Chapter 184

At ten o’clock in the morning, Lance arrived at the Empire of Night.

Normally, the Empire of Night was not open in the morning. Its business hours were from five o’clock in the afternoon until one o’clock at night.

The performers needed rest, the service staff needed rest, and time was also needed for cleaning, checking inventory, and preparing for the new day’s business.

He came today because it was “payday.” The Empire of Night had been reopened for nearly a month, and it was time to pay wages.

When Lance arrived, he saw Eric. The latter had opened the office window and was standing by it, smoking. Lance noticed him as he got out of the car, and Eric saw Lance as well.

The two looked at each other from a distance of several dozen meters for a moment before looking away.

Elvin, at his side, cursed, “I feel sick just looking at that son of a bitch. I’ve been asking around about some things lately!”

Lance became a little interested. “About what?”

The two walked towards the nightclub, greeting the staff who had come to collect their salaries along the way.

“He’s just a scumbag, hanging around the entertainment venues in the Starlight District every day. I heard he’s pursuing an actress, but she doesn’t seem to think much of him.”

“Doesn’t think much of him?” Lance was a bit surprised. “Does that actress have a powerful background?”

Elvin shook his head and said, “Not sure, but she’s quite famous over in the Starlight District, mainly in opera.”

He paused for a moment. “It’s also related to Eric’s identity. After all, rumor has it that the relationship between that man, his mother, and his nominal father is extraordinary. No one likes such a messy family dynamic.”

Everyone said that Eric’s father was the mayor and not someone else, but the mayor and his father were cousins. Perhaps people in high society enjoyed a bit of taboo.

It seemed that Eric was just an illegitimate son, which for some girls eager to climb higher was actually a decent choice.

They couldn’t latch onto the mayor’s legitimate heir, but they still had a chance with an illegitimate son.

But if he was the illegitimate son of a chaotic relationship, then even the girls who wanted to climb the social ladder would be deterred by such a family situation.

Once the two started heading upstairs, Elvin shut his mouth.

Kailu’s office was packed with people. Everyone was very enthusiastic about getting paid.

Whenever someone received their salary, they would say thank you and then sign or press their thumbprint in a ledger, signifying that they had received their wages.

The wages were paid in the form of checks, which facilitated financial management and also reduced the workload for the accountants.

After all, the difficulty of properly dividing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars according to different salary standards without making a mess was far greater than writing a number on a piece of paper.

When people saw Lance arrive, they all made way for him to go to the front. Lance didn’t refuse, and after saying thanks with a smile, he came to the front of the line.

Kailu glanced at him, found a light blue envelope from a stack, took it out, and placed it on the table.

Just as Lance was about to take it, she stopped him. “Sign or put your thumbprint here first, then you can take the money.”

Lance looked at her for two or three seconds, then signed his name in the ledger. “Does it belong to me now?”

Kailu didn’t speak, clearly in a mood.

At the time, she had expressed her wish to have an office to herself, but Lance had arranged for several other people to be here, which made her very unhappy. She felt she had been slighted, so she didn’t have a pleasant expression for Lance.

Lance shook his head indifferently. These people were all sent by the mayor or people the mayor found. He wouldn’t try to get on good terms with them. He wasn’t Jobav; he wasn’t that… cheap.

“How much is it?” Elvin was getting impatient. According to Lawyer Orson, he was entitled to thirty percent of the profits here.

Over the past month, the Empire of Night nightclub’s business had been even better than before. After Lance took control, many people were willing to come and spend money because it was safe.

He wasn’t the Camille gang; he wouldn’t kidnap and extort his own people, so they were willing to come and have fun, and willing to spend.

There were many hidden wealthy people in the Empire District. You couldn’t tell normally, but their spending power was truly not low. Plus, there were Federation citizens coming from other places.

After all, the “Empire flavor” was considered a special feature in Golden Port.

In the past, the daily profit was around four to five hundred, sometimes a bit more. That’s ten to twenty thousand a month. Taking the middle value, fifteen thousand, thirty percent of that would be forty-five hundred dollars.

This made even Elvin a little envious. It was almost half of what the firm and the financial company made.

Only after walking out of the crowd did Lance open the envelope and take out the check, but the expression on his face quickly changed from anticipation to calmness.

“Is it a lot?” Elvin didn’t notice the change in his expression and pressed on.

Lance handed him the check. Elvin took it with an expectant look, but his expression quickly turned to clear indignation and anger!

“Five hundred dollars?”

“How dare they write such a number?” he said, about to go back to the office. “I’m going to ask her. I refuse to believe the total for this month is less than two thousand!”

Lance grabbed his arm. “It’s no use asking her.”

Elvin looked at him. “Are we just going to let it go?”

Lance shook his head. “Kailu is just a puppet. Even if you kill her, she’s not qualified to give us more.”

“Let’s go up and see what they have to say!” The people upstairs were the key!

