Shadow Empire

Chapter 536: Narrow [666+8]
The next morning, when Ponda got up, the maid had already come and prepared breakfast.

Because of her pregnancy, Lisa couldn't get up in the morning many times. After having breakfast, Ponda asked the maid to take better care of Lisa, gave her an extra reward of two dollars, and then quickly left home.

Becoming the director is very meaningful, even though he can't do it now.

It is impossible for the wealthy people in the Bay Area not to drink. As long as he breaks in when they are drinking, he will have a way to deal with them.

He had been thinking about these things all night, and before he knew it, the car had arrived at the parking lot inside the Hazardous Materials Administration.

As soon as he got off the car, many colleagues greeted him enthusiastically. As one of the four senior agents, his status here can be said to be second only to one person, equal to four others, and above a thousand others.

If you ignore those who are at the same level, then you will be second to none and above a thousand others.

Whether it is someone you know or not, everyone will take the initiative to greet him with a smile.

In this environment, even if he had something on his mind, his mood became good.

He first dealt with some documents on his desk that needed urgent attention, and then came to Director Dell's office.

He knocked on the door and Chief Dale asked him to wait a moment.

The office door was not completely soundproof, and he seemed to vaguely hear some key words, such as "death penalty" and "committee".

About ten minutes later, he was notified by Director Dell to go in.

As soon as he entered the door, he could see that Director Dell was in a good mood, and he even took the initiative to ask someone to bring him a cup of coffee.

"I just had a very important phone call. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting outside for so long." Director Dell is not arrogant, which is why no one dislikes him.

"It's okay, I just happened to be reading the newspaper for a while." Ponda found a reason to make Director Dell feel less "guilty".

The relationship between superiors and subordinates is really interesting. Even though the "perpetrator" is the "victim", he still has to worry about the "perpetrator" feeling guilty and actively finds reasons and excuses for his behavior.

Director Dell naturally continued the topic, "It is a good habit to like reading newspapers. There is a lot of important information hidden in newspapers."

"When I was in Xinjin City, I read many newspapers every day. Sometimes the truth has been published, but many people can't find it!"

The secretary knocked on the door and came in with coffee.

Ponda picked it up, took a sip and praised it.

This is not false praise, this is real praise.

The coffee beans in the coffee machine in the Hazardous Materials Management Bureau’s tea room are all high-end goods costing more than ten yuan per pound. They have no shortage of funds, so everyone from top to bottom is enjoying themselves.

After the secretary closed the door when she left, Director Dale changed the subject to Ponda's coming. "Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked.

Ponda nodded and said, "I have an informant who heard that the Kodak family has a casino with a lot of alcohol. I don't know... should we do it?"

Director Dell frowned slightly, so slightly that it was almost imperceptible.

He hasn't dealt with the Lance family yet, so he's not too concerned about dealing with the Kodak family.

The Kodak family also has connections in Congress, and the closure of the Kodak family’s casinos will affect their ability to transfer benefits to Congress.

By then, if the people in Congress whose interests are harmed say something fishy, ​​the solution to the problem that he had finally thought of would be disrupted again.

But he couldn't bring down the morale of his men, so after a little thought, he came up with an idea, "I must intervene, but not now!"

"Our main focus now is to make these people admit that they are members of the same gang and to make them confess their previous business transactions."

"Then see if there is any way to eliminate them and the higher-level mafia organizations!"

Ponda was stunned for a moment. No one had told him this before. "You mean... we are going to take action against Lance?"

Director Dale nodded, "Yes, we all know that they are from the Lance family, and we also know that Lance is the mastermind behind all this."

"Only when Lance is arrested and brought to court can this case be truly solved!"

"Ponda, you know, Lukar."

"He is a very good person, capable and loves this job, but because of some things, he..."

"We didn't have a chance before, so we could just ignore it for now, but now we have a chance. Whether it's for a just cause or revenge for our friends, we need to catch Lance!"

If Lance is really caught, it will not be a simple matter of violating the Prohibition Order. The prosecutor will also collect evidence of his other crimes and prosecute him together.

If that day ever comes, Lance will be dead!

Pang Da held his breath slightly, and his heart seemed to be gripped by some force and almost stopped beating!

