Empire of Shadows

Chapter 420: Plan B [666+9]

Councilman Williams remained smiling, as if he hadn't picked up on the things Lance was trying to convey.

The wrinkles on his face were very pronounced, making his already lean face appear even more gaunt.

"What are your thoughts for the future?"

From the current perspective, Councilman Williams was Lance's most valuable partner, bar none.

Especially with Councilman Williams about to run for mayor, the role he played in this crisis practically guaranteed him the position!

Many ordinary people might not have seen his contributions to the Goldport City strike in the media or newspapers.

However, what people usually see are just superficial things that don't touch the real core.

He connected the relationships between the State of Ricall and Congress, providing a winning opportunity for the power struggles within the party.

Now that Senator Cleveland's faction had clearly gained an advantage in the State of Ricall, it was only natural that Councilman Williams, who played a key role in promoting this, would become Mayor Williams.

He put in the effort and reaped the rewards, and no one could question the outcome.

Regardless of how many years Councilman Williams planned to serve—four, eight, or whatever else he had in mind—Lance could at least rely on their cooperative relationship to develop rapidly during the first four years.

This was a perfect partner, and as partners, they needed to be a little more sincere with each other.

Lance had been sorting out his thoughts, and he said carefully, "The five families have experienced both lows and highs. They have a huge influence on the underworld of Goldport City, even the State of Ricall."

"They're like a kingdom, a dynasty!"

"Now that they're declining again, it's time for them to become a thing of the past!"

James scratched his temple and shifted in his seat. Although he could still manage to keep his emotions from showing on his face,

these small movements still betrayed his shock at Lance's words and his intense emotional fluctuations.

Councilman Williams nodded slightly. "What you said makes some sense. Even a country can't exist forever, let alone a gang?"

He said, revealing a slight smile, "Of course, I'm not talking about you guys, I'm only referring to the five families."

"What do you plan to do first?"

Lance already had a comprehensive plan. "After Rick's death, the Cassia family will fall into internal strife."

James reacted, "His son was just killed by Sarif."

Lance nodded. "Yes, the Cassia family's business is not small, and now that Rick hasn't designated an heir, they're very likely to fail to reach any agreement."

"I think there are only two possible directions for things to develop!"

Councilman Williams liked these topics, and he would be genuinely happy to see the decline of an old friend's family.

He was happy that a potential competitor or opponent would be wiped out in the long river of history, and he was also happy to observe these processes from an outsider's perspective, finding measures to use for the future development of the Williams family.

He picked up a small piece of pastry and put it in his mouth. It was just a small piece, but these pastries were too damn sweet!

It was like they were mixing flour into white sugar and honey!

He used to love these pastries when he was younger, after all, "sweetness" had always been exclusive to the nobles, but now that he was older, eating these things felt a bit greasy.

So every time, he only ate a little, bit by bit.

He put the food in his mouth, clapped his hands, and picked up the hand towel on the table to wipe his hands. "You can explain in detail."

"The first direction is that the Cassia family will fall into internal strife. Their senior executives will attack each other to compete to become the next family head. We only need to watch them from the sidelines, and they will destroy themselves."

Councilman Williams and James both nodded, this was very likely.

Although the Cassia family had immigrated here for many, many years, in the eyes of Councilman Williams, an old federalist, these people were no different from wild monkeys.

Expecting savages to make civilized choices was itself a ridiculous thing, and that was the environment over in Yalan.

When the leader died, the people below would select the next heir through infighting. This process was very cruel and bloody.

"What about the other direction?"

Lance continued with a smile, "The people of the Cassia family didn't have internal strife. They felt external pressure, they united together, and everyone discussed solutions together."

"Then we can consider pushing the Tita family to continue their high-intensity fighting through 'revenge'."

Lance slightly emphasized his tone, "The Tita family is a very united family, and I actually prefer the second option."

"They won't have internal strife after losing Sarif, but that's not in our interest."

"Only by letting them continue to fight and wear down each other's final strength will it be in our interest."

Councilman Williams nodded repeatedly as he listened. "It sounds like you already have some ideas?"

