Empire of Shadows

Pangda looked at her, not understanding, "Why?"

Lisa never looked at him, "I can't convince myself to face you again!"

Even doctors, who are used to seeing such things, were shocked by the injuries on her body, so what about Pangda?

Would he find it unacceptable?

After all, those wounds were man-made, someone used something to create them on her body. She wasn't wearing clothes, otherwise, such wounds couldn't have been made.

Maybe he doesn't realize anything yet.

When his emotions calm down, will such an unsettling image appear in his mind, will the relationship between him and Lisa change?

But at this moment, Pangda's emotions haven't calmed down, and his emotional fluctuations are still dominating him. He suddenly stood up and shouted loudly, "Why?"

"Just because someone hurt you, you want to leave me?"

"This isn't your fault!"

Lisa cried again.

When she was still at Red High Heels, although she felt pain, it was at least within her tolerance.

Since marrying Pangda, her tolerance for some things has become worse and worse.

She didn't speak, but her crying broke Pangda's heart.

He walked back to the bedside and hugged Lisa, "I swore to God that no matter what you encounter, I will always love you!"

An unprecedented sense of grievance rose from Lisa's heart, and she couldn't control her emotions anymore, hugging Pangda and crying loudly like a child!

It seemed that such crying could vent all the pain, grievance, and unwillingness!

She decided to confess to Pangda, to confess her past.

There should be no concealment or exploitation in love and affection. Regardless of whether Pangda can ultimately accept her, she will confess.

Loving someone shouldn't be about concealment, it shouldn't be about hurting!

"There's something I've been hiding in my heart for a long time, and I think it's time to tell you..."

She talked about how she was tricked from the Empire to the Federation, how she was controlled by the Camilla gang, and how she was forced to work as a call girl at Red High Heels.

She talked about her past working for some wealthy people in the Bay Area, and also talked about how Lance later intervened and rescued her.

But that was all. There was an even deeper secret that she had been hiding in her heart and wouldn't tell Pangda.

She didn't want Pangda to realize that their initial relationship wasn't pure, even though she deeply loved him now, she didn't want this secret to be exposed.

Because once she said it, some things would change.

Pangda couldn't imagine everything his wife had encountered. He was a little dazed and hesitant.

The person he loved... was actually a high-class prostitute?

For a moment, the whole world seemed to be shattered in front of him!

Looking at Pangda, who was lost in thought and couldn't say a word for a long time, Lisa said her initial request again—

"Let's get divorced, you deserve someone better, not me!"

Pangda, as if turned into a wooden man, seemed to have lost his ability to speak, standing there foolishly.

The next morning, Pangda sat in the office in a daze, his mind was in chaos.

He hardly slept all night, and only dozed off for a while until after five in the morning, and then the alarm rang at half past eight.

For a moment, he really didn't know how to face Lisa anymore. He loved Lisa deeply, but the Lisa he loved seemed to be different from the Lisa in reality.

He was very confused now and didn't know what to do.

His colleagues also saw that he was in a bad state and had no interest in talking, so they didn't bother him.

At a little after ten in the morning, a colleague walked to his desk and knocked on it, "Webb wants you to go to his office, with your files."

Pangda came to Webb's office in a daze and was naturally scolded because he had delayed work.

Dale also heard that he seemed to have some problems and called him to his office.

"Have you found Lisa?" he asked.

The keyword Lisa made Pangda focus some attention. He looked at Director Dale for a while and nodded, "Thank you for your concern, the person has been found."

"It's good that you found her. Did she encounter anything?"

Pangda shook his head, "Everything is fine."

Director Dale showed some smiles, "It's good that everything is fine. There are no insurmountable difficulties between husband and wife. As long as you truly love each other, nothing can stop you from getting closer to each other."

"You look terrible, do you want a vacation?"

He was quite optimistic about Pangda, after all, Pangda was naturally on his side.

Pangda is not a native of King's Port City, although he is from Lica Ley State, but he has no connections or relationships here.

He naturally stood on Director Dale's side, and the only one he could rely on was Director Dale.

These rulers have always been tolerant of their own people.

Pangda nodded, "I really need to rest for two days."

"Okay, hand over your work and then go rest." He looked at Pangda, "Remember, we are your strong backing!"

After coming out of the director's office, he handed over the work in his hand to his colleagues and drove away directly.

He desperately wanted to drink a little now, he had never had such a strong desire to get himself drunk!

