Shadow Empire

Chapter 137 Premeditation
At night, on the third floor of the Empire Night nightclub, Heller sat in his favorite boss chair.

He was still dressed the same way, with brown sunglasses, a floral shirt and a light-colored jacket, and he seemed to be very happy with his taste.

This outfit choice allows him to position himself as very cool and cynical, and he hopes this can become his own label.

The cadres were either sitting or standing in front of their desks. Anyone who saw this scene at first glance would most likely think that this was either a politician's office or a capitalist's office.

But in reality, this is just a gang office.

"I have asked someone to investigate Will's death. It was done by a force called the 'Lance Family'. Most of them are immigrants from the Empire."

"I don't care how they made enemies with Will, they killed our people anyway."

"This is our territory. We are the only ones who have troubled others, and no one has ever troubled us. So this matter will not be let go."

"We want to avenge Will!" He slammed the table, but the cadres' reaction was not so enthusiastic.

How cohesive can a gang whose main business is kidnapping and bullying its own people be?

Even some cadres would be on guard against each other to avoid being hurt by their good friends.

Will is dead?

Let him die then. People don't care about that. With one less senior official, they can get a little more money.

They also knew very well that Heller was not really looking for trouble with Lance out of revenge for Will. They had heard the rumors recently.

Lance will sponsor college students to go to college and also give them houses and cars.

They didn't quite understand why Lance did this, but they all understood that Lance was rich.

If he didn't have money, he wouldn't dare to make such a promise. Even if Heller didn't say it, they were actually secretly inquiring about the situation of Lance and Lance's family.

To them, the Imperials have money, but the money does not necessarily belong to the Imperials, it could also come from their Camilla Gang!
Although the reaction was not enthusiastic, they would not object to causing trouble for Lance. It was all about making money after all.

A wealthy little gang, it's destroyed.

A senior cadre coughed. He looked a little thin, wearing a white shirt and a cyan coat. "Let's talk about the key point. Should we try to tie him up or start a gang war?"

Everyone else's attention was drawn to this sentence, and this was what they wanted to say.

If it was just kidnapping, maybe a senior official could lead some people to try it.

As long as they get a chance to catch Lance, they can tie him up.

For Camilla's people, kidnapping does not distinguish between "broad daylight" and "secretly". If they see someone, even if the other party is driving a car, they will just drive into the person, then pull the person out of the car, put him in their own car and leave the scene. This is what they are best at.

Kidnapping is less expensive and may incur some damage to the target's vehicle when forcing it to stop, but that is the biggest expense.

A few hundred bucks was enough for them to tie someone up.

But gang wars are different. Gang wars require greater investment. If you want those lower-level gang members to work for you, you must show enough sincerity.

No one is stupid.

Maybe some gangs, such as the most united Sumurai gang, do not need all kinds of rewards and promises to stimulate everyone to fight hard, that's because they have this kind of atmosphere.

Everyone is very united, and when one person gets into trouble, others will try to help, so people seldom say "the gang of Sumuli people", but instead use the term "a certain family".

They treat gang members like family.

But the Camilla Gang obviously lacks such an atmosphere and environment. If they are not fed, these grassroots members are not all fools and will not really risk their lives.

Whether they can fight to the death depends on whether Heller can afford to pay them.

A lot of money.

So every gang war is a fateful decision for the gang.

If you lose, you will not get anything in return after spending a lot of money and favors, but will be hit hard and may not be able to recover within a year or two.

If they win, they can naturally make back their money with a profit, and the size and status of the gang will rise to a higher level.

Heller's eyes moved across the faces of these cadres one by one. He knew what these people were thinking. They all wanted to start a gang war.

Because only in this way would Heller give them a large sum of money first.

He was also considering the pros and cons of this, and in the end, the idea of ​​saving as much as possible prevailed, "Go tie it up first and see if you can tie it over."

His eyes moved across the faces of the remaining senior cadres one by one, and finally locked onto the face of the blue-clothed cadre who had just spoken, "Liam, you go."

The guy who was called stood up on his knees and adjusted his collar. "No problem."

Heller looked at him. "Can I get some good news?"

"Of course!"

After everyone left, only two of Heller's confidants were left, and one of them was not too optimistic about Liam kidnapping Lance.

"Kidnapping the leader of a small gang is not an easy task. I think he will mess it up. If the other party retaliates, the scale of the war will likely continue to expand."

Heller shook the glass, and the wine in the glass slowly swirled along the wall. He didn't seem to be very worried. "It's just a small gang of a few dozen people..."

