Empire of Shadows

After Hiram finished speaking about the large quantity of alcohol in the warehouse, he didn't continue. He had said everything he needed to say, and stood beside them with his hands hanging at his sides.

Lance picked up the telephone directory. A comprehensive telephone directory was definitely a hallmark of a bygone era. Within its pages, you could find most of the numbers you were looking for, whether they were for businesses or private individuals.

Some publishers even relied on printing telephone directories to sustain their businesses, and they were doing quite well—printing telephone directories with pimp advertisements, and placing them for free in public phone booths. Those pimps would pay them advertising fees.

Lance dialed the number. A woman answered.

“Please transfer me to your manager. I have some business matters to discuss with him.”

“One moment.”

About twenty seconds later, the call was reconnected.

“This is… the office. This is Green speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hello, Mr. Green. I’m a friend of Hiram's. He told me that your company owes eight of them a month's salary.”

Manager Green’s voice immediately became harsh. “If you’re calling me about the wages of a few bastards, then I suggest you hang up right now, or I’ll find you and make your asshole swallow the receiver in your hand!”

Lance didn’t take the venomous attack to heart. “I want to know if you intend to pay them their salaries.”

“Fuck you!” Immediately after, the receiver emitted a busy tone. Lance looked at the receiver in his hand and shrugged.

The phone quality was good, and the sound was loud enough for both men in the office to hear.

Erwin wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare to. Hiram, on the other hand, was furious.

For about a minute or so, no one spoke, and the atmosphere seemed somewhat heavy.

Then, Erwin said softly, “I heard that that company hires some illegal immigrants every month, and then doesn’t pay them and kicks them out.”

Lance was interrupted, but he followed Erwin's words and asked, “Doesn't anyone resist or report them?”

Hiram then continued, “Mr. Lance, our boss has some connections. Someone reported him before, twice.”

“The first time he was fined a thousand dollars, the second time he was fined fifteen hundred dollars.”

“But the people who reported him were somehow caught by him. Both of them had their legs broken. One person has disappeared, and the other is now working as a gatekeeper for us.”

“Gatekeeper?” Lance was a little confused. “Is he still guarding your warehouse?”

Hiram nodded. “He’s chained to the guardhouse like a dog. The boss and them will give him food to eat. He himself is actually… numb, probably.”

“But they used this method to warn us. He said he has a good relationship with law enforcement, so no matter who reports him, he will be found and pay a heavy price.”

“Mr. Lance, please help us.”

“There are also some other Imperials who have been harmed by them, it's not just for our own wages!”

Lance had already made a decision at this point. “How many trucks does it take to load all the alcohol?”

Hiram immediately became excited. “Five trucks, Mr. Lance.”

“If we go at night, will it alarm them?”

“Our people are on duty at night. There will be two foremen in the company, but they will be sleeping in the house inside the warehouse and usually won't come out.”

Lance looked at Erwin. “You and Hiram go and figure out the situation, I'll go and get the trucks.”

Since they didn't plan to talk nicely, then Lance would change his approach.

The traffic on the road was slightly less today. It had been raining heavily recently, and many people were reluctant to go out.

When he arrived at Lezhut's place, Fordis wasn't there. He had gone out to work. The little beauty at the front desk still had that nonchalant look. Lance went directly to Alberto.

The latter was reading the “Horse Racing News.” Alberto occasionally liked to gamble a few times. It’s worth noting that “a few times” wasn't a noun.

In the past two years, many people had become obsessed with horse racing. Some wealthy people would even raise their own horses and then participate in races. It seemed like a hobby, but in reality, it was a business.

The stud fee for a champion racehorse was much more expensive than a luxury car!

After “Bomb Jazz” won the Triple Crown a few years ago, each breeding session with it now cost about thirty-five thousand to fifty thousand dollars.

Many wealthy people were treating horse racing as an emerging investment, and the entire horse racing industry was booming.

Many places in the Federation were building racetracks and joining the horse racing league.

This primitive version of speed and passion was always fatally attractive to men!

“You're not interested in baseball anymore?”

Lance sat across from him. Alberto put down the newspaper and gestured for him to take a cigarette. “It’s not that I'm not interested, but our opponent in the next round is too weak. I can't muster any interest.”

“You know, only those strong opponents can make me feel excited, blood is burning!”

“As for those weak ones, I don't even want to go to the venue to watch the game!”

