Empire of Shadows

In the morning, Corinna brought the newspaper from the mailbox and placed it on the table.

Lance casually flipped through it.

The front page of "Today's Gold Harbour" had many headlines, one of which caught Lance's attention -- "The Cassia Family Has Officially Become a Thing of the Past."

He turned to the fourth page. The sub-headings on the fourth and fifth pages were "The Demise of the Cassia Family." There were many photos inside, all of which were comparisons.

The first to appear was Rick. One photo showed him being caught on camera as he was getting into a car.

Immediately next to it was a processed photo of a shattered face stitched together, of course, with some blurring, but enough to give people a rough idea.

Below was an introduction to Rick's life, the bad things he had done, and how he ultimately died, and who did it.

Next were the senior executives of the Cassia family. They all had similar appearances, one taken when they were alive, and one of their appearance after death.

These people, who once belonged to the upper echelons of Gold Harbour City, were now appearing before the public in such a way, which was indeed shocking.

Although many people knew that the Cassia family had done wrong and were being besieged by people from other families, they did not expect this siege to be so fierce and ruthless.

Without giving them any time to breathe, so many people became corpses.

This report introduced the Cassia family's criminal history. If these contents were not fabricated, then it could only be said that those in the Bay Area had been collecting evidence of the five major families' crimes.

When needed, they would throw it out.

No one has ever truly ruled Gold Harbour City, in the face of the Bay Area.

He put down the newspaper and glanced at Corinna, who was humming a song while eating and reading a magazine. "Are you dating Arthur?"

Corinna generously admitted, "That's right, he has feelings for me, and I have some feelings for him. We've decided to try dating."

Seeing Lance's hesitant look, she took the initiative to say, "I know his reputation isn't very good. He's been with many girls. I don't mind. I'll be his last girlfriend."

Lance shook his head. "I don't plan to interfere in your relationship, but I want to remind you, you have to be prepared to be heartbroken."

Corinna laughed. "If someone really needs to be heartbroken in this relationship, I believe it definitely won't be me!"

"Good, maintain your confidence until the very end. I look forward to always seeing it!"

Lance didn't continue to comment. All boys and girls in love will think that they are the other's final choice, but the reality is often cruel.

Although Arthur doesn't need to make sacrifices in terms of marriage for the family business, he is still a Williams after all.

As one of the most prominent families in Gold Harbour City, he is destined not to be with an immigrant.

Lance looked at the others. "Don't any of you want to try harder?"

"Our girl is about to be tricked away!"

The others all burst into laughter. Corinna even ran over to hug Lance's neck and sway back and forth. "Shut up, you're making me feel ashamed by saying that!"

It was indeed a bit shameful. To everyone, they were more like siblings.

If someone could have that kind of feeling for their younger sister or older sister, then that person would definitely be a pervert.

"Let her regret it. Don't you always say that tears are also growth?"

Erwin sat across from them with a smile and commented. He liked his current life very much. He wouldn't be crushed by poverty, and he had his own career and ideals. Everyone was living happily!

And he felt that even if Corinna was abandoned, it wouldn't matter. With so many of them around, people pursuing her would still be lined up waiting for her to choose!

Lance raised his hands. "Okay, okay, let her go cry in the corner!"

Just as he said this, the sound of a car horn came from outside. Soon someone came to report that Arthur had arrived.

"Your little blonde is here. Go find him."

"Since you've decided, you have to love wholeheartedly. We'll talk about the future later."

Corinna straightened her hair as she walked out. "I'll listen to you this time!"

Morris could already walk with a cane. He sat on the other side. "Should we arrange someone to follow them?"

Lance shook his head. "No one is crazy enough to attack Arthur. I'm very relieved that Corinna is with him."

Whether it's the Bay Area, Licarai State, or anyone else, they can't possibly attack Arthur.

Firstly, Arthur is a "waste." He doesn't know or participate in any important family affairs, so he doesn't have any special political value.

Secondly, he is the beloved son of Councillor Williams. Harming him would only send Councillor Williams into a rage, so he is very safe.

Even if he blackmails Mr. Chobaf or doesn't care so much about some gang members, no one would dare to harm him.

Besides this big news, the rest of the news in Gold Harbour City was ordinary.

For example, two nuns got into a fight with several girls wearing revealing swimsuits on the beach, or the coastal patrol team seized another batch of smuggled goods.

People like this kind of news, even if it doesn't actually have any value and takes up people's time.

Life is like this. Not everything is useful. There always has to be something to kill your limited time.

Lance then picked up "International News," which was almost all news related to the Tanfit War.

