Empire of Shadows

#687 - Next step

Emergency plans, to put it bluntly, are a set of choices on how to deal with unexpected events.

When Tom voiced this idea, Senator Cleveland's first thought was that mediation might fail.

He frowned slightly, even though he had listened very carefully to Tom's recounting, there were still things he might have missed.

After all, this was just a small matter to him, it shouldn't be so troublesome.

"If it doesn't work, will the situation further deteriorate?"

Tom put it euphemistically, "Animals will flee when they sense danger, and if they can't escape, they will fight back desperately."

"Humans are more advanced than animals, and their thoughts and actions are more complex and difficult to predict."

"We cannot rule out good developments, but we cannot ignore the possibility of things developing in a bad direction."

Senator Cleveland nodded, he took out a cigarette and lit it himself, "Good, your reminder is very reasonable!"

He took two puffs of his cigarette and thought for a while, "General Myers should have contacted Lance?"

Tom nodded, "They have already contacted each other, and they seem to be getting along well."

Senator Cleveland's face showed a bit more smile, "With him there, we can ensure that no major problems arise."

After speaking, he picked up his pen again, "I still have a lot of work to do, you handle these matters."

Tom understood his thoughts, then said, "I understand," and left the office.

General Myers and Lance are in the same group, which is roughly equivalent to being in the same group as Mayor Williams, if it is really irreconcilable, one side must die.

Senator Cleveland is not a saint, he certainly hopes that Lance, who can provide him with value, benefits, and a good relationship, can stay.

But this is just in case, the final solution, maybe Lance and the others don't need to use such cruel methods?

The office door closed again, and Senator Cleveland, who was about to return to work, suddenly seemed to remember something, he frowned at the closed door.

But he quickly shook his head and re-entered his working state.

Lance put down the phone and went to the dining room. Patricia had already gotten up while he was on the phone and was making breakfast.

Breakfast may not be so rich, nor so fragrant and delicious, but at least it is edible.

Today's breakfast is milk and cornflakes and whole wheat circles, as well as Lance's favorite bacon and eggs.

He quite liked those smoked bacons with special flavors, plus a bowl of "soup", it could already be considered a feast.

Lance walked behind Patricia and hugged her waist. The girl's delicate and smooth skin was irresistible.

The room has a central heating system. It may still be several or tens of degrees below zero outside, but the temperature in the room is above twenty-five degrees.

Both of them were wearing bathrobes and barefoot, and they didn't feel cold.

The heat radiating from the floor and walls made the temperature in the house just right at this time.

"Don't touch me!"

The girl dodged, but couldn't escape. She turned around and glared at Lance angrily, but she wasn't fierce at all, instead, it aroused Lance's desire to conquer.

She was picked up by Lance and placed directly on the dining table amidst her exclamations, "I have to go to work!"

Her cries for help did not make Lance stop, but only made him faster!

After watching Patricia enter the Bureau of Commercial Services, Lance turned a corner and soon arrived at City Hall.

Two groups of people had already gathered outside City Hall.

One group was refugees, holding up signs such as "Refugees are also people" and "Refugees also have the right to survive", demanding that Mayor Williams not expel them.

To be fair, although the cost of living in Goldport City is relatively high, and survival is not so easy for them, it is, after all, a big city!

In fact, if they were willing to go to remote cities with less living pressure, they might not be like this now, without any guarantee of life.

But this is precisely the most complex aspect of human nature.

They would rather starve to death in big cities than go to remote rural areas and live a life where farming can support themselves.

They don't want to leave this city, they still want to find opportunities in this city, develop, and even eventually become a part of it.

The people of the Federation are very "free" and do not quite understand the lives of these refugees from Slader in their hometowns. Many people have never left the countryside or towns in their lives. They do not even have the most basic qualifications to live in big cities.

Being able to live in a place like Goldport City, some of them have already used the simplest method to prove how much they want to stay——

Husbands let their wives sell their bodies, parents let their daughters sell their bodies, and young girls take the initiative to sell their bodies.

As long as they can stay, they are willing to give everything.

And those refugees who have considered these issues to some extent may have already started new lives in some places.

Opposite them is another group, also holding up signs such as "This does not belong to refugees", "Keep traitors away from us", and "Go back to your country".

These people are typical old Federation thinkers. This is the Federation for Federation people, and they are full of hatred and disgust for the refugees' destruction of the city's ecological environment.

