Shadow Empire

Chapter 1174 After the Election
Senator Cleveland and his entourage returned to the Socialist Party headquarters building, which had been unusually busy just two days prior but now appeared much quieter.

Each staff member sat in their seat, their faces blank, their eyes staring aimlessly in some unknown direction. Their eyes were unfocused, their gaze unfocused, as if their souls had been ripped from their bodies by some force at that moment.

The defeat in the election is something the Socialist Party hasn't felt in a long time. The last time they felt this way... was probably more than 20 years ago.

So much time has passed that they've even forgotten that the presidency isn't necessarily a party that belongs to the Socialist Party; it could also belong to the Liberal Party or the Federalist Party.

They knew beforehand that there was a possibility of losing to the Liberals, but when it actually happened, people still found it hard to accept the outcome.

Senator Cleveland and his entourage walked directly through the lobby to the back of the building and took the elevator up to the conference room.

The place was shrouded in smoke, and the air was thick with the smell of smoke, making it impossible to tell whether it was cigarettes or cigars.

Everyone sitting in the chairs in the conference room had a cigarette or cigar in their mouth or hand. They looked calm, at least much better than the ordinary people outside.

As the door was pushed open, the chairman of the Socialist Party committee looked at them and said, "You've worked hard. Find a seat."

There are many departments within federal political parties, some of which may not be that important, but there are also some that are exceptionally important.

For example, the Socialist Party Committee and the Socialist Party Representatives Committee are the most important bodies within the Socialist Party. The Liberal Party also has such organizations, perhaps with slightly different names, but they are essentially the same.

Those sitting here now are all members of the Socialist Party committee.

Senator Cleveland, who was also a member of the Socialist Committee, greeted the others and found a seat near the front. The others followed suit, including the presidential candidate.

"I found out the result immediately. Although it wasn't too far off from what we expected, it still made me very sad."

The committee chairman took off his glasses, wiping them with a small deerskin bag, and said in a low voice with his head down, "This incident also tells us a fact: we are not yet powerful enough to be invincible."

"Our past successes have made us somewhat lost in our success, and our confidence has turned into an annoying arrogance."

Even if we don't consider the dozen or so extra votes from the Labour Party, we still lost to the Liberals by a significant margin.

"We need to learn from this defeat and give them a good beating in the next election."

He looked at Senator Cleveland and said, “The next step is to reshuffle the seats in Congress. Based on the intelligence and information we have received, we can confirm that there are only sixteen seats available.”

"Too few, we need more seats."

In the past, at its peak, the Socialist Party controlled 26 seats in the Senate, more than half, making it the majority party in the Senate.

But now, only sixteen of their seats can be confirmed, which is a third less, a heavy blow.

Not only have they lost more seats, but their voices have also weakened, and they are no longer the majority party in the Senate. Many things and tasks will have to be significantly adjusted.

Thinking about this, everyone's expression turned serious.

Losing the presidential election only means losing an opportunity to stabilize the presidential palace with a party candidate, but if the Socialist Party loses control of parliament, then it will truly be in a completely passive position.

The committee chairman put his cleaned glasses back on and looked at the Cleveland senator in the distance and the people around him. "So now our main job is to secure some swing state senator seats and get them into our hands."

"In addition, we must find a way to prevent the Speaker of the House from falling into the hands of the Liberal Party. If both the Speakers of the House and the Speaker of the House are their people, coupled with the influence of the Majority Leader, we will completely lose most of our advantages in Parliament."

He tapped his fingers on the table, his nails making a crisp sound as they struck the surface. "This is the most important task right now; everything else can wait."

Despite the Liberal Party's victory in the general election, securing electoral votes from swing states and the Labor Party and even the Federal Party, this does not mean they are fully capable of controlling Parliament.

First, there's the issue of seats. The fact that electors vote for them doesn't mean that the Senate candidates nominated by swing states must also be Liberal Party members.

Politics is never a simple matter of one plus one. Now that the Liberal Party has won the election, swing states are more likely to trade away the Senate nomination to the highest bidder!
Whoever can offer more benefits to these swing states, or to those who can make the decisions, will nominate local Liberals or Socialists as state candidates for Senate seats.

We could even consider winning two or three more seats from the Federalist or Labour parties. As long as their asking price isn't outrageous, there's nothing we can't agree to.

Furthermore, the committee chairman believes that these centrists, the Federalists and the Labour Party members, are also unwilling to see the Liberal Party gain complete control of both houses of Parliament in such a short period of time with overwhelming force.

They can still speak politely now because the results of the congressional seat changes are not yet in. Once they control both houses of Congress, they may not be as agreeable as they are now.

"Political unity" is not a good medicine for the Federation, but rather the most poisonous poison. The people of the Federation are afraid of this kind of unity in form. What they want is balance and control.

Therefore, there is a high probability that the Socialist Party can continue to control the House of Representatives, provided they are willing to pay a price to demonstrate sufficient sincerity.

As long as the House of Representatives remains in control, it's simply a matter of continuing the trade. Otherwise, if you don't let me have an easy time, I can make you have an easy time too.

The committee chairman emphasized, "Even if we have to use some methods, it's not out of the question."

They then discussed some specific details, and when the meeting adjourned, he specifically asked Senator Cleveland to stay behind, and the two went to his office together.

After the door was closed, the committee chairman sat down in his seat and said, "You need to put in more effort on the House of Representatives side. I remember you have a good relationship with that... Lance White."

