Shadow Empire

Chapter 221: Sacrifice, Reporting, and Exposure
Just as Lance and William were talking about Mr. Jobaff becoming their opponent, Mr. Jobaff was also talking about this with the mayor.

"…Lance holds a very high status in the hearts of the imperial immigrants. If he supports that William to run for election, I can hardly say that he will be able to win stably."

The mayor sat behind his desk, frowning as he looked at the documents on the table. He held a cigarette in his left hand, and he hadn't smoked for a long time.

So much so that a lot of ash has accumulated.

He seemed to have figured something out, or as if Mr. Jobaf's words had startled him. His hand trembled slightly, and the cigarette ash fell on the edge of the table.

He quickly picked up the document and ate it hard at his side.

The cigarette ash was blown away, and after he shook the documents, he remembered that Mr. Jobaf was still here.

"Wait a moment." He took out a pen and made some marks on the document, then put the document into the file bag.

After tightening the cap of the pen, he looked at Mr. Jobaf and asked, "What did you say?"

Mr. Jobaf, who was sitting on the sofa, could clearly feel that the mayor did not value him. He was not a fool, he was just a little "naive" before.

He has experienced a lot of things and met a lot of people, and he can feel the mayor's indifferent attitude towards him.

But he doesn't take it to heart, as it is an inevitable process on his road to success and entering the upper class.

"I mean, Lance will support William in his campaign for the Imperial District Congressman, and I might be in big trouble."

The mayor frowned, "William...what's his last name?"

"Lawrence."

"William Lawrence... I seem to have heard of this name." He picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Do you know a man named William Lawrence?"

Soon the guy on the other end of the phone told the mayor everything he wanted to know.

He hung up the phone and looked at Mr. Jobaf. "William used to be a civil servant in our municipal government. He recently resigned and is going to run for the Imperial District Councillor. The reason is that Lance wants to support him?"

This sounds like an affirmative sentence, but it is actually a question.

Mr. Jobaf nodded. "I'm afraid that's it."

The mayor chuckled and leaned back in his chair, as if he had just heard a relaxing joke. "Why would he support a former civil servant running for city councillor?"

"Also, why do you think he will be your opponent, or even a big trouble?"

Different heights, different angles. From the mayor's perspective, a "civil servant family" is just a civil servant family.

In the federal administrative system, this can only be regarded as the lowest level in the political arena, and he doesn't take it seriously at all.

When will the mayor of a city start to worry about an ordinary low-level civil servant and his family?
This is also the reason why he cannot understand Mr. Jobaf and sees these as troubles on his campaign trail!

A gang leader and a former low-level civil servant are now causing trouble for you, a banker who has the support of the mayor's people. Are you fucking kidding me?
In fact, Mr. Jobaf had already said it once just now, but now he would say it again. This is the price of success, he told himself.

"Lance's status in the eyes of the imperial immigrants is no lower than mine. As long as they are qualified to go to college, he will give them money to help them realize their dreams."

"He does not collect any protection fees in the Empire Zone, and he even set up an Empire Chamber of Commerce..."

The mayor lit another cigarette and listened to Mr. Jobaf talking about what Lance was doing now. He couldn't help but look at Mr. Jobaf a few more times.

Mr. Jobaf did not notice the look as if he was looking at a piece of trash, otherwise it would have become one of the "prices" for him to squeeze into the upper class.

From the mayor's perspective, Mr. Jobaf has a large and solid base in the Empire District, but apart from attracting deposits and lending money to the poor, he doesn't seem to have done anything particularly meaningful.

Holding regular parties is one thing, and the free food and... water can indeed make people grateful to him, but that's just gratitude.

He could have done more, more and better than Lance, but he did nothing.

It seems that apart from running his bank and investments, he has no other achievements in terms of influence.

Even his influence is only because he is very rich and is treated as a "totem" by people. If these external factors are stripped away, there is really nothing worthy of praise about him.

"So you do have a problem," the mayor flicked the ash off his cigarette. "I heard that Lance is a local, but some of you said he is from the Empire. What's going on?"

Mr. Qiaobafu was not sure either. “I heard that he changed his identity through some channels and became a local.”

"Will this work for us?"

The mayor shook his head. “If this is how William operated, then it would be very useful, but whether Lance changed his identity or not has no effect on William.”

"People will even support him just because he is from the Empire!"

After the mayor finished speaking, he fell into deep thought. It was his idea to let Mr. Jobaf run for city councilor.

In this kind of battle, if there is one more person by your side, there will be one less person by the other side. This is definitely not a difference of "one", but a difference of "two".

