Shadow Empire

Chapter 1243 Covert Support
Wealth is tempting and dazzling.

When a business's profit margin exceeds 300%, capitalists will sell the very rope that will ultimately hang them to the executioner.

The current profit margin is no longer just 300%, it's 1,000%, it's 10,000%.

The gentlemen in this room are capitalists whose blood is filthy and sinful from birth. Their operation of capital and their greed for wealth perfectly fit the stereotype of people wanting to hang them from streetlights.

When these people subconsciously acknowledge that Lance's expression is not problematic and that the project is indeed worth 10 billion, then they will definitely be moved by the voice of some demon deep inside them.

The group president swallowed hard, and in a voice only those around him could hear, he mumbled the astonishing number.

"Ten billion!"

At this moment, he didn't seem like a capitalist or a CEO, but rather like a diner sitting at a table, starving to the extreme, browsing the amazing recipe and locking onto the dish he most wanted to eat.

One hundred billion, Federal Sol.

The eyes of the other CEOs in the room were also a little red. The total assets of the entire "Brooks Group" they belonged to were only about one billion.

This is all thanks to the wars and victories over the years; the Federation's economy has benefited from the super engine, taking off like a rocket.

They also caught this wave, rapidly expanding from a scale of just over 300 million to 1 billion, which is already considered a very successful case in the west.

But compared to how fast Lance makes money, this is still too slow. He just... pulled some strings and invested a little money. With just a limited amount of money, he increased his assets several dozen times over.

Perhaps he is the person in the Federation, or even the world, who has the highest conversion rate of "resources" into cash!
Others may invest ten parts of resources to turn them into wealth, but ultimately only receive three or four parts, or even four or five parts, in return.

Klans put in ten parts of resources and got dozens or even hundreds of parts of return, which is amazing!
"I've never heard of anyone wanting to do business this way!" The conglomerate's CFO looked bewildered.

He knew that making money had been easy these past few years. You could tell from the conglomerate's annual reports that even a pile of shit, if packaged nicely in a box, would be bought out of curiosity to take a look.

But he never imagined that making money could be so easy. It's just that... simply navigating some connections could bring in a valuation of tens of billions?
He looked at the head of the conglomerate's risk assessment department, "Is this project really that profitable?"

"What I mean is, is this valuation really reliable?"

Before investing in a project, a large conglomerate will do extensive work on it. They will evaluate the project, assess its approximate rate of return, payback period, and determine the specific returns and potential risks.

Only if the risk assessment passes the consortium's internal "standard line" will they continue to advance the investment. Of course, the standard line is different for each consortium.

Some pure investment companies do not have the same stringent risk requirements as some normally operating conglomerates; high risk means high return.

However, for ordinary conglomerates, such as the Brooks Group, which is a large operating conglomerate, the requirement is to minimize risk and maximize returns.

The consortium has also evaluated this project in Lance, so the CFO's current thought is whether this exaggerated figure is justifiable.

The head of the risk assessment department casually opened the briefcase at his feet, took out a document, and handed it to the financial director. "This is some data we've collected recently, data about the two casinos in Golden Harbor City."

"These two casinos alone can provide Lance White's Wanli Group with approximately 200 to 300 million in net profit each year."

As the CFO reviewed the documents, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "If the market is good, it means he can make at least six or seven million in net profit every day from these two casinos?"

"This is unbelievable, and impossible!"

The assessment supervisor shook his head. "No, that's the truth."

"The two casinos in Golden Harbor City are the largest and most luxurious casinos on the East Coast, and they are the only ones. They have a monopoly there. Unlike here, there are small casinos run by indigenous people everywhere."

"Currently, only Lance White's Golden Port Casino and Golden City Casino have obtained long-term commercial licenses on the East Coast, and Golden Port City is also a tourist and port city."

“Every day, a large number of tourists from all over the world, including those from the Federation, arrive there. According to an unofficial statistic, the two casinos can accommodate more than 200,000 tourists on average every day. During peak tourist seasons, such as spring break and summer, this number can exceed 400,000 or even 500,000!”

"Assuming each visitor only exchanges fifty dollars, there would be roughly one to two million dollars here."

"But gentlemen, if you spend more than ten dollars on a ferry ticket to Golden Harbor City, then after landing you stay in a room that costs at least five dollars a night, and then only exchange it for fifty dollars worth of chips?"

The assessment supervisor shook his head. "No, the actual number of chips exchanged by tourists far exceeds that. Lance White has a real talent for running casinos. I've heard an interesting rumor."

"His two casinos consume a large amount of oxygen-generating materials every day, which they claim is to help tourists concentrate better and improve their thinking ability."

"However, some people say that when the oxygen content in the casino environment is high, they will lose more chips."

"Because of focus, and also of thinking."

"The film industry in Valley City is also becoming the mainstream leading the federal film industry. Every year, tens of millions of tourists visit Valley City to watch local film shoots, etc., which provides Valley City with more than 500 million in consumption every year."

"There are other sources of revenue for Wanli Group, which I will not list one by one."

"Based on what I understand, excluding the sales of those alcoholic beverages by Lance White, Wanli Group's legal annual income, before tax, is approximately between four and five hundred million."

"Of course, if he had to pay taxes, he certainly wouldn't have this much money."

Everyone was still shocked by the sheer size of the number.

Every year, a pre-tax net profit of four or five hundred million is enough to make everyone's eyes gleam with envy!
Brooks Group's financial statements look very good, with net asset growth of two to three hundred million each year for the past two years, but this two to three hundred million is not pure cash.

