Empire of Shadows

One by one, the warehouses were opened, revealing agricultural products contaminated by industrial waste, causing the general manager's blood pressure to spike.

Fruits and agricultural products with thicker skins and larger sizes, like pumpkins, were relatively easier to handle.

But what about those with thin skins?

Even a simple wipe could remove the skin, and most importantly, the pungent odor was difficult to eliminate!

The cost of simply cleaning these crops would exceed the profits they could bring to the company, not to mention the cost of disposing of them, even if nothing was done!

"What's the total loss?"

He stood some distance from the warehouse, and a staff member reported a number: "Warehouses 5, 7, and 9 are contaminated, with a total loss of approximately 350,000."

Three hundred and fifty thousand.

The general manager supported his forehead and turned to look at the distant sea, his head throbbing.

He didn't know how to report this to the head office, to tell them that some waste oil had caused the company to lose a large sum of money, and that they might have to spend another twenty or thirty thousand to dispose of the contaminated crops!

What would the board of directors think?

What would the president think?

He didn't know.

He only knew that Lance and his crew were not to be trifled with!

The sound of police sirens grew louder in the distance, and soon two police cars stopped outside the warehouse. Several police officers in uniform and wide-brimmed hats walked towards the warehouse.

The general manager hurried over.

"Who called the police?"

"I had someone call the police!"

The police officers stopped and turned to the general manager. "What's wrong?"

"Did someone steal something from you?"

Thefts were common at the docks, and almost 95% of them were related to the workers.

There were too many warehouses here, and many were only rented for short periods, perhaps three to five days.

They arrived with a cargo ship from somewhere else, stayed in the warehouse for three to five days, and then boarded another cargo ship to another port.

This was a common occurrence. Without inside help from the workers, the theft gangs would have no idea which warehouse contained valuable goods or when to strike.

Theft was the most common crime on the docks. After all, the goods were right there, and it was easy for the workers to acquire them, as long as they had enough courage.

The general manager shook his head. "You'll understand better if you go inside and take a look. I'm not comfortable saying."

The police officers exchanged glances, and two of them went inside. They quickly came out with unpleasant expressions on their faces.

Too pungent!

"You must have offended someone!" the officer in charge of the case concluded.

A large quantity of crops had been smeared with waste materials, rendering them completely unusable.

Moreover, these waste-contaminated crops could not be directly buried in the nearby soil, nor could they be dumped into rivers or soil.

The federal government's industrial pollution control laws had been submitted and passed gradually over a decade ago.

Among the most famous were the 'Water Pollution Act' and the 'Toxic Chemical Act,' which explicitly prohibited the discharge of garbage that could cause oil slicks into natural bodies of water, and the natural discharge or burial of toxic synthetic chemicals that could harm soil, plants, and the like.

This waste had to be rendered harmless, and the cost was not low.

If they hadn't offended someone, those people might not have used such a troublesome method to retaliate.

"Two other warehouses are like this too!" the general manager added, and the officer, who had been watching the rookie record the information, looked up at him.

The officer's eyes were filled with a look that said, "You must have some leads." "Who have you offended recently?"

The general manager said the name, "It might be... someone from the Lance family. I'm not sure, but we should have a bit of a feud with them."

All four police officers looked at him as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

Feeling uneasy under their gaze, the general manager's focus darted between the four men before finally settling on the officer. "What's happening?"

The officer shook his head. "No, why do you think it's them?"

The general manager didn't quite know how to explain that their attempt to renege on a deal had caused Lance to lose millions in profits.

And that this time, they had set a trap to retaliate, and the company had decided to confront them head-on?

Moreover, he didn't have any evidence.

The officer seemed to realize this, and he took a few steps forward, stopping in front of the general manager. "Do you have evidence?"

The general manager shook his head. "I don't have any evidence at the moment."

The officer poked him in the chest with his finger. "Don't make wild accusations without evidence. It will add a lot of extra trouble to our investigation. You're misleading us!"

The general manager felt that there was nothing wrong with what he said, but the way he expressed it... seemed a bit off.

But he couldn't put his finger on what was wrong, so he could only nod and say, "Okay, I won't say anything without evidence again."

The officer nodded. "That's for the best!" He paused. "We'll arrange for someone to investigate this case, but there probably won't be any major results in the short term."

The officer tilted his head, and the other officers were already getting into the car. The general manager couldn't help but take two steps forward, lowering his voice. "I know Chief Duke."

They had had contact before, and the Leger Group had donated a lot of money to Charlie, who was then the chief of police, and they had organized a police team event.

