Senator Cleveland had just finished a meeting. As he came out of the room, he saw Tom standing by his door waiting for him.
Logically, Tom should have been waiting for him in a place far from the conference room, staying with the secretaries, aides, and entourages of the other big shots.
They were the ones who belonged to the same circle, not standing here, which seemed very abrupt.
However, Senator Cleveland knew very well that Tom was not the kind of reckless person. For him to be standing here now, there must have been a reason.
“What’s wrong?” he paused for a moment and then continued to walk out. Tom followed closely behind.
“Lance has had some conflicts with the Holy Bell Party in Likalai State. He has mobilized some social resources.”
“The Holy Bell Party?” Senator Cleveland tugged at his tie to loosen the collar. “I seem to have heard this name somewhere.”
Tom quickly explained, “They rely on religion to carry out some extreme racist behaviors. They are a group of people that is somewhat difficult to define whether they are a religious organization or a gangster organization.”
Senator Cleveland immediately remembered. “Was it them who killed more than twenty dark-skinned people last time?”
The “last time” he was talking about was actually several years ago. Now, with the change in the general environment, Joshua was also seeking to be whitewashed. Although he was still very extreme and still committed crimes, he had also begun to pay attention to some superficial things.
In the past two years, he had not made similar news known to everyone. Although they were still doing it, they were not so reckless.
Tom nodded and ran a few steps to open a door for the senator. “Yes, it’s them.”
Senator Cleveland said thank you and then crossed the door. “What happened to them?”
“Some conflicts,” Tom said. After closing the door, he followed a few steps and stood behind the senator again. “The people of the Holy Bell Party made a move on Lance and Mayor Williams before. They kidnapped Mayor Williams’s son, and Lance has also had some disputes with them because of this.”
“This time, Lance mobilized some resources from the state government. Attorney General Terry contributed, mobilizing a part of the state police. He also contacted the Prohibition Committee and placed one of his men in the State Prohibition Committee.”
“They have been attacked from multiple aspects, and they have suffered heavy losses.”
Senator Cleveland said with a smile, “I hope the ‘they’ you’re talking about doesn’t refer to Lance and his group.”
Tom also smiled. “Of course not. The Holy Bell Party has suffered heavy losses. They’ve lost face, lost territory, and many of them have been arrested.”
“Many socialites have declared that they have no relationship with them, and some have even turned around and accused them of crimes.”
Senator Cleveland frowned. “Isn’t this very good?” As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face again. He nodded at the entourages of the other big shots who had already stood up and were watching him in the main hall, which was considered a response to their respect.
Tom also glanced at those people. “The problem lies here.”
“The Holy Bell Party and some people have some interest dealings. You know, they kidnap and traffic people.”
As he spoke, he ran a few steps to the main gate and opened it for the senator, letting him go out. Then, as before, he chased after him, running down the steps.
Not far away, a car saw Senator Cleveland coming down from the steps. The driver ended his chat with the other car drivers, stepped on the gas, and parked the car at the bottom of the steps.
Tom took the opportunity to open the car door and let the senator get in. He himself got into the passenger seat. “Back to the manor.”
Senator Cleveland let out a sigh of relief. He placed the briefcase in his hand by his side. “Human trafficking, and then?”
His tone seemed to have no emotional fluctuations about things like human trafficking, kidnapping, and the like.
In fact, these “big shots,” not to mention their ancestors, their fathers’ generation, their grandfathers’ generation, had basically all kept a large number of slaves to work for them.
Buying slaves, selling slaves, killing slaves, abusing slaves, or setting up slave-catching teams to proactively catch slaves—these were all things they were used to doing.
So from the perspective of these people, the crimes of the Holy Bell Party were “nothing more than that.” After all, what their families had done was much more ruthless than what the Holy Bell Party had done.
For example, in the farm of a certain big shot’s grandfather, a group of slaves had planned to escape, but were discovered by the big shot’s grandfather.
In order to prevent such a thing from happening again, he had the cowboys break the limbs of all the slaves who were planning to escape, put a noose around them and tied them to the saddle, and then had the horses drag these slaves to death.
From the slave quarters to the main gate of the farm, the entire crossroads was stained red with blood. The scattered chunks of flesh everywhere were enough to send chills down one’s spine!
This kind of behavior, if put in the present, would probably have long ago aroused the heated discussion of the whole society.
But in that era, this was a normal behavior that people, including the slaves themselves, could accept.
A runaway slave being beaten to death, that was what they deserved.
Senator Cleveland was not young either. It could be said that he was born at the end of the slave emancipation movement, but he was not unfamiliar with that era, because his grandfather, his father, his family, would often talk about these contents, about the past glory of the farm.
In fact, after the slave emancipation movement, there were still many slaves who were still working on the farms, even now!
