Chapter 455

In the bright room, Councilman Williams and James sat on opposite sides of the table. Sunlight streamed through the glass, warming the room.

The room was quiet. Both men were contemplating their own thoughts, with little communication between them.

After about two or three minutes, James asked with a hint of inquiry, “How do you think this will end?”

Councilman Williams smiled. “If a giant only arm-wrestles with others within the rules, then that giant won’t live to become a giant; it will be eaten by its own kind.”

“Only by possessing means outside the rules can they grow so strong and continue to grow stronger.”

“If Lance is unwilling to compromise, then someone must pay the price…”

After Councilman Williams’s call ended, Lance received several more calls, including one from the Secretary of State.

Agriculture in Likalai State was also one of the more important components of the economy, accounting for a considerable part of the entire state’s output value.

But he was not entirely on the Liji Group’s side, trying to persuade Lance. Instead, he was reminding Lance to resolve this matter as soon as possible, to prevent it from causing more negative effects.

Withdraw?

Perhaps for the Liji Group, this might be one of their choices, but it was definitely not a plan that could threaten Likalai State, because besides them, there were other agricultural channel distributors.

If they were willing to withdraw from Likalai State, the other agricultural product channel distributors would wake up laughing.

The Secretary of State’s meaning was that regardless of whether Lance won or lost, it was not advisable to drag this matter on indefinitely. It would affect some of Likalai State’s positive and active image in business.

Not artificially creating difficulties for investors was the state’s promotional point—open, inclusive, and showing these characteristics.

So many personal connections had not been able to persuade Lance. The specialist, besides continuing to put legal pressure on Lance and his group and conducting public relations with the judicial system…

The board of directors had to once again hold a discussion meeting for this matter of Lance.

At the meeting, the opinions of the board members could no longer be unified.

Some believed that Lance’s “coercion” should not be accepted. The Liji Group had never had such a precedent.

One director even proposed to move the Liji Group’s port warehouses from Likalai State to Lion’s Port in Golden State.

This would not only solve the current trouble once and for all, but also place the port within the core sphere of influence of the Liji Group. They would no longer need to consider similar things happening again.

But some directors believed that the most important thing at present was to solve the problem, not to create more problems.

Lion’s Port in Golden State was certainly good, but whether in terms of shipping routes or geographical environment, it was clearly inferior to Golden Port. This would increase costs while reducing the Liji Group’s core competitiveness among its peers.

So, talk to Lance again. If money could solve the problem, even if it cost a lot, they should bite the bullet and solve the problem first.

This proposal also had supporters and opponents. In short, they argued back and forth without reaching any conclusion.

The board of directors was not a monolithic block; each represented various interest factions. For enterprises or governments in the Federation, making any important decision often required a very long time.

The president asked for the opinion of a director who had been silent all along. He proposed an idea that no one else had thought of.

“Both plans have been compared and considered in my mind. I don’t think either is the best choice.”

Everyone else quieted down. The directors who advocated different views all cast critical and even somewhat dissatisfied gazes on him.

As if he couldn’t feel these gazes, he said unhurriedly, “If we don’t give him this money, who can we find to accurately help us solve this problem?”

“We have already used up some favors. Although they were not able to help us solve this matter, the favors will become thinner. This has already caused us greater losses.”

“Agreeing to them—this is $4,000,000. Plus those already thinned favors and various expenditures, our losses may be much greater than we imagined.”

These words made the directors show thoughtful or approving expressions. His gaze lingered on the faces of the surrounding board members one by one. “The core of the problem lies in this character, Lance.”

“Without him… would the problem become easier to solve?”

The president frowned and asked, “Are you saying, get rid of him?”

“But we have already contacted the Kodak family. They think the Lance Family is very troublesome and can’t help us much.”

The director who had proposed this suggestion waved his hands repeatedly. “This is illegal. I never said to get rid of him.”

“I just think that people always encounter various kinds of accidents. Someone gets into a car accident while crossing the road, someone slips while taking a shower and hits their head on the bathtub.”

“Someone gets an electric shock by accident while using a toaster. Accidents surround us, accompany us.”

“Could he also have an accident?”

He paused, giving people time to think and accept his statement, and then continued, “The local gangs will definitely stand on the local side. The people we know are not just those from the Kodak family.”

“Why don’t we choose one from some of our local friends in Golden State?”

The others all showed some interest. After all, this was $4,000,000!

If they gave this money to Lance, it meant that the funds they could divide up this year would be reduced by $4,000,000. This was a very simple addition and subtraction problem.

“If we still can’t solve it this time, it’s a sign from God. We’ll pay the money then. I think there’s no problem, what do you say?”

