Empire of Shadows

Chapter 403: On the Verge of Bankruptcy [666+6]

Mr. Chobaf once mocked those gamblers.

He ridiculed them for not knowing how to restrain their desires, even though they knew they would eventually lose, they still kept throwing chips onto the table.

It wasn't until they realized they couldn't produce another chip that they vaguely realized they had lost everything they once owned.

In reality, he is the same now; he has also become a gambler, just not like those low-level gamblers playing money games.

He is a bit more advanced; he sits at a higher-level table, playing a more advanced game involving wealth, status, and power.

But no matter whether the gambling table is high-level or low-level, its core is always the same: it requires investment, and you will lose!

As more and more funds were invested, it became increasingly difficult for him to turn back.

It wasn't until this moment, when he suddenly woke up, that he remembered that this game required betting.

The assistant was silent for a while, "Assuming they all want to cash out, we still have a deficit of two million."

He didn't directly tell Mr. Chobaf how much money he had left, which meant that his own money was actually all used up, and he had also misappropriated some of the depositors' money.

When Mr. Chobaf heard this number, both of his hands trembled. A huge fear enveloped him. He tried to open the cigarette case, but failed twice.

His hands were shaking too badly!

The assistant helped him open the cigarette case. He took out one of the cigarettes and tried several times before successfully biting the filter with his mouth.

The assistant took the initiative to light the cigarette for him because his hands couldn't do anything right now.

Nicotine did have a calming effect. Although his hands were still shaking, they weren't shaking as badly.

"How could we have lost so much?" he asked softly, with some disbelief.

Perhaps he was questioning the source of this number, or perhaps he was questioning himself.

The assistant handed over a document, "Since you met the mayor, he has taken more than 1.3 million from you through several projects. Polly and the others also extorted a sum from us, and then…"

He glanced at it, "We lost Arthur Williams' wine. Through the mayor's mediation, you compensated Arthur 500,000."

"In addition to these larger expenses, you also spent approximately 400,000 in entertaining the mayor."

"This includes multiple parties organized by you, as well as sending gifts to the capital city."

"Next, we have been supplementing cash by trading bonds, which has also caused us to lose a lot of money."

"Finally, there's your campaign team, with monthly expenses of about 20,000 to 30,000, along with all the campaign activities, costing about 450,000."

"Here is a list. There are also some smaller, fragmented records that I haven't mentioned. The overall total is about three million."

His own wealth was only a little over one million, but before he came into contact with the mayor and started dreaming of becoming a member of the upper class.

His financial situation was very healthy. Although he sometimes faced extortion, the expenses for being extorted were only tens of thousands of dollars at most every three to five months.

But since meeting the mayor, he seemed to have been brainwashed and began frantically sprinting towards that unrealistic goal and dream.

No, it wasn't brainwashing. It was that when the goal he had longed for appeared in front of him, he couldn't wait to pounce on it. No one brainwashed him.

It's like a person who has been in pain for a long time seeing a painkiller; he will pay anything for it!

His hands were still trembling slightly. He opened his mouth and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, "So… after I liquidate everything in the bank now…"

The assistant continued, "Yes, I have already made it very clear. You are going bankrupt, if you can't stop them from continuing to run on the bank!"

A smile with an unexplainable flavor flashed across the assistant's face, "Actually, even if they don't run, it will be difficult for us to continue to maintain it, sir."

"It will be difficult for us to make up for the losses with the money we have left in a short period of time."

He paused, giving Mr. Chobaf time to accept the process.

After about two minutes, he took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it over.

Mr. Chobaf's eyeballs moved slightly, staring at the envelope on the table, "What bad news is this?"

The assistant sighed softly, "My resignation letter."

Mr. Chobaf blinked his eyes. He didn't react at first, but after a while, he looked at him in disbelief, "Now… even you are leaving me?"

The assistant's expression was very calm. At this time, calmness is actually a kind of indifference.

"The child has grown up. I plan to take him to live somewhere else, otherwise, he will always remember his father."

"Maybe this can help him get out of the pain of losing his father, change the environment, change the life."

"He is, and so am I. We all are."

