Shadow Empire

Chapter 679 Next step

To put it simply, an emergency plan is an option for how to deal with something unexpected when it happens.

When Tom expressed this idea, Senator Cleveland's first thought was that mediation might not be successful.

He frowned slightly. Even though he had listened carefully to what Tom was repeating, there were still some things he might have missed.

After all, this is just a small matter for him and it shouldn't be so troublesome.

Seeing the puzzled look on Senator Cleveland's face, Tom expressed his thoughts.

"There is an absolute confrontation between Mayor Williams and the local tycoons, and their goal is to make the other party disappear from this world."

"Judging from their actions over the past few days, mediation is unlikely to work."

“If it doesn’t work, will things get worse?”

Tom put it mildly, "When animals sense danger, they flee. If they can't escape, they fight back desperately."

"Humans are more advanced than animals. Whether it's their thoughts or their actions, they are more complicated and difficult to guess."

"We can't rule out good developments, but we can't ignore the possibility of bad outcomes either."

Senator Cleveland nodded, took out a cigarette and lit it himself. "Yes, your reminder makes sense!"

He took two puffs of his cigarette and thought for a while, "Admiral Miles should have had contact with Lance?"

Tom nodded. "They have already made contact, and they should be getting along pretty well."

Senator Cleveland smiled more. "With him there, we can make sure nothing goes wrong."

After that, he picked up the pen again and said, "I still have a lot of work to do. You can handle these things."

Tom understood what he was thinking, then said "I see" and left the office.

Admiral Miles is in the same group as Lance, which means he is in the same group as Mayor Williams. If the two sides are irreconcilable, one side must die.

The Cleveland Senator is not a saint. He certainly hopes that Lance, who can provide him with value, benefits, and a good relationship with him, will stay.

But this is just in case, as a last resort, maybe Lance and the others don't need to use such cruel means?
The office door closed again. Senator Cleveland, who was about to return to his work, suddenly seemed to remember something. He looked at the closed door and frowned.

But he quickly shook his head and went back to work.

Lance put down the phone and went to the restaurant. Patricia had already gotten up when he called and was making breakfast.

The breakfast may not be so rich, nor so delicious, but at least it is edible.

Today's breakfast is milk, banana slices, whole wheat loops, and Lance's favorite bacon and fried eggs.

He quite liked the smoked bacon with its special flavor, and with a bowl of "soup", it was already considered a rich meal.

Lance walked behind Patricia and hugged her waist. The girl's delicate and smooth skin was so attractive that he couldn't let go.

There is an integrated heating system in the room. The temperature outside may be several degrees below zero or even 10 degrees Celsius, but the temperature in the room is above 25 degrees Celsius.

The two of them were wearing pajamas and were barefoot, so they didn't feel cold.

The heat radiating from the ground and walls made the temperature in the house just right at this time.

"Don't touch me!" The girl tried to dodge but couldn't. She turned around and glared at Lance angrily, but her look was not fierce at all. Instead, it aroused Lance's desire to win.

She was picked up by Lance and placed directly on the dining table as she exclaimed, "I still have to go to work!"

Her cries for help didn't make Lance stop, they only made him go faster!

After watching Patricia enter the Commercial Services Bureau, Lance turned a corner and arrived at the City Hall not long after.

Two groups of people had gathered outside the city hall.

One group was refugees. They held up signs that read “Refugees are also human beings” and “Refugees also have the right to survive”, demanding that Mayor Williams not expel them.

To be honest, although the cost of living in Jingang City is relatively high and it is not easy for them to survive, it is still a big city after all!

In fact, if they were willing to go to remote cities where life was less stressful, their lives would not necessarily be like they are now, with no security at all.

But this is precisely the most complex side of human beings.

They would rather starve to death in big cities than go to remote rural areas and live a life where they can support themselves by farming.

They don't want to leave the city. They still want to find opportunities in the city, develop themselves, and even become a part of it in the end.

The federal people are very "liberal" and don't quite understand the lives of these refugees from Slade in their hometowns. Many of them have never left the countryside or towns in their entire lives, and they don't even have the most basic qualifications to live in big cities.

Being able to live in a place like Jingang City, some of them have used the simplest methods to prove how much they want to stay -

Husbands let their wives sell their bodies, parents let their daughters sell their bodies, and young girls sell their bodies on their own initiative.

As long as they can stay, they are willing to give everything.

And those refugees who have given some consideration to these issues may have already started a new life in some places.

