Empire of Shadows

"I won, hahaha, I won!" he laughed loudly, slamming the cards in his hand onto the table. His excitement made him oblivious to the fact that the eyes of everyone around him were not on him, but on the reality behind him.

He reached out to stack the money on the table, only to see the people at the edge of the table abandoning the money box and fleeing.

It was at this moment that he turned to look at the side of the road.

In this process, he could feel something he couldn't quite describe calling to him, as if he had suddenly gained the power to access fate.

He saw his own lifeline, breaking in the next second.

Two gunmen sat in the car, the dark muzzles of their guns aimed directly at him.

Time seemed to pause at this moment, and his eyesight became exceptionally sharp. He could even clearly see the faces of the two gunmen!

His brain told his body to dodge, but time was frozen, and his body couldn't do any of that.

He really wanted to curse or something. The moment that thought appeared, time resumed.

The curse ultimately didn't make it out of his mouth, drowned out by the sound of gunfire.

The rat-tat-tat of bullets tore through the street that had just been quiet for a short time. He fell from the chair, still thinking about crawling back into the deli, but he had been shot too many times and only managed a brief struggle on the ground before falling still.

The wheels spun rapidly, creating a cloud of smoke as they rubbed against the ground. The car sped away into the city streets. Some of his subordinates from the deli, weapons in hand, rushed out hunched over, not even catching a whiff of the car's exhaust.

They looked at their leader, who had fallen into a pool of blood, and for a moment didn't know what to do!

… …

In a small square, a guy who looked no different from ordinary people held a bag of pigeon feed in his hand, surrounded by a large number of pigeons.

He liked to feed pigeons, not because pigeons were a symbol of peace, but simply because he thought these little things were cute and not as complicated as people.

He came here every once in a while to attract the pigeons.

He came so often that the pigeons were obviously not so afraid of him anymore.

Those pure white feathers symbolized purity, and he felt no burden interacting with these little animals. It was also a way for him to relieve his stress.

He sat on the bench and grabbed another handful of grains and corn, throwing some out.

A large group of pigeons fluttered their wings, fighting for the pigeon feed on the ground in front of him. He glanced at a few of his men in the distance, thinking about the future development of the gang.

Lance was clearly going to forcefully unify the port area, and he was unwilling to be ruled by others.

Initially, it was the Brothers Gang that controlled this place, then the Wolf Gang, and now the Lance Family had arrived.

When would they be able to truly stand up?

He didn't know, but he knew that he didn't really have much of a choice.

Either stay and continue to resist, or leave on the spot.

Just as he was considering these things, suddenly a few people walked towards him.

His men took the initiative to block these people's path, saying in a voice that he could vaguely hear, "If you don't want to cause trouble, you'd better take another route!"

He looked towards those people. He didn't have that saintly mentality, nor did he have any intention of letting them let these people pass. This was his privilege, and he was fully entitled to enjoy it.

"Better not scare my pigeons!" he muttered. If the other party scared his pigeons, he would make them pay the price.

However, the next second, the sudden sound of gunfire startled a large number of pigeons into the sky!

The fluttering pigeons and the feathers falling from their panicked flapping wings obscured his vision. He couldn't see what was happening, and even had to protect his head with his arms.

When the pigeons began to circle in the air, he was finally able to look towards the source of the gunfire.

His men were lying all over the ground. Four gunmen were already standing less than five meters away from him, raising the handguns in their hands.

"I…" He wanted to beg for mercy, but the next second he saw the faintly visible flames from those gun muzzles.

Streams of power drilled into his body, and he fell straight to the ground.

The last thing remaining in his eyes was the pigeons circling in the sky.

A pile of pigeon droppings fell from the sky, dripping onto his face. The light in his eyes slowly faded, never to be seen again!

… …

"F*ck, f*ck!"

In an alley in the city district, a young man of twenty-four or five was running frantically!

His face was full of horror, because just now, two gunmen had shot at him!

He had reacted, and his brothers had taken a few shots for him.

This should have been a "tale" similar to that of Paul and his cousins, but if you consider that he pushed his brother, maybe the story wouldn't be so perfect.

In short, he had dodged the first round of gunfire and ran into the alley.

He was very familiar with this place. He returned fire as he ran wildly.

The alleys of the Federation were very clean. There weren't so many miscellaneous things here to hinder the people behind him from catching up, because anything that was even slightly valuable had been taken away and sold by the homeless to exchange for money.

Those worthless things, such as wood, things that could burn, were also taken away by them to become firewood, thrown into abandoned oil drums and lit as a way to keep warm in winter.

So, besides garbage, shit, and urine, there was really nothing else here.

