Empire of Shadows

Councilman Williams' campaign speech was to be held in the Goldport City port area.

Although Bay Area, Starlight District, and the city center were, in many people's eyes, the core of the city, everyone knew that the port was the real heart.

Goldport City's development to its current size wasn't due to what the wealthy had done, but because Goldport Wharf had brought a large number of opportunities here.

Even the freighters that docked here could bring tens of thousands in revenue to the city in just a few days, along with corresponding jobs.

So the wharf was very important. Holding a public campaign speech here could further demonstrate his emphasis on the wharf, the city, and the city's foundations, better catering to the preferences of the working class and even the poor.

The plan was good, but the staff setting up the speech venue told him that many refugees were gathering there.

They weren't marching, but gathering in an assembly. These people were organized, holding up signs like "We need food," "We need doctors," and "We need shelter," quietly waiting.

It was possible Councilman Williams hadn't arrived yet; in any case, they were very quiet now.

Many reporters were already on site, including those from the state newspaper, observing these groups.

This was a very important speech. Friction between the refugee community and the locals was trending towards escalation. If these people appeared at the speech venue, it was hard to say whether any conflicts would break out.

Once a conflict broke out, it would definitely not be a good thing for him. Someone could use these things as a means of attack against him.

Even if it didn't break out, with so many refugees watching nearby, the locals would be more or less unhappy.

On one side were refugees without votes, and on the other were locals with votes. From the start, this wasn't a difficult choice.

He couldn't handle it himself, so he asked Lance to step in. This was why the mafia could never be eradicated in the Federation.

The police, or any other law enforcement agency, simply couldn't take action against the refugees. Not just refugees, but they struggled to play a valuable role in large-scale group incidents.

On the contrary, the mafia was more likely to get things done at this time, and the aftermath cleanup was also very simple.

After Lance hung up the phone, he drove over to take a look. From afar, he saw a dark mass of refugees sitting on the open space next to the speech venue. From a distance, he could almost smell the odor emanating from the group.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the smell on people's bodies was getting stronger and stronger. They could actually go take a shower; the sea was everywhere nearby.

But bathing in the sea wasn't a good choice. If people washed in seawater and didn't clean off the residual salt after going ashore,

the salt would cause serious damage to the skin, making it dry and cracked.

Almost all seaside resorts or beaches had freshwater showers so that tourists could wash off the residual salt on their bodies.

But the New Port area didn't have such facilities, so they couldn't wash in seawater.

Sweat, sebum, all kinds of things, eventually accumulated, forming this group that exuded a strong odor, as striking as the signs they held high!

Damn it…

"Should we have people drive them away?" Alvin, who was sitting in the driver's seat, asked.

Lance shook his head. "You can't get people to drive them away. These people are clearly organized. See those few people?"

Lance pointed to some people in the distance who were constantly moving among the crowd. They were different from the others.

Others were either sitting or standing, holding signs or just quietly staying still.

But these people were constantly moving back and forth between different groups. They were like the wires connecting these groups, playing an important role.

Alvin nodded. "I see them. What's wrong with them?"

"If you don't find out who organized them, even if you arrange for people to drive them away, they won't leave, and it might even trigger a series of conflicts, causing things to get out of control."

Lance lit a cigarette. "It seems that if this matter isn't handled well, Councilman Williams won't be able to come and give his speech in the short term."

Alvin, sitting in the front, was a little disbelieving. "Is it that serious?"

"More serious than you think!" Lance's expression was very serious. Once anything was linked to politics, it could never be clean.

"These people may be more eager for a conflict to occur than we are."

"Let's go back and bring Bonnie (the refugee gang leader he supported) here."

Back in the office, Lance immediately called Councilman Williams and told him about what he had seen in the port area. "There are obvious signs that someone is manipulating those people behind the scenes, so you'd better cancel this afternoon's speech."

Councilman Williams frowned after hearing this. "Is it that serious?"

"Can't you just drive them away?"

Lance directly dashed his hopes. "I think they're more eager for bloodshed than you are."

Councilman Williams was an old politician. He immediately understood what Lance meant. "Are you saying they plan to use this to attract more attention?"

Clearly, there was some anger in his tone. He was being seen by some people as a stepping stone for them to advocate their demands. This was something Councilman Williams couldn't tolerate.

"Do you have any solution?" he asked.

Lance said "Mhm", "Use refugees to deal with refugees, but this takes time. If your schedule for this afternoon can't be changed, then you have to be prepared to be watched by the Federation and even the world, and not with friendly eyes, but with scrutinizing, dissatisfied eyes."