He knew where there was liquor for sale. As a prohibition agent, he knew the sales of liquor in his jurisdiction.

Sometimes leaving some people with small shipments is to get more clues and information about smuggled liquor.

He got a whole bottle of inferior whiskey from a scattered liquor peddler for eight yuan, which was outrageously expensive.

In the past, this kind of quality liquor would cost at most one yuan, but now it costs eight yuan.

He wrapped the bottle in newspaper and took a sip from time to time.

I have to say that although this bottle of inferior liquor doesn't taste very good, the alcohol in it is not cheap at all, and soon he became drunk.

He sat on a park bench, the sun couldn't bring him any warmth, he felt that life seemed to become gray!

After an unknown amount of time, suddenly someone spoke to him, "Sir, can you give me a sip too?"

He turned his head to look at the person next to him, it was a homeless man, with a flattering smile on his face, staring at the newspaper in Pangda's hand.

It took Pangda several seconds to react, and he handed the bottle to the other party, "Sure, just drink with me."

The homeless man was overjoyed, "Thank you so much, sir, your kindness and generosity are warmer than the sun in winter!"

He held up the newspaper and took a sip. The inferior whiskey made the homeless man shiver all over in an instant, so cool!

The pungent alcohol made him relax, and after exhaling heavily, his emotions became particularly relaxed.

The two drank a lot, one sip after another. Liquor is something that you have as soon as you drink it, and you drink more as soon as you have it.

The homeless man seemed embarrassed to drink so much of Pangda's liquor for nothing, and couldn't help but say, "You look very worried, maybe you can talk to me."

"Although I look down on my luck now, I used to be successful, maybe I can give you some free advice!"

Pangda was stunned for a moment, smiled twice, "I do have a problem."

"If the person you love deceives you, what would you do?"

"That's it?" The homeless man took the bottle from Pangda and took another sip, "Did she betray you?"

Pangda blinked and said with his head down, "No."

"Then did she hurt you?"

"No."

"Did she make you feel pain in the days you were with her?"

"No, I was very happy when I was with her."

"She didn't betray you, didn't hurt you, and made you feel happy..."

"Although I appreciate your generosity, sir, you are really a pretentious person!"

"Who doesn't have some secrets, don't you have something that you haven't told your lover?"

"Are you also deceiving your lover?"

Pangda snatched the bottle and took another big gulp, "But she concealed some of her previous experiences!"

The homeless man took off his hat, scratched his head, and the tangled hair was smoking in the cold air, "Do you love her past, or do you love her present and future?"

"Listen, young man, love is love, and not love is not love."

"Don't make excuses for not loving, if you don't love her anymore, then end it all."

"If you still love her and she loves you too, then why torture each other?"

"You should be each other's support, not hurt each other!"

The homeless man's words put Pangda in a daze. After a while, he suddenly stood up and gave the homeless man a hug!

"Thank you, thank you brother, you have given me a lot of help!" He took out all the money in his pocket, about thirty yuan, and stuffed it all into the homeless man's hand, "This is what you deserve!"

In the homeless man's somewhat dazed expression, Pangda ran away.

Yes, he loved Lisa after she ended her previous life, not before.

After she ended that bad life, everything started again, and her previous life was not voluntary. He wanted to be Lisa's most reliable support, not a sharp knife stabbing her!

She was hurt and pitiful enough, he couldn't hurt her anymore.

Now, he was going to see Lisa and tell her that no matter what she had experienced, he would accompany her to continue walking!

Sometimes when people are vulnerable, what they need most is a support.

Just like Lisa at this moment, she got what she wanted.

Until Lisa was discharged from the hospital, nothing about what happened that day circulated in society. No one talked about it, and even Hunter and Charlie didn't know what exactly happened that day. They only knew that the conflict between Lance and the Bay Area had intensified.

But this was a good thing for both of them. At least Lance wouldn't compete with them for power in this area, and their value would continue to increase.

A hunting dog is only valuable when there is prey.

Once there is no prey, then the hunting dog will become the new prey, hunted by the hunter.

In late January, after a period of thinking and mental preparation, Panda took the initiative to contact Lance.

The deepest feeling this incident brought him was that power is greater than everything!

When a person possesses sufficiently powerful authority, even if what he does is illegal, the law will stand by his side.

After the collapse of the old worldview and values, a new worldview and values are being rapidly built on the ruins, and will be larger and higher than before.

Although the weather in late January was cold, some places seemed particularly hot, such as the boxing ring.

