Empire of Shadows

Hearing the sound of the police car, Johnny and the people being beaten beside him breathed a sigh of relief, but a small accident also occurred—

Some people wearing blue work clothes took the initiative to block the police car, even surrounding it.

Even if these people were illegal immigrants, Officer Fellen wouldn't dare to actually run them over with his car. When it comes to murder, victims have no nationality.

Even illegal immigrants.

You can beat them, humiliate them, scold them, but you can't kill them or cause serious harm, otherwise the criminal investigation team will definitely be dispatched.

This forced him to open the car window and whisper to a worker who was glaring at him in front of the car door, "We're on the same side."

At this moment, he felt Lance's power more keenly!

These people usually avoided the police, but now they were willing to block them here, which made Officer Fellen feel that Lance would definitely be one of the big figures in King's Port City in the future.

A few minutes later, the police car slowly arrived at the scene. They arranged for someone to pick up Officer Fellen and his partner, otherwise they would have been blocked at the entrance.

Officer Fellen coughed and walked over with his partner. The two pretended not to know Lance, but in fact, some people had already seen these two policemen outside Lance's office.

This also made these Imperial people in blue work clothes feel Lance's power. He could even manipulate the police!

"What happened?" Officer Fellen asked.

Beck took the initiative to stand up, "I beat them up." Then he picked up a baseball bat, "With this."

Some people in the crowd couldn't help but laugh. Undoubtedly, one person couldn't possibly beat up so many people. This was blatant nonsense, but who cared?

They only felt relieved, amused, and more cohesive and centripetal. They didn't think it was absurd or unacceptable.

Johnny had come back to his senses. He covered his arm, looked at Lance, and his expression changed.

He could say that Lance beat him, but he could also say nothing.

He was the main victim, and whether it was the police or the court, they would respect his testimony more.

But now he was a little scared.

But someone behind him suddenly pointed to Lance's side and said, "They also did it!"

Johnny continued to remain silent. He didn't say that.

Officer Fellen looked at Lance, "He said you guys also did it."

"Did you do it, sir?"

"This is slander!" Lance emphasized.

"Whether you did it or not, we will investigate clearly." Officer Fellen looked like he was handling official business. He looked at the person who reported Lance and said, "Your name, home address, sir."

The man looked blank, but he still said it, "My name is... I live at..."

Just as he was speaking, he suddenly noticed that someone beside Lance was also recording what he said. He suddenly closed his mouth.

Officer Fellen looked at him, "What number is your house on this street?"

He didn't quite understand. How did it feel like this policeman was helping these people?

But he knew this wasn't a good time for him to say these words. He shook his head and stopped talking.

"If you don't want to talk, I won't be able to take them back for investigation."

He still didn't speak. Officer Fellen put away his notebook and looked at Johnny, who was obviously more seriously injured, "Do you need me to call an ambulance for you?"

Johnny shook his head. He gritted his teeth, "Take me to the hospital."

The transportation fee for an ambulance and the treatment fee on the ambulance were very expensive, and this part was not covered by medical insurance. He didn't want to pay this money.

Officer Fellen nodded, then looked at Beck, "You have to come with us. Before that, I need to search you."

Beck cooperatively placed his hands on the police car. Officer Fellen's partner simply searched his body and found no contraband or dangerous items, then took out the handcuffs.

But Officer Fellen stopped him, "I think he's safe, there's no need to handcuff him." Then he opened the back door, "You go in first..."

According to federal local law, when the police officer receiving the call determines that the suspect is only suspected and not dangerous, the suspect may not be required to wear restrictive devices, such as handcuffs. This is the right of the police officer.

Beck said thank you and got into the back seat, followed by Johnny. His left arm was broken and had swollen severely. He was able to hold on until now probably due to the excessive secretion of adrenaline in his body.

Officer Fellen left his partner to continue doing routine work, while he himself took Beck and Johnny away first...

As Lance and the others left, the gathered people also dispersed. And what happened here, as they left, began to spread continuously.

The pier quickly returned to tranquility, but the shock and aftermath it produced were far from being calmed down.

Vaughn arrived at the pier after nine o'clock and immediately called Lance. Someone had told him what had just happened.

As the vice president of the Dockworkers Union, he felt this was a very serious matter!

If not handled properly, it might trigger a series of unpredictable consequences.

As a union organization, Vaughn knew very well that as long as someone guided it and then organized it, it might be another march or something. He had to curb this possible occurrence.

Lance came very quickly. This was also the first time he had come to the union's office.

It was on Pier 1, a two-story building with a single-story area of about eight hundred to a thousand square meters. The vice president's office was on the second floor.

After knocking on the door, Vaughn welcomed him in.

