Shadow Empire

Chapter 191 I Give You a Suggestion and Debt Collection
"Hi, Lance, I'm Bill."

Bill wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere, because what was going to happen next was difficult to talk about, so his tone was cheerful, without the calmness and momentum of a gangster boss.

It actually fits his previous job, a pimp.

"Hey, Bill, I've heard of you, if you're the one I've heard of."

"Yeah, that's the one, the Red Dog Gang."

Bill's tone was not aggressive, and might even come across as a little soft.

Heller's death softened many people's attitudes toward Lance and the Lance family. They no longer treated Lance and his group as a neighborhood family, but as a gang of the same level.

After all, Heller had proven it himself, paying the price with his life.

Lance opened the mahogany cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and pressed his finger on the table lighter.

It was a desktop lighter on the table of a federal soldier who was half-kneeling and preparing to shoot, with two indigenous corpses lying beside him.

As Lance pressed the button of the lighter, some sparks came out of the barrel, followed by flames.

A high-end lighter with a bit of a nasty taste. When purchasing this lighter, the owner reminded Lance not to use it in the protected area unless his scalp is a little itchy.

He bought this desktop lighter not because of any bad taste or typical federal mentality, he just wanted to use this lighter to tell himself.

If one day, he is satisfied with everything he has, then he will be the one lying down.

Only by constantly striving forward and becoming a hunter can you avoid becoming the prey!

"Bill, we are not familiar with each other. I can't find many things to talk to you about. In order to avoid embarrassment to each other, just say what you want to say."

Bill was not dissatisfied when he heard this. Instead, he felt that Lance was a nice and straightforward person.

"Let me be frank. Recently, our bar has been affected by you and sales have become very poor, so I hope you can raise the price of drinks or stay away from our bar."

Perhaps in order to avoid some awkward context, he took the initiative to talk about the current price of alcoholic beverages, "Your alcohol is too cheap, there is absolutely no need to do this."

"If you raise the price of drinks, the revenue will be twice what it is now, or even three or four times."

"We all want to make money, there's no need to be hard on money, right?"

Lance laughed twice, "I can't do that."

Bill doubted his ears a little. "I'm not asking you to give up your business. I'm just suggesting that you raise the price. It won't do you any harm!"

"Even if you have a few fewer customers, you will still make more money than you do now!"

Lance waited for him to finish before responding, "I know, but I still refuse."

Bill was confused. "Why?"

Lance didn't say it directly. He needed to give Bill a little inspiration. "I heard that you used to be a pimp, the most powerful pimp in the harbor."

Facing Lance's sudden compliment, Bill was very alert, but he couldn't help but admit, "Haha, that's true. As long as you want a girl, I can find it for you."

"Then you must know that if there are other places where the girls are cheaper than yours and the quality is not much worse, you will be in trouble."

Only then did Bill realize that Lance was using this method to tell him why he was unwilling to lower the price.

Because he had done similar things before, and for the rich people, it didn't matter if it was a little more or a little less.

But for the poor, they will always keep value for money in mind.

When buying a house, you should consider the cost-effectiveness; when buying furniture, you should consider the cost-effectiveness; when marrying a wife, you should consider the cost-effectiveness; even when spending money to buy happiness, you should consider the cost-effectiveness!

They would rather walk four more kilometers just to save a little money that is unimaginable to the rich, five cents, ten cents.

"You want to drive us out?" Then he felt a little embarrassed and annoyed, "Do you want to start a new war?"

Lance did not admit this statement. "This is business competition. The Empire District is too crowded. I need to persuade you instead, Bill."

"The price of wine is rising rapidly now, and this is a good opportunity to make money."

"How much money can a girl like you make for you in a day?"

“They’re not those expensive golden retrievers from the Bay Area. You can’t sell them for golden retriever prices.”

“But think about it, how much money a bottle of wine can make for you!”

"Poly's wine has just been destroyed. The wine market in the port area is facing a semi-vacuum. Instead of focusing your attention on me, why don't you shrink your strength and go to the port area to compete with Poly."

"He has no wine, and you do, so he can't be your opponent."

"I can guarantee that before you leave the Empire District, the price of my drinks will not increase, but will decrease instead. I will make sure you don't make a single cent."

"If you want to start a war, we can give it a try, but I advise you not to do so."

Although Bill was very angry, he was trying to calm down at this time.

He is not the kind of leader who relies on fighting and killing to get to the top. If it were Big Polly, he would have been banging the table and shouting that he would kill Lance to teach him a lesson.

Being a pimp also requires a bit of wisdom. He was thinking about the feasibility of what Lance said.

