Shadow Empire

Chapter 714: Not a Waste at All [666+2]
Movies are having an increasing influence among young people, and inviting celebrities to shoot various recruitment advertisements is a proven result.

Although Lance is not quite sure what kind of train of thought is involved in the idea of ​​"Celebrities look so beautiful/handsome in military uniforms, I want to be a soldier too", it is obvious that the Ministry of National Defense has found the right key!

More young people signed up on impulse after hearing the slogans of those dazzling stars, "I want to defend my country."

War is never a romantic thing. In fact, Lance is very disgusted by some directors and screenwriters who write war into a very romantic thing.

This will have a terrible misleading effect on young people, making them mistakenly believe that war is a romantic and non-dangerous thing.

But his hatred could not change anything. The Zhou and Ao rulers still needed more cheap, low-level soldiers who would sacrifice their lives without even knowing why.

As long as they have such demand, these creations will never stop.

Lance didn't like these people.

Several stars who were walking towards them also noticed Lance. Lance was very handsome. In addition, he was in a high position now, so he exuded a kind of temperament that other stars did not have, a kind of leadership temperament that made people want to get close to him.

This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is also true!

His leadership qualities might not be so attractive to older people, but to these young stars, it makes them want to get to know Lance.

"Are you also invited to take poster photos?" A beautiful girl smiled and waved her nimble fingers to greet Lance.

Lance noticed that the men around her looked at him with some unfriendly eyes. It was obvious that beautiful girls were always one of the potential causes of conflict.

He didn't really want to answer this question, and he had no interest in these people. They were just accomplices of the Ministry of Defense in sending those ignorant teenagers to the battlefield!

So Lance just smiled at them without stopping.

The older boy next to the girl had a hint of displeasure in his eyes when he saw this. They have been very popular recently and are very well-known.

In addition, the propaganda of the Ministry of National Defense gave them a greater influence in society. On the contrary, he didn't know who Lance was at all, and Lance's disregard made him feel embarrassed.

At the same time, he also wanted to show off in front of his female companion, so he immediately tried to stop Lance and said, "Helen is asking you a question!"

Just as he was about to stand in front of Lance, the officer next to Lance pushed him directly on the chest, "Back off!"

At the same time, the other hand was already on the holster.

His expression was serious, as if he would really draw his gun and shoot if the idiot in front of him did anything extreme.

Lance just glanced at him, shook his head slightly, and continued walking forward. He didn't have time to play childish games with these young people.

The male star who was pushed back by the officer had an ugly look on his face, but he also knew that this was the Ministry of National Defense, and even if it was just a major officer, he couldn't mess with him.

Moreover, the other party was ready to shoot, so he had to slowly raise his hands and reveal the most frustrating scene of his life in front of the girl he liked.

Only after confirming that Lance had gone far away did the officer lift the alert, warn the male star a few words, straighten his clothes, and leave.

Lance is a distinguished guest of the Ministry of National Defense. Both the Minister and the Deputy Minister have said that Lance's safety in the Ministry of National Defense must be guaranteed.

Seeing the officer walking away, the male star pouted and said, "What's the big deal?"

The girl next to him sighed, "He's a major. He can use a major as an ordinary guard or something like that. His support must be at least a general officer."

The girl shook her head. "A general officer can easily make you disappear in the Federation, you know?"

"Also, let me say it again, we are not that close, don't call me Helen, you have to call me Ms. or Miss."

The undisguised expression on her face, as if she was looking at trash, made the young male star feel hurt.

He has a good face and a good body, which just fits the aesthetic of this era.

If the film industry had not been booming, if he had not met a film crew that was filming a scene while he was producing cow dung, perhaps he would still be in the countryside now, wearing a yellowed white shirt, denim overalls, and big rubber shoes, stepping on cow dung and wiping his sweat while doing the heavy work on the farm.

She continued to move forward, and the male star's expression changed from time to time, and finally he summed up this failure as "my ancestors didn't work hard enough." If his ancestors had worked hard, they would have become a big landowner and own tens of thousands of slaves.

Would he have to face embarrassment like this today and be unable to fight back?

The damn ancestor didn't work hard, leaving him, the descendant, with tremendous pressure!

The male star cursed in his heart and chased after him for a few steps, "Wait for me..."

For Lance, this is just a small episode, a small episode in life, he doesn't even care about it or take it to heart.

