Shadow Empire

Chapter 280 The Stage is So Big [666+17]
There was a very depressing atmosphere in the mayor's office. Sidney lit a cigarette and leaned sideways in his chair. His right arm, holding the cigarette, rested on the armrest, supporting his body.

He exhaled the cigarette slightly and inhaled it again. The smoke exposed to the air seemed to produce some wonderful chemical reaction and became more intense.

He twisted his neck. This was indeed a difficult problem.

He has seen many dark or bright tricks, and he can find solutions to most problems. In fact, the more complicated the scheme, the easier it is to crack.

Whether it is a conspiracy or an open plot, it is like a machine. If this machine is very sophisticated, it has hundreds or thousands of parts, and each part cannot be placed in the wrong place.

Then it is easy to crack it. His goal is not to dismantle the machine intact, but to stop it.

So if one link is destroyed, the whole machine will stop working.

On the contrary, those machines that are so simple that they only have two gears are impossible to destroy. Their bulky and simple nature are precisely their advantages.

Just like this flawless blackmail letter on the table.

He suddenly snorted and laughed twice, picked up the blackmail letter, and then looked at his personal secretary, "Do you believe it?"

“Maybe many years later, this ransom letter will be sold at a sky-high price like an antique!”

The young man could hardly smile. “I don’t know if it will become an antique in the future, but I know we have to solve this problem.”

The mayor threw the letter back on the table. "Do you know why they got rid of Red Heels first?"

The young man nodded. "They are afraid that Red High Heels has some leverage over them, and we will get hold of it and put them in a passive position."

The mayor pointed at him and said, "That's right, because these are private, private, and secrets that cannot be discovered by people."

"That's why they are afraid and uneasy, and that's why they are so eager to destroy Red High Heels, even if it means sacrificing that old dog Charlie!"

"I have to thank them. If they hadn't sacrificed Charlie, I wouldn't even be able to put John in the position!"

The mayor's mouth corners raised slightly. This was a very proud decision for him. They wanted Sam and Booker, so give them to them.

As long as they want to silence someone, someone must come forward to take the responsibility, and that person can only be Charlie.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't approve, so Charlie would be doomed anyway!

But if Sam and Booker had not been killed in the police station, he would not have been able to get Charlie out. The reason was simple: even the mayor had to be reasonable.

This society, this world, is so fucking funny!
The rulers actually have to be reasonable!
Perhaps this is the greatest constraint on rulers, not the law!
But they did that, and that gave him the opportunity.

"What they fear is that their secrets will be made public, so they will lose the initiative, but I am different from them."

The mayor stood up with his hands on the armrests of the chair. He straightened his clothes and said, "Please call the newspaper for me. I want to hold a press conference in person."

The young man was silent for a while, "Then Eric..."

The mayor turned and walked to the window, looking out at the city. "This is his mission."

Soon all the newspapers in the city knew that the mayor was going to hold a press conference in person to announce a big news.

The members of the five major families who heard about this all smiled. They felt that their threat strategy had worked!

The mayor was scared and was going to compromise. All that was left was for them to make an appointment, sit down together and talk about the future development of the city. They could give the mayor some benefits and make him a part of the "local" community.

The five major families have arranged people to attend this press conference. They have press cards, which are actually just a small handwritten card that anyone can forge.

When a large number of reporters and people seeking information showed up at the press conference at City Hall, they saw a man who looked haggard.

Some people even exclaimed, unable to believe that this was the mayor!
He looked nothing like his former elegance, with messy hair, untidy collar, a sad expression, and tired eyes.

When his personal secretary told others that they were almost there, he tapped the microphone.

Then he was stunned for a while, "I... don't know how to start talking about this."

"Someone gave me something this morning, something special."

"I have this habit. I will receive emails from citizens. I want to know what they think and what opinions they have on some of my policies and management, but I didn't expect that I would encounter this incident!"

Soon, a box containing a dead cat and a brown paper bag were placed on the table one after the other, and the guards at the City Hall showed these things to the reporters.

