The Mayor leaned back on his bed, having stared at the scenery outside the window for a long time. The secretary stood by, very worried, but
The Mayor leaned back on his bed, having stared at the scenery outside the window for a long time. The secretary stood by, very worried, but hesitant to speak.
From the moment the news arrived, he had been in a daze.
In fact, the secretary also knew why—
So many preparations and arrangements, so much energy spent, so many connections used to do this.
Now, he was just one day away from success.
Twenty-four hours, not even twenty-four hours, and the militia could enter the city. As the city’s legal ruler, he could have the militia eliminate any person or organization that disobeyed him.
Whether it was Lance or those fleas in the Bay Area, as long as he didn’t like them, he could remove them directly and have the entire city thoroughly cleansed from top to bottom.
He was just one day short.
Senator Johnson had not been able to buy him this one day. He heard that there were many people on the other side, all suggesting immediate intervention in the Golden Port dock turmoil.
He had lost.
He lost because not enough congressmen spoke up for him. He lost because his foundation was not as solid as those old political families.
Perhaps from the very beginning, he had already lost. A common little character, stepping onto a grand stage, could he really deliver an increasingly brilliant performance?
It was time to wake up.
The ringing of the phone made him look to the side. He turned his head and picked up the phone, his tone extremely dejected. “It’s me, Sidney.”
“It’s me, Mike.”
“What’s been going on with you guys these past two days?”
Sidney was silent for a moment. “Some bad things have happened. Have you heard any new news?”
Mike’s voice was a bit uncomfortable to listen to. “The negative impact of the dock turmoil is too great. They won’t care who started this turmoil. They don’t know those people, and they don’t know their names.”
“But they know you. You are the mayor of Golden Port. You are responsible for everything there!”
The Mayor sighed. “Mike, we are friends. Just be direct. I can take it.”
Mike coughed. He clearly hadn’t expected the Mayor to be so direct, making it hard for him to be tactful.
But since the other party had been so blunt, he had nothing to be embarrassed about. “Regarding the matter of nominating you for Speaker of the House of Representatives, we discussed it and need to discuss it further.”
Although the Mayor had guessed it, when the other party said it, he was still filled with anger.
“How do you plan to discuss it?” His tone was impolite, with an interrogative attitude, which also made Mike very unhappy.
He was the Likalai State Social-Democratic Party representative. Although he had no real power, he couldn’t set a city’s policy or solve some people’s employment problems…
But he could decide who could be nominated and who couldn’t be.
“I don’t like your tone, Sidney!”
“You’ve made a mess of Golden Port. Now we all doubt whether you are capable of holding such an important position as Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
“You can raise objections, but you have to think clearly about how you’re going to explain everything you’ve encountered.”
“But you don’t have to worry too much. We will find a suitable job for you.”
With that, Mike hung up the phone.
The Mayor slammed the receiver down on its base. He cursed.
In fact, he used to like cursing a lot. In Fides, when talking with those roughnecks, if you were too civilized, they would feel that you didn’t fit in.
Only by being as foul-mouthed as them and telling a few dirty jokes could you get along with the worker representatives.
After coming here, he rarely did that anymore. After all, that was just his disguise. But now, he really wanted to curse.
The secretary re-hung the phone and stood aside, looking at him with some worry.
The Mayor lay with his eyes closed for a long while before sighing. “The nomination for Speaker of the House is most likely gone.”
This was inevitable.
This time, he had designed an almost flawless plan. Once successful, the entire Golden Port would be under his control, and the transfer of benefits he had promised to those people could be realized.
Whether it was Mike, other party representatives, or key figures in the Social-Democratic Party, they weren’t helping him for nothing.
He wasn’t a character like Councilman Wade or Councilman Williams, with a deep background or political connections. He was just an “ordinary person” from an ordinary family who had struggled for half his life to get where he was today.
He had no room for error, because once he made a mistake, there would be no next time.
Without a doubt, this time he couldn’t deliver on his promise. Those people wouldn’t get the benefits he had promised, so naturally, they would no longer help him.
The secretary pursed his lips. “We still have time, and we still have a chance.”
He laughed. “Williams and the Bay Area have won. They will soon cooperate to purge our people in the city, and this city will return to its original state.”
The secretary reminded him, “There’s still Director Dale.”
“Dale?” The Mayor shook his head. “All he thinks about is returning to the special district. This is Congress’s decision. Do you think he will stand on the opposite side of Congress?”
“Don’t be naive. He’ll soon be staying out of it.”
