Shadow Empire

Chapter 1246 Scandal
In the quiet study, the union lawyer looked at the two men with a calm expression.

As a successful lawyer, he has handled hundreds or even thousands of cases and met all sorts of clients.

The two people in front of us are neither the highest in status nor the richest; they are just ordinary people.

"The only one who can save you now is the president." The union lawyer took another sip of coffee. To the rich, beans that cost more than 20 yuan a pound were no different from beans that cost a few yuan or tens of cents.

But for a middle-class person, this is one of the best options for food without affecting their other expenses.

"The president can grant you a pardon, but I believe there is a high probability that you will not receive one."

"Considering you paid me three times my overtime pay, I have a suggestion for you!"

"Try to obtain the judge's forgiveness to the greatest extent possible. Perhaps the judge can consider your positive remorse and give you a lighter sentence."

He pursed his lips and thought for a moment, "Six months to a year, that's what you need to strive for."

The vice president slammed his fist on the table again. He was furious and helpless. He looked at the union lawyer and said, "I refuse to believe there's absolutely no way out!"

The union lawyer didn't speak, he just looked at him, which made the president seem to think of something, and his eyes changed from ashen to full of hope as he looked at the union lawyer.

After a long pause, the union lawyer slowly said, "Of course there is a way. If Mr. Lance White stops the process, or if you manage to get Mr. Lance White's forgiveness."

"Then this matter will only involve those few companies and will not affect you."

"But the question is, can you get his forgiveness?"

This is indeed a problem.

The expressions of the president and vice president went from full of anticipation to becoming dejected.

Without a doubt, Lance will not forgive them.

"Is there no other way?"

The lawyer shook his head, glanced at the clock, and said, "It's been half an hour. Should we extend it?"

Actually, there are still a few minutes left before half an hour. If the two chairpersons have any other ideas, these few minutes will definitely not be enough, and we will have to add another round.

His consultation fee is ten yuan per half hour, which is twenty yuan per half hour including overtime. In addition, the chairman promised to pay him double the overtime pay privately, which is equivalent to sixty yuan per half hour.

If you add another half hour, it will be... 120 yuan.

No wonder people are so eager to get into the legal profession; it's such an easy and quick way to make money.

The president and vice president exchanged a glance and shook their heads. The president took out his checkbook and was about to sign a check and hand it over when the union lawyer waved his hand, "I don't accept checks, give me cash."

Once a check is cashed at the bank, it will be recorded and filed. If it gets involved with him, even if he can extricate himself from these troubles, it will still be a problem.

Therefore, it's more convenient and discreet to accept cash directly.

The president took out his wallet, put two twenty-yuan bills on the table, and said, "We'll contact you again if there's anything else."

After putting away the banknotes, the lawyer took out a document that looked like a work attendance record and a pen, saying, "Sign here."

He paused for a moment, separating the context of the two sentences, "Of course, no problem. You are welcome to come with questions anytime, anywhere."

"Any time!"

As they walked out of the union lawyer's house, the vice president and president stood on the side of the road in the community. "Are you planning to go find Lance?"

The vice president lit a cigarette. The night wind usually brings a sense of peace and tranquility, but tonight the wind was rather irritating.

The two did not get into the car immediately, but stood there and exchanged a few words.

The president hesitated for a moment, but nodded and said, "I will go see him tomorrow morning."

In the darkness, under the faint moonlight, the two looked at each other for a moment, and the vice president nodded, "Good luck."

The president sighed, "I'm too old. Even just a year or two will make my health deteriorate."

"If I can avoid going to jail, it will be worth it for me no matter what the cost."

The vice president could understand his feelings at this moment. Federal prisons were not a good thing. Once inside, the first thing you would face were those crazy thugs.

Who knows what terrible things they might do in there?

The next morning, the chairman drove into the parking lot of Wanli Group's temporary headquarters early in the morning. When he saw Lance's convoy arrive, he immediately got out of the car and quickly walked towards Lance's car.

Perhaps he was too fast, or perhaps he didn't realize that Lance and he were different from everyone else.

He hadn't even gotten very close when someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground!
His hands were twisted behind his back, and his body was groped all over. He screamed and struggled in pain, but Lance just glanced at him, straightened his collar, and strode into the company building.

The president watched helplessly as Lance left, crying out in pain as he tried to explain his identity and demand to see Lance.

No matter what, we have to see him!
A few minutes after Lance sat down in his office, Mador came up from downstairs. "That man is the president of the state construction workers' union. He said he wants to meet with you to talk about something."

Lance shook his head and said, "This means our plan has worked. Ignore him and tell him I won't see him."

After Madol nodded and left, Lance began to focus his attention on his work.

Today, Roger and some businesspeople from Likalai will be coming over to hear Lance's follow-up arrangements.

The president downstairs stood disheveled beside his car, his handsome suit covered in mud and dust.

A short while later, a man who looked like a bodyguard came out of the building. He walked up to the chairman and shook his head. "Mr. White has an important meeting to attend and doesn't have time to see you."

The chairman's face turned extremely pale. He never imagined that one day he would not even be able to meet a capitalist who needed construction workers!
Around 10 a.m., Roger and some entrepreneurs from Likale arrived at the conference room of the temporary headquarters. They were quite familiar with Lance, so the atmosphere was very relaxed and not at all serious, even a little informal.