Seeing that Heller did not value this small family, the person who spoke naturally did not say anything more. He was well aware of Heller's bad temper.

Instead of thinking about the kidnapping and how much money he could get, Heller's mind was now filled with his wine.

Damn big Polly!

Over the weekend, the state government issued a notice that all cities in the state must establish a Tobacco, Alcohol and Hazardous Substances Administration. Except for the director who may be appointed by the state or federal government, the core members are all recommended by local law enforcement agencies.

Local police, tax bureau, judicial bureau and even the FBI are all eligible for nomination.

The chief of the Jingang City Police Department has recommended more than 20 candidates to the state government, but he cannot guarantee how many people will be selected.

But Officer Lucar had used his connections, so there was no chance that he would be eliminated.

He actually hasn't been in the position of police chief for very long, but no matter how long he can stay there, he doesn't want everything to get out of control.

The transfer order soon arrived at the city police station, and Officer Lucar went to the assistant chief's office to hand over his work amid the shocked and jealous eyes of some of his colleagues.

Everyone knows that this new administration will be a very hot department.

The entire city's underworld was full of smuggled liquor, and this department was bound to be connected with many criminal organizations and capitalists, but now, they had no chance.

All those who were chosen were ecstatic, while those who were not chosen could only vent their helplessness.

Officer Lucar...can no longer be called a police officer. He has been appointed as the new senior agent (special agent) of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Hazardous Products Administration. He will undergo a one-month intensive training and will take up his post after the new year.

Even the site selection for this new law enforcement department has been completed. It is not far from the City Hall and decoration has begun.

In his televised speech, the President repeatedly criticized some places for being unenthusiastic and even negligent in implementing the prohibition of alcohol.

He could express his understanding. After all, for some areas where various types of alcoholic beverages are produced in abundance, prohibition of alcohol means cutting off their important financial and economic sources.

However, they should not ignore the social responsibilities that they should assume and value just because of tax revenue.

Prohibition is not a matter for one person, one family, or one region. It will change the current situation in the federation where there are many alcoholics, minimize domestic violence, and increase productivity.

In short, stricter alcohol prohibition measures are imperative!
Jingang City also felt this atmosphere, and the prices of drinks became higher.

"I have contacted the winery in Alan. We will set off after watching the important game in early December." Alberto sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. This was his first time to visit Lans' financial firm.

Today he came back from doing some business in the Bay Area and passed by here to see Lance.

He had always heard that the business here was doing well, but he had never seen it with his own eyes. Today he finally saw it for himself.

Every once in a while someone would come in with their work card to borrow money. Although the amount of each loan was not large, the quantity was large!

And the most convenient thing about the Lans model is that it is not difficult to recover.

They have paid the interest and principal in advance and just need to wait for a while to cash it out.

Lans has been on very good terms with the dock workers' union recently, so the workers at the dock won't be able to shirk their debts.

This gave him some ideas, but he quickly rejected them.

Because selling alcohol makes much more money than this.

Lance sat behind his desk, sitting very naturally, they had a good relationship, so he didn't need to sit on the edge of the sofa, "I have some gaps recently, so we can go together when the time comes."

Alberto was a little curious, "How did you convince the dock workers to let you sell alcohol at the dock?"

"Juice!" Lance emphasized, "It's normal for juice to ferment a little during transportation and storage. I don't think it's illegal."

"Like... bread!"

"Bread also produces alcohol when it ferments. If the federal government has no regard for facts, then they should ban bread because bread also contains alcohol!"

This was the first time Alberto heard that bread could contain alcohol. He kept this in mind and maybe he could use it to show off to others someday.

Eating bread is equivalent to drinking alcohol. The federal government should ban eating bread. What a terrifying statement. Those girls will definitely like it!
At this point, Alberto asked one thing, "Do you know who else has large quantities of mid- to high-end wines besides the batch you had before?"

Lance shook his head. "I only got that batch of wine by chance. If you still want it, I can only say that I'm sorry. At least I don't have it here."

"But I heard there are many grape plantations in Yalan, and almost every country is making wine and brandy. You will definitely find something suitable."

Alberto nodded and said, "This time I went there to contact for a fixed and long-term deal."

In fact, Sumuli Island also produces high-quality wine and brandy, but Sumuli Island is a little far from the Federation, and the long sea route will increase the travel expenses and risks exponentially.

There are not only storms on the sea, but also pirates.

On the contrary, Yalan is right next to the Federation and is connected by land. There is no great danger in sea transportation. You can go along the continental shelf and dock at any time.

He paused and said, "Recently, a batch of mid- to high-end wines appeared on the market, which slightly disrupted the boss's plan. He wants to know who is selling this batch of wines. If you can find out, the family will owe you a favor."

