Empire of Shadows

Anderson sat on a chair in the back alley, smoking, enjoying the brief respite after the hustle, even though it was only for a moment.

In the past two years, business in Golden Port City had not been easy; the whole Federation, even the whole world knew that Golden Port City was creating an economic myth, attracting countless "adventurers" and "Gold Seekers" from around the globe.

Most common among them were illegal immigrants.

At that time, the Federation had thirty-six states and hundreds of cities, yet most of these people who smuggled into the Federation ended up in Golden Port City, which itself revealed the actual situation here.

If not for the appeal of money, redolent with the strong scent of ink, how could they have possibly traveled across the oceans to get here?

Were they really just coming to add bricks and tiles to the Federation's construction?

No, they were all here to find their own miracles.

An influx of various people made the business competition in Golden Port City highly intense; as competition increased, profits dwindled, and other problems arose.

Last year, the restaurant encountered a small issue when his partner left him, taking all the remaining money they had and leaving him with one hundred percent of the restaurant's shares.

Then, his wife had an accident and got injured.

The insurance company refused to pay any costs on the grounds that she did not disclose her slightly high blood pressure when buying the insurance.

They also couldn't provide proof that the high blood pressure had developed after purchasing the insurance.

Thus, the insurance company had reason to believe her injury was directly related to her high blood pressure and her concealment of her medical history led to this outcome, so they refused to compensate, and it led to a lawsuit.

Unsurprisingly, they lost the lawsuit.

That was the most infuriating part!

According to the policy, the insurance company only needed to pay him around eight thousand yuan in insurance fees, but they preferred to spend more than ten thousand yuan to sue him rather than fulfill the contract and pay the money.

In the end, he received no compensation and had to pay for the medical expenses and legal costs himself.

By then, he was completely out of money.

He tried to get a loan from the bank, but since he had just finished the lawsuit with the insurance company, the bank, citing unusually high risk in his loan application, required a strict review process that would take at least a month to get the loan.

He had no money at all at that time, he urgently needed funds to keep the restaurant going and to cover some family expenses, so he ultimately abandoned the idea of borrowing from the bank.

Then, based on a friend's recommendation, he approached several financial companies. Those greedy hyenas hoped to devour his assets, trying to get shares in his restaurant with just a few thousand yuan.

Eventually, he found Lezhu Company. Although the interest was slightly higher, they did not require any collateral and had no covetous eyes on his restaurant.

After a year of management, the situation in the restaurant finally improved, especially since the newly recruited manager suggested a series of marketing strategies that kept the restaurant in high demand.

This morning he spent four hundred yuan to buy an advertising spot in "Today's Golden Port" and planned to rent the storefront next to the restaurant to expand the business.

Although he continuously received calls asking him to fulfill his contract and pay the principal along with the stopped interest to Lezhu Company, he never agreed.

The restaurant's expansion needed money, marketing needed money, and he planned to lead a luxurious life relying on this restaurant for the rest of his life, so how could he satisfy Alberto, that money-minded bastard, at this critical moment?

He had only borrowed two thousand yuan, yet they were asking him to pay back five thousand, a ridiculously high interest rate he had never seen before. He refused to pay and didn't mind going to court over it.

One was an upwardly mobile restaurant owner striving to improve his situation, and the other was a social dreg who earned money through shady businesses, lurking in the sewers. His lawyer told him he didn't need to pay any mind to Lezhu Financial Company.

If they went to court, the financial company would spend far more on the lawsuit than they could recoup from the fees, and they might not even win.

If they didn't go to court but dared to mess up, he could directly sue them and make them pay.

So all he had to do was drag it out.

With the assurance from his lawyer that there was no issue, Mr. Anderson naturally wasn't willing to return the hard-earned five thousand yuan to Alberto.

I borrowed the money with effort, why should I pay it back?

The vast majority of people who do not repay their debts share this mindset.

Just as he was considering how to negotiate for the neighboring property these next few days, suddenly the manager ran over, "Mr. Anderson, there has been a little incident in the restaurant."

Anderson turned his head towards him, "Did someone's boots catch fire?"

He meant that the manager had rushed over in such a hurry, but the manager knew this wasn't the time to discuss civil and vulgar matters with Mr. Anderson.

"A customer found a cockroach in their soup, and what's worse, they bit it in two, which led to them vomiting everywhere…"

Mr. Anderson paused for a moment, then swiftly stood up, threw his cigarette on the ground, and walked towards the restaurant.

