Empire of Shadows

The city was becoming overwhelmed with refugees fleeing the war to the Federation, scattered across different regions, with even Gold State seeing a significant influx.

The arrival of refugees was a heavy blow to small cities lacking development potential.

To address some of the issues, the President recognized the legitimacy of refugee work, meaning that employing refugees didn't require them to have work permits or prove legal immigration status; simply stating they were refugees was enough.

This also meant that many illegal immigrants were now counted among the refugees, with no one knowing where the federal government would step next.

Perhaps... they might even agree to grant citizenship to refugees unwilling to return home?

The surge of cheap labor was impacting the entire federal labor market, visibly leading to the decline of cities with refugee populations.

More and more people dressed in rags filled the streets, while fewer and fewer consumers visited the roadside shops, plunging the entire country into a strange "disease."

"The Tide," the largest-circulation newspaper in the Licale State region, unusually refrained from printing pictures of scantily clad women in its early July issue, opting instead for a serious headline: "The Black Death is Devouring the Federation's Life."

Of course, "Black Death" was in quotation marks.

The front page, which would normally feature two large breasts, instead displayed an aerial photograph of the city, showing a distinct black stain encroaching upon it.

The second page featured more detailed photographs of these black stains, revealing them to be black spots composed of individual people.

As the camera zoomed in, it became clear that those people were refugees.

"The Tide" likened the refugees to the Black Death consuming the Federation's life, a comparison that some found apt, as the massive influx of refugees had made everything worse.

Jobs, life, everything!

However, some moralists considered it an unethical act, accusing the newspaper of using such a harsh metaphor to demonize and smear the refugee community.

But undeniably, they succeeded.

People disliked the refugees even more than they previously disliked illegal immigrants, perhaps even more so.

At least illegal immigrants didn't have the right to work, and their survival somewhat depended on the Federation citizens.

They used Federation citizens' work cards to get jobs, sharing a significant portion of their earnings with them.

But refugees were different; they had the right to work, meaning that every refugee who found a job took away a Federation citizen's livelihood.

The Federation was deteriorating, and the people's livelihoods were no longer guaranteed!

Too many refugees were arriving, and the federal government was negotiating with another group, preventing them from expelling all the refugees.

Adult refugees would find ways to survive, through manual labor or selling their bodies, but not everyone could find a way to live.

So they would send some children into the federal cities to find opportunities to survive, opportunities to eat.

Garbage cans were their common haunt, and they became the greatest enemies of the homeless.

Especially the teenagers, who appeared in the city in groups, causing many to worry about public safety issues.

On the street, Lance's convoy stopped in front of St. Naya Cathedral, catching people's attention. Many refugee children rushed over, extending their dirty hands towards the people emerging from the cars.

After living here for some time, they had finally come to terms with reality, knowing who they could be a little more aggressive in begging from, and who they could only watch from afar.

Lance glanced at Elvin, who took out a handful of coins from the car and tossed them to the children.

The children eagerly bent down to pick up the coins, and he noticed that one child didn't bend down. He stood out among the group of children who were bending down, even kneeling, to pick up the coins.

He looked at Lance, and Lance looked at him. After a few seconds of eye contact, Lance turned his head.

Lance leaned over and whispered a few words to Hiram, who nodded and glanced at the teenager. Then, Lance turned around with a smile and walked into the newly renovated St. Naya Cathedral.

Of course, not into the building itself, but into the outer perimeter of the cathedral, which was completely separated from the outside by an iron fence.

Lance had contributed a lot of money to the renovation and expansion of the cathedral. Whoever pays the piper calls the tune has always been a fine human tradition. It was about three or four times larger than before, with more open space and more magnificent buildings, looking full of divine glory!

There were already many people on the lawn. Today was Lance's engagement ceremony, and basically everyone in Goldport City who didn't have any conflicts with him would be here.

As soon as he entered, he saw the priest chatting with Roger, whose Imperial Chamber of Commerce was doing better and better. Their stockpiled grain still had a lot of room for appreciation.

Especially with so many refugees pouring in and the federal government failing to come up with any concrete and effective management methods, the demand for food had increased.

As a free market behavior, the price of grain would naturally increase.

As long as the grain remained in the warehouse, the price would continue to increase.

Roger, who was originally just an ordinary small businessman, was now considered a well-known figure in the Imperial District.

The two of them stopped their conversation the moment they saw Lance enter and walked towards him.

