Empire of Shadows

A thunderstorm.

In an instant, raindrops the size of soybeans covered the entire city and surrounding areas.

The world seemed to be veiled in a thin gauze, making it difficult to see clearly.

The streets were filled with people seeking shelter from the rain, their beautiful dresses now soaked and clinging to their slender, shapely legs, making them even more alluring.

Some people came to the bakery to escape the rain, and out of politeness, they bought some bread, more or less.

Usually, at this time, some regulars would be chatting, enlivening the atmosphere of the bakery and making it a little more cheerful.

But today, no one seemed to be in the mood to chat, and everyone was preoccupied.

They were all looking at the dark sky outside the window, the clouds pressing down so low that it seemed as if you could reach out and touch them.

It not only weighed on the sky above King's Harbor, but also suppressed people's emotions.

In fact, King's Harbor often experiences such thunderstorms; it's summer, and it's by the sea, so the storms come and go quickly.

Sometimes people even appreciate these thunderstorms, as they wash away the dust from the city, freshen the air, and bring a touch of coolness to the sweltering city.

But now, people are in no mood to think about these things.

The Federation has not only experienced wars, but has also participated in them, and it is precisely because they know the horrors of war that they find themselves in a state of bewilderment and anxiety.

It's always fun to see others unlucky, but when the misfortune falls on you, no one can laugh.

At this moment, the gloomy sky is like people's hearts, with the sunlight obscured by dark clouds.

Lance, who considered himself to have seen some big scenes, could only stare dumbfounded as the torrent of history came rolling in, with no way to stop it.

Due to the thunderstorm, there were few people on the streets before noon.

Around eleven o'clock, the thunderstorm finally ended, and the golden sunlight pierced through the haze again, tearing apart the dark clouds and shining on the earth.

King's Harbor, washed by the rain, was filled with a fresh energy, and the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased.

Councilor Petrarch looked somewhat displeased at his wet trouser legs.

In fact, federal politicians at the level of "City Councilor" are, in principle, not required to take sides.

That's how it appears on the surface.

But in reality, they still need to take sides.

If they want to climb higher, whether it's running for mayor or entering the state legislature, they must have someone supporting them from behind.

Councilor Petrarch's backer is the majority party senator in the state senate, and that senator's backer is a higher-level figure in Congress.

Political directives are passed down from above, layer by layer, until they reach him.

He originally had a press conference to hold today, but a sudden downpour made him feel a little irritable.

Perhaps he couldn't summarize the insightful statement that "once you enter politics, you are no longer your own master," but he understood that from the moment he chose to enter politics, he lost many things, even a part of his personality.

At the city political circle stage, especially in an economic engine like King's Harbor, there is no chance to continue climbing higher based solely on personal ability.

Taking sides has become a necessary choice.

The resources in the team are distributed layer by layer, and you get your share, so when the team needs you, you have to contribute your own strength to the entire team.

When Councilor Petrarch stood on the wet stage, feeling the rainwater seeping into his leather shoes through the not-completely-sealed stitching around the edges, and feeling the obvious sensation of being wrapped in water every time he wiggled his toes, he became even more irritated.

Damn politics!

But his face was as bright and dazzling as the sunlight that was now breaking through the dark clouds.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming here. This is a brief press conference..."

Many reporters had already begun to clamor, and a volatile emotion was brewing within him.

He suppressed the urge to destroy something, pursed his lips, and continued, "Regarding the shootout a few days ago, after a detailed investigation by our investigation team, there are a few things that need to be clarified."

"First, not everyone on the smuggling boat was an armed element. Armed elements were only a minority, probably less than ten people in total. The rest were all illegal immigrants."

"Second, the number of Coast Guard officers who died on the scene was two killed instantly, and several seriously injured. The price paid by the armed elements was that almost all of them were eliminated."

"The remaining seven people died in the rescue after being sent to the hospital because there were not enough emergency room doctors and surgeons."

"In other words, they could have survived."

"Finally, I must admit that our officers, for the purpose of venting their personal anger after the firefight, killed approximately thirty-seven innocent civilians."

"I apologize to the innocent victims on their behalf..."

Petrarch already knew what he was going to face next when he said this, but he was prepared. This was something he had to do.

Only in this way could he let the "big brothers" in the team see that he was a good brother who dared to take responsibility and was not afraid of it.

