Shadow Empire

Chapter 875: Burning and Opportunity

An old security guard at the factory gate looked at the flames in the warehouse area that dyed the sky red, and his small eyes were filled with fear!
He is a veteran employee of Gold Label Wines and has worked for the factory as a security guard since he was in his twenties.

Over the years, he has witnessed two major fires, and the damage caused by each fire was extremely devastating!

The worst thing is the wine in the warehouse!

Because of the two fires, the company moved the warehouse from the production workshop to a farther place, just to avoid terrible things happening in case of another fire!

The last time a fire broke out came to his mind, and it was like hell on earth!

He had several burn scars on his body, which were also left at that time.

At this moment, compared to other young people, the middle-aged man ran towards the warehouse. His first thought was to run!

Run as far as possible, away from here!

No one noticed that in the dark night, the old security guard in the security room at the factory gate, who always said "The factory's honor is my life", ran out of the factory without looking back.

In fact, it wasn't just him. When some old employees in the factory learned that the warehouse was on fire, their first thought was not to put out the fire, but to run as far away as possible!

No one knew where the fire came from, and by the time they discovered it, the entire warehouse was already on fire.

Along with the sound of utensils exploding, there were constant "boom" sounds of explosions in the warehouse.

Many people used water pipes to pour water into the warehouse, but it didn't seem to have much effect. At this moment, suddenly, the roof of the warehouse was blown up to the sky by a violent explosion!

The shock wave caused by the huge explosion made everyone around the warehouse feel as if a wall had hit them straight on, and then they saw an incredible scene!
A large amount of flames "flowed" out of the warehouse along with the water on the ground. People screamed and began to flee in all directions. As the warehouse continued to explode, fire rain continued to fall...

At 12:15 in the evening, Mr. Richard suddenly sat up. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes were exceptionally bright in the dark.

He looked back at the small luminous bedside clock on the bedside, claiming that people have discovered this kind of thing that can glow at night, and it is quickly becoming a trend.

Luminous clocks, luminous decorations, luminous skirtings and luminous paints. People believe that these luminous lights and the radiation they emit can bring health to people's bodies.

Because academic reports have proven that the rays emitted by these radioactive materials can kill some harmful cells.

Some foods with luminous materials added are also on the market on a small scale, but people can only see them in those modern magazines, because foods like "luminous steak" and "luminous milk" are only available to rich people.

Can't afford it means you are qualified to buy it, but don't have enough money.

Many poor people don’t even have the qualifications to buy, let alone whether they can afford it or not. They don’t know the price or where to buy it, but they know that there are people who can eat and drink it.

The opera emperor even mentioned in an interview that he would drink a glass of luminous milk to replenish his energy before performing an opera on stage...

Mr. Richard was eligible to purchase the product, but he felt a little uneasy about the radioactive food he ate, so he only used it in some decoration designs and winning bids.

Seeing that it was only twelve sixteen, he rubbed his cheeks, picked up the cup of water on the bedside table and took a sip of water.

He had a damn nightmare in which the Lans family retreated from Indeno State and lost to him, and the Lans family's business in Likalai State was also challenged.

Lance lost all his inheritance, became a stray dog, and disappeared.

Then one day, the moment he got out of the car, Lance appeared in front of him and pulled the trigger at him.

You can't feel pain in a dream, but it can make people feel fear. The submachine gun in Lance's hand seemed to have unlimited bullets, and the bullets completely tore him apart into pieces.

This was true for both his body and soul, so he was frightened and woke up.

Fortunately, it’s all a dream!

After swallowing a mouthful of water, his mood improved a little.

Psychologists say that people’s dreams at night are an extension of their daytime circumstances, which also indirectly proves that their current offensive against the Lance family is fatal!
Thinking of this, he picked up the phone and dialed the internal number.

There was someone on night duty on the first floor of the villa. He was his bodyguard.

The phone was answered immediately, and a familiar voice came from it, "Sir?"

"Yeah, it's okay. I just wanted to ask, is there anything strange going on at night?"

The bodyguard grinned and said, "It's very quiet, sir. I can even hear the rats breeding!"

This was obviously a little humor. Mr. Richard laughed twice and said, "I hope you didn't disturb them!"

He paused, "Okay, I'll continue to rest."

"Okay, goodnight sir."

After hanging up the phone, Richard lay back on the bed. When he was about to fall into a dream in a daze, the sudden shrill ring of the phone made him look towards the colorful dream in the distance, and he turned back and woke up.

He was already feeling a little uneasy. Generally speaking, no one would call others so late after midnight unless it was something extremely urgent.

"This is Richard."

"Mr. President, it's bad, the warehouse is on fire, and it seems the production plant is on fire too!"

