Empire of Shadows No Chapter 127:

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Watching his n begin to unload the cargo, Polly’s face brightened with a smile. He walked over to a box of liquor, opened it, and took out a bottle.

“Brandy?” He glanced at Jimmy, who was directing the unloading, and Jimmy nodded.

“It’s all brandy and wine, with so whiskey, but not much.”

Polly’s brow furrowed slightly. Brandy and wine were more favored in the mid-to-high-end consur market, but his bars didn’t cater to such high-end clientele.

In other words, all the custors in his bar were poor bastards who could only afford twenty-five cent cheap whiskey, not the more expensive brandy and wine.

Especially these wines, who would drink that in a bar?

Maybe so, but at least no one in Polly’s own bar drank it. He was happy at first, but suddenly seeing these goods made him less so.

He didn’t realize that Heller’s purpose in acquiring these items was for the mid-to-high-end market. The low-end smuggled liquor market in Golden Port City was actually in a semi-saturated state with stable prices.

On the contrary, the mid-to-high-end liquor market, which no one had paid attention to before, began to show increasing potential. There were many wealthy people in Golden Port City; they couldn’t drink cheap, low-grade liquor like those mud-slinging commoners. What they needed was mid-to-high-grade liquor.

Whether for their own consumption or for entertaining guests, they needed at least five dollars a bottle or more.

At current liquor market prices, liquor that used to cost five dollars or more, such as Gold Label Napoleonic whiskey, now cost over twelve dollars.

But it was unlikely that truly wealthy people would entertain guests with Silver Label. The rich sotis cared more about appearances than the poor, so Gold Label and similar products beca their only choice.

So wealthy individuals might use dozens of bottles, even twenty or thirty, at a single party in a day. These liquors could not only bring him large profits but also offer him opportunities to gain connections in high society.

Others couldn’t get high-end liquor, but he could, so people were willing to befriend him.

Heller, like Mr. Jobav, despite one being a gang leader and the other an immigrant banker, both had a desire to beco high-society figures!

Polly could understand the idea of trying to worm one’s way into high society, but he wouldn’t do it himself.

He was at the very bottom of society, and years of living at the bottom had taught him a truth: so things are predetermined from the mont you are born.

Either it is, or it isn’t; it cannot be easily changed.

Even though he bought a villa in the Bay Area, he rarely lived there, because he could see contempt and mockery in the eyes of his neighbors.

Even if he lived in a high-end community, in their eyes, he was no different from a dock worker.

No one would truly regard him as a person of importance.

“Let our bar try selling them first, and let them discuss a price,” Polly opened the bottle in his hand and had soone bring a glass.

It must be said, its taste was indeed much better than the cheap whiskey he had drunk, but it could also be due to the weighted value of the substance.

He patted Jimmy on the arm, motioning for him to follow.

The two left the warehouse, and the sea breeze, surprisingly, felt a little cold. He handed the wine bottle to Jimmy, who tilted his head back and took a big gulp from the mouth of the bottle.

His face, illuminated by the lights outside the warehouse, visibly began to turn red. Soon, he exhaled a puff of hot air, and his complexion slowly returned to normal.

Under Polly’s influence, almost everyone in the Brotherhood disliked adding ice cubes when drinking hard liquor.

Young people, especially flamboyant young people, always hoped to be unique, but in this dull society, the cost of being unique was high.

He could only seek uniqueness in places where he didn’t have to pay a huge price. Drinking strong liquor without ice was one of his choices.

He regarded drinking a large gulp of strong liquor without ice as a “ga of the brave,” which also led to almost all mbers of the gang doing the sa.

Drinking a glass of strong liquor in one or two gulps, without ice, gradually ford a gang culture.

Jimmy held the wine bottle in his hand because Polly didn’t ask for it.

“When you weren’t here, Pete called .”

Pete was a well-known broker in Golden Port City’s high society. He was involved in almost every field and had connections in all of them.

This was thanks to his family, which had produced a state governor and a state senator (equivalent to a lieutenant governor). Even now, there were still family mbers in the state senate and state assembly.

He was a long-standing active mber of the local Socialist Party.

Such all-around brokers were almost everywhere in the Federation, from cities to states, and even to Congress and the federal governnt. They were spread throughout the entire federal and federal political system.

Because they themselves were not politicians, they were not bound by so rules.

At the sa ti, they had enough influence in politics, economics, business, and even the underworld, so many people would need them.

There were always so people who didn’t want to get their hands dirty but still wanted to get the dirty work done, and they beca the choice for those respectable people who didn’t want to get their hands dirty.

Jimmy had heard the na but didn’t know Pete. He wasn’t at a high enough level to know such people, so he could only nod, as if to say, “I understand.”

“Jobav pulled so strings, and Pete took his commission, telling us to put an end to this matter.”

Jimmy only reacted at this mont, instantly annoyed. “So I got shot for nothing?”

