Shadow Empire

Chapter 1210 Assassination
Finally, the last item in the auction was sold for 250,000, and the entire auction came to an end.

The female organizer went to the auction table with an uncontrollable, genuine smile on her face. It was a kind of sly smile, but she smiled very openly and wasn't afraid of being seen.

"May the glory of God shine upon every kind lady and gentleman. Thank you all for your generosity today in helping children and women in need in Indenor, as well as people with disabilities."

"We raised 7,223,000 yuan today, which will be used entirely to help the above-mentioned people in need. We also welcome people from all walks of life to supervise our work."

"Here, I need to express my gratitude to every kind-hearted person. May God bless the Federation, and may God bless you all!"

Lance sat in the audience watching her "performance." With an annual income of six or seven million, she would naturally become richer and richer. This was perhaps the most fundamental difference between the poor and the rich.

Understanding of the world.

Everyone sitting here knows the outcome of this system; everyone participates and benefits from it.

They gained a lot—reputation, morality, tax breaks, or whatever—but gave very little in return; they worked together with the precision of a machine.

Ultimately, those outsiders will praise them, saying that good things will come to those who are destined for good.

The higher up you go, the more vulgar you become. Lance didn't understand this saying when he was young, but he does now, though he's no longer young.

The person who had previously intended to buy Lance's ring also found Lance, and the two chatted for a while before leaving.

“Gate, Gate Brick, you can just call me Gate.”

Lance gave a brief self-introduction, and the two walked to the edge of the venue. Since they were clearly going to talk, no one else would bother to come over.

After exchanging pleasantries and saying some less important things, Mr. Gates brought up the reason why he wanted to befriend Lance.

“Mr. Lance, I heard that you’ve recently been integrating the market across Indenor State, and that it’s reached the final stage.”

Lance nodded. This kind of thing could only be kept secret from those at the very bottom. Those slightly above them had ways and channels to obtain information, and he didn't want to speak about it. "Yes, is there a problem?"

Gates immediately laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say it's bad, but I've heard that some cities... don't have any agents yet. I don't know if an ordinary person like me is qualified to become an agent for these cities, or even just one of them?"

Many people have actually come into contact with alcohol, especially when the prohibition law was first introduced, some capital groups even considered whether to try to get involved in the smuggling of alcohol.

After all, its profits are simply astonishing!

However, they eventually gave up, since it was an illegal business, and these capital groups mainly operated in the financial market.

With the federal economy booming, their jobs and industries were sufficient to support them in earning more profits, and given the federal government's historically severe penalties for capitalists, they abandoned the idea.

Here's an interesting phenomenon: the federal government is very interested in triggering capitalists and conglomerates.

Some say this is politicians' hostility and confrontation with capital, but Lance thinks it's more because there are too many interests in the capital groups. If officials don't have the opportunity, fine, but if they do, who wouldn't want to take a big bite?
There was a previous federal case where an elderly man fell and broke his leg while shopping at a large chain supermarket. He then tried to get the supermarket to pay his medical bills, but the supermarket refused.

Just when he was feeling desperate, several lawyers approached him and signed a retainer agreement with him.

He entrusted his case to several lawyers, and if the case was lost, the lawyers would not charge him a penny.

However, if he wins the lawsuit, he will receive an additional 2,000 yuan in compensation from the supermarket, in addition to the portion used to pay for the elderly man's medical expenses.

As for the rest, no matter how much is left, it all belongs to this legal team.

For the old man, having someone represent him in court for free was like God noticing his suffering and coming to his rescue!
He signed the contract without hesitation, and then the lawyers sued the supermarket. The final judgment was made in the circuit court, and the supermarket was ordered to pay the old man 1.5 million yuan as a punitive fine.

The legal team then fulfilled the contract, claiming it was a victory for the judiciary and human rights, but what they didn't know was that the elderly man himself didn't receive much of the money.

The legal team didn't receive much either, probably only about 20 percent. The rest was taken by brokers, who then distributed the money to officials, including judges of the circuit court.

What people didn't know was that after the elderly man learned he had been awarded 1.5 million yuan in compensation but only received 2,000 yuan himself, he failed to reach an agreement with the legal team and planned to sue them. Then he disappeared.

The only version of events that has been circulated is that the elderly man fell, the supermarket paid him 1.5 million yuan in compensation, which is seen as progress in federal justice, a victory for human rights, and an excellent demonstration and promotion of federal respect for human beings.

Although capital has been corrupting the political arena, given the chance, politicians will show capitalists what cruelty is!

Gates' business has been doing quite well over the years, but he is not satisfied with the current scale of his business.

There are basically no good opportunities for him to break through to the next level; he has no potential left and can only stay in the middle.

There are very few places to settle down up there, and the resources have been allocated to a limited extent. It's not something he can just go in whenever he wants.

Maintaining the status quo is itself a form of decline, and he had recently heard about what Lance was doing and felt it was an opportunity.

The huge profits from alcoholic beverages can rapidly increase his wealth in a short period of time, and he will also gain more social status. No one can refuse such profits!

He could only earn a few hundred thousand a year doing business, but working for Lance could bring in tens or hundreds of thousands a month. How could he not be tempted?

Lance looked at the guy, observing his expression and eyes, and suddenly found it very interesting.

Do you know... how difficult this is to do?

Lance pulled out his cigarette case, and Gates, understanding the situation, took out his lighter and lit a cigarette for Lance. "You need a warehouse and a dedicated team to maintain your authoritative position in the city's business."