He roughly understood what Tom was trying to express.
“You’re saying, someone is not very satisfied with his behavior?” he had tasted it. “You can actually be more direct!”
After saying that, he thought for a moment. “What did they say?”
Lance was still very valuable. They had already started to make money. In just a month, several million had been deposited into their accounts, and it was fucking very clean.
Although Lance had already handed in a qualified test paper, he believed that Lance would continue to give him surprises in the future. And as an ambitious person, he certainly hoped that he could go further and climb higher.
Then he must have a group of outstanding talents around him to assist him. Lance might have some flaws in some aspects, but this was also his strength. So as long as it was not a matter that shook his core interests and foundation, he would protect Lance.
“They said Lance’s hand has reached too far. That’s the state government, the staff of the federal government, not a thug of his gang.”
Senator Cleveland couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Very funny. They are very humorous. They must be a master at telling jokes.”
He thought for a moment. “But what they said also has a point. You go back and tell Lance, don’t make it so exaggerated.”
This must have touched the interests of some people. Now the domestic and foreign situation is very special. What is needed is stability, not chaos.
He also added, “You explain to Lance, the external war needs a stable and reliable internal environment.”
After he had finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the scenery outside the window. After a while, as if he had thought of something, “Has Carter submitted any proposal recently?”
Tom shook his head. “I haven’t heard of this matter.”
The senator did not continue to ask.
The “Carter” he was talking about referred to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a “treacherous minister.”
Because until now, the primary job of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was to “collect black materials of the political enemies who had ill intentions towards Mr. President.” In other words, the work of this department was to provide ammunition for Mr. President to suppress his opponents in politics.
They were not popular. After all, who could like a person who was always trying to find out your privacy?
The previous director had done a mediocre job, which had led to a serious crisis for Mr. President in the mid-term election, and he had almost failed.
He believed that the previous director was a complete fool. Of course, he would not admit that he himself, who had put a fool in this position, was not a smart person either.
Carter, the new director who had succeeded the previous one, was a person with a very beautiful resume.
He had graduated from an Ivy League university and was also a “reserve crew member.”
Speaking of this “reserve crew member,” one had to mention the world-ending disaster once mentioned in the Bible, and the ark of salvation.
In the last century, there were many legends about the “millennium tribulation.”
People believed that at the moment of the millennium, it would be a cycle. The Lord would send down a disaster to punish the greedy human race.
Whether it was really to leave a spark for the human world, or for some other purpose, the organization “Ark” thus appeared.
It had gathered the world’s top talents at that time: scientists, the powerful, the rich. In short, most of the people at the very top of the pyramid had joined the Ark.
It also included some of the royal families of small countries, kings, and the like.
The influence of the Ark grew larger and larger, and it reached its peak in the last century, because the millennium tribulation was just around the corner. People were afraid of the impending world-ending disaster.
So anyone with a little ability would try to find a way to join the Ark.
Later, it turned out that there was no world-ending tribulation. Logically, the Ark should also have been disbanded.
But after more than a hundred years of accumulation, the Ark had already become an organization with a huge influence, all over the world.
Because it was now not a strict secret society, but a loose organization, so as long as you were an outstanding person, had a recommendation, and passed the assessment, you would become the lowest-level member of the Ark, a reserve crew member.
The reason why Mr. President had taken a fancy to Carter was partly because of this. Mr. President was also a member of the Ark, and his level was not low.
For him, Carter was a double subordinate. He was more at ease with him. And Carter’s work ability was indeed not bad. In the mid-term election, two of the senators who had backstabbed the president had already resigned on some excuse.
There were also some others who were shivering. If it weren’t for the consideration that excessive action would trigger a backlash from Congress, Carter might have really been able to pull out all the nails.
Mr. President trusted him very much.
He seemed to have submitted a proposal about expanding the authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The congressional side had been holding it back and had not passed it.
They didn’t like a fierce hunting dog like Carter, who would bite at any moment.
But at this time, he didn’t know why, when he thought of these things, he felt a faint, indescribable sense of unease.
Mr. President wouldn’t use his special power to directly pass it, would he?
He shook his head. It seemed that he still had to communicate with the other senators, and with the people in the Socialist Party, about these things to avoid some uncontrollable situations.
After returning to the manor, Tom gave Lance a call. The call was quickly answered.
“It’s me, Tom,” he first greeted, and then thought about how to tell Lance about this.
For Tom to take the initiative to call, Lance was a little surprised, but he also guessed why.
After all, the only thing that could make Tom take the initiative to call him recently was the action against the Holy Bell Party.
As for the others, the wine had been delivered to the front line on time and in quantity. He had done all the things he should have done, and had not done a single thing he shouldn’t have. The only thing that could be said to be “outside the plan” was the matter of the Holy Bell Party.