They are more willing than anyone to expel these refugees.

The two groups have been cursing at each other. Similar situations have occurred in many places in the city, but it must be said that the Bay Area's choice is not a smart choice in essence.

After all, these refugees are outsiders, but at the same time, this is the most suitable choice for them.

If they choose to go to war with the locals and the Williams family, and with Lance, it is very likely that those people will turn around and stab them.

The Williams family has left too many marks on this land, and people cannot avoid such a family, a group of people.

Only the refugee group, these outsiders who are eager to settle down, do not care about the inheritance and relationship of the rulers here. Whoever can let them live here, live stably, and obtain corresponding rights, they will rely on whoever.

Lance entered the city hall from the side, and it can be seen that the atmosphere in the city hall is also a bit tense. Some people may not understand what happened, but there are also some people who have already felt that Mayor Williams' regime is being challenged.

He went directly to the outside of the mayor's office. The mayor's secretary immediately called to inform Mayor Williams, and then took the initiative to open the door of the mayor's office for Lance.

After the door opened, Mayor Williams was already walking towards the door. Lance took off his hat and gloves and shook hands with him. This is an attitude of equal treatment.

They returned to either side of the desk and sat down. Mayor Williams first sighed, and then said, "From last night until now, many people have called me."

"Some of them I have only heard of their names and do not know them!"

"Do you know what they told me?"

Although Lance had guesses, he pretended that he didn't know anything, "What did they say?"

"They said they would fully support me in expelling the refugees from the city, as long as I agree and start doing so, they will speak out."

Mayor Williams shook his head and said, "There are mayors, city councilors, state legislators, and some social celebrities, stars, and the like from other cities."

"For the first time in such a short period of time, I received so many 'friendly' calls, as if I was about to light the spark of human civilization!"

He laughed a few times, "The call of duty!"

Lance couldn't help but laugh, "They think you're a fool."

Mayor Williams shook his head, "No, they see my predicament. No one is really considering me. They just want me to set an example."

"I feel scared, Lance."

He couldn't help but pick up the pack of cigarettes on the table and light one for himself, "So many people are calling you at eleven or twelve at night, and the underlying message is for you to go die!"

If he really did that, his life would definitely be very difficult. A mayor can't bear the responsibility of damaging relations between the two countries during wartime. It would be more appropriate for a governor.

He is just a small mayor, and his political resilience is limited to within the state.

Once Congress takes action against him, and the state government can't protect him, the Williams family will not only fail to leave a mark on this city, but will become a joke in its history of development!

An ant trying to stop a rapidly speeding chariot!

So those people are ostensibly supporting him and encouraging him, but at their core, they want him to crash headfirst into a tungsten steel wall at an even faster speed, smashing himself to pieces.

"So I brought good news!" Lance didn't beat around the bush. Mayor Williams raised his eyebrows, signaling him to continue.

"Tom called me this morning..." Many people have this name, not only people, but also cats and dogs.

It's normal that he can't remember for a moment. Lance reminded him, "Tom, the aide to Senator Cleveland."

"Oh, it's him. I remember him, a young man. What's wrong with him?"

"He called me and talked about this matter. Congress has begun to pay attention to it, and they will send someone to mediate soon."

"Mediate?" Mayor Williams also didn't have high hopes for this outcome, after all, he is one of the parties involved!

"We have already completely broken face. Either they are finished, or I am finished. Mediation is meaningless at this time!"

He took a puff of his cigarette, "But our goal can be considered achieved. When are they coming?"

The "goal" he mentioned was to use extreme conservatism, with the slogan of expelling refugees, as a political bargaining chip to at least keep his current position.

Politics is simple, it's you give me what I want, I give you what you want, and then everyone shakes hands.

But politics is also very complicated, because behind every event there is more than one driving force.

Ordinary people may really just go to the toilet because they want to go to the toilet, but in politics, when politicians go to the toilet, it may not just be as simple as going to the toilet, but for other purposes.

As for how it will develop later, no one knows now.

Lance actually didn't know how long it would take, so he could only answer with a vague word, "Soon!"

While Lance and the others were discussing the current situation in the city, Mr. Charles and his group also gathered to discuss some of the current changes.

"This is Hope Wright, a gentleman from Slade, who has considerable prestige among the refugee population."

"Some of you should be meeting for the first time. Let me introduce you first. We will have closer contact in the future."