He didn't know whether Lance and William supported the locals, but at this time, all fence-sitters were enemies.

Either enemy or friend, there is no in between!

He quickly made a decision. "But you don't have to worry about it. As long as Lance disappears and no one provides William with campaign funds and public support, he will definitely not be your opponent."

"A local guy and a successful immigrant of the same ethnicity. They know who they can choose to truly represent themselves."

Mr. Jobaf wanted to say something. He vaguely understood what the mayor meant by "disappear".

He wanted to say that this was an "internal" problem, but in the end he said nothing, because this was also the "price", the "price" of climbing up, and someone had to sacrifice.

It's either him or someone else.

Of course, the mayor also sensed that Mr. Jobaf was a little depressed, "Joe, do you know what your biggest problem is?"

Mr. Jobaf, who had collected himself, immediately asked, "What is it, sir?"

The mayor raised his finger and pointed at him. "It's your weakness, Joe."

"If someone else was in your position, you would already be a member of Jingang City's upper class society, instead of being like this now. I heard that even the gangsters could blackmail you."

"You have more than 200,000 supporters here. This force makes it impossible for anyone in Jingang City to mess with you. Once these 200,000 people demonstrate, it will affect the operation of this city."

“So whoever caused this is the enemy of all the vested interests in this city.”

"But look at yourself. After all these years, you haven't changed at all. I don't know what to say."

He shook his head and said, "With your personality, even if you become a city councilor, I'm afraid you won't be able to stay for long."

Mr. Qiaobafu's eyes flashed with dissatisfaction, anger, and an indescribable understanding, but he smiled, "Yes, you are right, I am indeed too weak sometimes."

The mayor nodded slightly, and no one knew why he nodded. "It's not too late to realize your own problems at this time."

"Just rest assured and prepare for the election. Lance probably hasn't set up any charity fund yet, right?"

"Go to a city that specializes in helping immigrants in need in the empire. You don't need to give money or things to everyone. Pick a few typical ones. You should know more about this than I do."

Mr. Jobaf nodded, "Yes, I know how to do that."

The mayor continued, “Look, Joe, you know everything, but you didn’t do anything in the past, and let a young man get ahead of you.”

"But fortunately, there is still time for everything."

After letting Mr. Jobaf leave, he called his personal secretary and said, "Tell Brinton and the others to get back to work after they have rested. Uproot Lance and his gang as soon as possible. I get irritated when I hear their names now."

How dare a small character refuse my recruitment?

Regardless of whether he was a local or not, he felt very embarrassed, especially Lawyer Orson's expression, which looked like a half-smile and a fake smile, which made him very angry.

After hanging up the phone, he stood up and walked to the window. The cool evening breeze blowing in from the window made him squint his eyes slightly.

If you don't consider the issue of power struggle, it is actually a good choice to retire in Jingang City. He looked at the cars on the city road and fell into new thoughts.

At the same time, Rob's heart was beating violently, and he left the bar a little drunk.

People here don't respect him.

When he was about to order another drink, the bartender refused and told him that he was drunk.

What is needed now is not "have another glass", but "go home and get into bed and have a good sleep" and "don't forget to have a glass of milk before going to bed".

When the bartender said these words, everyone around him laughed, except Rob.

He was really drunk, he had consumed two bombs and two glasses of whiskey today, and he was starting to get a little out of control.

But this damn bar was really fun, full of young girls who were willing to respond to his advances, which made him very happy.

Even the pain of losing Selena seemed to disappear in the process of flirting with these girls.

Now, he just wanted two more drinks, one for himself and one for his "girlfriend". He thought he had a chance to take this girl home today, so he drove here.

But the bartender not only rejected him, but also turned him into a joke. He cursed and seemed to want to do something impulsive, but he quickly controlled his emotions.

Because two security guards stood behind him.

"If it weren't for your father, I would take you to the back now instead of letting you leave here!" The bartender tilted his head, and two security guards dragged him out the door and threw him out.

The moment the bar door closed, he vaguely heard people laughing. His flushed face made him unable to tell whether it was due to being drunk or being angry.

He came to a telephone booth diagonally across the street from the bar. He glanced at the few people standing outside the bar alley in the distance, took out two one-cent coins, and stuffed them into the coin acceptor of the public telephone.

"This is the complaint hotline for the Hazardous Materials Administration. How can I help you?"

"I would like to speak to Officer Lucar (senior agent)."

"Hold on……"

After about twenty seconds, a voice sounded, "This is Lukar, who's there?"

Rob's heartbeat became stronger and faster. He felt dry mouth. It might be because he drank too much. He should listen to the bartender and have a glass of milk.

