In the morning, just as Lance sat down in the dining room, Elvin brought some bad news.
“The price of liquor has dropped a bit.”
Lance asked while eating his bacon, “What’s the reason?”
“Has Prohibition been relaxed?”
“Or something else?”
Elvin sat down next to him, also picking up a piece of bread. While adding things to it, he said, “The distilleries have all started to reopen, but they’re not producing liquor, they’re producing medicinal alcohol.”
“But you know… as long as the distilleries start running, it’s inevitable that some ‘substandard alcohol’ will flow out.”
Lance was stunned for a moment. He started flipping through a stack of newspapers by the table. After a while, he turned to look at Mello, who was reading a book in the living room, “Where’s today’s ‘International News’?”
Mello put down his book and stood up, “Isn’t it there?” he said as he walked towards the door, “I remember bringing them all back.”
He didn’t find the ‘International News’ in the mailbox, so Morris made a trip.
There was a newsstand just outside the community, a two-minute trip.
At this moment, Elvin also noticed the change in Lance, “What’s wrong?”
“Is this matter serious?”
Lance finished the food in his mouth in a few bites, his expression grave as he nodded, “Very serious and important!”
As he spoke, he paused. The people around also turned to look. Lance started his “Lance’s Little Classroom” again, “Under what circumstances do you think a distillery would produce alcohol?”
To be honest, the people here were uneducated. An educated person wouldn’t end up in this situation.
In this era, besides the people of the Federation, it was almost impossible to receive a complete education in the Empire!
The cost of education in the Empire was extremely high. Only wealthy families could afford to give their children a relatively complete basic education.
To learn more advanced knowledge, one had to be an exceptionally outstanding student or a member of the privileged class.
So these friends from the Empire could at most recognize words and know how to read them together, and some couldn’t even read them very fluently.
For them to draw any conclusions from the matter of distilleries producing alcohol was something they still couldn’t do.
Of course, Lance didn’t have much hope that they could analyze anything, so he didn’t wait too long and started an enlightening discussion.
“What do you think alcohol is used for, especially medicinal alcohol.”
They all knew this. Some said for disinfection, some said for wiping wounds, and some said it could be used as fuel.
Lance nodded at all of them, “Yes, but its main use is still for disinfection.”
“Alcohol is not an easy thing to store. It’s very volatile. For so many factories to start producing alcohol all at once, where do you think, or under what circumstances, would so much alcohol be needed?”
This question was not that complicated either. Elvin spoke first, “In a situation where many, many people are injured…”
As he spoke, he himself was stunned, because he thought of a place where it could be used.
With Lance’s encouragement, he said those two words—
War!
Lance pointed at him, “War, war is coming!”
“So the Federation government has relaxed the issue of alcohol production under the environment of Prohibition, letting all the distilleries work, because war is coming!”
“At that time, many people will be injured. There will be a large number of injured people on the front lines. They will need a large amount of alcohol and medical supplies.”
As they were talking, Morris pushed the door open and came in, holding a newspaper in his hand, “The newsstand has no extra newspapers at all. I heard its price has already risen to thirty cents a copy!”
“Damn it, so high?!”
The average subscription price of the “International News” was only two cents a copy, which was already a relatively high price. Some other newspapers only cost one cent.
It had no sales at all in some more remote and backward places, precisely because the price was too high!
But now, its price had increased fifteen-fold. This could only mean that it indeed recorded very important news.
When Lance took the newspaper, as expected, the front-page headline read, “Negotiations Break Down, Shadow of War Looms Over Tanfit” in a huge title.
The scarlet exclamation mark was like being soaked in blood, exuding an unsettling aura!
Today’s news shook the entire Federation. Many people wanted to know what had happened. The newspaper office had obviously underestimated people’s fear of war, so much so that this newspaper could not be bought anywhere now!
As for the newspaper in Lance’s mailbox?
It must have been that the delivery person didn’t deliver it at all and just took it out to sell!
Lance’s attention was all on the report, which stated that the result of the multilateral negotiations had not achieved the desired outcome, and the contradictions between the four parties could not be resolved through negotiation.
In fact, the reason for needing to export war often comes from the dissatisfaction of the bottom-level people within the country with the social status quo. If the country’s rulers cannot direct the firepower to a foreign war, then the final result will be civil war!
The people, who were suffocating under the heavy pressure of society, had reached the point of taking up knives. Whether this knife was to be stabbed into the ruling class or into the surrounding countries, there seemed to be little to consider.
So they unhesitatingly planned to launch a war against foreign countries. If they could take a piece of land from a neighboring country, it would mean that the country’s upward channel had been reopened.
