Shadow Empire

Chapter 594 Monopoly and Blackmailers

In fact, Lance didn't know how much money Mr. Serre owed him. He didn't care about it. The extra money was a punishment for him.

If apologies and compensation for damages were useful, why would the federal government need so many courts and prosecutors?
This is a punishment so that he won't dare to do it again next time. Of course, there is a high probability that he won't do it again.

"I heard there was already a movie that grossed millions before?" Lance seemed to have heard someone say this.

The director immediately agreed, "Yes, but that's just the box office revenue generated. We don't know exactly how much is real and how much is fake."

"The production company only made over four hundred thousand dollars."

"So little?" Lance found it a little unbelievable. With a box office of several million, even if it was just exaggerated, the production company only earned less than 10%. This was obviously too unreasonable.

The director smiled and explained, "Because everyone has been using the buyout method before, counting the box office is just a marketing strategy, Mr. Lance."

"People are more likely to buy tickets to see movies that have made box office history, even if they are not cheap."

"But in fact, the buyout fee for that movie was about 750 yuan, and there were cases of pirated screenings in some areas."

750 yuan per copy, 100 copies only cost 75,000 yuan, 600 copies only cost more than 400,000 yuan. If there are still pirated copies, they are indeed out of luck.

This is also the most important problem that all film companies are facing now. Making movies definitely makes money, but most of the money goes to cinemas.

"If we can ensure the feasibility of the box office revenue sharing model, we are willing to help them distribute the film and provide guarantees for the film's broadcast."

"Do you think they would be willing to join our system?"

Lance expressed his considerations. The director was stunned for a moment and his eyes gradually widened. He understood what Lance meant too well!

"This is really... God!"

"You'll be the God of all the movie companies, Mr. Lance!"

“Everyone will go crazy for you!”

He suddenly became enthusiastic because he realized that if this could really work, then his status in the film industry would be even higher!
If any film production company wants to make money, they have to give their films to them for distribution and broadcast.

When the time comes, he has the final say on how to release and who to release!

He was so excited that his body was shaking slightly. As a federal man of that period, he understood too well the value of the word "monopoly"!
If only Lance can do this, then it's a monopoly.

And monopoly will bring immeasurable benefits, wealth, status, everything!
"You can talk about this matter to everyone intentionally or unintentionally recently, find a few reporters, publicize it, and then sit down and talk with everyone to see how to set the price."

"I would prefer that we also share a percentage of the box office with them."

"Also, someone may come to cause trouble for you recently. I have arranged for someone to be near the company, so you should also be careful."

After the director left, Lance walked to the window to smoke. He looked at the beautiful scenery outside the window and enjoyed the peace brought by the tobacco for a moment.

But soon, this peace was interrupted by a phone call.

He walked back to the table with a cigarette in his mouth, sat down, and answered the phone. "It's me."

"Mr. Lance, I am... I have run into a problem and I don't know how to tell you."

The call was from the casino. Lance frowned and said, "Speak in your simplest language."

This guy is from the Kodak family. In order to raise the banner of "I am not a tyrant", they are still working in the casino and still have everything they had before.

After people begin to accept all this, Lance will find a way to slowly replace them and eventually clean them out.

He didn't trust these people, ever.

If he killed Bolton's son Rob, Bolton could still be trusted because of Bolton's desire for power, and there was Gerard as a bridge of trust between them, and Bolton's current family was under his control.

Then the hatred between him and the remnants of the Kodak family may not be so naked, but it will definitely not be less.

There is no bridge of trust or guarantee between them. Maybe now and in the future, they will remain loyal to Lance, but as long as they have the chance, they will definitely betray Lance.

Lance was unwilling to gamble that these people all had good character and were willing to devote their entire loyalty to their enemies, so once their usefulness disappeared, that would be the moment they disappeared.

The casinos really need them now. No one in Lance has ever run a casino. Morris is very familiar with casinos, but he is still trying to figure out how to run a casino well.

These people can provide some valuable experience and enable Lans' people to grow rapidly.

Hearing Lance say this, he immediately organized his words, "There is a player who keeps winning. We suspect he is cheating, but we can't find any signs of cheating."

This happens all the time, in stories, or rumors, "So did he cheat?"

The voice coming from the receiver was a little panicked, "He must have cheated, otherwise no one can win all the time, Mr. Lance!"

Lance took a drag on his cigarette, "Did you guys resort to trickery?"

He knew that there were some dealers in the casino who knew a few tricks. Each dealer had his own unique skills. The more capable the dealer was, the higher his income would be, so they were very happy to do this.

“I used it, but I still lost.”

"He used tricks and still lost, so he must have cheated."

Lance laughed twice at first, but soon stopped smiling, "Did Maurice deal with it?"