The people behind him were chasing very closely, and he felt his lungs starting to burn.

Since he no longer needed to run as often as he used to in order to avoid some trouble, he rarely exercised vigorously.

This had led to a huge decline in his physical strength, so much so that he was already panting after not running for long.

Run, run faster, or you will die!

Clearly there were only two people behind him, but he had a feeling that as long as he stopped, he would die!

He now wanted to curse all those idiots and homeless people who had taken away anything slightly useful in this box.

At the same time, he hoped that his men could catch up as soon as possible to help him escape the slaughter!

As long as he could escape this assassination, he guaranteed that he would leave the port area immediately.

He actually knew who had arranged for people to assassinate him. He now regretted a little why he had opposed it in the first place.

He hated himself and also hated Lance. Why didn't Lance send someone to talk to him privately?

The Wolf Gang, the Professor, and Wolfe, weren't they all doing this?

Seeing the light at the end of the alley becoming more and more intense, a trace of a smile of escape appeared on his face!

As long as he could rush out of the alley and cross the road, he would be able to see his people over there!

The burning pain in his lungs seemed to have improved a lot, and his tired steps also became light again. The moment he rushed out of the shadows to embrace the sunlight, a car quickly hit him and sent him flying!

He lay on the ground, his body constantly twitching, and blood slowly溢了out from his mouth and nose.

He couldn't move at all now, only his eyeballs could still turn. He was still alive, but he was not far from death.

Two gunmen rushed out of the alley. They put their weapons into their holsters, then quickly got into the car and left him.

A strong urge to vomit rose from the bottom of his heart. There was more and more blood. He didn't know why, even though it was summer, even though he was bathed in sunshine.

He still felt that he was not only getting colder and colder, but everything around him was also being constantly swallowed by darkness…

The vehicle returned to the company. The gunmen got out of the car and handed the weapons to the gunsmith.

Although the police in Goldenport City might not dare to come and cause trouble for Lance now, they still had to be prepared.

They handed in their guns and went to report to Lance, describing in detail how they had dealt with this guy.

Lance listened very carefully. When he heard that the other party had started vomiting blood and twitching after being knocked down, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Go to Melo to collect the mission subsidy for this time. You will have five days of vacation next."

"You can continue to work and accumulate these vacations, or you can relax and enjoy yourselves. Hot girls are waiting for you!"

The gunmen, including the driver, left with smiles. It was another hundred-odd dollars in subsidies. This was why they were willing to work for Lance.

He never delayed payment. As soon as the work was finished, they could get the money immediately.

The door closed again. Lance glanced at the list on the table. "There are still two who haven't been killed, one hasn't been found, and one… has already run away in advance."

He put the list on the corner of the table, looking at Maurice sitting in the corner.

Even though it was the middle of summer, he was covered with a thin blanket on his legs. He would cough from time to time, and also show a painful expression.

The lung surgery had been completed and was recovering, which might take some time.

As for what it would recover to, no one knew.

"I'm leaving this to you."

Maurice's face showed a grateful expression. He didn't want to really become a useless person. Being able to do something within his power for the family was his faith and motivation to live now!

"Cough… Leave it to me."

Lance nodded slightly, then looked at Elvin, "Go tell those gang members, either pack up and go home to find a job, or go to other areas, don't f*cking stay in my territory."

"I don't need them here!"

"Also, tell the young men to find all the street elders with a relatively high status in this neighborhood. I have something to say to them."

"Derrick, you're in charge of site selection. We need to open at least twenty to thirty bars in the port district. Once you've chosen the locations, open them directly. Everything stays the same..."

Lance methodically laid out each task and assignment, quickly concluding all the arrangements.

He then called the Blue Precinct Chief, "Is there a new candidate for Precinct Chief in the port district yet?"

"Yes, is there something you need him for?" the Blue Precinct Chief probed, unsure of Lance's intentions, but figuring it was best to ask.

Recently, Lance's stock had been steadily rising. Many people at the senator's party saw him conversing with people close to the senator.

They also saw him exchanging business cards with the Secretary of State, with Councilman Williams in attendance.

Although many believed this was because the Lance family had helped the senator resolve the port strike, even if the methods were somewhat extreme, it was indeed resolved!

Now, no one at the docks was on strike anymore, and the blood on the ground had been scrubbed clean by new refugee workers, as if nothing had ever happened!

Lance had done a beautiful job, causing trouble for no one, so he received an audience and praise.

However, some people believed that he had followed the old path of the five major families, starting to squeeze into high society.

The five major families were already on a downward slope.

The Pasreito family was severely weakened by "internal strife," and Francisco was now unable to suppress his grandfathers, uncles, and aunts, and could only protect himself.

