Empire of Shadows

Chapter 645: Drawing Swords [666+6]

Today was the last day of Mayor Williams' ultimatum, and he mainly sought Lance to discuss the next steps.

Since there was no room for reconciliation between the two parties, he would not consider trying to persuade them.

As a former member of the Jingang City Bay Area interest group, he knew very well the greed of these people.

Even if he satisfied them now, they would make even more excessive demands later. They would test his bottom line, find it bit by bit, and then force his bottom line to continue to retreat until they were satisfied.

Mayor Williams would not waste time and energy dealing with these greedy people. After encountering these problems recently, he was also reflecting and researching.

Through the performance of the previous mayor during his tenure, he realized that he should never talk about cooperation with people who are never satisfied.

So now he needs Lance.

Mayor Williams closed the door and sat on the sofa next to the businessman, with a friendly smile on his face.

Although he came on the last day of the deadline, at least it was a statement.

Early support and late support are both support. As a ruler, he must learn to look at problems more tolerantly.

"It's him. We have some work matters to discuss."

"What, do you know him?"

The businessman quickly shook his head, "No, I don't know Mr. Lance, but I was fortunate enough to see him once from a distance."

He paused, his mind spinning wildly. At this time, he had realized that Lance's appearance in the City Hall was definitely not a simple isolated event.

During this period, they were also guessing how Mayor Williams would ultimately deal with the industrial zone demolition issue. Would he be tough, use relationships and laws, or use other methods?

Now it seems that he knows.

Lance.

That's the standard answer!

His heartbeat began to accelerate, thumping so hard that his chest felt a little stuffy, but the good news was that he was sitting here now.

Mayor Williams smiled and changed the subject, "Let's not discuss those things that have nothing to do with us. Let's talk about the replacement subsidy. You should have read the replacement subsidy policy issued by the City Hall. Do you have any other requirements for these?"

The businessman shook his head, "No, it's very good. I've never seen such a suitable policy…"

Outside the door, Lance walked out of the City Hall. The young people standing in groups of three or five on the roadside immediately threw away the cigarettes in their hands.

Some passers-by also stopped when they saw Lance, and some even took off their hats.

The weather was very cold, and this scene was also very funny, because when those people took off their hats, their uneven hair exposed to the air began to rise with heat.

There were more people who supported Lance than those who opposed him, because Lance had set up several relief points in the Imperial District, the Port District, and even the New Port District.

Poor people could go there to receive food and some winter clothing, some canned beans that were about to expire, some whole-wheat bread filled with fruit and vegetable fiber left over from juicing, as well as a small amount of ground beef and a piece of butter.

Many of these things were from the bottom of the warehouse. Some supermarkets couldn't sell them in winter, so they would dump or destroy them.

The cost of reprocessing them was much higher than directly destroying them, but Lance bought these soon-to-expire products and distributed them to the poor for free.

The clothes were provided by a specialized company, and they were all second-hand clothes.

Although they were old clothes, at least they were clothes that could help people survive the cold winter.

I don't know how many poor people were able to live because of these things. Lance's status and influence among the poor were constantly rising.

Even ordinary people may not like his identity, but they are very sure about what he does.

Those rich people don't care about the life or death of the poor, but a gang leader is helping them. It's really damn funny!

Someone took off his hat and saluted Lance in the cold winter. Lance also took off his hat in response. Being a polite person is a basic quality of being a human being. Although the hat will not be completely taken off, the action is enough.

People watched him quickly get into his luxury car, not at all jealous, just a little envious.

The motorcade slowly started up, and the people on the roadside continued to walk towards their destinations.

"Go to the dock."

The motorcade began to accelerate, and more than thirty minutes later, the motorcade arrived at the dock.

There were more people at the dock who knew Lance, whether they were local workers, immigrant workers, or refugee workers.

They would all stop their work and pay attention to the motorcade. The motorcade directly arrived downstairs at the office building of the dock workers' union without any hindrance.

The secretary saw Lance's motorcade through the window and trotted into Mr. Vaughn's office, "Mr. Lance is here."

Vaughn was reading the documents issued by the Federal Dockworkers' General Union. His mind was full of the matters on the documents. He slightly raised his head and looked at the secretary through the gap between his forehead and the frame of his glasses.

