Shadow Empire

Chapter 291 Cover up
After a period of high tension, when people enter a safe environment and begin to relax, they will gradually feel sleepy.

Lance slept for a while in a daze, until he heard a knock on the door, he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the door. Corinda was standing there, "Mr. William wants to see you."

Lance rubbed his neck and asked her to bring two cups of coffee and call someone in.

When William came in and saw Lance sitting there intact, he breathed a sigh of relief. He sat next to Lance and asked with a frown, "What happened?"

Lance shook his head. "I don't know, but it's just like that. Someone thought I was in the way and wanted to kick me away..."

"Thank you!" Corinda came in with two cups of coffee and placed them on the table. Lance picked them up and took a sip.

It has a very strong smell of oil, and the heaviness brought by the oil, which feels really good, but it's too hot.

He placed the cup on the coaster on the coffee table and continued the previous topic, "…but they didn't expect that their kick hit a steel plate. Although it caused me considerable damage, their toes were also broken."

William kept nodding, which might be a habitual action of his. "Is anyone dead?"

His voice was very low. If it weren't for Lance, he would most likely never have been exposed to these things in his life, but in this world, people always have gains and losses.

If you gain something, you will definitely lose something. No one keeps gaining without losing.

If so, what he is about to lose will be everything he has gained or even more!
William lost his stable, ordinary and boring life, and gained upward motivation and hope, but also an unstable life.

He was a little afraid of what Lance would say, but he knew that he had to accept it.

"Seven people died on our side, and more than a dozen people died on the other side."

"Oh my God……"

William looked a little stupid. In the past, when he saw these numbers, he just thought of them as numbers printed in newspapers, a lead spot, but now, these numbers became heavy.

"Who did it?" he demanded. "Will you retaliate?"

Lance looked at him strangely, "Should I call him and thank him for attacking me?"

William shook his head repeatedly, "That's not what I meant, I just think..."

Lance gave him a cigarette and said, "Don't make it too complicated. This is just like a fight between children. If you hit me, you should be prepared to be hit by me. It's just that the fight between adults is more dangerous."

"As long as I know who these people are, the rest will be easy."

He took a deep puff of the cigarette, then exhaled slowly, as if he could see the future through the smoke.

After a while, he turned around and asked, "Thank you for coming over, I'm fine, is there anything else besides this?"

As soon as Lance finished speaking, he thought of it, "I forgot, funding!"

He stood up with the help of his legs, walked to the safe, turned the main button, took out ten thousand yuan from it, and put it in a brown paper bag.

"This money is very clean, the kind that won't be afraid of being checked."

The money Lance has in his hands now is actually very clean. Except for the money "loaned" from the bank to the Chamber of Commerce, the rest is his.

With the bank's certificate, all this shady money can be mixed into the loan.

Unless someone insists on checking him, he will never be able to spend all the loan, but it will be limited to small purchases.

If it is a large amount, it will be a bit troublesome.

Ten thousand yuan. Although William could afford it, Lance just put it on the table so lightly, which still made him nervous for a while. After all, it was ten thousand yuan!

Lance didn't pay attention to his expression and asked casually, "How is Jobaf doing recently?"

William turned his attention back from the brown paper bag. "He recently found a few campaign assistants, and someone else helped him find a solution. He seems to be doing better."

Before, Mr. Jobaf didn’t think he had any competitors, so he had high aspirations and spoke big words.

It's not that he's lying, it's that his campaign strategy is something macro, like getting more jobs for residents.

If this kind of nonsense was said when running for mayor, some people might believe it, but if you use it when running for city councilor, only a fool would believe it!

The Empire District does not have the foundation to build large factories, so they will not recruit workers here nearby.

Not only large factories, but other factories or labor-intensive industries are not suitable, so what Mr. Jobaf said about increasing the employment rate is complete nonsense!
But now he has found some people to help him, and his campaign strategy has been lowered.

He promised to hold free neighborhood clinics at least once a year, with specialized doctors providing free physical examinations for residents.

It also promised that federal residents who wanted to start a business would be given a small, low-interest start-up loan after selection.

He put forward some very specific and practical campaign strategies, and his competitiveness immediately stood out.

He himself was an imperial immigrant and was very influential among the imperial immigrant community, so it was indeed easier for him to win than William.

Lance listened to his description and shook his head. "It's still the same old stuff that politicians say. It's all unrealistic."

Although William was mentally prepared that Lance could see the essence of these things, he was still surprised!

"What do you think?", he asked.

Lance shrugged. "Free physical examinations are meaningless. Three or five interns come and examine for six hours a day. How many people can they examine in a day?"

“Even if the activity lasts for three days, it would be a miracle if 300 people could complete the inspection!”

