Shadow Empire

Chapter 452: The clothes you put on are not that easy to take off and a little frustration
"Bendy..."

Gao Li looked at Bandy with some disappointment in his eyes. The Kodak family was not like this in the past.

At that time, in order to monopolize the casino project, their ancestors worked towards this goal.

During their grandfather's generation and their father's generation, the Kodak family's power and deterrence reached its peak!

Any force that does not abide by the rules of the game they set will be subjected to their brutal bloodbath until all the casinos in the city are closed.

There is not so much lobbying, communication, and negotiation.

It's talking to the gunman with bullets.

If you open the casino in the morning, the gunman will stand in front of you and shoot you in the evening.

Their unreasonable and reckless actions did cause them a lot of trouble, but it is undeniable that they eventually unified the industry.

Everyone knows that if the Kodak family does not allow it, it is best not to get involved in the casino business, otherwise there will be a fight to the death with them.

At that time, they could still have a say in even criminal businesses that had nothing to do with the casinos, and people were in awe of them because they saw their muscles!

But now, the Kodak family seems to be becoming less pure.

After being whitewashed, Bandy became less brave than his fathers. He seemed to be losing his courage and muscle as a gangster.

Bandy looked at Gowri, "What do you want to say?"

Gao Li moved his lips and finally shook his head, but Bendy obviously wanted to continue on this topic.

He felt that the worst thing was that Gao Li didn't understand him!

"We were in a very fast car and it was going straight ahead."

"It's difficult to get up here. We need to have something that will impress the driver and owner of the car so that they will stop for us."

"But once you get on the bus, it's even harder to get off."

"Because it won't stop for us, even if we take out all the stuff we carry."

"The only way for us to get off the bus is to jump out of it."

"But if you jump out of the car, you will die!"

"I'm not afraid of them, nor am I afraid of a war. What I'm afraid of is our efforts over the years, because we can't help ourselves for a moment and they will drag us back into the quagmire!"

"We've already washed ourselves clean. There's no need to wade into the mud again. What do you think?"

Gao Li didn't understand, nor did he want to understand. He only knew that everything the Kodak family had was not because they licked the ditch of a certain senator, but because they were more ruthless than others and were willing to share wealth.

"You have the final say, but I think, Bendy, sometimes we need to show our fangs!"

"Instead of letting people know that we have fangs but don't want to use them!"

Bandy just nodded, and Gao Li knew that enough had been said, so he found an excuse to leave the office.

Bandy was smoking in the office. He actually knew all these things, but sometimes, once a decision was made, it was difficult to change it.

It's like a very long boat entering a narrow river. Halfway through, even if it realizes that this is not the way it wants to go, it has no choice but to continue moving forward.

Because there is no turning back.

Going down, perhaps there will be a chance to return to the sea and make new choices.

If you turn around, there is a high probability that you will get stuck here.

He picked up the phone, dialed Mr. Herick's number, and took a deep breath.

After the phone rang seven or eight times, it was finally connected.

"This is Herick."

"It's me, Bendy."

"Ahaha, Mr. Bandy, you're calling me at this time, is there any good news?"

Bandy smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Herick, I was not able to convince Lance. I believe that none of us can accept the conditions he proposed."

Although he knew that this "unacceptable" would most likely make him angry, he still wanted to listen, "What did he ask for?"

"Repay his loss of 3.5 million." Actually, Lance said it was 4 million when he left, but he changed it to 3.5 million. "For my sake, he was only willing to reduce it by 500,000. He originally wanted 4 million."

A face is worth five hundred thousand, it cannot be said that this face is cheap. The purpose of his doing this is to show his own value.

It's not that he did nothing, it's just that Lance's side was indeed a bit difficult to deal with.

Herick laughed when he heard these words, "That's funny, Mr. Bandy."

Bandy did not respond. After waiting for a while, Herick continued, "There is something I don't quite understand. The Kodak family is one of the most famous gangs in Jingang City. Can't you even deal with a small gang?"

His words made Bandy a little annoyed. "Mr. Herick, when you called me and asked me to help you solve this problem, did you consider that your conventional methods are actually ineffective?"

"So that's why you called me, hoping that I can help you solve these troubles?"

This range directly stumped Herik. He was stunned for a while, and then he realized that this was actually a "provocation".

The expression on his face also became less friendly. "I thought we were friends," he said.

Bandy didn't back down at all, but he wasn't that tough either. "We can be friends."

He paused, "It would cost too much to deal with the Lance family, Mr. Herick. It costs much more than what he asked you for."

"do you understand?"