Soon, under the guidance of the officer, he came to the bidding meeting room. There were already many people here. He saw Mr. Richard with a stern face, Mr. Joseph who nodded to him with a smile, and other gentlemen whom he had not seen in the morning.

They all came to participate in the bidding. The provisions of the Procurement Law are still desirable in some aspects. At least it allows the federal government and the Ministry of Defense, which are departments with a little bit of procurement ability, to master the fact of "more hidden corruption"!
Many people don’t realize that the results have already come out before the bidding has even started.

Not only has it come out already, but it has also come out probably half a month in advance.

They are doomed to gain nothing, which is why capital likes to erode power.

It can bring unimaginable returns!
Lance found a seat and sat down. As time passed, people returned to their seats.

It was a very simple bidding process. People handed over the documents that had been packaged according to the requirements to the staff. This was a very simple process. Lance noticed that the deputy minister did not mention the "franchise rights". This was probably to avoid any impossible situations, so that he could keep a hand.

The Deputy Minister did not talk about too much, just some of the selection rules and how to know if you have won the bid.

The Ministry of National Defense has always been domineering, and he didn't even mention public announcement.

After the last bid is collected, the entire bidding process is over. Because these bids need to be "reviewed and evaluated", everyone needs to wait for a week.

After the disbandment, some people wanted to talk to Lance. They didn’t know who Lance was before, but with Mr. Joseph’s praise, many people who were destined to be runners-up knew who Lance was.

Lance simply declined their invitation to go out and chat and went straight back to the hotel.

He sat behind the table and thought for a while, then picked up the phone.

This time he came to Jingang City without bringing too many people, so Erwin was left in Jingang City.

The call was quickly connected, and his (Erwin's) voice came out, "This is Wanli Group..."

"Check a few things."

Hearing Lance's voice, Erwin immediately focused his attention, "Go ahead."

"The first thing is to find out some information about Gold Label Wines."

“Where is their largest factory located, who are the main suppliers and distributors in Likalai State, and what are their past sales channels in the surrounding areas.”

"There is also a warehouse under their name. Let Vaughn check it out. He knows about it."

Erwin interrupted, "Are you planning to take action against Gold Label?"

Lance did not deny it. "Their president provoked me. Let me find out their situation first."

"Should we kill him?" Erwin asked.

"Not for now, but we can't let him get too comfortable."

“The second thing is to check Gutt Winery (the wine company behind Mr. Joseph), which has roughly the same information.”

"That's all you have to do for now." He paused, "How is the situation at home?"

Although Lance couldn't see Erwin, he could feel that he should be answering this question with a smile. "Very good. Although the casino's revenue is still decreasing, the sales of alcohol have increased significantly."

“There’s a greater need for alcohol, just like you said.”

"Also, I heard some news that might interest you."

"what news?"

Erwin gathered his thoughts and said, "There's a guy who owes us money. He can't pay it back. He wants to give us a piece of information in exchange for us letting him go."

Lance couldn't help but ask, "How much does he owe?"

"And how much is his information worth?"

The guy that Erwin was talking about was a guy who frequently gambled in the casino. He won and lost, but overall the more he gambled, the less money he made.

He lost a lot of money in the casino and borrowed nearly tens of thousands of dollars several times, but now he can't pay it back.

The person in charge of debt collection went to his place and found that he could hardly squeeze much money out of him.

Owing money to the casino, owing money to Lance, is actually not scary, as long as you are willing to work.

Lance will arrange jobs for them. Even if they cannot pay back the debt in their lifetime, it doesn’t matter. They can work for Lance for the rest of their lives!

It’s just that most people who can lose so much money and owe so much money are not the kind of people who can do physical work down to earth.

After doing it for a while, I couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to escape, but I was held down.

According to the company's rules, he either had to hand over the money he owed to the company or become a cripple and be thrown out.

This is also the company's way of intimidating certain people. Outside the casino, you can always see groups of disabled people begging there.

Some of them were once the guests of honor in casinos, just like the high rollers who frequented casinos.

This guy naturally knew the rules of the casino. He didn't want to become a cripple, so he told everyone the information he had.

"He still owes the company more than 5,000 yuan. He said he knows where a base of the Saint Bell Party is."

Lance thought for a while, "We can tell him the news and let him work for another two years, or we can find a way to get him to speak out and give him a choice!"

(End of this chapter)