"The manager has already dealt with it, but the other party... is asking for a very high price."

In fact, this situation has occurred in many casinos, where some people have superb skills and always win when they come to gamble.

The best way is to send them to the west, but this is not always possible.

So the only option is to give them some money, ask them to get out, and then put this person on the blacklist at the same time.

The next time they come, we won’t provide chip exchange service or even let them in.

Morris went to deal with it, which means that Morris gave him money, but this person's purpose was not to make a fortune.

Lance said "I know" and hung up the phone and walked out of the office.

When he came down from upstairs, many people in the hall who were chatting, playing video games or billiards stopped what they were doing when they saw Lance and just stood there looking at him.

Lance looked around at several people. Hiram was not there, as he had gone to the director's place. Lawn was in New Gold City and had not returned yet.

His eyes moved around, scanning some young people who were eager to try, and then stopped on Devin.

He was deeply impressed by Devin, a ruthless man who was very good at torturing people.

"Davin, take your people and follow me."

Daven immediately pumped his fist, "No problem, Boss!"

The people around him also smiled, put down what they were holding and surrounded Lance.

The moment the gate was pushed open, passers-by passing by the gate subconsciously quickened their pace or stopped outside the gate. The doors of cars slowly parked on the side of the road were opened by gang members at the door.

Lance walked out quickly and got into the car. The whole process took only four or five seconds.

"Where are we going?" Daven turned around and asked.

"Go to Jingang Casino."

The convoy started slowly and many people saluted it.

More than ten minutes later, the convoy arrived at Jingang Casino, and someone was already waiting for him at the door.

Looking at the fat white man who kept wiping his sweat, Lance matched him with the person who had just called him.

"Mr. Lance, please follow me."

Lance nodded, and the group quickly entered the hall. They were not in the gambling hall on the second floor.

The upper limit in the first floor hall is one hundred yuan, which means that no matter which gambling table you play the game at, the maximum chips you can bet is one hundred yuan.

The dealer will push the excess amount to you, and the maximum winning or loss is one hundred yuan.

They put it nicely, saying it is to prevent gamblers from getting too addicted, but in fact they are screening out the poor and the rich.

The first floor only offers free ice lemon water and some cheap food, they used to offer some cheap alcohol but they can't do that anymore.

The second floor offers even more, including juice, coffee, black tea, and a variety of food.

Even if someone says they need a massage or something like that, the casino will provide it, but it will cost a fee.

On the third floor, for real VIPs, everything is provided for free, including drinks.

If a guest says he is hungry and wants to eat lamb chops, a chef will come over with a cooking cart and cook two lamb chops in front of the guest for them to eat.

As for the fourth floor, although it is operated by a casino, it is a gambling place between guests. The casino is only responsible for providing the venue, gambling games and the role of dealers.

Sometimes the dealers don't even need to provide it, they can do it themselves.

The minimum bet amount on the second floor was 20 yuan, and the upper limit was 2,000 yuan. Although this was not a small bet, there were still many people here. As soon as he went up to the second floor, Lance saw that a gambling table in the hall was already surrounded by people, accompanied by people's constant shouting, followed by thunderous cheers and laughter.

There is no doubt that the Lighthouse is leading his followers on a killing spree.

When he saw Lance, Morris breathed a sigh of relief. He took the initiative to leave the gambling table and come to Lance. "I'm a little confused."

As he spoke, he and Lance walked towards the gambling table, "I've been watching him. It doesn't look like he's cheating, but you know, no one can win all the time at the gambling table."

Lance nodded, "How much did we lose?"

"We've lost seventeen times in a row. People are going crazy now. Every time we open it, we lose about forty or fifty thousand."

"The good news is that not everyone dares to place a bet, but the bad news is that person doesn't seem to have any intention of stopping."

Lance nodded, "I heard he wants a high price?"

Morris sighed, "He wants two million."

This is indeed an absurdly high number. If the news gets out, those who think they are masters of cheating will soon gather here and ask for exorbitant amounts of money.

Lance turned around and whispered something in Morris's ear, then walked over to the gambling table.

The casino staff cleared a seat and asked Lance to sit down.

After Lance sat down, the gamblers who were originally shouting "Deal the cards quickly" were suddenly startled!
Except for a very few people, most gamblers took back their chips and moved away from the table.

They knew Lance.

Perhaps the media and newspapers would use some glorified methods to cover up the bloody extent of the power transition in casinos, but as gamblers who hang out in casinos every day, how could they not have heard about it.

More than half of the Kodak family died, their property was drained out, a lot of core figures died, and only Fleming was missing.

The prosecutor's application for pardon on behalf of Stone was rejected, but they gave Stone a "discount" in sentencing, fifteen years.

If he can work hard and get his sentence reduced, he will only be in his early forties when he is released.

