Shadow Empire

Chapter 658: Escape and Curiosity
When Chief Blue received the question from Mayor Williams, sweat broke out on his forehead. He could no longer sit still and stood by the table, holding the receiver. "Should I...know something?"

Mayor Williams shook his head slightly after hearing this. He was also a fool. But on second thought, to Lance, or even to him, there was actually no difference between a fool or a smart person.

As a tool, whether it can achieve better results depends entirely on its user, not on itself.

He wasn't bragging, he or Lance were the best among the users, so even if this was a stupid tool, it could still achieve the effect they wanted.

Thinking of this, his tone softened a little, "Have you watched today's "Golden Harbor Today"?"

Director Blue shook his head quickly, "I was on duty until very late last night..."

"It's okay. Go find a copy later and read the news on it."

"Mr. Hof is an important member of the Golden City. He has a great influence. People cannot distinguish the authenticity of news. As the law enforcement agency of the Golden City, you must shoulder this responsibility."

"Announce to the public that you will immediately set up an investigation team to investigate the exposed cases and restore the facts as much as possible."

"If someone tries to discredit a famous gentleman by creating fake news, we must find that person!"

"Remember the tone I used to you just now. When facing the media, you need to show your indignation of 'not wanting people to be deceived' and your sense of justice. Do you understand?"

Chief Blue gradually came to his senses from the mayor's threats.

He sat back in his chair and said softly, "But the final result may be..." A lot of words flashed through his mind quickly. Sometimes, the lack of words in communication is like this, "...cannot satisfy everyone?"

Although the expression was not so complete, Mayor Williams still praised it with approval, "You are very talented, Chief Blue. This is what I want you to do, to create a contrast."

After all, the people whose scandals were exposed in the reports are all well-known celebrities in Jingang City. If you say without any evidence that they really responded to the call, you are trampling on the moral bottom line, and the people may not believe it.

The best way to deal with these famous people is to lift them up high.

Raising it high is in line with the current attitude of the people. It will neither offend ordinary people nor leave a tail for possible failure.

If the problem is really found, the higher you lift it, the harder it will fall.

Whether they are ordinary people, people of status, or anyone else, they all hope to be deceived and do not want their kindness to be exploited.

These public opinions that might have become obstacles will be exploited by them at this moment.

As Lance exposes more evidence and scandals, public opinion will overwhelmingly support them, which will be very helpful in controlling the situation.

"Since we have begun investigating these matters, it is only right that we invite Mr. Hof to the police station to cooperate with the investigation and let him cooperate with us to testify on his own behalf."

"There were two other 'victims'."

"Now they may be slandering and framing them, and they may use some violent means later. Arrange people to protect them from harm. Do you understand?"

Without waiting for Chief Blue to react, he made his final summary, "I hope that they are under control until the matter is investigated thoroughly. You must give people the truth and don't let innocent people suffer unnecessary harm!"

"But don't let those who have done illegal things escape the punishment of the law!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone without waiting for Director Blue to say anything else.

Under federal law, both parties involved in the call have violated the law, and both parties are charged with the crime of sex trafficking.

If Mr. Hof is charged with this crime, he will have plenty of ways to deal with this person!

Now that they have captured Arthur, he must now use this plan to directly control these three people.

Now that Lance has decided to take action and has thrown out these evidences, the competition between the two sides is about to become fierce and the possibility of escalation must be considered.

After thinking for a while, he took the initiative to strengthen the security level of himself and his family, and at the same time asked Lance to arrange some people to protect them.

If those people are pushed into a corner, they might just flip the table. He must be prepared for any eventuality.

After Chief Blue hung up the phone, he immediately picked up the morning edition of "Today's Jingang" and took a quick look at it. After finishing it, he was sweating all over!
As a local, he knew exactly what the report meant.

Both sides have sounded the clarion call for attack, and this is not the kind of mutual testing that involves compromise and deal making. They are going for real and will strike with a "killing blow" right from the start.

A politician is proven to be unfaithful, cheating, soliciting prostitutes, and abusing others. Although some of these may be issues of personal morality and ethics, they are still destructive and can directly destroy Mr. Hof's career.

For a politician, you can harm his family and take away the money in his account, but you can never threaten his political life!

If the above things are lost, they will be lost, and it may even be a good thing for politicians.

But the latter is a forbidden zone that no one can touch!

