Shadow Empire

Chapter 72 Watchdog and Guarddog [Revised Version]

After Hiram said that there was a large amount of wine in the warehouse, he didn't say anything else. He had said everything he needed to say. He stood aside with his hands hanging at his sides.

Lance picked up the phone book. The phone book was definitely a huge feature of the era. Here you could find most of the numbers you wanted, whether it was a company or a private person.

Some publishing houses even relied on printing phone directories to maintain their business survival, and they managed to do well - printing phone directories with pimping ads and placing them in public telephone booths for free, and the pimps would pay them for the ads.

Lance dialed the number and a woman answered.

"Please transfer me to your manager. I have some business matters to discuss with him."

"Hold on."

About twenty seconds later, the call was reconnected.

"This is... the office. I'm Green. How can I help you?"

"Hello, Mr. Green, I'm Hiram's friend. He told me that your company owes eight of them one month's salary."

Manager Green's voice suddenly became stiff. "If you're here to talk to me about the wages of a few bastards, then I suggest you hang up now, or I'll find you and make your ass swallow the receiver in your hand!"

Lance didn't take the vicious attack seriously. "I want to know if you plan to pay them."

"Fuck!", and then there was a busy tone in the receiver. Lance looked at the receiver in his hand and shrugged.

The call quality was very good and the sound was loud enough for both people in the office to hear it.

Erwin wanted to laugh but couldn't, and Hiram was furious.

For more than a minute, no one spoke and the atmosphere seemed a little heavy.

At this time, Erwin whispered, "I heard that the company hires some illegal immigrants every month, then doesn't pay them and drives them away."

Lance's train of thought was interrupted, but he followed Erwin's words and asked, "Didn't anyone resist or report them?"

Hiram then continued, "Mr. Lance, our boss has some ideas. Someone has reported him twice before."

"The first time he was fined one thousand dollars, the second time he was fined fifteen hundred dollars."

"But the person who reported him was caught by him for some reason. The two men had their legs broken. One of them has gone missing, and the other is now guarding the gate with us."

"Guard the gate?" Lance was a little confused. "Do you want me to continue guarding the gate for your warehouse?"

Hiram nodded. "He's been tied to the sentry box like a dog. The bosses give him food, and he himself is actually... numb, probably."

"But they warned us in this way. He said he had a good relationship with law enforcement, so whoever reported him would be found by him and pay a heavy price."

"Mr. Lance, please help us."

"There are others, Imperials who have been harmed by them, not just for our own wages!"

Lance had already made up his mind, "How many trucks will it take to load all this wine?"

Hiram suddenly became excited, "Five trucks, Mr. Lance."

"If we go at night, will it alarm them?"

"At night, our people are on duty. There are two supervisors in the company, but they sleep in the house inside the warehouse and usually don't come out."

Lance looked at Erwin, "You and Hiram go figure out the situation, I'll get the truck."

Since they were not going to have a good talk, Lance decided to try another approach.

There is a little less traffic on the road today. It has been raining heavily recently and many people are reluctant to go out.

When he arrived at Lezhu, Fordis was not there. He had gone out to work. The beautiful girl at the front desk still looked nonchalant. Lance went straight to Alberto.

The latter is reading the Horse Racing Post. Alberto also likes to play a few rounds occasionally. It is worth noting that "a few rounds" is not a noun.

In the past two years, many people have become obsessed with horse racing. Some wealthy people even raise horses themselves and then participate in competitions. It seems like a hobby, but in fact it is a business.

The cost of breeding and preserving a champion racehorse is much more expensive than a luxury car!

After "Bomb Jazz" won the Triple Crown a few years ago, every time it is bred, it now charges a breeding fee of approximately 35,000 to 50,000 yuan.

Many wealthy people are treating horse racing as an emerging investment, and the entire horse racing industry is booming.

Many places in the federation are building racetracks and joining the horse racing alliance.

This original version of speed and passion is always full of fatal attraction to men!

"You're not interested in baseball anymore?"

Lance sat across from him. Alberto put down the newspaper and motioned for him to casually take a cigarette. "It's not that I'm not interested, but our opponent in the next round is too weak. I can't muster up any interest at all."

"You know, only those powerful opponents can make me feel excited and my blood is burning!"

"As for the weak ones, I don't even want to go to the game!"

