Empire of Shadows

This was the first time many people had entered the Goldport Casino.

In the beginning, they didn't have much money. Forget about coming inside to see the sights; they couldn't even get through the front door.

Everyone who runs a casino isn't stupid. Don't think that the Goldport Casino's buses are constantly soliciting customers at the port, and even giving these newly arrived tourists a sum of free chips to spend.

These are actually all designed.

In this era, people who can travel by boat to another region, or even to another country, are not poor.

The poor can't leave the place where they live. Some Federation citizens have lived in a small town since they were born.

Until the day they die, they have never left the town by more than five kilometers.

So, in this period, people who can travel long distances are potential, high-quality casino customers.

Giving them some chips, taking them to the casino for free, and letting them enjoy the fun is not a loss.

As long as two or three out of ten people are interested in the games in the casino, all their expenses can be recovered from these two or three people, not to mention making a big profit.

But it's not so easy for those poor people already in the city to come in.

First of all, they need to show something that can make people see their potential to pay, which is money, at least ten or twenty dollars.

Secondly, they have to be well-dressed. Not necessarily wearing very good clothes, but at least clean and tidy, and not rude.

After all, the players who gamble in the casino don't want to sit at the same table with a beggar, so they must be well-dressed.

These two points alone have already prevented many people at the bottom from entering the casino.

Later, when Lance's people had money and status, they didn't come in because Lance and the five major families were at odds.

They stood in two different camps, and they would not easily come to the casino, let alone contribute their share to the Kodar family's income.

So, when they were poor, they couldn't get in, and when they were rich, they didn't want to come in, making this their first time.

The luxurious decoration stimulated everyone's nerves. After Lance walked around the office area, he returned to the second floor.

He stood by the railing. Below were neatly arranged gambling tables. Standing here and looking down, you could imagine how shocking it would be when the gambling tables below were full of people!

He turned to look at the young people, his eyes finally falling on Morris.

"Come here, Morris."

Morris coughed twice and walked over.

Lance put his arm around his shoulder and turned him to look at the gambling tables below, "Among us, the person who knows the most about gambling and casinos is you."

"Me, Elvin, and the others, we don't understand the specific operation of the casino."

"Maybe it's no problem for us to talk big, anyway, we don't need to take any responsibility."

"But if we really let us do it, we can't do it well."

He looked at Morris, and Morris also realized what Lance meant. He widened his eyes and shook his head, saying, "I can't do these things well!"

Lance disagreed with his point of view, "You can at least do better than us."

"The casino will be handed over to you to manage, five casinos, according to your ideas."

"You can hire some professional managers, or other practitioners, arrange them well, and don't be stingy with wages."

"The income of the casino is very important, although not much money can fall into our own pockets."

Lance had already revealed to them that a large part of the profits from operating the casino after it was taken over would be transferred to other places, and they could not keep much for themselves.

Moreover, Lance didn't think that private brewing was inferior to casinos. Even if private brewing was done well, it would definitely make more money than casinos in this period!

People are crazy about Prohibition!

Those who didn't drink before are now starting to drink. They just want to use this method to protest and vent their inner dissatisfaction with the government!

So, as long as Prohibition is not resolved for a day, the federal liquor business will continue to be good for a day!

Choosing Morris as this person was also a decision Lance made after thinking about it for a long time.

As the five major families are disintegrated by him, the "enemy gangs" in the entire city will only become fewer and fewer, and eventually disappear completely.

Morris still has some skills in this city, but if he leaves this city, for example, if he goes to Creek Valley City, he won't be able to get along.

Now that there are not so many internal problems and enemies, his work and the importance of his work are constantly decreasing.

Instead of letting him end up with nothing to do, it's better to give him a job he's familiar with, running a casino.

He grew up in a casino since he was a child. Those small casinos look different from the big casinos, but there is essentially no difference.

They all take the money of the gambling dogs from their pockets and put it into their own pockets.

As long as he can do these things well, it is enough.

Meeting Lance's insightful eyes, Morris finally did not refuse, he agreed, "I'll try."

"If I don't do well, please find someone to replace me immediately!"

He sighed softly. In fact, he was really uneasy about such a heavy responsibility.

But Lance's trust made him unable to refuse, and he finally agreed.

Many guys who had a good relationship with him ran over to rub his hair or hug him. Managing these five casinos not only represented that he was about to enter another stage of his life, but also represented Lance's absolute trust in him, an unshakable trust!

