Empire of Shadows

It was a little after one in the afternoon when Alberto drove over to pick up Lance himself. The two men embraced upon meeting.

"You look… much more mature."

Alberto used to dress in a more flamboyant style, pursuing a trendy look. You could see colorful pocket squares in his chest pocket.

You could also see him wearing a tie with multicolored polka dots, paired with a less serious tie clip.

He wasn't young, in his thirties, but he still seemed like a young man lacking maturity.

This was actually one of his charms. He always maintained a youthful heart, a mindset that many people desired but couldn't achieve.

But now, he was wearing serious clothes. The common peak lapel had been replaced with a notched lapel, and a dark coffee-colored tie and a deep blue sapphire tie clip made him look very composed.

He was even wearing a pocket watch!

You should know that only old fogies wear pocket watches; real young people prefer wristwatches.

If they couldn't afford a wristwatch, they would rather not wear anything than wear a pocket watch.

But Alberto was now wearing a pocket watch, the watch chain visible inside his open collar.

He knew that this outfit would definitely make Lance feel different, and he showed a helpless smile.

These helpless smiles, on the contrary, made him somewhat overlap with the image of Alberto in Lance's memory.

"It's troublesome, Lance."

"If I want to take good care of Cisco, I can't be as frivolous as a child. This is the price I have to pay!"

He opened his arms. "I look like an old man about to be buried!"

Lance was a little confused. "Actually, I think you can appropriately restore some of your personality."

Alberto shook his head. "That would give them a reason to keep me away from Cisco!"

He paused. "Fortunately, I have you, otherwise I might have already run away with Cisco."

"Is it that serious?"

Lance got into the car, and Alberto got in from the other side. "Yes, Paolo left without saying a word."

"None of us believed it, nor did we ever think that he would leave us like this in his prime, so as long as Cisco gives up inheriting the family…"

"Then almost everyone in the family will have a chance to become the next head of the family. Do you know how tempting that is to them?"

"Cisco is too young. If he were ten years older, the problem wouldn't be so thorny!"

The motorcade slowly started moving, and Lance's men followed behind in their cars.

"Our main opponents now are Paolo's cousin, Zaccaro, and his great-uncle Vittorio…"

"Hold on!" Lance asked, "Are this Zaccaro and this Vittorio related?"

Alberto shook his head. "No, they are not related and are still competitors. If Cisco can't handle it…"

"The Pasrehto family is not a small family, it's normal for them to have many people."

"These two people have now made it clear that they intend to compete for the position of head of the family. The others are actually also our competitors, but their attitudes are slightly milder, only 'slightly'."

Lance felt a bit of a headache when he heard this. "Sounds like they're not easy to deal with. Should we find a way to get rid of them?"

Alberto had obviously considered this possibility. "Everyone is very low-key and careful now, and once we do that, they will have a reason to refuse Cisco from inheriting the family."

"Unless we kill all the opponents, but if we really do that, we might as well just break away from them and start a new gang!"

Lance decided not to ask any more questions. "Okay, I haven't experienced this before, I'll listen to you."

Along the way, the motorcade arrived smoothly in the Sumuri district and came to the Pasrehto family manor.

The part of the house that had been bombed had been cleared out, and some workers were repairing and rebuilding this part as much as possible.

Some of the things that were damaged in the previous battle have been replaced with new ones, including the landscaping and the land.

If you didn't look at the bombed-out house, you could hardly tell that there had been a fierce firefight here.

Along the way, many people's eyes were focused on Alberto and Lance. Alberto did not have the Pasrehto surname; he was only a distant relative of the Pasrehto family, but now he was interfering in the internal affairs of the Pasrehto family. Not everyone liked him, especially those who could potentially become the next head of the family.

So these people, including their subordinates, looked at Alberto with very unfriendly eyes, as if they were looking at a pile of shit.

Of course, now there were two piles.

"Your relatives don't seem to welcome you very much," Lance joked.

He didn't care at all about these malicious scrutinies. If gazes could affect him, he would have succumbed long ago.

Alberto's mood was originally quite heavy and serious, but Lance's words ruined it.

"That's because my appearance makes them feel that things are beyond their expectations. You will never feel grateful to someone who ruins your plans!"

Lance thought for a moment. "What you said makes so damn much sense!"

The two men smiled at each other and came to the house further back.