Elvin calmed down a bit. “You mean, Eric?”

It dawned on him. “That son of a whore!”

The two went up to the room. Eric seemed to have expected Lance to come. He was sitting in Lance’s chair.

All of Heller’s things had been thrown out by Lance and replaced with new items. The whole office had a fresh feeling.

His feet were propped up on Lance’s newly bought desk, and some dust from the soles of his shoes had already fallen onto the tabletop.

Lawyer Orson was sitting by the sofa, looking at some documents. When he heard the door open, he stood up proactively.

“Mr. Lance…” Then his gaze fell on Elvin. “And Mr. Elvin.”

“How was it, did you get your salary?”

Elvin didn’t speak. He knew that at this moment, everything revolved around Lance. He took Lance’s removed coat and hat, hung them on the coat rack, and then stood to the side.

Lance walked to the sofa and sat down. He picked up the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of hot coffee. “Received it.”

He blew on the steam rising from the coffee, took a small sip. The heavy, oily taste brought a better experience, but it was noticeably more bitter.

Most Federation citizens could accept a slight sourness more than bitterness.

A smile appeared on the face of Eric, who was sitting in Lance’s chair—a very contemptuous smile.

Lance took out the check along with the envelope, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Lawyer Orson with his finger.

Lawyer Orson glanced at the check. Five hundred dollars.

Last month’s profit for the nightclub was about twenty-two thousand dollars. If they followed their previous agreement, then Lance should have received a share of at least sixty-six hundred.

There were only five hundred dollars here, not even enough to cover the loose change. He knew what was going on.

Eric had recently spent too much money pursuing that young female opera singer. Chasing an opera singer was not an easy task in this era, especially one who was already famous.

To make a comparison, this girl was roughly equivalent to a top-tier star during the peak of the film industry. She was not someone an illegitimate son from a mayor’s messy affair could easily win over.

There were also some capitalists and gentlemen from high society pursuing the girl at the same time.

With more choices and levels to pick from, Eric clearly didn’t have an advantage, so he could only find ways to please his goddess.

And spending money was the best way he could think of.

All sorts of romantic gestures, romance piled up with money, did indeed make the girl seem to have a slightly better impression of him than others.

But he couldn’t sustain this level of spending!

The mayor gave him a lot of money and turned a blind eye to his occasional money-making schemes. So when he heard that the Empire of Night was paying out dividends and Lance was getting sixty-six hundred dollars, he got some ideas.

“He’s just the leader of a small gang. If you told me he was from one of the five great families, maybe I’d hesitate.”

“But the Lance Family… nobody outside the Empire District knows them. Why should I respect them?”

“Giving him five hundred is already a courtesy I’m extending to him.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that he still has to work for my uncle, I wouldn’t even want to give him five hundred!”

Those were his exact words to Lawyer Orson. Lawyer Orson recalled some of the things the mayor had once said to him, and the idea of trying to persuade him was dismissed. Instead, he smiled and tacitly agreed, and had Kailu change Lance’s salary.

At this moment, Eric was very happy. With sixty-one hundred dollars, he could continue his fierce pursuit of his goddess. And the other five bars were also about to pay out their dividends.

The profits from these few bars were also very high. Lance should be able to get a share of seven or eight thousand. At that time, he would again leave Lance with only five hundred, and the rest would be all his!

At this thought, he couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Perhaps realizing he had laughed out loud, he coughed a few times to cover it up.

After all, this money had nothing to do with him originally, and the person involved was right here.

Both men sitting on the sofa looked at Eric. Lawyer Orson maintained the smile on his face that seemed as if it would never change.

Lance also had a half-smiling expression. He remembered many things.

He had once chatted with a friend surnamed Du, who said that in his life he had met many great figures. The higher their status, the more humble and polite they were, as if afraid of doing something wrong.

On the contrary, it was those pissant little characters who were outrageously arrogant, as if the whole world belonged to them and their fathers.

These words seemed to fit Eric perfectly.

Perhaps realizing both were looking at him, Eric turned his head and lit a cigarette. The two also retracted their gazes.

They looked at each other and seemed to sense something in each other’s eyes, but neither spoke.

“Mr. Lance isn’t satisfied with the salary?” Lawyer Orson picked up the check, looked at it again, and then put it back in the envelope.

Lance shook his head, a smile on his face. “It’s already my honor to be able to serve the boss of this city. How could I dare to actually ask for a share?”

Lawyer Orson was once again a bit puzzled. He couldn’t tell if what he said was true or false.

But if it was true, how to explain the issue with Red High Heels?

But if it was false, could he control his emotions so well?

From his bloody battle with the Camille gang in a fit of rage to his miraculous annihilation of the entire gang, he didn’t seem like the type of character Mr. Jobav was. This was also what Lawyer Orson found very contradictory.

He couldn’t guess Lance’s thoughts, so he hesitated, hesitated on how to phrase his words.