This war affected the hearts of every worker in the world who paid attention to the international situation. Those who didn't earn much money each month not only worried about domestic affairs but also didn't let go of international affairs.

Now, if you go to the street corner or the park and chat with others, if you can't talk about the international situation, they won't even bother talking to you!

The report said that more and more refugees were pouring into various parts of the world, including Gold Harbour City.

This corroborated some of the news in "Today's Gold Harbour." Gold Harbour City had added tens of thousands of new refugees this month, and the number would continue to increase, which was worrying.

Because winter is coming soon.

In the back, Lance also found another piece of news about the Empire.

The foolish Emperor of the Empire, under the siege of rebel patriots, is on the verge of collapse…

If he didn't know that the rebel army was almost completely finished, he would have almost believed this article.

The article mentioned the guy Lance was funding, who has now become the main force against the royal family. He did believe this, after all, other rebel armies were gradually declining due to a lack of supplies and provisions.

Only they, and possibly some other rebel armies, were still able to obtain supplies.

A seed, under the scorching sun and the nourishment of water, has begun to sprout!

Hopefully, it can bring him enough returns!

The company didn't have much to do in the morning. Lance called the director, Gerald, and Barbara to the company.

Barbara was currently unemployed. Her last job had hurt her too much, and she had been in a bit of a mess for a while. Her family was afraid that she would encounter an accident if she went out, so she hadn't gone out to work.

The city had stabilized, and the issue of work naturally came up on the agenda.

When Gerald and the others came in, Barbara was pouring coffee for Lance. Seeing how familiar the two looked, Gerald curiously sized her up. "Are you Lance's girlfriend?"

Lance shook his head. "This is Patricia's older sister, and she will also be a contracted actress for the company."

Only then did the director dare to formally size up this girl. She was very beautiful, mainly because she had a kind of aesthetic that fit the current trend. The image of a modern Federal girl was practically tailor-made for her!

If the non-blonde woman wearing a cowboy hat, a sweat shirt, overalls, big rubber shoes, and a hearty smile on her face represented the "Federal Girl," then those blonde girls who lived exquisitely and were full of sunshine and charm were the ultimate aesthetic ideal of girls in people's minds, the "Federal Little Darling."

With such an outstanding appearance, there would be no worry about no one watching her movies.

However, the two screenwriters who came along were a little afraid to look at Barbara.

Barbara didn't feel embarrassed because she was being looked at favorably. As a receptionist in a financial company, she had seen all kinds of men and had long passed the stage of being afraid of other people's gazes.

She generously went over and greeted the two, even shaking hands with them, and then sat back down next to Lance.

Lance didn't mind her little actions. Then he talked about some of his ideas. "I have a story in my head that I want to turn into a movie, so I need you to come over for reference."

Everyone had no objections. They all knew that Lance was the major shareholder of the company, and the two screenwriters directly took out pens and notebooks.

"My idea is like this."

"There is a young man named Jason who has an unfortunate family and has made a mistake."

"He is cursed and can no longer return to a normal life."

Gerald interrupted. "Is it Angel Lake outside?"

Lance nodded and said, "Yes, it is Angel Lake here. It is the source of my inspiration."

"Although he atoned for his sins through death, death cannot break the curse but instead plunges him into eternal pain."

"He becomes a demon in Angel Lake, who will surface from the water to kill people at a specific time!"

"Oh my God!" Barbara grabbed Lance's arm. Lance turned his head to look at her.

She didn't seem to notice and continued, "It sounds too scary. Is this a real thing?"

At this moment, Lance believed that she would definitely achieve something in acting, at least in terms of acting skills, she was quite mature.

He shook his head, "This is a story."

"And then our protagonist team, a group of high school students, on a graduation trip, came to the Angel Lakeside."

"Someone told them about the legends of Angel Lake, beautiful legends, terrifying legends, and some very bizarre folk legends."

"So they decided to camp by Angel Lake and explore the secrets of Angel Lake."

A screenwriter interjected, "The mystery of the rising water!"

Lance pointed at him, "That's right, you can collect some similar rumors, process them, and make it difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is fake."

"I value this script very much. It's not just a movie, it will also become an interesting phenomenon!"

Thinking that if the movie could be a hit, many people would come to Angel Lake to explore, Lance wanted to laugh.

Because Jason is really down there!

"I'll continue with the plot."

"These young people didn't take these rumors to heart, and they violated the taboos here when they were picnicking by the lake."

"They used animal blood to activate the demon Jason in the lake, and Jason began his hunt."

"He wants to kill everyone!"

