Empire of Shadows

Gnawing clean the last bit of meat from the last bone, Johnny patted his belly with satisfaction. He had earned ten dollars again today.

He was very satisfied with his current life, and since he had paid for two quarters last time, it meant that he wouldn't have any security fee expenses for the next half year.

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It did sting a bit when he first paid it, but as John said, the money wasn't gone, just paid in advance.

He glanced at the apprentice wiping the table in the corner, snorted softly, and walked towards the inner room.

He was in a good mood today, or rather, as long as the turnover was normal, he was in a good mood every night!

Lying on the bed, he put the money box under the bedside, turned on the radio, and listened to the story broadcast inside.

This was actually the mainstream form of entertainment for ordinary people at the bottom of the Federation. Although there were televisions, they were not cheap, and lower-class families didn't have as much time to watch TV as the rich.

They had to go out early in the morning, and when they came back, they were so tired that they just wanted to lie on the bed and not move, so the demand for television wasn't that strong.

Moreover, some people who really liked watching TV would watch it for a while outside the shop windows on their way back, just to enjoy it.

Many shops would put one or two televisions in their windows to attract customers.

Why would you spend money to buy your own TV when there are free ones to watch? That's crazy!

The story broadcast was hosted by two people, a man and a woman, who played the roles in the story and used their superb acting skills and recitation to give people a sense of immersion!

This program was also one of the most popular programs.

The story broadcast usually aired from 8:30 to 9:25, a total of fifty-five minutes, with plenty of content and without affecting subsequent work and rest arrangements.

Johnny had just finished eating high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar food, and was lying on the bed, so he felt a little sleepy as he listened.

In a daze, he heard footsteps in the outer room, and he immediately began to curse, "You bitch's son of a dog, why are you wandering around outside in the middle of the night?"

"If you don't go to sleep again, you won't eat breakfast tomorrow morning!"

The footsteps outside the room disappeared immediately. He turned over, closed his eyes, and began to enjoy the hazy feeling between sleep and wakefulness.

At this time, in the outer room, the apprentice turned on the night light, and five or six young people of about the same age as him were standing in the bakery.

Several people were eating bread. There were still some unsold breads left in the cabinet, and these breads were the more expensive kind.

They spread ham slices all over these high-end breads, and every bite was delicious. Several people devoured them non-stop.

It was as if… they weren't here to do anything else tonight, just to eat bread.

The apprentice was also eating. He had worked here for seven or eight months, but he had never even eaten a piece of nut bread, let alone those fragrant ham slices.

He ate even more desperately than the others, as if he was not eating bread and ham, but all the hatred, disgust, and despair of the past!

When the few people had eaten almost enough, the time pointed to ten o'clock, and the faint snoring of Johnny came from the room.

The apprentice wiped his mouth, "There is only one big bed inside. His daughter hasn't been staying here these days, and the money is with him."

"I know him very well. He can't sleep at all if he can't see his money!"

"I won't share the money with you, but I have one condition…"

The leading young man licked his fingers, "I know, you've said it many times, break both of his arms!"

As he spoke, he pushed the apprentice towards the cabinet, "Help me pack up these breads, and those ham slices too."

"Damn it, this bastard actually makes it so delicious!"

The others also said that the taste was really good. They had always heard that the bread here was delicious, but they had never eaten it.

Because the bread here was a little more expensive than in other shops. Don't think it's just a little more expensive, but for these lower-class families, even if it's only a cent more expensive per pound, they will have a choice.

The apprentice quickly finished doing these things and returned to his room. He locked the door, covered himself with the quilt, and his ears were filled with the sound of his pounding heartbeat.

For the first time, the darkness didn't make it difficult for him to fall asleep. He only felt at ease and full of anticipation.

The leader twisted the door of the inner room, but the door wasn't locked!

He looked at his other partners, who were also surprised.

In fact, they didn't know that in Johnny's inner world, the apprentice was a dog who never dared to resist and had his spine broken.

