price when the Prohibition just started."

"When it was time to deliver, the price of grapes had multiplied several times, and the Ligee Group directly tore up the trade contract signed with him."

"Then he transferred the debt to the bank through debt transfer."

"Although he also got a sum of money, it was more than a million less than what he could actually get."

The mayor sighed after listening, "How greedy!"

"In fact, this has already made money for the Ligee Group, but they are not satisfied and want to earn more, but this time they chose the wrong person!"

The mayor climbed up from the bottom. He spent half his life completing the gorgeous transformation from a grassroots politician with no foundation to the mayor. Therefore, he knew the things inside better than those who were born with prominent backgrounds.

When the Ligee Group signed contracts with the farmers, they also signed when the price had not risen. In other words, they could earn no matter what.

But it was because they were not satisfied with earning less that a series of situations were triggered.

He took a sip of coffee, "This time they will hit a steel plate."

It's a pity that he can't participate in such an interesting thing.

While the two were enjoying a moment of leisure in the midst of busyness, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.

He looked at the ringing phone for a while before answering, "This is the Mayor's Office."

"Your Excellency, Mr. Lance is outside. He said he wants to chat with you."

"But he didn't make an appointment..."

"Let him in.", the mayor's expression was a bit strange. He looked at the secretary after hanging up the phone, "Lance is here."

"Lance?"

There was a trace of confusion in the secretary's eyes. He began to clean up the coffee and pastries on the table.

No matter what he came here to do, ensuring the cleanliness of the office was not a problem.

A few minutes later, the door of the office was pushed open by the duty secretary. Lance said "Thank you" and walked in from the outside.

"Sorry, my injury hasn't fully recovered, so...", the mayor sat there without moving, with a blanket covering his legs.

Gunshot wounds are not so easy to heal, especially gunshot wounds that penetrated his body.

This shot can't be said to be worthless, because it almost brought him victory.

It's just that looking at it now from the perspective of a loser, it is indeed a bit... not worth it.

Lance immediately expressed his understanding, "Of course, you don't need to stand up."

He took the initiative to walk to the table, shook hands with the mayor briefly, and sat opposite the mayor's desk.

"So... what do you want to talk to me about this time?"

The mayor glanced at the secretary with a smile, "I was just talking to him about you."

Lance said with a smile, "I hope it's good things, not bad things."

The mayor laughed, "We were talking about the car accident."

Lance was not surprised, and said without hesitation, "I am teaching them a lesson. This is Goldport City, the Goldport people's Goldport City!"

The mayor's smile faded a lot. He hated this sentence!

This sentence made his wound hurt again. He said sarcastically, "If I'm not mistaken, you are not a local."

Lance did not deny it either, "But no one can say that I am not a local!"

"I have Goldport City's birth card and identity card, and I will marry a girl from the Lawrence family. You know, they still have a high status in the hearts of some people, although there have been no outstanding representatives in recent years."

As the former landlord class, large slave owners, large farmers, large plantation owners...

The Lawrence Farm, which has a series of titles, is in the eyes of those old Goldport people, an existence comparable to the Wade family and the Williams family.

However, they don't have any particularly representative figures in politics, that's all.

But in agriculture, in terms of influence, they perform very well!

The farmers around the Lawrence Farm will bring their crops to the Lawrence family for sale, which can earn them more money than handing the crops over to distributors.

So Lance's words did hit the point. With a double "affirmation", he is now a thorough Goldport person!

No matter who it is, they can't change this perception!

As for whether he is an Empire citizen, does that still matter?

The mayor was a little emotional because Lance was as "sharp" as ever.

"Then what are you, a Goldport person, doing looking for me, a failed outsider?", he gestured to the secretary to prepare a cup of coffee for Lance.

Lance said when the coffee was brought to him, "Talk about cooperation.", saying that, he picked up the coffee and took a sip, "It tastes good."

The mayor was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted. He looked at Lance, and also had his own calculations in his heart.

"It seems you've encountered some trouble.", he said.