"Of course, in the end, the male protagonist ran out."

"You guys add some details, connect it with some local legends, and Jason is immortal."

"After each hunt, he will return to the lake and wait for the next appearance."

After listening, the director couldn't help but exclaim, "An excellent story, and it sounds a bit thrilling. What kind of genre is it?"

"Horror movie!"

"Horror movie?" The director's expression was a little strange. "Current horror movies are all filmed in execution grounds, at least I haven't heard of this kind of horror movie!"

Filming the execution process and then broadcasting it to people who haven't seen it.

Many people will have some reactions after watching it: fear, horror, or excitement. People think horror movies are cult, so the audience is very small.

Those horror movies shouldn't be called horror movies, they should be called freak shows, and they should be restricted viewing.

From the director's point of view, this is actually a thriller, but Lance says it's a horror movie, so it's a horror movie!

"Is this our next stage of filming plan?" Gerald whistled. "Sounds very interesting, I think people will like it."

The screenwriters also admired Lance's amazing story ideas, and they all felt that this story would definitely be a hit!

Lance also talked about some of his new ideas, "After this movie is filmed, we will watch it once. If it is really good enough, I plan to share the money with the theaters."

The director frowned slightly when he heard this, because this model is not mainstream at all now.

Although the industry also counts box office, and the statistics are basically inaccurate, but the box office statistics here do not mean that the film's producers can profit according to the box office.

The mainstream sales model is still to sell the broadcasting rights directly. Good movies cost thousands, ten or twenty thousand, twenty or thirty thousand.

Worse movies cost hundreds of dollars for a copy.

The value of box office statistics lies in this: when a director's previous movie has a high enough box office, many theater owners will inquire and have the intention to buy his movie.

"Mr. Lance, your idea is very good, but it is difficult for us to do this..."

"The copy of the film is not something with special technical barriers. Some theaters will copy and sell it themselves. We don't know how many theaters are playing our movie, so naturally we can't share the box office with them."

Among the most popular sound films from last year to today, there have been several movies with box office exceeding one million. The booming industry has made many people notice the potential here.

But still no one wants to sell in a way that shares box office. There are too many troubles here.

Lance shook his head, "This is not something you should worry about. You forgot what I do. I have a lot of manpower, they can handle these things!"

Thinking of Lance's real "job", the director closed his mouth and said nothing.

If there are gang members taking the copy to stare at the broadcast, then there should be no problem.

The director also heard from Lance's words that he has great ambitions, which is also a good thing for himself.

After all, the greater Lance's ambition, the more he needs him!

"In addition, we can't just wait for good scripts, good directors, and good actors to film. Continue to explore new people, including directors."

"We can make some attempts, invest in some new directors, five thousand dollars, or ten thousand dollars, twenty thousand dollars."

"Even if what they shoot is a pile of dog shit, someone will always take it to make money!"

At this time, paper media about movies has not really developed, let alone other directions of windows.

Promoting movies all depends on posters at the entrance of theaters and word of mouth. Many moviegoers don't know the quality of a movie, but they will definitely be interested in new movies.

There are not many film critics, and there is no particularly authoritative media, so there will definitely be audiences who are constantly being tricked into the cinema.

This is an era of low-cost movie carnivals, basically it is difficult to lose money, and the competition is not so fierce.

There is no so-called academy, and no professional film critics, everything seems particularly barbaric!

Finally, Lance glanced at Barbara, "Take her to the company too, see if there are any movies suitable for her, not the kind that will damage her image, let her try it."

This director naturally has no objection. Finding actors with excellent appearance can also add a lot to the film.

After solving some trivial matters, Lance let them leave first, and Gerald stayed behind.

They all live in the city now, so they can go back anytime, anywhere. He hasn't been here for a while, and he also heard that Ethan is now a boxer. He is very interested in these things.

"Although there are many friends over there, but Lance, that's not like my home, this is!"

He sat on the other side of Lance, talking about things in the company.

It's hard to imagine that seventeen-year-old Gerald is actually the "top male actor" in the company, and he has also filmed three movies in the past few months.

One is from the company itself, and two are invited by other companies. He is already a little famous.

His excellent appearance makes him not only handsome on the screen, but also very beautiful.

Whether it is male or female, they all like him. Lance also heard that many people want to date him privately, male and female.

"You can come over anytime, the company didn't give you a car?"

Lance asked.

"I have one, but everyone is watching me, I can't run around too much."

He changed to an easier topic, "When is Ethan's next game?"

Lance looked at the calendar on his watch, "Next Tuesday."