Enforcer Manual
Chapter 153: Economic Lifeline_1

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Economic Lifeline_1

Lu Xiang’s romance strategy is as much straightforward as her style of crime-fighting.

In the face of her direct attack, Song Lan was somewhat flustered.

Seeing Song Lan stuttering and unable to speak, Lu Xiang smiled, she was just teasing him. Given the current complicated situation in the District 17, they don’t have the extra energy to take care of a child.

"A politician is coming over this afternoon. He’s very interested in the creator of the Law Enforcement Handbook and wants to meet you."

"A politician?"

"They say he’s a strong contender for the next mayor."

"So he is coming here for votes."

Song Lan was not interested at all. He had to admire the politicians for their keen sense of politics. It was the height of the mayoral election, and the influence of the Law Enforcement Handbook could undoubtedly bring them significant voter support.

He could already imagine the possible power and money trade that might occur.

"Could I be absent due to a stomach ache?"

"No."

Lu Xiang said, "If nothing goes wrong, he will likely be the next mayor. It’s not a bad thing to get to know each other early... however."

"However?"

"If your stomach hurts, I could massage it for you."

"No, thanks, it suddenly got better."

Song Lan coughed lightly. Since the high-ranking leader had spoken, he could only nod his head.

The meeting was set for one in the afternoon and would be held in the conference room of their office building. The politician would arrive for the visit in person.

Ever since the Foster Family had withdrawn from District 17, their work had been significantly busier. Ever since the first issue of the Law Enforcement Handbook was published, more and more businesses had been reaching out to them, but most of them still had old-fashioned ideas and were trying to buy them off with money.

Lu Xiang immediately classified these businesses as low-quality partners and targets for future investigations.

Taking advantage of some free time, Song Lan set a new way for Nami to greet Lu Xiang, and through threats and bribes, he got the name of the culprit.

Unfortunately, Comrade Valerian has some ideological problems.

In order to get her to use her intellect for good, Song Lan had to reluctantly increase her workload.

For the loafing bunch, lunch break is never long enough.

He felt like he didn’t do anything, and it was already time for the meeting.

For the sake of the law enforcers’ department’s reputation, Song Lan left the office a quarter of an hour early and prepared coffee and tea in the meeting room.

A moment later, he met the hot election competitor.

With sharp eyes, and a chiseled face, one had to admit from his looks alone, he had an appearance people could trust.

He looked to be under forty, which is relatively young for a politician.

"Aureliano, that’s my name."

The man extended his right hand to Song Lan, and said in a robust voice, "You must be Song Lan. I’ve read the Law Enforcement Handbook you edited. I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time."

"Nice to meet you."

Once seated, it was nothing more than some bland small talk.

In general, it can be described as, "Nice to meet you, you’re pretty good", "so are you". That’s just the way it usually goes at such occasions.

A politician usually throws the purpose of the visit after these pointless pleasantries.

Aureliano was no exception.

He sipped his coffee, and when he reopened his mouth, he seemed much more aggressive than before, "Actually, I came here to ask you a question - what do you think of border trade?"

As he brought up this topic, the conference room fell into a brief silence.

This topic was completely different from what Song Lan had imagined, he originally thought the conversation would naturally lead to canvassing votes as, after all, for a competitor, the most important job was to secure the mayor’s position.

To achieve this, they would do anything necessary.

Seeing that Lu Xiang and Song Lan didn’t answer, Aureliano continued, "After Chai Ke’s death, the border trade of District 17 has come to a standstill. Criminals, big businesses... everyone has their eyes on Chai Ke’s business."

Although Chai Ke was dead, the supply and demand of border trade still exist.

And this was why the major families in the core area were eyeing the border cities.

In the past, the interpretation rights of District 17’s border trade were firmly in the hands of Chai Ke and the Foster Family behind him. Any large enterprise in District 17 that needed to engage in border trade had to act according to their wishes.

"You might as well speak your mind."

Song Lan had a hunch that the ambition of the man before him was not limited to becoming a mayor. He had already started thinking about his plans after taking office.

However, whether this was a blessing or a curse for District 17 remained to be seen.

"To truly liberate District 17 from the control of large corporations and even the United Government, this is the only way. Only those who control the economic lifeline can truly determine the future of this city... Of course, these are just some of my rough ideas."

Even though he said that, there was no hint of modesty in Aureliano’s voice.

In his opinion, the aim of the mayor of Lyon had only been half fulfilled.

He had driven the Foster Family out of District 17 in an almost suicidal way, gaining the city a temporary freedom. However, this freedom wouldn’t last long. Once the city’s economic lifeline fell into the wrong hands again, District 17 would eventually return to its old path.

"Therefore, I hope to discuss the feasibility of maintaining the order of border trade with you."

If they want to hold this economic lifeline in the hands of the government, it’s not enough to enact one or two new policies. Without armed forces to defend this lifeline, everything would be just talk.

Once reforms start touching the interests of large corporations, they would try every means to undermine the establishment of the new policy. And the enemies are far from just the large corporations of District 17. The criminal forces from "outside" are also a major problem that needs to be solved.

And the person who can help him complete these reforms is right here in this conference room.

"I want to know, with the current strength of law enforcers, can this route be protected? Especially when facing ’outside’ criminal groups, the agreements they had with the Foster Family have probably all become invalid."

And this, is the real reason for Aureliano’s visit.

He wanted to personally confirm, before pushing for reforms, whether he could find a truly trustworthy ally.

"There’s a saying making rounds at the Gold Diggers’ Bar recently - law enforcers are the most powerful force in this city."

The fall of the four criminal groups fully supports this statement.

He personally witnessed the law enforcers fulfilling their promise and the whole process of driving large criminal groups out of District 17, which also gave him confidence.

"Fighting crime is our job."

Lu Xiang spoke, she didn’t plan to give him a definitive answer, "Any criminal that threatens District 17 is our target."

Whether they come from the "outside", big businesses or government departments.