Opposite them was another group who were also holding up signs that read “This is not a place for refugees,” “Keep traitors away from us,” and “Go back to your country.”

These people have typical old federal thinking. This is a federation of federal people. They are full of hatred and disgust for the refugees destroying the city's ecological environment.

They are more willing than anyone to deport these refugees.

The two groups have been swearing at each other, and similar situations have occurred in many places in the city, but it must be said that the Bay Area’s choice is not essentially a smart one.

After all, these refugees are outsiders, but at the same time, this is the most suitable choice for them.

If they choose to use the locals to go to war with the Williams family and Lance, there is a high probability that those people will turn around and give them a blow.

The Williams family has left too many marks on this land. People cannot avoid such a family or a group of people.

Only refugee groups, outsiders who are eager to settle down, do not care about the heritage and relationship with the rulers here. They will rely on whoever can allow them to live here, have a stable life and obtain corresponding rights.

Lance entered the city hall from the side and could see that the atmosphere inside the city hall was a bit tense. Some people might not understand what was happening, but some people had already felt that Mayor Williams' regime was being challenged.

He went straight to the mayor's office. The mayor's secretary immediately called Mayor Williams and then took the initiative to open the door of the mayor's office for Lance.

After the door opened, Mayor Williams was already walking towards the gate. Lance took off his coat and shook hands with him. This was the attitude of equal treatment.

They returned to sit on both sides of the desk. Mayor Williams sighed and then said, "A lot of people have called me since last night."

“Some of them I’ve only heard of by name but don’t even know them!”

"You know what they told me?"

Although Lance had some guesses, he still pretended that he knew nothing. "What did you say?"

"They said they would fully support me in removing the refugees from the city and that they would speak out if I agreed and started doing it."

Mayor Williams shook his head and said, "There are mayors of other cities, city council members, state legislators, and some celebrities and stars among them."

"It was the first time for me to receive so many 'friendly' calls in such a short period of time. It was as if I was about to light the fire of human civilization!"

He said with a few laughs, "The call of duty!"

Lance couldn't help laughing. "They think you're a fool." Mayor Williams shook his head. "No, they saw my predicament. No one really cares about me. They just want me to set an example."

"I feel fear, Lance."

He couldn't help but pick up the cigarette box on the table and lit a cigarette for himself. "So many people call you at eleven or twelve at night, and the meaning between the lines is to let you die!"

If he really did that, his life would definitely be very difficult. A mayor cannot bear the responsibility of destroying the civil relations between two countries during a war. It would be more appropriate if he were replaced by a governor.

He is just a small mayor and his political resilience is limited to the state.

Once Congress takes action against him and the state government cannot protect him, the Williams family will not only fail to leave a mark on this city, but will become a joke in its development history!
An ant trying to stop a speeding chariot!

So those people were supporting and encouraging him on the surface, but the real purpose was to make him slam headfirst into a tungsten steel wall at a faster speed and smash himself to pieces.

"So I brought you good news!" Lance didn't keep the secret any longer. Mayor Williams raised his eyebrows and motioned for him to continue.

"Tom called me this morning...", there are many people called this name, not only many people called this name, but also cats, dogs and so on.

It was normal that he couldn't remember it for a moment, so Lance reminded him, "Tom, the staff member of Senator Cleveland."

"Oh, it's him, I remember him, a young man, what happened to him?"

"He called me and talked about it. Congress has started to pay attention to it and they will send someone to mediate soon."

"Mediation?" Mayor Williams was also not optimistic about this outcome. After all, he was one of the parties involved!

"We have completely fallen out. Either they are finished or I am finished. There is no point in mediation at this time!"

He took a puff of his cigarette, "But our goal has been achieved. When will they come?"

The "purpose" he mentioned is to use extreme conservatism and the slogan of expelling refugees as political bargaining chips to at least keep his current position.

Politics is simple. You give me what I want, I give you what you want, and then we shake hands.

But politics is also complicated because there is more than one driving force behind everything.

Ordinary people may go to the toilet just because they want to, but when politicians go to the toilet, it may not be as simple as going to the toilet, but may have other purposes.

As for how things will develop in the future, no one knows now.

Lance didn't really know how long this would take, so he could only answer with a vague word, "Soon!"

While Lance and the others were talking about the current situation in the city, Mr. Charles and the others also gathered together to discuss some of the current changes.

