Shadow Empire

Chapter 1250 Refusing to Compromise
What should we do now?
That's an excellent question. Everyone in the room is thinking about it and possible solutions.

However, this problem is obviously not so easy to solve. It's like the question that arises after a math teacher says "hypothesis" in a sixth-grade math class, making life confusing and bewildering.

"Our counterparts in Likale have already started buying up large tracts of land around Scheer. It's clear they intend to use the new city as a springboard to try and get a piece of our pie with their dirty tentacles."

"We're going to fight back!"

A CEO made this statement very sternly, and everyone nodded in agreement with his point of view, but how to retaliate was the question.

The group's president sat there, his gaze lingering on the faces of the other members, as if trying to find something in them.

Unfortunately, these people, who used to have so many ideas and solutions, suddenly found themselves speechless at this moment.

Some people even noticed his gaze and immediately lowered their chins and looked away, unwilling to make any eye contact with him.

Lance, Wanli Group, is too difficult to deal with.

The group president seemed to be saying to himself, and also to these people, "If we don't fight back when these foreign jackals enter our territory, they will soon turn from jackals into wolves, and eventually into lions that will devour everything."

“Go talk to Lance White and tell him that we can make concessions and let the suppliers continue to supply them with goods. They can get whatever they want at the best prices, even if we don’t make a profit!”

Another member of the consortium asked with some skepticism, "Is it really necessary for us to make such a big concession?"

“His construction cost may be several hundred million, while our gross profit may be hundreds of millions or more. Is it really necessary for us to make such a big concession in order to reach a consensus on certain issues?”

That's a profit of one or two hundred million!
Even if they can't get the best cake from Lance, why would they throw away what's within their reach?
"Aren't we a match for Lance and the Wanli Group?"

"We haven't even had a chance to fight yet..."

The president raised his hand to interrupt him, "How do we deal with disobedient companies?"

The conglomerate members who were interrupted by him were not angry. They were discussing the matter, and their purpose was to benefit the conglomerate and their own personal interests.

Without hesitation, he replied, "Beat them commercially, bankrupt them, and eventually buy everything they own."

The CEO nodded slowly. "Yes, this is our usual method."

He looked at the others as he spoke, “We will wage a price war against them, so that they can’t make money on their own products, and the more they sell, the more they lose.”

"Increase the crackdown on them in the financial markets, and contact banks to recall their loans early..."

“We have many ways to deal with them because they are ‘together’ with us.”

“Perhaps you find this concept hard to understand…” He unconsciously fiddled with his pen, but his gaze fell on the others. “Whatever they sell, we sell too. Our prices are lower than theirs, more favorable, forcing them to engage in a price war with us.”

"So we can win. We use our ample capital and risk resistance to crush their insufficient capital and risk resistance, then dismember them and use their corpses to nourish ourselves."

“But Wanli Group is different; our business has absolutely nothing to do with theirs.”

"They mainly operate in the film industry, tourism, theme parks, and casinos, among other things."

"Gentlemen, do we operate similar projects?"

Everyone in the room looked at each other, and eventually shook their heads; they had never run such projects before.

Due to the development issues in the federal region, the east has always developed first and the west has developed later, so the western region has lagged behind in the development of society.

To put it more simply, while the East was experiencing an explosive growth in film production, the West was just beginning to see the emergence of film companies, and they were still making some outdated movies.

This has led to more outstanding filmmakers moving to the east, where they need to improve their skills in a professional environment, creating a talent drain phenomenon.

Once someone makes a name for themselves in this field, they will inevitably leave.

The same applies to other industries; people prefer to vacation in the beautiful and wealthy coastal cities of the East rather than wade in the rugged, undeveloped pebble beaches of the West.

Local conglomerates have not been involved in these businesses, or have been involved to some extent, but are unable to form a competitive relationship with Wanli Group.

Without commercial competition, there's no point in talking about price wars. If they sell beef for twenty cents a pound, it's impossible for Lance's movie tickets to go back to five cents. It won't hurt them at all.

Lacking lethality means posing no threat, and it means they cannot defeat these opponents.

The president's words made his meaning clear to everyone. He looked at the people in the room and said, "We can't get anything to threaten him. On the contrary, the capitalists he brought, the capitalists from Likalai, are the ones who can fight against us."