He put his hands on the table. "So you came here today to talk to me about baseball and horse racing?"

"If you're interested in this, I could talk to you all day long!"

Lance laughed twice. "Of course not. I might be interested in it later, but not now." "I want to borrow two trucks."

“Truck?” Alberto repeated. “I am surprised at the scope of your current job!”

He paused, "Yes, do you need a driver?"

Lance coughed lightly, "Is the driver reliable?"

Alberto raised his head as a matter of course, "Of course, we are one family, you should have met him twice, brother Howard."

Lance immediately remembered who they were, "Those brothers whose dad had a few drinks when he filled out the birth certificate!"

Alberto was immediately delighted, "You've heard of this too?"

Lance explained how he knew that, and Alberto kept laughing, "Even though their dads are stupid as hell, they're both really good at driving."

"Can you trust them?"

Lance didn't hesitate at all, "Of course."

Alberto nodded. "When do you think you'll need them and the car?"

"Just these few days."

This also made Alberto curious, "Can I ask, what are you going to do?"

"If you can't tell me, forget it. It's just my personal curiosity."

Lance had nothing to hide. After all, the Howard brothers would definitely know about this, so he just said it directly, "I plan to get some wine."

"Wine?" Alberto showed some interest. "Are you planning to stock up on some too?"

"You could think so."

He immediately realized that this was not hoarding, "It sounds interesting, do you plan to keep it for yourself or cash it out as soon as possible?"

"If you want to cash out, you can consider selling it to me. I will give you a fair price."

Lance shook his head. "The price of alcoholic beverages has been rising rapidly lately. I have a feeling that Prohibition is only one headline away."

Alberto was amazed at his keen sense of smell, agreed with his opinion, and told him a piece of gossip, "Later this month, the governor will announce his joining the Prohibition League."

"In fact, if you go around bars now, you'll find that many bars are only selling alcoholic beverages to regular customers, and they are also reducing shipments."

"The big money is coming, Lance!"

A bottle of wine that costs 70% or 80% can now be sold for nearly two dollars. Many people believe that after the complete enactment of the Prohibition of alcohol, the profit will be 200% or even higher!

This is more profitable than loan sharking!

Jingang City is a port city with dense flow of people and developed business. Almost all entertainment venues require alcoholic beverages, but the sale of alcohol is not allowed now.

This will only make the price of alcohol continue to rise. Alberto has been able to use nearly half of his funds to stockpile various spirits.

Lance was also eager to make a move.

In the evening, Lance and Erwin went to where Hiram worked. After observation, they found that it was indeed as he said.

It was not clear whether there were large quantities of alcoholic beverages stored in the warehouse, but he had seen two supervisors.

They sat at the door of the warehouse and chatted, beating and scolding Hiram and his men, looking like they were not easy to mess with.

Lance also saw the "watchdog". His legs were completely disabled and turned outward. He did not receive timely treatment after being broken and was now completely disabled.

Of course, it is impossible for them to get treatment. Illegal immigrants cannot go to the hospital. They have no identity and no money. The hospital will not provide them with treatment because the federal medical finances will not pay them.

In the end, he managed to get through it, but he was left with an irreversible disability, a deformed leg, and a dead heart.

He curled up outside the sentry box, ignoring the gazes of people passing by. He was either sleeping or in a daze.

Later, Erwin changed into Hiram and the others' clothes and blended in.

He stayed in there the whole night and had not been discovered. One reason was that it was dark and the visibility was not very clear, and another reason was the arrogance of the two supervisors.

Early the next morning, he took the opportunity to run away.

"After dinner, they locked the door of the warehouse and kept the key. So if we wanted to take the wine away, we had to get the key first."

"And the problem is that the small house is not soundproof. In other words, as long as we move things, they will definitely be able to hear it."

Lance nodded noncommittally, "What about the wine? How much?"

"I'm not sure, maybe 20,000 or 30,000 bottles?"

Erwin wasn't sure about this. Although Hiram and his team participated in the moving work, they didn't know exactly how many bottles there were.

But even if there are only 20,000 or 30,000 bottles, this is still a lot of money.

As he spoke, Erwin took out a few trademarks from paper boxes and gave them to Lance. "I tore these off secretly."

Looking at those beautiful lines, Lance knew that this batch of wine would definitely not be cheap!
(End of this chapter)