Shadow Empire

Chapter 190 Contact [Monthly Ticket 666+5]
"Who do you think did it?"

Everyone was sitting in the office chatting, and now many people knew where this batch of goods came from.

But what is surprising is that the bad-tempered Big Polly did not do something extreme. This is hard to imagine, but it is also possible that he is waiting for an opportunity, and no one knows!
Lance put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair without any sitting posture. "I always believe that if we don't know who did something, then we should look at who ultimately benefits from it."

"Most people have a very clear direction and purpose when doing things, especially when something is so obviously unpleasant, it must exist and be very direct."

"Although this method may fail sometimes, and some people would rather suffer themselves than let others have an easy life, it is effective most of the time."

"Don't forget, we just sent out a batch of wine."

Lance's words made the people in the room suddenly realize what was happening. "You mean, it was the Pasletto family who did it?"

Lance shrugged and put his hands down on the armrests. "It's very likely that this batch of wine from Polly has affected their sales in the mid- to high-end market. Alberto asked me about this before."

"He wanted to know from me who else was dumping large quantities of mid- to high-end wines. I didn't know at the time that there was competition between them."

"These competitions have nothing to do with us. If you go to our bar and tell them that a glass of wine costs one dollar, everyone will leave immediately!"

“The low-end liquor market in Jingangcheng is very broad, but the mid- to high-end market is only so big.”

In fact, the middle class’s purchasing power for mid-range liquor is not very strong. At seven or eight yuan a bottle of wine, they only consume two bottles of wine a month at most.

Those who can really afford it are the rich people in the Bay Area.

However, many wealthy people have the habit of storing wine, and they don't have to find ways to get it every time they need to drink.

This determines that this market is not large.

People who do exclusive business can definitely make a lot of money and also gain a lot of connections.

Providing a stable supply of bootleg liquor to the wealthy class and the upper class allowed the gentlemen to enjoy the pleasure of alcohol during Prohibition. This harmless but private relationship could better maintain the friendship between the two parties.

This is not like the relationship between a pimp and a client, where people would think it is a moral issue, and drinking is just drinking a glass of wine. Who hasn't drunk alcohol?

But if there are two competitors, and one of them is cheating to get the wine at no cost, and doesn't mind selling it at a lower price, then it will be difficult for Mr. Pasletto to sell the wine.

This is not just a competition for wine, but also a competition for connections, and even involves human nature.

You sell it to me at such a high price, but others can sell it so cheaply. Is it because I’m stupid?

In order to prevent things from getting out of control, retaliation is to be expected.

What was unexpected was that the attackers were not gunmen from Sumuli, but the newly established Contraband Management Bureau.

But this may also be a test. Many people, including them, want to know the attitude of the Contraband Administration towards these illegal liquors, and everyone has also got what they want -

They weren't kidding!

More than 200,000 bottles of liquor just flowed into the sea. "Today's Jingang" used the words "Today's sea breeze smells like grapes" to describe this grand action of destroying smuggled liquor, as if this was already a great victory for Prohibition!

This did shock some people, but only some.

"What's the situation at our bar now?" Lance asked.

Erwin smiled. "Sales have increased a lot, and we have more new customers. But there is a problem. Should we also increase the price?"

"Their alcohol prices have gone up by several cents in the past two days. Beer is almost 20 cents a glass, without whiskey."

"Not for now. The situation will become increasingly severe, and there will be opportunities to make a lot of money."

At night, a drunkard wearing a fisherman's hat and wrapped in thin clothes was shivering on the road. He originally had a cotton coat, but he exchanged it for money, and the money he got was only enough to drink two glasses of beer.

But even so, he was still willing. After all, one less piece of clothing would not freeze him to death, but two less drinks would make him want to die.

He came to a bar on the edge of the Empire District and the Port District and slammed hard on the wooden door.

The thick wooden door made a metallic sound when it vibrated, perhaps there was a layer of steel plate inside.

The lights came on, and the observation port on the door opened with a click, revealing a pair of eyes reflecting a little light in the darkness.

"Fuck, open the door quickly, I'm almost freezing to death!" He stood there shivering with his hands on his chest.

The person in the observation hole looked around, closed the door with a click, and then it opened quickly.

The drunkard walked in cursing, and suddenly a wave of heat accompanied by the smell of alcohol came over him, and for a moment he felt much more comfortable!

Even just smelling the alcohol made him feel very comfortable.