Senator Cleveland nodded. "He's been a great help to us right now, financially, in terms of influence, and in other ways."

The committee chairman nodded. "That's the person I'm talking about. He has some capable people under him. With the Liberal Party's strong rise this time, some people in the House of Representatives will definitely want to find some opportunities in it."

"Whether they can talk or not, we must ensure that we can handle the majority, so it is acceptable to use some overstepping measures when necessary."

"As long as it doesn't become a public spectacle and gets into the media, do you understand what I mean?"

Some people are just shameless, and being soft-hearted might not work. That's when someone like Lance comes in handy.

Senator Cleveland smiled slightly, but not much. "I know Lance well. He's very clean in his dealings; you can hardly find any flaws." He thought of the truck ramming incident, which had almost become the "masterpiece" of the Lance family—it truly was an unsolvable problem.

They hired terminally ill patients, exploiting their intense desire to leave their families a final fortune, their need for more potent painkillers, and even the promise of a release from their clutches, turning these individuals into the most unsolvable killers in the legal system.

If you say they committed premeditated murder, they'll drunkenly tell you they were just drunk and needed alcohol to numb themselves because of illness.

Because of their illness, they need to work even harder to earn money to pay for their medical expenses, which is perfectly reasonable.

As for why, at that time and in that place, he bumped into a very special person?

You're bound to bump into someone, it's either this person or that person, it just so happens that the person who gets hit and killed happens to be passing by today, that's all.

Everything was spotless, and when Senator Cleveland first came into contact with Lance's truck crash, he was slightly surprised by his actions.

Clean methods are preferred by everyone. Here, "clean" doesn't mean using methods in a positive light, but rather using methods that don't leave any evidence against the person.

Money, power, life or death—someone will always have to compromise on one of them.

Throughout the day, the entire federal population, those who were highly politically astute and had a more immersive experience, were in a state of excitement, eagerly hoping that President Porter would take office as soon as possible and bring to the world what he had promised the people.

Mr. Porter also hosted a grand celebration at his family estate, which was attended by virtually all the prominent Liberal Party figures in the federal political arena.

There were countless reporters outside the estate, constantly photographing everything of value, as if the whole world had abandoned the Socialist Party and started revolving around the Liberal Party the moment the Liberal Party's victory was announced.

Mr. Potter had changed his clothes and stood in the middle of the crowd. People kept coming up to him and saying nice things to him. The muscles in his face were stiff and even cramped from smiling so much.

There were so many people, and everyone wanted to get on good terms with the new president, as it would affect their chances of advancing to higher positions in the next four or eight years.

For some large capitalists in particular, if they don't manage to maintain good relations with the president, it will be a very difficult term for them.

So representatives from those large conglomerates and chaebols all came, and they also prepared some valuable gifts.

Director Roland stood in the corner, a slight smile on his face. Mr. Porter… now he should be called the future president. Mr. Porter’s successful election means that he can avoid the cumbersome procedures and processes of the judicial department on many issues.

So what if there's no search warrant from the Department of Justice?

With a simple signature from the president, he could lead his men into Lance's estate, search his house inch by inch, and find evidence of his crimes.

The thought that the balance of power in the war between him and Lance had finally tilted in his favor brought him a sense of relief.

Of course, it's not a complete relaxation, because his wife and children have not yet been found.

He doesn't have the energy to worry about these things right now. His priority is to ensure the safety of the president. As for his wife and children...
In moments of extreme exhaustion, he even entertained some inappropriate thoughts.

In short, let's finish the work for the next few days first.

He patrolled back and forth, instructing his agents to observe each visitor to ensure they posed no threat to the president.

He also positioned snipers at some higher locations around the area to ensure that absolutely no accidents could occur.

Because there were so many people, Mr. Potter himself probably didn't even know how many people he met.

After giving a brief victory speech, he returned to the estate, where he now needed to rest.

“This is even more tiring than waiting for the results!” he said, leaning back on the sofa with his head tilted back.

Everyone greets him, chats with him for a bit, and some even have a drink with him.

Even though he didn't drink much, just a little bit, the total amount made him feel a bit tipsy.

Besides him, there were other members of the Liberal Party in the room, all with flushed faces from drinking.

The Liberal Party committee chair and whip, along with other high-ranking party officials such as the Liberal Party leader, were gathered here.

The whip looked coldly at Mr. Potter and the others. "Gentlemen, now is not the time to stop and enjoy the victory. We haven't completely gotten everything sorted out yet."

"The issue of seats in both houses is very important, as is the review and submission of the cabinet list. We still have a lot to do."

Mr. Potter looked up again. "Come on!"

"Today is a happy day, can we not talk about these boring topics?"

"I've been on edge for the past six months, it's time to relax a little, at least today!"

"I promise I'll be back at work tomorrow!"

The whip just looked at him and said, “Actually, you can start working now. You can go find people who can help with these things, talk to them, and see what we need to do so that they will give up their resources to us.”

“I’ve noticed a few people; you could go and talk to them…”

The whip began to assign him work, which Mr. Potter accepted despite his reluctance.

"I hate my job!" he exclaimed, patting his behind, standing up, and leaving the room cursing.

Alcohol and victories made him seem somewhat "genuine," but this assessment was only because he was the president of the Union. If he were just an ordinary person, people would only criticize him for being lazy.

(End of this chapter)