Polly turned and looked at him, “You won’t be injured for nothing. He promised to give two hundred thousand dollars to resolve this matter.”

“I guarantee that these two hundred thousand dollars will be given to you without a single cent missing,” the other aning of this sentence was that Polly and the gang would not take a cut from this, and would give it all to him.

Jimmy had actually already agreed in his heart. When he heard that Jobav had sided with the mayor, he knew that this grudge would be basically impossible to avenge.

To lay hands on the mayor’s lackey, even Polly wouldn’t dare to do that.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t do it, but that they didn’t dare. If they did, they would have no place to stand in Golden Port City.

The mayor already had a high reputation within the Socialist Party and was planning to run for governor. You just took a lackey, and then you go and kill the lackey.

Are you killing the lackey, or are you slapping the mayor in the face? No one could tell.

Such a person needed only one word, and they would be hunted down and killed.

Their own past was not clean, and those law enforcent agencies would not even need to collect evidence to find trouble with them; they could just take direct action.

Even though he inwardly agreed, he couldn’t imdiately stick out his tongue and smile in agreent, which would greatly lower his status with Polly and even within the gang.

Seeing Jimmy lower his head and say nothing, Polly placed his hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re very unhappy with him, but I’m under a lot of pressure too!”

“How about this, I’ll give you a choice.”

“I’ll make him pay an extra ten thousand, or you go retaliate against his assistant’s nephew.”

“Pete told

that all the arrangents were made by that young man: the people he chose, the weapons he provided, the assassination he orchestrated.”

Another difficult choice. If he weren’t in the Brotherhood, Jimmy would definitely choose to ask for an extra ten thousand dollars, but here, and in front of Polly, he could only choose the option that better suited their gang’s temperant, “I choose the latter.”

Polly smiled and patted his shoulder, “I knew you’d understand !” he said, gesturing for Jimmy to hand him the bottle.

He took a gulp, his face flushing. “This matter has put you in a tough spot.”

“It’s nothing, it’s all for the gang,” Jimmy said a nice platitude.

That night, Polly arranged for people to send a batch of brandy to the bar to sell. Because the price of this batch of liquor was very high, they had tried their best to price it down, with each two-ounce glass of brandy costing only ninety-nine cents.

In terms of total selling price, a bottle could be sold for twelve dollars. This price, if placed in the terminal sales market for whole bottles, could only be considered a current market price product.

But in the sale of loose liquor in bars, its profit margin was far lower than other products, arguably even razor-thin.

But even so, the sales volu for the night was dismal. It was the sa for several bars; the three bars currently operated by the Brotherhood didn’t sell a single glass.

The two bars they supplied only sold one glass, and it was said that seven or eight people shared one glass.

Compared to ninety-nine cents for a glass of brandy, the poor dockworkers, whose pockets held only a few coins, preferred a large glass of beer plus an ounce of whiskey for twenty-five cents!

This also made Polly realize that this batch of liquor, at least for him, would be difficult to offload. He would have to find other ways, perhaps send it to the Bay Area.

But he didn’t have connections in the Bay Area right now, though he would find a way. Pete, that broker, was one way.

The next morning, Heller called Polly. “Hey, Big Polly, are you satisfied with this shipnt?” Heller expected to hear Polly’s praise, but instead, he was t with a barrage of complaints.

“Heller, if you had told

your damn shipnt was all brandy and wine, I wouldn’t have even touched it!”

“Last night, out of five bars, only one glass was sold. There’s simply no market for this mid-to-high-end liquor at the dock!”

Heller, sitting in his office, showed a slight smile. Of course, he wouldn’t say that this was the effect he wanted.

The gangs he found to take over were all low-level gangs. If he really wanted to get rid of this batch of liquor, why didn’t he go directly to the five major families?

The five major families had credibility and weren’t short on money; they could definitely pay him the full amount. Why would he still look for low-level gangs?

Besides being a little afraid that the five major families would swallow his goods, he mostly wanted to get this batch of goods back.

“I didn’t know you couldn’t offload these liquors. How about this, you return the liquor to ,” he said what was on his mind. “Since you helped

pick up the goods, I’ll give you five thousand dollars.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a while. Just as he was about to add another two or three thousand dollars, Polly’s voice ca through, “Two hundred thousand, cost price to you.”

Heller held the receiver in front of his eyes and looked at it, as if… he suspected he was hallucinating.

He hadn’t even received his hundred thousand dollars for this shipnt, and now Polly was asking him for two hundred thousand? Was Polly crazy, or was he crazy?

He brought the receiver back to his ear. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I only asked for a hundred thousand for this shipnt. Now you can’t sell it, and I’m helping you solve the problem, and you want two hundred thousand from ?”

Polly’s voice carried a hint of ruthlessness, “This batch of liquor can sell for three hundred and fifty thousand, don’t you dare tell

you don’t know that!”