Herick didn't understand, but he didn't want to continue talking to Bandy, a piece of crap. "I understand. I'll think of other ways."

"If you have any other good ideas, you can also call me."

He hung up right after he finished speaking, and didn't even mention the invitation to the annual meeting. He had no interest in a notorious loser.

The reason for using Bandy is that in his eyes, no matter how famous the Kodak family is, it is still a gang.

If he finds someone else, then he will actually owe that person a favor, but he cannot owe that favor to others.

There is a saying in the federal government, "Don't owe favors to others for interests that have nothing to do with you." In simple terms, it means don't sacrifice your own commitments or interests for official business.

Lance walked out of the casino unimpeded and got into the car. He glanced at the tall office building of Jingang Casino and the car started slowly.

"Do you want to arrange someone to teach them a lesson?" Hiram, who was sitting in the passenger seat, shook his hair and looked at Lance through the rearview mirror.

Lance's eyes stayed on the street outside the car. After about half a minute, he said, "Not for now. If they want to mess around, then let them sober up."

“Jingang City is not only the Jingang City of the Jingang people, but also ours.”

Bandy, in his eyes, the threat from the Kodak family was actually nothing that could make him uneasy. In some of the decisions he and Congressman Williams had made before, the Kodak family was to be sacrificed.

With changes in Senate seats and subsequent adjustments to state government positions, new and old interest groups have begun to form, split, and confront each other.

It is obvious that the President did not have the advantage in the election, but he won again. It is time for those "his own people" who did not support him to be purged.

Political purges are milder than gang purges. They will first remind those who are to be purged.

It could be a morning news broadcast or a front-page headline in a newspaper where a reporter begins to break the news that someone may have violated some law without anyone knowing how he did it.

This is actually equivalent to telling these people "We are going to take action against you. If you have a way to solve this problem, do it as soon as possible."

If they can reach a compromise through other means, such as exchanging interests, the official media will tell people that these reports are nonsense and are made up to attract people's attention.

Now the rumors have been dispelled, nothing unexpected has happened and everything is normal.

But if no compromise is found, the authorities will soon take action and carry out a bloody purge.

There may be some changes in the people behind Bandy, but Lance doesn't care. That is the game and confrontation among high-level officials. All he has to do is to deal with Bandy and transfer the benefits to Congress through his "pipe"!

The convoy's driving routes are irregular. Sometimes it goes here, sometimes it goes there, and sometimes it may even go in a circle.

Madore, who was responsible for planning the route today, drove directly through the city center. Lance hadn't been to the city center for some time.

The central business atmosphere of the entire city is still very strong, and many pedestrians walking on the street look very professional. This is where the most companies in Jingang City are located, and it is also one of the most prosperous places.

However, its prosperity is different from the prosperity of the Bay Area and the Starlight District. The prosperity here is full of the smell of money!
Lance had been thinking about something, his eyes fixed on the window. He suddenly found that this road looked familiar.

"Is this the way to the Hazmat Bureau?"

Mador nodded, "Yes, we will pass through its door."

Lance didn't say anything else, nor did he express his opinion.

When the car passed the Hazardous Materials Administration, he looked half a kilometer away, without any purpose, just a few more glances.

What he didn't know was that Ponda was also looking at the street scenery outside the window at this moment.

He saw a luxurious convoy passing quickly outside the gate of the Hazardous Materials Administration. It was great that these rich people were so rich!

"Ponda, did you hear what I said?"

Ponda withdrew his gaze from the window and rested on Director Dell. There was no expression on his face, only an expression that could be considered numb.

Originally, Director Dale told him before the Holy Farmer's Day that he should be able to be promoted to senior agent soon.

By then, he will have more income, higher status, and will not need to go to the front line every day.

He only needs to take the files and go on missions with others when there is a mission to be done.

I spend most of the rest of my time in a separate office reading magazines and newspapers to kill time.

Of course he doesn't want higher income, higher status, or an independent office, he just feels that this is what he deserves.

But now, there was a problem with his original position as a senior agent.

Ponda looked at Director Dell and nodded, "I know. I will obey the bureau's arrangements."

Chief Dale looked at him, "You still have resentment in your heart."

Ponda didn't say anything. He had made so many contributions, and although many of them were "fed" to him by Lance, he was indeed more impeccable than others at work.

Now a senior agent suddenly parachuted in to fill the vacancy.

In other words, if he wants to be upgraded to a senior agent, he will have to wait for the next opportunity.

But he didn't know when the next time would be.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Hazardous Substances is a department directly under Congress and is managed vertically. The only way to get a vacancy for a senior agent is for someone to be promoted.

