Empire of Shadows

In the dimly lit bar, ambiguous light occasionally fell on people's faces, as several customers sat at the bar, glancing towards a small balcony-like single table on the second floor.

"Has Jason struck it rich recently?"

A customer at the bar asked softly.

The bar's business wasn't great during the day, but there were still some customers; for alcoholics, drinking knew no day or night.

They only cared whether alcohol entered their bloodstream!

In the Federation, there had been more than one instance of people drinking medical alcohol, and some even injected alcohol directly into their blood vessels.

Although the government had repeatedly told people not to do that, some always had sudden whims and gave it a try.

These people were alcoholics, and they didn't actually spend much here, usually only about ten cents each time: a large glass of beer with 0.5 ounces of whiskey added.

After ensuring a sufficient "amount," the alcohol content wasn't too low, giving them a slightly tipsy feeling.

Actually, they wanted to drink hard liquor, but they couldn't afford it.

The bartender shook his head slightly, "Not sure, but judging from his spending today, he's definitely got money."

Someone who knew Jason took off his dusty baseball cap and waved it, "Hey, Jason, over here, buy us a drink?"

Jason, feeling moved by the stripper, glanced at the bar downstairs; these people were his usual friends.

"Of course… give them each a glass of Naboo whiskey, my treat!"

The bartender skillfully took out a bottle of Naboo whiskey, and then three glasses, lining them up.

Here, each glass was about two ounces or so; it wasn't that precise, not a single gram more or less.

The bartender had done it so many times that he had a rough idea without needing to measure specifically.

A glass of Naboo whiskey cost twenty-nine cents, and a bottle could sell about eleven glasses.

Actually, according to the labeled quantity, it could pour twelve glasses, but… sometimes it was poured a bit more; alcoholics weren't all fools, they could tell if it was a bit less or a bit more.

These cheap alcoholics were all people who loved to take small advantages, or rather, the lower class of society were like this; they could line up from five in the morning to wait for a promotion to get a free piece of fried chicken, feeling like they'd gotten a great deal when they finally ate it at noon.

But in reality, if they spent the morning doing odd jobs, they could earn much more money than a piece of fried chicken!

However, they wouldn't consider it that way, so they continued to live like this.

Pouring a little more could deepen their attachment to the bar; the owner and bartender weren't fools.

The rich aroma of Naboo whiskey spread as the liquid's surface area increased, making the alcoholics' saliva glands secrete rapidly.

The baseball cap raised his glass, "To our generous Mr. Jason!"

"To Jason!"

Jason also laughed heartily and raised his glass, "Another round for them!"

After taking a sip of wine, he focused his attention on the stripper in front of him.

Goldport City's laws didn't allow solicitation, but almost no one followed this regulation; a bustling port city needed this to stimulate its vitality.

The woman in front of him was hired by Jason for ten dollars to dance exclusively for him; watching her clothes disappear one by one, watching her seductive movements, Jason was already boiling with excitement.

The five dollars in change he'd exchanged earlier had long been thrown on the small stage; the woman didn't pick it up, but instead worked even harder.

After all, giving someone an excellent blowjob only cost five dollars, but now she got five dollars just for dancing, so of course she wanted more, naturally working even harder.

Jason unbuttoned his pants, "Come here, ride me."

The dancer shook her head, even this action was full of temptation, "It's not allowed here…"

She didn't say it definitively, only that it wasn't allowed here, but if they went out, it wouldn't be a problem.

The boss didn't want to cause trouble, so they could leave the bar and go to the second floor across the street, where there were rooms.

Jason swallowed, his voice coming from his throat, "How much money would it take for you to leave with me?"

"Ten dollars."

She would give three dollars to the bar owner, one dollar to the bartender, one dollar to the security guard, and she would get five dollars herself.

Without the bar owner, there would be no platform; the streetwalkers outside only cost five dollars, some even one dollar for a blowjob; this was the difference between the bar and the street.

Without the bartender, the customers wouldn't know if she was available; the bartender also wouldn't introduce her to new customers, after all, some new customers weren't familiar with the place, they would mostly order a drink and then ask the bartender who had the best skills.

Without the security guard, if an alcoholic harassed her or even wanted to force himself on her, no one would protect her, so this one dollar couldn't be saved.

In fact, of the ten dollars she received, what truly belonged to her might not even be five dollars, after all, to increase competitiveness in this line of work, it was necessary to invest in oneself.

Cosmetics, or clothes, or something.

