Empire of Shadows

Chapter 196: Out of Money [Monthly Ticket 666+7]

"Lance…," Bureau Chief Blue, dressed in plain clothes, suddenly felt… he was a little scared after losing that outer layer.

Truly scared.

It was said that many people died again tonight, and he didn't even know how to explain it to his superiors!

Lance had a bit more of a smile on his face. He walked to Bureau Chief Blue's side, put his arm around his shoulder, and sat down with him on the sofa.

"Everyone is focused on the bombing. No one will care about the gang fight, so you don't have to worry at all."

"And look, we solved it very quickly this time. There won't be any lingering issues."

Bureau Chief Blue instinctively wanted to retort, to re-establish his authority through rebuttal, but when he turned to look at Lance and met his gaze, he suddenly felt that Lance was right.

Lance was about to say something more when the phone on the table suddenly rang. He walked to the table, picked up the phone, and immediately held the receiver far away.

"Lance, you're playing with fire!" Bill's angry roar came from the receiver. "You've destroyed the peace between us. You're igniting a war."

Lance didn't seem to be affected by his words, and asked in a normal voice, "So, do you want to go to war with us?"

One sentence silenced Bill.

Perhaps to save face, Bill lowered his voice slightly. "If that's what you want, we can go to war!"

Lance was unfazed. "Are you sure?"

Bill was silent again. Lance didn't wait for him to say anything and said directly, "It's just a loss of some bars, Bill. I didn't touch your warehouse, and I didn't touch your girls."

"As long as you have these things, you can quickly have ten bars, a hundred bars, a thousand bars!"

"As for the manpower you lost?"

"I know your control over the Red Dog Gang isn't that strong. I've even heard that some executives directly refute your opinions in meetings."

"They don't respect you, Bill. You're the Boss, not them!"

"Look, isn't the situation a little better now? Those who liked to refute you, are they a thing of the past? Has your authority been enhanced?"

"Turning 'your Red Dog Gang' into 'your Red Dog Gang,' you actually profited, Bill!"

Bill almost laughed out of anger listening to this. "So, should I fucking say thank you to you?"

"No need to be so polite, but if you really want to thank me, you can say it."

"You're so fucking shameless!" Bill was a little at a loss.

But it must be said that what Lance said did make some sense.

Because he often showed indecisiveness, sometimes his senior executives would make some decisions for him, the Boss.

Like what happened tonight, his original intention was to solve it peacefully with Lance, but some people felt that they should be tougher and let Lance know that they were not to be trifled with.

Under the demands and unity of these people, he, the Boss, could only choose their decision in the end.

He wouldn't have felt anything before, but now that Lance said this, he felt… it was true.

With alcohol and girls, those lost things could be quickly recovered in the port area.

Moreover, the income from the port area was more than that of the Empire District, and it was more prosperous here. He didn't dare to expand before because the Brothers Gang was not so easy to deal with, but now that they had big trouble, the Red Dog Gang had some opportunities.

Just as Bill was thinking about these things, Lance continued, "I will unify the Empire District sooner or later. Even if it's not now, it will be someday in the future. We will have to face this situation sooner or later."

"Sooner or later, I don't think there's much difference."

"If you feel that we must go to war to prove your courage, you can try it."

"But my suggestion is, think about how you should take over the territory left by the Brothers Gang if they are uprooted, whether someone will come to snatch the territory they left behind…"

"Alright, I've said enough here. That's it."

"Come if you want to go to war, if not, think about yourselves!"

He said and hung up the phone, turning to look at Bureau Chief Blue. "A waste!"

Bureau Chief Blue suddenly didn't know whether this sentence was referring to Bill or him, but fortunately, Lance quickly told him the correct answer. "Don't overthink it. I'm talking about Bill."

He walked back to Bureau Chief Blue and sat down. "After we unify the Empire District, the security here will only be better. You should be happy."

Bureau Chief Blue couldn't smile at all. He looked a little worried. "I don't know how people will talk about this tomorrow."

Lance didn't seem to care. "No corpses, no victims, what trouble could there be?"

"More than that, what I want to know is, what is your decision?"

Bureau Chief Blue didn't react at first. "What decision?" But he quickly remembered. "Are you talking about a get-together or something like that?"

Lance nodded. "Sometimes I even suspect that this bombing was done by them themselves."

