Shadow Empire

Chapter 819 Big Scandal

The deputy governor ran his free hand twice, gently, back through his hair.

But the next second, he suddenly flicked the cigarette in his hand towards the director, and at the same time threw the ashtray next to him.

The director didn't dare to hide, he just held his head and took the ashtray's hit.

The ashtray fell to the ground with a clear thump, and the butler's voice sounded at the right time outside the door, "Master, do you need me to come in?"

The deputy governor's butler stood at the door and asked.

The deputy governor shook his shoulders and lowered his sleeves, which had been lifted up due to the sudden movement. "No, I'll call you if I need anything."

He said, looking at the director, "And then?"

Just now, the ashtray hit him directly on the arm. Fortunately, he raised his hands, otherwise, this blow would have hit his head and caused a bloody mess.

The deputy governor showed no mercy and went straight for his head. Of course, this was also a sign of his anger.

If everything is really as the chief said, and Sheriff Matthew's "key clue" falls into the hands of the other party and he is interrogated and finds out something, the chief will be the first to escape, and he will be the second.

In fact, many times you don’t necessarily need evidence to do something.

Government executive orders are not laws and do not need to comply with certain regulations or laws to take effect. All they need is a word from the governor and a signature, and many things will go in the worst direction.

What's more, even laws may not necessarily bring true fairness and justice to people.

Once public opinion is stirred up, the governor may have to sacrifice them in order to resolve it.

The deputy governor is still thinking about running for the next governor, and has not considered at all that even his position as deputy governor is not secure now. How can he continue to maintain a good temper?
Most of the people in high positions are bad-tempered, not because they are uneducated or have bad natures.

It's simply because of the power they hold that they are more self-centered most of the time.

As long as their ideas and demands are not met, they will feel offended and get angry.

It's just that some people are able to hide these negative emotions and always convey positive emotions to the outside world, making themselves look more glorious and upright.

They can also lose their temper and have bad tempers, just like right now.

The director rubbed his painful arm slightly and continued, "While we were searching for him, we found some clues..."

Before he finished speaking, the deputy governor couldn't help but interrupt, "Why don't you bring him back?"

"What the hell are you waiting for?!"

The chief lowered his head even more. "He was taken away, and the other party may have used a private doctor."

The deputy governor's eyes suddenly narrowed. He leaned back in his chair, tilted his head back, and closed his eyes. "Waste!"

If a private doctor was really used, it would mean that this matter was not just related to gangs like the Lance Family.

"How do you want me to help you?", he asked.

That's why the director came here and told him all these things.

Just like a child who can't figure out a problem, his most likely choice is to look for the parents. The director hopes to find some clues that they can't find through the deputy governor's interpersonal relationships or some other means.

The director said softly, "This matter was triggered by the Lance family. If we end it here and pay a certain price, can it be considered as a compromise?"

The deputy governor lit another cigarette. He was thinking seriously, and would glare at the director from time to time.

After a while, he nodded helplessly, "You can try."

"I want to ask, this Matthew you mentioned, how much did he take from the Lance family that the other party would resort to such means to deal with him?"

The director said softly, "Probably worth two million in market value."

When the deputy governor heard this number, he felt... indescribable. This number made him waver. He suddenly understood why Sheriff Matthew wanted to swallow up this batch of goods.

Because there are too many!
More than two million. It is no exaggeration to say that an ordinary family cannot save this much money even if they don’t eat or drink for a hundred lifetimes.

But at that time, the two million, maybe a little more, was in front of him, just like a wallet that had not been picked up on the roadside.

He only needed to lead the police officers to stop the cars, and then dispose of the bodies as usual, and the wine with a market value of at least two million would become theirs!

They are highway police and officers from the state police department. Who the hell could have imagined that this batch of liquor was not stolen by gangsters but by the police?
But unfortunately, he didn't do that.

The deputy governor looked at the director, "How much did you get from this?"

The director lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "You may not believe this, but I haven't received my share of the money yet."

The deputy governor couldn't help laughing twice, "And then it became like this, a mess."

"You are not even qualified to lick the bottom of the pot. Are you kidding me?"

The director shook his head. "He might give it to me, but after everything is over, we can't wait for that day to come."

The deputy governor sighed, "You always manage to break through the limits of my perception of you!"

He paused and said, "Go do your work. I'll keep an eye on it for you. If there's any news, I'll call your office or home."

The director did not refuse, and he was not in a position to refuse now.

After the director left the room, the deputy governor's brows became more and more furrowed.

When the director was here just now, he had already thought of something, but he didn't say it out loud.