It took about four or five seconds before he reacted, "Lance is here?"

"Go make a cup of coffee."

He looked at his desk and office. There was nothing that needed to be cleaned up. Then he took off his glasses and put them on the table.

A few minutes later, the secretary knocked on the door and then pushed it open.

Mr. Vaughn immediately stood up and greeted him from behind the table. He shook hands with Lance and invited him to sit down.

Lance hung his hat and windbreaker on the hanger and sat opposite Chairman Vaughn.

The secretary also brought a pot of hot coffee at the right time.

He glanced at the documents on the table and asked casually, "Is there another activity at the General Union?"

Chairman Vaughn shook his head, with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. He gave the document directly to Lance. Lance frowned slightly, which meant that this might not be good news.

But this is for the dockworkers' union.

He picked up the document and read it, and his brows gradually furrowed together.

The document mentioned that the Ministry of National Defense and the Dockworkers' General Union had some in-depth talks and discussions. They hoped that some dockworkers could depart with the army when necessary.

For example, they may obtain a temporary military port on the Tanfete Continent. In order to ensure the interests of the Federation, the military port will not arrange for local people from the Tanfete Continent, and all of them will be federal dockworkers.

In addition to some other possibilities, such as with the advancement of the war, the Federation has obtained more ports and supply lines outside the Federation's homeland, and more dockworkers will also be needed.

Therefore, the General Union hopes that local unions can recommend some dockworkers who are willing to work abroad.

Lance put down the document. It was indeed not easy to do.

Although the document mentioned better treatment and benefits, the risks were obviously greater.

These ports with clear military purposes are more likely to be attacked, and workers working on the docks may also face war directly.

Moreover, the so-called "recommendation" does not refer to mandatory recommendation, but it is necessary to recommend some people, which is no different from conscription.

The Federation's labor unions and labor federations have evolved into political organizations. It is not beyond Lance's expectation that they are leaning towards the federal government on these issues.

If they can gain more power and status, but at the cost of letting their workers die, they will not hesitate at all!

"Although I know very well most of the time, this is a job!" Chairman Vaughn shook his head, "But we can't be so…"

For a while, he didn't know how to phrase his dissatisfaction.

In the end, he couldn't find a suitable adjective and could only end with a sigh.

After a while, he regained his composure, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Lance did not directly answer his question, "Do you know about the recent demolition of the old industrial zone?"

Chairman Vaughn nodded, "I've heard about it. The price of the land there is already unbelievable. I heard it will rise again."

The land price is so high that the government cannot recover it, and investors are unwilling to spend money, so the demolition cannot proceed, and Mayor Williams's goal cannot be achieved.

Many people are guessing how the situation will develop next. At this time, Lance suddenly asked this question. After he answered, he understood that Lance was going to join in.

"This is not a simple problem. It is the first contest between the new mayor and the Bay Area interest group."

"But it is also very likely to be the last time!"

Lance paused for a moment, "Many of the people in the Bay Area are shareholders of the dock management company, and I control 90% of the workers on the dock."

"I want to replace it."

Chairman Vaughn's eyeballs widened more and more, and finally widened to the point where they could no longer expand, and his eyeballs were about to fall out.

"You… how can you do it?"

"How could they transfer the shares to you?"

"This is a gold mine that can never be exhausted!"

Lance seemed quite relaxed, "The police are my people, the prosecutor is my people, and even the judge is my people."

"And I am the biggest gang leader in Jingang City. To be honest, I really can't think of how I can lose!"

"You must be very clear about the dock management company, after all, you have cooperated with them for so many years."

"Help me get a list of shareholders and share ratios."

"In addition, we also need to win over a few minority shareholders to stand on our side."

"See if there are any good candidates."

When Lance and Mayor Williams discussed this matter just now, they both believed that it should not be too ugly to eat.

In fact, there is a good way to solve this matter. Lance took people to the door and held a gun to their heads, but it was not appropriate to do so.

This would provoke resistance from some neutral groups, putting the entire city in opposition to the Williams family and Lance.

So, we can be firm, and take action against a particularly stubborn few, but overall, we must maintain operations within the rules, rather than completely destroying them.

After listening, Chairman Vaughn fell into deep thought. He pursed his lips and asked, "When do you need this by?"

"The sooner, the better!"