Shadow Empire

Chapter 1154 Big Star

Around 8 p.m., Devon excitedly dialed Lance's phone number.

"Guess what I found?" he asked, his tone urgent, not out of anxiety, but out of excitement.

Lance's voice was calm and powerful, though he didn't raise his voice or emphasize anything. "What?"

“There was one account that I couldn’t trace, but with another account, I tracked down a woman and a child who lived in a middle-class neighborhood.”

“She probably saw my car at night, and then soon some police came and searched the whole neighborhood. I felt that something was very wrong.”

"I'm wondering if it's possible that this woman has some connection with Roland."

After listening, Lance thought for a moment and said, "That's possible, but we can't be so sure. Maybe she's just his friend's wife, or something else. You need to investigate further."

"Although we are villains and bastards in people's eyes, we cannot actually be villains and bastards. Every beginning and end has its reason."

"Go investigate the woman's family situation and see if it matches your expectations."

"If so, tell me the answer, and then we'll find an opportunity to do something."

"By the way, you didn't expose yourself, did you?"

Devon immediately gave a negative answer, "No, no, I came with the agent under the pretense of looking at houses. If they want to cause trouble for me, they'll have to cause trouble for the agent first."

This is one of the things Lance appreciates about Devon: he's a very meticulous person. If it were a jerk like Hyram, he would definitely find the manager of this community service company and have a good talk with him.

Although this approach is very much in line with the style of the mafia, his methods and thinking are a bit too crude.

"I'm waiting for your good news, but as soon as possible."

Lance then hung up the phone and walked out of the room.

In the reception room, two strangers were sitting on the sofa. They were dressed very well and looked very polite and gentlemanly.

However, they and Lance are the same kind of people; they are all members of the Federation's mafia.

"Sorry, I had to leave for a moment because of a very important phone call," he said, walking to his seat. "Where were we?"

He sat facing the middle-aged man in his thirties and said with a smile, "We were just talking about the council meeting to be held at the end of the month. This time, Mr. Clark wants to hold the meeting in Golden Harbor City and has invited you to attend as an important guest."

The "parliament" he mentioned was definitely not the federal government's parliament or any similar organization, but rather a group comprised of the five major federal families, who connected with powerful gangs from various states to sit down and discuss business matters, meeting once every one or two years.

The initial purpose of holding such large-scale gang events was to regulate and define the spheres of influence of each gang in order to avoid conflicts.

But as their influence grew, these gangs that had taken the lead soon began to establish rules for gangs throughout the Federation, such as rules on smuggling, human trafficking, and various other criminal activities.

"Industrialization, scaling up, and collaboration of criminal activities" are the new standards proposed by these individuals at the gang council. These new standards have strengthened cooperation between gangs, propelling the criminal business into a period of rapid development.

At its peak, it was common to see multiple large gangs collaborating across cities or even states, resulting in numerous major cases.

In some well-known gold heists, they would even rob armed trains used by the Federal Bank to transport banknotes and gold!

However, in recent years, this cooperative relationship has gradually "stabilized." This is because gangs are, after all, gangs. Greed, cruelty, and cunning are in their nature. Due to some disputes over the distribution of spoils, the frequency and tacit understanding between members have begun to be affected.

Now it's purely an "annual meeting" for planning criminal activities and territories, and incidentally exchanging information.

Actually, Lance didn't really want to participate. Showing off his success in front of a bunch of people who weren't really presentable held no appeal for him. But since these people had invited him here and were planning to hold the event in Golden Harbor City, their sincerity was already quite evident, so it didn't seem right for him to refuse.

He nodded. "I've heard a lot about Mr. Clark, but I've never met him in person. This should be a great opportunity for me to meet him."

“I have no objection to this in principle, and I can arrange the meeting at the Golden City Casino, which is the most luxurious casino here.”

"Meetings, accommodations, casinos, and entertainment are all combined in one place. I believe you will like it."

"Of course, I also have an additional question: how should the costs incurred throughout the parliamentary process be settled?"

When Lance heard that more than a hundred gang leaders or representatives were coming, he sometimes found the thought process of these gang leaders in the Federation strange. If so many people gathered together and were all wiped out, wouldn't the Federation's gangster business be set back twenty years?
And by making such a big fuss, as if afraid others wouldn't know about these things, are they afraid of not being targeted by the police and the FBI?
You know, back in Golden State Mr. Porter is still shouting for the complete eradication of gangs and the purification of society, and here they gather to hold this event. This might be a resounding slap in the face to Mr. Porter!

