Empire of Shadows

Mr. Ted looked at Lance sitting in the chair opposite him. Even though he was the one standing, he felt shorter by a head.

The receptionist and several employees stood outside the door, making him feel his face burning.

He had always been the toughest one. In front of his employees, he was practically a tyrant!

But now… he put his hand on the phone, "If you don't leave, I'm calling the police."

Lance raised his chin. "Call. Call now. If you don't know the number, I can tell you."

The two stared at each other for a moment. Mr. Ted didn't see the slightest fear in Lance's eyes. Instead, he looked at him with a provocative gaze, as if he was really urging him to call the police.

He knew that once this call was made, some things would be difficult to undo.

He glanced at the employees outside the door who were watching the excitement, feeling somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, but also helpless. He was stuck and couldn't bring himself to do it.

Lance looked back. The employees outside the door immediately looked away, some even running to places he couldn't see. He then signaled Hiram to close the door.

When the wooden door separated the inside and outside of the room, Mr. Ted visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

He took his hand off the phone and sat back down in his chair. "Are you people from Chobaf's?"

Lance shook his head. "He packaged the debt to me. You don't need to care who I work for. You just need to know that you owe me money now."

He took out the loan document. Although Mr. Chobaf knew that this money would be difficult to recover, he had made ample preparations, and all the documents were complete.

Lance understood his methods and purpose very well. He just wanted to use this method to tell Arthur and others that he had the capital to refuse, and even the possibility of taking legal action.

And strongly, through this behavior, express a message—"This is the last time!"

But as a result, everyone saw that the 300,000 in debt that he gave to Lance was the result of his every compromise. They always had ways to continue extorting money from him.

He ignored a fact, or rather, he had always been unwilling to admit this fact, that is, in the Federation, the judiciary is just a plaything for the powerful.

Just like the Prohibition, such an outrageous constitutional amendment could be passed and required to be implemented throughout the Federation. This actually profoundly illustrates this principle.

But Mr. Chobaf was unwilling to admit it. He was unwilling to admit that the Federation was such a country, deviating from all his perceptions of a beautiful Federation.

In fact, it was not just him, but also many others, such as Bolton in the past, and Enio's father when he was still a salesman. They had essentially seen that this place was not as beautiful as hell.

But they cannot admit this, because once they admit it, it means that everything they have worked hard for and devoted themselves to in the past few decades is worthless and meaningless.

Even an adult will suffer a mental breakdown in an instant!

The only thing they can do is continue to persevere. Mr. Chobaf still believes after decades that he can change his situation. Enio's father still believes that he can eventually reach the peak of his life by selling those worthless things.

On the contrary, Bolton has now embarked on another path, a path that may not be correct, but at least makes him feel good.

Looking at the complete loan agreement, Mr. Ted was a little sweaty.

If this creditor was Mr. Chobaf, then he would be easy to deal with. Now that he has been replaced by someone who doesn't look easy to mess with, he doesn't know what to do.

He wanted to act like a rogue with Lance, but it seemed that he was definitely no match for Lance and his people in this regard.

So, like those people, when he found that acting like a rogue didn't work, he started to reason.

"I still don't know what to call you…"

"Lance."

"My God!" Ted had heard this name. The Empire District was right next door. He must have heard this name.

When he learned that Mr. Chobaf had sold the debt to Lance, he didn't hate Lance so much. He couldn't even get angry, but instead was extremely dissatisfied with Mr. Chobaf!

If you have the ability, go to Arthur to get your money back, instead of torturing me in this way!

He didn't ask Lance how much he paid Mr. Chobaf for these debts, but he knew that he would definitely have to pay back the money.

"I actually only got 10,000 from this debt, and another 15,000… was taken by other people."

He didn't really want to say Arthur's name.

But now, regardless of whether Ted was willing to say it or not, Lance's finger tapped on the agreement, and the sound from the table was telling Mr. Ted that the situation was different now than before.

"I don't care who took the 15,000. Now, this agreement has your signature on it. You only have one way to go."

"Pay me back the money you owe me."

"Or we'll find a way to squeeze every last penny out of you to make sure you can pay this debt. I don't guarantee what methods we'll use. It depends on whether you cooperate with us."

"Now, you can choose."

Mr. Ted's expression changed many times in a short period of time. He finally pursed his lips and said where the missing money had gone.

"Arthur took the 15,000. I can only pay you 10,000 and part of the interest."

"But I didn't get the money, so I can't bear the repayment obligation."

Lance stroked his chin. "This Arthur, is he the son of Councilor Williams?"

Mr. Ted's face showed an indescribable expression, an expression that often appears in a strange psychological reaction.

The victim will begin to identify with the perpetrator, even standing with the perpetrator in spirit, and may eventually become their accomplice, helping them to harm others.