This was where Francisco lived, as well as Paolo's wife.

When Francisco saw Alberto walking in, he immediately stood up and showed a relaxed smile. His mother also clearly relaxed.

It can be imagined that after her husband died, the family members who had been gentle and smiling suddenly revealed their true colors that they had never exposed before.

Leaving aside whether it was disgusting or not, just being scary was already very unsettling!

Because it wasn't the enemies who wanted to hurt them!

If it were the enemies, then this would be a battle for honor!

But those people were their relatives!

In this way, Francisco didn't even have anyone to rely on.

His uncles and aunts' feelings for him were far less than their feelings for their own siblings, so Francisco was indeed having a hard time.

The most important thing was that Muller was also dead. If this family steward hadn't died, the situation might not have developed to this point.

Although Muller was only a steward, he also had a high status and prestige in the family, and he also belonged to a high status among the siblings.

Unfortunately, these two people were dead.

"Uncle Alberto!" The little guy's tone was full of affection. He looked at Lance again and quickly called out "Uncle Lance."

In fact, Lance was only four years older than him, but judging from the contrast in the power that the two sides currently held in their hands, Lance could indeed be said to be his uncle, even his grandfather wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Francisco's mother also noticed Lance. She took the initiative to come over and greet Lance. She knew that whether she and her son could live a healthy, happy, and safe life in the future depended on these two people.

"I'm very glad to see you again, Cisco. May I call you that?"

Francisco nodded repeatedly. "Of course, Uncle Lance."

Lance took out a pack of cigarettes. "Would you like one?"

Francisco glanced at his mother, then lowered his voice a little. "You can give me one when she can't see."

Lance gave it to him directly. "You're already a man!" He paused. "It looks like you've come out of your grief."

He took out a match and struck it, lighting one for himself, and then let Francisco light one as well.

The lady saw this scene from the side and originally wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything.

Alberto walked over and went to the side with her. "Cisco is too young, he has to have some actions that look very mature, including drinking."

"Smoking, drinking, including dressing, the more mature he looks, the better it will be for him to regain control of the family's power. Don't restrict his needs in this regard."

Paolo's wife nodded. "I understand."

"What about this afternoon's meeting?"

Alberto also lit a cigarette. "Lance and I will deal with it. Maybe I alone am nothing to them, but with Lance, they have to consider whether they have the ability to face the two of us directly."

Paolo's wife was a little worried. "I don't know how to thank him. He has given so much. If we don't do anything, it will make people think we have no manners!"

Lance glanced at Lance, who was talking to Francisco, and he showed a smile. "You don't need to consider these issues for the time being, and he won't be greedy for anything, because he is my good brother!"

Good brother Lance was discussing some of the current family affairs with Francisco.

"…They are all waiting to see me make a fool of myself, I know that."

"But I won't admit defeat, unless they can knock me down!"

He flicked the cigarette ash not so skillfully. "Can I ask a rather personal question?"

Lance nodded. "Of course."

He asked with some curiosity and a desire to explore, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Lance nodded. "Yes."

Francisco's tone was slightly agitated. "Can you tell me, what does it feel like to kill someone?"

"They don't talk to me about this issue."

"They" here naturally refers to his mother and Alberto.

This is actually a kind of protection, but Lance feels that, in this situation, protection will only bring about the effects people don't want to see.

He thought for a while and used his own words to describe the feeling of killing someone.

"You might be scared, but you'll also be excited."

"Fear is because you'll discover that human life is very fragile."

"A dagger, a pistol, a little poison, or even a tie!"

"They can all easily take a person's life, and at the same time, we ourselves are human beings, we can also be hurt, and we can also die."

"When you kill someone else, you'll be afraid that others will use similar or other methods to take your life."

"But you'll also feel a very special feeling. Depriving others of their lives was originally God's job, but now, you've replaced God!"

"You can decide the survival or death of others, and this kind of power will also fill you with excitement, because at that moment, you'll feel that you can rival the gods!"

These words made Francisco's face flush with excitement. He secretly glanced at his mother, lowered his voice, "But she doesn't think I should be exposed to this, especially when some people want to kill me!"

Lance glanced at him again. He could understand that someone wanted to kill him now, which meant he wasn't too stupid.

"Do you have your own pistol?" Lance asked.

Francisco shook his head, "No, she won't let me play with them, saying she's afraid it'll go off, or I'll accidentally hurt myself."