The content he released seemed to be a supplement to the investigation of the case, but in fact, he was negating the previous conclusions.

First, he implied the incompetence of the Coast Guard and local police officers, who lost eleven men against less than ten armed elements.

If the other side were a large number of armed elements, the public might think that perhaps the armed elements had strong firepower and were very professional, and they would only sympathize with the victims.

But now, they would only think that these people were simply incredibly stupid!

Second, he was telling the media and the public that only two people actually died in the firefight, and the rest died because of untimely rescue.

He was shifting the public's dissatisfaction and hatred towards illegal immigrants, even legal immigrants, to the medical system.

In fact, the people of the Federation have hated medical groups and the medical system for more than just a day or two. This is a suitable object to take responsibility, and they don't really care about these things.

The last point was to demonize some of the sacrificed police officers who were being glorified, in order to reduce people's goodwill and sympathy towards them.

People will only sympathize with the departure of heroes, and will not have such emotional expressions towards demons.

In this way, the goal of getting people to disengage from this matter can be achieved.

No one likes to be deceived, and those who come to join in the fun are the same. They will definitely have a feeling of being shamed into anger, feeling that they have been used.

Councilor Petrarch was well aware that after he said these words, he would become the person at the center of the storm, and he might have to go silent for a while if he wasn't careful.

But this was also an opportunity. As long as he could safely survive this crisis, whether it was running for mayor or entering the state legislature, he would be qualified.

This public statement, which clearly overturned the previous conclusions, immediately triggered crazy reprinting by the media, and public opinion became even more complicated.

The other two city councilors also took the initiative to jump out and criticize Petrarch for talking nonsense and making unsubstantiated slander. The Coast Guard even said they would sue him!

In fact, neither side could produce any real and valid evidence to prove that what they were saying was the truth, that indeed innocent illegal immigrants were massacred out of spite.

A Coast Guard member entered the cabin with a submachine gun, and then the other members, in order to silence them and prevent the situation from becoming complicated, had no choice but to go in and finish them off.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the matter of untimely rescue was completely wrong. Anyway, as long as there is still a breath left when entering the hospital, as long as it is not a death on the scene, half of the responsibility on the scene is reduced.

The two sides splashed dirty water on each other, cursed each other, and exposed each other's old secrets, perfectly interpreting the essence of federal politics—

According to a survey by the world's mainstream media, 'Global Wisdom,' in random interviews conducted in various mainstream civilized countries around the world, over seventy-seven percent of people in a sample of over fifty thousand said that they would pay attention to federal political news.

Not because they are so interested in politics, but because they want to know how absurd and ridiculous the federal political arena can be!

Some people want to reduce the seriousness of this case, and naturally some people want to keep adding fuel to the fire.

Soon people were divided into two factions. This is also the most participated social activity in the history of the Federation, commonly known as "political brawling."

But no matter how things change, the people who are supposed to be unlucky will still be unlucky.

Because they listened to Lance's words, Alvin and the others would huddle together every day. When things were at their peak a few days ago, some people tried to attack them.

But seeing that there were many of them, and that they were all young and strong men, they ultimately failed.

It's just that in the past few days, as the matter has continued to ferment, and with the Emperor's increasingly hysterical and ridiculous demands, the Federation people's dissatisfaction, even hatred, towards the Empire people is still rising.

Just today, as soon as they arrived at the dock, the dock management office told them that they had to leave.

"I know you're all good lads, but you've seen the situation now. They may not be able to cause you any trouble, but they will cause us trouble."

"Some people have already blocked the company's entrance, demanding that we be prohibited from hiring you."

"Moreover, this matter is not aimed at anyone. All people without social security numbers and work cards will be required to not be allowed to work at the dock. We respect and abide by federal law."

The dock worker who had always been in charge of assigning work showed a very regretful expression. In fact, they also quite liked these illegal workers.

These illegal workers could endure hardship and were willing to do anything. Even if they were asked to dredge the sewers, they would jump right in.

Instead of acting like locals, making demands and expecting extra pay for tasks outside their job descriptions.

But now, they had no choice. Anyone with eyes could see that Jincheng was becoming a battleground for two, or even multiple, forces.

Although the port management company had powerful backers, temporarily dismissing some illegal workers was a more cost-effective solution compared to maintaining stable stock prices!

Capitalists knew what the right thing to do was.

This decisiveness made Alvin and the others realize they were unemployed.