Shadow Empire

Chapter 762 Don’t Think with Your Cerebellum

In a room, some guys who looked more like politicians or big shots than gangsters suddenly burst into laughter.

The gentleman holding the phone looked particularly embarrassed. He looked a little thin, had some bags under his eyes, and his skin was dark, but not the dark kind.

He raised his eyebrows, adding some wrinkles to his forehead.

It is worth mentioning that he has a slicked back hair and a nice "M"-shaped hairline, which makes his face look like a heart shape.

He put the phone back on its cradle, then shrugged and sat on the chair behind him, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his lap with his fingers interlaced but not closed. "Well, laugh as much as you want!"

Everyone had stopped laughing, but after he said this, the gentlemen started laughing again. Even he himself was infected by their laughter and couldn't help laughing along.

"It's been how many years since someone spoke to me like this?" He laughed so hard that tears came out.

Ever since the Perez family established their position in the federation, whenever they mention their family name, not to mention politics, the gangs need to give them some face.

After all, this is the Perez family, known for being ferocious and powerful.

If we say that the five major families in Jingang City are five powerful gangs that emerged through repeated gunfights in the city.

Then the five major families of the Federation represent the pinnacle of federal gang forces!

The tentacles of each family span multiple states. They are no longer just simple gangs, they also have a large number of legal and legitimate businesses across various industries.

A super combination of politics, economy and gangs!
It is a special product of this distorted era!

The guy who called Lance is a direct member of the Perez family. He is ranked in the top ten in the gang and is a cousin of the hosts of Perez's generation.

We all have a good personal relationship. We grew up together and have experienced a lot of things. In addition, we have a close blood relationship.

As long as you don't do anything stupid that harms everyone's interests, everyone will tolerate it even if you don't have a good personality.

Not to mention, this guy has actually been doing a good job and is a good guy for them.

The guy sitting behind the desk is the executor of the Perez family, the head of the family, "Fran Perez", a guy who looks very stylish.

"Bob..." He was looking at the guy with the heart-shaped face who called Lance. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"Just like you said, it has been many years since anyone dared to do this. He must have something to rely on."

"I heard that the people in Likalai State have been getting involved with Cleveland and his group recently. Are they these people?"

Another guy in the room frowned. "If they get together with those people in Cleveland, it won't be a good thing for us. Their power in Congress is growing. If we can't find someone to back us up, this matter will become a little tricky."

Bob turned in his chair and looked back at the guy who was talking, it was their brother and also a lawyer.

His business ability is impeccable. With the help of family resources, he graduated from an elite alliance college and then joined the Golden Diamond Law Firm.

Now he has separated from the law firm and set up his own law firm to help the family solve some legal problems.

After all, it costs a lot of money to hire those lawyers, and some things are not suitable for outsiders to know. It is much more convenient to have a lawyer who is a blood relative.

It is difficult to become an excellent lawyer, but it is much easier to be almost the same.

"trouble?"

"How much trouble can it be?"

There was no awe on Bob's face for those people like Senator Cleveland. They also had senators behind them, and not just one or two, but a whole small political group.

Maybe the political representatives behind them are not doing so well, but they are not too bad either.

After all, what matters in Congress is votes, seats, and support rates, not who has the harder fist.

As long as they have enough people on their side, even if they are not that strong or are even on the decline, they will not be afraid of anyone.

In a two-choice vote, a person's change in position is the result of adding one or subtracting one, and the gap will increase by two.

Fran raised her hand and pressed it lightly, "Okay, stop arguing about other people's affairs."

"First we have to investigate who is causing this trouble, and then teach them a lesson."

Bob turned and looked at Fran. "Do you believe what he said?"

He was referring to Lance's words that this matter had nothing to do with him.

Fran nodded. "I'm not sure what kind of person he is, but if a gangster can make it to the Golden State and has connections with senators, he can't be someone who doesn't even dare to admit what he did!"

"So I believe him, someone is trying to stir up a conflict between us."

Bob was silent for a while, but he knew it too.

When Lance said he didn't do it, his reason and instinct told him that Lance was not lying.

But the problem now is not where the wine went or who did it, but a matter of face.

Or maybe Mr. Bob and other members of the Perez family were a little too arrogant. They felt that since the Perez family had called Lance, Lance should lower his posture and humbly make promises and guarantees to them.

He assured me that he had never done this and promised that he would find those who had actually carried out these plans as soon as possible and recover their lost wine.