The internal contradictions could be eased. Whether it was economic pressure or other pressures, they could be greatly reduced, and society would become stable and prosperous again.
If they lost, it would actually not be a problem either. The country’s internal population would have been severely depleted once, and social resources would become abundant again, so the contradictions would naturally be resolved.
So this war had no possibility of being resolved from the very beginning. The so-called geopolitical issues, cultural issues, and racial issues were all just excuses for starting a war.
The Federation’s representative also participated in this negotiation. Now these consuls had begun to gradually withdraw from Tanfit.
The entire report did not explicitly state that a war would break out, only that there was a high probability of a war breaking out, without mentioning any speculation about the scale and time.
In the following pages, the cruel, man-eating Emperor of the Empire also spoke, saying that he supported the people of Tanfit in defending their national honor with weapons…
Without a doubt, the “International News” had once again taken a jab at the Emperor of the Empire. As the most correct stance, they had once again received unanimous praise from the readers of the Federation.
Lance passed the newspaper to the others. He scratched his eyebrow, “Let’s get some more weapons. I have a feeling this war will last for a long time.”
The entire city, the entire Federation, seemed to be shrouded in a shadow because of this bad news.
In the morning, the Empire gang from Goldstar City sent people over. Goldstar City was to the west of Golden Port and was also one of Golden Port’s satellite cities, another city being drained of its resources.
Goldstar City had many factories and a complete industrial system. Some factories in Golden Port couldn’t bear the costs here and eventually chose to develop in Goldstar City.
This also made Goldstar City gradually become prosperous, although it had always been drained of its resources and devoured by Golden Port bit by bit.
But it is undeniable that it also became more prosperous because of Golden Port. A large number of factories provided a large number of jobs, and stable jobs increased the income of the city’s residents, allowing them to have more disposable funds.
This money is the foundation of happiness.
What these factory workers want most after a day’s work is to have a drink.
There were not too many gangs in Goldstar City, which of course was also related to the city not being large. In total, there might be about a dozen gangs, and their scale was not very large.
The person who came was a middle-aged man in his forties, with two subordinates in their thirties. When he saw Lance, he seemed a little shocked, but he quickly composed himself.
“Mr. Lance, it’s a great pleasure to meet you in person. Although I have already heard about some of your deeds in Goldstar City, when I see you…”
He showed a smile, “As you can see, I am still shocked by your youth!”
Lance extended his hand and shook his, and had him sit in the opposite chair, “How is the situation with the Empire immigrants over in Goldstar City?”
This middle-aged man was named Damon. The scale of his gang in Goldstar City was not very large. In total, the core members and peripheral members were only about a hundred people.
Because Goldstar City was not like Golden Port, with all kinds of huge interests and consumer venues. Many people who made money in Goldstar City would take a car to Golden Port to spend it.
In the absence of major conflicts of interest, the scale of the gangs was generally not large.
The rapid rise of the Lance Family in Golden Port had begun to radiate its influence to the surrounding areas. This was a new gang different from the Camille gang, and the Empire gangs in the surrounding cities were all encouraged by this!
If an Empire gang like the Five Families could appear, then the surrounding Empire gangs would also get a huge development opportunity.
Just like now!
Damon simply couldn’t get a stable channel for liquor in Goldstar City. Just like Gallio (the leader of the Empire gang in Fides), intermittent sales were instead a blow to their business.
When the drunkards wanted to drink and you didn’t have any, they would leave, and there was a high probability that they would not come back.
So when Ennio found him and asked him if he was willing to get liquor from the Lance Family, he immediately agreed.
“Our side is not like here in Golden Port, where there are gunfights every day…” He himself smiled as he said this.
“There are too many factories over there. We can’t deal with the factories. They have a lot of workers, but there’s no point in dealing with ordinary people.”
“The gangs are actually quite harmonious with each other because there is no need for competition.”
“Our main income comes from strip clubs and providing flesh trade, as well as smuggling some meat.”
Smuggling beef from the Yalan region to the Federation was indeed a profitable business. There were also people doing this business in Golden Port.
Earning a cent or two per pound was already a lot. It was all hard work, and it was also f—king illegal.
Lance felt a little sympathy for him, “I can provide you with a stable supply of liquor, and your situation will get better.”
Damon nodded repeatedly, “The liquor sales in Goldstar City are very good. I believe we can sell at least $50,000 to $100,000 worth of liquor every month!”
This might not be enough for Lance for even a week, but Goldstar City was a small city after all. You couldn’t ask it to be like Golden Port.
Lance nodded, “This time, I’ll give you $60,000 worth of liquor first. You can choose the types yourself.”