Borton in the crowd was a little envious. Of course, he knew that the identity of "Casino General Manager" was much more important than his current identity.

But he was indeed not very familiar with this aspect. Although he was envious and jealous, he didn't have any dissatisfaction.

Although he was much worse than Morris, he was much better than others.

The news that Lance had taken people to the Goldport Casino began to spread. It may have been spread by the Kodar family, but Lance didn't stop it, because they would soon know about it.

On the second day that the casino suspended business and the Kodar family had not figured out what had happened, the front page of the Goldport Today reported this news—

"The Biggest Change in Thirty Years, Will the Lance Family Ascend to the Top?"

Under the huge black headline was a photo of Lance from the old company. He didn't look at the camera, but he was wearing a cloak, and the subordinates around him were all exuding a murderous aura.

Someone opened the car door for him, and he was walking towards the car on the side of the road. Although the picture was static, everyone who saw this photo could imagine the aura and temperament on him, like a lion on the prairie!

Then the following began to introduce some developments and some speculations about this matter, and the second edition even introduced that the Kodar family's five gambling franchise licenses and five casinos had been signed and authorized by Bandy to Lance.

The newspaper also put up some small pictures, including the scene of Lance signing, the scene of Bandy signing, the legal teams of both parties, and photos of some other people.

If the reporter previously thought that Lance had become the largest gang leader in Goldport City and would rule the underworld of Goldport City, it would only make people feel that it was a matter of course.

Then the report in the second edition shattered everyone's emotions!

How did Lance become… the owner of the casino?

They didn't understand, but no matter whether it was a photo or something else, it was placed there, and no one could change this fact, and the police had stopped all investigations into Bandy, and also stopped the follow-up inspections and prosecutions.

A dead person, without any special driving force, the police station will not waste resources to investigate him, let alone prosecute a dead person who cannot respond.

In other words, even if someone questions whether these contracts are legal and compliant, it is meaningless.

People who saw this report fell into an indescribable emotional change. They realized that the underworld of Goldport City had really undergone a huge and unimaginable change!

The Kodar family also saw this report.

"Bang!"

The table in the auditorium made a loud noise, and the dull atmosphere was broken in an instant. An old man of Bandy's uncle's generation couldn't help but stand up.

He looked at the clansmen, his voice was very loud, "Why is no one talking?"

"Weren't you very good at talking yesterday?"

"Why aren't you talking now? Don't you like to talk?"

There were immediately curses below. Everyone was very distressed now. The benefits that had been obtained were gone. Where the hell is there any place to reason?

The old man didn't take the voices of those who cursed him to heart. Instead, he mocked, "You have the guts to scold me, but you don't have the guts to scold Lance!"

"You must know that what he has taken away is the Kodar family's century-old foundation!"

There was anger and sadness in his voice, as if Lance's actions had really poked his trachea.

In fact, the Kodar family doesn't have any so-called century-old history. It has only gradually developed to its current scale in the past three or fifty years.

At the same time, their franchise is not their own thing.

Before 955, the federal government did not allow the public operation of casinos and other gambling-related business establishments. At that time, all casinos were illegal.

People can sit together in groups of three or five to play cards and bring a little prize money, but absolutely no one can provide such a place for others to gamble.

If someone did that, that person would be arrested and prosecuted for "illegally operating a gambling establishment" and then put in jail.

But there were too many gamblers in the Federation, especially the gold miners and the poor, who were addicted to gambling.

Almost all the taverns had this situation, with three or five people, or seven or eight people, sitting around a table and starting to gamble.

The tavern owners would not charge them service fees or provide chip exchange services just because they were gambling.

So this was not considered "business", and the bar owners did not need to bear any related responsibilities.

The federal government saw huge profits in this, and coupled with the rapid development of the Federation at the time, after discussions in Congress, it was decided to allow the operation of casinos.

However, a special operating permit was required, and at least sixty percent or more of special taxes had to be paid.

So these things were not the Koda family's "heirlooms", but they were obtained by them through other means of coercion.

In the past, when they coerced others' licenses, those people may not have thought that there would be such a day when their descendants would also be plundered by others.

But this is precisely in line with the laws of nature's development.

The old man's hoarse voice quieted the auditorium again, but soon someone asked, "What else can we do?"

"That's Lance!"

"The five major families are finished. Shouldn't you open your eyes and look around and at reality? We are finished!"

The old man glared at that person fiercely, "As long as we are still here, the Koda family will not be finished."