There were not many people in the bar, only seven or eight, which was in stark contrast to the previous bustle.

He came to the bar, looked at the dazed bartender and said, "How much is a beer now?"

The bartender came back to his senses, "Twenty, and if you want whiskey, it'll be forty."

"What?" "It was thirty a few days ago!"

The bartender said nonchalantly, "You also said that, that was a few days ago."

Perhaps the smell of alcohol here was too strong, so that the drunkard's throat began to slide back and forth involuntarily, and he now had a strong desire to take a sip.

He lowered his voice a little, "Can it be cheaper?"

"Thirty-five?"

The bartender shook his head. "Sorry, that's not for me to decide."

The price of alcohol is rising all over the city. Even if these drunkards don't drink now, they will have to drink sooner or later.

The drunkard touched the coins in his pocket and was shocked.

He hesitated for a while and decided to leave and go to the bar next door. It was a bit far away, but he heard that the prices were cheaper.

He was about to leave, and the bartender was bored and asked casually, "Would you like a drink?"

"I can take charge and pour you more."

He is very clear about how to choose between "pour a little more" and "one more cup".

He shook his head and stood up. "Your place is too expensive. I heard that the price of the Lance family's bar not only did not increase, but is even lower than yours. They only charge twenty."

This was not the first customer to say this to the bartender, and the bartender's expression became less polite, "Then please get the hell out of here and don't come here again, you are not welcome here!"

Originally, the drunkard had not decided to go. He just hoped to use this method to force the bartender to compromise. Even if it was just five cents cheaper, he might stay.

But the bartender's sudden change of expression made him feel as if he was being humiliated. He immediately shouted loudly, "A bomb over there is only twenty, but you want forty, and you don't allow me to say anything?"

The remaining drunkards all looked over here, some of them had expressions of surprise, while others had their eyes wide open!
The bartender shouted angrily, "Someone, throw this bastard out, I don't want to see him again!"

Two strong guys came over and sandwiched the drunkard in the middle. The drunkard was scared, but it was too late now.

He was dragged out, beaten, and all his money was taken away - only sixty-five cents in total - and then he was kicked out.

Although he was taken away, the bartender knew that what he said made the other guests have some different ideas.

After the business was closed, he told his boss what happened today, and his boss went to the Red Dog Gang's headquarters, a strip club, during the day.

Bill sat behind his desk smoking a cigarette. The bar's business had become extremely bad during this period, which made him very dissatisfied.

If business had naturally gotten worse and people had become poorer, he wouldn't have thought anything of it, but the reason the bar business had gotten worse was that the prices of drinks in Lance's bar were too low, and that made him very unhappy.

You don't want to make money yourself, but you're dragging me down and making no money!

"…That's roughly what happened. I made less than twenty dollars last night."

The words of one cadre soon resonated with others. The bars in the Imperial District almost suffered a complete defeat and their profits plummeted.

The looks these people gave him also revealed a hint of expectation - you have to talk to Lance.

Compared with other vicious criminal gangs, the Red Dog Gang attaches more importance to making money.

Bill hesitated for a moment and nodded, "I'll talk to Lance..."

After they left, Bill got Lance's phone number through his connections in the police department and called him.

Lance would be at the office during the day. The issue of illegal immigration had been continuing to ferment these days, and George had also begun writing a series of related reports, reporting on the lives of illegal immigrants in the federal government, their work, and so on.

These highly newsworthy reports will bring him more attention and he may even become the new news figure of the year.

Many people came to thank Lance for everything he had done for them, and of course they also thanked William. In their opinion, William was Lance's subordinate, and there was nothing wrong with that view.

Lance was chatting with the people from the Empire. A dozen veterans came from there. They didn't want to die meaninglessly on the battlefield, so they fled from there.

After many twists and turns, we finally arrived at the Federation.

They had contacted Erwin before coming and knew that Lance would recruit them, so they hurried over as soon as they arrived.

While they were talking about the domestic situation, the phone suddenly rang. The man in the lead was a former military officer. He took the initiative to stand up and said, "Mr. Lance, let's get familiar with the environment first..."

Lance nodded slightly, "Of course, if you need anything, tell anyone here. As long as it's reasonable, I will satisfy you."

They left the office quickly.

Lance picked up the phone, "This is Wanli Office, I'm Lance..."

I haven’t been feeling well these past two days. I took a nap at night, but it was too late. Now I am making up for it.
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(End of this chapter)