Shadow Empire

Chapter 744: Gratitude [666+11]
Wealth that does not belong to one's own class and can be obtained normally is always the greatest test and challenge to a person's humanity.

Unfortunately, Thiem failed this test.

He stroked the gold bricks and glanced at the unsigned transfer agreement. He turned and walked to the bookcase, opened the door, reached out and began to slide the pages of the books on the second row of shelves, and finally muttered the name of a book.

"Right it is!" His hand suddenly stopped, and the book he was pointing at had the same title as the one he had been repeating.

He took out the book, then reached in and inserted his hand into the gap left by the book. In the hidden corner of the cabinet, there was a metal pick.

He pushed the metal pick hard, heard the sound of the lock spring opening, and then inserted the book back.

Then he closed the cabinet door and walked to the other side of the bookshelf, grabbed the cabinet door and pulled it towards himself.

A secret door appeared.

People in the Federation, or powerful people all over the world, like to build secret doors and basements.

There are some designers in the world who specialize in serving the powerful and wealthy, and who use visual gaps to hide dark rooms. Among them are some of the best, and their design manuscripts are priced sky-high.

For example, the blueprints for a castle built specifically for Queen Mary were worth millions of federal soles at auction.

Moreover, these designs are often accompanied by some special rumors, such as "undiscovered treasures" or "the hidden wealth of a certain nobleman".

Castle exploration once became a popular activity around the world for a period of time. Of course, this has nothing to do with the Federation because the Federation does not have such a long history.

No one is stupid enough to come to this land and build a castle or something.

Especially after the "Secret Treasure of Queen Aislia" was discovered by a group of treasure hunters, the treasure worth hundreds of millions of dollars seventy or eighty years ago appeared in the world, triggering a treasure hunt craze around the world!

Of course, this has nothing to do with the federals.

Although some Federation people also go to other continents to search for treasure, but...

In short, this industry also has a complete ecological chain, but Tim certainly cannot afford to hire such a well-known designer. He uses some public and then personalized templates.

The secret room is not very big, only about eight square meters, but it is empty except for a box containing some cash, which looks to be about three or four hundred thousand yuan.

This is part of the money he has made in the three years since he took office, and the rest has been spent on socializing and maintaining relationships.

He walked outside, lifted the suitcase with great effort, entered the secret room, took out the gold bricks, and found a table specifically to place them.

He liked these golden little things, and he arranged them one way and another.

But I can never arrange it into a particularly beautiful or spectacular shape.

Still too little.

He muttered something, then stacked them up, alternating twos and twos, until it was five stories high, which wasn't that high.

At this moment, he had an idea in his mind. One day, he would fill this table with gold bricks!
Then he hesitated for a moment and took out the transfer agreement, which he would have his son sign.

What made him feel relieved and amused was that when he fully unfolded the transfer agreement, some things fell out of it.

A receipt for purchasing merchandise, a promotional poster that looked a bit old, and a certificate of winning.

Someone bought a pack of cigarettes worth ninety-nine cents from Lans’ store, then entered their raffle and won a large villa in Maintenon!

He even saw a newspaper clipping reporting that a "mysterious person" had won the jackpot.

In the eyes of many people, isn’t this a typical representation of the federal dream?

No need for effort, no need for practice, just a little luck and luck will come to you.

He was impressed by Lance's prudent approach, after all, a house is different from gold.

There is always a way to dispose of gold. In the event of an international war, the price and industry of gold will only get better and better, and it will become easier and easier to dispose of.

But a house is different. It cannot be hidden and someone needs to take care of it and live in it, which requires appropriate and reasonable conditions.

Now that Lance had added this condition, he didn't need to worry about anything and just had to get his son to sign.

After he came out of the secret room and closed the door again, he sat in the chair and thought for a moment, then dialed the number of Lance Villa.

"This is Mr. Lance's villa..."

"I'm Tim, Tim Perry, and I just had dinner with Mr. Lance in the courtyard not long ago."

The person who answered the phone responded immediately, "I remember you, Mr. Perry, how can I help you?"

"I want to speak to Mr. Lance."

"Please wait."

After about two minutes, Lance answered the phone, "I hope you didn't pull anything down."

He made a little joke, and Tim laughed a few times when he heard it. "I saw the gift you gave me. It was very thoughtful. I like it very much!"