If Lance is really caught, will he confess?

He didn't know, and he didn't want to know.

The uneasiness in his heart was not reflected on his face. He just pretended to agree with Director Dale's idea. "Yes, you are right. We should solve the problem at hand first, and then consider other things."

Director Dell was pleased that this capable subordinate understood him, "I'm glad you think so!"

"The Kodak family's casino is right there. They are now providing alcohol to their customers and they will not stop in the future, so we can take action against them at any time."

"There's no need to rush to arrest them right now." "As long as the result meets our requirements, we can make some concessions on time and process!"

He paused, "Okay, do you have any other work to do?"

He meant that Pangda could leave. Pangda picked up the coffee and then stood up. "No more, I'm going to work."

He pointed to the coffee cup in his hand, and Director Dale said with a smile, "Take it away, but remember to have someone take it to the sink when you're done!"

Ponda's expression became visibly worse when he came out of the director's office. He now had two weaknesses.

Lisa and the kids, and Lance.

He cursed inwardly, then returned to the office and began to deal with the work at hand. There were a lot of documents that needed his review and signature, but he was always thinking about Director Dell's attitude in his heart.

The whole morning passed by in a flash as he was busy with various things that could not be said to be absolutely important but which took up his time.

At 11:55, he put down his work, rubbed his wrists, and smoked a cigarette.

When the time reached 0::, the phone rang suddenly, and the hour, minute and second hands all pointed to "".

He immediately picked up the phone, "This is Ponda."

"Is there any result?"

Lance's voice came from the receiver.

Ponda didn't speak immediately. He needed to organize his words and was also thinking about how to tell Lance about this.

You can't just start by saying "He wants to kill you", right?

Lance didn't urge him. Since he didn't say anything, it meant that there might have been some accident.

About a minute or two later, Lance also lit a cigarette, and then Ponda spoke.

"First of all, the director has not agreed. He doesn't seem to want me to take action against the Kodak family."

"I have to report this kind of action to him. If he doesn't agree, I can't take people out to act on my own. It will cause trouble."

"The second thing..."

Lance was originally planning to say "forget it if it doesn't work", but then there was "the second thing". He realized that things had changed beyond his expectations.

He remained silent, the only sounds coming from the receiver were his occasional cigarette smoke and the slight crackling sound of the cigarette butt burning.

"When I went to his office door in the morning, I heard him talking on the phone with someone else, talking about 'death penalty' and 'committee'."

Lance added at this time, "Is it the 'Prohibition Committee'?"

Ponda did not admit it, "I didn't hear it clearly, so I can't say anything."

"Then when we were discussing your current case, he mentioned that we should continue to trace it back to its source..."

There was a pause when he said this, "...saying that the ultimate goal is you, and you are more valuable than others."

Lance was stunned for a moment, and then Lance's laughter came from the receiver, "Catch me?"

He found it kind of funny.

Ponda didn't laugh, "Yes, he asked us to find a way to get a confession and make them admit that they all belong to the Lance family and work for you."

"He wanted to make a big case, one that would shock the whole country."

At this time, Ponda gradually figured this out. In fact, since the establishment of the Hazardous Materials Management Bureau, Director Dell has been trying his best to make big cases.

He was even a little crazy and had someone falsely report the value of the case in order to cause a sensation and attract the attention of Congress.

His mind was not on Prohibition at all. He just wanted to use the Hazardous Materials Administration as a springboard to return to the Golden State.

Lance laughed for a while and then his laughter gradually became colder until it finally stopped.

"What do you think, Ponda?"

Ponda didn't know what to say. He didn't want anything to happen to Lance, because if anything happened to Lance, it would mean something would happen to him.

But he couldn't say that now. It went against everything he had insisted on in the past, so he could only remain silent.

Lance didn't force him. "Take some time to find out where the successor would come from if something happened to Dell."

"Since he has regarded me as his rival, I will not show him mercy."

"I don't ask you to stand on my side, but you can't stand on his side either, do you understand me?"

"As for the Kodak family, since you can't do it, forget it. I will think of other ways."

Soon the call was hung up. Ponda slowly placed the receiver on the phone base, leaned back in his chair, and sighed.

Why is life so troublesome?

(End of this chapter)