Empire of Shadows

"Mr. Robben, I don't want to say the same thing many times, but I still want to say it again, thank you!"

Allen took the initiative to shake hands with Lawyer Robben, "Boss was held up by some things and couldn't come, so he asked me to convey his thanks for taking the time to come here."

Actually, paying bail doesn't require Lawyer Robben to come in person. He could have sent an assistant or even a judicial apprentice to do it.

But he came in person, which is a matter of attitude.

He quickly responded, "This is what I should do. Mr. Lance pays me, I work for him, this is my duty."

"Say hello to Mr. Lance for me. If there are any follow-up issues, you can call me."

"If they sue you, I will come and help you win this case."

In the Federation, fighting is the most difficult case to judge. In the end, it depends on whose lawyer is more capable and famous.

The other side is just ordinary people, Lawyer Robben doesn't think they will lose at all!

Lawyer Robben didn't look down on Allen just because he was a "small character". He treated Allen with the same enthusiasm as he treated Lance.

As a lawyer who has been specializing in handling lawsuits for the mafia for many years, he knows one thing better than any other lawyer or even anyone else.

The so-called identity, class, and social status are worthless in the eyes of these lower-level mafia members!

Yes, worthless.

He has handled more than one first-degree murder case. Those lower-level gang members killed a socialite without any hesitation and then turned themselves in.

In the process of handling these cases, he also chatted with these people. He asked these gunmen, don't you know what the consequences of doing this will be?

You need to know that even first-degree murder cases against civilians have a high probability of being sent to the electric chair or the gallows, let alone they murdered socialites.

But these lower-level mafia members seemed fearless and said they didn't care. It was a glorious task. They completed the task and would be respected by other members, that's all.

Imprisonment, even death, they didn't take it to heart. Of course, this also has something to do with the federal judicial process.

Even if it is a death penalty review, even if the dead are celebrities, the whole process takes a long time. More often, they are secretly executed by other prisoners in prison, rather than dying on the execution platform.

They don't care if you are a capitalist or a politician, they only care if you will be killed!

On the contrary, those higher-level mafia leaders, their social form is no longer just a mafia form, they also participate in some political activities, so they have a more thorough understanding of the world.

They know that there are things in this world more terrible than death, so they are afraid.

The most famous case is that a congressman's son was beaten to the point of being unable to take care of himself by a low-level mafia member, but the leader of this mafia member tried every means to obtain the congressman's forgiveness.

Those who never care if you are a great lower-level mafia member are what Robben is unwilling to mess with.

He doesn't want them to think he's a little arrogant, even if it's just a little bit.

He can communicate with Lance, but he may not be able to communicate with these people.

"Okay, I will definitely convey it to Boss."

The two let go of their hands, and Lawyer Robben quickly got into the car and left. Just driving over to go through a process, he earned two hundred dollars.

This is too easy to earn!

Watching Lawyer Robben leave, a subordinate opened the car door for Allen. He straightened his favorite trench coat, looked around, and then got into the car.

The entire police station parking lot seemed to have become a lot wider!

The motorcade drove out one after another, leaving only the workers who had been beaten bloody still taking notes.

At this time, the general manager had arrived at the scene. He looked at the warehouse entrance, which was full of crops, but with bloodstains everywhere. For a while, he wanted to scold someone, but he didn't know who to scold or how to scold.

He also arranged for people to go outside the pier to look for odd-job workers. This time, people avoided him as if they had seen a poisonous snake.

Basically, it is difficult for anything to be hidden from the worker community on the pier, especially this kind of conflict that has not been hidden.

They all knew that the Ligee Group was in trouble. No matter how powerful the Ligee Group was, they were not the opponents of Lance's gang.

On the pier, the pier management company controls all the assets here, but they are the ones who control the order here.

Time passed little by little, and he rushed back to the company to explain the situation to the commissioner.

The commissioner's expression was still cold, "Is it useless to call the police?"

The general manager sighed, "Lance is a man of considerable influence, the police may not be useful."

He said some hearsay rumors, such as the former police chief John, who was killed by Lance.

This rumor made the commissioner frown, and his eyes also showed some contempt for this place.

"Although this place is very rich, it is also very barbaric. It is not as civilized as the Golden State!"

He first launched a map cannon, and then continued, "What are his requirements? Compensation for breach of contract?"

The general manager nodded, "He demands four million in compensation!"

When he heard this number, the commissioner showed a mocking expression, "Four million?"

"Does this person know what four million looks like?"

"This matter will now be taken over by me, and I will report your performance to the board of directors as it is."