The sudden explosion in the receiver made Mr. Richard's hair stand on end. He was so startled that his sleepiness disappeared without a trace. He jumped up and said, "You'd better not be kidding me!"

He actually knew that this was not a joke, but he hoped that the other party would tell him that it was actually a joke.

There was no response from the silent receiver except for heavy breathing and faint screams.

He cursed, "Fuck!"

"How did the fire break out? Did you call the police?"

"It has been reported, but they said they need time to assemble."

"Better than these sons of bitches, Fuck!"

"I'll be right over here to inform the rest of the board!"

He changed into a casual shirt, put on his pajamas, and went straight downstairs.

The two bodyguards were sitting on the sofa and chatting. They stood up as soon as they saw Mr. Richard.

Mr. Richard nodded slightly, "I'm going to the factory, you guys come with me."

The two bodyguards did not refuse. One of them drove the car while the other cautiously asked, "What happened?"

These bodyguards needed to protect Mr. Richard closely, and they all trusted each other very much, so Mr. Richard did not hide anything and told them about the factory fire.

The bodyguard didn't know what happened in the last fire. To him, it was just a fire and it would be solved after the fire truck arrived.

But he didn't understand what terrible consequences would happen if all those high-proof alcohol were piled together!

There are also barrels of wine or wine that is fermenting in the production workshop.

The boiling point of alcohol is very low, only over 70 degrees. As long as the temperature of the wine reaches over 70 degrees, the alcohol will begin to evaporate at an accelerated rate.

Once these volatile gaseous alcohols are ignited by an open flame, they will instantly deflagrate and explode, causing more alcohol to start burning.

The last time there was a fire, the entire factory was turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Mr. Richard shuddered at the thought of this!

It's not just a matter of burning and explosion. If heavy casualties occur again, they will most likely be expelled from the city!
The sky above the winery has been dyed red. In the distance, the sirens of fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances are blaring. The city, which had been completely silent, seems to be reviving ahead of schedule.

When Mr. Richard arrived at the gate of the winery, everything went dark before his eyes.

The entire production workshop was burning with flames, and explosions were heard continuously. Some houses had collapsed. After claiming that a genius had invented prefabricated steel structures, the federals became very enthusiastic about this construction method that always created miracles.

Just like playing with building blocks, the prefabricated steel structure parts are assembled according to the drawings and then fixed with electric welding. A building can be built overnight. "Federal speed" refers to the amazing construction speed of steel structure buildings!

It has too many advantages, but it also has a disadvantage, and it is a fatal disadvantage, that is, it is not resistant to high temperatures.

Once high temperature occurs, the steel structure will become soft, and if there is enough gravity, it will collapse faster and easier than the concrete frame structure.

Looking at the factory building collapsing and the flames spreading like a flood, Mr. Richard suddenly fell into a state of tinnitus.

He stared blankly at the burning factory and the helpless firefighters standing by. It seemed as if everything was doomed!

The firefighters had actually arrived a long time ago, but after seeing the situation at the scene, they did not consider putting out the fire. The only thing they did was to prevent the flames from spreading further.

Pouring water into those buildings is of little use, as it will only increase the fluidity of the flames, so the best way is to wait for them to burn out on their own.

People spent the whole night counting the injuries. This time, because the fire broke out at night and the first place to break out was the warehouse, the casualties were not serious.

Apart from the few missing people, it can be said that no one actually died in the fire. They all died due to "ineffective rescue efforts" rather than being burned to death.

As many as hundreds of people were injured. When the warehouse exploded, burning hot alcohol continued to splash out with the explosion, and many people who were fighting the fire were hit.

The heated alcohol quickly ignited them, which was the main source of casualties.

Because the warehouse explosion occurred so quickly, the production workshop had enough time to react and evacuate. In terms of casualties, this fire had the fewest casualties of the three fires.

but……

The sky gradually brightened, and some people felt something strange after getting up, especially those who lived near the winery. They smelled a stronger aroma of wine, as if the whole world was filled with the smell of wine.

This is not a huge city, and soon some news spread among the people that the winery was burned down again!

Before work, a lot of people had gathered outside the winery. Looking at the winery that had been burning all night and was left with only ruins, people's emotions became complicated.

Ninety-five percent of people viewed this matter with a slight mixture of pity and satisfaction.

For them, the winery burned down again. Although it was pitiful and unfortunate, it was also a relief.

Because they make so much money!

Everyone is poor, but you are the only one who is so rich. You are not sociable!

Now they are getting along.

The mayor also came in the morning. In fact, he knew the news at midnight yesterday, but due to some other reasons, he did not come immediately.

