Empire of Shadows

Birds of a feather flock together.

Everyone understands that this is a battle, so they are also discussing how to continue to confront Mayor Williams in order to obtain something besides money that they want—

Balance.

Or rather, besides wanting money, they also want to use this method to force Mayor Williams to take the initiative to bow his head.

If they don't let him know who the real master of this city is, it will be a long-term problem for the Bay Area.

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In order to compete for actual control, they will enter a state of anxiety.

They will constantly face provocations and tests from the city hall, and will spend more energy on dealing with Mayor Williams.

This is not what they want, so this time they will directly subdue Mayor Williams.

Let him know that just because he is the mayor, doesn't necessarily mean he is the ruler of this city!

No matter what good plans he has, as long as the Bay Area doesn't agree, his plans will not be implemented!

Of course, they will not be blindly tough. As long as Mayor Williams realizes this, that this city is not entirely up to him, then they can also take a step back.

After all, stability is what the ruling class pursues.

In a private social setting, many factory owners from the old industrial area are gathered here, as well as some Bay Area tycoons.

Everyone is discussing the recent changes in the land in the old industrial area, and everyone's face is filled with a satisfied smile.

The huge increase in land prices has greatly increased their net worth, from tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands more, to millions more. They never thought that making money could be so easy.

They don't need to do anything, just wait for a period of time.

If you want to make a stern capitalist smile, then just tell him how much profit he is about to receive.

The atmosphere in the room is very lively. People sit or stand around the most central circle. The voices of the gentlemen in the middle circle are the loudest in the room. The further out, the smaller the voices, ensuring that everyone can hear what the gentlemen inside are saying.

"...I heard that some people have chosen to give up the profits they have already obtained today and choose to accept the city hall's replacement subsidies."

"I have no intention of evaluating whether this approach is wise or not, and I also express my respect for their choices."

"I'm just talking about ourselves."

"I understand Williams. After all, we have been together for more than thirty years. My understanding of him is like him looking in a mirror."

"Some of you may have seen him, know him, and think he is a very approachable person."

"But in reality, he is not easy to approach, and he is somewhat arrogant and conceited."

"When he decides to expand the city to obtain more family benefits, he must compromise with us on this matter."

"Making money, and giving us respect."

"Actually, I don't care too much about making money, but respect is a must."

The gentleman speaking is named Charles, and he is one of the major shareholders of Gold Harbor Bank.

"Major", holding approximately six point something percent of the shares of Gold Harbor Bank, which is very considerable for a bank. He is also one of the core figures in the entire Bay Area.

Whether it is Gold Harbor Bank, which they use to harvest capitalists and people in Gold Harbor City, or the port management company that controls the economic lifeline of Gold Harbor City, he is a major shareholder.

So his voice is also the loudest here.

Everyone's eyes are focused on him, but he doesn't feel any pressure at all. Instead, he sits back on the sofa in a very relaxed posture with his legs crossed.

Holding a cigar in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, from posture to expression, he is very relaxed.

The look in his eyes as he looks at the people around him carries a hint of condescending contempt, not for these people, of course, but for Williams in his mouth.

He bit his cigar, took a puff, and then slowly exhaled, "When he takes the initiative to negotiate with us and compromises, then we can sell the land in our hands to the outside world."

"Whether it is to be recovered by the city hall or sold to other new investors, it is fine."

"But before he bows his head, gentlemen, I don't want to see anyone signing any agreements privately without our consent again."

"We must unite. You have also seen that when we unite, even the ruler of this city can't do anything to us!"

The gentlemen around him, who were already excited by his words, were now applauding and cheering, wishing they could clap their hands to pieces!

After the applause subsided slightly, someone asked, "Mr. Charles, if...I mean, if Mayor Williams doesn't compromise?"

"Are we just going to continue like this?"

Mr. Charles glanced at the person who asked the question, and then nodded, "For us, is there any real difference between moving and not moving?"

"If we move to the new industrial area, won't we still continue to produce?"

"Or, if we don't move from our current location, won't we have to produce?"

"No!"

"No matter where we go, we will continue to produce. On the contrary, it is closer to the city, which is more convenient in terms of transportation."

"If he is unwilling to talk to us, then we will continue to produce and ignore him."

"The city expansion plan he submitted to the state, and the improvement of the city's living and working environment he promised to the citizens, that is his problem, not ours."

