Shadow Empire

Chapter 1217 There's Always a Way to Get You Money

Some people habitually regard Lance as an ordinary mob boss, believing that he was a figure pushed to the forefront by Senator Cleveland.

However, some people view Lance as an equal, respectable, or even a formidable opponent.

Different perspectives yield different results. Chester's wife's father was clearly an excellent observer; he understood this very well. Anyone's success may have an element of luck, but luck cannot guarantee a person's continued success!
Just like at a casino table, luck might let you win once or twice, but if someone keeps winning, then it's definitely not luck!
With his support, Chester traveled to Indenau.

He had also heard about the recent attack on Lance, and given Lance's personality, he was unlikely to leave and return to Jinzhou unless he suppressed the matter.

Chester is currently suffering from another budget cut by the federal government, and seeing Lance might offer a chance to turn things around.

The days passed quickly. He found several agents to accompany him, and they took turns driving to Indenau State, with one person driving for each day.

Indenau is located between two southern states, and if you drive at high speed for 24 hours, it would take at most three days.

Three days later, he met Lance in Redstone City.

“You look like you’re recovering very well.” He observed Lance’s arm; it didn’t need to be draped over his chest, and his movements looked very natural.

Lance invited him to sit down and glanced at his injured arm. "Luckily, no bones were broken, but a hole was drilled through it."

He shook his head as he spoke, "I heard that the federal government has drastically cut your budget, and they also plan to establish a new law enforcement agency to compete with you."

Chester lit a cigarette, his expression somewhat grave. "Yes, it's clear that President Porter doesn't intend for us to continue growing. Some normal work and tasks will certainly be handed over to the new law enforcement agency, that security agency, you know."

"My situation is very bad right now."

Lance nodded. "The FBI is a very important law enforcement agency for us and for the Socialist Party. They should have given you some funding."

Chester shook his head. "They gave it to us, but not much. It's probably only around ten million or a little over that. That's only enough to cover some basic expenses."

"How much funding do you still have?" Lance suddenly asked.

Chester paused, looking at Lance with a slightly confused expression. For a few seconds, he seemed unsure whether what he heard was the same as what he thought. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?"

“I said, how much funding do you still have?” Lance repeated the question.

Now Chester understood completely. He took a big drag while smoking, held it for a moment, and then slowly exhaled.

"This is a large sum of money."

He paused, observing Lance's expression, "There's still a shortfall of about eight million."

The FBI currently has 43 field offices, and apart from FBI headquarters, each field office has a relatively small number of personnel.

At the Jingang branch, the total number of staff, including clerical and logistics personnel, is only about seventy.

The entire FBI probably has fewer than 7,000 employees.

With each person earning a salary of 120 yuan per month, including benefits and all other expenses, the annual salary expenditure would be approximately 10 million yuan.

But for now, this is all the money they can get, enough to keep them afloat without firing or laying off any agents. It's not enough to allow them to continue carrying out their work effectively.

“We have many plans, such as building a new agent training center to provide regular professional skills training for our agents.”

"This plan would have cost around two million, but due to current funding shortages, it has been halted."

"We also plan to set up an equipment research center to provide us with some equipment that can help us with our work, such as... listening devices, small cameras, and handguns that can be concealed from detection."

"These tools can help our agents better handle some special tasks, as well as the development of other equipment."

He said a lot. The FBI has actually been established for many years, two or three decades.

However, it is only in recent years that it has truly transformed from a dispensable department into a law enforcement agency.

It's only been a few years since Roland took office.

Roland was actually quite capable. After he took office, the FBI entered a period of rapid expansion, growing from a department with only a few hundred people to one with several thousand people in just a few years, and covering every state and some important cities in the federal government.

Of course, his abilities are only demonstrated here; in other aspects, he might be a complete mess.

If it weren't for Lance, the FBI might have continued its period of explosive growth under Roland's leadership.

President Porter could give him more funding, and he could make the entire FBI more efficient, both functionally and in terms of authority.

Unfortunately, he chose the wrong opponent, which prevented all of this from happening.

Chester is currently facing the mid-to-long-term plans that Roland had previously formulated. He has obtained the best development blueprint without having to do anything.

But he also faces a problem: he has no money.

"I can give you ten million, and this number will continue to rise this year, and by tomorrow."

When Chester heard the number, he couldn't help but take another deep drag on his cigarette. "This number... I don't know what to say. I really want this money, but Lance, we talked on the phone. If I accept this money, I'm very likely to be suspended and investigated."

Before the federal donation law is enacted, federal government departments can accept private donations, but this donation process can be quite complicated.

The department's top official will be investigated, and the use of the money will be overseen. If necessary, the federal government and Congress will send people to monitor the use of the money to ensure it is not used for bribery.

So if this money is a private donation, Chester is unlikely to want it; taking it would be a huge problem and might even bring about some negative changes to the current situation.

If President Porter were to place some people into the FBI, it would certainly trigger a series of unpredictable events.