About 70% to 80% of these are various assets, such as equity in a company, the transfer of an overvalued patent technology, or even a car parked on the roadside.

The actual funds, in cash, amount to only tens of millions.

In this era of rapid economic growth, the tens of millions in cash had made them content with their achievements over the past two years, but at this moment, they suddenly felt that they were not good enough.

Everyone's expressions were constantly shifting. Clearly, acquiring shares in the new city project would bring the Brooks Group enormous wealth, but the problem was that they couldn't come up with a billion dollars in cash, nor did they want to. There are over twenty such "local conglomerates" in the federal government; they are practically dominant forces in their respective states, radiating influence across various industries.

Just like the "Wanley Group" in Likale today, some other capitalists have also relied on the Wanley Group to form a super behemoth covering all fields.

Of course, they are not a closely connected whole in law, in order to avoid being targeted by the Anti-Monopoly Law, but that is the reality.

Just like they're all sitting in this room now, they're all in cahoots.

This means they have a very strong ability to control the local area, which is their strength!
At this moment, another company chairman spoke up, "How about we try pushing them a little harder?"

"Right now, it's just the construction workers' union causing him trouble, and some suppliers have also been dragged into it, so we need to find a way to make this situation even bigger."

“We shouldn’t be on the front lines. Let the workers’ union fight for us. If Lance’s project can’t start because of the boycott, he will definitely ask us for help.”

"By then, how we negotiate and to what extent we negotiate will be entirely up to us."

As he spoke, his words flowed more and more smoothly, and new ideas kept emerging. "It's even possible that Lance will voluntarily give up his investment here, and then we can kick him out and take over the whole plan."

"Even if the governor has a good relationship with the people behind him, he probably won't make things difficult for us because of this project!"

The others looked thoughtful, and after about two or three minutes, they all seemed to have made a decision.

As all eyes turned to the group's president, this elderly man, who stood at a high vantage point yet whose life and work were intertwined with those of half the residents of Nanya Anzhou, slowly nodded. "We can give it a try."

"Don't expose us to the forefront too early; let the labor unions do the heavy lifting."

"But I heard they've run into some trouble recently?"

A company member who follows this issue immediately explained, "Some gang members dispersed the construction workers' union's demonstrators, and the construction workers' union seems to be doing nothing now, and their momentum has diminished considerably."

The group's president pursed his lips. "They're out of bullets. Then go and contact him and provide him with some ammunition."

"Give him enough bullets to hurt Lance White!"

"Remember, don't reveal ourselves. Find a... suitable toy to help us accomplish this."

They are professionals at doing these things, and they have become very familiar with the whole process through many past confrontations.

It can be said that the Brooks Group's control over local businesses was entirely inseparable from the help and assistance of the labor union.

In the early days of business competition, supporting labor unions to fight against their competitors was a common tactic used by these capitalists.

They can easily kill their competitors simply by shutting down their factories and preventing them from producing.

Whether it's demanding claims for unfulfilled orders or vying for new ones through competition, those capitalists who aren't smart enough will soon sink to the bottom of the sea in round after round of competition.

This time, however, they are dealing with another behemoth.

At this moment, the president and senior members of the construction workers' union were having a headache, as their tried-and-true methods were no longer effective against Wanli Group.

The police seem to have become a bit more diligent these past few days, arresting gang members who attacked union workers, and these men have quite frankly admitted to doing so.

Furthermore, they denied that anyone instructed them to do it; they claimed they simply disliked the workers and therefore beat them.

As for compensation, they all said they had no money, no savings, and had been severed from their families of origin. The gang was also unwilling to pay them, so they could only face three to six months in prison.

In other words, they don't have the money to pay the injured workers, so the union has to handle this.

Seeing that there was not much money left in the union account, it seemed that the battle was about to end before it even began. Everyone looked grim; this was the most frustrating experience they had had in years.

Everyone in the room was smoking, and the smoke was quite choking. If this failure became a certainty, there was no doubt that the construction workers' union would soon be eliminated.

Whether people are willing to admit it or not, labor unions have indeed helped workers fight for their reasonable and legitimate rights to some extent, so they are partners with capitalists, but also mutually resentful.

Those capitalists will definitely go to labor agencies to discuss employment issues, not them. Their market here will shrink and shrink, and they will eventually be completely eliminated.

What can they do at that time?
What can these guild leaders, who leech off the working class, do?
Go become a factory worker?

Stop telling jokes!
The president of the construction workers' union doesn't even know how to mix cement mortar. Sending him to the construction site is less desirable than hanging him from a tree in front of his house.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. "President, there's a phone call for you. They say it's urgent."

The chairman sighed, tossed his cigarette into the ashtray, and stood up. "I'm going to take this call," he said, turning and leaving, leaving the others remaining silent.

“There probably isn’t a better way to solve these problems,” one union official sighed. “What if… I really don’t know what to do.”

Another person laughed and said, "We can try other unions. After all, we have a lot of work experience and maybe we can find a suitable position."

"If that doesn't work... I can try working on a construction site."

This remark seemed to liven up the atmosphere in the room, and people started chatting and laughing.

Two minutes later, the president suddenly pushed open the door and walked in from outside, with a smile on his face.

He walked to the table but didn't sit down. Instead, he braced himself on the surface with both hands. "We're saved!"

(End of this chapter)