However, as a vertical management department where every employee has his own position, if you want to promote a senior agent, it means that you need to create an extra vacant position for the director.

This is a very young bureau, and when it was formed, Congress selected the elite forces from various law enforcement agencies across the country.

The oldest are in their fifties, and the youngest are young men in their twenties.

In other words, he might have to wait for more than ten years before he can be promoted to a senior agent through normal procedures. How could he not be angry?
Director Dell also knew that this matter was a bit inappropriate, but it was an exchange of interests.

He had to do this, even though it was a bit unfair to Ponda.

"Next time, next time there's a chance, no matter who asks, I will veto it. You will definitely be the next one to get promoted. I swear!"

"Also, I have someone clean up an office and you can move in when the time comes."

"I will also pay you according to the standard for senior agents. What I want to say is that I will do my best to make up for your losses."

Pang Da nodded and said sullenly, "I understand. The office doesn't need it. I don't want them to say that I'm being special."

Director Dell nodded, walked around the table to his side, held his hand and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Ponda. I promise that if there is another chance, it will definitely be yours..."

After coming out of the director's office, he wanted to pretend that nothing unexpected had happened, but the muscles on his face refused to listen to him.

He is very angry now!
He came out of the office and sat down at his desk. The female colleague next to him tiptoed on the ground and pushed the chair on universal wheels over to him. "Boss, are you going to talk about the promotion early?"

"Ponda, you have to treat us this time!"

Everyone around him looked at him with a smile on their face. Ponda was actually a good colleague. He was closer to them than those colleagues who were senior agents from the beginning.

As Ponda's "good friends", they can also benefit from it once Ponda obtains a higher status and power.

They will form a new interest group. This kind of thing is actually everywhere in society. This is just a microcosm.

Pang Da forced out a not-so-nice smile and said, "It's ruined."

"why?"

The female colleague's voice suddenly became louder, and everyone else looked over here. Some of the colleagues in the distance had puzzled expressions on their faces, but others had a gloating smile on their faces.

Anyway, I am happy as long as my colleagues are in trouble. This kind of people is very common.

"A senior agent was transferred down to temporarily fill this position, so my transfer is on hold for now."

The female colleague slapped the table with sympathy, "Didn't Dell resist?"

Ponda didn't say anything. It was obvious that Director Dell most likely did not resist and might even accept it with pleasure.

"Fuck!" the female colleague cursed, and then comforted him, "He went too far. You did better than anyone else. We all saw it."

"He should confront the higher-ups. Frontline work is dangerous and difficult. Instead of trying to relieve our burden, they come and compete with us for positions. I've never seen anything like this!"

His colleagues around him also comforted him. No matter what, Ponda had the best chance of promotion.

There will be another chance eventually, next time, next time he will definitely get promoted.

He thanked everyone for their comfort and accepted it. Then he packed up his things and left his job early, citing the excuse of investigating a case.

No one is recording these things, so it's time for him to go out for a walk.

Director Dell also knew about this matter, but he did not investigate it further, which was in line with the requirements of the work manual.

And this matter was indeed his problem. If he had submitted Ponda's list earlier, there might not have been a chance for a senior agent to be parachuted in.

It was because he had been slow to express his ideas about who to assign to this position that the people above him simply assigned one to this position. He was held primarily responsible for Ponda's inability to get promoted.

So now Pang Da obviously went to relax, and he didn't say anything.

After wandering around outside for a long time and drinking a little, he drove back home.

When Lisa saw him coming back, she walked over and took off his coat for him, "Have you been drinking?"

Pang Da was dizzy at first, but now he was much more sober, "Yes, sorry... I forgot that I shouldn't drink."

He was referring to Lisa's pregnancy.

Lisa shook her head. "Are you in trouble?"

Ponda sat down on the sofa with her. He didn't know what to say, "I... my promotion might be ruined."

Lisa knew very well how much he had prepared for the promotion. He even planned a small promotion event and would gather everyone together to celebrate.

He had made some work arrangements, but now, they were all gone.

Lisa saw his grievance, she hugged her husband, "Did they bully you?"

"No, no..."

He hugged Lisa back, as if he wanted to rub her into his body!
Pangda drank some wine again in the evening and went to bed early, which was rare for him. He slept alone in the study.

Ever since Lisa became pregnant, he and Lisa have been sleeping in separate beds, mainly because he was afraid of hurting Lisa.

Seeing Ponda's aggrieved and lost look, Lisa couldn't bear it.

After much hesitation, she called Lance.

"There is something I think I should tell you..."

(End of this chapter)