Probing Lance was also part of his job. Just as he was still thinking about what to say, Eric suddenly interjected, “Since Lance is so generous, then Orson, you can just take that five hundred. As it happens, my car is out of gas and needs refueling.”

He took his propped-up feet off the table, stomped them on the floor, and walked to the coffee table. Under Lawyer Orson’s gaze, he took the envelope. “Never mind, I’ll keep it. I’m going to get gas right now,” he said, pausing. “Are you coming, Orson?”

Lawyer Orson thought for a moment. He still had some work to do. The mayor’s businesses were more than just this little bit. During payday, he would be very busy.

Many people knew that he could represent the mayor’s attitude to a certain extent, so his appearance was a very important matter.

“It’s on the way. Let’s go together,” he decided to leave the matter of probing Lance for next time.

He then stood up. Lance also stood up and proactively extended his hand. “Goodbye, Lawyer Orson.”

Lawyer Orson smiled and shook his hand, looking very enthusiastic. “Goodbye, Mr. Lance.”

Lance looked at Eric. The latter snorted lightly, and just like last time, walked disdainfully towards the door, without any intention of stopping to shake Lance’s hand.

He glanced at Elvin by the door and said impatiently, “Get lost,” then kicked the door and left the room.

Lawyer Orson looked at Eric who had burst through the door and sighed. “I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you, but sometimes there’s nothing I can do about him…” he said, shaking his head as if afraid people couldn’t see the mayor’s doting love for him.

Lance put on a very appropriate expression, somewhat dissatisfied but still within a tolerable range. “It’s all for the good of all of us.”

When these words came from Lance’s mouth, Lawyer Orson was in a daze again. He couldn’t tell if this was sarcasm or if he was speaking his mind.

He stared at Lance for a while before nodding slightly. “Rest assured, we will compensate you.”

He didn’t want to continue guessing what Lance’s mood was and cut it short. “Alright, I should go. I don’t want to make him wait. Who knows what he might do.”

After saying goodbye again, Lance watched Lawyer Orson leave.

After Elvin closed the door, his face was grim. “Are we just going to let him do this?”

Lance walked to the window, watched the three cars leave, and shook his head. “He’s just a stupid dog. If you show hostility, he will keep tearing at you.”

“You already know he’s a stupid dog, so there’s no point in doing that.”

He paused for a moment. “Find another dog for him, and let them bite each other.”

“As for the money they owe me…” Lance lit a cigarette, “we’ll just charge them according to the company’s highest interest rate and collect it at a suitable time.”

Elvin was still a bit unwilling, but he also knew that this seemed to be the best solution for now, because they were not facing a small character like Heller.

They were facing the city’s number one figure in public, the mayor, who held great power. He could even apply to the governor to let the slave-catching squads enter the city directly if necessary.

Of course, they weren’t called that anymore; they had a nicer, more legal name.

Although doing so would cause a severe blow to the mayor’s status within the Socialist Party, he had the courage and ability to take that gamble, while Lance and his group did not yet have the ability to resist.

The mayor could even easily deal with the Lance Family through legal channels by just making some deals with one of the five great families.

This was also why the rulers of almost all regions in the Federation seemed to be letting the gang forces develop wildly.

They were raising pigs, preparing for a big meal later, and at the same time, they were not afraid of the gang organizations getting out of control, because they were always outside the scope permitted by law!

Using the power of a country to deal with an organized gang, no organized gang could withstand that blow!

Eric’s mind was full of his goddess’s smile, but he didn’t know that because of his small action today, all of Lance’s bars had opened for business ahead of schedule.

With the cheap potato liquor from Luigi’s side, as well as the large-scale brewing that had begun in the surrounding farms and ranches, the price of the liquor in Lance’s hands could be said to be very low, if quality was not considered.

But this was the Empire District, not the city center filled with social elites, nor the star-studded Starlight District, and certainly not the high-society Bay Area.

The people here only needed the alcohol in the liquor, not some big brand.

What they cared about was how much alcohol they could get for the same price, not demanding some copper or silver label.

The mayor found out about this matter in the evening. Orson told him everything Eric had done.

After listening, he asked about Lance’s performance and reaction. After Lawyer Orson told him, the mayor thought for a moment and then paid it no mind.

In this city, apart from the opinion leaders of the three major parties and the five great families who would give him a bit of a headache, he didn’t care about anyone else.

Just the leader of a small gang. He spent most of his time on the Socialist Party representatives.

They were the key to his nomination for the Speaker of the House of Representatives!

“Don’t worry about him for now. You have some new work to do. I heard the Liberal Party’s plans are the same as ours. Find out who our competitors are, and see if you can dig up some dirt on them…”

Soon, Mr. Mayor was immersed in his grand ambitions. As for the noise in the poor corners of the city?

Who the hell can hear that?!

(End of this chapter)