As a relatively core area of the Leger Group, the port district branch also participated in the event.

At that time, Duke, the branch director, was not yet the branch director, but only a deputy police chief, but he was also qualified to participate in this kind of capital organization's donation activities.

The general manager had met Duke at the event.

He wanted to use this method to tell the officer that he also had someone in the police station.

The officer sneered. "You can call him and have him come out of his office to handle your case. You seem to trust him more!"

After saying that, he didn't wait for the general manager to say anything else, and got straight into the car and left, leaving behind a general manager with a "What happened?" expression!

He looked at the surrounding staff, who consciously looked away, and he could only curse a few times and light a cigarette.

At this time, people from the insurance company also arrived. After a brief inspection of the scene, they told the general manager that these goods were not insured.

The general manager's face was full of disbelief!

"How is that possible?"

"We insured many of our agricultural products!"

He emphasized again and again, "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Several insurance company staff members who came to the scene shook their heads. "We can confirm that these are not insured. The warehouses and goods you insured do not involve these warehouses and the things inside."

"Here is a copy, you can see for yourself."

The general manager snatched the copy of the insurance policy and read it carefully.

The more he read, the more ugly his face became, because the things in these warehouses really were not insured.

The staff member on the other side continued, "And, sir, even if these were insured, we might not be able to compensate you."

"To be honest, we have never encountered this kind of situation before, so it is not in our compensation rules."

With the insurance company's spirit of trying everything possible to deny claims, as long as the contract did not mention "contaminated by waste oil", then they would refuse to insure 100%!

The general manager couldn't help but curse a few more times. If he had retained a glimmer of hope before,

If the insurance company could compensate part of it, then the headquarters might not be so angry!

But now, not only would the insurance company not pay a penny, but they would also have to spend money to dispose of these industrial wastes. If they also calculated the profits they should have obtained, their actual losses might exceed 500,000!

Five hundred thousand!

This wasn't five thousand, not fifty thousand, but five hundred thousand!

With an extremely ugly face, he asked people to guard the other warehouses, and drove directly back to the company. He had to report this emergency as soon as possible.

Just as he was riding in the elevator, thinking about how to report this matter to the vice president or the board of directors, he suddenly thought of something.

If the goods in these warehouses were all stored for a short period, wouldn't that mean that they would also face contract claims?

A chill made him feel a strong sense of unease!

If the claims were also included, even if it was a 50% compensation, the total loss might exceed 750,000 or more!

Thinking of this, he sped up, and just as he was about to enter the door, his secretary took out a small package and handed it over.

"Someone said it must be given to you. This is a gift."

The box wasn't too big. He shook it in his hand, and it seemed like there was something inside. He wasn't in the mood to open it now.

He closed the door, walked to his office chair and sat down, took a few minutes to sort out his thoughts, and then picked up the phone...

More than twenty minutes later, the phone was hung up. The board of directors was naturally very dissatisfied with him, believing that he was also responsible.

Of course, he knew that this was some of the choices made by the board of directors in looking for a scapegoat, and he could only passively deal with it.

But fortunately, the commissioner would arrive in Goldport City soon, and he would temporarily transfer all power to the commissioner at that time.

The board of directors demanded that he go and urge the local police to investigate the case as soon as possible, or provide some valuable clues.

As for his mention of the possibility of the Lance family being behind it, although the board of directors didn't say anything, he believed that they should incorporate this guess into their handling options.

After hanging up the phone, he sat blankly for a long while before remembering the package at hand.

He used an exquisite letter opener, worth $4.99, to cut open the outer layer of the package. Inside was a box, and he opened the lid.

It was a simple model like a sand table, a toy resembling an intersection, a small car that had been violently damaged, and a model truck.

"What the hell is this?" he muttered, reaching out to grab the truck. The moment his hand touched the truck, he felt like he had been electrocuted, and he shuddered!

He remembered the previous commissioner.

He had died on the way to the Starlight District in the same way.

This was intimidation, a threat!

And he was genuinely frightened.

He stared at the toy for a long time, then stood up and paced back and forth.

He didn't want to die.

He had connections on the board of directors. The vice president was his connection. He had a bright future. He had money, and his family had money. He hadn't yet enjoyed all these wonderful things!

"These gangsters are so damn lawless, f*ck!" he roared in the office, waving his fist!

The soundproofed wooden door blocked the sound from spreading, and the secretary outside the door didn't hear his roar.