He put his hands on the table. “So, are you here today to talk to me about baseball and horse racing?”

“If you’re interested in this, I can talk to you all day!”

Lance laughed twice. “Of course not, I might be interested in the future, but not now.”

“I want to borrow two trucks for a while.”

“Trucks?” Alberto repeated. “The scope of your work now surprises me!”

He paused. “Yes, do you need drivers?”

Lance coughed lightly. “Are the drivers reliable?”

Alberto raised his head as a matter of course. “Of course, they are our own people. You should have seen them twice, the Howard brothers.”

Lance immediately remembered who they were. “Those brothers whose father was a little drunk when filling out their birth certificates!”

Alberto burst into laughter. “You’ve heard about that too?”

Lance said how he knew. Alberto kept laughing. “Although their father is stupid as hell, both of them are very good at driving.”

“Can you trust them?”

Lance didn't hesitate at all. “Of course.”

Alberto nodded. “When do you roughly need them and the trucks?”

“In the next few days.”

This also made Alberto a little curious. “Can I ask, what are you planning to do?”

“If you can't say, then forget it, it's just a little personal curiosity.”

Lance had nothing to hide. After all, the Howard brothers would definitely know about it, so he said it directly, “I plan to get some alcohol.”

“Alcohol?” Alberto became a little interested. “Are you planning to hoard some too?”

“You can think of it that way.”

He immediately realized that this wasn't hoarding. “Sounds interesting, are you planning to keep it yourself or cash it out as soon as possible?”

“If you want to cash it out, you can consider selling it to me. I'll give you a fair price.”

Lance shook his head. “The price of alcoholic beverages has been rising very quickly recently. I have a feeling that the Prohibition is only one headline away.”

Alberto marveled at his keen sense of smell, agreed with his view, and told him a piece of inside information, “The governor will announce joining the Prohibition League later this month.”

“In fact, if you go to a bar now, you will find that many bars only sell alcoholic beverages to regular customers, and they are also reducing their shipments.”

“The days of making big money are coming, Lance!”

Alcohol that costs seventy or eighty cents can now be sold for nearly two dollars. Many people believe that after the Prohibition is completely promulgated, there will be two hundred percent or even higher profits!

This is more profitable than lending money at high interest!

Goldport City is a port city with a dense flow of people and developed commerce. Almost all entertainment venues need alcoholic beverages, but now they are not allowed to sell alcohol.

This will only make the price of alcohol continue to rise. Alberto has already been able to take out nearly half of his funds to hoard various liquors.

Lance was also a little eager to try.

In the evening, Lance and Erwin went to Hiram's workplace together. After observation, it was indeed as he said.

It was not very clear whether a large amount of alcoholic beverages were piled up in the warehouse, but he had already seen the two foremen.

They were sitting at the entrance of the warehouse chatting, scolding Hiram and the others at every turn, looking very unfriendly.

Lance also saw that “watchdog.” His leg was completely crippled, turned outward. It hadn't received timely treatment after being broken, and was completely disabled.

Of course, it was also impossible to get treatment. Illegal immigrants couldn't go to the hospital. They had no identity, no money, and the hospital wouldn't treat them because the federal medical finance wouldn't pay them.

In the end, he endured it, but also left behind irreparable disabilities, a deformed leg, and a dead heart.

He was curled up lying outside the guardhouse, turning a blind eye to the gazes of some people passing by, either sleeping or in a daze.

Later in the evening, Erwin changed into Hiram's clothes and sneaked in.

He stayed inside all night and hadn't been discovered yet. The fact that it was too dark to see clearly was one reason, and the arrogance of the two foremen was another.

Early the next morning, he took the opportunity to run out.

“After dinner, they will lock the warehouse door. The key is in their hands, so if we want to pull the alcohol inside, we must first get the key.”

"And the slightly troublesome thing is that the little house isn't soundproof. In other words, they'll definitely be able to hear us as long as we move things."

Lance nodded noncommittally. "What about the wine? How much is there?"

"I'm not too sure, maybe twenty or thirty thousand bottles?"

Erwin wasn't certain about this. Hiram and the others had participated in the moving, but they didn't know exactly how many bottles there were.

But even if there really were only twenty or thirty thousand bottles, that would still be a lot of money.

As he spoke, Erwin even took out several labels from the cardboard boxes and gave them to Lance. "I secretly tore these off."

Looking at those beautiful lines, Lance knew this batch of wine definitely wouldn't be cheap!