Shadow Empire

Chapter 268: Negotiation and Skill Grading

Wolfe was chewing tobacco in his mouth. Now the number of people chewing tobacco has gradually decreased, but the sales of cigarettes continue to set new records.

Both get nicotine from tobacco, compared to the unpleasant experience brought about by chewing tobacco, such as people who don't know how to chew will have tobacco residue in their mouths, or they may accidentally swallow it.

The method of absorbing nicotine by inhaling cigarette smoke is obviously more popular with people.

Clean, hygienic, tidy, and offering the same experience, they have every reason to choose cigarettes over chewing tobacco.

However, there are still some people who like to chew tobacco. It has become a habit in their lives, and some people even regard it as a tradition.

But this tradition has not actually been passed down for many years. However, for the Federation, a history of several decades is enough to be called "history".

Wolfe also smokes, but he prefers chewing tobacco more often.

He liked to bite the tobacco with his teeth. The taste of the juice mixed with saliva and tobacco components that was squeezed out from the tobacco fibers gave him great satisfaction.

His tobacco was handmade by an old native and was not expensive, costing only three dollars a pound.

After tasting it, many people even feel that it is not as good as the chewing tobacco that costs one dollar a pound, but Wolfe likes its "raw" power and its indigenous heritage.

Taking a bite of it feels like chewing a bomb, and the whole body feels so comfortable.

He looked at John slowly, without even taking his feet off the table, as if he didn't take John seriously.

"I gave the money, John," he said, after thinking for a moment.

John glared at him, "But I fucking told you not to cause trouble at the docks these few days."

Wolfe rubbed a finger across his upper and lower rows of gums, then took a sip of water, rinsed his mouth, and spat it out on the ground. "But I've already paid, John."

It seemed like this was the only sentence he could say, which made John feel a little depressed.

"There's been some kind of activity going on at the dock these days, and a lot of people came. Today, not only did your people chase us to the dock, they also opened fire on us!"

"Do you know how much trouble this will cause?"

Wolf rolled his eyes. “You took my money, John, so you have to help me solve the problem.”

John's voice got louder, "I've received money from a lot of people. Do I have to solve every problem I encounter?"

Wolfe seemed to agree with his statement, "Why else would we give you money?"

"Instead of you giving us money?"

The two men stared at each other without giving in. John seemed to have a headache because he knew that the mayor's faction was behind Wolfe.

The mayor has the power to fire him. One person has already been fired. He spent so much money to climb to this position, and he will not get himself fired easily.

This is also the reason why he is willing to accept money from these people, because there are people behind them.

He didn't dare to gamble whether the mayor would make things difficult for a small person like him, because he couldn't afford the consequences of failure.

Finally, his eyes moved from Wolfe's face to the faces of the other people in the room. "I will give in. Hand over the person who goes there today to me. This matter ends here."

Wolfe couldn't help laughing. "You ran into my office and asked me to hand my brother over to you. Is this what all gangs in Jingang City do?"

The people around burst into laughter, as if this was a very funny thing. At the same time, they leaned towards the center and surrounded John in the middle.

This is a threat, a deterrent.

Wolfe picked up something on the table and threw it back, "The Wolf King will not betray his brothers in his pack, and neither will I!"

He looked at John as if he were a clown. "You're a pain in the ass, John. How do they put up with you?"

Feeling Wolfe's disrespect for him, John's eyes became a little grim and a little straight.

He stared at Wolfe as if he wanted to eat him, brother!
He knew that he couldn't show any fear at this moment, otherwise it would be very bad. He leaned forward a little and put his hands on the table. "I just want to solve this problem. You have failed me, Wolfe."

"The Lances are not the Red Dogs. They have more people, more guns, and are more vicious!"

"Don't think I'm teasing you, I'm helping you!"

Wolfe's expression didn't change much when he heard the name of the Lance Family. There was a hint of arrogance on his face. "We are different from Snake and the Viper Gang."

"They're afraid of Lance, but we're not!"

John was very angry. He looked around and saw that no one respected him. He stood up slowly with a long face. He put one hand on his belt and bent over to knock on Wolfe's desk, as if to warn and remind him, "I hope you don't regret what you did today."

As he said this, he turned around and was about to leave. Since he couldn't deal with Wolfe, there was no point in staying here.

Wolfe sneered and looked at John's back with some disdain, "Starting next month, we won't pay any more money."

