The Mafia Empire

The study was rather ordinary, with no rare antiques or priceless collections; just three enormous bookshelves filled with all sorts of books. Some were relatively new, while others had worn covers exposing the linen underneath, used to reinforce the bindings. These hundreds of books were just a small portion of the elderly man's collection, yet they were the most frequently read.

He had spent his life reading, meticulously going through every book he deemed valuable and leaving behind detailed notes.

The elderly man had graduated from a prestigious university with outstanding character and scholarship. He had devoted his entire life to his work, rising and falling several times, and finally, before his retirement, he successfully became a councilor—a councilor of Ternell City.

The role of councilor was not a recent invention. It existed even during the era of feudal imperialism, though back then, they worked in the "Imperial United Council," often dealing with disputes between nobles and commoners or among nobles themselves. Occasionally, they would address state affairs, but the final word on these matters usually belonged to the emperor.

After the New Party toppled the Old Party, the roles and powers of councilors and the council underwent massive changes. Considering that the empire was essentially built through prolonged conquests and looting by the Star Empire's royal family, there were various levels of resistance across the regions.

Most resisters were former nobility or privileged individuals from previous dynasties who refused to accept a life as commoners. These individuals often stirred up minor disturbances.

This is where councilors came into play. They acted as the conduit for demands from the grassroots to the upper levels, conveying reasonable grievances from the public to the ears of those in power, prompting adjustments to regional policies. Simultaneously, they were the upper echelon's means of understanding, controlling, and governing the localities, assisting in enforcing their rule.

On the surface, the role of councilor seemed service-oriented, yet the power it wielded had expanded immensely over time. Their authority now rivaled, if not exceeded, that of a mayor. In an era when few could afford telegrams, and telephones were novelties in only a handful of cities, this role gave councilors considerable maneuvering space and convenience.

With the added power to craft policies that governed the empire as a whole, their authority magnified even further.

The elderly man slowly walked to his rattan chair, settling into it with precision. A quick flash of pain crossed his face before he resumed a composed expression. It was an old affliction; too many hours bent over in the garden left his back sore whenever he tried to straighten up. Oddly, he seemed to enjoy this brief moment of pain.

"Do you know why I want to hit you?" he asked, taking a pair of copper-rimmed glasses from his chest pocket and polishing them with a piece of leather that could buy a hundred pairs of glasses. His glasses had two legs secured by slender silver strings hanging around his neck, much like many elderly middle-class men.

Gador lowered his head without a word.

The elderly man seemed like any other senior citizen. He enjoyed tending to his flowers and plants, spending his limited time caring for motionless greenery, basking in the sun by the window, reading a book... But Gador knew that behind this facade, there was another side to the man—one that was frightening.

The man wiped his glasses for a while, then positioned them on his nose. He slightly hunched forward, lowering his head as he peered at Gador through the gap between his glasses and the rims. "I knew you wouldn't understand; you're as foolish as you were twenty years ago—beyond saving!"

Hearing these words, Gador let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he likely wouldn't face any serious repercussions this time.

It was an old topic. Twenty years ago, shortly after Gador began serving the elderly man, he had a brief meeting with him. During that meeting, someone had fired three shots at the man, leaving blood on the ground. However, the bullets hit Gador instead. The assassination had nearly sent Gador to meet his maker, but he survived, seizing the second most important opportunity in his life.

Later in the hospital, the elderly man asked Gador why he had shielded him with his body instead of figuring out the best course of action. Gador, with a foolish smile, replied, "Because I'm stupid. I didn't know what else to do, so I used my body to shield you."

The elderly man wasn't moved by this answer. As he left, he pointed at Gador, who was still bedridden, and from that moment on, Gador rose steadily within the underworld until today!

Time is a profound mystery, constantly slipping away unnoticed, and as the years pass, yesterday feels like it's still within reach.

"Someone is out to get you, setting up a trap. What does it mean if you can't locate those three people?" the man asked, glancing at Gador before angrily throwing a book at him. "It means those three people are either being controlled or are dead, you fool! Yet you actually followed the advice of Pronto and that Wood, messing everything up. You're utterly hopeless!"

The elderly man had spent his life in a world of schemes and deception. Upon hearing Gador's account, he knew the fool had fallen into a trap.

He quickly quieted, lost in thought, pondering whether this incident hinted at a deeper objective, perhaps… him!

It wasn't improbable. As a former councilor of the Old Party, the situation in Kanros State was far from the peace it appeared to have. The new governor had been at odds with the former governor. Though the old man was now bedridden and unable to sit up, he still held a substantial portion of the province's power.

The old governor was Old Party, while the new governor was New Party. Naturally, the new governor wouldn't tolerate his authority being held by a bedridden old man, leading to multiple confrontations. With the upcoming mid-term election, if the governor started cutting the Old Party's influence from the ground up, it would pose a significant threat to the Old Party in Kanros.

Whether the incident involving Gador was an isolated event or part of a larger scheme was worth considering.

No rational person would take a power struggle lightly; no one ever would.