Shadow Empire

Chapter 320 Invited and Uninvited People

The convoy slowly stopped, and some people's eyes immediately noticed this place. Alvin was the first to get out of the car, followed by Ethan, and then the others.

A lot of people came, including "instructors" like Mador.

Everyone has bulges under their clothes, and people know what's inside without showing it.

After making sure there was no danger, Lance got out of the car, and Alberto and another person came up to him.

"This is Muller, he is Paul's cousin." Alberto did not give any further introduction, but just the special relationship of "Paul's cousin" was enough to let Lance know his position in the Pasreto family.

Then he introduced Lance to Muller, "You should know him." He did not say the name directly, as if he wanted to see if Muller knew something about Lance.

The result was not surprising. Mueller obviously knew Lance. "You actually want to test me with such a simple question?"

He stopped looking at Alberto and shook hands with Lance enthusiastically. "Lance, nice to meet you. I've actually always heard rumors about you. You're the most special young man in Jingang City in recent years!"

Muller's sincere sigh could make Paul take the initiative to make concessions, although it was for Dover, but this is still a very difficult thing to happen.

Paul would only make such a choice when he thought Lance had reached a certain level.

If it were a small gang, Paul would definitely not even give an explanation and would just order people to wipe out the small gang.

This actually also reflects a fact from the side. With the two unifications of the Empire, the five major families also began to pay attention to Lance and his people!

For older people, witnessing the birth of such a "new myth" can be a trance-like experience.

It was like... they saw their former selves, or their elders, in Lance!
They know better than anyone how difficult it is to fight and carve out a piece of territory of your own in the underground world of Jingang City!
He had always wanted to see Lance in person. He had had a glimpse of what he was like before this happened, but when he really saw Lance, he discovered that Lance was much more outstanding and excellent than he had imagined.

The imagined picture did not break, but became more three-dimensional!
Lance also shook his hand tightly. "I am honored that Mr. Paul and you have invited me to participate in this special meeting. I am also very happy to meet you, Mr. Mueller."

"This is not the place to talk, please come with me!" He said, loosening his hand and inviting Lance into the Dingsheng Hotel.

There were some gang members standing in the hotel lobby, their eyes fixed on Lance and his group, their gazes filled with scrutiny.

Some of them have already guessed Lance's identity. After all, at his age, there are only a small number of people in the entire Jingang City who can be actively welcomed by Muller.

If we remove the young masters in the Bay Area and narrow the scope to gangs, the answer will be obvious.

Maybe they had to guess before because there was Polly in addition to Lance.

But with Polly's death, Lance was the only one left in the entire Golden Port City.

Their looks were all kinds of strange.

Some people's eyes were filled with admiration, some were surprised, and some were filled with distrust and dissatisfaction, each with their own expression.

Lance didn't care about these ordinary or unfriendly looks. Erwin might have been a little affected, and he frowned slightly to meet those looks that were obviously not friendly.

After the five people entered the elevator, Lance said, "You don't have to care about those people's eyes and their thoughts, just like a lion never considers what its prey thinks."

"No matter how they look at you, it doesn't change the fact."

Lance adjusted his attire to make sure he would not be disrespectful later, and his appearance was reflected in the mirrored elevator car.

He raised his chin slightly and smoothed out a tiny wrinkle on his clothes. He looked at Erwin through the shadow reflected in the mirror of the elevator door. "Food only affects the taste, not the mood!"

Mueller agreed after listening to it. "It's a very unique statement, Lance. I have never heard anyone say that. Did you invent it?"

Lance smiled and pulled his chin back slightly, which made him look a little more humble. "If no one else has said it, then it was me."

"It's hard to imagine that a young man like you has such a state of mind. What did you do before?" This sentence made Muller think more and more interesting, and he became curious about Lance's previous work.

Lance smiled and said, "As an ordinary person, maybe I am better at thinking?"

“When I imagine myself as a lion on the savannah and those who look at me are just my prey, I don’t think there is anything special about their gazes.”

"They are just remembering what I look like, and will stay away from me next time they see me, because they know that if they don't run away, they will become food."

With a "ding" sound, the elevator door opened and Lance stopped talking.

Under Mueller's active leadership, the five people walked out of the elevator car one after another.

It was obviously getting more lively here. There were already quite a few people in the hall, both adults and young people.

They were clearly divided into different groups, all sizing up and examining each other.

It is rare to see such a scene, gathering so many gang leaders together. Even when the five major families were at their peak, it would probably be difficult to see.

Paul was chatting with a white-haired old man. When the elevator arrived at the floor, he looked over and saw Lance.