He called several friends in the political arena and they provided him with a very important piece of information:

In Indeno, Mayor Wade is not the only inter-state mayor from Likale, but the first mayoral candidate from Golden Port City to be successfully elected.

Likewise, the Lance family is the local evil force in Jingang City.

The deputy governor didn't believe that there was no connection between them at all.

Maybe Mayor Wade knew something, but he didn't want to call Mayor Wade yet.

He didn't like Mayor Wade. Since this outsider came, he has been pushing for economic construction and local development in a strong way. He used his previous influence and connections in Likale State to promote the rapid development of the local urban economy.

In this environment of economic decline and depression, there is a city that is getting better and better by going against the trend.

More jobs, more social welfare, they are said to give out more food stamps than other places, and they also have very important shelters and free food.

The city also earns more tax revenue than anywhere else!

All of this is telling people something very simple and plain - Mayor Wade has the ability to improve the economy!
The most simple idea for federal people is to have a stable job and a stable income.

Even if they accidentally lose their jobs, they can still maintain a life of at least filling their stomachs by doing odd jobs and receiving food stamps.

Even if by some chance they accidentally become homeless, at least they have free food and a place to escape the cold during the winter so they won't starve to death.

He has many supporters, including the state government. Some people think that Mayor Wade is indeed a good economic manager.

He has accumulated a lot of experience in economic development in Jingang City, and these experiences have been effectively reflected in the cities where he has served, which means that these experiences can be replicated locally.

Being able to replicate means that more cities can improve their economic conditions through this replication. This is the most simple idea of ​​ordinary people. They want to have enough food and clothing, and it would be best if they had some extra money to deal with risks.

This makes the Lieutenant Governor's campaign road full of bumps and this is definitely a strong competitor, so he doesn't want to call Mayor Wade.

But things have developed to this point and it is no longer something he wants or doesn't want to do.

After a long while, he gathered his emotions and called Mayor Wade.

His psychological preparation may have been in vain because Wade was not there.

The secretary told him that when Mayor Wade came back, he would ask him to call him again.

After hanging up the phone, he continued to think, but this time he was not thinking about Wade, not that... Sheriff Matthew, but the chief.

Should I protect him or not?
Just by listening to the chief talking about the crazy things done by Sheriff Matthew and those crazy highway policemen below, he felt like sweating. It was cold sweat, without any temperature, and the already cooling weather made him feel even colder!

These bastards are fucking crazy, he never thought they could be this bad!

If we want to forcibly save the director...

He has a headache. He may have to pay a huge price, and may not get any practical benefits in the end. He may even ruin his campaign for governor!
If we don't protect the director, how can we make him shut up and stop talking nonsense when he knows a lot of things?
Although the deputy governor did not get involved in these appalling events, the transfer of benefits did exist, even if he was not aware of it.

Even if he can clear himself of most of the charges, he will certainly not be able to escape the charge of accepting bribes and committing official crimes, and his dream of running for election will be completely over!
Headache.

The director is right about one thing, they are in trouble.

Later in the evening, Mayor Wade called him and he answered the call.

"Is there anything I can do, Governor?"

Because he had a good hand, Mayor Wade's tone was very light, without any of the irritability and dullness that he had when they had to talk on the phone before.

Now he is like a boy dancing in the rain, full of joy!
This expression of emotion made the deputy governor believe that the damn Sheriff Matthew was in Mayor Wade's hands.

"I want to make a deal with you, Wade." The deputy governor spoke directly. He didn't want to go around in circles with someone he disliked, so he got straight to the point.

Mayor Wade seemed to realize something. Someone who almost never contacted him suddenly called him to confront him, and it was definitely not just for the obvious things.

"What's the deal?" he asked. "I don't have anything valuable, and I don't have much money myself."

The deputy governor didn't want to beat around the bush. "Is Sheriff Matthew on your side?"

"He handed it over to me, and you set the conditions."

If there is any way to not have to consider whether or not to take the position of Baozhou Police Chief, then there is only one possibility, Matthew falls into his hands.

Mayor Wade laughed and said, "Do I have this person around me?"

"I do not know how?"

The deputy governor's mood turned even worse. "Do you mean to say no?"

This sentence actually contained some threats, but Mayor Wade was not afraid at all. "Whatever you think is right, it's fine. I don't care."

The deputy governor was so angry that he laughed, "Do you think you can threaten me just by getting a Matthew?"

"Wade, you are not a child anymore, can you stop being so childish?"

Mayor Wade showed no sign of weakness or concession. "I am not threatening anyone, nor do I intend to fight with anyone. I am just communicating with you calmly."