John was almost at the door, but when he heard this, he stopped again. He turned around and walked back to the table, put his hands on the table, and leaned forward in an aggressive manner, "Pay the money, it's the rule, Wolfe."

"You don't have to pay it, but I promise that we will be there every time you have a fight, and we will arrest your people!"

"This is not Fides, this is Jingang City, not a place for you to mess around."

Wolfe was not threatened, "You can give it a try and see who gets unlucky first!"

John stood up straight. He didn't want to stay here any longer. "I'm a policeman, you're a thief."

“Remember this!”

After saying that, he turned and left. His anger had been completely ignited. None of them respected him at all!

He is a policeman and a branch chief. He has the power to enforce the law in this area, but he feels like anyone can come and step on him!

Moreover, he had just been promoted to the chief of a branch. If the Wolf Gang stopped paying, and this led to other gangs not paying, his position in the police system would plummet.

It wasn’t that the old director didn’t want to take the money at that time. It was that he didn’t want to take the money from the Wolf Gang because he believed that the Wolf Gang wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. At the same time, he was also unwilling to regard the Wolf Gang as “his own people.”

If he receives it and then fails to receive it, he will become a joke.

He slammed the door shut with such force that the whole wall seemed to shake.

Everyone in the room showed a look of disgust, and someone asked Wolfe if he wanted to stop John. Wolfe shook his head and said, "Keep him here for dinner?"

"Silly beep!"

"Tell him to get out of here. I want to spit out my breakfast when I see his face. Damn, what the hell!"

John got back into the car and slammed the door, cursing.

He had never been so angry before, but now, he was really angry!

His partner looked at him and asked, "What now?"

Lance and his Lance family are not easy to mess with. They were able to unify the Empire region, defeat Fides' Viper Gang, and ambush Snake outside the city. Their decisiveness and ferocity have already attracted attention.

Even law enforcers are reluctant to provoke Lance and the Lance family unless it is necessary.

They certainly don't have a history of attacking law enforcers, but you don't know if you will be their first target!
John's breathing was heavy, "What do I care?!"

"This is the Port District, not the Empire District. I'm not a wimp like Blue. If he wants to try with me, let him come over and try!"

"I'll let him know who's in charge here!"

That being said, he finally took the initiative to call Lance and told him that it was the Fides Wolf Gang that did it. He had tried to bring back the people who had caused trouble at the dock, but he failed. He told Lynch bluntly on the phone that the Wolf Gang didn't buy his account.

As for the three thousand yuan, he didn't mention a word about it.

You want him to spit out the money that’s already in his pocket?
It's not impossible, it's just not very likely!
Lance didn't say anything on the phone. After he finished speaking, he waited for a while and then hung up, which made him very dissatisfied.

This is totally different from his ideal "life as director"!

But then the phone rang again and he picked up the call.

Before he could say anything to inquire about the other party's identity, the person on the other side spoke first.

"John, do you want to be the chief of the city police department?"

……

The riot at the dock quickly spread at an alarming speed, and everyone knew about it. President Scott hated those gangsters to death.

But fortunately... everyone knows that this incident has nothing to do with him. It was just an accident and has nothing to do with his ability.

The gang problem during this period was not just a problem in Jingang City.

Even in the capital and the special administrative region, gangs are rampant, just like here!

Even in Congress, many senators have ties with gangs.

Sometimes when large-scale events are held, or even during elections, gangs will be involved to maintain order or protect the president's safety.

These situations have penetrated into every aspect of society and cannot be fully described by just one word: “organized crime.” It is part of the federal society, and an important part at that!

Even the gangs have become an important cultural symbol of the Federation, accepted and known by the people.

Both the AFL-CIO and the Confederation of Trade Unions expressed their understanding and were willing to continue to attend the conference on the second and third days, which made President Scott feel slightly relieved.

At the same time he was praying that nothing would go wrong again!

Lance had just hung up the phone with John and lit a cigarette.

The reason he was angry today was John's nonchalant look. He messed up things but didn't care, and he even had an unpleasant smile!
This is why Lance was angry.

If he had apologized sincerely instead of giving a perfunctory attitude of "I'm giving you a favor, this is my problem, let's just leave it at that", Lance wouldn't have gotten angry.

He looked at the other friends in the room, "The port area is a very important place for us. The port, some of our industries, core industries, are very dependent on the port area."

"Before, the port area was under Bill's control. He had a good relationship with us and didn't dare to touch our interests casually."