He didn't know who leaked the information, but he knew that it was aimed at the opponent's fatal weakness!

Director Blue's heart was pounding. The situation in Jingang City was about to undergo another huge change!

He didn't know how he should deal with himself in this storm. He could only try his best to complete the tasks assigned to him. This was the only thing he could do.

He called Deputy Director Duke to his office and roughly repeated the content of Mayor Williams' call just now.

"I'm going to hold a press conference. You can take your people to see if you can invite these three people over. It's just a routine investigation and questioning."

"Even if they find a way to refuse, we have to keep an eye on them!"

Deputy Director Duke glanced at the three photos side by side in the newspaper and felt a little annoyed. They were all big shots, people he couldn't afford to offend.

But he also knew very well that he couldn't afford to offend either Mayor Williams or Lance.

This is the saddest thing about little people, they can never do things according to their own ideas.

He nodded, "I'll go right away."

The two men discussed for a few more sentences and then separated. It could not be considered morning yet, but it could only be said that it was just after one in the morning when the chief of the Jingang City Police Department publicly stated that he hoped the newspaper and the person who exposed the incident would take the initiative to contact the police department and cooperate.

At the same time, he asked everyone to try not to believe unconfirmed news, and the police department would launch an investigation as soon as possible to verify the authenticity of the news.

At the same time, Deputy Chief Duke also brought police officers to Mr. Hof's villa. He walked to the door and rang the doorbell. Soon, Mr. Hof's butler appeared at the door of the villa.

"What's the matter with you?"

Deputy Director Duke said with a stiff upper lip, "We are here because of the news in Golden Harbor Today. Someone reported that Mr. Hof had engaged in solicitation. We want to talk to Mr. Hof in person about something."

The butler shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Hof went out early this morning."

Deputy Director Duke looked directly at the other person, and the butler met his gaze without any evasion or retreat. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then the butler smiled and lowered his head to avoid his gaze. "When Mr. Hoff comes back, I will contact the police station as soon as possible."

These orders were just Mayor Williams's intentions. Deputy Chief Duke had no search warrant or arrest warrant, but he was stopped just by the word "not here".

His brain was spinning wildly, and even the police officers standing next to him looked at him in surprise - they also heard the sound of his brain!

"I asked my people to stay here so that if Mr. Hof comes back, he can contact us as soon as possible."

The butler looked up at him for a few seconds and compromised. "Whatever you want."

Deputy Chief Duke left two police officers behind and then went to the residences of the other two "victims."

The butler returned to the villa from the yard, where Mr. Hof was sitting.

"...That's what they said. They want you to go to the police station to cooperate with the investigation." Mr. Hof nodded solemnly. Could he go to the police station?
Of course he couldn't go to the police station. What was the difference between going to the police station and just giving it to them for free?
He had originally planned to arrange some things before considering whether to leave.

Yes, he still had a glimmer of hope that he would not have to leave, but now it seemed that Mr. Charles was right and he had to leave.

Once he is taken to the police station, he will most likely be in huge trouble.

The trouble does not only come from Mayor Williams, who may use some legal or illegal means to force him to reveal some secrets. It is more likely to come from the Bay Area interest groups.

He was one of the more core members and knew a lot of specific things, things that were enough to ruin the reputation of more people and lead to their arrest.

In order to avoid this situation, they will most likely silence themselves.

Just like when they find someone who may influence them, they, he, will suggest activating the silencing procedure.

The longer he stayed here, the greater the danger. He didn't want to leave, but he had to.

At this moment, he was a little depressed. This walk meant that he had already lost the game.

He could only hope that Mr. Charles and the others could hold on a little longer.

After sitting there for a few minutes, he called Richie and said, "There was a small accident. I may need to leave temporarily."

"If you have any questions after I leave, if you're not sure what to do, call this number..."

He gave the other party Mr. Charles' phone number, which he shouldn't have given, but he didn't care now.

He was already out, and the call to Mr. Charles was, to some extent, an expression of his dissatisfaction with some of Mr. Charles' previous decisions.

He should not be discarded like a pawn, he should shoulder more and more important responsibilities in this game!

All losers are like this, they always feel that their failure has nothing to do with their abilities.

Richie on the other end of the line also sounded confused, "Where are you going?"

"Also, when will you be back?"

"How are we going to carry out these plans after you leave?"

Now they were not living with Mr. Hof; they had moved to another place since they had kidnapped Arthur.