He put his hand on his chest, as if trying to slow down its beating. "It's me, Scarecrow."

Scarecrow is his code name. In the Federation, Scarecrow has many special meanings. He feels that he can become a watchman.

"Oh, Mr. Scarecrow, thank you very much for your report last time, which made a great progress in the cause of justice. So this time, do you bring me good news again?"

Rob glanced back at the intersection in the distance and lowered his voice a little.

He actually knew that the other party couldn't hear him, and it was impossible for him to hear the voice of someone making a phone call in a telephone booth dozens of meters away, but he still lowered his voice.

"In the Imperial District...about 150 to 160 meters east of the road, there is an alley opening to the south. There are several people standing at the entrance of the alley."

"There's a bar inside. You can see at least tens of thousands of dollars' worth of alcohol and money, and maybe one or two hundred drunkards drinking!"

Officer Lucard blew a whistle and said, "No problem, will the reward be deposited into the previous account?"

"Yes!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone, went back to drive, and stopped the car at a distance.

He wanted to witness the arrest in person, but that jerk bartender actually dared to laugh at him?!

Well, let these people see how terrible the consequences and costs of laughing at him are.

With the accurate information, Lucard quickly gathered a large number of troops and asked them not to honk on the road.

Recently, there are quite a few "passers-by" around the Dangerous Goods Management Bureau. They stand around the gate so blatantly. As long as they come out with sirens on, these people will immediately call the police.

If the sirens were turned on, these people would quickly figure out where they were going, so now they wouldn't sound the sirens even if they were taking action.

And Director Dell asked them to go out together when they were bored.

As long as they go out, the bars in the whole city will be in chaos!
This can also paralyze these people, making them wonder whether this operation is really to arrest bar and bootleggers or just to tease them.

An armored vehicle and five police cars left the Hazardous Materials Administration, and the people at the door started making phone calls again. Although they were also annoyed, it was necessary.

Lance's bar also received a call, and Alvin arranged people to guard the door, but this time they were not heading south, but towards the Priscilla district.

So the person who called was not that nervous, and the bar did not close but continued to operate.

But what they didn't know was that after these cars entered Priscia and circled twice, they suddenly began to accelerate towards the Imperial District.

By the time the people on the lookout at the alley entrance saw the convoy, they were already very close!

A lookout ran to the door of the bar and banged on it. "The black dog is coming!"

The burly man guarding the door turned around and ran away. He hit the button on the wall inside the bar hard, and the music and lights disappeared all of a sudden, replaced by incandescent lights.

"The police are coming!"

After a few brief seconds, the entire bar was in an uproar. While they were arranging for the guests to leave through the other door, others were packing up the evening's cash and letting people leave first with the easiest-to-carry banknotes.

These Hazardous Materials Administration agents were so fast that they quickly surrounded the house and soon found another exit in the next unit - a few drunk people screaming and eventually attracted the attention of the agents.

When the machine gun on the armored vehicle was set up, the people who had been making a lot of noise finally calmed down and sobered up.

Lucard walked into the bar through the door. The strange smell in the bar had not yet dissipated, so he took a deep breath.

This is the taste of fame and fortune!

He just moved his hands and didn't even need to say a word, and the large number of reinforcements who arrived had already started cleaning the scene.

The guests were escorted to the side of the road and made to squat with their hands raised, while the bartender, the operator of the bar and wearing a dark brown vest, stood at the front of the crowd.

"Identify your people."

Officer Lucard vaguely felt that this bar should be Lance's property, which made him excited!

The bartender didn't say anything, but just spit at him, but he dodged it.

The next moment he threw a backhand hook and hit the bartender in the stomach, making him unable to straighten his back.

At this time, a colleague came over and said, "The reporters are watching you. If you have anything to vent about, you'd better wait until we get back."

Lucard nodded and motioned for the reporters to come up and take pictures.

He stepped on a few boxes of wine, just like the ancestors of the federal people stepped on the bodies of the natives, holding a bottle of wine in his hand and smiling at the camera...

Rob, who witnessed everything from a distance, showed an unprecedented sense of revenge on his face!

Lance destroyed his life, and now he was taking revenge on it, which made him feel more satisfied than ever before!
The news soon reached Lance's ears, and he was also very annoyed about having another bar taken down.

"Check Lukar's situation. Also, find out who is selling the address of our bar?"

Erwin didn't know how to answer this question, but soon the phone on the desk started ringing.

The call was from Morris, who brought a piece of news that Lance wanted.

"Lance, I might know who it is..."

There is one more update



(End of this chapter)