When he arrived at the restaurant, his blood pressure shot up significantly, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of vomit, causing most people to stop eating.

People gathered around the table, discussing animatedly. On the table, there was a white napkin with two halves of a cockroach placed on it.

From their situation, they seemed to be able to piece together a whole one.

Anderson had spent his life in restaurants, starting as an apprentice, then becoming a cook, and finally serving as the head chef in a well-known restaurant.

It was only a few years ago, after saving some money, that he planned to be both the chef and the owner, which led to the opening of this restaurant.

He valued this restaurant more than his own life!

During his youth, he had encountered many restaurant-related issues and knew how to handle the situation.

While he had his staff clean up the sour-smelling vomit on the floor, he walked toward Lance, just about to use a napkin to wrap up the two halves of a cockroach when Lance blocked him and the cockroach, "Are you trying to destroy the evidence?"

The scrutinizing glances around him made Anderson's scalp tingle, "I'm just trying to solve the problem. If you don't mind, we can talk in my office. I believe we can come to an agreement."

His hint of "I can pay to resolve this" was apparent to almost everyone, including Lance.

So, his voice suddenly got much louder, "Do you think I want to extort money from you?"

"I and my friend came to your restaurant to eat; now we find a cockroach, and you think we are here to extort?"

"If you really want to talk about this matter, you should do it here in front of everyone. After all, it's not just us who are the victims; there may be other victims here who just don't know it."

Lance's words changed Anderson's expression, and the other onlooking patrons also started looking uncomfortable.

If a cockroach had crawled into someone else's thick soup, did that mean the utensils they used, the food they had eaten, or hadn't eaten, could also have been crawled over by cockroaches?

Immediately, someone discontentedly demanded to call the police and have the health department come to inspect.

A restaurant reported for food hygiene issues would undoubtedly be a significant blow!

And he had just bought advertising!

Although it seemed inevitable that the news would spread, Anderson still hoped not to make too big a fuss about it.

He glanced at the two halves of the cockroach and internally cursed the two young people in the kitchen responsible for sanitation.

He whispered a few words to the manager, and the manager separated the onlookers from their line of sight, "I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience caused by today's incident. Mr. Anderson instructed me to cover everyone's lunch today..."

At that moment, Mr. Anderson also noticed Elvin's attire.

He didn't seem like someone who could afford to dine in such a high-end restaurant, so Mr. Anderson was even more convinced that these two were here to cause trouble.

With that in mind, he began to doubt whether the cockroach came from his own kitchen.

However, he also knew that this was not the time to discuss whether these two were here to extort; he needed to focus on resolving the immediate sanitary and trust crises.

He lowered his voice a bit, no longer trying to touch the cockroach, "One hundred yuan, I apologize to you both, and let's put an end to this matter."

"I know who you are and what you are trying to do. A hundred yuan isn't a small amount; don't push me too far..."

While Elvin retched violently, he said, "One hundred yuan can't buy my dignity!"

Lance just stared at him, showing no sign of compromise; Mr. Anderson took a deep breath, "Two hundred, that's the highest I can go..."

"Five hundred."

"That's blackmail! Aren't you afraid I'll call the police?"

Lance put his hand on Elvin's back, "You've scared me. I don't want a penny now..."

Elvin made an even louder gagging sound.

Mr. Anderson pursed his lips, inwardly cursing Lance, but eventually made a concession, "Four hundred yuan."

"Deal!"

Lance stepped aside, and Mr. Anderson, with the napkin, wrapped the cockroach remains and stuffed them directly into his pocket.

By then, the manager had pretty much settled the crowd, saying while Mr. Anderson and Lance were discussing compensation, "These two were here to extort us; they were excessive, beyond our expectations, so the restaurant apologizes for today's events, and all charges are waived."

"And next time, you can use this card to get a bottle of ten-dollar wine from us," he handed out a personally signed card to each person, indicating what the card was valid for.

The wine he was giving away was listed as nine dollars and ninety-nine cents on the menu, but its actual cost was less than five dollars.

On the surface, giving away a bottle of wine would lose ten dollars, but those who came for this ten-dollar wine surely wouldn't just order food worth three to five dollars.

As long as their total order exceeded twenty dollars, along with the provided wine, it was not that they wouldn't make a profit, just not much.

The manager handled the situation smoothly, and most people accepted his explanation, but some still retained a skeptical attitude.

When they saw the patrons who had encountered cockroaches leave with Mr. Anderson, they realized that the matter was over.

But it wasn't entirely over yet…