"You want me to admit something I can't admit. What do you want me to do?"

The deputy governor's voice became louder. "We all know what's going on. When you tease me, aren't you also teasing yourself?"

"I am sincere in wanting to resolve this issue, and I can assure you that Matthew and his officers will be relieved of their duties. Your friends can do whatever they want, but this matter ends here!"

Mayor Wade said with a smile, "I'm just afraid that you won't be able to accept the conditions I offer."

This sentence was equivalent to acknowledging the deputy governor's point of view. Matthew was in Mayor Wade's hands. He asked softly, "Make a condition."

Mayor Wade hesitated for a moment and said, "Since you are so sincere, I will change the condition. If you can do it, I will give Matthew to you."

"If you can't do that, then this call between us ends here."

The deputy governor took a deep breath and said, "You say!"

Mayor Wade said with a smile in a joking tone, "If you publicly announce your withdrawal from the next gubernatorial election and support me to win the election, I will return Matthew to you."

"The fact that you can negotiate with me shows that you actually know Matthew's value. Don't say that I didn't give you a chance!"

"You can't do it!" The deputy governor cursed directly in the receiver, "You only got a low-level chess piece, you can't change the situation!"

After he said that, he hung up the phone heavily.

A few days later, Mello called Lance and told him a somewhat outrageous news that Alan and his men had returned to Jingang City.

Lance also found it incredible, and then Allen explained their escape situation on the phone -

“We went all the way west into southern Ya’an.”

"Southern Ya'an Prefecture," Lance repeated.

South Ya'an State is the southernmost state on the west coast. This is Alan's first time to the west coast. After entering South Ya'an State, he felt a different kind of style.

If his impression of the East Coast was those tall buildings and the well-dressed elites carrying briefcases shuttling between various financial companies.

They are white-collar workers who hold a sandwich and coffee in their hands and jog towards the company on the crowded streets in the morning to start a new day's work.

It is a fast-paced city where people talk a lot about economy, development and politics.

Then South Ya'an Prefecture is like... pastoral!

The West Coast is also home to the Liberal Party, which supports a free-wheeling lifestyle that sees people chanting "Long Live Liberty" and then heading into economic recession - as reported by the Socialist newspapers.

They say that a large part of the reason for the federal economy's downturn is that the Liberal Party does not know how to make social progress on economic issues and they only know how to use their own ideological methods.

As for the Federalist Party?
The Liberal Party and the Socialist Party are also colliding. The more people join them, the larger their share in Congress and the entire federal society will be.

On the contrary, the Federalist Party, which dominated social status for a period of time after the founding of the country, has gradually declined and has not made any progress to this day.

There are also many companies on the West Coast, but the slow pace of life makes people seem more free and casual.

People won’t race against time, they might choose between being late for work and sitting down for Hebei Coffee, ordering another sandwich and then sitting down for coffee.

This also allowed Allen to experience different customs and practices.

They did not stay in South Ya'an Prefecture for too long, and then they drove through four states from the intercontinental highway in the north. The three of them took turns driving for 24 hours, and finally after almost a week, they drove the car back to Likalai Prefecture.

Melo said the car needed major repairs before it could be driven again, and the car smelled very bad and needed to be disinfected or something.

In fact, the smell was some blood that had not been cleaned up. They had to be thankful that the temperature was not high now, otherwise they might have been infected by bacteria and viruses in the car before they even returned.

In short, the situation was roughly like this. They dumped the body of Sheriff Matthew's eldest son in an abandoned warehouse on the road west of Redstone City. Such warehouses can be found not only in the east, but also in the west.

They were all bought by the ultimate speculators who bet that the city's development would exceed expectations, and they were waiting for the day when everything could go back to the way it was before.

Lance listened to him talk about the entire kidnapping process and gave him an evaluation - too stupid.

Fortunately, the whole thing was handled very well, which is also a good thing.

In late November, all major newspapers in Indno received a packet with the words "Important News" on it.

Many newspapers, especially large ones, receive many packages like this every day.

There are always some people who think they are great writers of the time, and that anything they write will be admired by thousands of people.

These free manuscripts are handed over to specialized review editors and editors-in-chief. More senior editors, such as the editor-in-chief, will only review serious political news, such as front-page headlines.

For entertainment-related or less serious news, they are handed over to others for screening before deciding whether to publish them.

While he was busy with his work, an editor knocked on the door and asked, "Can I come in?"

The editor-in-chief nodded, "Of course."

The person who came was an editor-in-chief, whose job was to select news materials provided by the public.

He handed over the package in his hand, "You need to see this."

(End of this chapter)