Mr. Hof has been the one liaising with them these days, and now that someone is suddenly being replaced, Richie feels a little uneasy.

During these few days, they had more or less learned more about the Lance family from the side, and this information was far from being as unreliable as what they had heard in the western part of Likalai State.

A large amount of information related to the Lance family came together, making them realize that this was not an easy opponent to deal with.

"Call the number I gave you and ask Mr. Charles what to do."

"As for me...we'll meet again when we have a chance."

He didn't say anything definite, so he just hung up the phone and went back to pack up.

Not long after, a car suddenly drove out of the garage in the villa yard, and it seemed like it was about to leave.

The two police officers immediately noticed something was wrong and tried to stop the vehicle, but were stopped by the housekeeper and the people around him.

The reason is very simple -

"You don't have a search warrant and you have no right to inspect this vehicle."

It is difficult to say whether the federal judicial process is good or wrong. Similar things have happened countless times. Because there is no legal authorization, law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers have watched criminals walk away without being able to catch them.

The two police officers were quick-witted. One of them immediately returned to the police car and followed the car in front, while the other ran out of the community.

He needed to contact the police station and ask them to send more support.

But what he didn't know was that when he left the villa, a second car drove out of the villa's garage and quickly entered the internal road, heading out of the city.

The influence of the scandal exposed by "Jingang Today" is still spreading, and the timely statement of the police department has also attracted the attention of people across the city.

Except for a few people who realized that the conflict between the two interest groups suddenly began to escalate and was likely to be decided in a short time, everyone else was just watching the fun.

Mr. Charles was relieved to hear from his men that Mr. Hof had left town, as long as Mr. Hof did not fall into the hands of Mayor Williams.

"...Wade, we have been friends for many years and have always had a good relationship, is that right?" After letting the person who came to deliver the message leave, he picked up the phone and spoke into the microphone.

The call was made to Mayor Wade because the account book found in Red High Heels fell into the hands of then-Congressman Wade.

Everyone trusts him. He is like a "big brother" and has always been a pioneer of factionalism in Jingang City.

He also destroyed the account book in front of everyone, so people didn't care about it at all.

But now a "notebook" has suddenly appeared, which makes it hard not to doubt whether the account book that Congressman Wade destroyed was real.

Did he stay secretly or something?

Mayor Wade doesn't know what's happening in his hometown. He's doing a pretty good job there and he's very capable.

He has been working hard for half his life against Mayor Williams, other celebrities in Jingang City, and the state government, and is still regarded as the "number one person in Jingang."

In the new environment, he quickly took control of the situation and began trying to continue infiltrating the surrounding cities.

He would have been very happy to receive the call from Mr. Charles, if he could have persuaded Mr. Charles to invest and provide him with the support he needed for his later campaign for governor.

Then his chances of running for governor are even greater!

Once he becomes the governor, the "Wade Family", which is only known to the locals in Jingang City, will become known to people all over the country.

The sudden question after the greetings left him a little confused, "We have always been friends, what happened to you?"

Mr. Charles did not answer his question directly, "Are you sure you have destroyed the notebook that Red High Heels found?"

Mayor Wade emphasized his tone after hearing this, but also expressed some confusion and curiosity. "I swear to God, I destroyed that thing in front of you. You should understand that it is a nuisance, not a good thing!"

Mr. Charles did not choose to believe him immediately, but asked again, "But why do some of the things in the notebook appear here now?"

"Someone exposed part of the content. Hof just left Jingang City. I don't know how many more people will leave. I also don't know how much content that person has in the notebook. I am in a passive position now."

Mayor Wade didn't know what to say for a moment after hearing this. It was like something warm in his trouser pocket. Even if you say it's not shit, someone has to believe it.

"I don't know how to explain this, but you have to believe me, it has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

He also asked curiously, "Something extraordinary seems to have happened in Jingang City. What happened after I left?"

Mr. Charles didn't have time to chat with him here. He simply talked about some changes here and hung up the phone.

Although it was just a few words, it made Mayor Wade very curious about all the changes that had taken place here.

He was very curious about the development of his younger brother Williams and the Lance family that pushed the five major families to their demise!
Now is not a good time for him to call and keep in touch with Mayor Williams, but he will definitely call back. He feels that he, Mayor Williams, and Lance have common topics to talk about!

If they can withstand this round of attacks and defeat Charles and his men!
(End of this chapter)