Shadow Empire

Chapter 401 Orphans and Widows
The atmosphere in the room was a little tense.

Francisco's mother's family did not have much support, and Paul's wife was just an ordinary Sumurian.

She did not have any prominent background, so naturally she could not help her son in the struggle for power.

The only one who could help him was Alberto.

Now there's one more, Lance.

"You are my Uncle Lance!" Sixteen-year-old young people have actually reached the level of adults in terms of thinking ability.

It’s just that they haven’t experienced some of the harsh beatings of society, and they lack experience and knowledge.

He would not be so foolish as to think that his relatives were all doing this for his own good.

Lance nodded slightly, "Then am I qualified to sit here?"

"Yes!" After Francisco said the word "yes" firmly, his momentum seemed to increase a little.

Lance looked at these people, "I'm not here to argue with you. Paul has helped me, and I can't watch you bully his child."

“And I believe that if these things were to get out, you, the name Paul Pasretto, would become a joke in the city of Jingang!”

The expressions of the others varied. Some did not care, knowing that no matter how they fought for the position of the head of the family, they would not be the ones to take it in the end. But some nodded and agreed with Lance's point of view.

As soon as Paul died, these people were eager to bully Francisco. If this matter were to be spread, it would indeed be a family scandal.

Vittorio, who had been silent at this time, lit his lighter. The kerosene lighter made a ding sound, and everyone looked at him.

He took two puffs of his cigarette and put the lighter on the table. "This is an internal matter between our family, Mr. White, although what you said makes sense."

"But would you like others to interfere in your family's internal affairs?"

He held the cigarette in his hand and leaned on the edge of the table, "Even if he seems to have a very good reason."

Vittorio's tone was calm and not aggressive. People like him are more difficult to deal with than those who just yell.

Alberto then continued, "Paul said that if you get into trouble, you can find Lance."

"Now is the time when we are in trouble, and I don't think it is unreasonable for him to be here."

There was indeed a period of time when Paul communicated more with Lance, and Lance did have to thank him.

When he wanted to save Lance, some of these people were actually against it. They thought there was no need to offend the mayor for a small role, even though the mayor did not have much presence.

But Paul did it anyway, so perhaps it is possible that he did say that.

Vittorio pondered for a while, "Paul has left us now. I have no way to verify the truth of what you said, but for his sake, you can stay here, but only this time!"

"I hope you can respect the traditions of the Pasretto family, just this once!"

After he said that, others stopped blaming Lance for leaving.

No matter when or where, strength is the key to making people listen!
Even if a homeless person is shouting on the street with a loudspeaker, you who walk past him will not care what he is saying, and you may not even remember a few of the key words.

But if it is your boss, or a celebrity, politician or star, then even if they are not talking to you, you can still remember most of what they say and keep in mind the key words!

We are all human beings, but we are treated differently just because of our different "strengths".

This society has always been so realistic and direct that only those who are unwilling to wake up will pretend not to know this.

Lance nodded and continued to sit.

Vittorio is Paolo's uncle, in other words, he is the brother of Paul's father, which also means that he once had the opportunity to become the head of the family.

In fact, every person in a high position cannot avoid encountering this situation, that is, he will definitely think that his children love each other and their families love each other.

They deliberately ignored the selfishness and greed of human nature. Perhaps when these superiors were alive and their successors had power, they would not reveal their ambitions.

But once the superior dies suddenly and the successor fails to accumulate enough power, things will become troublesome.

Like now.

Vittorio has considerable power in the family. After all, he is Paolo's uncle and he has had a good relationship with him since childhood. At the same time, he controls a lot of people.

The greater his contribution to the family, the greater the threat he posed to Francisco.

No one else spoke, and Lance didn't say anything else either, just sat there quietly.

After a brief silence, Vittorio said with a smile, "Let's not bore our guests with our silence!"

"The Cassia family intends to end the war. They are willing to compensate us with a portion of the block. At the same time, the family's current situation is also very bad."

"We are seriously short of manpower and need to recruit some from among our tribesmen as soon as possible."

"Paul left too hastily, leaving us with a lot of trouble, and Cisco is in this state now..."

He seemed to be doing this all for the family, without talking about his own interests. "It's hard for him to gain the trust of the family's partners. I think what Zacaro said just now is right."

"Sisko, you are too young. When our partners see you on the other side of the table, they will most likely not cooperate with you."

"Who would discuss cooperation with a child in a business worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars?"

"They will doubt whether you understand what business is and how to make money!"

"If we lose this part of the business, it will definitely be a heavy blow to us!"