The priest bowed without hesitation, not caring that the statue of God hanging on his chest was swaying.

He may have been a devout believer before, but after meeting Lance, he became a believer in the first president!

"The new church is beautiful, and today will be a complete ceremony," Lance complimented him.

The priest showed a slight smile, "It is my honor that you chose St. Naya Cathedral!"

Lance smiled and looked at Roger, who also said a few congratulatory words before walking to the side with him.

The priest wanted to follow, but ultimately didn't, as he didn't belong to their circle.

"Someone contacted me recently wanting that batch of grain and that batch of medicine."

Lance took out a cigarette, and Roger immediately took out a lighter, shielding the flame with one hand so that Lance could light the cigarette before nodding, "They offered a very suitable price."

However, Lance didn't agree. He had always known some inside information, "Tell them that the purpose of stockpiling these materials is for our own use."

"For our own use..." Roger looked surprised and bewildered, as if he had encountered something unbelievable.

Lance said with a smile, "A perfunctory excuse for them. Now is not the time to truly realize the value of those materials. Don't sell them too cheap."

"This time, we can rely on these things to make a fortune!"

He patted Roger's arm and walked towards the next person...

Many people had come to attend Lance's engagement ceremony and were honored to be able to attend.

As the time drew closer, William's car finally arrived at the scene. When he stepped out of the car with Patricia's hand in his, everyone exclaimed at Patricia's beauty!

Under the priest's guidance, Lance arrived at the engagement ceremony venue, and the guests took their seats.

After William brought Patricia here, she came to Lance's side.

"Thank you all for coming here today to witness my engagement ceremony with Patricia. Please don't leave after the ceremony, as lunch has been prepared."

He paused, "Patricia and I met three years ago in the summer, at the tail end of summer. I went to the Commercial Service Bureau to register a company, and the person who received me happened to be my beloved girl."

"The first time I saw her, I knew where the harbor that would moor me for life was."

"Patricia is a..."

Lance talked about his understanding of Patricia, how he met her, fell in love with her, and the process of getting to this point.

Patricia would sometimes remind him of something, and the whole process was very gentle, and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

There were many people who came to attend the engagement ceremony. Before, everyone was standing scattered, so they may not have been very clear about who had come.

But as everyone had sat down, people's attention began to be drawn to the people in the front rows.

The more they looked, the more shocked they felt!

Sitting in the first row on the left were James and Arthur.

One was the eldest son who would inevitably inherit all the power of the Williams family, and the other was the Williams Congressman's favorite youngest son.

The simultaneous appearance of the two meant that their emphasis on Lance was definitely not just ordinary emphasis.

Next to them were some other municipal councilors or their representatives, and then some capitalists from enterprises.

From the perspective of some people who didn't understand the whole thing so well, it was indeed an incredible thing that so many high-ranking people came to Lance's wedding.

No matter how well he did, he was just a gang leader. Why would so many people come to attend his engagement ceremony?

As for the right side, it was relatively ordinary, all people with status and status in the Lance family.

They were all wearing very decent suits today, and even Hiram didn't keep flicking his hair, let alone picking his nose in public.

In this environment, mainly under the influence of these people, everyone became particularly serious about this engagement ceremony.

As Lance and Patricia's "speeches" came to an end, the priest, after conducting some Q\u0026A with standard answers, confirmed that their engagement was acknowledged and blessed by God!

Amidst the blessings of relatives and friends, they exchanged rings—engagement rings, not wedding rings—and revealed their wedding date, approximately at the end of this year.

Originally, the priest had also arranged for a choir to sing, but Lance rejected it all, deeming it unnecessary!

After he and Patricia exchanged rings, he kissed Patricia, and people stood up and began to applaud.

This was a very important matter, both for the Lance family and for the local interest group led by Councilor Williams.

Lance's engagement to a girl from the Lawrence family and the confirmation of the wedding date meant that he was completely rooted in Gold Harbor City.

Previously, they might have felt that Lance was not a true local in the real sense, wondering if he would leave, whether he had a sense of belonging here, and whether they could find common ground with him.

Now, these questions no longer needed consideration, because Lance was a genuine local.

When he and Patricia had children, they would be even more at ease, bound together as a more solid interest group.

For the Lance family, Lance's engagement ceremony represented his acceptance by the local interest group in this city, and their control over the city would become smoother.

Therefore, most people were genuinely applauding, sincerely happy for the union of the two!

