Empire of Shadows

Boxing actually has a long history, but in the Federation, people's love for boxing actually comes more from the era of slavery, the love of civilized people for the barbaric.

This is actually a very strange thing, expressing the contradictions of mankind to the fullest!

The more people who live in luxurious residences and enjoy the best food, the more they hope to eat the most original and primitive ingredients.

It's like gentlemen and ladies living in a civilized society, but they like to watch their own kind kill each other in a small area.

In the past, they would let slaves kill each other to decide who among them could survive, or who could get better treatment, food, women, and money.

And they would bet on these slaves to earn more profits.

Now society doesn't allow them to be so barbaric anymore, and boxing and the like have become a new direction for them to seek.

People like to watch evenly matched boxing matches, and any other form of fighting, not because the even match makes it impossible to guess the outcome.

But because the even match allows both sides to exert all their strength and kill each other in the most primitive way under the lights of civilization!

What they want are the wounds that crack open on every part of their bodies and the ring that is dyed red, not a fight that ends with one punch after the referee says "Start!"

That's not what they want, what they want is the adrenaline rush brought about by the fight!

But it is undeniable that the influence of boxing is becoming greater and greater.

The coach that Maurice found for Ethan looked good, and he also had a large build. When he saw Ethan, he was very satisfied.

He touched Ethan's body, and when he heard that Ethan was only twenty years old, he was even happier.

"I can be his coach, but you need to pay a tuition fee."

"Fifteen hundred dollars a year."

He wanted to explain why it would cost fifteen hundred dollars, but Lance opened the drawer, took out a stack of money from it, and then took out another five hundred dollars and put it together.

Seeing that this fifteen hundred dollars was taken out so easily, the coach suddenly felt that he had quoted a bit low.

He jokingly asked, "Is it too late for me to say eighteen hundred dollars now?"

Lance also smiled and replied, "It might be a little late."

He showed a regretful expression, "If I had known, I would have said more."

However, he was still very satisfied to be able to get fifteen hundred dollars all at once. About half of this money could be used on Ethan, and the rest went into his pocket.

He also told Lance some other rules, such as that 30% of Ethan's prize money would be his, valid during the term of the agreement.

Also, Ethan needed to live in his training camp to receive high-intensity training, possibly with only one day off per week.

Lance didn't object to this, and neither did Ethan himself.

His mind was now full of becoming a golden belt boxing champion, so that everyone could have a more positive understanding of imperial immigrants because of him.

Although there was a lot of training time every week, he could still come back on weekends.

In the Lance family, everyone has their own position and work.

Ennio is now running around outside all day contacting imperial gangs in the surrounding areas to help the Lance family expand its influence.

Maurice collects all kinds of information about rival gangs every day to ensure that Lance can get it as soon as he needs it.

Erwin has even more things to do, and his workload is only more than that of others, not less.

Laun, Melo...

Everyone has their own work to do, even Geral, this handsome to beautiful guy, has his own work, only he doesn't know what to do.

He is too big and not suitable for stalking. People can see him at a glance.

In terms of social skills, he doesn't have Ennio's talent. He can quickly establish friendships with people and have in-depth conversations.

Not to mention his brain. Those family affairs will give him a headache just by looking at them.

He can't help with the work in the bar either. It seems that there is nothing he can do. Most of the time, he sits on the sofa in the company's lounge.

Perhaps, it's time to find something to do for myself.

Lance was very happy that he could have such an awareness. Even if Ethan did nothing in his life and was like this every day, he wouldn't care, but as a friend, brother, and family member.

He still hoped that Ethan could have his own career. Only with his own career can people find the spirit and goal to strive for!

"I hope we can see Ethan on the ring as soon as possible."

When saying goodbye to the coach, Lance expressed his expectations and put some pressure on the coach.

The coach nodded repeatedly, "I will, but the overall progress still depends on Ethan's training level. Also... does he have a social security number or something like that?"

This is indeed a problem, but for Lance, it is no longer a problem, "You will be able to get this number soon."

"Then there is no problem. When there is a suitable competition, I will sign him up."

"Winning or losing is not so important now. What is important now is to let him feel the atmosphere of boxing."

"You decide!"

Lance shook hands again, "If anything happens, call me."

Ethan packed his things and left with the coach. Although he was leaving temporarily, everyone knew that it was a bright future!

In the past few days, the city has become more and more chaotic. In addition to maintaining the治安 security in the Bay Area, Charlie has gradually reduced the security management of other areas.