"But now he can no longer control the port area. The growing Wolf Gang and Viper Gang have the same problems. They are not on the same side as us."

"So..." He took a deep puff of the cigarette, and the spark on the cigarette butt suddenly lit up and burned backwards visibly.

As he finished inhaling, the cigarette was removed from his mouth. He tilted his head slightly, and a thick cloud of smoke came out of his mouth and nose and was exhaled upwards.

He said what everyone was expecting, "...we are going to take over the harbor."

Hiram immediately stood up excitedly, "We should have done this a long time ago, Lance!"

"We should give those bastards some shock from the Empire!"

A positive team always needs someone who stands against the decision-makers' decisions and pours cold water on them.

It is important to prevent overheating. Sometimes fanatical emotions can make people ignore some problems. Irving plays this role.

He also seemed very rational. "We haven't fully mastered the Empire yet. If we were to expand outward now, we might be short of manpower, and it might also have some impact on the Empire."

Lance frowned, "How many people do we have now? Add them all up."

Mello gave Lance a more accurate number, "Four hundred and thirty-three people."

A gang of more than 400 people is not actually small in size, but if these 400 people are asked to control an area with a population of nearly 200,000, they will be almost diluted to the point of being invisible!

Excluding bars, warehouses, breweries, factories and the like, there are only a hundred to two hundred people who can be mobilized at any time.

If these people are transferred, the security and order in the imperial area may be affected.

Those neighborhood families are always popping up. A few young people get together and plan to set up a family from scratch like Lance did. Isn't that where the trouble comes?

The characteristics of organized crime, in addition to being "organized," are "criminal." They will make a mess of things, and only by maintaining visible forces on the streets can this trend be curbed.

The Camilla Gang previously controlled half of the empire, with more than 300 core members and several hundred peripheral members. This is the true appearance of a gang.

"While recruiting people, find out about the situation in the port area. Don't disclose this to the public yet, but we must be prepared."

Lance's will is the highest will of the Lance family, and soon Erwin began to recruit people.

There are many young people in the Empire Zone who are willing to join the Lance Family, and there are even more illegal immigrants. They never worry about not recruiting enough people, but only about the poor quality.

The next day, the activities at the dock continued, but there were fewer people watching. Some people who did not know the truth were not sure whether those people came to the dock for other reasons or simply wanted to disrupt the activities.

They were unwilling to risk their lives to watch, so the number of onlookers dropped by more than half, and even many contestants chose to give up.

This also has an advantage, which is that the game progresses much earlier than expected.

Gunmen wearing dark suits and red armbands can be seen everywhere on the dock. They stand in groups of three or five, and some even carry submachine guns!
However, their presence not only does not make the workers on the dock feel scared, but instead gives them a sense of familiarity and intimacy.

Most of the workers on the docks live in the Port District and the Imperial District, and these people are very familiar to the workers living in the Imperial District.

They introduced the situation of the Lance family to co-workers who didn't know the family, and even took the initiative to greet the gunmen and even ran over to borrow a light to prove that they were not lying!

This was also the first time that people on the dock knew that Mr. Lance’s Lance Family was really different from other gangs!

Those other gangs?

If you walk over when they are gathered together, they will either tell you to get lost or let you pass - then take every penny out of your pocket and tell you to get lost again.

This is also the reason why federal soldiers will actively avoid gang members when they see them. Who knows if they will have any sudden ideas to use against you.

In the evening, a group of people sat together and chatted about issues concerning the competition. Lance also joined in as the main sponsor.

As the conversation went on, the vice president of the state labor federation turned to technical issues.

"We currently have a very one-dimensional assessment of workers in terms of skills, with only skilled and unskilled workers, which is actually an inaccurate classification."

"We discovered this during the dock workers' skill competition. For example, those who can tighten a screw within a standard time are skilled workers, and those who cannot are unskilled workers."

"But among the skilled workers, some are very fast, while others have just reached the standard. They are all skilled workers, but their technical abilities vary greatly."

"We have discussed this internally before, but there was no good solution. However, after your competition, we seem to have found a good direction."

"We can give journeymen a score, so that everyone has their own score, which reflects how they perform in terms of professional skills."

Lance coughed lightly, and everyone else looked over at him, "Why don't we classify them?"

"If we just give them a score, maybe they are not in good shape, or they perform exceptionally well, but this still cannot truly represent their ability."

"We should use a more appropriate method to classify them, such as first-level technical workers, second-level technical workers..."

(End of this chapter)