“Also, Heller, you goddamn watch your language. I’m not an Imperial. If you try that on , I’ll bring my n and my guns to find you tonight!”

Just one sentence silenced Heller.

“Think and do as you please, Polly. Since you refuse my goodwill, I will no longer interfere in this matter.”

“Also, give

the money, we agreed on it,” he was furious, but eventually gave up, after all, he believed Polly could really co with a group of people at night.

The contemptuous laughter from the receiver made his blood pressure rise again; his eyes were slightly red.

Since becoming a gang leader, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

“After I sell this batch of liquor, I’ll give you the money. Otherwise, co to my office yourself now to get it.”

“I don’t feel like talking to you anymore. If you don’t co before noon, wait until I sell it.”

The busy tone made Heller slam the receiver onto the phone cradle.

That son of a bitch, he cursed, lighting a cigarette.

But he didn’t have the guts to personally go to Polly’s office to demand that one hundred thousand from that madman, especially after their phone conversation turned into a conflict.

After a while, he let out a heavy sigh. Fine, he’d wait until he sold it.

In just two short days, it was all bad news.

Precisely because of this, he grew increasingly disgusted with Will, who was now dead, and his damned brother, as well as the Lance family, who had caused all of this.

He took his cigarette to the window. Downstairs, two police cars were still parked outside the nightclub, which had significantly hurt business yesterday.

Now the police were watching closely. Once they stopped, he would definitely make the Lance family pay!

anwhile, Lance, who was being thought of, had already arrived at Lezhu Company and was sitting in Alberto’s office.

“…Those cars have all been dealt with cleanly. No one can link them to you.”

“There will definitely be a lot of police watching you during this period. It’s not a good ti for

to take you to see Mr. Pasoretto. I’ll take you when the police are less closely watching you.”

He shook his head slightly, “Lance, you’re gaining a bit of a reputation in Golden Port City. Many people have heard that you took down Will of the Camilla gang.”

“I’ve heard discussions about the ‘Lance Family’ from more than one person. You’ve gained this attention faster than I did when I first arrived in the Federation.”

Lance seed very relaxed.

Johnny’s family might… more or less know so people in gang circles. When they heard the na “Lance Family,” they were terrified.

They went with Hiram to persuade Johnny to let go of his hatred, and Johnny indeed chose to give up.

He was just a dock worker, relying on his strength and a few friends to do so workplace bullying.

He wasn’t a gang mber and didn’t aspire to be one, so when he truly encountered a “family,” he imdiately chose to compromise.

He proactively inford the Port District Police Station that it was just a misunderstanding and hoped that all charges against Baker (the scapegoat) would be dropped, and that they could reach a private settlent.

The Port District Police Station was actually also willing to see this situation. On one hand, it would reduce so of the police station’s workload, as if a lawsuit had to be pursued, they would need to use so police resources to investigate certain matters.

Don’t think that police officers, getting paid every day, don’t incur costs for investigations; in fact, there are still expenses.

If a part could be reduced, the precinct managent would certainly not disagree.

On the other hand, the money Lance gave to Officer Feren and his partner also played a role.

Now that he wasn’t afraid of being investigated, even being watched by a group of police officers, Lance wasn’t scared at all.

Gaining attention isn’t necessarily a good thing, but it’s not a bad thing either.

After all, reputation is often a protective talisman.

“Alberto, are you familiar with the film industry or anything like that?” Lance changed the subject.

Alberto, holding his cigar, paused for a mont. “Are you interested in a particular actress?”

“If she’s too famous, it might not work out. You might not know, but so top actresses have even visited the presidential palace.”

“But for those who are relatively less famous, there’s absolutely no problem.”

At this ti, the Federal film industry had not yet been recognized by mainstream society. Furthermore, although the film industry was flourishing, it was still in its early stages of developnt overall.

Compared to operas with grand stage effects, it was clearly one, or even several, levels below.

Currently, the few major stars in the Federation who were recognized by mainstream society were not recognized for their status as actors, but for their status as capitalists!

So high society didn’t pay much attention to the film industry, but the film industry had already beco one of the main forms of entertainnt for the lower and middle classes. For five cents, a movie ticket could provide about an hour of happiness.

Many films at this ti were primarily codic, and indeed, they could greatly make people happy. They were tied with circuses as the most popular entertainnt among the lower classes!

So, at this ti, even the most popular movie stars, unless they were capitalists with prominent family backgrounds, were essentially just playthings for high society, and this situation would continue for a hundred years, or even longer.

Lance shook his head, “I’m not very interested in that. I have a brother who has an excellent foundation, and I think he can beco a big star.”

Alberto beca a bit curious, “Then why don’t you let him sing opera?”

“Opera singers are more respected by people.”

“Opera?”

“Without decades of ti and so luck, he wouldn’t even make it. On the contrary, I believe the film industry will beco the fastest-growing industry in the next decade…”

“And this industry can help .”

“Or us.”