"What exactly happened?" Vaughn couldn't help but complain as soon as he sat down. "I was still eating breakfast when they called me several times, saying that someone was causing trouble at the pier and that dockworkers were injured. This matter will be very troublesome if not handled properly."

Lance briefly explained the course of events. Vaughn also felt a little egg pain after listening.

In fact, he also knew about the dockworkers bullying illegal immigrants. Although they were called the Dockworkers Union, they didn't really like these illegal immigrants either.

So sometimes when such things happened, their choice was to ignore them.

In the past, these illegal immigrants, especially the Imperial illegal immigrants, were very scattered. They didn't form a group and didn't dare to speak out when they were bullied.

Because there were no big shots or ruthless characters among the Imperial legal immigrants.

The Camille Gang was somewhat famous, but they were obviously more ruthless to their compatriots than to the Federation people!

Moreover, the local workers had paid membership dues, while those illegal immigrants hadn't paid membership dues. This was enough for the union to know how they should choose.

So the union's attitude had always been to ignore it as long as it didn't cause big trouble.

But now the situation was obviously different. Lance's appearance had changed this situation, and he had personally taken action.

Lance looked at Vaughn, who was frowning, and was a little puzzled, "What are you worried about?"

Vaughn looked at Lance for a while, "I'm worried about whether this Johnny will cause trouble."

Lance looked very relaxed, "I guarantee that no one will cause you trouble."

Vaughn was still a little worried, "But the impact is very bad. It may be used by some people. You know, the anti-immigration issue hasn't passed long."

"Vaughn, we can't always leave these issues alone. Today this is just a small matter... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"This is indeed just a small matter. It's just that someone was injured, but it didn't affect the work of the pier, and no one died."

"But will it always be like this?"

"When the contradiction accumulates to a certain extent, after the power of the rules can't restrain it, it will definitely explode, and everyone will be injured!"

"We can't do nothing and ignore everything anymore!"

Vaughn frowned even more after listening, "But what can we do? Or do you have any way?"

"I plan to have them pay membership dues to the union, so that the union will have more power to intervene. You can better control and solve the problems and contradictions existing on the pier than I can, and you will also have a reason to intervene."

Vaughn was stunned as soon as he heard this, "Do they have money?"

Lance's answer still exceeded his expectations, "They don't, but I do."

Vaughn was a little... speechless after listening, "So many workers, the monthly membership dues are as high as two thousand dollars. Are you sure you want to pay this money for them?"

In fact, this money wasn't entirely paid by Lance himself, because his office made money from both sides. Both the work card holders and the people who rented the work cards had to give him money, that is, one dollar from each side of a job.

He could get four dollars from a work card, the owner of the work card received a stable thirty-two dollars a month, and the illegal immigrants could get at least fifteen dollars a month for each job.

It didn't seem like much, but it was stable. If a person did two jobs at the same time, it would be thirty dollars, which was close to the income of the Federation people!

These illegal immigrants didn't lack hard-working people, they just lacked job opportunities.

Taking out a portion of the profits earned from them and giving it back to them in other ways, Lance believed that this kind of thing could be done!

He didn't lack money now, what he lacked was a good reputation and a position in the hearts of Imperial immigrants!

This was obviously a good opportunity to buy a big reputation with a small amount of money, and he wouldn't let it go easily.

Vaughn was a little unsure about this idea, "But... they are all illegal immigrants, and we have never accepted membership fees from illegal immigrants."

"There's a first time for everything, and I think this could be tried as a precedent for the Federation."

"They are workers first, and then there's the issue of their status. Since they are workers, what's the problem with paying union dues?"

"More or less the entire Federation will face some of these issues. If you solve it first and provide a path for other unions to follow, I think you might become famous."

Vaughn was a little tempted. For him, there were only two things to pursue in life: money and fame.

Of course, his pursuit and desire for these two things wouldn't be so blatant, but rather relatively subtle.

Having reached middle age, he had seen through everything. Ideals were never as important as life itself, otherwise he wouldn't have accepted Lance's kindness and taken the twenty dollars for nutritional expenses.

Nor would he have put those three hundred dollars aside separately instead of depositing them into the public account.

"I have to discuss this with the chairman. No one has ever done this before."

Lance continued to increase his persuasive efforts, "It's precisely because no one has done it that it's meaningful for us to be the first!"

"If someone else has already done it, the fame and benefits will belong to them. What does it have to do with us?"

"Vaughn, I treat you as a friend, that's why I'm saying this. People won't remember who crosses the bridge every day, but they will definitely remember who built the bridge!"

Vaughn was a little moved. If Chairman Scott took another step forward, and he worked hard here, he could become the chairman of the dockworkers' union.

Goldenport City is the economic engine of the Federation, and many people's eyes are focused here. Even if he is just the chairman of a dockworkers' union, he will have some status of his own in the federal political arena.