How could Lance, who had done so much to get the casino, defeat the "civilized people" of the Kodak family through some business means?
They didn't dare to act recklessly. Their passion began to subside and they became rational.

But there are also some people who are new here and don’t know much about the situation here, and are still following that person to place bets.

The man looked at Lance with calm eyes, as if he didn't know him.

But Lance thought that this person knew him.

The dealer glanced at Lance and asked him if he wanted to continue dealing cards. Lance nodded.

The suspected cheater won again.

In fact, at this moment, even the dumbest person would know that this person is cheating.

The dealer pushed the chips in front of him, and he picked up a two thousand dollar chip and threw it back into the betting area.

Lance turned and looked at Morris. Morris walked over and bent over. Lance said a few words in his ear. Then Morris took over the position of dealer and took a new deck of cards to deal the cards.

"I heard you want two million?"

The gambler nodded, "Yes, two million, I'll leave now."

Lance didn't refuse, "If you can win these three times, I agree to give you this amount."

Lance nodded to Morris, and Morris began to deal the cards.

There is no doubt that the cheater won again, and won three times in a row.

When he was about to reach out to pick up the poker in front of him and throw it back, Lance put his hand on his arm.

Morris took back the cards in front of him, and there was a slight change in the eyes of the cheater sitting at the table.

Lance said, "They said you cheated, and to be honest I didn't see how you did it, but I trust my people."

"Would you mind going into the next room so we can check your stuff?"

"If you hadn't cheated, I would have given you two million and made sure you left Jingang City safely."

"If you cheated, then all I can say is I'm sorry."

The man was not afraid. After a brief silence, he smiled and said, "What?"

“Is it cheating as long as you win money?”

"Are you going to search someone if they win money?"

He didn't look at Lance, but at the others, as if giving them the signal.

In this casino, you can only lose money, not win money.

This is a big taboo for casinos, which is why many casinos, when faced with such a situation, will give money to keep things quiet.

If the news that "casinos do not allow players to win money" spreads, the casino's business will soon become visibly deserted.

Although most people lose money in casinos, what if?
They think, what if they win?
Lance looked at Morris, "Count the cards."

The guy who was a bit domineering suddenly stopped talking.

He made a lot of small movements with his hands, sometimes clenching his fists, sometimes pointing one or two fingers, and Lance was staring at him the whole time.

Soon the cards were counted, fifty-two cards, but five of them were the same.

Lance stood up and glanced at Devin, "I'll leave it to you."

The others also realized what had happened. They looked at the man as if it was a matter of course but also in surprise. The man sat there with a changing expression on his face.

He stood up suddenly. "This is a frame-up, sir!"

"That card was slipped in by this gentleman, it has nothing to do with me."

Lance shook his head and went straight to the general manager's office, and Morris soon followed back.

"How do you know he cheated like that?", Morris asked.

He looked for a long time but couldn't figure it out, but Lance figured it out after a while. He found it a little unbelievable.

Lance didn't hide his thoughts. "Although our playing cards are printed separately, it's not difficult for someone to get them if they want."

"They could also spend the same amount of money and find a printer to print similar cards for them, so we can't tell which ones are ours and which ones they brought."

"If he cheated, then he must have changed the cards in front of him."

"The fifty-two cards will not change. If he changes any one of them, there will definitely be one more or one less."

"You didn't notice it before because he always picked up his cards and threw them to the dealer."

"He probably took back the cards he had exchanged at that time, so you didn't notice anything wrong."

Morris nodded repeatedly after listening to it. "What you said makes sense, but is it worth it for him to take such a big risk?"

Lance shook his head, "That might have to wait a while. I'm sure Devin can come up with something that I'm interested in."

Less than fifteen minutes later, Devin came into the room with a shirt.

"Looks like he's cheating with this shirt?", Lance asked.

Devin showed them a look. The cuffs of this shirt were a little wider than those of ordinary shirts. There were a few playing cards hidden inside, which could be taken out or stuffed in through a hole with a similar pattern.

It is a very interesting little mechanism. When you put a poker card into a pattern, another poker card will pop out from the same place.

Even if someone asked him to take off his clothes for inspection, they might not be able to discover the secret in his sleeves.

For those who are proficient in gambling, they don't need to hide a whole deck of cards, just three or five cards to maintain the highest winning rate.

"And what is his purpose?"

Devin grinned and said, "He is a friend of Bandy's and wants to help Bandy get revenge."

Lance then said, "By the way, extort some money from me."

Daven shrugged and said, "That's what I mean."

Lance played with the interesting little mechanism for a few times, then said, "Make a display case and put it near the entrance of the casino so that everyone can see it."

"Then that person, get rid of him. I need everyone to know why they died. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Boss!"

(End of this chapter)