Lance put down the coffee and shook his head, "It's not trouble, it's just that there are some people I don't like."

The mayor also had some smiles on his face, "I don't like these people either. On this point, we can reach an agreement!"

He gestured to the secretary to open the cigarette case, and then made an inviting gesture, "Want one?"

Lance took one, lit it, and the mayor asked, "What do you want to get?"

Looking at the azure blue sky outside the window, "The position of police chief."

The mayor frowned slightly, "Is there a conflict between you and Hunter?"

Lance did not answer directly, "Sort of."

Originally, the relationship between them was not particularly good. Now Hunter provided convenience for others to set him up. No matter what relationship he has with these people, or why he did it, it can't change the fact that he did it.

Since the person in such an important position as the police chief can't even do the most basic "neutrality", let alone stand on his side, then change one!

The city police chief has administrative work, and this position is indeed very important to some extent.

At the same time, it has always been controlled by Charlie, whether it is himself or Hunter, they are all in the same line.

The mayor became a little interested, and the smile on his face became more enthusiastic, "It's not easy to get this position, Lance."

"I'm not looking down on your ability. I underestimated you before, and I paid the price for it."

"Hunter and Charlie are supported by the entire Bay Area behind them."

"It's difficult for you to arrange your people in this position."

"And you see, I am a loser now. It is difficult for me to provide you with help in this matter, such as helping you get Hunter down."

"That depends on your own ability."

"But if you can get Hunter taken down, then I can help you in the matter of appointing a new police chief."

The mayor has lost most of his power. Although he is still the mayor, if he wants to remove Hunter, then someone will soon come to make trouble for him.

But he doesn't want to continue to cause trouble, then Lance has to do this himself.

Undoubtedly, this will put Lance directly against the Bay Area.

This is also what the mayor wants to see. He just wants to see such a situation, only in this way can he vent his anger!

He lost, so what?

Let's all not have a good time!

Lance nodded, "If you can agree, then I will find a way to get Hunter down."

"Finally, I also have a question, what do I need to pay?"

The mayor considered for a while, his expression became a little indescribable, as if he was reminiscing, or like he was regretful and remorseful, and finally turned into relief.

“Many people who support me have placed heavy bets in the Newport District. If possible, I hope you can take care of them a little,” Lans said.

Lans' gaze shifted to the Mayor's face. The Mayor looked at him frankly, without any hidden or flickering gaze. After a moment of eye contact, Lans nodded slightly and stood up.

“Okay, then it's settled. I have some things to do, so I won't stay any longer.”

He picked up his coffee and drank it in one gulp, then left without shaking hands with the Mayor.

“See Mr. Lans out.”

The Mayor instructed, and the secretary trotted a few steps to open the door for Lans and followed him out of the office.

They didn't speak on the way until they were about to leave the City Hall building, when the secretary asked, “What are you going to do?”

Lans didn't answer him, just shook his head and left by car.

After seeing Lans off, the secretary returned to the office, feeling curious, “Why did you say that?”

The Mayor looked out the window at the cloudless sky, as blue as a flawless sapphire, “Because of Williams.”

“You know, when Williams stands with them, they are one.”

“But Williams has already decided to run for Mayor and is very likely to win and become the new ruler of this city.”

“Tell me, at that time, will this city listen to Williams, or will it listen to the Bay Area?”

This was a question. The secretary thought for a while and said, “Of course, it will listen to… Williams.”

“You don't need to consider my feelings!” the Mayor said, then nodded, but after a while, he started shaking his head again, “Yes, but not entirely.”

“When they are together, they are friends; when they are separated, they are enemies. No one is willing to give up the power in their hands, so there will be competition and struggle between them.”

“Lans is clearly standing on Williams' side, so they will inevitably confront each other sooner or later.”

“Those old men in the Bay Area are used to treating power as their personal property and keeping it in their pockets. They will not agree to hand over their scepter of power!”

“Helping Lans is equal to accelerating the friction and struggle between them.”

“Anyway, I'm already like this, what's there to worry about?”

