Empire of Shadows

Chapter 193: The Reason I Can't Lose [Monthly Ticket 666+6]

“I’m an outsider?”

Eric laughed out loud when he heard this, “Me… my uncle is the mayor, and I’m an outsider?”

Remember the original website domain name: 𝕥 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

The few lackeys around him also laughed, as if it was indeed a very funny thing.

But as he laughed, he stopped laughing.

Those lackeys also stopped laughing awkwardly.

For characters like them, the most annoying and disliked thing is having an erratic “master”. You never know if he’s laughing or angry, just like now.

Everyone was very embarrassed.

The happier they laughed just now, the more embarrassed they were now, fearing that Eric would say, “What are you laughing at?”

But now, Eric's focus wasn't on this. The target of this “rumor” was him, and he was very clear about this. Moreover, the rumor had isolated him.

People said that if the opera flower of Gold Harbor City, Shayna, was picked by an outsider like him, it would be a disgrace to the younger generation of Gold Harbor City!

This also allowed the local forces of Gold Harbor City to unite in pursuing Shayna, which was rare.

Originally, everyone pursued Shayna based on their own abilities, but now, several young people were selected to concentrate their efforts to pluck the opera flower of Gold Harbor.

He wanted to destroy something; he was very angry right now.

In recent days, he could clearly feel that he was being targeted.

If he sent a car of flowers, others would send two cars.

If he sent a pearl necklace, others would send a set of pearl jewelry.

Don't say that pearl jewelry is worthless. When pearls reach the “jewelry” level, they are also very precious and valuable.

These people were clearly trying to prevent him from succeeding, suppressing him in everything and making him feel uncomfortable.

Shayna, who originally seemed to have a little interest in him, suddenly became reserved again. Even his invitation to dinner was rejected. She used to agree sometimes.

In short, he had clearly seen a glimmer of opportunity, but now it was extinguished. He hated those who spread rumors!

And this group of people who were following the crowd.

He knew it was jealousy, at least that's what he thought, because he was the “young master” of the mayor's family, and they weren't.

They were jealous of his special status, jealous of the mayor's uncle's power, jealous of many things, so they targeted him.

Because he was too outstanding.

But he was still so angry!

“The mayor would like to see you, young master Eric.” The old butler appeared silently outside Eric's room. Eric, who was sulking, glanced at him and quickly restrained his temper.

This old butler was the mayor's paternal uncle, and also Eric's paternal grand-uncle. Both his status and his importance to the mayor overwhelmed Eric.

“Okay, I’ll go right away…”

The old butler smiled and turned to leave.

Of course, he had seen Eric's impotent rage, but he wouldn't say anything about it.

The mayor had called him over today. In fact, Eric had also heard those rumors, saying that he was actually the product of his mother and the mayor's immoral relationship.

But he didn't care about these rumors at all. So what if it was true?

Moreover, he vaguely hoped that it was true.

Because everything he had now was based on the fact that he was the mayor's illegitimate son. If one day someone proved that he wasn't the mayor's illegitimate son, everything would end.

So he longed for all of this to be true more than anyone else. Only if it was true could he forever enjoy everything that the mayor's power brought him.

Wealth, status, privilege!

He quickly arrived outside the mayor's office. The mayor also had an office in his manor. He stood at the door and knocked.

Before he was allowed to call out the title “Dad,” he had to abide by all the rules here.

“Come in.”

He pushed the door open. The first thing he saw was the mayor's personal secretary, a young man of about the same age as him. He was the mayor's very important assistant and was also nice to him.

The two smiled at each other. The secretary gave him an affirmative look, which meant that the mayor was in a good mood and there was nothing to worry about.

This was a unique understanding between people of their age.

Eric responded appropriately to the secretary's kindness. He had some of the arrogance of a master, so he behaved very reservedly.

After the secretary left, he stood in the middle of the office, looking at his toes with his eyes downcast, “Uncle, Grandpa Butler said you were looking for me.”

The mayor rubbed his wrist. Several party representatives had returned yesterday. He had arranged for people to see them off and also sent some local specialties of Gold Harbor City.

The accumulated government affairs of the past two days had suddenly exploded, and he had been dealing with them from morning to night, including today, the weekend, working from home.

He picked up his teacup and took a sip of black tea. Eric quickly picked up the teapot that was warming on the alcohol stove, poured out the not-too-cold tea in the teacup, and replaced it with hot tea.

Looking at Eric's filial piety, the mayor's lips curled up, but he quickly restrained himself.

This small action made Eric feel better. So what if Shayna didn't eventually become his wife?