The sex trade in the port area is not doing well, or rather, the sex trade for poor people is not doing well in the entire federation.

This is about straight-up sex work, not the kind of work you'd find in a strip club.

The five dollars you spend in a strip club doesn't just get a blowjob. The dancers will also dance for you for about thirty minutes, making every cell in your body tremble, and then they will give you a good blowjob to make you feel great.

Five dollars for forty minutes is a reasonable price. It offers a private space, better service and enjoyment. It is worth the money.

But direct flesh trade, on the roadside, in the alley, for two dollars, you can't expect people who only earn thirty or so dollars a month to spend a lot of money to solve a problem that can be solved with hands.

For example, some people who come out on their own to take private jobs are willing to do it for one dollar. Some of them who are older are willing to do it as long as they are paid.

Moreover, these girls are here to make money. The Red Dog Gang is only responsible for their safety and helps them to attract customers. They can only take a part of the profit, about 40% to 60%, not all of it.

So far, there are almost no criminal organizations in the Federation that rely entirely on operating low-level flesh trades to make profits. It’s not that they are stupid and can’t think of it, but that it really doesn’t make much money.

Red High Heels does not count, because they are not running a simple flesh trade, they are actually doing human trafficking, and they are doing business in the Bay Area.

"Just think about it. Once Polly gets more alcohol, you're going to be in a bad situation."

Lance hung up the phone directly, which made Bill fall into deep thought and made him feel very annoyed.

Although Heller is not a good person, from Bill's perspective, he is not a bad person.

A neighbor who has lost the idea of ​​further expansion is definitely better than another mad dog, but the new Lance is not the old Heller. He has his own ideas.

The idea of ​​unifying the empire region came into Bill's mind, and he could guess Lance's purpose.

If there is a gang that can unify the entire administrative district, then this gang has reached the same level as the five major families.

Even though he still lacks some foundation, he will become a rising star in the underground world of Jingang City.

Bill felt a little envious. After all, he was old and, like Heller, no longer had the ambition to make progress.

But he was a little reluctant to give Lance the territory of the Empire Zone for nothing.

He still needs to discuss this with other people, but what is certain is that the competition for alcohol in the Empire District will become increasingly fierce... Lance shook his head slightly after hanging up the phone. Perhaps this is a true portrayal of "People who gain a foothold through violence are more ferocious when they are younger, but weaker when they are older."

To put it bluntly, people who have nothing are always the most unscrupulous. When they get the life they want through these behaviors, they will begin to be afraid that they will suddenly die one day and will no longer be able to enjoy the good life now!

Whether it is Heller or Bill, they are both "long-established" gang leaders who have left their glorious era in this city.

But look at them now, they are all getting older and no longer as energetic as they were when they were young.

On the contrary, it is the younger generation, such as the young men in the Brotherhood Gang, who are aggressive and rarely compromise on their own initiative. They are the stars on the stage of this new era.

Therefore, Lance was considering a question: do the five major families have absolute dominance over this city as they did in the past?
But now is not the time for him to think about this. He has paid a large amount of money to the Liji Group. He is now out of money, no clean money, and he has to get some money.

He called out to Hiram, who quickly trotted open the door.

Hiram has lost some weight recently, which makes his face look longer. It is said that he has a girl he likes and they are in love.

To those respectable gentlemen who dress well and move in and out of upper society, gang members are just the lowest level of society.

But to some people at the bottom, gang members are the most powerful people!

No one dares to bully them casually, this is power!
"Boss?" He pushed open the door and poked his head in, looking confused.

Lance waved him in, "Do you have any work to do these days?"

Hiram shook his head, he had nothing to do these days, Ennio was out of prison and now wanted to be positive to make up for the guilt he felt when he was away.

The Lance family went through a test of blood and fire, but he was unable to participate because of his stupidity. He felt very painful and wanted to make up for something.

So no matter what work there is, he will rush to do it. Alvin means to keep him busy, otherwise he won't be able to vent his emotions and something will go wrong.

"It just so happens that we are out of money. I plan to settle the debt I got from Qiaobafu. You can find two more people and we can set off at any time."

He turned and went to the safe, which contained only a portion of the debt, from which he picked out one.

A man named "Ted Commercial Bank" borrowed 25,000 yuan from him. According to the repayment date above, he should have repaid the money before September last year.

But up to now, the other party has no intention of repaying the money.

The IOU had their phone number and names on it, so Lance dialed the number directly.

Hiram, who had just gone out, had returned and brought two new people over. He was very keen on training new people. Lance held the phone in one hand and pressed a button with the other, motioning for them to sit down. The three of them quietly walked to the sofa and sat down.

