Empire of Shadows

Chapter 641 Men and Men and Men [666+4]

What's a good wedding gift for Lance?

Admiral Miles spent the entire night pondering this question.

Logically, he didn't need to consider Lance's feelings.

He was the Federal Military's Admiral, the commander of this naval base, the supreme commander, his status surpassed ninety-nine percent of the people in this country!

And Lance?

Just an ordinary mob boss.

The gap between them was so vast that it was hard to describe in words; one was in the sewers, and the other was in the sky!

But even with such a big difference, Admiral Miles still decided to give Lance a small gift.

Firstly, Lance had done a good job. He had also seen the newspapers recently, and people were calling him a "steel-willed man with a gentle heart," which was a little embarrassing.

Every time he thought of this title, he felt a faint sense of pride. His image in the eyes of the public was different from those idiots.

In addition, Lance was very good at getting things done. According to his method, without affecting the soldiers' daily meals, he could save about a million dollars in kickbacks every month.

That's nearly ten million a year!

He had also specifically asked someone to do a price survey, and the fact proved that Lance had hardly made much profit from it. In the audit of some menus, he might even face losses.

How could you hate someone who was willing to lose money himself, but wouldn't shortchange him or mistreat the navy soldiers' meals?

Moreover, there were many things in the future that would require Lance's assistance, so after thinking it over, Admiral Miles finally decided to give Lance the first watch he had ever received.

When giving gifts, you don't necessarily have to give brand new things. You can also give people your most beloved things, which is more meaningful than buying something from the store!

That watch was given to him by his grandfather when he joined the army. The price wasn't very high, about two hundred dollars at the time. It had been discontinued for many years, and it was worth about three thousand five hundred dollars on the second-hand market.

Not very valuable, but of extraordinary significance.

Two colonels brought gifts and Admiral Miles' greetings here. They couldn't stay long, so Lance took the initiative to have a brief exchange with them outside St. Naya Cathedral.

"His Excellency the General wishes you a happy wedding. This is the first watch in his life. He hopes this watch will allow you to remember every moment of your happy life!"

Lance glanced at the watch, which showed signs of use but was well maintained, nodded, and put it in his hand, "A very good gift, I like it very much, and I am very grateful for the General's blessings."

"Help me thank His Excellency the General. I will visit him in a couple of days."

As he said that, he put the watch back in the box, then held out his hand and shook hands with the two colonels, "I don't know what to call you."

The two colonels exchanged glances and felt that there was no problem in telling Lance their names, so they introduced themselves.

"Thank you for making a trip for me. It looks like you can't stay?"

One of them nodded and said, "Yes, we have other tasks later."

Lance turned his head and beckoned to a young man beside him, said something in his ear, and the guy ran away quickly.

Lance turned his head and said with a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Since you still have tasks, I won't keep you. If you have a vacation and can leave, feel free to come and play with me. As a local of Jincheng, I will take you to appreciate its beauty."

The two agreed. Just as they were about to leave, the young man quickly ran back, holding a briefcase in his hand, which seemed to contain something.

Lance took the briefcase and handed it over, while taking a step forward and lowering his voice a little, "Some new cigars, I hope they can help you pass the boring time."

"It's nothing expensive or sensitive."

To avoid bad influence, he specially used a briefcase.

As long as these two colonels weren't stupid enough to actively open it and tell others that they had received something from Lance, then everyone would only think that there were some important documents inside.

Seeing that they were still a little hesitant, Lance directly put the briefcase in their hands, and then said sincerely, "Make a friend!"

The two colonels showed smiles on their faces that were beyond official business, very humane and very personal, "Thank you."

Lance shook hands with them and said goodbye. The two colonels quickly turned around, got into their car, and left.

In the car, one of the colonels opened the document and looked at the bright yellow shell inside, the flat and long box made of solid wood, and couldn't help but whistle.

He recognized this brand, more than a hundred dollars a box, only eight sticks.

When he opened a box to look at the cigars inside, his whole movement stopped suddenly.

The colleague who was driving asked, "What's wrong?"

He turned his head and glanced at it, then slammed on the brakes, almost causing a car accident.

In addition to the four cigars, there was also a stack of twenty-dollar bills in the cigar box, which looked like two thousand dollars.