It looked like she earned the same as those cheap streetwalkers outside, but in reality, it was several times, even dozens of times, hundreds of times the difference.

The business here had a stable source of customers; if she could win over three or five customers, her net income each month would be over a hundred dollars, and the most important thing was safety and security.

Jason took care of his little brother, finished his drink in one gulp, "I'll wait for you across the street."

The girl gave him an understanding look, then stuck her butt out and knelt on the small stage to pick up the money.

The angle was very good, a beam of pink light illuminated her butt, making Jason want to slam even the floor.

Couldn't look anymore, these little bitches were too good!

He turned and went downstairs, the bartender greeted him, "Jason, I didn't know you were so fast, is it always like this?"

The alcoholics also laughed, Jason smiled and cursed, "I have something to do and have to leave for a while, you know."

The bartender was also very happy, because today there was another dollar of income; in this damn world, who wouldn't want more money in their pocket?

"So you're here to settle the bill?"

"Yes, how much?"

The bartender picked up the bill and calculated it; he and his guests had drunk a total of seven glasses of wine, Jason also ordered a beef burger…

"Twelve dollars and fifty-three cents, I'll round it down to twelve."

The change he had exchanged had already been settled at the door, so there was no need to pay again here.

He went upstairs for less than twenty minutes, the bar's charging standard was ten dollars for fifty minutes, so the bartender giving this discount was no problem, after all, it was only fifty minutes.

And it looked like Jason had really struck it rich, he hoped this would make him come more often.

Jason took out a wad of money, it looked like sixty or seventy, counted out twenty dollars, and put it on the table.

The bartender, while giving change, asked, "Have you struck it rich recently?"

Jason smiled and didn't speak, which instead aroused people's curiosity.

A friend who usually drank here asked, "Last month I thought you went somewhere else, I haven't seen you, did you go to make a fortune during that time?"

"Jason, if there's a good opportunity, please take me with you, I guarantee half of my income will be yours."

Jason took back the change the bartender gave him, "There may not be such an opportunity, if making money was so easy, everyone would be rich, but if possible, I'll prioritize you."

He said, patting the shoulder of the person next to him, "After all, we're good friends."

After they said goodbye to Jason, they looked at Jason's departing back, their expressions not as enthusiastic as before, some even spat on the ground.

"What's so great…"

Walking out of the bar, the hot sun shone down, and the hot, fishy sea breeze blew over, sobering him up a bit; he was standing there in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking, when suddenly a car stopped in front of him.

He glanced at it, and was stunned for a second, then turned and ran!

He saw Hiram, Ron, and Morris driving the car.

They used to know each other, and later became closer because they worked together last month.

Hiram looked like a dumb second son of a farmer, but people who knew him knew he was very clever.

When he worked in the warehouse for half a month, he felt that Hiram's purpose in doing this job wasn't necessarily for the salary.

But no matter what, he knew there was trouble now.

Hiram and Ron, who had just gotten out of the car, also ran after him, and Morris started the car and crashed into Jason.

This old car accelerated too slowly, but this also forced Jason to run into the alley.

Although the acceleration was slow, when it added up, it was really not slow!

Having just finished drinking, and now extremely frightened, his mind was blank, only knowing to run randomly subconsciously.

A few minutes later, he leaned against a high wall in despair, panting heavily, "Hiram, Ron, let me go this time."

"I'll split the money with you half!"

Hiram walked up to him and punched him hard in the face, "You son of a bitch, do you think this is about money?"

Ron quickly joined the fight, and they beat Jason hard and tied his hands and feet.

Ron went to find Morris, while Hiram sat here watching him.

"Hiram, for the sake of our past collaboration, let me go. I'll disappear from Gold Harbor City immediately, and you'll never see me again!" Jason pleaded, "I only spent a few dollars..."

Hiram looked at him. "We just agreed to keep a low profile for a while, and you immediately went out to spend money. Are you trying to kill us all!"

"Jason, don't say you're my friend. Even if you were my own brother, I wouldn't let you leave!"

Jason begged, "Let me go, I'll give you all the money I have!"

Hiram remained unmoved.

A few minutes later, the car stopped at the alley entrance. Hiram dragged Jason by the hair.

At first, he shouted and screamed, but after a few blows to the mouth with a brick, he became completely docile.

At this moment, the woman who came out of the bar went directly to the room. Although she didn't see Jason, she was sure he wouldn't break his promise.

In order to turn this transaction into a long-term business, she designed a look for herself, dressing herself up like a small gift to give Jason a surprise!