Hopefully, he won't look too bad!
The middle-aged man sitting opposite him smiled. "Mr. White, you don't need to worry. All the expenses will be covered by the five major families."

As if he had just remembered something, he said, "Now it's the four major families!"

“I heard from Mr. Clark that they are considering having you and the Lance family fill the vacancy left by the Perez family and become the new fifth largest family in the Federation!”

This was an incredibly tempting suggestion for all gang leaders.

Just as a cook who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier, a fool who doesn't want to stand at the top of the mafia industry isn't a good leader. So almost all mafia leaders want to be among the top five families in the Federation.

This is an affirmation of their careers!
After so many years of criminal activity, they haven't received much recognition from society, but being called one of the "Five Great Families" is clearly a prestigious title.

Lance considered it for a moment, then shook his head. "I haven't thought about these things yet."

The middle-aged man sitting opposite him was taken aback. It was the first time he had heard of someone who wasn't interested in the honor of being qualified, but he didn't press the issue.

The person who was assigned to communicate with a "tough guy" like Lance was definitely not a muscle-bound idiot, as the fate of the Perez family has already proven.

"That's such a pity, it will be a regret for us!" he said as if it were the truth.

"Then... may I go back and contact Mr. Clark to convey your opinion?"

"Regarding our hosting of this year's council meeting at Golden Harbour City, and our invitation to you as a special guest."

Lance didn't refuse and nodded, "I also want to exchange ideas with my peers..."

The two then got up to take their leave. Lance glanced at the gifts they had brought and felt that the McCormick family knew a little about social etiquette.

Of course, they may not have understood before, but they understood after witnessing the downfall of the Perez family.

People always learn to respect others only after they are afraid of them first!

Within two days, Director Ike was taken away by Roland's men. It was a very unsuccessful operation, and it is said that Director Roland even made a self-criticism within the Bureau of Investigation.

This message was relayed by another senior detective, Mr. Ford. In the conference room, Director Roland conducted a thorough review of the series of failures over the past two or three months. He believed that he had made serious errors in his experience and that excessive arrogance and conceit had led to the series of unsuccessful operations.

This self-criticism surprised every supervisor, but it was timely, as public opinion had begun to grow regarding whether Director Roland was truly capable of serving as FBI Director.

Although it is not public opinion, but the president and Mr. Porter, that determines whether he can hold onto his position, public opinion can still have a certain influence on judgment and also damage his prestige within the system.

He needed to calm down, sort out his emotions and thoughts, and then start afresh. His self-reflection stabilized the atmosphere within the Investigation Bureau, which had initially been somewhat agitated. Director Roland was capable, had good ideas, and was very efficient, but unfortunately, he had too few trump cards and resources, and the opponents he had chosen were far too strong.

This situation has nothing to do with his personal ability. It's like asking someone who is excellent in every way to figure out how to develop from the Stone Age to the Industrial Age without any tools or any tools. That would be impossible!

He could easily deal with Lance; it wasn't impossible.

Given the FBI's ever-increasing influence and power, he is fully capable of becoming Lance's most troublesome opponent, rather than causing him headaches.

The problem is that this cannot be done in a short time. It is impossible to find a fatal weakness in Lance and even put him and his people in jail within three to five months without any thorough preliminary investigation!
This is simply impossible!

Only by first taking down Senator Cleveland and his group, preventing them from continuing to protect Lance and leaving him unprotected by the law, can the FBI then employ some less-than-legal but not illegal gray-area methods to continuously gather evidence.

Then, little by little, they cornered Lance and the Lance family before delivering a heavy blow.

This process may take three or four years or even longer. It is a task that requires effort and time, and it is not something that can be accomplished in a short period of time.

However, this also shows that Director Roland is under a lot of pressure right now.

Lance has also caused him a lot of trouble, and he has now returned to New Gold City to deal with some investigations and charges from the prosecutor's office.

The police chief ultimately shifted all the blame to him. Given that Lance had spent a lot of money, the media also questioned why the FBI, having received advance notice of the criminal operation, would deliberately allow Lance to be attacked.

In addition, people are digging into the social phenomena caused by Director Roland, and now he is being questioned for possibly having a personal grudge against Lance, so he used the power in his hands to do his own thing.

As for why they didn't try to cover it up, after all, this was an attack that occurred in New Gold City, and there was a high probability that firearms were used. If left unchecked, it would have a certain impact on the ongoing election.