The Coda family did not participate in this series of events, wanting to stay out of it, but their actions were clearly a betrayal of the vested interests of Goldport City, so their future days would certainly not be easy.

The demise of the Cassia family had entered its countdown. If nothing unexpected happened, Keane and the Tita family would deal with the Cassia family after taking care of the Bear Gang.

The five major families were basically facing a reshuffle, and Lance had a slim chance of becoming one of the new five major families.

Some people believed that the Lance family might replace the Cassia family and become one of the new Big Five.

However, this was hard to say, because there were still some gangs competing, and Lance was not without opponents.

It was just that among these "candidates," the overall strength of the Lance family had not suffered too much damage, and it was still continuing to expand.

The Lance family, which owned two districts, had basically surpassed most of the gangs!

Once they became one of the new Big Five, they would naturally become even more extraordinary.

Therefore, the Blue Precinct Chief became increasingly "enthusiastic"—

Enthusiastic and loyal!

Lance could feel the Blue Precinct Chief's caution and curiosity. He explained, "I have already obtained the two largest districts in Goldport City, and now I am qualified to re-establish some rules."

"Come over, let's talk."

"Okay, I'll call him over right away."

After the Blue Precinct Chief hung up the phone, he drove directly to the port precinct.

The position of Chief of the City Police Department was determined by the mayor, but the position of Precinct Chief was determined by the Chief of the City Police Department. Now the position of Chief of the City Police Department was temporarily vacant.

It was said that Hunt had resubmitted an application, recommending himself as the new Chief of Police, but it was not certain when the results would be seen.

However, everyone felt that the possibility was high.

Although there was no Chief now, Hunt had gained some qualifications. They used some procedural loopholes to directly appoint the Precinct Chief.

The new Precinct Chief of the port district was called Duke, a local who, like most Precinct Chiefs, had worked in the police system for many years.

Not the kind of particularly outstanding person, but not an unknown one either.

If he was really unknown, Hunt would not have chosen him.

After the Blue Precinct Chief explained the situation, Duke got directly into his car.

As soon as Senator Cleveland's train started, Lance took action against the remaining gang leaders in the port district.

The precise, scalpel-like assassinations made him a little uneasy, after all, there were rumors that John was killed by Lance.

He dared to kill the Chief of Police. A Precinct Chief like him might be even less in Lance's eyes.

The two quickly arrived at Lance's office. After a brief introduction, he and the Blue Precinct Chief sat across from Lance's desk.

Lance opened the cigarette case, indicating that they could smoke. Both took one.

"I have always felt that some of the current rules are somewhat unreasonable."

The Blue Precinct Chief and Precinct Chief Duke lit their cigarettes together, glanced at each other, and just nodded, but did not speak.

Lance continued, "For example, the gangs are collecting protection fees from roadside operators, and the police are also collecting protection fees from them. Most of a store's monthly income goes into other people's pockets."

"The port district occupies many geographical advantages, and it should be more prosperous than it is now."

"But it is because of some reasons like this and that, such as chaotic protection fees, that the business environment here is not satisfactory."

He put the pads of his fingers together, arching them into a steeple shape, "My idea is to set a fee standard and unify it."

"Whether it's us or you, we don't directly collect protection fees from the shops. Many people don't actually follow the rules. I've encountered it before."

He was talking about John, who obviously overcharged, not only breaking the rules, but also putting huge operating pressure on the operators.

"We can't have this group of people come to collect once today, and that group of people come again tomorrow. What we have to do is cultivate the environment, not destroy the environment."

"The more prosperous the port district is, the better it will be for us, whether in terms of income or other aspects."

The two Precinct Chiefs glanced at each other again. They both wanted the other to speak first. In the end, the Blue Precinct Chief spoke first. He was more familiar with Lance and could speak better.

"Lance, actually...we've talked about this issue. We have many problems here that need to be solved. The police's income is too low and too dangerous."

"Collecting this money is an incentive for us, and even more of a guarantee. If something happens, at least we won't have regrets because we don't have money!"

Lance nodded in agreement, "You're right. I'm not saying we shouldn't collect, but there must be a standard. Let's set up a company to do this."

"It's not that I don't trust you, but some things do need to be taken seriously."

"How to collect money each month, how to divide the money, there must be a set of rules and regulations, open and transparent."

"And let me say one thing, we here will not profit from it."

The two considered for a while, and Precinct Chief Duke finally spoke, "Mr. White..."

"We're friends. Friends call me Lance."

"Lance..., how much money do you plan to collect from them?"

"And how much money can we get?"

Lance leaned back, "Only more, no less, that's what I can guarantee."