In fact, there are not so many security cases in the Bay Area that he needs to be responsible for. Those criminals who cause riots are not fools.

There are so many rich people in the Bay Area, why is the loss in the Bay Area the smallest in any riot or similar situation?

Is it just because... people become civilized after entering the Bay Area?

No!

It is because the wealthy people in the Bay Area have many bodyguards, and they can always get some information in the first time, so that they can deal with it more calmly.

It's not that no one has thought about making a fortune in the Bay Area, but these people often end up very badly. They can't even see the faces of the rich, and they are shot into sieves by the bodyguards with guns.

The key is that it is not illegal for the rich people's bodyguards to do this. The judge not only supports it, but even uses their cases to encourage people to do so during the court session!

"Taking up arms to defend every citizen's legitimate rights is a basic right granted to every citizen by the sacred constitution," the judges said to the people, and showed those cases.

They will make everyone clearly see the fairness of the law.

But if ordinary people do that, then they may face huge troubles. It is not that they have misread the legal clauses, nor is there any problem with their execution.

It's just because they don't have money!

The real mistake in this world is poverty, not anything else.

When a person meets someone poorer than himself, he is right.

But when he meets someone richer than himself, he becomes wrong!

The city is becoming more and more chaotic, and it has gradually attracted some attention from the state government.

On Monday of the new week, the lieutenant governor called the mayor to discuss the serious decline in security in Goldport City during this period.

"...You must learn to manage your city, instead of making a mess of it!"

The lieutenant governor spoke very impolitely, and almost directly said that the mayor was an incompetent idiot!

The location of Goldport City is very important, otherwise they would not have put the mayor in this position. It is precisely because they knew that the mayor could handle it that they gave the mayor the opportunity to become the ruler of this city.

Now what he said is actually expressing his and the state government's dissatisfaction.

The mayor is not nervous at all. As long as the state assembly supports him, the governor needs to use his brain to deal with him!

As a reward for the assembly's support, he released a lot of benefits to the state assembly. Those greedy old things can't help but bow their heads.

"Lieutenant Governor, I also want to stabilize the security of the city as soon as possible, but you should also know the particularity of Goldport City."

"Almost everything here is firmly controlled by local forces. I have tried my best to mediate the relationship, and even used my private contacts to gradually make it a little better and release it from the hands of those locals."

"Now everything here is the process of a 'war' between us. They are trying to create riots to force me to compromise."

"I can compromise, just one phone call, and it will return to its former tranquility, but is this what you, the governor, and the congressmen want?"

"Let it return to the hands of the locals?"

The lieutenant governor was silent. Goldport City developed too rapidly, so rapidly that they did not have time to implement the layout, so that Goldport City was firmly controlled in the hands of some people.

Sidney pried open a gap in this hard shell. If anyone can solve the problem of Goldport City, then it may only be him.

Whether it is dismissal, impeachment, or something else, it is difficult to get the support of the assembly. Moreover, he made this call not to reprimand the mayor.

So after the mayor's attitude became very tough, the lieutenant governor began to comfort him instead, "I'm not saying I want you to give up. What I mean is, do we have other means to solve this problem?"

"Goldport City is very important, and external problems are increasing day by day. The senators are also very concerned about the changes in Goldport City."

He was silent for a moment. "You need to stabilize things as soon as possible. If you need any support or assistance, you can tell me. I'll communicate with the governor."

The mayor revealed what he wanted. "Wade has already agreed to leave Goldport City immediately."

"Although the people behind Williams have some power, as long as we don't give them a chance to interfere, they can't control things here."

"Now all that's left are those stubborn gangsters. We shouldn't have allowed them to grow so strong in the first place!"

"They've long had unclear relationships with the local tycoons, and those tycoons control the police department. I can't mobilize those people at all!"

"They're creating chaos now to put pressure on me, trying to force me to compromise."

"If I really compromise, everything will be over."

"So, I have an idea, an idea to wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

The deputy governor took a deep breath. "Sounds a little scary. I hope it's not a terrible plan!"

The mayor chuckled twice. "Not terrible at all, and it can solve all the problems at once."

"Let the militia into the city. Let them directly deal with these gangster families and uproot them completely!"

The deputy governor laughed in exasperation after hearing this. "Am I crazy, or are you crazy?"

"Mobilizing the militia into the city has huge implications. Do you know how many people could suffer because of this!"

"The governor won't agree!"

Under normal circumstances, the military, even the militia, is not allowed to enter the city casually, let alone a major North Hemisphere shipping hub like Goldport City.