When his mayor uncle becomes a big figure in the state government, there will be plenty of women who want to climb into his bed.

“I recently heard that you’ve been making some noise with those young people?”

Eric was stunned for a moment, then became worried and said cautiously, “I didn’t expect to disturb you. I’m pursuing a female opera singer named Shayna. I don’t know who said that if I managed to pursue her, it would be a disgrace to the peers of Gold Harbor City.”

“Now they are targeting me every day. I’ve already decided to give up competing with them.”

“Give up?” The mayor asked in a very relaxed tone, “Why give up?”

This rhetorical question stunned Eric for a moment, “Because… because wouldn’t this affect your work, Uncle?”

He was very sincere at this time, “I don’t want my personal life to affect your work, Uncle, and create any misunderstandings.”

The mayor's smiling appearance didn't look as serious as the rumors said at all, “This is no longer your own business, Eric.”

He stood up, a rare behavior. Most of the time, he wouldn't stand up when talking to Eric, because he would finish in just a few words.

He wouldn't tell Eric great truths, but just tell him what to do and what not to do, so this was also a feeling that Eric had never experienced before.

The mayor walked to the window. March was not far away, and the temperature had returned to above zero. He opened the window.

Although the wind outside was biting, the fresh, cold air with hidden vitality blew in, blowing away the laziness brought by the warmth and making people feel refreshed.

He took out a cigarette, and Eric quickly took out his sterling silver lighter to light it for the mayor.

“Now it’s no longer a contest between you and those young people, Eric, it’s a contest between locals and outsiders, do you understand what I mean?”

Eric was initially immersed in the feeling that “Mayor Dad is better to me.” He was slightly dazed for a while before he realized the meaning of this sentence, “Are you saying that they are demonstrating against you?”

This was the only thing he could think of.

The mayor nodded, “They have actually opposed my proposals from the beginning, but they were unable to do so due to some pressure.”

“Two years have passed, and they want to test the waters again.”

Originally, the city's development plan did not include the New Harbor District.

Until now, the New Harbor District has not been truly included in the “Gold Harbor City Administrative Planning Map”. It doesn't even have a “district” on the map.

Only “New Harbor Wharf” is used instead.

Its location is on the westernmost side of the port area, close to the industrial area, where there is a large open space and a deep-water port that is no less than the Gold Harbor Wharf.

The wealthy people in the bay area have invested too much in Gold Harbor Wharf. If a new wharf area is developed now, it will undoubtedly have a certain impact on Gold Harbor Wharf.

Not to mention anything else, just the utilization rate of the wharf will decrease, which will greatly reduce the income of the wealthy people in the bay area.

The “New Bay Area” of the past few years was said to be a joke to the outside world, but in fact, it was a test by the mayor. He wanted to know if anyone in the local upper class was on his side.

But he failed. The local upper class was very tightly knit and very repulsed by his ideas, so the development of the New Harbor District became slow.

So far, the New Harbor District only has four wharves, one of which is still under construction, and there is a lot of resistance.

In fact, from the perspective of historical development, developing the New Harbor District is the best choice. The seven wharves in Gold Harbor have already begun to become saturated, with a utilization rate of 80%.

With the rapid development of various levels in countries around the world, Gold Harbor will definitely have to undertake more central dispatching work in the future, and building new wharves is imperative.

Moreover, building a new harbor that will surely shine in the future will bring the mayor political returns and benefits far higher than what he could get by maintaining the status quo and developing the beach area and Creek Valley District.

But for the wealthy people now, they are still enjoying the rich returns brought by past investments. Suddenly asking them to take out a lot of money to invest in the New Harbor Wharf again, they are not very happy.

The old port is not fully loaded yet, and they are already thinking about the new port. Isn't this taking their own money to decorate his political achievements?

Even if they are very clear that this matter may have to be done in the future, they don't want to do it now.

Some contradictions, some conflicts, ultimately became a kind of opposition. Once it enters an ideological opposition, many things have nothing to do with reason, but only with choosing a side.

Recently, some rumors suddenly arose targeting Eric. After the mayor learned about it, he felt that it might not be a provocation or test against him.

If this trend picks up after Mike's party representatives just left, it's hard to say whether those representatives will still recognize him as a capable person.

A capable person can't even manage the area under his jurisdiction? You call that capable?

He turned to look at Eric, "You're all young people, you have to have some spirit and fight for it."

"It's best to win, but it doesn't matter if you lose!"

Eric was immediately full of energy. Dad is so good to me!

He quickly stated, "I know what to do!"