"Our job is to produce with all our strength and turn commodities into money, that's all."

The person who asked the question, and some people who had the same idea, also nodded one after another. That's the truth.

Some people have focused on the constantly soaring land prices, ignoring that their production itself can also bring profits.

Although it is not as much as selling directly, at least there is still some.

Then some people asked some questions, and Mr. Charles solved them very easily, which also made them more believe that the future is bright!

Everyone was chatting enthusiastically, as if Mayor Williams had already knelt on the ground begging for their forgiveness, as if the price of one acre of land had more than tenfold, and most of them had made a fortune.

A guy who looked like a staff member here knocked on the door outside.

After he named a gentleman and conveyed the information that there was a phone call for him, he left.

People did not stop because of one person's departure. They were still drinking, smoking, and chatting about the future.

The gentleman with a flushed face took out a handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat from his temples. He came to another room, picked up the phone, and put it to his ear.

"What happened?"

"There's a power outage!"

There's a power outage, yes, there's a power outage.

"What the f***, why is there a power outage?"

"Did you call the power company?"

"You have to tell them that if they can't guarantee the power supply and cause problems with our production plan, I'm going to sue them!"

The businessman's face suddenly turned redder, but not because of excitement, but because of anger, a trace of unease, and fear!

There's a power outage!

A power outage means a work stoppage, it means that the assembly line will completely stop, and it also means that everything has been paused!

A factory shutting down due to a power outage is not just as simple as not being able to continue producing products, there may also be a certain risk of breach of contract.

Suppose a factory has one thousand workers, and each month they need to pay each worker about forty-seven or eight yuan in wages.

The factory needs to pay 47,000 or 8,000 yuan in wages for these one thousand people every month, let's say 50,000 yuan.

Once the factory stops, wages will become a heavy and huge expense. In order to ensure that the factory does not run idle, most of the factory's orders are full.

One order after another, some factories with relatively booming business are basically working in two shifts for 24 hours, never letting the assembly line stop.

Only in this way will the wages paid by the factory owner to the workers not become a burden on the factory.

But because of this, the orders are full. Once there is a problem with production that affects the production plan, it may be a big problem, which may involve breach of contract and compensation.

Therefore, once a factory, especially a large factory, starts operating, it will not stop easily.

He didn't understand, how could there be a sudden power outage?

His factory manager said softly into the receiver, "Boss, the power supply company said...the substation exploded!"

"Before it is repaired, the power will not continue to be sent."

The substation exploded?

This is the second time he has cursed today, "F***, why did the substation explode?"

"Ask them, when will it be repaired, will our production arrangement be affected?"

The factory manager said with a straight face, "They said that they need to transfer equipment from Venus City and Creek Valley City, and it may not be repaired until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"As for the production arrangement, it may be affected to some extent."

After hearing this, the businessman felt his liver ache. He walked back and forth a few steps, "What about our own power generation?"

The manager stopped talking. He used this method to let the businessman know that he was daydreaming.

After confirming that there would be no power in a short period of time, the businessman hung up the phone and returned to the salon with a gloomy face.

He also has friends here, and his friend asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"

He pursed his lips, "The factory has a power outage, and I'm a little worried about the production plan."

His friend has not yet realized the seriousness of the matter, and still has a "It's just a small thing" smile on his face, "Temporary power outage?"

"How long will this blackout last?"

"Damn it, this gives those workers another legitimate excuse to slack off. I'll have to find a way to dock their pay a bit this month."

Several surrounding businessmen chuckled, mocking his friend for trying to squeeze every last penny.

During this period, temporary power outages did occur sometimes, as the electricity supply was often insufficient.

Even in the Federation, some regions would implement periodic blackouts to ensure power for production.

Temporary power outages could also occur when connecting to new power grids.

As long as the blackout wasn't too long, everyone could accept it.

But the businessman's next words made everyone uneasy.

"The power company says it will probably take... two or three days."

The relaxed smiles on people's faces immediately vanished, and more people were called away, with new phone calls coming in.

Mr. Charles, who had been sitting in the middle of the crowd, trying to instill his ideas in others, also noticed something was wrong. He inquired and learned that there was a power outage, and it would last for several days.

His first thought was that this was a conspiracy!

It must be the work of Mayor Williams, using this method to force others to bow to him, to compromise.