"For example, for start-up loans, he is originally a banker. Even if the interest rate is low, he is still making money. It's just a matter of how much."

“If those people succeed in starting a business, he might even take away other people’s shares.”

"If they fail, he won't lose anything because he will take the collateral."

"Nothing new, but it can deceive the people. However..." Lance looked at William, "I think you should have a way to deal with it. You don't seem to have no solution when you talk about these things!"

William laughed loudly twice. "Yes, just like you said, he likes to say these nice words, so I will praise him highly."

Lance knew that he must have a way, and he was positive about his way.

The biggest fear of this kind of campaign plan that likes to make nice words is that someone will take you seriously!

Just like "I'll treat you next time", if no one takes it seriously, then it's just a nice thing to say, but if someone asks when, where, and how to treat the next time.

The person who says this will become embarrassed.

Because once the time and place are determined, it means that he has no turning back and must fulfill his promise.

But if he doesn't say it, it means he is a liar!
Could everyone in the Empire District please have a physical checkup?
Even if Jobav was a banker, he couldn't afford the expenses, even if all the doctors were interns.

This is a very targeted strategy. The more Mr. Jobaf wants to appear beautiful and affordable, the more likely he is to lose!
But this targeting also has a disadvantage, that is, if Mr. Jobaf really wants to go all out, he will just find a large number of doctors to make the event a big deal, so that he can earn people's support.

But Lance is not worried about this. He will find a way to make it so that he can't pay the money when the time comes.

William came and talked to Lance for a long time, mainly to see if Lance was injured. As the news of the fierce gun battle and Lance being attacked spread quickly, more and more people knew about it.

Meanwhile, in the Pasretto Manor, Paul looked at his nephew standing in front of him with a bit of fatigue, "Tell me, did you do this?"

Dover shook his head and said, "I told you, this has nothing to do with me!"

His tone was intense, as if he had suffered some great injustice, and there was anger and resistance in his tone, which made Paul doubt again whether he had made a mistake!
But he also had his own intelligence sources, and he knew that this matter was directly related to Dover.

It was also Paul's decision to let Dover give up his bar. More than one person in the family disagreed with the fact that Christopher had made no contribution but occupied a bar with extremely high profits.

It's not just one person who has an opinion, it's many people.

Some are from the younger generation, some are from the older generation, some of them have fought for their families, but they can't enjoy such a good opportunity. And a person who has never done anything for the family controls such a bar.

Even after deducting the fees he handed over to the family every month, he still had a lot of money left, enough to make many people jealous!

In the past, the five major families had great deterrent power, which was not only external but also internal. Although they would complain, they could only endure it.

With the recent internal and external difficulties, Paul feels that it is no longer appropriate to let Dover continue to manage the bar, as it will bring disaster to him!
So he took this opportunity to transfer the bar in Dover to Lance and keep Dover away from the whirlpool of public opinion.

Then he would compensate Dover with another business, so that he could still make money easily but not in a high-profile way.

But what he didn't expect was that Dover was very dissatisfied with his arrangement.

If it weren't for the fact that Dover's father blocked several bullets for Paul, he wouldn't have been so indulgent towards Dover.

The uncle and nephew were sitting and standing respectively. Dover showed no fear at all. Instead, he stared at Paul stubbornly.

His direct gaze made Paul feel uncomfortable, because the doubt, distrust, and a hint of vigilance in his eyes were too glaring!
Dover was not afraid of him.

When Doverhai was a child, he didn't dare to look him in the eye, but now, they have been looking at each other for a long time.

Paul shook his head slightly. "I have my source of intelligence, Dover."

He didn't give Dover a chance to continue speaking, and raised his hand. "There are some things I wanted to tell you later, but you disappoint me so much."

"You actually betrayed our friend just because he wanted to take away your bar?"

Dover looked impatient, "Don't try to trick me into saying something. I won't admit to something I didn't do!"

Perhaps in his opinion, as long as he kept silent about his ignorance, this matter would stay away from him.

"Lance is a very difficult young man. If you mess with him, he will definitely find out about you, and then he will cause trouble for you."

He still looked the same, "Do you have any evidence?"

Paul shook his head slightly, "Is evidence important to us?"

This sentence made Dover stunned for a moment, but then he turned his head and looked to the side without saying anything.

Paul was very troubled. The matter actually could not stand up to investigation. As long as the identities of those people killed by Lance and others on the spot were determined, it would be clear who they belonged to.

Then we just need to capture the leader of this group of people and force him to tell us who ordered them to do this.

In the face of death, not many people can resist succumbing.

Perhaps those who are firm in their beliefs can do it, but those who are involved in gangs are unlikely to be able to do it.