The general manager breathed a sigh of relief. It would be good if someone took over. He didn't care about reporting to the board of directors!

But he had to pretend to be embarrassed and unhappy to cooperate with the commissioner, at least not to show a smile...

"I understand.", he reminded, "If those things on the pier are not moved away, we may have to pay liquidated damages."

The commissioner nodded, without saying any disposal plan, and then pointed in the direction of the door, "I need to work, get out."

Liquidated damages?

They can get away with Lance's liquidated damages, and they can get away with other people's. The Ligee Group knows how to pick soft persimmons.

Soon the phone call went to the board of directors. The commissioner, who was arrogant and aloof in front of the general manager, now behaved like a small character in front of the phone.

He bent slightly, lowered his head, and held the microphone with both hands, "...Yes, that's how I considered it. Our cooperation with the Licale State Agriculture Committee is very close, and they can give us some help."

"Yes, that's my idea. In addition, I am disappointed with the performance of the general manager here after I came here."

"He has hardly done any work that can reverse the current situation, putting us in a passive state...Yes, yes...I don't know, I understand."

"Okay, I will deal with it immediately...", he hung up the phone, his expression a little unnatural. The general manager took the vice president's route. He hated these damn nepotism groups.

But he has no ability to deal with them, after all, that is the vice president, the person who can determine his fate!

Incompetent villain, that's his evaluation of the general manager.

Soon, he started working, trying to contact some more powerful people through the relationship of the Agriculture Committee to solve this problem.

This is also a common method used by capital, you always have someone you can't refuse.

"After the New Year, we have to consider some issues of running for mayor.", Councilor Williams sat in his chair, with a blanket over his legs.

James sat opposite him, looking like he was listening attentively.

Now James has taken over from him and become the new councilor. Councilor Williams is actually not a councilor anymore. He is just an ordinary King's Landing City resident.

But people are still used to calling him Councilor Williams, and most likely will call him Mayor Williams in a year.

"I know, you may think that we have no opponents in the election, and we are sure to win."

He spoke slowly, and the sunlight shone on him through the glass window, but he didn't feel much warmth, not even as high as the temperature brought by the heating.

When people get old, the heat they generate will decrease. Although he is well maintained, there are still many wrinkles on his face.

"Even if a hungry lion is hunting a hare, it will use its true strength, because it knows that whether it uses its full strength or not, the hare will use its full strength."

"If the hare escapes, all its previous efforts will become a joke. It must ensure that the hare becomes its food in order to fill its stomach."

"We are the same. Whether the mayoral candidates nominated by the Liberal Party and the Federal Party are likely to defeat us, we must remain vigilant."

"This kind of thing has happened many times, this may not be another time!"

"What we can do is to go all out..."

The phone on the table suddenly rang. He answered the phone, "This is Williams."

He frowned and listened for a while, "I can't make any guarantees to you. I can only say ask first."

He said and hung up the phone, "People from the Agricultural Committee."

Licale State has abundant water resources, and belongs to the southern plains. Wheat can be harvested three times in two years here. Further west, there are more farms and plantations.

If you don't consider the port economy of King's Landing City, then the economy of Licale State mainly revolves around light industry and agriculture.

The Agricultural Committee has a high status in Licale State.

He said and picked up the phone again, "The Ligee Group has offended Lance, and now they are very likely to pay the price."

After listening, James was a bit curious, "Are you planning to get involved in this matter?"

Councilman Williams shook his head, "I'm just curious about what happened. You can't possibly stop an old man like me from being curious about the world, right?"

"As for helping them persuade Lance?"

He smiled, "The fact that they're calling me means they don't have many options left, doesn't it?"

Unfortunately, Lance was not at the company or at home, so he didn't receive the councilman's call.

He was currently at the bar in the Starlight District, which Paul had promised him.

After Alberto took Francisco to rectify the family affairs, the bar was finally transferred to Lance, including its property rights.

The bar, which reportedly cost three hundred thousand to renovate, exuded an atmosphere of wealth, as if everything was expensive!

"My God, Lance, come over here!"

"You have to try this!" Several young people stood in the dance floor, shaking their butts, and greeted Lance.

Lance stood at the edge of the dance floor, and Hiram kept shaking excitedly, "The floor here shakes!"

Originally, Lance wasn't very interested in this place, but after he said that, he became a little interested. He tried stepping onto the stage floor and immediately felt what Hiram meant by "shaking."

Spring dance floor. Under the floor tiles of the dance floor, there is also a layer of heavy-duty springs. These springs allow the dancers in the dance floor to not consume so much energy while also providing positive feedback to their ankles.

