Empire of Shadows

Mr. White was a typical Federal middle-aged man with a somewhat gloomy temperament.

His skin was so pale that his eye bags and dark circles were very obvious. His golden-brown hair was disheveled and unkempt. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt that was slightly yellowed from washing.

He wore light blue pants, with patching marks on the edges and corners.

His wife, Mrs. White, looked sick and very… perhaps timid, or perhaps uneasy. She didn't dare to look up at Lance and the two police officers beside him, always keeping her head down.

Even when Officer Braden asked them questions, Mr. White answered them all.

“This gentleman says he has vague memories of getting lost when he was five or six years old. Someone took him to a carriage and then covered him with haystacks.”

“He was sold to an ordinary family and worked for them for free.”

“Recently, his adoptive father died of illness, so he hopes to find his biological parents. I was moved by his spirit of wanting to go home, so I looked through the missing person case files of Gold Harbor City during the time he described.”

“Among them was your report information. I compared your… appearances, and they look somewhat similar.”

Mr. White looked Lance up and down with his eyes that seemed somewhat unable to open, then nodded. “Yes, he does look a bit like me when I was young, but that doesn't confirm that he is definitely Steven.”

“And… as a father, although I don't want to admit it, I believe my child may have been murdered.”

Speaking of his child's murder, Mr. White didn't seem too sad, perhaps because the sadness had been filled in countless times in the past.

He calmly stated what he believed to be the truth, but Officer Braden was unwilling to listen to this.

“Mr. White, I know that suddenly having a family member may be a little unbearable for you, but I have to say that this child inherited a sum of money from his adoptive father…”

These words made Mrs. White suddenly look up at Lance. Her appearance was relatively ordinary, but her face was very pale.

For three or four seconds, she lowered her head again.

Mr. White's expression also changed slightly. “Sorry, can I ask… how much money did you inherit from your adoptive father?”

“Two hundred.”

As for how much two hundred dollars is, it's not necessarily much. After all, calculated on the surface, the actual income of ordinary people is thirty-five to forty dollars, and two hundred dollars is half a year's income for them.

But if you consider that they not only have to pay taxes, but also deduct all daily expenses, saving ten dollars a month may be proof of their hard work.

Two hundred dollars, twenty months, two years of savings.

This money may not be anything to rich people, but for a poor family, the changes it can bring are too great.

“I want to talk to Mr. White alone.” Lance took the initiative to make this request. Mr. White considered it and agreed.

The two walked to the side of the house. It was a detached house with a “C” shaped yard, a front yard, a side yard, and a backyard.

Some low shrubs were planted in the backyard, which looked very lush, and there were some rose-red small flowers. Lance wasn't very clear about this and didn't know what kind of flower it was.

However, the yard was very clean, with no fallen leaves, which showed that they took good care of it.

There was a swing set in the side yard, which looked a bit old. Even if he didn't sit on it, he could imagine the creaking sound of the rusty metal parts when someone was sitting on it swinging.

But because this is the suburbs, even a detached house with a garden is actually not worth much money.

“You can see that I am an Imperial.” Lance bluntly stated his purpose. This was a transaction, and it should only be a transaction.

Mr. White nodded. “Yes, so I know you are not Steven. He is not an Imperial.”

Lance took out a pack of cigarettes, a boxed cigarette with a filter tip. Not all cigarettes in the Federation now have filter tips.

Tobacco companies refused to admit that cigarettes were the main cause of lung disease and found some "witnesses" from all walks of life. These people with lung disease did not smoke, but they all had serious lung diseases.

This allowed them to overturn the view recognized by some medical institutions that “smoking is the main cause of lung disease.” Of course, in order to reduce people's anxiety, they began to add filter tips to cigarettes.

The filter tip at this time was actually very simple, and it might not even be of any use. It was just some compacted cotton inside, and it took some effort to smoke.

But it is undeniable that when people take out the cotton to take a look after smoking, they will feel that this thing is really effective.

Cigarettes with filter tips are generally much more expensive than those without filter tips.

“Want one?” Lance took out one. Mr. White looked at the cigarette in his hand and thought for a few seconds, and finally took it.

Lance took out a lighter and lit the cigarette for him. He noticed that when this Mr. White was smoking, the hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

“It's no different from the ones we roll ourselves.” He commented, “The taste is very light.”

Lance smiled and said nothing. “We were just talking about how I am an Imperial, and your son Steven is a Federal.”

Mr. White nodded, “Yes.”

“I don’t have a legal identity now. I can’t register a company or do what I want to do, and I need a legal identity to do things.”

“Mr. White, I am very sorry and sad for everything Steven has encountered, but life is always moving forward, and we also need to look forward.”

Mr. White raised his hand, “Just say what you want to say, my brain is not very good, sometimes I can't understand you…”, he gestured up and down with his hand, “…the way you rich people communicate.”

Lance wasn't angry, and said with a smile, “I want to use Steven's identity to register a legal Federal identity.”

Mr. White took a deep breath of smoke. He was starting to get used to it. After thinking for a while, he said, “The price is two hundred dollars.”

Lance was afraid that he had something to consider, and added, “There are more than seventy families that meet the age requirements that Mr. Braden found. Someone will be interested in two hundred dollars, right?”

Mr. White still wanted to fight for more, “My wife is sick, and my daughter also needs money.”

“I'll give you twenty more.”

Mr. White took the last puff of cigarette, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and shook hands with Lance vigorously, “Deal!”

His hands were very rough, definitely someone who often does farm work.

“Let's go talk to Mr. Braden, and then there may be some procedures that require you and me to go to the police station together, is there a problem?”

Mr. White's expression looked a lot easier, “For two hundred and twenty dollars, I don't think I have a problem!”

The two returned to the front yard. From Lance's face, it could be seen that the matter had been settled. Officer Braden was overjoyed, and after a simple exchange of glances, he began to fulfill his duties.

“Mr. White, you need to go to the sub-bureau with me to make a registration, and then confirm your previous report record, sign two words, and then everything will be over.”

“I have no problem.”

“Neither do I.”

Along the way, Officer Braden stepped on the accelerator all the way to the end, and arrived at the police station in the shortest possible time. He had already prepared the White couple's report record from that year, and then filled out the withdrawal form.

In fact, no one would care about this thing. In Officer Braden's words, who the hell would care whether a low-level person's past report record was withdrawn or closed.

But Lance cared, and Lance told him that customer experience is very important, and he kept it in mind.

After getting everything done, Mr. White left with two hundred and twenty dollars. Officer Braden told Lance that he would be able to get his identity information, social security number, etc. in no more than a month.

But after Lance gave another fifty dollars, this time was shortened to within a week!

“Lance, if people you introduce come over, I will only charge them half the handling fee, this is my thanks to you!”

Thank you for your fucking thanks!

Of course, Lance didn't say these words. He shook hands with Officer Braden, “You have solved a big problem for the President!”

Officer Braden was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly, “I hope he doesn't send me to jail for this!”

“Okay, I have other things to do. If you encounter trouble in my patrol area, you can call the radio at any time, and I will be there immediately!”

Coming out of the sub-bureau, Lance took a deep breath. The few clouds in the sky slowly moved, just like the mood of the people at this time.

Lazy, peaceful, without waves.