After apologizing to the people around him, he walked over quickly and stretched out his hand when he was two steps away. Lance took a step forward and their hands were clasped together.

"Thank you for coming, Lance!" Paul breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to feel a little relieved.

Lance took his hand and shook it twice, "Is it bad now?"

Paul nodded and said, "I'll tell you about this later. We are still short of one person, and he should be here soon."

"Anyway, thank you for coming over!"

Lance heard the heaviness in his tone and couldn't help asking, "Did something happen?"

Paul didn't know how to explain it, so he sorted out his thoughts and said, "You know, those people from the Cassia family and the Kodak family have betrayed us."

"Some lower-level gangs have also sided with them. I didn't expect this to happen so quickly!"

“It’s time for us to unite!”

Just like how the Wolf Gang dealt with the small neighborhood families and gangs in the port area, he would not take the initiative to infringe on the interests of these people, but would provide alcohol and security to absorb them.

It seems that those small gangs still maintain their independence, but as the time they are "swallowed" continues to increase, they will gradually begin to get used to this hierarchical relationship and will eventually completely obey them.

Many small gangs began to change their stance and joined the mayor's camp. They could engage in bootleg liquor business without worrying about being targeted by the Hazardous Materials Administration.

As long as they don't make too much trouble, the Hazardous Materials Administration will not deal with them. In this era when alcohol is more expensive than gold, stable income is what the gangs pursue!
For these small families and gangs that have just emerged, they do not have much awe for the five major families and some gangs that have already gained great fame.

These young people are just like the "questioning spirit" that is being spread in society today. They are even full of distrust and doubt towards the five major families, and even have a desire to challenge!
The mayor is taking advantage of the current chaos to re-establish a new order. Once the new order is established, just like the arrival of every new era, everything old will be thrown to the ground and shattered, including the five major families!
Paul and his colleagues have been under a lot of pressure recently because something big happened that forced him to decide to do something instead of just sitting there and waiting for death.

But now was not the time to talk, so Paul didn't tell Lance. After talking to him for a few words, he went to entertain other people.

After Paul left, Lance had no plans to socialize with other people. He had basically no contact with other gangs here, and everyone kept their distance from each other.

He found a place, got some food, and ate while chatting with Erwin about the gangs around them.

At 9:20, when people at the scene were already getting restless, Paul returned with a sullen face.

"No one from the Doug family is coming. It's just us tonight."

As he spoke, he asked someone to open a side hall next to the hall. There was a huge round conference table inside. As people poured in, the table was soon filled with people. Lance found a place not next to others and sat down. Paul naturally sat in the first seat, and the people sitting around him were all middle-aged or even elderly people.

Lance didn't know any of them, but luckily Alberto was sitting next to him and introduced him to the origins of these people.

"The one with white hair is Fergal's father, old Keane, and next to him are his two sons."

"To Paul's right is Salifo, the current host of the Tita Family. I don't like him very much."

Alberto knew most of the people here. He worked with Paul for quite a while before he opened his own company and had his own "career".

This is also a custom and habit of the Sumuli people.

They will make sure that their juniors are capable of working independently before letting them leave them to run their own business.

Of course, a considerable portion of Lezhu’s profits will be handed over to the family, which is also the reward for the family’s care for Alberto.

After everyone sat down, Paul talked to the two people beside him for a few words before he said loudly, "Before we talk about our business, I must tell you one thing. Councillor Wade is about to leave Jingang City."

The people around immediately exclaimed, all looking obviously in disbelief.

Lance didn't have many opportunities to come into contact with the upper class here. He had only heard of some deeds of the Wade family, but he didn't have an intuitive understanding of Senator Wade and his influence.

Unlike the real locals here, some of them had slightly changed expressions.

Paul put his hands on the table in front of him, "Congressman Wade was transferred to Usmire State to serve as mayor. You should have heard of that place. It's in the west."

Not just west, but very west, with a federation between it and Likalai State!
Someone couldn't help but wonder aloud, "How did they convince Mr. Wade?"

"I can't believe this is real!"

Paul said with a slightly odd expression, a mixture of laughter and tears, "He will be mayor and will be nominated as a candidate for governor."

With just one sentence, all those who were skeptical about the matter quieted down.

Nominated by the Governor.

Having a nomination does not necessarily mean you can become governor, but in this era, without a nomination, you definitely cannot become governor!

Moreover, Usmir State is also the territory of the Socialist Party. Strictly speaking, Congressman Wade’s real opponent is only one or two other governor-nominated candidates of the Socialist Party.

He won't be nominated directly after he arrives. He will serve as mayor for six years before being nominated.