He didn't need to open his mouth, Lance knew the answer.

"Yes."

He stroked his chin. There were some newly emerging stubble on his smooth chin, which felt a little prickly. "Is there any evidence?"

Mr. Ted's eyes flickered. "No."

Actually, there was, an IOU stating that Arthur borrowed a sum of money from him, 15,000, without interest.

The reason why Mr. Ted insisted that Arthur write this IOU was actually for the same reason as Mr. Chobaf. He wanted Arthur to feel disgusted about taking money from him, so as to reduce the extortion by Arthur.

In fact, this was indeed the case. Later, Arthur planned to borrow money from him again. He mentioned the IOU and expressed his concern about Arthur's ability to repay the loan. Arthur never came to him again, as if he had eaten shit.

The reason why he was extorted by Arthur several times was because he had gone through Councilor Williams' connections to get the logging permit around Golden Port City in the first place.

With this logging permit, he had more advantages than others in this industry.

Maybe it's just a few cents or a dollar or two less per cubic meter, but if you magnify this number to the materials for an entire detached house, which is basically over 100 cubic meters, he has a great advantage.

Because of this, he had been harassed by Arthur several times before and after.

He didn't plan to hand over this IOU.

Lance shook his head. "Then take out the money, Ted. Don't force me. You know what kind of people we are and what we'll do."

"No one will find it strange no matter what we do."

Mr. Ted thought for a while, and was just about to answer when Lance stopped him. "Don't rush to answer. Think about it again."

"Don't end up suffering pain you can't bear and still have to take out the money or things. It's not necessary. It's really not necessary!"

Arthur's IOU is actually very useful to him. If he needs Councilor Williams' help in the future, this IOU can be used.

Its value is actually more valuable than the 15,000 it represents!

But he didn't want to take out the 15,000. It wasn't 150 or 1,500, it was 15,000!

For him, it was a considerable sum.

He looked at Lance, and at the idiot beside him who kept tossing his hair. Thinking about the good reputation about Lance and the Lance family that was circulating in society, he suddenly had an illusion.

Maybe he could be tough?

Mr. Ted hesitated again and again, and said, "I know people from the Doug family…"

Lance leaned back. "Wrong answer."

Hiram walked to Mr. Ted, and under the latter's somewhat puzzled gaze, picked up the ashtray on the table and smashed it on his head twice.

Blood flowed down from Mr. Ted's head at once. He touched his wet and hot head, looked at the bright red thing in his hand, and felt dizzy.

At this time, he finally realized that knowing Arthur, knowing Councilor Williams, and knowing people from the Doug family, were all meaningless now.

Lance looked at him calmly. "You can choose again."

As he spoke, he took out a handkerchief and wiped a drop of red blood from his collar. Fortunately, the clothes were dark and it couldn't be seen.

Perhaps the two ashtrays had slowed Mr. Ted's reaction a lot. For a moment, he forgot that he was doing a multiple-choice question.

As Lance said "Time's up," Hiram swung the ashtray in his hand and smashed it twice more.

This ashtray was not made of glass or agate or anything like that, otherwise Mr. Ted might have been lying on the ground dying.

This was a beautiful wooden ashtray.

Its shape was made into the appearance of a tree well, with a deer head carved on it, seemingly drinking water, which looked very artistic.

Especially now that it was stained with some blood, this lively ashtray, full of natural breath, had a bit more of the forest's cruel flavor.

The person who made it probably didn't expect that using it to knock someone's head was as handy as its artistic expression.

Lance leaned back again and again, but still, two spots of blood splattered up.

"You need to be careful, you almost splashed it on my face!"

At this moment, Mr. Ted finally came back to his senses, his face already soaked in blood, and he was in great pain.

The wooden ashtray hammered his head, causing a lot of pain, but it wasn't fatal. He now wished he could pass out instead of staring wide-eyed in horror at Lance and the idiot beside him, which meant he would continue to be beaten.

"I… don't have that much cash. I need time to raise the money."

Lance shook his head, "I'm interested in your evidence now. Ten thousand, plus your evidence, and I'll return this loan agreement to you."

"You were only supposed to get this much anyway. There's no reason for you to pay for someone else's mistakes, right?"

Mr. Ted's head was throbbing badly now, and he had a lot of anger in his heart, towards Mr. Chopper, towards Arthur, but not so much towards this Mr. Lance in front of him.

Under Lance's gaze, he finally compromised, "I can give you…"

He paused, hesitating, as if after struggling in his heart, he asked, "Will you also ask Arthur for money?"

Lance's face had a bit more of a smile, "He owes me money. Even if he is Councilor Williams' son, he still owes me money. He can't change that fact."