Even if they know they will die if they tell it or not, they will still tell everything for the sake of an illusory opportunity.

Paul has seen many people like this, and he believes that this time will be the same.

He thought of this and reached out to press the button on the table. In less than ten seconds, several people pushed the door open and walked in. "Paul?"

The guy standing at the front was wearing a very decent suit, his middle-parted hair was fully waxed and stuck together like an open book. His hair was parted in the middle of his head, sticking close to his scalp and reflecting light!
He was Paul's other brother, and Dover's uncle.

"Lock him up. You are not allowed to let him out without my order."

Dover looked at Paul in disbelief, "You want to lock me up for a Lance and a small gang?"

Paul said with a serious face, "I'm doing this for your own good." He looked at the man with the middle-parted hair and signaled them to take the man away now.

The middle-parted man walked up to Dover and said, "Do you need me to ask you to come with us?"

Once he was carried out, his bad side would be spread throughout the family. He snorted angrily and strode outside.

Paul coughed, his middle-parted hair remained where it was, somewhat confused, and turned to look at him, "Anything else?"

He was a little embarrassed, "Dover has caused me a lot of trouble this time. Hand over those people around him, but don't let them say bad things about Dover and the people related to this matter..." He nodded his head slowly, giving the man with the middle-parted hair a clear message, they all must die!
The man with the middle-parted hair was also a little puzzled. He closed the door, then walked to the chair opposite Paul's desk and sat down. "Paul, I'm not questioning your decision. I'm just a little curious. Is it necessary to be so cautious?"

"Maybe the Lance family is a bit powerful to ordinary people, but I believe that even if he knew that it was Dover who did it, would he dare to hurt Dover?"

“Are we being too cautious?”

Paul shook his head. He looked very tired. Everything that had happened recently had exhausted him. "If it was before, I would have talked to him, but now the situation is different."

"Two bastards betrayed us, and we don't know how the mayor plans to deal with us. If we create another enemy, it will not be a good thing for us."

"You saw Lance's group. They fought back and killed more than a dozen people despite the sudden attack. If they had been prepared, they might not have suffered any casualties!"

"Have you ever seen anyone go out with a car full of submachine guns?"

This sentence made the man with the middle-parted hair speechless. Even for them, the most common configuration was to carry one or two pistols.

Occasionally, one or two submachine guns are placed in the convoy, and that is the limit.

But it is said that there were at least ten submachine guns firing at the scene, making it impossible for the attackers to get close!
It's really unsettling to get involved with this kind of person.

"Besides... we don't have the energy to deal with them right now."

Paul still told the truth. He received information that the Cassia family was transporting people here from Alan.

This time they are not doing human trafficking. It is said that those who were brought in are all militants.

They have already withdrawn from the "confrontation", so why are they bringing in so many militants at this time?

There must be something they don’t know!
The situation on Sumuli Island continues to deteriorate. Friction has begun to arise among the four major families and the conflict is escalating.

Now many "old Sumulis" are returning to Sumul Island from the Federation, preparing for the war between the four major families that may suddenly break out.

Paul is very short of manpower. Most of those who remain here are federal children from Sumurli, not real Sumurli people.

They are a generation that questions authority...

In fact, in a sense, these young people are very similar to Lance and his friends. They are unwilling to bow to the so-called "authority". They always want to look up and see whether those big shots who are high above are really high above and cannot be desecrated!

The man with the middle-parted hair was silent for a while, then he nodded, "Sometimes you don't have to keep things in your heart, you can speak out and we can face it together."

Paul smiled and said, "I am the only one who needs to worry about this. Maybe things won't develop as fast or as bad as we imagined!"

After Dover was imprisoned, several of his most capable friends and family members were summoned to the manor.

They sat in a room and said Paul would see them later. Dover was also there and they didn't suspect anything.

Several young people sat and talked about the recent situation in Jingang City, the attack on Lance, and many other things.

Their words were filled with dissatisfaction towards the family and some of Paul's decisions.

No one who is doing a good job in a lucrative position would be happy if he is suddenly transferred away.

Soon, a woman with middle-parted hair appeared outside the door. "Mr. Paul is in the back garden. You can go in now."

Several people came to the manor and walked towards the back garden with the woman with a middle-parted hair while expressing their gratitude.

When they came to the back garden, they did not see Paul or Dover there.

When someone asked about the middle-parted man, he smiled and told them to move forward a little further, Paul and Dover would be there soon.

At his urging, the young men walked deeper into the garden again and again. When they came to an area with dense grass and trees, several gunmen suddenly walked out of the house with submachine guns in their hands. They pulled the trigger in the young people's incredulous gazes!

(End of this chapter)