This is the normal process and what happens when they get into trouble over the years.

It is definitely not a matter of shirking responsibility right away and telling them that without Lance's consent, even the Perez family's wine is not allowed to enter Likalai State!

His tough attitude angered Bob, so the two sides had a head-on confrontation and ended up parting on bad terms.

They wanted Lance to explain, promise and bow his head, but they didn't expect to be greeted with a punch from Lance!

Bob didn't like Lance's attitude and he didn't feel respected.

But they all knew it, including Fran, but he didn't say anything.

Bob has done a lot for his family, and he has also been hurt, suffered losses, and been beaten. Their life has not always been smooth sailing, and they have also experienced ups and downs and hardships.

So in Fran's opinion, there was no need to create a gap between himself and his brother for the sake of a small character who might be a little strong.

He could have clearly pressed the stop button at the beginning to avoid any conflicts and disagreements between the two sides, but he didn't do that.

Because he always considered them to be the stronger party and Lance to be the weaker party, and that in the end they would be the victors, not Lance.

So it's like some small changes in normal life, and he can already see the "future".

One day in the future, Lance bowed his head in front of him and begged for his forgiveness!
Who could say no to such little pleasures in life?

Fran stroked his hair. "Originally, we were going to let Lance and the others investigate who was behind this, but... Bob, I'll leave this to you."

"I believe this matter will not be that difficult."

"They're also going to use us to deal with Lance and his people, which means he's weaker than us, and there's a chance that he can't even handle Lance's family."

"Find out who Lance and the others have had conflicts with recently. Find some unresolved ones. It should be one of them."

Bob nodded. "No problem. That's easy."

He hesitated, "What about Lance?"

Fran's face was full of smiles. He raised his eyebrows and looked down. He was playing with a small accessory in his hand. "It's normal for young people to be ignorant and impulsive, but he needs to pay the price for it."

"We were all young once, we all made mistakes, and we all learned lessons from them and kept them in mind."

"I hope he can also understand how to give us the necessary respect!"

Gangsters are not politicians or capitalists. They have their own code of conduct and style.

Sometimes they will attack someone because “this person looked at me a little too much”, or they may kill someone because “I heard from others that you said bad things about me behind my back”. For gangsters, if they don’t bite others, they will be bitten by others.

The gentlemen in the room also became more serious. Bob stood up, shook his shoulders to make his clothes fit more smoothly, and then bowed slightly, "As you wish, Fran!"

Only then did Fran move his gaze back from the pure gold coin in his hand to the people in front of him, but the gold coin was still rolling back and forth between his fingers.

Some unexpected things happened in the evening, and many people knew that the Lans family had "confiscated" millions of dollars worth of wine from the Perez family in Likalai State and killed their driver.

This matter began to ferment rapidly in a very short period of time, and Fran has received several calls asking about this matter.

Ask him if there is any misunderstanding between him and Lance and whether mediation is needed. Some people are willing to help for free, but both parties need to owe him a favor.

Some people also asked him whether he wanted to take action against Lance. If he needed help, these people could provide some help, either in terms of force or other aspects.

The price is that the market in Likalai State will be shared with them.

Someone else asked him if he had any way to get the business license that Lance had, and if he could, he could name his price.

Everyone seems to be a curious baby and everyone has countless questions.

Obviously, those things were kept secret, and he believed that Lance would not be stupid enough to publicize them everywhere. However, even so, in a very short period of time, almost everyone knew about it.

And now he's getting in trouble.

Because of people's speculation and evaluation, some people think that the Perez family may not dare to go to war with the Lance family because of the constraints of the superstructure or for some other reasons.

This caused some people to have a collective climax!

It seemed that being able to determine that the Perez family had fallen on hard times and could be bullied by a local gang was something that should make everyone happy.

This makes it impossible to deal with this matter relatively gently.

Some people are waiting to see them become the biggest joke in the federal gangland world, while others are waiting to see them use thundering means to wipe out the Lance family and prove that they are worthy of being one of the top five families in the federation.

Now they are like a trimmed steak placed on the grill, and no matter how you turn them over, they will suffer.

Everyone gathered together again for dinner, and this time it seemed a little dull.

After about seven or eight minutes, Bob asked awkwardly, "Our plan..."

Fran put down his knife and fork, picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. Everyone else's eyes were focused on him. He threw the napkin on the table and pressed his hands on the edge of the table. "I'll call Lance later and talk about this!"