Gunmen are really not expensive. You can hire a gunman for a thousand dollars, but whether they are good or not is another matter.

A better one might be a bit more expensive, but it’s still cheaper than $4,000,000 in cash.

The directors discussed for a moment and soon came to a decision.

Send people to assassinate Lance. If it succeeds, they save $4,000,000.

If it fails, then it means that even God is on Lance’s side. What’s the harm in giving him the $4,000,000?

“I agree with this plan!” The president was the first to state his attitude.

Soon the vice president also raised his hand. “I also think there’s no problem…”

“Then let’s arrange it that way. Who to contact, how to contact them, you guys discuss it.”

The matter was thus settled. Since the proper way couldn’t solve it, then they would use a crooked one.

Even some of the directors had a premonition that even if it didn’t work this time, there might be a next time.

Because the price Lance had set was too high!

For a time, Lance actually became idle. The Liji Group seemed to have given up the idea of persuading him and began to actively respond to the lawsuit, seemingly wanting to resolve Lance’s claim for breach of contract damages through legal means.

But Lance always felt that this matter would not be so simple.

The temperature in Golden Port in November had already dropped significantly. Very few people wearing short sleeves could be seen on the roadside, and the tourists on the beach had also become very few.

Even if there were some tourists, they were not like a month ago, lying under the sun in cool clothes and enjoying the sun’s caress.

They wore long-sleeved clothes and long pants, at most walking on the beach for a while, and that counted as having been here.

The elderly also began to tell their children to pay attention to keeping warm, otherwise at their age, even a not-so-cold wind blowing on their joints would be like a small knife cutting.

The vast majority of young people would not believe this, until they really grew old.

Everything seemed calm, stable. The bar in the Starlight District had also started business, but the business was not particularly good. This also had a certain relationship with the fact that Lance had not advertised it.

A week later, the Liji Group already had several breached contracts to deal with. Lance didn’t know and didn’t care how they would deal with these obviously breached contracts.

But as long as they didn’t transfer the money, he would let this situation continue.

And just at this time, several travelers from Golden State got off the cruise ship with their luggage.

“As expected of the Federation’s largest port, it looks much more prosperous than Lion’s Port.”

One of the middle-aged men carrying a suitcase stood on the port, looking around and couldn’t help but sigh.

Lion’s Port was actually not small, but the number of cargo ships and passengers there was much smaller than here. The reason was actually very simple.

While being further from the world, it was also closer to the north.

In this era, the greenhouse effect had not yet appeared. The changes in temperature were clearly more distinct with the four seasons, and it might even be a little colder.

This led to a certain probability that some of the shipping lanes of Lion’s Port would become frozen ports in winter. Once the port was frozen, it would have a great impact on transportation.

Even if they had icebreakers that would regularly break the ice in the port and the nearby sea surface, there were still not many ships that chose Lion’s Port in winter.

Lion’s Port in winter was very deserted, unlike here, which was bustling even in winter.

The purpose of the few people coming from Golden State was for Lance. They wouldn’t hold up a sign telling people they were assassins. They looked like ordinary tourists.

“I heard that the federal government has accepted a lot of refugees from Tanfit. I really can’t understand this kind of behavior and thinking.”

A gunman looked at the large number of refugee beggars at the port and couldn’t help but say, “These people not only make the public security dangerous, but we also have to give them food and winter supplies.”

Another gunman on the side explained, “This is related to the Federation’s strategy and image in the international community. Our government hopes to gain more international recognition and support. This is a stage we must go through to become a great power.”

It could be seen that although these people were gunmen, they all liked to read newspapers, especially political newspapers. This might be the biggest difference between the gangs of Golden State and the gangs of Likalai State—

The economic development atmosphere in Likalai State was stronger, so what people cared about was only money.

But the political atmosphere in Golden State was stronger, so whether it was gangs or police, or even homeless people on the street, they would read newspapers and gather together to discuss national affairs.

The few people came out of the port. There were already two cars waiting for them. One of them was even kind enough to take out some change and throw it to a female refugee begging on the street.

After getting into the car, the warm environment inside made them feel some comfort.

In the first car, the contact person sitting in the passenger seat told them some of the things that would happen next.

“You have three days to get familiar with these things. Three days later, we will create an attack and see if we can lure Lance out.”

“There is only one chance. I hope you can grasp it.”

The middle-aged man sitting behind him was the person in charge of this operation. “I have never heard of this family, nor have I heard of this person.”

The gentleman in the passenger seat was silent for a moment. “They are a new force that has developed in the last year, an Empire group, very strong.”

“Already surpassed your Five Families?”