If you stomp on the ground hard, your soles will feel numb.

But on this kind of floor, the feedback will not be so strong, and people can dance longer.

The cost of this dance floor is definitely not cheap. Not only are the materials not cheap, but the technology is also the most advanced and trendy in this era.

Sometimes, the attraction of a spring dance floor is far greater than the attraction of the liquor here.

Lance walked out of the dance floor. The bar was full of excited young men. Derrysi was calculating how much liquor supply was needed here every day. Everyone was full of expectations for this place.

"Christopher doesn't have any business talent, but he can still earn four to five hundred thousand a month from here. If you can manage it well, even more is not a problem."

Alberto leaned against the bar, supporting himself on the bar's surface, looking at Lance and said.

This number is very real. This is actually the starting reason for all the misfortunes that Lance and Dover, including Paul, eventually encountered!

Dover was unwilling to lose the business here, harbored hatred for Lance, and exacerbated the split between him and Paul.

Many days later, Lance took control of this place. Whether it was him or Alberto, they both had a sense of destiny.

"This is not a small amount of money. I hope no one will bother me because of it," Lance sat on the round stool next to him. "I heard that Cisco is doing well now."

Alberto shrugged and jumped onto the chair next to him, "After the two biggest troubles were resolved, the others became much more honest."

"We have returned to our essence. We are gangsters, not philanthropists. Using violence to speak is always the simplest and most effective method."

It is also the most dangerous, but from the moment they embarked on this path, danger has always been around them.

Lance did not object to Alberto's understanding, "What are you going to do next?"

Alberto shook his head, "I'm not sure. Let Cisco truly control the family first, and then consider how to solve Dover's problem."

"Only by killing Dover can Francisco truly and completely control the family."

"But it doesn't seem easy in the short term."

"Some of Sumuri have already been caught in the war. We can't go back there in a short time. We may have to wait until the war is over."

"Just right, there is still a long enough time for Cisco to grow up."

This is a rather heavy topic, because once the decision is made to start avenging Dover, it means a new war is about to begin.

Lance patted Alberto's arm, "Everything will be fine."

Alberto nodded, "Yes, everything will be fine."

The opening of the bar is not immediate. There are many problems here, such as how to let people know that the bar has reopened, but not let the drug administration's dogs sniff out the problem here.

Once it starts to become profitable again, someone might leak the news here to those agents.

So some means are needed to let people know that it is reopening, and not let others know.

In addition, there are some equipment here that needs to be replaced or repaired, which takes time.

Even if it is to open, it is estimated that it will have to wait until mid-to-late November.

Lance left the others here and began to clean up the bar again, while he returned to the company.

He has high hopes for this bar. This is definitely a big profit maker!

As soon as he returned to the company, someone told him that Councilman Williams had called. The two people, or rather, the two forces, were currently in their honeymoon period, so Lance immediately returned the call.

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes, someone called me and asked me if there was a way to facilitate a reconciliation between you and the Ligee Group."

Lance raised his eyebrows, "Did you agree?"

Councilman Williams laughed, "Of course I'm not that stupid. How could I agree to them if I don't know anything?"

"Besides, we are partners, but I am not like that with them. At most, it is a relationship of exchanging benefits."

"I'm just curious about what happened…"

Lance once again explained the specifics of what happened. Councilman Williams also felt that it was the Ligee Group's problem, "Just because they were unwilling to honor your grape contract, so you lost more than one million, and then all this happened?"

Listening to Lance nodding in agreement, he couldn't help but laugh and cry, "Now they have lost even more."

Lance considered it, "If they give you a reason you can't refuse, I'll give you face, Councilman Williams, two million, that's the lowest price I'll accept."

Councilman Williams laughed again, "This is very interesting, Lance. I didn't expect my face to be worth so much money."

He pondered for a while, "We are friends, but I am not with them."

After he hung up the phone, he looked at James, as if asking him "Why I won't get involved in this matter".

This is a kind of "education" process between father and son, and it is also an opportunity that ordinary people can never get.

When a college graduate says "During my internship at the Presidential Palace…" at the graduation party, 95% of the people in the entire school will only be able to look up to him in the future!

Ordinary family fathers will only wave their fists and tell their children to "be obedient", instead of telling them that there are many things in this world that need to be thought about.

"If they were willing to take out two million, this problem wouldn't exist now!" This is the result of James' analysis.

Councilman Williams smiled, a standard answer!

His education of James was successful!

This is no longer a simple matter of money!

Trapped