Everyone around nodded in agreement with him, and even Lance thought Vittorio was right.

The Pasreto family has a large amount of smuggling and pharmaceutical businesses, which are carried out in cooperation with different gangs and forces from different countries.

As the heir to the family, Francisco will definitely meet with these organizations and sit down for talks to ensure that there will be no changes in the cooperation between the two parties.

But this kind of business, which makes money but is very risky, who would talk to an older kid about it?

If he can't establish his authority at the negotiating table, then it will be difficult for him to establish his authority within the family.

In fact, even if he was a few years older, as old as Lance, twenty years old, that would be enough!
But it is the age difference of a few years that makes him feel embarrassed now.

Alberto said from the side, "I will accompany him."

Vittorio laughed twice. "You can't represent the Pasretto family, Alberto."

"You have to remember that your last name is Coty, not Pasletto. People want to see the one who is in charge of the Pasletto family, not the guy next to him!"

Lance looked at Francisco. He should have said something at this time, but Francisco seemed a little stage-frightened facing the smiling "Uncle-grandfather" and the "uncle" who was not polite to him at all.

He was a little scared of these people.

Vittorio also glanced at Zacaro, "Don't scare him..." He glanced at Cazzaro, then looked at Francesco, "How about this, the reconstruction of the family will be left to you, but I will be responsible for those businesses that you can't handle."

Before Francisco could object, Zacaro could not help but raise a different opinion, "Why should you be responsible?"

He patted the table and said, "I have been in charge of many of the family businesses. If there is any negotiation, it should be me who should do it!"

For a vibrant social group, funding is also a top priority.

After all, this job is life-threatening. If you can't pay them on time, the people below will change their minds.

The smuggling business of the Pasreto family has always been in the hands of the head of the family. If Paul had not died so early, he would have brought Francisco with him to discuss business in the future.

Let him gradually understand how the family business was negotiated, and introduce those business partners to him, which gradually become his own network of contacts.

But now, he left so early and Francisco was still so young, he had no advantage at all in this regard!
Alberto obviously realized this as well. He glanced at Lance, who leaned back. The two of them sat next to Francisco, one on the left and one on the right.

Now Francisco was like a wall, obscuring the process of their communication.

"Will you fight or not?" Alberto asked in a low voice.

Lance asked back, "How do you argue?"

"If you speak up now, they will definitely let Cisco talk directly."

"Do you know where the bottom line of these businesses is?" "Do you know where the bottom line of these people is?"

Alberto looked unhappy, "I can't even recognize all the people."

Not to mention Francisco, who is still in high school. Paul originally planned to let him go to college and get involved in the family business when he turns eighteen.

it's good now.

"If Cisco goes to negotiate these deals and fails, it may affect his position and authority in the family."

"If they want to seize power, let them do it, and we will just keep one or two of the best bars."

"But we can't give all the benefits to one or two people."

"Sisko has so many relatives, I don't think it's excessive for each of them to be responsible for one task."

Alberto's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face. "You are indeed smarter than me!"

The two men sat up straight almost at the same time, but Alberto soon turned his head and whispered to Francisco for a while. The boy had heard their conversation just now and had no objection to it.

He coughed, and everyone else's eyes focused on him. Now he was still the head of the family in name only.

"What Grandpa Vittorio said just now is indeed true. I don't know the partners of those families, and I don't know how to negotiate these businesses."

"If I go and talk about it, it's going to be a mess, so..."

He paused, and Zacharo got a little angry. "You don't want to give all these businesses to him, do you?"

Vittorio rapped his knuckles on the table twice in displeasure. "Zaccaro!"

Zacaro looked at him, "Why, do you still want to scare me?"

Francisco was about to explain when Lance held his arm and shook his head slightly, signaling him not to speak yet.

Vittorio also felt that he was humiliated. "This is Sisko's decision. He is the head of the family now, and you are not."

"It's because there are people like you in the family that Mr. White appears here!"

He implied that Zacharo was the one who bullied Cisco, which made Zacharo laugh out loud, "You are so fucking shameless!"

"I don't care. I'm against handing all the business over to him. Who knows if he will harm the family's interests?"

"If you think he is reliable and give all the business to him, I will quit the family!"

The people around were suddenly in an uproar. Quitting the family was no joke, but once he said this, it meant that he had no intention of taking it back.

Lance loosened his grip and was able to speak.

Francisco Federal said, "Actually... I think it would be tiring if Grandpa Vittorio were to do all this work alone."

"So I thought about it. We are a family, a family, and each of us must take on family responsibilities."