This isn't just cracking down on gangs; this is a huge political event!

The mayor wasn't anxious or angry because of the deputy governor's statement. He simply maintained his composure and said slowly, "What if I were injured?"

"Someone tried to assassinate me, and I was shot. I can't show my face for a short time, and the whole city descends into even more insane chaos?"

The deputy governor fell into deep thought. If everything were really as he said, then the governor could indeed request the militia to enter the city to suppress the riots. At the same time, Congress wouldn't consider this a 'too drastic' measure.

After all, the entire city is beginning to be in a state of anarchy, and Goldport City is so important that it absolutely can't be allowed to fall into complete chaos.

That way, no one would have to bear the risks and repercussions of soldiers entering the city, and the mayor's idea could be accomplished. But there's also a problem here.

That is, the mayor's gunshot wound has to stand up to scrutiny.

"Have you thought it through?"

"You need to know that once the incident happens, Congress will arrange a medical team to help you recover as soon as possible so that you can return to work."

He made his words a little clearer. On the surface, Congress is arranging a more professional medical team to help him recover from his injuries, but in reality, they are there to check if his injury is real.

If it's real, then everything is fine, and Congress will appease him.

If it's not real, then he will definitely be 'sacrificed'!

After all, letting soldiers into the city is a very taboo thing in itself.

The mayor laughed heartily twice. "For the future of Goldport, for the future of Licalai State, Your Excellency!"

The deputy governor was silent for a while again. He could feel the mayor's determination. "I'll call you later tonight. I have to communicate with the governor first."

The phone was hung up quickly. The deputy governor couldn't make the decision on this kind of matter, nor could he possibly make it.

If things were handled well and there were no problems, he wouldn't get any benefits. The governor would only think he was making big decisions rashly.

If things weren't handled well, then it would be even worse!

The governor wouldn't even need to think of any rhetoric to communicate with Congress; he would directly push the responsibility onto him.

So, he had to communicate with the governor and let the governor make this decision.

However, whether it was him or the mayor, they both felt that this matter was very likely to be carried out.

There were too many people who wanted to get a share of the huge profits from Goldport City. The locals were firmly holding onto those profitable businesses, not letting anyone else interfere.

They were actually violating taboos too!

After hanging up the phone, the mayor's secretary was beside him. He looked at the mayor and asked softly, "Is this necessary?"

He was referring to the mayor being attacked. To silence Congress, he had to really get shot!

There was a hint of something indescribable in his eyes, a mix of shock, incomprehension, and some admiration!

The mayor lit a cigarette, a meaningful smile on his face. "Whether it's worth it or not depends on how much benefit we can get from this."

"If I get shot and there's no benefit at all, then I definitely wouldn't do it. After all, it means getting shot!"

"But what if getting shot could bring us great political benefits and wealth?"

"This gunshot wound can be useful to me many times in the future, on many occasions, especially when giving speeches."

"The shock it brings to people when I talk about my clothing is far more intense than if I talked for two hours."

The secretary sighed after listening. "You're sacrificing too much!"

The mayor wasn't as sentimental as him but said very honestly, "That's because I want to get more!"

"I talked to a magician once. I don't know if you remember…"

He paused suddenly as he spoke, obviously skipping what he originally wanted to say. "It was that magician who pierced his body with swords."

The secretary nodded. "Yes, I remember. He inserted many swords into himself, completely piercing his body."

The mayor kept nodding. "That's him. I talked to him, and he told me that there are many places on the human body that are actually empty."

"Piercing or penetrating these places won't have terrible consequences, of course, provided that you choose the right weapons and bullets!"

"If you use a shotgun, everyone will die!"

Both of them laughed.

"So, during this period, I will discuss it with our shooter and create a wound that looks shocking but doesn't cause much damage to me!"

The secretary's expression changed slightly as he looked at him, a little worried and a little excited.

The mayor raised his hand, not letting him continue to say anything. "I'm not young anymore. The opportunities in the future aren't as many as you think."

"I spent most of my life going from a councilor's assistant to mayor. This simple step for many people took half my life."

"There's not much time left. If I can't run forward, it will be difficult for me to go further."

He suddenly became a little depressed. Anyone who has spent half their life lingering at the bottom of the political arena would be very frustrated!

But fortunately, he broke through and had the opportunity to go further.

Neither of them spoke, both looking at the bright sunshine outside the window. For a moment, the room became quiet, without a single other sound!