So as soon as he opened his mouth, he took the initiative to bring this up. “Is it about the Holy Bell Party?”
Tom was surprised. “How did you know I was going to talk about this?”
Lance said with a laugh, “Because I don’t think other things can make you take the initiative to call me at this time.”
Tom thought about it, and it seemed to be true.
“Tell me, is there any change?”
“Did someone complain?”
“Or do I need to be a little more ruthless and not give Joshua a chance to speak?”
Tom was also amused by him. “You can always give people surprises, but no one has asked me to tell you to find a way to shut Joshua up.”
“But some people have complained to the senator’s side. They didn’t say it very clearly, but we all know that they are accusing you of using the senator’s influence to have Attorney General Terry, the state police, and the State Prohibition Committee all clear out your dissidents.”
“They feel that you have overstepped your bounds. You shouldn’t let the government departments do these things!”
Lance was not surprised by this answer.
If someone wants to find trouble with you, to find you unpleasant, he will always find a way to accuse you.
From which foot you entered the door first, to whether you looked at him first or not, he could find a new reason every second.
Lance’s background was not clean, so it didn’t take much effort for them to find a key point to accuse Lance.
It wasn’t that Lance didn’t want a clean background himself, but that if he hadn’t taken this path, now he would still be in a bakery, racking his brains on how to pay off his debts.
If you want to get some things, you will definitely lose some things. There is no gain without loss.
If one day you find that you have gained, but have lost nothing, then it can only mean that it is not yet time for you to lose something.
“I see. I will handle the rest of the matter myself. The situation is already clear now. It doesn’t matter if they join or not.”
When Tom heard this, he couldn’t help but remind him, “You have to be careful, Lance. None of us want anything to happen to you.”
He meant that he didn’t want Lance to personally participate in the firefight. After all, a bullet doesn’t know who is who. If someone really shot at him, the rest would be out of human control and could only be left to God to judge.
Lance agreed. “I care about my own life more than you do. Don’t worry too much. Don’t forget, I originally climbed up on this.”
Then they chatted a few more sentences, and Lance hung up the phone.
He sat there for a while, thought about what to do next, and then made a phone call to Attorney General Terry and explained the matter.
Attorney General Terry did not seem surprised that this had happened. “Joshua, especially in these few years, just like Bandy, is eager to be whitewashed, so he has also gotten to know many people from the upper class.”
“You know, for some people, they have power and influence, but having power and influence does not allow them to despise the laws of the Federation. They still have to abide by the law, except for religion!”
Religion is always a useful tool for those in power, starting from the religions that allow a man to marry four wives, and a woman to marry four husbands.
These religions are more for serving the powerful and noble.
Whatever the powerful and noble want, they will issue new doctrines and canons. In addition, the federal law clearly states religious freedom and respect for faith. It has already become a kind of expensive toy.
Now this toy has been smashed by Lance. Even if they don’t personally do something, they have to vent some anger for Joshua and get some face back.
“Do you have their list?”
“After I have dealt with Joshua and some other matters, I will go and have a chat with them.”
Listening to Lance’s undisguised intention to retaliate, Attorney General Terry said with a smile that he only knew some, and would also hand over these lists to him.
Then Lance had him go through the normal procedures and not to keep chasing the people of the Holy Bell Party. He would personally solve the rest.
Attorney General Terry also gave the same advice as Tom, telling him to be very careful and not to capsize the boat.
A round of phone calls had taken a lot of time. After putting down the phone, Lance frowned.
He took out a cigarette and lit it. Originally, his idea was not to do it himself, but to have Attorney General Terry and the state police directly handle it and finish it.
A case of this scale didn’t need him to do it at all. Joshua would be pressed to death.
The biggest difficulty for a vicious criminal group to be whitewashed is that they have done too many bad things, and they are very vicious cases. Once they are exposed and concrete evidence is obtained, it is basically very difficult to make a comeback.
This time, Joshua and his group would also find it very difficult to make a comeback, but they might be able to escape. Lance did not want such an organization that had a grudge against him to run away under his nose. He had to do it himself.
He first had Elvin gather a portion of his men, ready to go to the northern region at any time. At the same time, he himself also left the company and went to the naval base by car.
More than half of the navy’s warships had been sent out, but a small portion had been left here. When passing by the New Port Terminal, you could still see those huge warships docked at the pier.
After arriving at the naval base, under the guidance of a soldier, he soon came to Admiral Miles’s office.
Because the naval military operations in the East Ocean were not large-scale military operations, Admiral Miles had not set out with the fleet. He was staying behind at the base.
When he saw Lance, his face was full of smiles. The first few million in income had already been received. He was very satisfied and took the initiative to welcome Lance at the bottom of his office building.
(End of a Chapter)