After the engagement ceremony, there was also a luncheon, held on the lawn behind the church, in the form of a buffet, but with hot dishes.

The chefs Lance hired from Anderson Restaurant each presented their most skilled dishes, filling the church with laughter and joy.

If God's gaze could truly see here, and observe the people on this lawn, He would surely be gratified!

At least at this moment, these people, under His glory, were happy and blessed.

A young boy calmly watched the "upper class" people on the lawn, their faces filled with smiles as they ate delicious food. They wore high-end clothes and expensive jewelry, each person exuding a noble aura like those in storybooks.

And he, a refugee, a refugee like a beggar, he and this place, these people, were not from the same world at all.

He didn't understand why that most dazzling gentleman wanted to see him, but his instincts told him that this was an opportunity to change his destiny.

Lance socialized among the crowd for quite some time, and after the banquet ended and people began to leave, Lance finally walked over.

He was full of food and drink, sat down in a chair, lit a cigarette, and asked, "Where are you from?"

"Risa."

A place name Lance had never heard of. Perhaps sensing Lance's confusion about the name, he explained, "It's in the Sladlavra Province."

Lance nodded slightly. He actually only knew Slad, but didn't know where Sladlavra was, let alone where Risa was.

"I heard that you've already reached the border of Danterra over there?"

"Why did you flee here?"

The young man was silent for two seconds, "I don't know how to say it, the Danterran counterattack was very fast. They say the flames of war have burned back into the country."

"And…", as if thinking of something terrifying, a trace of fear remained on his face, "They say the Danterrans launched a bloody reprisal in the occupied areas, and many civilians were killed."

"We were afraid they would attack our city, so many people fled."

In reality, they were massacring the civilians of Slad, only in this way could those people not have the courage to organize resistance.

Similarly, in fact, the Slad people had also killed many Danterran civilians. War is war. When the guns of war sound, there is no justice or evil, only the advancement of political or military goals.

It's just that now the guy in front of Lance is here because the federal government and Slad have a better relationship, and when he talks about some terrible things in his hometown, it makes people sympathize.

And the refugees from Danterra went to places further east, perhaps there someone would ask them, and they would also talk about everything the Slad people had done in their homeland!

No one likes war, but sometimes, some problems can only be solved by war.

Lance nodded slightly, sizing him up, "There was a lot of money on the ground at the door just now, why didn't you pick it up? Is it because there was too little?"

The young man shook his head, "No."

Although the coins thrown out were all two-cent, five-cent, and a small number of ten-cent coins, the purchasing power of these coins was not weak now!

If he could pick up three or five cents, he wouldn't go hungry for at least a day!

But he didn't pick it up, just stood there, which made Lance feel a little curious.

"Will they give you the money?" he asked, this was his guess, maybe those younger children were all his "subordinates".

They would hand over the coins they picked up to him.

The young man shook his head again, "No, I'm just here to watch and make sure they don't get bullied."

"You know, sir, sometimes people will attack us for no reason."

Indeed, the sentiment of people hating refugees was constantly rising.

His continuous denials made Lance very curious, and he didn't plan to continue guessing, "Then what makes you not pick up the money on the ground?"

The young man looked a little nervous, "I... my father told me that I must always stand up straight."

Lance was a little surprised to hear this, but then smiled, "Where is he?"

The young man was silent for a while, "He died on the front line."

The smile on Lance's face gradually faded. He thought the man who made him stand up straight had taken them to "escape."

But unexpectedly, that person died on the front line.

"Do you have younger siblings?"

The young man nodded, and Lance probably understood.

He had a certain affinity for this young man, "Are you willing to work for me?"

The young man's expression was first bewildered, but then became shocked, and finally he opened his mouth in disbelief, and even his speech became intermittent.

"Sir, are you serious?"

"Can I work for you?"

Lance nodded, "There's something interesting about you that I see. How far you can go depends entirely on your future choices, but at this moment, I think I can give you a chance."

"The food on the table over there hasn't been cleared away yet. You can ask them for a paper bag and pack some food to take back to your family."

"Tomorrow morning... come to this place, I'll find you something to do."

Lance gave him a business card, "Can you read?"

"Of course, sir, of course!" He excitedly wiped his hands on his back again and again, then carefully took Lance's business card with both hands, a blush appearing on his face, "How much food can I take?"

Lance glanced at the empty table, "As much as you can carry!"