The situation arose because the authorities needed to both settle personal scores and demonstrate their control over the situation.

Sometimes the media makes more connections than he does. If he had contacted the media and talked to them about his thoughts before making these decisions, he might have come up with better ideas.

In short, he is now in some trouble. Prosecutors are investigating him personally, and his wife has also begun a systematic review.

Coupled with accusations from some extreme conservatives that he did not want children and that his wife's abortion was illegal, as well as claims from some emerging affirmative action organizations that he was "enslaving" his wife and that it was a more brutal form of domestic violence, his image in federal high society is now very poor.

If he can't control the FBI, his core base, his life will become even more difficult.

As for Lance?

He's too busy to care about that now.

This wasn't something to be too happy about for Lance, because he had always held the initiative.

A few days later, some gangsters began to arrive in Golden Harbor City one after another, and people also noticed that the Lance family's patrol teams on the streets of Golden Harbor City began to increase.

They gathered in small groups throughout the city, and coupled with some strange rumors, this made the number of tourists in the entire Golden Port City even greater!
Everyone knows that Golden Harbor City is an exceptionally safe city. The Lance family is no secret here; it's something that can be openly discussed, and they are very conspicuous!
Everyone who has visited Golden Harbor City tells their family and friends about its amazing features after they leave.

For example, if they lose their wallets or have them stolen here, they don't need to call the police at all; they can just find the people wearing armbands.

These people are easy to identify, and they are very willing to help, which is much more efficient than calling the police.

Calling the police is actually a very stressful experience for ordinary people in the federal government, because you don't know whether the police will shoot you first or the suspect first.

It's also possible that they'll fire together.

If there's one less troublemaker and one less troublemaker, there will be no more trouble.

People wanted to see up close what those well-known gang members looked like. Even many reporters from the federal government came. They gathered outside the Golden Casino almost every day, taking pictures of those who might be gang leaders.

"These people look like... I don't really want to use those uncivilized words," Lance said, holding a wine glass in his office on the top floor of the casino, looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the small, constantly flashing lights below.

Each small dot of light represents a reporter. Some people are being photographed on the red carpet, and they feel honored to be able to appear in front of the entire federal population.

Standing next to Lance, Melo also looked at the people below. They had been in contact with Lance for a long time, so they knew very well that Lance did not actually like to appear in front of the public in such a high-profile manner.

They were also influenced by Lance and were not so fond of acting in a high-profile manner.

Melo laughed and said, "Maybe everyone has a dream of becoming a star?"

Lance turned and glanced at him. "You want to too?"

Melo smiled and waved his hand, "I'd rather be an honest person!"

Morris walked in from outside. "I've made all the arrangements. You'll be holding the event in the conference room on the ninth floor. There's a huge conference table there that can seat over a hundred people."

The design concept of the Golden Casino all came from Lance, and Lance's ideas and ways of thinking all came from another world more than a hundred years later.

Integrated casinos are a major trend for future development, and we should not only emphasize the casino aspect, but also its "office-like" nature.

Even if an ordinary gambler uses all their strength, they can only earn a few hundred or a few thousand dollars for the casino.

However, any public official or corporate employee with even a little power can lose countless sums of money to a company if they dare to embezzle public funds.

Cultivating more corporate users is very helpful for the casino's image and development. In a tourist city like Golden Harbor City, the best hotels offer the best administrative work atmosphere, and many large companies book rooms here.

Enjoy your vacation, work on the side, and gamble a few times at the casino (describe the number of times).

Lance nodded, glancing at Maurice's complexion. "You look fine."

Morris coughed twice and shook his head. "Actually, it's not very good. I can feel it."

“Now I feel that I need to use a little effort to breathe. I went to the hospital for a check-up last time, and the doctor said that some scars on my body are growing and affecting some normal organs.”

"I need to take medication now, and sometimes I feel very irritable."

Lance walked over and sat down on the sofa. "They're already making preparations over there. You can go and take a look in a while."

"They will arrange some tests for you and then help you find a suitable organ donor. You just need to wait for the surgery."

Lance and the medical group have a collaborative project; they have set up a medical laboratory in the Alam region specifically to tackle organ transplant technology.

People in the Alan region are worthless; you can buy one for a few dozen federal Sols.

Organ transplantation requires good health, not appearance or height, so it doesn't discriminate based on looks, and the price is naturally low.

The technology is gradually maturing; all that remains is to select the one with the least rejection reaction.

(End of this chapter)