He never worried that the apprentice would do anything terrible. He only needed to shout "Get out!" and the apprentice would scurry away from the area he demanded.

Besides, the doors and windows were locked, so who would come to his bedroom?

The inner room was about twenty square meters, and it was so dark that nothing could be seen.

Someone accidentally kicked something, and there was a clanging sound. Johnny, who had just fallen asleep, sat up all of a sudden, "Who's there?"

Then he turned on the light.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little awkward. His hand was still on the bedside table, and there were five people standing in the room, each holding a stick.

But immediately afterwards, a creepy feeling crawled from his spine to the top of his head. Just as he was about to react, the leading young man swung a stick over…

The stick swung in a full circle and went straight for his head. Johnny raised his hand to block the fatal blow, but his arm also made a sound of bone fracture. He screamed miserably, his voice very loud.

He trembled, covering his broken forearm, and rolled away in a panic towards the junction of the bed and the wall, hiding in the corner and shouting for help!

A young man quickly closed the door, and the sound was immediately trapped in the room.

Looking at Johnny's fat face trembling, the young man jumped onto the bed and squeezed his head against the wall, "Where's the money!"

The fracture didn't make him lose his ability to resist. What made him lose his ability to resist was the fear in his heart. He looked at these young people whose faces were still childish, and his heart was trembling!

At this time, his brain was already a bit blank, but instinct still made him say the most favorable plan for himself.

"It's in my clothes pocket. My bone is broken. You can take whatever you want, just don't hurt me!"

The young man pressed down harder with his foot, causing Johnny to scream, "If you're not lying, no one will hurt you!"

Two young men immediately picked up the clothes hanging on the hanger roughly and searched out a dozen dollars from them, "That's all."

The leading young man's expression became a little eerie. He turned to look at Johnny, "I'm talking about the store's takings, hundreds of dollars, don't think I don't know anything!"

Hearing these words, Johnny could only complain in his heart, "I really don't know what you're talking about, there's not that much money."

He still wanted to try to work hard, after all, there was more than just one day's turnover in the money box.

The leading young man let go of his foot. Just as Johnny thought he had deceived the other party, he stood in front of Johnny, raised the stick high with both hands, and his whole body was stretched into an inverted bow shape, then he smashed it down hard!

Even though Johnny's right arm had already been fractured, he could only raise his arms to cover his vital points in the face of such an attack that seemed to want to kill him!

With a cracking sound, accompanied by his violent screams, he shook his arms, and his fat body bounced up directly, twisting his body and rolling on the bed.

Several young men climbed up and swung their sticks at him. These young men were at the age when they didn't know how to control their strength, and the sticks in their hands were dancing with afterimages!

In the continuous screams, Johnny couldn't hold on anymore. He felt that he might be beaten to death here if he didn't say it, so he shouted loudly, "It's under the pillow, stop hitting me, it's under the pillow!"

He had never thought that such a day would come!

The leading young man kicked the pillow away, lifted the quilt, and revealed a "cookie tin".

It could be seen that Johnny liked this cookie tin very much, and the paint on the surface had been worn away a lot.

He opened the lid and immediately gasped.

Johnny suddenly burst into tears at this time. He didn't cry when they beat him so hard just now, but now he suddenly burst into tears. It's conceivable how much he felt sorry for himself and how wronged he felt!

The others came over to take a look, and like the leading young man, everyone's faces showed shocked joy!

The leading young man didn't take the money out either. He directly closed the lid and stuffed it into his arms.

He gave the people around him a look, and the latter picked up the stick and swung it wildly at Johnny's arms.

Johnny was beaten back and forth on the bed, crying and begging for mercy. The leading young man saw that his arms and hands were a little deformed, so he shouted "Go" and immediately left with everyone.

Perhaps feeling that those people had really left, Johnny then began to shout loudly for help, "You bitch's son, why don't you come over…"