In recent years, there has been no shortage of people jumping directly from the union system into politics. For example, the governor of a certain state was previously the chairman of the largest local union.

Because he had a very good base of public support, he easily gained a high approval rating after deciding to run for governor.

Regardless of what happens to him later, at least he is already a governor. Maybe he will be a senator or even the president of the Federation in the future!

The dreams he thought were dead began to resurface. He pursed his lips, "I will try my best to discuss this with Chairman Scott."

"And you are right, this is beneficial to both of us."

"The union gets more membership fees, which can help us better assist those workers who need help, and also help us better carry out our work."

"At the same time, we can also better help those vulnerable groups who need help, after all, they are also workers!"

As for Johnny and his friends?

Vaughn didn't care so much anymore. Of course, what he should say, he still had to say, "After I discuss it with Scott, I will give you the news as soon as possible, but the matter this morning, you must handle it cleanly. I don't want this matter to escalate."

Lance nodded and then got up to leave.

When he left the union office, there were already many people in blue work clothes by his car.

They immediately greeted Lance when they saw him coming over, and Jamie was among them.

The events of the morning gave him a sense of pleasure from the inside out. Watching Johnny being knocked to the ground, he wished he could be Lance, but he knew he couldn't do that.

But that didn't stop him from reaching a climax!

"Lance, I don't know what to say. No one has ever taken care of us like you."

"Even my father wouldn't be like this at home. I really don't know how to express my gratitude to you!"

He was very excited. Having suffered so much grievance and unfair treatment, finally, Lance tore through these shadows like sunlight, making him so moved that he wanted to cry!

The others also stood by him, thanking Lance for everything he had done for them.

"We came from the Empire, and no one knows if we will have a chance to go back in the future. Here, besides taking care of each other, there will be no one else who can sincerely help us."

"Now that I have some power, I should do my duty and ability to help you solve your problems. This is what I should do."

Jamie's friend was a little worried, "Did they cause you any trouble?" The "they" here refers to the union, because they were guarding here, for fear that Lance would be made things difficult for.

Lance shook his head, "Chairman Vaughn is a very easy person to get along with. We talked a lot... Oh, right!"

He raised his voice slightly, "I just talked to Chairman Vaughn about helping you pay your membership fees. You don't need to pay, the office will take care of it."

"This way, if there are any conflicts between you and the local workers in the future, even if the union doesn't help you, they won't stand on their side!"

"I'm not saying this to get your gratitude, I just want you to know that you are no longer helpless in the Federation."

"But you must also remember that even if our working environment changes, we still cannot relax our vigilance and must remain united."

"I believe that one day, what we do will become an opportunity to trigger a change in our living environment!"

He patted Jamie on the shoulder, "Go to work, don't let those capitalists find trouble with you."

"If you are fired by them for absenteeism, I won't help you, after all, it's your fault!"

The atmosphere at the scene was very relaxed. Lance said goodbye to them one by one, and then left the dock under their watchful eyes.

Soon the news began to spread among the immigrant workers that Lance would pay their union dues for them, and they would also become members of the dockworkers' union, enjoying the union's guarantees and protection!

If any capitalists treated them harshly, the union would stand up for them!

This made some people very excited. They had never experienced such a relaxed working and living environment.

Those who had been here for several years even felt that all of this was very unreal!

Suddenly a strong person was going to stand up for them, suddenly they could enter the union and obtain union membership, everything was getting better and better, and it made them want to cry even more, venting the grievances of these years through crying!

Chairman Scott didn't come until the afternoon. He also knew what had happened on the dock, but because the situation hadn't escalated, he wasn't too worried.

After Vaughn told him about the matter, he quickly focused his attention on the issue of illegal immigrants paying membership fees.

As for Johnny and the like, for him, those were all small matters. Even if Johnny wasn't smart, he wouldn't mind helping Johnny become smarter.

This was clearly paving the way for him to reach the higher-level union organization. Whoever sabotaged it was his mortal enemy!

After Vaughn finished speaking about Lance's opinion and also expressed his own views, he proposed the idea of meeting with Lance to talk.

"Make an appointment with him, the sooner the better. This is a very thoughtful young man, and I believe the General Union will like this very much."

"If I can move up, Vaughn, I will nominate you to succeed me in my position."

Hearing such a direct promise, Vaughn clenched his fist. Wasn't this what he wanted?

"I'll call Lance now..." A few minutes later, he smiled, "He has plans for tonight, I've scheduled it for tomorrow morning."

Although Chairman Scott was eager to meet with Lance, he still understood that he was busy, "No problem, you did a good job, Vaughn."

Small reminder, there are still 298 monthly tickets left to add more updates, and there are also 3 days left, it will be gone if it expires.