The other members agreed with his point of view. The lawyer brother in the family asked, "Then on a scale..."

Fran had already made his decision before dinner, and he was just saying it now, "Let Lance come here with sincerity to apologize, apologize to the Perez family, and apologize to Bob."

"If the purpose of the mastermind behind this is to make us go to war, then if we go to war he will just laugh happily while hiding in his dark rat hole. I don't like being used."

"Let Lance come over, people will see this and they will understand that we are still ourselves!"

Even at this moment, what he considered to be a "compromise" was only out of consideration for the family's interests. Going to war and causing trouble for Lance were two different things.

No one would stop him in the latter case. After all, he has been the eldest brother for so many years. Even though they all know that Lance is wronged, now that the eldest brother says you have to apologize, you have to apologize. This is the eldest brother's power.

Even if doing so would make it difficult for Lance.

It is one of the laws of the jungle that the strong make things difficult for the weak, and even if it is a little excessive, it is allowed by people.

This is like a senator scolding a congressman. They are all members of Congress, and in terms of laws and regulations, the Senate and the House of Representatives are equal, but no one would think that it is excessive for a senator to scold a congressman.

Even giving him a slap in the face or grabbing his collar and shaking him back and forth would not be considered excessive!

He was just trying to "make things difficult" for Lance. The advantage of doing so was that it avoided fighting and also made people realize that they were still one of the five powerful federal families.

Neither Fran nor Bob had ever considered the matter from Lance's perspective.

Actually, it's not their fault. Arrogant people are like this. They don't have more empathy like those at the bottom. All they think about are themselves and their own interests. They don't think that doing this will make Lance lose face and will call the authority of the Lance family into question.

They only care about themselves.

After dinner, several high-ranking family members who had nothing else to do came to his study with Fran.

He adjusted his sitting position, ordered a cup of coffee and lit a cigarette.

He thought about it carefully over a cigarette and a cup of coffee, and after making sure that there was nothing missing, he dialed the number Bob gave him.

The phone took a long time to ring before it was connected because Lance was also eating and dealing with these things.

"Lance?"

"it's me."

"My name is Fran, Fran Perez, I hope you have heard of this name!" Fran introduced himself as soon as he came up.

In the afternoon, Lance made a quick study of the relationships between the five major families and also roughly understood the situation of the Perez family.

Business, politics and black areas have developed comprehensively and in parallel, and they are all developing quite well.

The gangs protect businesses, and the profits from business give them political influence, and the political influence ensures that they will not be caught by the police. This forms a simple closed loop that continues to circulate and grow.

He also found out the name of the eldest son of the Perez family.

"So?" The sound of Lance lighting a cigarette and inhaling came from the receiver. Coupled with this simple "so", Fran immediately frowned.

But he still maintained his patience, because he was a superior person, and superior people have the dignity of superior people.

"Now people are saying you did it, Lance. They are waiting for our decision, a decision that will determine your fate."

What he said seemed to be very peaceful, but the arrogance in his bones was already revealed, making people feel very uncomfortable.

They always say "you have to do this" or "you have to do that". These people are used to bullying and their brains can no longer keep up with the development of the times.

Lance is not the kind of person who will swallow his anger. He now has close ties with Congress and the military. He is not afraid of anyone!

So he choked back, "You can't decide my fate, Mr. Fran, you can't even decide your own!"

"We are all gangsters. Don't act so superior. No one is superior to anyone else!"

Fran leaned back, her back pressed against the back of the chair. "You're rejecting my offer."

Lance laughed twice, "I just rejected a presumptuous idea!"

Fran's tone already contained some impatience and anger, "It seems we can't reach an agreement?"

Lance continued to fight back, refusing to give in. "If what you call a deal is to step on my face and tell people how great you are, then I'm sorry, I can't do it."

"I'm even curious, if we go to war, who will win and who will lose."

When Fran heard this, he was so angry that he laughed. He felt that his kindness and mercy were thrown to the ground by Lance. He was very angry!

"You sharp-tongued brat, I hope your strength is as sharp as your words. You will regret the wrong decision you made today for the rest of your life!"

This was a naked threat, and Lance didn't let him off. "You can try. They can kill all your people and steal your goods, but I can do the same. I can even do better than them!"

"And I have to give you a piece of advice. And what about Mr. Bob?"

"Next time you think about a problem, even if you can't use your brain, don't use your cerebellum!"

"What a fucking bummer!"

(End of this chapter)