Empire of Shadows

"Where's Johnny?"

A familiar and annoying voice came from my ear. The apprentice rolled his eyes and looked up at Lance, "You can't call the boss by his first name. You can call him Boss, or Boss!"

"Also, you didn't come back during the evening rush hour. The boss is very angry, and he's going to deduct a lot of money from you!"

As he said these words, the apprentice had a smug smile on his face.

His own life was already miserable enough. He had been learning here for more than half a year, and he hadn't learned anything except kneading dough.

The fat boss was a very meticulous person. When it came to guarding his recipe, the apprentice still didn't know how much of each ingredient to put in the flour, or the order in which to put them!

In the past six months, he had only learned to knead the dough hard, make the dough, and put the dough in the oven.

As for the rest, he hadn't mastered anything.

But he had a inexplicable sense of superiority, especially when facing Lance.

Of course, he could also find some psychological comfort from Lance, which was why he often did this.

However, after his mother came last time, this sense of superiority seemed to be fading, or rather, his "pretending to be strong" had been seen through, and he no longer had anything to be proud of.

But the habitual behavior, and the inexplicable hostility towards Lance, made him subconsciously do this all the time, including now.

Lance didn't take any of the apprentice's words to heart, and even gave him a "knife" in return.

"Don't treat him like your dad just because he slept with your mom. If I were your dad, I would feel sad."

"At least in terms of frequency, he's not qualified enough!"

The apprentice was stunned for a moment. He swore he had never heard such dirty, vicious, and heart-wrenching words in his life.

Lance walked straight past him, not forgetting to add another jab, "You better clean the floor before he shows up, otherwise your mom will suffer again."

After a few seconds, the apprentice reacted. He suddenly turned around and looked at Lance, shouting his name.

Lance paused slightly, turned sideways, and looked back, "If I were you, I would shut up and lick the floor clean right now, instead of being filled with impotent rage."

When it comes to being vicious, Lance is definitely the best at it. After all, he has experienced far more than this apprentice who only knows how to ridicule.

He shook his head and continued walking towards the inner room. The apprentice was stunned in place. His cheeks, which had been flushed with anger, suddenly turned pale for some reason.

In fact, things were worse than he imagined.

He had been an apprentice here for nearly half a year, and not only had he not learned how to make good cakes, but he had also made his already impoverished family worse off. A considerable portion of the family's monthly income was sent to the bakery.

The last time the apprentice's mother came here to give the fat boss a blowjob was because she hoped that she wouldn't have to pay the monthly tuition.

But what kind of person was the fat boss? He couldn't possibly agree.

So they exchanged opinions and changed a condition. Each month, she would come over and provide the fat boss with at least four blowjobs, at least once a week, and the apprentice would not have to continue paying tuition.

From a certain point of view, the fat boss actually made a profit in this deal. After all, even the cheapest stripper in the port would charge five dollars for doing this.

Four times a month would be twenty dollars, but the fat boss preferred to get paid for handjobs instead of blowjobs, but the style suddenly changed, and he earned ten dollars less per month, which made him a little unhappy.

After all, compared to ten dollars, he would rather choose money over a blowjob or a handjob.

But if he refused, this free labor might leave, so he ultimately chose to compromise.

He learned about these things during an argument with his mother after returning home.

Their family could no longer afford to invest more money each month in a skill that he would never learn.

The more this was the case, the more he couldn't leave here. He couldn't let his hard work of the past six months, the money that had already been taken out, and his mother's various sacrifices become sunk costs!

He had to learn something here to prove that these efforts were meaningful and valuable.

He couldn't think like an adult, knowing what to give up, and even adults might not be able to do this. The only thing he could do was to fulfill his wish to come here—to learn how to make delicious bread.

Only in this way could he calmly face those unfair sacrifices…

Ignoring the apprentice's daze, Lance knocked on the fat boss's door. Not long after, he opened the door wearing a torn undershirt.

When he saw that it was Lance, his expression suddenly became slightly distorted, a little too forceful, "You damn maggot, you missed our busiest time tonight. I'm going to deduct three dollars from you today."

"You've only just started this month and you already owe me fifteen dollars. From today on, I'm going to charge you interest…"

Lance didn't give him so much time to talk nonsense and told him directly, "I quit."

"You… what did you just say?"

"You quit?"

"Haha!"

The fat boss couldn't help but laugh, "Besides me, who is tolerant and kind, who else would accept the job application of an illegal immigrant?"

"If you knew the current situation outside, you should understand that the whole city is boycotting you thieves and criminals from the Empire!"

"Besides me, no one else would be willing to give you a decent job!"

Lance could tell that he was actually a little nervous.

"I've worked for about a week this month, plus last month's income, you only need to pay me twenty dollars."

The fat boss raised his voice, "Are you kidding me?"

He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice, "I know you're angry, Lance, but these things are indeed your fault…"

"How about this, the money you owe me stays the same, and I'll give you five dollars as your salary for last month. This money is enough for you to save face in front of your friends. Don't make things difficult for both of us, okay?"

Lance shook his head, turned and walked outside, saying as he walked, "You really disgust me, Johnny."

"I hope you can maintain this state when we meet next time."

Seeing that he was about to leave, the fat boss took two steps to chase him. He didn't want a free labor like Lance to leave.

It was too difficult to find another free labor who could work hard, be willing to endure hardship, and be obedient!

He couldn't not hire someone, which meant that if he couldn't find the next free labor, he would have to spend at least twenty or thirty dollars more each month.

This twenty or thirty dollars originally belonged to him, but now he had to give it to someone else. His heart ached so much that he could hardly breathe.

The apprentice was mopping the floor in the front hall. He heard the conversation between the two. He was just about to say something when he was scolded by the fat boss, "You damn idiot, you're not a telephone pole, what are you doing standing in the middle blocking me?"

"Get out of the way, and if you don't clean the floor before going to bed, get out of my bakery tomorrow!"

After he finished speaking, he walked past the apprentice and chased him out, but only saw Lance get into the car and start it.

Only at this moment did he realize that he might really lose Lance.

He didn't even know how to keep this free labor, at least Lance had a car to drive, while he could only ride a bicycle.

He stood on the sidewalk and said loudly, "I'm going to call the police and say you stole my money."

Lance just stared at him calmly through the car window. Meeting Lance's calm gaze, Johnny felt a chill for no reason, and finally didn't dare to mention it again.

Watching the car go further and further away, the fat boss cursed Lance for being unlucky, while also starting to worry about where to find a free labor to come back tomorrow.

He returned to the restaurant in a very bad mood, and couldn't help but use some vicious language to vent his emotions on the apprentice who was standing there in a daze.

He was just going back and forth between the apprentice's IQ and his mother, and after scolding him for a while, he finally felt relieved and returned to the inner room with some dissatisfaction.

Looks like he'll have to hire someone again tomorrow.

These damn, ungrateful bugs.

He didn't notice that the apprentice's eyes were staring at his back with red eyes, and he didn't even notice that his nails were digging into his palms.

Lance found a hotel near the pier, one dollar a night, with free but limited hot water.

The room had a stuffy, rotten smell, which was common in wooden houses near the sea if the maintenance measures were not in place.

The bed was soft, which Lance wasn't used to. What was even more deadly was that from the second half of the night, there were all kinds of moaning sounds everywhere, front, back, left, right, up, and down.

They shouted out loud without hiding anything, as if they were competing.

It was hard to stop for a few minutes, and then it started again.

It could be heard that even in the middle of the night, some people were struggling to ride on the thorny road of life.