This was the most money they had ever received!

They had received money before. Some sergeants wanted to transfer positions, transfer, and promote, and they also asked them to help them. But those people would give at most a few hundred dollars, which was a lot.

They had never received so much at once!

The colonel in the passenger seat opened another cigar box, also four cigars and a stack of twenty-dollar bills.

"They all say Mr. Lance is very generous…"

The colonel in the passenger seat took out a stack of money and fiddled with the edge with his thumb. The rustling sound of the bills fanning, and the smell of ink, was intoxicating!

He squinted his eyes and enjoyed it for a while before saying, "I didn't believe it before, but now I do!"

Although the colonel driving the vehicle didn't say anything, it could be seen from his smiling face that he also valued his friendship with Lance very much!

"He is a friend worth making!"

He made an evaluation of Lance in his heart.

On the other side, Lance returned to the cathedral after explaining a few words to the young man.

In the trunk of his car, there were many similar small gifts for emergencies.

For example, a liquor box containing five thousand dollars in cash and a bottle of brandy, for example, a carton of cigarettes containing half a pack of cigarettes and four thousand dollars, for example…

Sometimes things can be very sudden, for example, you invite a friend and need to ask him to do something for you, and you only prepared one gift.

But who knows if he invited another very important person, this gift would be difficult to give.

So, preparing a few more gifts in the car is a manifestation of Lance's rich experience and precipitation in another world.

"Hey, it's not allowed to get close here now!"

Lance turned his head. Some homeless people nearby seemed to want to come over to beg for something. Lance's people were driving them away.

"Let them come over."

Lance instructed. Today was a good day, even though he didn't like these homeless people.

He took some change from other people and threw it to the homeless people at will. Just as he was about to go back, he suddenly noticed a familiar gaze.

He stood there, half-sideways, his eyes falling on the person with a cane, whose leg was obviously severely twisted.

One standing, one hunching over, after the two looked at each other for a moment, Lance turned and left.

And the cripple, looking at the scattered banknotes on the ground, didn't reach out to pick them up.

He glanced at the luxurious St. Naya Cathedral, glanced at the dignitaries gathered inside the cathedral, watching them greet Lance with smiles.

Suddenly, the cripple seemed to relax completely. He silently turned around with his cane, he just wanted to leave immediately.

Lance shook his head and returned to the open space outside the cathedral. Some people were already discussing the arrival of the two military officers.

They didn't know that Lance actually had some connection with the military, and felt surprised by this!

In fact, what they didn't know was that when they realized that their news had begun to lag behind significantly, they were already on the edge of the circle.

No one will remind them if they don't work hard.

Except for the people from the Dangerous Goods Administration, the entire city's law enforcement departments, some people from government departments, all came.

There were also those councilors, some were not invited by Lance, but were invited by William, who was using Lance's influence to improve his position.

Lance glanced at William, who was standing by the church door and socializing with some people, turned around and walked towards Mayor Williams.

They were the most distinguished and highest-ranking guests today, apart from the military.

"You get along well with Admiral Miles."

Mayor Williams said tentatively. He seemed to know something, but in reality, he didn't know anything.

He didn't even know whether Lance and this Admiral Miles really had a friendship, or whether they had a superficial connection because of the senator's side.

Lance smiled, didn't answer, and didn't need to answer. Some questions are more appropriately answered by not answering.

His non-response didn't cause any other emotional changes in Mayor Williams. Then, he brought the topic back to the wedding.

"Congratulations, Lance, you have completed an important stage in your life, and thus moved on to the next stage."

Lance said thank you from the bottom of his heart. Although Mayor Williams' experience was not very useful to him, it was his kindness.

Then, he took the initiative to leave and greet other people, and only had a moment of free time when the ceremony began.

Accompanied by the cheerful and sweet melody of the wedding march, William led Patricia's hand and walked to Lance's side, "Now I give her to you."

Lance nodded, took Patricia's hand from his, and together they went to the front.

Under the priest's guidance, they completed the wedding ceremony once more.

A large flock of white doves flew into the sky amidst the blessings, seemingly预祝预祝 wishing the newlyweds a happy life in the future!