Many factories had been experiencing an increase in orders recently because, due to the war, some production plans were outsourced to the Federation by countries involved in the conflict.

These orders were substantial, and like regular orders, failure to complete them within the stipulated time would result in huge claims.

After all, some of these goods were directly or indirectly related to the war, such as equipment used by combat engineers.

Previously, they were happy about the sudden influx of large orders, but now, they began to feel uneasy.

More people began to panic, unable to concentrate; they couldn't stay here any longer.

Mr. Charles couldn't force them to stay and even suggested that they go to the substation together to take a look.

Soon, a large group of businessmen, along with Mr. Charles, drove to the substation.

Even before they got close, everyone smelled something burning. There were also some fire trucks on the scene, making it look chaotic.

They soon found the person in charge of the substation, whose face was covered in black soot. He looked at the businessmen in front of him, unsure of what to say.

"What exactly happened?" Mr. Charles asked.

The person in charge of the substation seemed to snap out of it. He swallowed and began to explain, "I don't know. Before the incident, all the equipment was operating normally, and there were no abnormalities during patrols. But for some reason, several sets of equipment suddenly exploded."

"To avoid a greater disaster, we immediately cut off the power and called the fire department."

Mr. Charles glanced at the equipment in the distance. "It doesn't seem like there's too much damage."

The person in charge of the substation shook his head. "A lot of equipment has been damaged and can't be used anymore. This would pose a huge safety hazard."

In reality, it wasn't impossible to force it, but the power company and the grid company were unwilling to bear the consequences.

If the power grid burned, who would pay for the loss?

Even if they really didn't want the blackout, they wouldn't supply power until the equipment was replaced.

Others began to ask questions in a chaotic manner. The person in charge of the substation kept repeating the same few sentences. The scene was chaotic.

Having just experienced such an incident, the person in charge of the substation was also full of anger. After answering a few questions, he loudly explained the situation and then left, leaving the businessmen bewildered.

What about the production plans?

What if they breach the contract?

Who should they ask for the liquidated damages?

No one knew.

At this moment, some damaged equipment was being moved out. Mr. Charles took the initiative to walk over to one of the damaged pieces of equipment and frowned.

The equipment looked severely damaged. The powerful force had completely deformed it, and some parts were even broken off. He didn't quite understand whether a substation accident would cause such damage.

In his impression, power problems would at most cause melting, not the kind of destruction he saw in front of him, as if the equipment had been destroyed by some enormous force.

He became even more convinced of his previous idea that Mayor Williams might be involved.

While comforting the others, he said that he would find a way to get the equipment transported here as soon as possible.

A terrible day.

But for the workers, it was clearly a happy day. They got the afternoon off.

Except for those factories with their own generator sets, the old industrial area ushered in a rare "peace."

Throughout the night, the businessmen were worried and focused on the transportation of the equipment, but bad news kept coming.

Early the next morning, the person in charge of the substation reported bad news to some businessmen who had come to supervise their work—

"The truck transporting the equipment had an accident on the road last night due to slippery roads from the snow. The plan to repair the substation may have to be postponed."

This sentence instantly enraged many businessmen. If they could barely accept waiting two days, then a further delay was unacceptable.

But the substation had no good solution. The equipment damage caused by the explosion was too great.

The local spare equipment had already been used, and it still wasn't enough; they had to transfer it from other places.

When faced with problems they cannot solve or explain, people in the Federation often believe that these are conspiracies, the result of manipulation by a certain force.

They still believed this time. Some people believed that this was Mayor Williams's trick, and his purpose was to force people to sign some replacement subsidy agreement!

If people could persevere before, believing that even Mayor Williams might not be able to do anything to them.

Then now, they realized they were not "safe."

This was a "high-level war." In fact, some of them understood, but they were blinded by huge profits.

Even now, there were still people telling them that this was also a way to stabilize and continue to increase land prices because Mayor Williams was anxious.

He was anxious, so he was trying to force them to compromise in this way.

Then they could completely shift the losses to the mayor or new investors, making them pay more money.

This was indeed a good method, at least it sounded like it.

Land prices continued to rise, and the confrontation between the two interest groups continued.

However, a small group of people had already begun to regret it.

What substation explosion, what snowy road causing a car accident, who knew if these were real natural occurrences or man-made?

Now the substation could explode, so what would explode next time?

Persist?

It was easy to say, but how to persist?