In other words, they gave him time to work hard and prepare.

Usmir State is not an economically developed region, which is one of the reasons why they are willing to accept Congressman Wade. They hope that Congressman Wade can bring some advanced concepts and development models from Jingang City to help Usmir State achieve a breakthrough in economic growth!

If it was just the position of mayor, Congressman Wade would most likely not leave, even if it would offend the bigwigs in the state.

It is far better to continue being the local emperor in Jingang City than to go to another place to be a mayor.

But in order to kick him out, the mayor spent a lot of money this time and gave him a gubernatorial nomination!
You have to know that Sidney himself has not yet obtained the qualification to be nominated as the gubernatorial candidate of Likalai State, and even the nomination for the speaker of the House of Representatives took him a lot of effort to get.

Although the economically developed Likale State cannot be confused with a backward place like Usmir, the governor is still the governor after all, and during this period the governor can even be said to be the king of this land!

Faced with such temptation, Congressman Wade, who had always said that he would not leave Jingang City, was finally tempted!

What if it succeeds?

If successful, Usmir, a region far away from the core area of ​​the Federation, will become his new "private reserve".

He was confident that within a few years, he could develop Usmir into another even larger Golden Port City!
Maybe it won’t be as rich as here, but it is definitely Usmir under his control, it is his kingdom!

This is risky because he still needs to run for election to know the result, but risks come with opportunities. Without these risks, he would not have such an opportunity to stabilize his position as governor!

So he would not refuse, and he couldn't refuse, even though he knew it was a trick of the mayor to transfer him away from here, but he still ate it!
He will do better if he can become governor!

Councilman Wade took the mayor's sweet talk and prepared to leave, but left all the trouble to the people in Jingang City who continued to fight against the mayor.

He has a lot of connections in Likalai State, which can play a very important role in fighting against the mayor.

During this period, he and Councilman Williams seemed to have done nothing, but in fact, they had been using their connections to put pressure on the mayor through the state government, asking him not to disrupt the economic development of Jingang City for "personal selfishness"!
Someone in the Socialist Party also called him and told him to "let go of certain benefits once you've gained them. Excessive greed will not lead to any good results!"

With these two people around, on a political level, they can at least check and balance each other and be equal, and since the police department is still under the control of the Bay Area, all we can say is that they are equal in strength.

Therefore, the main conflicts in Jingang City during this period broke out in the underground world, with wars and mergers between gangs, rather than happening in the light.

But now, two of the five major families have been disintegrated, and Congressman Wade is about to run away. The balance has been completely lost!
This is the most terrifying thing!
Maybe those small gangs can’t feel this suffocating feeling, but the three major families standing at a higher level have already sensed the breath of doomsday!

Seeing some people still have expressions of "What the hell are you talking about" and "What does this have to do with me" on their faces, Paul explained, "Once Councilman Wade leaves, Councilman Williams may not be able to withstand the pressure from the mayor."

"In other words, once Congressman Williams can no longer withstand the pressure, the Bay Area's position will change."

"Everyone, the Bay Area's position represents the will of Golden Harbor City. Once they side with the mayor, we will have no choice but to face death."

The meeting room was silent for a long time before someone asked, "Can we also join the mayor?"

Another person suddenly slammed the table and stood up. He pointed at the person who had spoken before and shouted, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Fuck, can we also join the mayor?", the man stood up and slammed the table, not wanting to be outdone. They were all gang leaders, just some were bigger or smaller. Who was afraid of who before a fight?
Seeing that chaos was about to break out, Paul slammed the table in frustration, "Sit back!"

Although the five major families have now shown signs of decline, their former prestige still remains.

The two men sat back with eyes glaring at each other in dissatisfaction. Paul looked at them and said, "We are discussing and negotiating. I allow you to have all kinds of ideas."

"As you all know, I actually invited more people, but none of them came, including Doug's family in the Bay Area."

"It's not that they have something else to do and can't come, but they have already sided with the mayor!"

"Just now you said that we could also join the mayor?" He pointed at the man who had spoken before.

The man felt a little scared when Paul pointed at him. He dared to glare at other people, but he didn't dare to do so to Paul.

I could only force a smile and barely found an excuse, "I... I was just making an analogy."

Paul shook his head slightly, "Actually, you can go and give it a try."

"I tell you the truth, all those who didn't come were invited by them to join them."

"And all of you, including me, Keane, and the Tita family, we were not invited."

"Do you know why?"

There was something uncomfortable on his face, "Because he needs to use our blood to wipe out the old rules!"

"Then he used our blood to write his own new rules!"

(End of this chapter)