Councilman Williams knew how to make trade-offs. This was just a "convention," just like how the Senate actually knew the results of the presidential election before they were announced but were unwilling to say so. These were all the basic faces of politics.

They needed to make the public understand what fairness and justice were, even if it was false fairness and false justice.

The Federation was a magical society, and also a "placebo effect society." These false fairness and justice were the placebos that the federal government gave to the people, allowing them to become numb to their lives and not think about doing anything to change them.

Since the result was very likely not to be changed, then Councilman Williams didn't have to attend this speech. He immediately made a decision. "I will change my schedule, but I hope this matter can have a result."

Lance said with a smile, "As you wish, sir."

Councilman Williams hung up the phone angrily. He sat there for a while. Although preparing this speech didn't require much money, and some of the people he invited to help weren't considered big favors,

he was still very unhappy, even a little angry.

Because he was "forced back." He was forced back by those refugees. Councilman Williams, who already regarded himself as the master of this city, couldn't accept this result. He needed some people to pay the price for their "arrogance!"

The word arrogance might seem a little abrupt when used on refugees, but when used in politics, it wasn't abrupt.

"Refugee" was these people's label, and also their political face. Some of them were using this political face to try to leverage a city's mayoral candidate to achieve their political demands. If this wasn't arrogance, what was?

You go to someone else's house to stay, but you really treat yourself as one of the owners of that house, and you even want to use some of your labels to force the homeowner to compromise.

This was a typical arrogant mindset. They thought Councilman Williams couldn't handle this matter, and thought that no matter what, they would definitely succeed!

Sometimes "weakness" does indeed have a great advantage.

Councilman Williams sat there for a while, then picked up the phone, dialed a number, and canceled the afternoon's schedule.

Soon, James learned of the news and came to his room.

James was also one of the main guest speakers at his events. He was not only Councilman Williams' son, but also one of Goldport City's municipal councilors, with enough status to sit in the front row.

As soon as he entered, he asked, "Why was the afternoon event canceled? Did something happen that I don't know about?"

Councilman Williams looked at him and nodded. "Lance went to the scene. He said that the refugee groups may be controlled by someone behind the scenes, and he suspects that those people's purpose is to escalate the conflict to advocate their demands."

When James heard this, he couldn't sit still. He swayed his body back and forth a couple of times. "Are you serious?"

Councilman Williams looked at him without saying a word, making him realize that it was true. He took a breath of cold air. "Damn it, why didn't we drive these refugees out in the first place?"

Why not?

That was another matter, but Councilman Williams didn't want to talk about it now. "So the afternoon event was canceled, but I let Lance take care of this matter. I believe he will have results soon."

James hesitated slightly. "He's now… Should we show something for doing this?"

What he meant was that Lance had already ingratiated himself with the senator and the Department of Defense, and was no longer an ordinary gangster. He couldn't take it for granted that Lance was doing things like in the past.

Councilman Williams nodded with satisfaction. "I'm glad to see you're not that stupid!"

James showed a crying and laughing expression on his face. "Honestly, I can't tell if you're mocking me or praising me!"

The laughter eased Councilman Williams' expression a lot. "We are partners. If I'm good, he's good. Similarly, if he has problems, I will do everything I can to protect him, so you don't have to worry."

“I'll call to express my gratitude, and then invite him to dinner at home. It'll be a good opportunity to discuss some matters.”

He added, mainly because he was worried James wouldn't understand, “Good thing.”

While the father and son were exchanging their thoughts, the newly built speech stage was being dismantled amidst the workers' complaints. However, the complaints weren't too loud, because they were being paid for the dismantling as well.

Watching the site being dismantled, some of the refugees suddenly froze.

Soon, the news converged on one of the refugees, a man who looked to be in his forties. Although his clothes were plain, they were very clean, and he didn't have any unpleasant odors about him.

He gave off a very "upright" feeling, and was surrounded by many people.

This was one of the members, a minor leader, of a local Slade political group.

As an opposition party that couldn't quite be considered an opposition party, he couldn't exert much influence locally. Slade wasn't a place with a relaxed political environment, and it was very difficult for such small local political groups to develop.

He heard that the political environment was more relaxed in the Federation, so he had the idea of coming to the Federation to try his luck.

Trying his luck didn't cost anything, and he didn't need to bear any responsibility.

After arriving here, he discovered that although the political environment was relaxed, everything was linked to money.

Even the presidential election had a clear price tag. With twenty to thirty million in campaign funds, you were qualified to try to launch an attack on the presidential throne, but that was all it meant – you were qualified.