"I let those people do it because their special status makes those gangs afraid to provoke them easily. The gangs will be very obedient, and everything will proceed in an orderly manner."

"And you... I'm sorry, I forgot to ask, what do you do?"

"We manufacture and process some parts to supply some companies and provide industrial support. As long as there are orders and we can do it, we will do anything." "A very respectable business, but actually not very profitable."

Lance chuckled twice. "I can tell, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me to talk about this."

He paused for a moment, then said, “This is a huge leap into another industry. You can’t expect those gangs to have any respect for you. They will cause you trouble, and they might even try to kill you and find a new agent, or maybe they will do it themselves.”

"Once you get involved in this business, murders, explosions, shootouts, deaths, and investigations by the police and the FBI will be relentlessly pursued. Are you sure you still want to do this?"

Guy nodded. "I'd like to give it a try."

Seeing that his attitude seemed very firm, Lance thought about it for a moment and then nodded in agreement. "This matter cannot be explained here. Come to my office later and we will talk about it."

This can be seen as a pilot program. If Gates does well, then Lance can consider using some of his capital power to dominate those cities that are unwilling to cooperate.

Walking on two legs is always the wise choice!

The charity event is almost over. We can have a meal together later, but not many people will be going.

It wasn't that they disliked the food prepared by the foundation for not being of a high enough standard; it was just that for these people, they had already achieved their purpose for coming here, so there was no need to waste any more time on things like food.

Some people might not mind going to eat, but most people started to leave.

Gates is also leaving. He has reached an agreement with Lance to discuss the matter. He needs to go back and make preparations to see how much money he can raise and how many people he can gather to do this.

When Lance came out from the inner hall, Madol and his men immediately went to greet him.

What Lance didn't know was that during his time inside, quite a few people had come to chat with Mador and the others.

Their performance, along with their bulletproof vests and other visible equipment, demonstrated their professionalism in this field.

A wealthy person might be stingy about buying his mistress a gold bracelet worth two hundred dollars, but he would never be stingy about spending two thousand dollars to hire a bodyguard to protect him.

Some people wanted to find out which company Madol and his team worked for, hoping to introduce them to their current employer.

Unfortunately, they didn't find out anything.

“Boss…”, Mador began to get into work mode. His eyes were fixed on the surroundings. From the perspective of the team, he was half a body length ahead of Lance. His body was just enough to block the position in Lance’s heart slightly to the left. If someone wanted to shoot at Lance rashly, as long as they didn’t hit the head, it would basically be a minor injury.

The others also spread out around Lance, ensuring that Lance was protected from all angles.

Lance was able to accept this level of protection from the beginning, so unlike some people who felt it was good to have someone protecting them, he didn't cause trouble. He simply patted Mador's arm to express his gratitude.

The group left the hall amidst the strange looks of some people, who probably thought Lance was putting on airs, acting as if the president had arrived.

When Lance appeared on the steps outside the opera house, the already flashing camera flashes started flashing again.

The gray-haired man had already squeezed to the front of the crowd during the auction, and now he was using elbow strikes against those who tried to push him to the back.

The former "warrior" has become a dragon at this moment, and for the first time he feels that being a reporter in the Federation is a very dangerous job.

Fortunately, this reporter was a fake.

He held up his camera, his eyes fixed on Lance, who was only about twenty meters away from him.

However, there was an annoying guy blocking Lance's way. If the gray-haired guy were to draw his gun and shoot at that moment, he wouldn't be able to hit Lance at all.

The bodyguards' formation was very sophisticated, ensuring that no one could find a comfortable shooting position from any direction.

As they got closer to the gray-haired man, his emotions gradually calmed down.

This is the best opportunity we've had in a while.

If he misses this opportunity, he doesn't know if another such opportunity will come along.

As a soldier who survived countless battles, he remained calmer when things got tense.

He took a deep breath and glanced back at the car that was ready to move at any moment by the roadside. He also saw two comrades-in-arms looking at him from the side of the car, ready to support his escape at any time.

All he had to do was wait until Lance passed by, then pull out his weapon and shoot at Lance!
As Lance drew closer, his expression grew increasingly composed.

Madol stood in front of Lance, only a step ahead, and he was somewhat irritated.

He always felt that someone was staring at him or Lance behind him, and it was a malicious gaze. Only this kind of gaze made him feel uncomfortable, but he couldn't find the source of the gaze for a moment. He could only keep looking around, trying to find something.

Suddenly, he saw a reporter holding a camera but not taking any pictures. The flash bar on his camera had been ready for a long time, but for some reason, he just wouldn't use the flash or take a picture of Lance.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then the gray-haired man immediately started taking pictures.

He had never used a camera before and was using it somewhat clumsily. He didn't know why his flash wouldn't work, while other people's flashes were flashing incessantly.

As an outstanding soldier, he understood very well that if he couldn't hide himself on the battlefield, he would definitely get shot.

Everyone else's flashes were going off, but when his weren't, he was the brightest person in the room!
Mador's gaze remained fixed on him, which made the gray-haired man realize that he might have been exposed.

The best thing to do now is to escape immediately, but this is your only chance!
Next time, Lance's defenses will be much stronger, and he needs to take a risk and give it a try!
The moment his hand reached into his chest, Madol grabbed Lance and tackled him to the ground. The other bodyguards immediately realized this and positioned themselves to block the direction from which Lance might be hit, while two others drew their pistols.

A gunshot rang out, setting the stage for screams and a desperate escape!
(End of this chapter)