He let out another heavy sigh. “Although I don’t want to admit it, I have to admit, I lost.”
The secretary was silent. The atmosphere in the room was heavy.
But soon, the Mayor let out some laughter. “Although I failed, Owen, you still have a chance.”
“Your starting point is higher than mine. Although I failed, in the end, there will still be a lot of political legacy left for you.”
“You will definitely be able to go further than me!” There was a light flowing in his eyes, as if he were looking at another version of himself.
This made Owen feel a heavy burden on his shoulders. “I don’t know if I can do it well.”
“You definitely can!” He paused. “Since I have accepted the facts, then for this period of time, I will be serving you.”
“Although I have lost my chance, those people shouldn’t think they’ll have an easy time either!”
The Mayor suddenly burst out laughing. While laughing, he clutched his wound. The laughter triggered his injuries, but this time he didn’t stop.
“Williams, Lance, the Bay Area, I want them to continue fighting. No one gets to fucking stop first. It’s not enough for me to be the only loser; there must be more!”
Seeing that the Mayor seemed to have regained some of his fighting spirit, the secretary also breathed a sigh of relief. “That is indeed a good idea.”
The next day, the people from the state government arrived in Golden Port. The Mayor was still in his recovery period, and they also had to do some preliminary work.
Perhaps the words “Congress” and “Senator” were still very intimidating to the lower class of society, and society had not yet evolved to the point where they dared to spit on these senators. The chaotic situation in the city surprisingly improved quite a bit.
Vaughn and the worker representatives also gathered at Lance’s place.
They hadn’t been looting money these past two days. Lance had instructed them that others could take those goods home, but they couldn’t.
As worker representatives, they would definitely be investigated, and efforts would be made to have them convicted and imprisoned. So taking the goods back at this time would have no other meaning than to lengthen their sentences.
If they wanted money, Lance could give it to them. There were many ways to make them rich.
“The riot can’t stop now, but we can stop expanding the situation. You need to show an attitude that you are open to talks.”
“We don’t really want a riot. Our demand is just to force them to the negotiating table, to talk to us seriously, not to be perfunctory.”
The people in the office all nodded. Lance looked at Vaughn. “Prepare some negotiation materials, for example, evidence of no pay raises for more than two years, solid proof of pay raises every six months or a year in other parts of the state, and the extent of the pay raises.”
“If we stop now, it will instead give this action more of a political leaning, which is not good for us.”
“Our demand has always been simple: raise wages, reduce working hours, improve benefits!”
The others also nodded, because this was indeed their demand. They had never thought of participating in any political events, although they had indeed disrupted the Mayor’s decision.
Dave was more familiar with Lance. Besides Johnny, it was him here.
He also mentioned some worries. “In this strike, many people were injured, and some people…” he pursed his lips, which were a bit swollen, “some people died accidentally.”
“Many?” Lance asked.
“A few,” he said vaguely.
Lance looked at Vaughn. “Are they all our worker brothers?”
“There are a few workers, and also some security guards.”
Lance didn’t care after hearing this. “They won’t find the killer, and it’s impossible to punish everyone. So in the end, you may have to bear some of this responsibility, but it won’t be a murder charge.”
“So don’t worry about these things. Handle the arrangements for the dead and injured brothers. These can all be tallied up and discussed with them.”
“Remember, you are the disadvantaged group. You must make a fuss when it’s time to make a fuss, you must protest, don’t be afraid.”
“The purpose of the councilman coming this time is to appease your emotions. As long as you show that you are likely to accept their conditions, they will concede as much as possible.”
As he was speaking, Elvin knocked on the door and stood at the entrance.
Lance glanced at him and then said, “Alright, let’s leave it at that for now. If you have any problems, contact me again. Remember, stay calm. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I can solve all your problems.”
In fact, now that things had developed to this point, it was useless for them to try to back out. They could only go all the way.
The men stood up one by one and said goodbye to Lance. After they had all left, Elvin walked in and said, “Lukar has raided another one of our temporary warehouses.”
Lance frowned. “Wasn’t that mole already dealt with?”
Elvin’s expression also became serious. “This is what I wanted to tell you. Maybe there’s still a mole.”
Lance rubbed his face with both hands. “This son of a bitch is like a ghost, constantly haunting me. First, find out who knew about the temporary warehouse.”
He frowned as he spoke. “Then make some arrangements for him.”
Elvin was a little worried. “Will it cause some trouble? The congressmen are about to arrive.”
“No, it won’t. They’ll help us cover these things up…”
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