Mr. Chobaf clenched his fists tightly, "Can I… keep you?"

He said it very carefully. He had almost never talked to anyone like this before. He now desperately needed the assistant by his side. He still wanted to struggle and try!

The assistant shook his head, "The tickets have already been bought. I'm sorry to have encountered such a thing at this time, but some things cannot be changed."

He said as he stood up, "I will miss the days we worked together. You will always be in my memory!"

After bowing slightly, he strode away.

Mr. Chobaf watched his background and had completely lost the ability to think. The departure of the most important assistant, the huge deficit, the mayor's failure, and the hopeless election all made it difficult for him to breathe.

He slumped in the office, not thinking about anything, not wanting to ask anything.

He didn't know how long it had been when the telephone in front of him suddenly rang violently. He picked it up a little numbly, without saying a word.

"Is that the bank manager?"

"We don't have much cash now. If… we can't provide funds as soon as possible, we may not be able to meet the withdrawal requirements of depositors."

Mr. Chobaf hung up the phone and patted his cheeks, "I'll take care of it."

He then went to the vault and selected several valuable antiques, looking for a place to liquidate them.

Although gold is also easy to liquidate, gold still has other uses. If necessary, taking out the gold can still hold on for a while.

In fact, the reason why people are now demanding withdrawals is also related to the mayor being abandoned.

Everyone knows that Mr. Chobaf has been very close to the mayor for the past six months and has invested in many projects.

In some rumors, he has almost become the mayor's money bag, constantly taking out money.

If the mayor had always been strong, then everyone wouldn't think there was anything wrong.

It's not difficult for a city councilor to make money.

But the problem is that the mayor is done for, and some people inevitably gloat about Mr. Chobaf's misfortune.

But as they talked, these people's expressions changed. If Mr. Chobaf fell, would those depositors be better off?

This is undoubtedly true, so the first group of people who realized this problem went to withdraw their money. When they took out the money, they inevitably told their close friends.

So "don't tell others" became "don't not tell others", and a new round of bank runs was born!

They have been dealing with the problem of bank runs for the past six months. Every once in a while, someone systematically withdraws money. Sometimes he even suspects that these are all Lance's methods!

But now he doesn't have time to consider so much. He took the antiques directly to the bank, hoping to get a loan with these antiques.

First, deal with the current bad situation, and then consider the follow-up issues.

As for the assistant's resignation?

He can't take care of it anymore!

If the bank really goes bankrupt, then he will only have a dead end!

Now, besides the bank, only the gang can provide him with large loans. He knows that if he goes to Lance at this time, he might be able to borrow money, but he doesn't know why, he doesn't want to go to Lance.

Even if he knows that the bank will not give him that much loan and will ruthlessly lower the price, he doesn't really want to go to Lance.

The more successful Lance is, the more it shows his failure!

As a well-known immigrant banker in Goldport City, Mr. Chobaf can still easily get a loan from the bank. Of course, the money he gets is only 40% of the value of the antiques he mortgaged.

If he didn't still have some connections and relationships, the bank even planned to lower the price to 30%.

In fact, everyone knows that he may not be able to hold on, only he himself is not clear.

Soon, Lance also heard the news. Jonathan (the bank's vice president) told him that he heard that Mr. Chobaf had borrowed a large sum of money from his peers, and that Jinda Bank might have problems with its capital turnover.

He reminded Lance that if he had any related business in Jinda Bank, he should clear it out as soon as possible.

Lance was a little surprised to hear this news, but he also thought it was reasonable.

He wouldn't be surprised that such speculation would have such a result. The risk is great, and the output is also great.

If the mayor wins, the assets he invests now will return to him many times over.

But he lost, that's all.

After Lance hung up the phone, he called Maurice over and asked, "What do you think Chobaf has that would be valuable to us?"

Maurice sat in his wheelchair, a blanket covering his legs. "What's wrong with Mr. Chobaf?" he asked.

Lance curled his lip. "He's going bankrupt. Before he does, maybe we can get something of value to us from him."

Maurice, an "Old Empire District" man, pondered for a while and said, "He has a big house..."