Lance shook his head slightly. "If I can give it to you, I must have a way to make it enter the FBI's account in a very reasonable way, and ensure that it will not bring any bad consequences."

"However, it's not free; you should know that it's a large sum of money."

Chester's expression turned serious. He took another drag of his cigarette; he had already smoked almost as many as he usually could.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "What do you need me to do?"

He knew perfectly well that these were the conditions of the "deal." If he wanted to get that ten million dollars, continue to run the FBI well, and secure his position as FBI director, he would definitely need to give something in return. His wife's father had discussed this with him before he arrived, saying that if Lance was giving him money, he must have something in mind, and he shouldn't rush to refuse, even if the request sounded unbelievable.

He asked Chester to stall for time, call him, and then the two of them would discuss and make a decision.

"Please speak..."

Lance considered for a moment, then said, “I need the FBIs in the three southern states to follow my orders.”

"Of course I'm not trying to take control of these three states from you; I'm just asking that they follow my orders when I need them."

"Most of the time, I don't actually need them, but when I do need them, they have to listen to me."

After thinking about it for a while, Chester didn't rush to agree. "I need to think about it."

Lance didn't urge him to agree immediately, but stood up instead. "Okay, you can go and rest for a bit. We have plenty of time."

He had someone take Chester to his room, and once back in his room, Chester immediately called his wife's father.

“I have arrived in Redstone City and just met with Lance. He is willing to give me ten million in funding every year, but he also made a request.”

Upon hearing the amount of money, his wife's father couldn't help but gasp. It was ten million, not one million, not one hundred thousand.

Many large companies today may not even have a net profit of ten million a year, which is definitely not a small amount.

What are his requirements?

"He demanded that the FBIs in three southern states, Likale, Indenau, and South Yaan, follow his orders when he needed them."

The old man on the other end of the phone pondered for a moment, "I've heard some rumors these past few days that are related to Lance. I'm not sure of the specifics, but the chairman of the committee and the chairman of the representative council are involved. This is definitely a very important development."

"I have a question for you, Chester."

"Do you believe that, given that you haven't done anything, the FBI in Likale, especially the FBI field office in Goldenport, is still under your control?"

After listening, Chester gave a negative answer, "No, these people were all promoted by Roland. I'm not familiar with them, and I've heard... from some supervisors, that the Golden Harbor branch has sided with Lance."

The old man nodded and said, "That's right. The people here weren't promoted by you. They don't owe you any favors, and they may not necessarily obey your commands completely."

"And how long can these people hold out under Lance's infiltration?"

“If Roland were still here, as the director of the FBI, these people might have been able to persevere.”

“But now that Roland is gone, and they are not familiar with you, they are more eager than ever to maintain their power, status, and strength.”

"Their chances of contacting Lance become much greater, so whether you agree or not, if he wants to do it, he can eventually do what he wants."

"Then why not agree to his request?"

"Since you can't get these things anyway, you might as well give them to him in exchange for a sufficient budget this year, which will solidify your position. You'll be the one who gains!"

Hearing the old man say that, Chester made up his mind. "I know how to reply to him."

The next morning, Chester was once again brought before Lance in the dining room.

The table was covered with freshly cooked breakfast, still steaming hot.

In winter, meat and high-fat foods become common on the tables of every household, especially for some poor people who will deliberately buy fatty meat to eat in order to increase their calories and ensure they can work long hours at high intensity in the cold environment.

"Try it, I think it tastes good," he said, pointing to several local specialties in beef preparation.

Chester tasted it, and also sampled some of the other food. "It was delicious."

After the two talked about food for a while, Lance asked, "What's your decision?"

Chester didn't mince words and said directly, "No problem."

“I’ve thought about it. You can give me a list, and I’ll appoint the people on that list as bureau chiefs in these places. That way, you’ll have better control over them.”

Lance gave Chester a meaningful look. This guy was more willing to spend than he had imagined, but that was obviously better. His control over the FBI in these three regions would increase exponentially.

This brought a smile to his face. "You're a good friend, Chester."

Chester put down his knife and fork, a smile on his face. "All I know is that once a decision is made, you shouldn't think too much about the gains and losses, and you should be honest."

Lance pointed at him twice. "I like your attitude."

"You asked me before how I should give you this money, it's actually very simple."

“You apply to Porter and Congress for more funding, they will definitely reject your request, then you go to Senator Cleveland and ask him for permission.”

"Any stolen money recovered during the investigation of the case, after deducting all compensation, will be kept in your own accounts."

"Then I'll arrange for someone to commit a crime, and when you arrest them, the money will smoothly go into the FBI's account."

"Understand?"

Chester looked at Lance with amazement in his eyes, "I understand, self-financing."

Lance smiled. “That’s easy to understand. I’ll talk to Senator Cleveland, and he’ll let you through.”

"If the president doesn't approve it, you'd better make a scene."

“Pretend to fire some FBI agents and have them hold up signs outside the presidential palace. Given Porter’s penchant for decorum, he’ll definitely agree to let you raise the funds yourself.”

"The rest is just waiting for my news..."

(End of this chapter)