But even if she had heard it, she most likely wouldn't have said or done anything.

He cursed the inactive city hall, cursed the inactive Charlie and his police department, and the new Chief Hunter.

He even cursed the Lance family and Lance himself a few times.

But in the end, he slumped down on the sofa, covering his face with his hands.

He had been threatened by the gangsters!

A simple but terrifying threat because it had actually happened before!

He felt a little lost. He felt that the company would lose this time too.

The police car that had been dispatched quickly returned to the police station. The officer went to the chief's office and reported the matter.

The Duke Branch Chief nodded slightly after listening, "You did a good job."

The officer asked, "What about the case over there?"

The Duke Branch Chief pondered for a while, "Follow the procedure. If you find any important clues, remember to let the rookie handle it."

A knowing look appeared on the officer's face. Letting the rookie handle it meant destroying the evidence.

Whether it was direct destruction or the evidence losing its validity during the collection process, it was a good method.

And the reason was sufficient. The rookies didn't know much about these things, so they messed it up. The police station would deal with them internally.

As for whether they would really be dealt with and how, that was a matter for the police force and had nothing to do with them.

"Anything else?" the Duke Branch Chief asked. The officer shook his head, and he let him leave.

Then he picked up the phone and dialed the Lance office's number.

Lance had just given them money. If he were to touch Lance at this time, Lance wouldn't need to do anything, and the police would make things difficult for him.

Don't think that he was just a branch chief. If the police in the branch were dissatisfied with him being the chief, they could strike and he would lose his job!

Yes, the police would also strike, and they had struck many times.

For the people of the Federation, being a police officer was just a job. If necessary, they could do this without any psychological burden.

The call was quickly connected.

"There was a case at the pier..." He briefly narrated the situation, "Is there anything I need to pay attention to?"

Lance's gentle voice came from the receiver, "Thank you. I believe we didn't leave any important evidence. If you find anything else, handle it and give me a call."

The Duke Branch Chief laughed heartily, "This is what I should do. Everyone is very grateful to you."

The two chatted briefly and then hung up.

The Duke Branch Chief shook his head as he looked at the phone. Why provoke Lance for no reason?

Perhaps ordinary people still admired and were fascinated by the legends of the Five Great Families.

But as the enforcer of this city, he knew very well that Lance's strength had surpassed those of the weaker ones.

He wasn't a king, but he already possessed the potential to challenge a king!

News spread quickly at the pier. By noon, almost everyone knew about it, and many people ran over to watch the excitement.

Some people remembered the unfamiliar workers in overalls from last night, but they all wisely kept silent.

There were three groups of workers currently working at the pier.

The first group was mainly composed of local workers like Johnny and Dave.

They were the group of workers who stood on Lance's side and had chosen to stand on Lance's side since the last strike.

The second group was mainly composed of immigrant workers and illegal immigrants. They were one of the largest groups at the pier.

And almost all of these people worked for Lance. Lance controlled their job opportunities here.

Especially the illegal immigrants. Lance only needed a word, and they would lose their jobs.

The third group was mainly composed of refugee workers. They lived at the bottom and had never been in contact with any interest groups in the Federation. They were absolutely clean in terms of interests.

At the same time, they all worked for Lance. Strictly speaking, Lance hired them and sent them to work at the pier.

So Lance had the power to fire them anytime, anywhere!

With the coverage of these three groups, they could easily guess some inside information, but no one would say it.

The new pier club had started its trial operation again, and people were once again enjoying cheap alcoholic beverages.

And all of this was brought by Mr. Lance!

They were too grateful to Lance to even think about reporting him.

Whether it was the police or the investigators from the Riggi Group, everyone said they hadn't seen any strangers or any oil tankers coming to the pier. The investigation went straight into a dead end!

At around 9 PM, Bandi had just returned from socializing outside. His butler took off his coat for him while saying, "A gentleman from the Golden State has been calling you. He left his number and said he would wait for you until dawn."

Bandi had drunk some alcohol. His face was a little flushed, and he was clearly stunned at this moment, "Golden State?"

"Yes, sir."

This made him a little more sober. The Special Zone was in the Golden State, and the federal capital was also in the Golden State.

He took the hot towel from the maid and wiped his face, making him feel much more refreshed. "Send a pot of strong coffee to my office, and get some fruit."

"Also, prepare a bath for me tonight."

People started to do their own things. The butler followed behind him and came to the study.

Bandi looked at the name and phone number on the card, and a slightly pretentious guy with a small mustache appeared in his mind.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number…