Bureau Chief Blue's expression was a little strange. "How could someone bomb themselves?"

Lance handed him a cigarette. "Think about it. Now that the Hazardous Materials Administration has become the victim, the state government and Congress will pay more attention to the situation here. In order to protect the authority of Congress on the prohibition issue, they will definitely get more policy support and resource inclination."

"Tobacco, alcohol, hazardous materials, these things are almost related to all crimes. By then, they can interfere in everything, and they will be stronger and faster than the police system."

"When that time comes, your situation will be very embarrassing."

"They have a judicial office internally that can issue legal documents for them. What about you?"

"Even a search warrant may take several days to apply for. How will the citizens view you then? How will the wealthy people in the Bay Area view you?"

"You have to unite!"

"I don't mean to make the police stand against them or confront them, but we must at least express a message that this is our own Gold Coast, not theirs!"

Lance patted him on the back and stood up. "I have some local specialties sent from the countryside here. Take a box when you leave."

He took out a paper bag from the drawer and put it on the coffee table. "I still have something to do. I'll go out for a while…" He put on his clothes and hat. "You can leave at any time."

With that, Lance left, leaving him alone.

Bureau Chief Blue curiously opened the paper bag. Inside was a delicate wooden box. Curiosity made him speculate about what was inside.

Money, or something else?

When he opened it, a small gold bar lay quietly in the soft velvet red cloth. He immediately closed the box.

One hundred grams.

Gold.

The next day, the news mainly reported the bombing at the Hazardous Materials Administration, and there was no detailed report on the fierce gang firefight that occurred in the Empire District that night.

Only in the corner of the last edition of the political news section was there a small report saying that there was a brief riot, but it quickly returned to calm.

The reporter questioned whether the security in the Empire District was as good as people said, and whether there were some unclear and invisible situations.

But that was it. There was no further investigation.

At the press conference of the Hazardous Materials Administration that morning, Director Dale said that he would thoroughly investigate the murderer and find the person who planted the bomb and the mastermind behind it, even at a heavier price.

At the press conference, a reporter asked a question, "Do you think that this bombing is directly related to your public destruction of 300,000 worth of smuggled alcohol at the pier?"

Director Dale admitted in front of all the media that he did not rule out such a possibility and would treat it as the main direction of the investigation.

To a large extent, this response made the media and the public believe that the Brothers Gang did it.

Because logically speaking, the only major case that the Hazardous Materials Administration has caught since its establishment was the Brothers Gang's smuggled alcohol. They have sufficient reasons for revenge, and it makes sense logically.

For the federal judicial system, motive is a very important part.

However, Lance believed that this matter was definitely not that simple. Big Polly was very likely to have been framed.

In the next few days, the Hazardous Materials Administration began to frantically sweep the Brothers Gang's territory and bars. They didn't know where they got accurate information, and one hidden bar after another was dug out.

Perhaps with anger in their hearts, they directly took ruthless measures when they sealed these bars this time, and almost every time they would kill the people involved in the crime in the bar.

Bartenders, thugs, as long as they didn't surrender at the first time, they would shoot.

According to rumors, they even killed an innocent citizen, but it is not certain whether it is true, because so far, there has been no further news.

And Lance has been observing.

Until this afternoon.

The door of the Empire Night office was pushed open with a bang. Eric walked in from outside. This time, he didn't have Olsen the lawyer by his side, only a few lackeys.

When Lance saw him, a smile flashed across his face, but he quickly restrained it and hid it well.

"Kaylu told me there's no money in the account. What's going on?" he asked unceremoniously as soon as he came in.

He had already found the convertible he wanted, but now the problem was, he needed money!

Lance sat behind the desk and replied unhurriedly, "Are you talking about the nightclub's revenue?"

"What else?" Eric's voice was a little loud, but the lackeys beside him were very well-behaved.

These people had a wide range of social contacts, and they knew that Lance had just taken over the entire Imperial District.

Perhaps he wouldn't make things difficult for Eric because of the mayor's reputation, but he might not spare them, so they all remained silent.

In this day and age, it's not easy to be a good lackey.

Lance put his fingertips together, resting his hands on the desk, "I can't see the nightclub's operating situation; only Ms. Carol can check the daily accounts."

"But if you say our profitability has declined, I don't think it's strange."

"Because our gambling tables have been removed, and about half of our revenue comes from those gambling tables..."