Lance didn't deny it. "Spread some rumors, create some new conflicts and contradictions for them, such as… the people of the Cassia family killed their family members again."

Councilman Williams and James knew from these words that the so-called "people of the Cassia family" must be Lance acting.

Councilman Williams admired Lance even more. Lance leaning on Senator Cleveland's line meant that they were truly his own people!

He didn't believe that Lance would abandon the Congressional senator's line. With the ambition Lance was showing, they would definitely be tied together until he found a more suitable backer.

So, could Lance find a more excellent backer?

Not in the short term.

It was as incredible for a local gangster to open up a situation in Congress as it was for a man to give birth!

The senators in Congress were not cheap political resources. Without a certain scale and level, they were not qualified to contact them at all.

Even Senator Cleveland needed Lance by chance to help him write about how to deal with the strike.

Then he handled it very appropriately, and even gave a better solution, using refugees and humanitarianism to make a fuss, which not only solved the problem of whether to provide relief to refugees, but also solved the strike problem, so Senator Cleveland gave him a business card.

Congress had previously discussed the influx of a large number of refugees into the Federation and how to resettle these people.

These refugees had little money and no jobs. They fled in a hurry and could not carry many valuable things at all.

If they were given humanitarian aid directly, the federal government would have to bear an extra expense for no reason.

But Lance reminded them that refugees could legally work, which solved the problem.

So much wilderness in the west was waiting to be developed. Wouldn't another large-scale development of the west solve the problem of too many refugees?

As for whether they would die from overwork, that had nothing to do with the federal government!

They all thought Lance was a very flexible person, not to say how smart he was.

The senators in Congress would not admit that he was very smart. They also believed that they could come up with similar methods with just a little time, so they only thought that Lance's mind was very flexible, that was all.

They would not favor Lance because of this, and would have to contact him to form a relationship of interest transfer, so before he showed himself to be more excellent, excellent enough to cover the sun with the glory emanating from his body.

Lance, he, and the Williams family were all connected.

Councilman Williams nodded slightly. "The Yalan people are like that, barbaric, not knowing what civilization is. I hope the people of the Tita family can deal with it properly."

This affirmed Lance's idea. Thinking of this, Councilman Williams' face also showed a lot of smiles. "In this way, only the Pasreito, Keane, and Korda families are left of the five families."

This was a declarative sentence, but what he wanted to express was, "What are your plans for these three families?"

Lance pondered for a while, "Paul helped me once before."

Councilman Williams nodded. "Yes, I've heard of it, so you plan to leave that young man, what's his name again?"

James leaned forward slightly, "Francisco, Francisco Paul Pasreito."

Adding the father's name in the name was not a particularly strange thing. From a cognitive point of view, the name can be understood as "Francisco is Paul's son, and they are both from the Pasreito family."

Councilman Williams nodded. "Yes, that's the young man.", he looked at Lance, "You plan to leave him and the Pasreito family?"

Lance didn't deny it. "When the other four families disappear, the Pasreito family will only be the Pasreito family. It will be under my control."

"Just like a pyramid, the existence of the top of the tower is because there are enough bases, and it will also become one of the bases."

Councilman Williams didn't continue to dwell on this. In fact, he was very satisfied with Lance doing this. He thought Lance was a "humane" person.

If thirty years ago, when he was the same age as James, he might have sneered at it, thinking that Lance was a little indecisive.

But as people get older, their thinking will change. Now he feels that being humane is better than not being humane.

At least this way, their connection wouldn't be solely based on interests. All cooperative relationships have an end. If there came a day when there were no benefits linking them, would Lance still treat them with a human touch?

As people age, they tend to overthink, or rather, contemplate some terrible scenarios.

This is actually a negative mindset that inevitably arises with human aging. When people are in their prime, they don't believe anything can become a difficulty, so their thoughts are more radical.

But as the body ages and they begin to need more help, their thinking will begin to lean towards conservatism.

Thinking of this, Councilor Williams broke off another small piece of pastry and put it in his mouth.

As long as he didn't eat too much at once, he wouldn't get tired of it. It was sweet and delicious, very tasty.