About ten seconds later, the call was connected.

"Is it convenient for Mr. Ted to answer the phone now?"

"I'm his friend... Okay, no problem."

After about ten seconds, the voice in the receiver rang again, but only Lance could hear it, "I'm Ted, who are you?"

"Mr. Ted, in June of 1023 (the year before last), you borrowed a debt of twenty-five thousand dollars from Jinda Bank."

"According to your loan agreement, you should have repaid the principal of 25,000 yuan and the interest of 3,750 yuan before September last year, but you did not do so."

The voice on the other end suddenly became a little choking, "Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?"

"Listen, either you let Jobav come to me, or you just stay out of this, understand?"

"This is not something a young man like you can handle. Don't f*cking call me again, or I'll have someone beat you up!"

Before Lance could say anything, the phone was slammed on the base with a click, and the sound of the call being disconnected came from the receiver.

Lance looked at the phone in his hand, then at the three people, and spread his hands slightly, "It looks like he needs a little help. Once I figure out the location of this business, we'll go give him a surprise."

Lance called the telegraph office and asked the operator to check the location of Ted's Company.

The telegraph company supported this service. Even at that time, they did not realize the value of "privacy". In the public telephone booth, one could look up a person's phone number through a telephone directory full of advertisements.

Of course, you can also call the telegraph office directly, and soon the address of Ted's company was sent to Lans. This company is in Pricia, not far from them.

The owner of Ted's Company is called Ted, and he runs a timber company.

He has his own logging license, and this is his "showroom". His main job is to sell these woods to middle-class people who need to build their own houses.

This is a big business and can also support federal houses, especially single-family houses. Some communities even require residents to use wood materials to build houses.

On the one hand, wooden structure houses have a two hundred year history in the Federation, and a complete set of operating standards have been developed.

The so-called "self-built house" is actually just buying a super large building block and assembling it according to the instructions. It can satisfy the middle class and some wealthy people's nostalgia for their ancestors who settled in the federation.

Of course, the poor would definitely not have such feelings, because even their ancestors did not necessarily live in such exquisite wooden houses. They might have slept in places like stables.

People like this method because of its many advantages such as short construction time, low cost, and low operation difficulty.

On the other hand, wooden houses have become "one of the spiritual symbols of the federal people" because it is a tradition.

Although it is not clear why the word "tradition" can be used to describe something that has only been going on for two hundred years, it has become a consensus in federal society that only those who build wooden houses are federal people.

Just like they have many strange habits, even the food is divided into "federal meals" and "immigrant meals", which makes people a little confused.

But once it really becomes a social consensus, people don’t have much other choice but to comply and automatically become part of this invisible barrier.

Don't let people outside come in, and don't let people inside go out.

According to incomplete statistics, except for buildings such as apartments that have to use brick and concrete, almost 97% of single-family houses are made of wood.

This gives the logging industry a never-ending profit, because wooden structures are easily damaged by moisture, insects and the like, so they never have to worry about running out of business.

There are many small models made of various kinds of wood in the lobby of Ted Trading Company. When guests come in, they can see more intuitively what the houses made of these pieces of wood will look like.

They can place orders with businesses based on these models, and they will then produce the corresponding materials and provide them to customers.

Mr. Ted just hung up the phone, cursing, and told the front desk to hang up if this person called again.

He did borrow twenty-five thousand dollars from Mr. Jobbaugh, but fifteen thousand of that sum was taken by Arthur, leaving him with only ten thousand dollars.

Mr. Jobaf actually knew about this, so he never thought about recovering the money from the beginning. He knew he couldn't get it back, so he simply packed it all up and gave it to Lance.

Mr. Ted didn't know that the debt had now been packaged and sold, and he thought it was Mr. Jobaf who was urging him.

If it was the other person himself, he might have spoken nicely, but a young man was not qualified for him to speak nicely, even though Mr. Jobaf had recently joined the mayor.

After all, the mayor is an "outsider" to this city, but the Arthurmus family and the five major families are the real masters of Jingang City!
Just as he was considering whether to release termites in some communities after the spring, an exclamation from the front desk was heard in the hall.

He was just about to stand up and see what was going on when the office door was pushed open.

A young man with a brisk walk walked in from outside. He looked very familiar, took off his hat, put it on the corner of the table, and sat directly opposite Ted.

He crossed his legs and pulled out a cigarette, which Hiram immediately lit for him.

He took a puff of cigarette and blew it towards Mr. Ted. "What did you say on the phone just now?"

"You want to beat me?"

(End of this chapter)