Perhaps Lance's insistence on getting the money touched Mr. Ted. He stood up and went to the safe, opening it.

Inside was a kraft paper bag, large and sturdy, the kind made of heavy-duty kraft paper, and it was also waterproof.

Inside the entire bag, there was only a small piece of white paper torn from somewhere, with the following written on it:

"In June of 1023, I borrowed fifteen thousand from Ted and will pay it back by the end of the year. Signed, Arthur."

Next was a large check and more than a thousand dollars in cash.

Lance packed everything up and handed it to Hiram, "See? What did I tell you?"

"You would eventually do as we said anyway, so why did you have to suffer this pain?"

"By the way, you can call the police after we leave, but I'll remind you as before, you have to be prepared to bear the consequences!"

He picked up the hat from the corner of the table, gently put it on his head, and the rookie who came with him had already opened the door. He walked to the door and looked at Mr. Ted again, "Have a nice day, Mr. Ted."

With that, he walked straight out, just like when he came, walking with the wind!

After confirming that Lance and the others had left, Mr. Ted walked out of the office, covering his head.

He looked scary. The girl at the front desk was so frightened that she screamed repeatedly, and some people asked if he needed to call the police or an ambulance, but he stopped them all.

He personally drove to a nearby clinic. He only looked scary. The blood had already stopped flowing…

On the way back, Hiram was a little curious, "Is this note so important that it's worth fifteen thousand?"

Lance smiled noncommittally, "If used well, its value far exceeds fifteen thousand."

In fact, Mr. Chopper also had Arthur's signature, but Mr. Chopper didn't give it to him.

This is one of the reasons why he can't integrate into the Federal society. He always uses the thinking of an Imperial to deal with the ways of doing things of the Federals.

After Lance returned to the office, he called Maurice over.

During this time, Maurice had been watching Eric, not just him, but several people had been watching Eric.

After Maurice sat down, he began to talk about Eric's daily life during this period—

"He usually sleeps until noon to get up. He goes out for a walk around two or three in the afternoon, and then on Wednesday and Saturday nights, he goes to the Seidel Opera House in the Starlight District to listen to operas."

"Mainly, he's pursuing a female opera singer named Shaina. He buys a lot of flowers every time he goes and gives them to that female actress."

"He also tries to contact this Shaina at other times. He is frantically using our money to pursue that girl."

"But he's like an ATM. He hasn't even held Shaina's hand yet, but he's already spent at least one or two thousand."

The "romance" in the Starlight District is much more expensive than the "romance" in the Imperial District. A simple dinner can cost dozens.

If you want to do something romantic, one or two hundred is very normal.

Those flowers cost a penny for two at the docks, but when they get to the Starlight District, they wrap them in colorful paper that costs a penny for more than a dozen sheets, and they can sell them for a dollar a bunch.

It's easy to make money from rich people. When they need something, if you can give it to them, then as long as the price isn't outrageous, they will pay for it.

Listening to Maurice talking about what Eric had been doing during this time, Lance couldn't help but laugh and said, "He's like a dog in heat. What's the background of this Shaina? Why hasn't he used strong-arm tactics?"

Maurice shook his head slightly, "I haven't found out, but I heard that she has a good uncle who is very famous in the opera field and is friends with some senators."

"Moreover, there are many people pursuing her. Many young people in Gold Harbor City are pursuing her, which makes it difficult for others to use force. Everyone is watching."

Lance smiled and made an analogy, "They have turned pursuit into a game. It's just that they don't know it themselves. I believe that whoever can pursue Shaina will be the most successful young person in Gold Harbor City!"

"Is Councilor Williams' son among them?"

Maurice nodded, "Arthur is just one of them. I also saw Mr. Pasleto's son."

Lance had seen Mr. Pasleto's son twice. He was twenty-seven or eight years old and had the angular facial lines of a Sumerian, but it wasn't necessarily appreciated by the Federals, after all, it was too "hard."

Although the two had met, they hadn't talked much. He seemed to have a bad relationship with Alberto, and Lance was obviously planned to be on Alberto's side.

"Sounds complicated!"

Lance entered all these things into his mind, "Keep an eye on them and try to spread some rumors, saying that Shaina only belongs to the people of Gold Harbor, not to outsiders."

This outsider definitely refers to Eric. The mayor is not a native of Gold Harbor City, but an outsider.

The balance between him and the local forces is only a result of weighing the pros and cons. It doesn't mean that he can suppress the locals, nor does it mean that he is afraid of the locals.

Perhaps these old men have reached a tacit understanding with each other and are not so easily provoked to create conflicts, but young people are definitely not so stable and smart.

It's the time when their qi is at its peak, making them take a step back, or in terms of competing for spouse rights, it's easier to kill them!