“We are neither in a superior position nor are they at a disadvantage, so once we start fighting each other, our losses will be unpredictable.”

"Although we have the advantage of being on the home turf, these advantages are not enough for us to overthrow Wanli Group."

"Rather than losing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in profits in the upcoming competition, I would rather back down to Lance and apologize. Although it may not look good on us, it will bring us real benefits."

He looked at several board members, then pointed to a few people and said, "You guys go and contact Lance and see how we can clear up this misunderstanding."

"As long as it's not a concession of principle..." He pursed his lips, a pained look on his face, "just agree to it."

In his view, this was already his greatest show of sincerity; as for what comes next?

Anyway, they operate in different businesses, and there's a high probability they won't have any contact with each other. As for whether local conglomerates will get involved in the tourism or film industries?

Without a doubt, they will definitely set out to try, especially in the film industry, a booming sector they have recently come to understand. It is indeed an industry where making money is easy, and it may become the consortium's next important project.

The group, carrying out their mission, did not dare to linger and arrived at Lance's office. Although both sides knew what the other had done, they ultimately did not completely break off relations.

Lance received them.

When the group entered the office, Lance remained seated behind his desk, neither getting up nor shaking hands with them.

He pointed to a few chairs in front of him, without even saying a word of invitation, but simply gestured for them to sit down.

"My time is limited, so I hope we can keep things simple and clear."

"Saving time is saving life."

He leaned back. "So, gentlemen, have you come here today to bring me good news or bad news?"

After the group sat down, the leader greeted them with a warm smile. "Mr. White, how could we possibly bring bad news?"

"Of course, I have some good news. His Excellency the President has learned about some recent events, and he is very angry about the suppliers' decision to stop supplying goods without authorization."

"Over the past two days, we have been internally imposing certain penalties on these suppliers who participated in the union action."

"We withheld some suppliers' deposits and terminated contracts with some suppliers. They have already paid the price for their foolish actions!"

"The president truly knew nothing about these matters. By the time we found out, it was too late to undo the damage. He entrusted me to convey his deepest apologies..."

Lance interrupted him with a smile, "If he really felt sorry, he should stand here and apologize to me, instead of asking you to do it."

The leader, who had been interrupted by Lance, paused for a moment before quickly adding, “The president really wants to apologize in person. He told me about it when I left, but he is currently ill, and it would be impolite for him to come to see you while he is unwell. He hopes that after we resolve some misunderstandings and he recovers, we can sit down and apologize to you in person, Mr. White.”

Lance shook his head. "Actually, you don't need to apologize." When he said this, the gentlemen in the office all smiled faintly.

This was a great start. They apologized, and Lance forgave them. Then everyone made a fortune together. He could already imagine the praise he would receive from the president when he returned with such a wonderful result!
Thinking of this, he raised his voice slightly. Although he felt that Lance might not have finished speaking, he still expressed his thoughts, "Mr. Lance, although these things have nothing to do with us, they are ultimately part of our 'chain'."

“They made mistakes, and we also bear some responsibility for not supervising them properly, so we must apologize…”

Lance waited until he had finished speaking before laughing and saying, "That's not what I meant."

“I don’t think you did anything wrong. That’s how business works. If a person or a company can get amazing returns by doing something, then do it!”

"That's business—plunder, takeover. As long as you get what you want, no one will say you're doing anything wrong!"

The leader paused for a moment when he heard these words, which sounded as if Lance was making excuses for their actions.

But the more he felt this way, the more unreal and uneasy he felt.

"Mr. White..."

Lance raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "You can plunder anyone's wealth, that's your ability. I won't accept your apology just because you greedily reach out your claws."

"This game is not a one-man show; you are not fighting against a wall or a mirror."

"You can become the ultimate victor without any threat; you have an opponent."

"You are fighting another individual, or a group of people. You throw a punch, and the other person nimbly dodges it. At this moment, should you stop, sincerely apologize to him, and tell him, 'I'm sorry for throwing a punch at you. It was just my instinct. I didn't mean to,' and ask for his forgiveness?"

Lance shook his head. "No, you won't do that. You know what you're going to get."

"My punch!"

He looked directly into the eyes of the leader, who had no choice but to give in under Lance's gaze. He looked away, then quickly looked back at Lance as if stubbornly trying to prove that he was not afraid of him.