“Damon, let me say a few words outside of business.”
Although Damon was older than Lance, his respectful performance at this time was not at all like a middle-aged man facing a young man.
In this world, power is the core factor that determines who is bigger, not age!
“We are all immigrants from the Empire. We all know that survival here is very difficult, so I have always had an idea.”
“We should unite and form a state of efficient communication. If you run into trouble that you can’t solve, I can help you.”
“If I run into trouble that I can’t solve, you can also come and help me.”
“As long as we are united, even if we don’t take the initiative to bully others, those who want to bully us will have to think twice about whether they can chew on all of us!”
Damon asked with some caution after listening, “Do we need to… I mean, will we become one gang?”
Lance saw his caution and denied his statement, “I am not trying to annex you, just a simple alliance, to advance and retreat together, that’s all.”
“I have seen too many people from the Empire being discriminated against in the Federation. We don’t want to be discriminated against. If we want to get fairness and justice, we have to make the people of the Federation take us seriously!”
“Fists, wealth, status!”
Damon nodded and said after listening, “No problem, that’s great, Mr. Lance!”
“And I believe your success can better help me, help us, to avoid bumps and traps on this road, and to walk faster and faster!”
At first, no one paid attention to the rapid rise of the Lance Family. In the middle, they were even slightly suppressed. Damon, including the people of the Empire in Valley City, all felt that the Lance Family would soon disappear.
Just like the countless Empire gangs that had tried to stand up in the past but were pushed down again!
But when the Lance Family once again proved that the Empire District was its private domain, they began to realize that a gang that did not exist by extorting and kidnapping its own people was born.
Damon was speaking from his heart. He hoped to get some experience in gang management from Lance so that his gang could grow stronger faster.
Of course, the premise of all this was that he had to have money!
And smuggled liquor perfectly compensated for this shortcoming. If Lance didn’t want to annex him, then he was willing to recognize Lance and regard him and the Lance Family as the “main family.”
Then Lance took Damon to visit the training process of the gang members, changing a batch every week.
These gang members had to receive training in shooting, fighting, and using cold weapons like daggers and knives.
They also had to practice multi-person cooperation, in groups of three, five, and ten.
Seeing this, Damon and his two deputies all had an incredible look on their faces!
Because they felt that Lance was not cultivating a gang, he was cultivating his own private army!
He couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Lance, is this… really necessary?”
He couldn’t understand. They were just a gang!
Lance, on the other hand, seemed very casual. He had the instructor temporarily stop and then called a young man over.
“Tell Mr. Damon your name, where you are from, and whether you have a family…”
This young man stood up straight like a giant and stated his situation. Damon was still a little confused about Lance’s meaning. The others also looked at Lance, somewhat not understanding the purpose of him doing this.
But Lance said, “Your life is precious, my life is also precious, and their lives are also precious!”
“The purpose of receiving military-style training is to protect their precious lives. When they encounter an emergency, or face some firefight missions.”
“I believe that the well-trained young men will all know what to do to maximize their survival, and to kill more enemies!”
“You are not consumables!” Lance looked at the guy who should be about the same age as himself and gave a military salute.
The young man was so moved that his eyes turned red. He also returned a salute, which made everyone seem particularly excited!
Only then did Lance turn around and look at Damon, “This is the purpose.”
“I hope that every one of us can live longer, live better, in this damn world!”
Lance spent almost the whole day with Damon, taking him to visit his industries, and also went to those bars to let him see how his bars operated.
These things were still very avant-garde and advanced for the people of this era. At this time, Damon also gradually understood that Lance’s success was definitely not a coincidence. He would definitely be able to go further than anyone else!
This day brought him many shocks and also a lot of thought. When they went to the hotel in the evening, Damon made a request. He also wanted one or two instructors.
Lance did not refuse this, but it was just a loan to him because Lance himself was short of people.
Damon brought cash. The liquor was loaded onto the truck at night. The next morning, before dawn, the group set off.
To avoid accidents on the road, Lance also arranged for some people to escort them.
It was only a little over a hundred kilometers from here to Goldstar City, a one-day round trip.
After seeing Damon off, Lance gathered the people of the Empire Merchants Association.
A group of people sat in the room, discussing the situation of the past two days.
They had a vague feeling that Lance had gathered them to talk about this matter, or rather, to profit from this matter!
For the past two months, they had been thinking about making money like the last time, day and night!
Some people even regretted that they had put in too little and had even slapped themselves a few times.
This time, they had to take out all their money and could no longer let such a good money-making opportunity pass them by!
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Lance finally arrived.
He was actually not late; it was the others who had arrived early.
The moment Lance entered, everyone stood up.
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