Hope, already dressed in a suit worth thousands of dollars, shook hands with the gentlemen who introduced themselves one by one without any timidity, and exchanged business cards.

This is what he had dreamed of obtaining: wealth, status, and the respect of the rich!

For many years, he had been working to expand his influence, but in Slade, class solidification was even more serious than in the Federation, and he had no chance to stand out.

So he chose to venture to the Federation. Now, his dream is beckoning him, and he has begun to touch his dream!

At this moment, he felt as if his body was floating, and his whole soul was joyful, so the smile, attitude, and emotions he showed were also full.

However, even so, the gentlemen here still looked down on this person to some extent, looking down on him like they would a dog.

They and Mayor Williams had completely split over certain issues this time, but they still agreed with some of Mayor Williams' sharp remarks about these refugees at the press conference.

If a war were to break out in the Federation itself, they would most likely run away as well, but before the fact of their running away occurred, they would still stand on the moral high ground and despise these people.

However, contempt is contempt, and looking down is looking down, cooperation is still necessary, and they need him now.

After they got to know each other, Mr. Charles asked everyone to sit down, and Hope sat in a relatively rear position.

Mr. Charles took out a cigarette, and someone immediately lit it for him. He crossed his legs, leaned back on the single sofa, and swayed his toes slightly, giving people an arrogant feeling.

With a puff of smoke, he said, "The plan is going very successfully. The only slight flaw is that the Holy Bell Party lost Arthur."

"Otherwise, we would soon be able to win this game with an absolute advantage!"

Arthur was originally very useful. He wanted to use Arthur's life to threaten Mayor Williams, to make him admit his mistakes, and then resign.

There are actually two possibilities. It is possible that Mayor Williams did as he was told and announced his resignation, then this story would be considered to have come to an end.

Just a "paragraph." Then they would wait, wait for the storm to pass for a while, and then get rid of Mayor Williams and his family, finding a reason.

Saying that they moved to another place together after their failure. No one knows where they moved to. This reason is very reasonable and the public will accept it.

The entire city would then return to the control of the Bay Area, and everything would be as before.

Another possibility is that Mayor Williams does not announce his resignation, then Mr. Charles will have the Holy Bell Party kill Arthur, and then expose the matter!

Of course, he would not expose that he asked Mayor Williams to do so, but because he didn't do so, Arthur would die.

He would tell the public that Mayor Williams was greedy for power, and even in the face of the life-and-death choice of his most beloved youngest son, he resolutely refused to hand over the power in his hands.

With this dirty water splashed on him, he would be hit hard both physically and psychologically. At such an old age, he may not be able to withstand such a thing.

Then they would use the refugee issue to continue to target him frantically, and even try to threaten James' safety.

He could persevere if Arthur died, but what if James died too?

He definitely couldn't withstand it.

Mr. Charles already had a complete set of plans and methods to execute these, but Arthur was lost.

Fortunately, losing Arthur will make things slightly more troublesome than planned, but only slightly.

The dissatisfaction he showed with the Holy Bell Party at this time was also what many people were thinking.

What Hope, sitting at the end, thought was that he might be able to use those refugees to form a large-scale gang in the state of Licari.

Slade also has gangs, but they are not as large as those here in the Federation.

He had browsed a lot of content related to gangs in the past few days. Gangs could even participate in top-level political games—assassinating the president.

This made him feel that this was also a path.

Now that Mr. Charles is talking about these things, plus Lance and Mayor Williams are in the same group, Lance will definitely be driven away after Mayor Williams is dealt with.

The vacuum environment left behind will become the stage for him to display his talents.

Mr. Charles didn't know that this guy he looked down on had thought so much. He was still talking about some of his ideas.

"From the current situation, Williams is already very passive. Although many citizens are supporting him now, I heard that the Slade ambassador met with the Secretary of State overnight yesterday to discuss this matter."

"Congress also seems to be investigating this matter and is starting to intervene."

"But as it is now, it still lacks a bit of heat. We need them to be more extreme and violent, preferably with more bloodshed and casualties, so that the conflict is completely intensified and irreconcilable!"

"Only in this way can the higher-ups completely lose hope in Mayor Williams, and we will have the opportunity to completely overthrow him in one fell swoop!"

His gaze quickly fell on Hope, "Mr. Hope, these tasks next are your focus!"