The gentleman in the passenger seat suddenly became a little annoyed, perhaps because he felt he was being looked down upon, but after a careful thought, he was actually not wrong.

After experiencing the internal and external problems of the Five Families, except for the Kodak family, they had all suffered very serious losses.

And the Lance Family, on the other hand, was quietly and rapidly developing and expanding.

They were unwilling to admit this fact, but they had to admit it. In a one-on-one situation, Lance and his group already had the qualifications to be on par with the Five Families.

The person in front did not speak. The middle-aged man sitting in the back showed a smile. “If it were in Golden State, we would not allow such a small force to develop to this scale without our consent.”

“I’m not saying you guys are too trashy, but in some aspects, you really need to learn from us.”

The gentleman in the passenger seat snorted coldly and closed his mouth. He didn’t want to say anything more to these people.

The two cars quickly merged into the traffic and disappeared.

On Tuesday morning, the case of Mr. Jobav’s suicide was basically closed.

The police conducted a detailed investigation and collected evidence of his suicide environment. In the end, they confirmed that he had chosen to seek relief through death because he could not bear the debt after his bankruptcy.

After liquidating the remaining assets of Mr. Jobav and Jinda Bank, all his unowned inheritance was appraised, and only $2,744 was left.

This amount was calculated from the auction proceeds obtained from the auction of the remaining assets. As for whether the entire auction process was legal and complied with judicial procedures, that was another matter.

This two thousand seven hundred and something was uniformly compensated according to the number of “victims” and the amount of their losses. Among them, the largest sum received a compensation of forty-three cents, and the smallest received a compensation of one cent.

This case was thus completely closed.

The city hall told these victims that if they were not satisfied with the result, they could file an appeal and assert their claims, but there might not be a result.

Unless someone could find Mr. Jobav’s hidden funds or other assets, and even if they did, they would only be compensated according to a proportion.

The entire Empire District was in a state of wailing. At least a thousand more families had suffered huge losses. Many people’s life savings had been turned into a few cents.

Mr. Jobav’s bank, estate, and villa, also, according to the legally effective documents he had signed before his death, all became Lance’s private property and would be supported and protected by the law.

When he re-entered the bank’s lobby, it was obviously very chaotic. The ground was covered with some papers, documents, and trash that had not yet been cleaned up.

The colorful mosaic marble floor made people feel the luxury of this place, but the empty lobby seemed a bit desolate.

All the things that could be moved had been moved by the court and taken to be auctioned.

Those exquisite solid wood desks, worth hundreds of dollars each, were auctioned off for a few dollars each at the auction.

Now this place was empty, with nothing.

If it weren’t for the fact that glass was not valuable, they would definitely have taken down the glass too.

“I don’t know what to say. In short, it feels a bit strange.”

Elvin patted the thick pillar, a little wistful. “Mr. Jobav was a great man, at least he used to be. They all told me that this is the light of the Empire.”

Lance did not deny it. “He gave the Empire immigrants the courage to live on for a long time. People all thought that as long as they worked hard, they could be like him.”

“But people don’t know at all that some things cannot be achieved through hard work.”

He walked towards the back. “Is the vault still safe?”

“No one has touched it. I’ve been watching them the whole time they were moving things.”

A group of them entered the underground vault. The heavy vault door made everyone feel a sense of despair towards it.

The locksmith also came with them today. When he saw this vault door, his eyes were filled with a kind of fanaticism.

As an outstanding locksmith, he had a fanatical love for all kinds of locks.

If there were no other accidents, he would never have the right to study the security system of a bank vault in his life.

But now, he had this right.

“I’m worried that someone has left a key. you need to design some new plans to ensure our safety.”

“We can’t let people open it easily.”

Lance instructed. Who had the keys to the vault, he was not clear, but there must be some left outside.

Or maybe Mr. Jobav had a spare key. If they didn’t change the security system of the vault, in case someone found a way to sneak in, then his loss would be too great.

The cabinets in the vault were all empty. No one could imagine how much wealth had once been stored here.

But no matter how glorious it was in the past, from today on, this place belonged to Lance.

After a tour of the vault, they returned to the top. Someone came over. “Boss, some people have gathered outside.”

Lance nodded and walked out. A lot of depositors who had once saved money here, and were also the biggest victims of this incident, had gathered outside the door.

They looked at Lance with eager eyes. “Mr. Lance, are you going to take over Jinda Bank?”

If Lance took over, did that mean they still had a chance to get back their wealth?

But soon, under their desperate gazes, Lance shook his head. “I don’t have this idea. He owes too many debts. No one dares to take over the bank’s business.”

“I’m very sorry, gentlemen.”

(End of chapter)