That person sneered and stopped talking. There were still people immersed in the greatness of the family and unable to extricate themselves.

In fact, there were indeed many such people. Even if they already knew that the world had changed, they were still unwilling to break free from the glory of the past.

They were unwilling to accept the facts.

"Bandy died unclearly. Maybe it has something to do with these authorizations. We must protest and let higher-level law enforcement agencies investigate this case to find out who is stealing the wealth belonging to our family!"

He was considering some countermeasures, and some people were a little tempted. After all, the family's wealth mainly came from casinos.

Now that the casinos were gone, it was definitely a fatal blow to them!

Moreover, with the complete rise of the Lance family, if they lost the casinos, it meant that it would be difficult for them to continue to gain a foothold in Goldport City.

Let them migrate to other places like other families and re-establish a territory from scratch?

That would be better than disbanding on the spot!

So someone who supported him asked, "What are you going to do?"

The old man pursed his lips, and a firm look appeared in his eyes, "Go to Menton, find someone who can exert influence on this matter, give them some benefits, and see if there is any way to change this terrible outcome."

"I know some big shots who used to have a good relationship with Bandy. They might be interested in my proposal."

Someone asked, "What kind of benefits do you want to use to persuade them to oppose Lance?"

"Money?"

"Or something else?"

The old man said more bluntly, "Casino shares, even if we give out half of them, it's better than losing it completely!"

"I know some of you may think it's a lot, but in reality, it's not much."

"When we can stabilize and develop little by little in the future, it may not be impossible to stand up again."

"The casino is our only chance to stand up again. If we lose it, we will lose everything!"

"Including the wealth we now possess, everything, even…"

His tone became a little low, and in people's unwillingness, he said the words they didn't want to hear, "…life!"

Yes, life.

Although they were finished, the wealth they possessed was still unattainable by ordinary people. So many industries, so many companies, these were all money!

In the past, they were able to protect these industries because the remaining power of the five major families was still there, but now, those people no longer had any scruples.

Soon they would try to annex these wealth. Whoever stopped them, they would kill!

Those people in the Bay Area looked like civilized gentlemen on the surface, but in their bones, they were even more disgusting than the evil dogs in the cemetery!

With a decision made, most people agreed with his choice, and soon they began to operate.

However, compared to the operating methods of most people, some people had different ideas, and at the same time, they did not intend to tell others.

These people belonged to the few who were sober. They knew very well that even if the old man's plan succeeded, they would still not be able to escape those tragic ends in the end.

Because they had lost the power to protect these wealth and everything. The result of doing so was nothing more than changing from "the people in the Bay Area or Lance taking away everything from them" to "the people in Menton taking away everything from them", that's all!

So instead of letting the situation get worse step by step, it was better to run now.

Those people packed their things and set off secretly. They didn't tell anyone and planned to leave this city forever.

As long as they had money, they could live comfortably anywhere.

Of course, they couldn't compare with the past, but at least, they were still in the wealthy class and hadn't fallen into the middle class.

But there were also a few people whose choices were different.

Instead of being chewed up and swallowed by the diners at the table, it was better to change to a new backer.

A middle-aged man in his forties came to Lance's new company with his sincerity and requested to see Lance.

Soon he was allowed to see Lance. Of course, before that, he was searched, including his shoes, which he took off and were checked again.

When he came to Lance's office, he patted his cheeks, intending to face Lance with a rosy smiling face and the most sincere flattering attitude, but his flattering smile solidified little by little as the door was opened.

His first thought was "Why the hell are you here?", and when the people in the room saw him, they were no longer so shocked. Some even rolled their eyes, as if saying "You're just arriving now."

He was pushed by the person behind him and walked into Lance's spacious office. He looked at those brothers and a nephew sitting on the sofa, and the expression on his face kept changing.

Lance smiled, "You should know each other."

The youngest person quickly bent down and said, "Yes, Mr. Lance, this is my uncle…", he said the man's name.

Lance asked the guy who had just entered to also sit on the sofa, "If I'm not mistaken, what you want to say must be the same as what they want to say."

The middle-aged man glanced at the few people beside him with an ugly face, and then immediately put on a smile, "Yes, Mr. Lance."

"There are a few people in the family who can't see the situation clearly. They are trying to find help in Menton to change the status quo."

"I'm not worried that you are not their opponent, I just think…things in the city should be resolved in the city."

He lowered his head after speaking.