He even hummed a couple of lines from a song, inexplicably humming, as if he was in a very good mood.

“Williams is a smart man. Once he has conflicts with the people in the Bay Area, he will realize that the best way to get rid of the Bay Area's control over his power is not to rely entirely on the Goldport Terminal.”

“Besides the Goldport Terminal, what other terminal in this city can he quickly get started with and use to compete with the Goldport Terminal?”

This was equivalent to stating the standard answer. The secretary also said the answer the Mayor wanted, “Newport Terminal.”

The Mayor smiled and nodded, very satisfied with the answer, “Yes, Newport Terminal. We all know that someone will eventually use it, but we didn't expect it to be restarted in this way!”

Restarted in a way that the Goldport interest group splits and begins to fight!

Lans is now standing on Williams' side, so naturally, the Newport District will also be Lans' territory in the future!

Letting him take care of the investors in the Newport District, isn't that the most normal thing to do?

With this “deal,” even though the Mayor has failed, he can still maintain some political and capital resources!

After hearing this, the secretary became even more admiring of the Mayor. Even though he lost, he was really only a millimeter away from victory!

Lans, who had come out of the City Hall, was still recalling his conversation with the Mayor. In fact, the process wasn't long, and the content wasn't much, but the information revealed was very rich.

This was a good way to solve the trouble Charlie and Hunt were causing him, but before that, there needed to be a way to get Hunt removed from the position of Chief of Police.

The reason for removing Hunt from office, rather than killing him, was to avoid a full-scale escalation of the conflict between Councilor Williams and the people in the Bay Area before the election.

Although doing so would also be a bit unpleasant, it certainly wouldn't be too bad.

Kicking the old man's dog is one thing, but killing the old man's dog is definitely another!

One is that you don't respect the old man, the other is that you despise the old man, and that's a big difference!

Although the Mayor lost, he was still a wise man!

Lans had the driver take him directly to Williams Manor. He wanted to talk to Williams about replacing the Chief of Police.

The vehicle turned directly from the city center and headed towards another district.

William, who had just come out of the office, frowned slightly as he looked at the convoy in the distance, “It looks like Lans' convoy.”

He said to his assistant, “What could he be doing in the city center?”

As he spoke, he shook his head and got into the car. He didn't think Lans would go to see the Mayor. Perhaps no one but Lans himself could have imagined this.

You should know that they were previously “sworn enemies.” The Mayor had hired two groups of people to deal with Lans. If Lans hadn't been strong, he might have really been defeated.

William skipped these messy thoughts. He was going to talk to several selected landowners in the Empire District about purchasing land.

He wanted to buy a piece of land to build a high school, which was what he had promised, and he certainly needed to achieve this first.

It's actually easy to become a trusted politician, as long as you keep your word.

But this is also the most difficult thing, because most politicians can't deliver on their promises, especially those made to basic voters.

He didn't want to become a “lying politician.” He was still thinking about what Lans had told him before, that he might be “Mayor Williams” in the future.

Moreover, Emily was pregnant. If it was a boy, he had to continue to work towards that.

The driver had only just pulled out when he vaguely sensed something was wrong.

“Mr. Williams, someone is following us.”

William subconsciously turned his head to look behind him. The driver didn't even have time to warn him.

The car behind suddenly started accelerating!

They noticed William turning his head and realized they had been discovered!

This made William couldn't help but feel terrified and angry, “What the hell do these people want to do?”

But the driver didn't know, so he could only tell him to “sit tight” and start controlling the car.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone. In addition to his assistant, there was also a bodyguard in the car.

The bodyguard directly drew his weapon and started shooting at the car that was trying to ram them. For a time, gunshots rang out, and the whole street was filled with screaming people.

The cars on the road also stopped on the side of the road!

The Federals understood this too well. No one would watch a gang shootout, because every year the newspapers reported that people were accidentally injured by stray bullets while watching a gang fight.

Even shot and killed after being mistaken for someone else, so the moment the gunshots rang out, the whole street was filled with people looking for cover!