All morning, board members, shareholders, the mayor, government officials, worker representatives, and union members all surrounded him and talked to him, and with the tinnitus in his ears, Mr. Richard finally closed his eyes and fell to the ground.

It was more than an hour later when he woke up. He was lying on the hospital bed, and the whole hospital seemed very busy.

When his bodyguard saw that he had woken up, he walked over to his side while calling the company's secretary and doctor.

"What's the situation now?", he asked.

The secretary who came in from outside shook her head and said, "It's terrible."

Perhaps the secretary felt that this word was difficult to describe the current situation, so he added, "Unexpectedly bad!"

"They found the bodies of the missing people from the fire scene, all of them were burnt."

"The families of the deceased are suing the company and are demanding compensation for their losses in addition to their pensions."

"The injured were already in the hospital, but none of them received treatment..."

Mr. Richard couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"Because the insurance company refused to pay their workers' compensation insurance immediately, the insurance company said they first needed to investigate whether the fire was an accident and whether the injured workers were at their workstations when they were injured..."

Mr. Richard fell silent when he heard this. It was obvious that the insurance company was not willing to pay compensation.

According to the current insurance company compensation regulations, they can provide approximately four hundred to six hundred dollars for each person.

According to statistics, there are approximately two to three hundred people with varying degrees of injuries. Not only do they need to pay approximately RMB 150,000 in expenses, they also have to pay for the factory insurance. The total compensation amount is probably more than RMB 400,000!
Four hundred thousand, what does that mean?
Not only would they have to pay back all the money they earned from Gold Label, they would have to add a large sum to it.

So the insurance company directly refused to pay the claim. They need to investigate first, and then they will consider compensation only if the compensation terms are met.

Mr. Richard has guessed that those who were injured while fighting fires will not be on the insurance company's compensation list because they were not injured at work, they were injured in personal behavior unrelated to work.

Then there is the issue of fire. If they find that there is arson or other reasons, they will most likely refuse to pay compensation, or they will definitely refuse to pay compensation.

It is not easy to get compensation from the insurance company, and there is no other way except to sue.

Mr. Richard rubbed his temples, "Besides these things?"

“Some customers asked us to pay liquidated damages and cancel orders, and the board of directors was under a lot of pressure. And I heard that…”

The secretary hesitated a little, "They think that because you lowered the price too much, we have too many orders, and you may have to face a huge penalty for breach of contract."

Mr. Richard was so angry that he laughed, "Okay, good, is there anything worse?"

The secretary pursed her lips and said, "The bank is urging us to repay the loan. In addition, the Ministry of National Defense also called and asked if we could complete the Ministry of National Defense's second quarter order and ship it before the end of the month."

"There is one more thing I don't know if I should tell you, whether it will be helpful or not."

Mr. Richard lay back on the bed, "Just because you don't know if it works or not, that means it works!"

"Go ahead."

The secretary lowered his voice, "Golden Lion Distillery announces that starting today, the price of their Bronze Lion whiskey will increase to $27.50 a bottle."

In fact, there are some things that the secretary did not mention, such as many citizens holding signs and marching in protest outside factories and companies.

They demanded that Gold Label Wines move out of the city. These people believed that sooner or later, Gold Label Wines would be engulfed in flames along with the entire city!

They do not welcome the continued presence of this bomb in the city!
However, at this time, Mr. Richard's attention was focused on the last sentence the secretary said, that the price of the Lans family's wine began to rise.

Almost instinctively, Mr. Richard thought that this matter might be related to the Lans family, but he had no actual evidence and could only remain silent.

The Lance family reacted so quickly, it was as if they knew the answer in advance.

The news that a fire broke out at Jinbiao Liquor Company and that its inventory and production workshops were burned down spread quickly. These days, anything related to money spreads very quickly.

Even South Yaan (west of Indeno) knew the news, and Christopher also heard about it.

Their alcohol sales were pretty good, bringing in a lot of profit for the family, which also made him no longer a mascot or a waste in front of Leonardo.

Leonardo gave him more power, which also gave Christopher more motivation.

He immediately called together his cadres to discuss the matter with them.

"It will be difficult for Gold Label to resume production in a short period of time, leaving a vacuum in the market. I think this is a great opportunity for us to enter Inderno!"

His subordinates asked, "But if we do this, we will have to confront the Lance family face to face. Do we have the ability to fight them?"

When Lance Christopher heard the name again, his scalp still itched. He scratched his head and said, "We sell brandy, and they sell whiskey. These are two different and non-overlapping fields..."

Facing his subordinates' gazes that looked like he was looking at a fool, Christopher smiled awkwardly, "If we don't give it a try, how do you know we are no match for them?"

(End of this chapter)