"So...each of you is responsible for a business, right?"

Francesco said these words nervously. Everyone was stunned. Vittorio and Zacaro looked reluctant. A business?
They want it all!

But before they could object, those who had originally been on the fence and watching the fun all hurriedly praised this choice.

"This is a good proposal. This way we can stabilize our family and external businesses as soon as possible, and then refocus our energy on rebuilding the family, dealing with Dover, and restoring the family's glory!"

Originally, they were just here for the formality, but they didn't expect that they would now have a sense of participation. Who could refuse the benefits that were handed to them?
The first person supported and agreed, and soon there was a second and a third.

After a while, most people expressed their agreement.

At this time, whether it was Vittorio or Zacaro, as long as they raised objections, they were actually opposing others and destroying their ability to gain private benefits from these businesses.

When there is no actual harm to their interests, they don't care who makes things difficult for Francisco, because it has nothing to do with them anyway.

But when these things have something to do with their interests, they won’t accept anyone trying to take away the benefits they have already obtained!

Even if it is Vittorio or Zacaro, if they want to truly gain the power to rule the family, they need the support of these people.

Otherwise, we are back to the original question. If you can't get the entire family, why not just break away from the family and build a new one on your own.

Originally, this was a trap that Vittorio set for Francesco. He would definitely fail in the negotiation, which would undermine his reputation as the legitimate heir.

Then he took action to get things back on track. He not only gained practical benefits, but also continued to enhance his family's authority, killing two birds with one stone.

But what was unexpected was that Francisco solved the problem in this way. It seemed that no one benefited, and he also lost control of these things.

But in fact, when he was in a weak position, the biggest "good news" was that Vittorio and Zacaro did not continue to become stronger!
The brothers and sisters around him all said that this was a good idea, and Vittorio could only smile and nod, "It's really a good idea."

Don't mean what you say.

"Then it's settled." Alberto made the final decision, and most people smiled.

Even though most of the profits from these businesses have to be handed over to the family, they can always get some for themselves.

Even though Vittorio was not satisfied, he could only nod, and so did Zacaro.

Ignoring this question, Vittorio continued, "The people from Cassia contacted us, hoping to negotiate as soon as possible."

"The mayor has been abandoned. The five major families should not continue to be in chaos. The Kodak family also supports this."

"What do you think?"

His eyes were fixed on Francisco again.

Some people said that they refused to negotiate because it was the Cassia family that caused them great harm.

But some people also think that now is a good time for peace talks. The family has suffered serious damage, and Dover took some people with him when he left. Although they are only marginal personnel, the family's strength has indeed been reduced by more than half.

Continuing the war is not friendly to them. The most important thing they should do is to recuperate and restore the family's strength as soon as possible.

After those who wanted to express their opinions had expressed theirs, Vittorio threw the question to Francesco again, "Francisco, you have now inherited the position of the head of the family, and you still need to make the final decision on this matter."

Zacaro glanced at Vittorio. This old man was really not a good person, but this matter was good for him, so he turned his head and looked away.

In fact, everyone knows that this question is difficult to answer.

If Francisco were to say "reconciliation", then those who had died before, their relatives, friends, and brothers would be dissatisfied with this Francisco who had no prestige.

Let’s take another person, such as Paul. Everyone will accept his choice because of his family’s prestige.

But Francisco couldn't suppress these people.

It's like a superior is using your old scars to make a joke with you. Even if you feel very uncomfortable inside, you will still pretend to smile magnanimously and say to the other person, "You are so humorous."

But if the person who does this is someone who has no status in your mind, then I'm afraid you won't smile next, but will just turn hostile!

But if Francisco said he wanted to continue the war, they could use the excuse that they did not have many men to ask Francisco to find a way to recruit a group of men to continue the war.

But how could he recruit so many people?

People will doubt whether he can do everything a family head should do, and until he proves himself, not many people will join him.

His refusal to cease fire only made subsequent events a mess, which in turn undermined his authority in the family.

This is also a very difficult question to answer.

And now he has Alberto by his side, so it is possible that they intend to use this method to consume the power in Alberto's hands.

Alberto was also thinking about how to answer. Francisco's eyes were a little vague and he had no ideas of his own. This made some people in the family less optimistic about his succession to the position.

At this time, Lance said in a low voice that everyone could hear clearly, "We don't need reconciliation. Blood debt can only be repaid with blood. We must fight them to the end!"

Vittorio looked at Lance, then at Francesco, and asked with a fake smile, "Does your words represent Cisco's decision?"

(End of this chapter)