“I heard you’re going to be a father again?” Lance tossed him a cigar.

Roger was almost seventy, but he looked no more than sixty. His complexion was very good, ruddy, and he didn't look like an old man on his deathbed at all. He didn't need a cane to walk, let alone anyone to help him.

The greatest use of money is that it can ensure that people who have wealth are in an optimal state of mind and body.

As he cut open his cigar, he nodded as if showing off, saying, "Yes, I didn't expect I'd still be so full of energy!"

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh. He had a child with that widow last year.

A son was a source of joy for him, and the widow was happy too, but it was terrible for his sons and daughters who were now in their forties.

Roger knew he had only a few years left to live, and that once he died, his youngest son would most likely be ostracized by his brothers, so he had to leave something for his youngest son.

For his children from his first marriage, the sudden appearance of another person to share the inheritance made everyone very unhappy.

Lance heard that they had argued about it several times, and Roger had revised his will in advance, leaving about fifty percent of his wealth to his youngest son.

So he wasn't actually as...happy and carefree as he appeared.

After exchanging a few warm-up remarks, Lance explained why he had invited them over.

“The locals are somewhat resistant to outsiders, including me, because of some special reasons. We can’t use some of our methods for the time being. As you all know, President Porter is in power now.”

"This guy is not on our side."

"So we need to be more careful in this matter."

“The locals tried to force me to agree to join my project by restricting my supply of materials. Although I had prepared some for them, their actions angered me.”

"Therefore, gentlemen, I need to purchase large quantities of building materials and various supplies from the states of Likale and Indenor."

While smoking his cigar, Roger asked, "Wouldn't that increase costs significantly? Is that alright?"

Lance nodded and said casually, "Anything related to money isn't a problem."

"Then there's no problem!"

The others discussed it briefly and agreed that there was no problem. As long as they didn't care about the skyrocketing costs, they would be willing to sail around the world to deliver the goods from the other side.

A businessman in the building materials business asked, "When will we start supplying goods?"

"The sooner the better."

Lance paused as he spoke, adding that there were also several major capitalists present this time.

Wanli Group is not just an ordinary group; it is developing into a comprehensive conglomerate.

Lance and some large corporations in Licarle have cross-shareholdings, and a not-yet-so-close-knit capital group centered around Lance's Wanley Group is growing.

It is not far from becoming a local conglomerate. In fact, it could be said that if they were to reorganize their resources and transform from a loose structure to a conglomerate structure, they could immediately become a large, dominant local conglomerate.

However, such a thing has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it will greatly enhance the control over Likale State, as well as its social status and influence.

The downside is that Lance may have to continue cutting back on some businesses to ensure the conglomerate's safety and stability, such as the beverage business.

This is also why Lance hasn't actually formed a consortium yet; he'll have to wait until Prohibition is lifted.

However, this does not prevent him from continuing to strengthen his position and influence in the capitalist society of Likalai at this stage.

“You can also invest in some of my investment projects here. I’ll give you 30% of the shares at a friendly price of 2 billion.”

"You can take this time to learn a little about the specific details of this project, and then talk to people back home to see how to invest and how to allocate shares."

"The new city plan will allow us to take root here. The western region has a promising future, and this place will become the center of a certain phase of the next era."

"Since they are unwilling to be my friends, then we can only become competitors."

As Lance spoke, the eyes of these businessmen and capitalists underwent a subtle change, much like the look in the eyes of diners who had been starving for a long time when they sat down at the table and picked up the menu.

It was filled with a longing for food, a desire to fill one's stomach.

Capital always aims at profit. Now, the market in Likalai is saturated, the distribution of profits has ended, and a long period of development has begun.

To put it more bluntly, it's a class solidification zone where everyone is constantly reinforcing what they own, preventing others from touching their interests, and also unable to touch the interests of others.

To achieve further and greater improvements, a new reshuffling is necessary.

But if there really is a tsunami that sweeps across the entire capital ecosystem of Likalai and reshuffles the deck, they may not be able to continue sitting at the table. It is very likely that they will be the ones cooked up and served on the table.

Rather than triggering a new round of capital reshuffling within Likale, it would be better to direct this storm in South Yaan.

This is someone else's home turf, but it is also someone else's "territory." For the capitalists of Likalai, any business competition conducted on this land is acceptable, regardless of winning or losing.

Winning would be great, but losing would not shake their foundation in Likale, aside from some financial loss.

In a short period of time, everyone seemed to have made a decision.

Over the next few days, these people learned about Lance's new city plan while simultaneously beginning to transfer supplies from Likale State to this area.

Meanwhile, under Lance's strong intervention, the state court quickly heard these minor cases—unfair competition cases—that didn't actually need to be heard in the state court at all.

The evidence provided by Lance's lawyers was perfect, with almost no major flaws. Although the companies that provided the workers' welfare services tried their best to confuse the facts, they had no choice but to plead guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence.

This is yet another victory for federal justice, even though such victories happen all the time.

In court, with lawyers, and in private communications, some of the defendants, unable to withstand the immense pressure, began to reveal more details to the court. The facts about how the president and vice president of the state construction workers' union used their power to amass wealth quickly spread...

(End of this chapter)