Who wouldn't like it?
It’s not wrong to give money, but giving gold is better. These politicians are well aware of the value and potential of gold.

Lance is also selective in choosing gifts. If he is giving gifts to people of lower levels, he will just give money directly.

"As long as you like it, then..."

Tim pursed his lips and said, "It's like this. When we were chatting tonight, I forgot to tell you something." "The nearly four million bottles of wine were not all destroyed. We actually only destroyed a small part of it, less than 5%."

When Lance heard this, he took out a cigarette box from his pocket. He knew that the reward had come.

"So?" He put his shoulder on the receiver, tilted his head, lit a cigarette for himself, and took a puff. "Where is this batch of wine?"

"The situation of this batch of wine is somewhat special. The idea of ​​the Congress is to transfer it, but I heard from some channels that they plan to cash it in."

"I thought…you know, Lance, can I call you that?"

Lance smiled and said, "Of course, we are already friends."

Tim laughed too, "Yeah, yeah, we're already friends."

"I think it's better for you to handle this batch of wine than to dispose of it. But my connection with Congress is not that strong, so I can't take the lead in this matter."

Lance knew what he meant. On the one hand, it was a kind of return. After receiving his benefits, he naturally had to think about giving him some benefits in return. This was the principle of being friends.

If you always take advantage of your friends, that's not being friends.

On the other hand, I also want to see Lance's influence on Congress.

Politicians are always like this, testing the waters cautiously, which determines whether Tim can be a very good friend or just an ordinary friend.

Lance was not unhappy about this. This was how the Federals were. You said you were strong, and your friends believed you were strong, but not completely.

Until you punch him in the face and break his nose, he will really be amazed.

You are so fucking strong!
"I know, thank you for telling me about it."

He paused for a moment, "By the way, is this three million yuan the market price or the cost price?"

It took Tim a while to react. "I'm sorry, I don't really know about this, but I know that it's 20,000 bottles of whiskey."

Lance made a quick estimate in his mind. Even if it was fifty dollars a bottle of inferior quality, it would be worth one million.

"I see. Anyway, thank you for your reminder."

Tim laughed a few more times. "I have some unfinished work these days. When I finish my work, I will treat you to a meal at my house."

Lance didn't refuse, "It's a deal."

After he hung up the phone, he took two deep puffs of his cigarette. He was calculating how much the more than three million worth of wine should be worth.

After a long while, when he had almost finished his cigarette, he picked up the phone again.

It is not appropriate to call and harass a senator during this time, which is also a weekend.

But whether it is appropriate or not depends on what the specific purpose is.

If it's for a benefit of millions, the senator won't be angry even if the call comes at three o'clock in the morning.

But if you just talk to him about business, he will definitely scold you and then tell you that business should be handled in a business manner and don't disturb him with business matters when he is resting and embracing his private time.

The call was connected a few minutes later. It could be heard that the senator was drinking and sounded a little tipsy when he spoke.

Not Senator Cleveland, but an executive member of the Prohibition Committee, who was a good friend and partner in interests of Senator Cleveland.

"What's up?"

His tone was not polite. He was having a great chat with his friends, talking about some scandals of the President while drinking. This was the happiest moment for them, but he had to answer the phone. He must have been a little emotional.

After drinking some wine, he lost control of his emotions.

"I heard from Tim that you guys were planning to deal with more than three million bottles of liquor that were seized in Likalai State last time."

The senator was a little impatient after hearing this, "You want to get involved?"

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand. I'll take care of it."

"Just nod and the money will be transferred to the account you specify tomorrow."

The senator was stunned for a moment. He wiped his face and turned his back to the living room. "Five hundred thousand is not enough, Lance. You also said that the wine is worth more than three million!"

His tone had changed, becoming focused and less impatient, more like a calculating businessman.

"That's the market price, Senator. It's only worth about a million dollars at cost."

"And if you want to ship them to the Golden State or somewhere else, plus the shipping and other labor costs, I believe their price won't be higher than mine unless they are clearly giving you money."

The senator held his hand to his forehead and frowned. As a member of the Prohibition Committee, he was actually very clear about some of the circumstances here.

After thinking for a while he said, "This is not just for me, this is just a small amount!"

There was silence for a long time, and then Lance's voice came, "Eight hundred thousand."

"Nine hundred thousand!"

Lance "considered" for a moment, "The price of making friends, deal!"

(End of this chapter)