Shadow Empire

Chapter 449 Something Wrong
Warehouses were opened one after another, and the agricultural products in warehouses were contaminated by industrial waste. The general manager's blood pressure rose a lot in an instant.

Fruits and agricultural products that are larger in size and have thicker skins, such as pumpkins, are relatively easier to handle.

How to deal with those with thin skin?

If you scrub it casually, the leather may be scrubbed off, and the most important thing is that the pungent smell is not so easy to remove!

The cost of just cleaning all these crops already exceeds the profits they can bring to the company, not to mention that even if nothing is done and just disposing of these crops, there will still be costs!

"How much is the total loss?"

He stood some distance away from the warehouse, and the staff reported a number, "Warehouses 5, 7, and 9 were contaminated, and the total loss is about 350,000."

Three hundred and fifty thousand.

The general manager held his forehead and turned to look at the sea in the distance. He had a headache now.

He didn't know how to report to the head office and tell them that the company had lost a huge amount of money because of some waste oil or something like that, and that they might have to spend another twenty or thirty thousand dollars to deal with the contaminated crops!
What will the board think?
What would the president think?
he does not know.

He only knew that Lance and his gang were really not easy to deal with!

The sound of sirens in the distance gradually got closer, and soon two police cars stopped outside the warehouse. Several policemen got out of the cars. They were wearing uniforms and wide-brimmed police hats and walked towards the warehouse.

The general manager hurried over.

"Who called the police?"

"I asked someone to call the police!"

Several police officers stopped and turned to look at the general manager, "What's wrong?"

"Someone stole your things?"

Thefts often occur at the docks, and basically 95% of the thefts are more or less related to the workers.

There are too many warehouses here, and many of them are short-term and may only be rented for three to five days.

They come here from somewhere else on a cargo ship, then stay in the warehouse for three to five days, and then take the next cargo ship to another port.

This kind of situation happens a lot. If the workers didn't act as accomplices, the theft gangs would have no idea which warehouse's items were valuable, nor would they know when to strike.

Theft is also the most common crime at the dock. After all, the stolen goods are just there, and it is very easy for the workers to obtain these treasures, as long as they are brave enough.

The general manager shook his head. "You'd better go in and take a look. It's not convenient for me to tell you."

Several policemen looked at each other, two of them walked in, and then they came out quickly with some unpleasant emotions still on their faces.

Too pungent!

"You must have offended someone!" the police officer in charge of the case made the judgment.

Large amounts of crops were coated with this waste, essentially completely ruining them.

Moreover, these agricultural wastes cannot be buried directly in nearby land, nor can they be thrown into rivers or soil.

Federal bills on industrial pollution control were submitted and passed more than a decade ago.

Among them, the more famous ones are the Water Pollution Act and the Toxic Chemicals Act. These two acts clearly prohibit the dumping of garbage that may cause oil spills into natural waters, and prohibit the natural discharge or landfill of toxic chemical synthetic substances that can cause harm to soil, plants, etc.

These garbage must be disposed of harmlessly, and the cost is not low.

If they hadn't offended anyone, those people might not have used such troublesome means to retaliate against them.

"The same is true for the other two warehouses!" the general manager added. The quiet police officer who was looking at the records of his new employees looked up at him.

The police officer's eyes were filled with a look that said, "You must have some clues." "Who have you offended recently?"

The general manager mentioned the name, "It could be... someone from the Lance family. I'm not sure, but we probably have some issues with them."

All four policemen looked over at him with looks that said "are you fucking kidding me?"

The general manager, feeling somewhat uneasy under these gazes, kept shifting his focus among the four people, and finally landed on the police officer. "What happened?"

The officer shook his head. "No, why do you think it was them?"

The general manager didn't know what to say because they wanted to default on their debts, which caused Lance to lose millions in profits.

Then this time they set a trap and wanted to retaliate, and the company decided to confront it head-on?

And does he have any evidence?

The police officer seemed to have noticed this, and he took a few steps forward and walked in front of the general manager, "Do you have any evidence?"

The general manager shook his head. "I don't have any evidence at the moment."

The police officer poked his chest with his finger and said, "Don't talk nonsense if you don't have evidence. This will add a lot of extra trouble to our investigation. You are misleading us!"

The general manager always felt that there was nothing wrong with the content of what he said, but the way he expressed it seemed to be a bit problematic.

But he couldn't explain clearly what the problem was, so he could only nod and say, "Okay, I won't say anything without evidence anymore."

The police officer nodded. "That's the best!" He paused. "We will arrange for someone to investigate this case, but I'm afraid there won't be any significant results in the short term."