Hearing these words was truly laughable. The son of a gang leader was being taught "Don't play with weapons, lest you hurt yourself," and was even required by his mother not to talk about anything violent.

Was he planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam or enter politics in the future?

Lance lowered his voice a little, "I'll bring you some weapons next time I come. What kind of weapons do you like?"

As the two were chatting, suddenly the door of the room was knocked on, and someone outside said, "Everyone is here, just waiting for you."

Lance and Alberto both ended their conversation. Paulo's wife was not suitable for such an occasion. She looked at Lance and Alberto with pleading eyes and said solemnly, "Please!"

As Paulo's wife, she didn't say anything stupid like "don't compete" at this time. They actually had no way out from the moment Paulo died!

Whether it was Francisco's uncles and grandfathers, or aunts or other family members, they would not allow Francisco to move freely in the outside world.

Either he would die in an accident later, or he would be placed under house arrest. There was no third way to go.

So she directly asked Alberto to help Francisco.

"We will do our best!" Alberto rebuttoned his clothes, waved to Francisco, and the three of them pushed open the door and walked towards the conference room together.

There were several conference rooms in the manor. Because there were many people in the family and many people living here, they often needed to hold meetings to solve problems, so there were many conference rooms.

When the three of them walked through the long corridor to the conference room, those "relatives" sitting at the table didn't even bother with the most basic perfunctory gestures. One by one, they either pretended not to see them or were doing their own thing.

Lance couldn't help but glance at Alberto. It wasn't easy for him to persevere until now in such an environment.

"Hmph..." someone snorted coldly, "Waiting for all of us to arrive before coming, Cisco, these are your uncles and grandfathers. Is this how Alberto teaches you to respect your elders?"

"Oh dear, maybe they were delayed by something else?" someone strangely began to smooth things over, "After all, Cisco doesn't know anything about family affairs, and he hasn't been exposed to them before. It's normal for him to worry that he can't handle it."

"I remember Cisco is still in school. I talked to Paulo before, and he also believed that if the family wants to avoid decline, it must have leaders with higher education."

"What you should do now is study hard. Leave the family matters to us. After you graduate from university, we will put it back in your hands."

... ...

They were all using various methods to influence Francisco. Clearly, they should be closer relatives, but no one truly considered him.

Those who didn't speak were actually not good people either. If they were really on Francisco's side, then they must clearly oppose these people at this time.

But they didn't do anything, just sat there quietly, ignoring all of this happening. This in itself was an attitude!

"Enough!" Alberto slammed the table, startling Francisco.

The room suddenly fell silent, but only for a moment.

A middle-aged man who looked three or four parts similar to Paulo said with an ambiguous smile on his face, "Alberto, watch your attitude."

"Strictly speaking, you are actually just a servant of the family, yet you are slamming the table at your masters in such a sacred occasion?"

The person speaking was Cazzaro. His sideburns were very long and he used hair wax, which made him look a little strange.

Having gotten used to Paulo's face, seeing Zaccaro's face now gave a inexplicably uncoordinated feeling.

Francisco, who had been able to laugh and talk with Lance in the room, became silent after coming here.

Maybe he was scared, or maybe he didn't know what to say.

An old man who was already somewhat bald on the other side looked at Lance, "Who is this?"

"How can just anything come to this table?"

Francisco turned back to look at Lance. Lance put his hand on his shoulder, "My name is Lance, Lance White."

As he spoke, he dragged a chair over from the side, placed it next to Francisco, and sat down.

He crossed his legs, raised his hand and tapped the table twice, then pointed to the old man, "Not only can I be at the table, but I can also be on equal footing with you!"

The surrounding uncles, aunts, and grandfathers of Francisco all clamored, "This is an internal matter of the Pasreto family. You, an outsider, have no reason to interfere!"

Some people even clamored to call someone to drive Lance out, he didn't belong here.

But they didn't call anyone, and Lance wasn't intimidated by them.

"You know what?"

"Seeing you bully a child makes me feel a little sick!"

"Paulo helped me, Francisco calls me uncle, he's in trouble, I have to help him!"

Cazzaro's face became very ugly. The stronger Francisco's side was, the farther away they were from their dreams.

"How come I don't know that Francisco has an uncle like you?"

Lance chuckled. He looked at Francisco, "Tell these idiots, who am I to you!"