Lance pretended to think for a moment, but he actually had no idea who it was.

If Hiram had not gotten hold of this batch of wine by chance, he might still have only a vague understanding of many things involved.

In fact, after Mr. Pasletto got Lans' wine, he already had a comprehensive plan, and he implemented it quite well. He provided alcoholic beverages to many wealthy people in the Bay Area, thereby having a deeper connection with them to varying degrees.

In addition, the state government is also in great need of high-end alcoholic beverages, especially the state's upper and lower houses. These state senators and representatives are also big consumers of alcoholic beverages.

In a private room, discussing matters related to power, if there is no glass of good quality wine, it is obviously as regrettable as the loss of soul for these gentlemen in the dim light and shadow!
Mr. Pasletto’s idea is to expand from Jingang City to the whole country.

He didn't want people to just say "Oh, I've heard of it, it's one of the five major families in Jingang City..." when they talked about the Pasretto family.

He would rather people say when talking about him and his family, "That's one of the five largest families in the Federation!"

Of course, six major families are fine, or any number of them are fine, but the prefix of Jingang City must be changed to Federation.

Everything was going smoothly, but recently someone suddenly disrupted the situation and the Pasretto people did not get any valuable information because the person who shipped the goods was the middleman.

Someone gave the wine to Pete to sell, and as the most deadly local broker, he started shipping large quantities with almost no difficulty.

Moreover, brandy and wine are slightly more upscale in terms of application than the whiskey that Lance provided to Mr. Pasletto, so his plan cannot be said to have completely failed.

After all, there are some big shots who like whiskey, but we can only say that it has not been completed perfectly.

Since Lance was able to get such a large amount of wine, maybe he could get some information.

But it seems sad that Lance doesn't know who provided it.

At this moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door. The two paused their conversation. Lance said "Come in" and the door opened.

Hiram glanced at Alberto, and Lance indicated that he could say it, and he shook his hair, "Someone is watching us, even in the back alley."

Lance frowned slightly, and subconsciously thought of Officer Lucard, but soon felt that it should not be him.

Every pore of his body from head to toe is clean and pure. Officer Lucard should have known this and evacuated all the people. Why would he suddenly send more people?

He asked, "Does it look like a police officer?"

Hiram shook his head. "They don't have the aura of policemen. They look like members of other gangs."

Alberto suddenly became interested.

He had no interest in being a police officer, but he was very interested in the fights between gangs. "Do you want me to help?" he asked. "Do you want someone to gather some weapons?"

He said as if he was complaining, or reminding Lance, "You have to find a way to build your own channel and talents."

"Beard saves me a lot of money every year just by re-rifling the barrel."

If all guns used in crimes were to be destroyed, the expense would easily be hundreds or thousands of dollars.

It has to be destroyed because ballistics have been included in the category of evidence, and scientists say that there can't be two identical rifling grooves in the world, just like fingerprints.

Generally, if the gangs are poorer, they may reuse the criminals, and then during a certain arrest, all the previous cases will be dug up, and they will be sentenced to life imprisonment or directly sent to the electric chair.

Those who are not so poor may find a way to sell the guns on the black market at a low price, and it will have nothing to do with them who takes the blame in the future.

Some people will sell the guns to foreign countries. Although there will still be losses, the losses will be relatively smaller.

As for the very rich?
A tainted witness once described in court where the guns went:

"Before each operation, we would get a new gun. After we killed someone, we would walk over to a man holding a sack and throw the weapons we had fired into the sack one by one. Then our people would throw the sack into the deep sea..."

Alberto's big beard solves this problem well, but it's not permanent.

The consequence of his constant re-rifling was that the rifle became less and less accurate, but that didn't matter to the gang members.

Sometimes the purpose of shooting is not to really kill someone, but to tell others, I have the courage to shoot, but do you have the courage to be shot?
Lance accepted Alberto's reminder completely, "I will find a gunsmith when this period is over. As for the weapons channel."

Alberto then said, "I will introduce the seller to you. He is one of our own."

Lance accepted his kindness, and Alberto called someone to send a batch of weapons over. Of course, he would settle the bill, and told him that the bearded man would still give him a 40% discount as a friendly price.

Lance looked at Hiram, "Catch one and ask him."

As for arresting the wrong person?
Some people are willing to be wrongly arrested for some money!

After Hiram left, Alberto walked over to Lance and flipped his hair like Hiram did, "He always does this?"

Lance couldn't help laughing, "The doctor said it can't be cured..."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

(End of this chapter)