The police officer tilted his head. Other police officers had already started to get into the car. The general manager couldn't help but chase after them and lowered his voice, "I know Chief Duke."

They had been in contact before, and the Liji Group donated a lot of money to Charlie, who was the police chief at the time, and they organized a police force activity.

The Port District is a core area of ​​the Liji Group, and the Port Branch also participated in this event.

At that time, Chief Duke was not yet the chief of police, but only a deputy sheriff, but he was also eligible to participate in donation activities organized by such capital.

At the event, the general manager met Duke.

He wanted to tell the officer in this way that he also had someone in the police station.

The police officer sneered, "You can call him and ask him to come out of the office to handle the case for you. You seem to trust him more!"

After saying that, without waiting for the general manager to say anything, he got in the car and left, leaving the general manager with a look of "what happened" on his face!
He looked at the staff around him, and they consciously looked away. He could only curse a few words and light a cigarette.

At this time, people from the insurance company also arrived. After a brief inspection of the scene, they told the general manager that these goods were not insured.

The general manager's face was full of incredible expressions!
"How can this be?"

“A lot of our agricultural products are insured!”

He repeatedly stressed, "Did you make a mistake?"

Several insurance company staff members who went to the scene shook their heads and said, "We can confirm that these are not insured. The warehouses and goods you insured do not involve these warehouses and the things inside them."

"Here's a copy so you can see for yourself."

The general manager snatched the copy of the policy and read it carefully.

The more he read, the uglier his expression became, because the things in these warehouses were really not insured.

The staff member on the other end continued, "Besides, sir, even if these are insured, they may not be compensated to you."

"We've honestly never come across this situation, so it's not in our payout rules."

With the spirit of the insurance company trying every possible means to refuse insurance, as long as "contaminated by waste oil" is not written in the contract, they will 100% refuse insurance!

The general manager couldn't help but curse a few more times. If before, he still retained a glimmer of hope.

If the insurance company can compensate part of the loss, the headquarters may not be that angry!
But now, not only does the insurance company not pay a cent, they also have to spend money to deal with these industrial wastes. If they add in the profits they should have made, their actual losses may exceed half a million!
Five hundred thousand!

This is not five thousand, not fifty thousand, this is five hundred thousand!
With an extremely grim look on his face, he asked people to guard the other warehouses and drove directly back to the company. He had to report this emergency as soon as possible.

As he was riding in the elevator, thinking about how to report the matter to the vice president or the board of directors, he suddenly had an idea.

If the goods in these warehouses are stored for a short period of time, does that mean they will also face contract claims?
A chill made him feel extremely uneasy!
If the claims are taken into account, even if it is 50% compensation, the total loss may exceed 750,000!
Thinking of this, he moved faster. Just as he was about to enter the room, his secretary took out a small package and handed it to him. "Someone said it must be given to you. This is a gift."

The box wasn't too big. He shook it in his hand. There seemed to be something inside. He wasn't in the mood to open it now.

He closed the door, walked to his office chair and sat down. He spent a few minutes to sort out his thoughts and then picked up the phone...

After more than 20 minutes, the call was hung up. Naturally, the board of directors was very dissatisfied with him and believed that he was also responsible.

Of course he knew that these were some choices made by the board of directors in looking for scapegoats, and he could only respond passively.

But fortunately, the Commissioner will arrive in Jingang City soon, and he will temporarily transfer all power to the Commissioner at that time.

The board asked him to urge the local police to solve the case as soon as possible or provide some valuable clues.

As for his mention that it might be done by the Lans family, although the board of directors did not say anything, he believed that they should take this speculation into account in their handling options.

After hanging up the phone, he sat there for a long time before he remembered the package at hand.

He used a fine four-dollar, ninety-nine-cent envelope cutter to cut open the outer layer of the package. Inside was a box, and he opened the lid.

It is a simple model like a sandbox, a toy that looks like a crossroads, a violently damaged car, and a truck model.

"What the hell is this?" He stretched out his hand to grab the truck. The moment his hand touched the truck, his whole body shivered as if he had been electrocuted!
He thought of the previous commissioner.

That's how he died on the way to the Starlight District.

This is intimidation and a threat!

But he was also really scared.

He looked at the toy for a long time, then stood up and walked back and forth a few steps.

He doesn't want to die.

He also has connections on the board of directors, the vice president is his connection, he also has a bright future, he has money, his family also has money, but he has not yet enjoyed these good things!

"These gangs are so fucking lawless, fuck!", he roared in the office, waving his fists!
The wooden door with excellent sound insulation quality blocked the spread of sound, and the secretary outside the door did not hear his roar.