In fact, strictly speaking, the supporting guests of those candidates during the election, the also-rans, including the celebrity politicians who publicly expressed their support for them, also had value in themselves.

If you didn't know them, and didn't have any close relationship with them, if you wanted these influential people to support you, you had to offer a price.

So, the campaign funds on the surface were only twenty to thirty million, but in reality, its total value might be fifty million or even more.

In this environment, you couldn't become a politician just by talking, and you couldn't realize your ambitions and ideals.

Even becoming a city councilor required connections and funds. At this time, he finally understood that the so-called relaxed environment was aimed at those with backgrounds, not at ordinary people like them.

He wanted to make his voice heard. He hadn't given up everything in his home country to come to the Federation to work as an ordinary laborer.

The life lived by the rich, powerful, and influential here also deeply attracted him. He wanted to become one of them, but he didn't have a good way.

Until he set his sights on these compatriots.

His plan was simple. Wasn't Councilor Williams trying to be elected mayor?

His requirements weren't high. His initial plan was to become a refugee public opinion advisor, and have Councilor Williams specially open an office for him in the city hall.

Then, using this as a springboard, he would continuously move upwards, first becoming the Jin Gang City refugee public opinion advisor, then the Likalai State refugee public opinion advisor.

In the end, he could even become an advisor to the Presidential Palace Refugee Public Opinion Office, or join the Immigration Bureau to handle all matters related to refugees.

He had seen very clearly during this period that the prosperous Federation society attracted the attention of all refugees, and they were very likely not to leave the Federation even after the war ended.

Then there would be problems, conflicts, and disputes, and these problems would need to be resolved.

As a "refugee expert," he would definitely be able to find a place of his own in this land.

As long as he could complete the first step successfully, take it and not fall, then the road ahead would be very easy to walk.

If Councilor Williams didn't adopt his idea, didn't let him become a refugee representative, and didn't give him his own office in the city hall?

Very simple, create conflict, escalate contradictions, and cause bloodshed!

The federal government was deepening its ties with the military alliance, and if news of the federal government suppressing refugees broke out at this time, it might cause variables.

The federal government would definitely take relatively conservative measures to deal with these bloody incidents. At that time, as a "meritorious official" who helped the federal government appease the emotions of the refugee community, giving him a government office job wouldn't be too much, would it?

It could be said that his idea had a high probability of being realized, because he was the person who created the problem, and at the same time the "key man" who solved the problem.

The refugees didn't completely trust the federal government. If the federal government was reliable, so many people wouldn't have starved to death.

So, his position would be very prominent.

It's just... he looked at those people who were dismantling the site and couldn't help but frown.

Before organizing today's event, he had considered many possibilities: the possibility that Councilor Williams would accept their opinions, the possibility that he would reject their opinions, or the possibility that he would perfunctorily deal with their opinions.

But he had never thought that that guy would actually run away without even showing his face?

“Dave, what do we do next?”

This Mr. Dave, who was full of ideals and aspirations, had a bit of a headache. Now, the problem wasn't Councilor Williams anymore, but him.

If today's gathering didn't have any results, it would be difficult for him to gather these people together next time, at least not to gather several thousand people like today.

People would also be disappointed in him, and their disappointment would turn into no longer supporting him, turning into waiting and seeing.

But it didn't make sense to gather directly outside Councilor Williams' manor. That still belonged to private territory, and they couldn't even get close, otherwise the federal police would have the power to expel them.

Such an expulsion, even a bloody incident, wouldn't bring positive effects, which wasn't what he wanted.

As for going to the city hall... he had already learned that the person in that position was just a decoration. For a moment, he had a headache.

How much would it help if he had the support of capitalists behind him?

If he distributed some roast chickens or something to these people, the problem would be solved.

“I'll think about it.” He put on a solemn expression and prevaricated, his brain spinning at high speed, trying to find a breakthrough point.

After a while, his gaze lingered on those reporters, and then he strode towards them.

At the same time, Boni also came to Lance's office. He still seemed a bit restrained, but much better than last time.

“How has it been lately?” Lance asked him to sit down and even made him a cup of coffee.

Boni had changed into a new set of clothes and looked much more energetic. Lance had given him some job opportunities.

For a gang like the Lance family, alcohol might be more valuable.

But for these refugees who didn't have spending power, job opportunities were the most important!

Boni extracted commissions from these people, whether it was food or money, it was fine.

With money, he quickly gathered a large group of people, and already had some of the style of a gangster, and was currently the largest in scale among the refugees.