"This is Hope Wright, a gentleman from Slade, who has considerable prestige among the refugee community."

"This may be the first time for some of you to meet. Let me introduce you to each other so that we can have closer contact in the future."

Hope, who was already wearing a suit that cost thousands of dollars, shook hands with the gentlemen who introduced themselves one by one and exchanged business cards without any stage fright.

This is what he dreams of getting, wealth, status, and respect from rich people!
He has been working on expanding his influence for many years, but in Slade, the class stratification is even more serious than in the Federation, and he has no chance to stand out.

So he chose to take the risk and come to the Federation. Now, his dream has beckoned to him and he has begun to touch his dream!

At this moment, his body seemed to be light and his soul was happy, so his smile, attitude, and emotions were also full.

But even so, the gentlemen here still looked down on this man to some extent, just like they looked down on a dog.

They and Mayor Williams had a complete split this time over certain issues, but they still agreed with some of Mayor Williams' sharp comments about the refugees at the press conference.

If a war breaks out in the Federation, they will most likely run away, but before they actually run away, they will still stand on the moral high ground and despise these people.

But no matter how much I despise him and look down on him, we still need cooperation, and we need him now.

After they got to know each other, Mr. Charles asked everyone to sit down, and Hope sat relatively at the back.

Mr. Charles took out a cigarette and someone immediately lit it for him. He crossed his legs, leaned back on the single sofa, and swayed slightly on his toes, giving people an air of insolence.

After exhaling a puff of smoke, he said, "The plan went very successfully. The only minor flaw was that the Saint Bell Party lost Arthur."

"Otherwise we will soon be able to win this game with an absolute advantage!"

Arthur was still very useful. He wanted to use Arthur's life to threaten Mayor Williams, forcing him to admit his mistakes and resign.

There are actually two possibilities. It is possible that Mayor Williams did as he was told and announced his resignation, and then the story would end here.

It's just a "paragraph". They will wait until the storm is over for a while, and then get rid of Mayor Williams and his family and find a reason.

It is said that after they failed, they moved to another place together, but no one knows where they moved to. This reason is very reasonable and the people will accept it.

The entire city will be back under the control of the Bay Area and everything will be back to normal.

Another possibility is that if Mayor Williams does not announce his resignation, Mr. Charles will let the Saint Bell Party kill Arthur and then expose the matter!

Of course he would not reveal that he asked Mayor Williams to do so, but he did not do so, so Arthur died.

He would tell the public that Mayor Williams was greedy for power and even when faced with the life and death decision of his favorite youngest son, he resolutely refused to hand over the power in his hands.

This basin of dirty water was poured on him, dealing a heavy blow to him both physically and mentally. At his age, he might not be able to survive such a thing.

Then they used the refugee issue to continue their mad targeting and even tried to threaten James' safety.

He could still hold on even though Arthur died, but what if another James died?
He definitely can't bear it.

Mr. Charles already had a whole set of plans and methods to implement these, but Arthur was lost.

Fortunately, losing Arthur made things a little more troublesome than planned, but only a little.

The dissatisfaction he expressed towards the Holy Bell Party at this time was also what many people were thinking.

Hope, who was sitting at the end, thought that he might be able to use those refugees to form a large-scale gang in Likalai State.

There are gangs in Slade, but they are not as big as here in the Federation.

He has browsed a lot of content related to gangs in the past few days. Gangs can even participate in top-level political games - assassinating the president.

This made him feel that this was also a way.

Now that Mr. Charles has mentioned this, and Lance is in cahoots with Mayor Williams, after Mayor Williams is dealt with, Lance will definitely be driven away as well.

The vacuum environment left behind at that time will become a stage for him to display his talents.

Mr. Charles had no idea that this guy whom he despised had thought so much, and he was still talking about some of his ideas.

"From the current situation, it seems that Williams is already in a very passive position. Although many citizens are supporting him now, I heard that Ambassador Slade met with the Secretary of State last night to discuss this matter."

"It seems that Congress is also investigating this matter and is trying to interfere."

"It's just that the situation right now is still a little short of the mark. We need them to be even more extremely violent, and it would be best if there were more bloodshed and casualties, so that the conflict can be completely intensified and become irreconcilable!"

"Only in this way can we make the higher-ups completely lose hope in Mayor Williams, and only then will we have a chance to completely overthrow him in one fell swoop!"

His eyes quickly fell on Hope, "Mr. Hope, you are the key to the following tasks!"

(End of this chapter)