Unfortunately, he was defeated again.

"If you punch someone and don't get the result you want, and you resolve the dispute with an apology, the world would have been finished long ago."

"Next, it's my turn."

The atmosphere was somewhat serious and tense. The leader didn't know what to say, and after a long silence, he said, "Mr. White, this isn't Licarle."

Lance nodded noncommittally, "This is the Federation."

The leader's emotions were starting to get out of control.

Human emotions can break down and go berserk at any time, and right now his emotions are swinging from one extreme to another.

Fear in his heart—fear of Lance, fear of the group's president, pessimism and even fear of the future—brought forth a kind of anger when he had nowhere to escape.

He wanted to say something tough, because only by saying something tough could he feel a sense of security.

He couldn't just slam his fist on the table, point at Lance's forehead, and yell at him like those gangsters, "You're fucking playing with fire."

He's not that kind of person, and he wouldn't do such a thing; of course, the main reason is that he wouldn't dare.

He could only try to threaten Lance in a civilized manner.

“Every place has its own rules, Mr. White. You are young and should learn to respect the customs, habits, people and things of a place, instead of challenging them.”

"As someone who has been through this, I hope to offer you some life advice."

"You don't have to conquer every mountain you see, because there will always be one mountain that you can't conquer, and that will make you fall and break your bones!"

Lance could hear the threat hidden in his words, and he replied with a half-smile, "I have neither the courage nor the ability to conquer mountains."

"As long as I still have the desire to move forward, I will conquer every mountain in my path, no matter how high or how steep it is. In the end, I will trample it under my feet, and this time will be no exception!"

The leader took a deep breath, his face hardening. "It seems we'll have a hard time reaching an agreement on this."

Lance pursed his lips, a regretful expression on his face. "It seems so."

His words brought a smile to the leader's face and made him realize something.

When someone is driven to the extreme of helplessness and anger, they can actually laugh!

He couldn't sit still any longer. He was worried that staying there would only make him lose control of his emotions, so he stood up abruptly. "I hope you won't regret the choice you made today!"

Lance looked at him. "Do you often rehearse this line in front of the mirror?"

Did it work for you?

Knowing it would be difficult to overpower Lance in terms of communication and presence, the leader shook his head, too lazy to even say goodbye, and left with his men.

He knew very well that this was Lance's statement; he would not compromise with them. It was like a declaration of war, announcing the outbreak of a war between them.

He didn't know what would happen next, but he knew it was a huge threat, a real problem!
The moment he turned around, the muscles in his face and his expression began to tremble uncontrollably. He walked quickly; he didn't want to lose face here.

He didn't even go back. Instead, he called the president from a roadside phone booth and recounted everything that had happened in detail.

This is the best way for him to extricate himself from this situation if he doesn't want to take responsibility for the breakdown of negotiations.

After he finished speaking, the CEO let out a long breath and asked softly, "Has his attitude not wavered at all?"

The leader held the receiver with both hands, carefully and slightly bent over, even though the person on the other end couldn't see the awe he felt. "Yes, Mr. Chairman, I sincerely apologize, but he responded to me with the theories of a boxer."

"He told me that after we threw our punches, it would be his turn!"

The thought of Lance's attitude made the guy tremble slightly, not entirely out of fear, but more out of stress.

It was like... a sudden emotional outburst, and his hands started shaking violently!
"He's threatening us! He's threatening to kill us!"

"Boss!"

The CEO on the other end of the receiver was silent for a long time. "I understand. Come back. Since he wants to declare war on us, let him understand that this is not Likalai State, not a place where he can act recklessly!"

The leader put down the receiver and walked out of the phone booth, the lingering effects of his emotional outburst still resonating within him.

He shakily pulled out a cigarette, which fell to the ground because he didn't hold it properly. Then he picked up a second one and put it in his mouth.

Because of its use, the cigarette was somewhat curled. After lighting it, he took a deep drag. The cigarette seemed to have some kind of magic, quickly relaxing his entire body.

He tilted his head back, looked at the clear sky, and slowly exhaled the smoke from his chest.

This is ultimately the sky of Nan Ya'an Prefecture, and it belongs to them, not to anyone else!
Whoever that person is, Lance White or anyone else, they don't belong to them, and they never will!

(End of this chapter)