For a moment, the spotlights flickered and clouds of smoke floated on the roof. People felt a chill as they looked at the dead cat and the bullet.

Of course they knew what this was, it was a threat from the five major families!
But the news was so explosive that they wouldn't miss it.

"If these threats are not enough to shake my determination to make this city more prosperous, then now, I hesitate." He picked up the brown paper bag in front of him, opened it, took out a piece of paper from it, and showed it to everyone.

"It looks like a child of a few years old cut out some fragments of paper from the newspaper and put them together randomly."

"But, gentlemen, please read this passage carefully, and you will find that it is not cute at all, but terrible!"

A reporter read it out loud, and for a moment people found it hard to believe that all this was really happening!

Someone kidnapped Eric to threaten the mayor and force him to resign!

The reassembled spotlight completed its mission in an instant, and the room became a little choking.

But the reporters' excitement made them ignore this.

"I know a lot of people hate me because I try to sway their interests."

"They have always wanted to force me away, and now they have even resorted to such despicable means. I can already imagine what they are going to do."

"They will kill Eric and then tell people that I watched him get killed because I was greedy for power."

"It's a devastating blow to a mayor who wants to make people's lives happier."

"They put their own interests above the interests of ordinary people!"

“Because I want to build a new port area.”

"Once the new port area is completed, it will add at least 15,000 jobs to Jingang City, 15,000 families will be better off, the employment rate will rise, the unemployment rate will drop, and public security issues will be alleviated."

"We will become the world's largest port city, and we will become the core of world shipping!"

"This place will become more prosperous, and everyone can live happily like in a fairy tale."

"You will have soft and fluffy bread, a whole cut of beef, affordable fruit, and you won't even have to rent an apartment anymore, you'll have your own house."

“But now, they’re trying to end it all, and I don’t know what to do, to be honest with you.”

"On one side are my relatives, an innocent child, and on the other side are the 1.2 million citizens of Jingang City. You are also my relatives!"

“I’m conflicted!”

"I wanted to save my loved ones, but the price was to let 1.2 million citizens fall into darkness."

“I know what to choose, but I don’t know how to choose!”

“Perhaps this is their purpose.”

The mayor stood up and said, "I thought about it for a long time and I made a decision."

"I want to declare war on the criminal forces. I want to declare war on the evil forces that prevent happiness from coming to Jingang City!"

"When I have fulfilled my promise, I will voluntarily resign from my position and no longer serve as the mayor of Jingang City. I will not even take on any other job. I will atone and repent for abandoning him!"

He slammed his hands on the table, "The interests of the people are above everything else, including me or Eric!"

The crazy flashing lights made the young man standing in the corner breathe a sigh of relief. He suddenly realized that no one could stop the mayor from moving forward!
Even if he really resigned from all his positions at that time, with his "legendary" experience and reputation, it would not be a problem for him to re-participate in various elections!

He can even run for governor directly. As long as he leaves enough traces in Jingang City, he can run for governor and even have a great chance of winning!

He sincerely admired the mayor. Perhaps the mayor had the qualities to become a truly big shot. The young man firmly believed this!
The news spread throughout the city in less than ten minutes, including the five major families, Councillor Wade and Councillor Williams, they all knew about it.

For a moment, the two congressmen’s brains were... frozen!

They couldn't understand what the five major families were doing.

In their opinion, apart from the five major families, no one else could do this, nor do they have the ability or courage to do so!
That's the mayor's illegitimate son. Not only did you kidnap him, you also want to kill him?
What made them even more terrified was that the crazy mayor, Sidney, actually confronted them head-on!
Just make this troublesome matter public. Just look at the citizens on the street heading to the City Hall to support the mayor, and you will know how high his prestige is now!
These idiots ruined their great plan!
The five major families were also dumbfounded. Countless phone calls flew back and forth between them. They even began to doubt each other. Who kidnapped Eric?

But there is no way to get the answer, especially at this moment. Ask yourself, even if they kidnapped the children themselves, they would not tell anyone.

Whoever says so is everyone's enemy!
Almost everyone has the same problem.

Eric, where are you?

(End of this chapter)