But even if they heard it, there is a high probability that they would not say or do anything.

In it, he cursed the city hall for its inaction, Charlie and his police department for their inaction, and the new Chief Hunter.

He even cursed the Lance family and Lance himself.

But in the end, he sat dejectedly on the sofa, covering his face with his hands.

He was threatened by the gang!
It’s a simple, yet terrifying threat because it actually happened!

He was a little confused and felt that the company would lose again this time.

The police car quickly returned to the police station, and the officer went to the chief's office to report the incident.

After listening to this, Director Duke nodded slightly and said, "You did a good job."

The officer asked, "The case over there?"

Chief Duke thought for a while and said, "Let's follow the procedure. If you find any important clues, remember to let the newcomers do it."

The police officer showed a look of understanding on his face. To let the novice do this, to put it bluntly, is to destroy evidence.

Whether it is direct destruction or the effectiveness of evidence disappearing during the collection process, it is a good method.

And for good reason, the rookies don’t know much about this, so when they mess up, they’re dealt with internally by the police department.

As for whether the case will be dealt with and how it will be dealt with, that is an internal matter of the police force and has nothing to do with them.

"Anything else?" asked Chief Duke. The officer shook his head and he let him go.

Then he picked up the phone and dialed Lance's office number.

Lance had just given them money. If he touched Lance at this time, Lance would not have to do anything and the police would embarrass him.

Even though he is the chief of a police station, if the police officers in the police station are not happy with him being the chief and they go on strike, he as the chief will also lose his job!
Yes, the police can strike, and they have done so many times.

For federal officials, being a police officer is just a job. If necessary, they are completely fine with doing so and they won't feel any psychological burden.

The call was answered quickly.

"There was a case at the dock..." He briefly recounted it, "Is there anything I should pay attention to?"

Lance's gentle voice came from the receiver, "Thank you, I believe we didn't leave any important evidence. If you find anything else, please deal with it and call me."

Chief Duke laughed and said, "This is what I should do. Everyone is very grateful to you."

The two chatted briefly for a few more sentences and then hung up the phone.

Chief Duke looked at the phone and shook his head. Why would he provoke Lance?
Perhaps ordinary people are still worshipping and obsessed with the legends of the five major families.

But as the city's law enforcer, he knew very well that Lance's strength surpassed those weaker ones.

He is not the king, but he has the potential to challenge the king!
The news spread very quickly at the dock. Before noon, almost everyone knew about it, and many people ran over to watch the excitement.

Some people thought of the workers in work clothes whom they had not seen last night, but they were tactful enough not to say anything.

There are three groups of workers currently working on the docks.

The first group is mainly composed of local workers such as Johnny and Dave.

They are the group of workers who stand on the side of Lens, and have chosen to stand on the side of Lens since the last strike.

The second group is the workers group, which is mainly composed of immigrant workers and illegal immigrants. They are one of the largest groups on this dock.

And almost all of these people work for Lance, who controls their job opportunities here.

Especially those illegal immigrants, Lance only needs one word to make them lose their jobs.

The third part is refugee workers, who are mainly refugee groups. They live at the bottom of the society, have never come into contact with any interest groups in the federation, and are absolutely clean when it comes to interest issues.

At the same time, they all worked for Lance. Strictly speaking, it was Lance who hired them and sent them to work at the dock.

So Lance has the power to fire them anytime and anywhere!

Under the coverage of these three groups, it is actually very easy for them to guess some inside information, but no one will say it out loud.

The new Pier Club has started soft opening again and people are enjoying cheap alcoholic drinks again.

And all of these were brought by Mr. Lance!
They were so busy being grateful to Lance that how could they report him?
Whether it was the police or the investigators from the Liji Group, everyone said that they had not seen any strangers, nor had they seen any tanker trucks or anything like that coming to the dock. The investigation had reached a dead end!

It was around nine o'clock in the evening. Bandy had just returned from a social event. His butler took off his coat for him and said, "There is a gentleman from Golden State who has been calling you. He left his number and said he would wait for you until dawn."

Bandy drank some wine, his face was a little red, and he was obviously stunned for a moment, "Jinzhou?"

"Yes, sir."

This made him sober up a little. The Special Administrative Region is in Golden State, and the capital of the Federation is also in Golden State.

He took the hot towel from the maid, wiped his face, and became more energetic. "Send a pot of strong coffee to my office, and some fruit."

"Also, get ready. I want to take a bath tonight."

People started to do their own things, and the butler followed him into the study.

Bendy looked at the name and phone number on the card, and an image of a slightly weird guy with a mustache popped up in his mind.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number...

(End of this chapter)