After four fights, Ethan had already made a little name for himself in the cruiserweight boxing competition.

Fame is not only useful in politics, but also in sports, especially if you want to challenge more famous athletes, you can't be an unknown person.

Ethan's four wins and four knockouts made him famous. The authoritative magazine "Boxing" also gave him a space about the size of a palm.

The magazine said that Ethan's matches were extremely visually impactful. His heavy punches were like super heavy artillery that pierced through the enemy's defense line, and a single punch could determine the outcome!

Through his coach's efforts, Ethan's fifth fight has been scheduled. His opponent is the somewhat famous "Steel Chin," also a big guy, and he fights in a very distinctive style.

This guy rarely makes defensive moves. The thing he loves to do most in the ring is to exchange punches with his opponent.

You hit me once, I hit you once, and see who falls first, so he got the nickname "Steel Chin," describing his chin as fearless of punches like steel!

Speaking of Ethan, there is actually a very interesting thing. The crew originally found someone to play the demon Jason in Angel Lake, but in the actual shooting, they couldn't give people that kind of terrifying and oppressive feeling at all.

Jason needs to give people a gloomy sense of oppression. He needs to look a little stupid, but stupid in a way that makes people feel scared.

No matter what opponent, he would eliminate those people without any hesitation.

After selecting many actors, none were suitable, and the shooting of the entire crew was therefore put on hold.

It happened that Ethan's fourth match was at that time. Gerald, in order to boost Jason's popularity, invited everyone in the crew to watch Ethan's boxing match.

When the director and screenwriter watched Ethan knock his opponent unconscious with a backhand heavy artillery in the ring, and then silently looked at the audience, a living "Jason" appeared in front of them!

At Gerald's strong request, Alvin helped say a few words, and Ethan agreed to audition.

The effect was very good.

Perhaps it was seeing the silent killer in the ring kill his opponent, so when Ethan put on the hockey mask and held the big machete, even if he didn't say anything or do anything, it would give people a terrifying sense of oppression!

Making people subconsciously hold their breath and want to escape!

So the true core role of this movie was decided, played by Ethan.

Fortunately, this movie doesn't require any acting skills, as long as Ethan shows his oppressive force.

His big size and the gloomy look in his eyes that can occasionally be seen through the mask are enough for him to play this role well.

Now the film reels are being copied, and the company plans to participate in this year's Spring Film Exhibition.

Moreover, Lance plans to try a revenue sharing method.

He believes that this movie can create miracles with great effort and become a representative and pioneering film in film history.

Great success seems within reach.

Accompanied by the "clang clang clang" of the shaking bells, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became heated. Ethan's coach patted him on the head, "Give him a punch, take the victory, like every time before!"

There were already many spectators around, which was completely different from Ethan's first match!

At that time, no one watched the matches of young people who had just debuted, only Lance and them.

But now, there are many people around. Heavyweight boxing matches are always the most passionate!

People like to see the confrontation between giant beasts, like to see the power of a punch that straightens people!

Violence and beauty are so perfectly integrated at this moment, making people fascinated.

There were cheers all around, and voices calling Ethan's name. Ethan had never been liked by so many people.

He tapped his forehead with his fists, and then, under the referee's instructions, touched fists with the boxer on the opposite side, and then immediately separated.

The first round officially begins!

Lance was also at the scene, and they were holding a blue ticket in their hands with their betting information on it.

This may be another reason why boxing matches are so popular - gambling.

The people who run the gambling here are also from the Coda family. In King's Landing, as long as it has something to do with gambling, then basically it can be linked to them.

Continuous victories have continuously increased Ethan's confidence. Now his style of play is more aggressive and more watchable.

Just standing in the ring, he had a feeling that the other party was not his opponent.

The first round should logically be a probing round, where both sides should understand each other's situation, such as arm span.

But Ethan played very aggressively, and the other party was also a very arrogant person. Seeing Ethan so aggressive, he also gave up probing, and both sides directly started to output with all their strength!

The audience's screams never stopped from the beginning!

The commentator's mouth was like it was about to run out of credit, and if he didn't use it, it would be too late. The atmosphere at the match site was explosive!

Accompanied by the "Steel Chin's" mistake on the defensive end, when Ethan punched the other party's chin, the "Steel Chin's" eyes went straight and clear in an instant!

His whole person fell to the ground all of a sudden, and the ring seemed to vibrate!

The referee immediately pushed Ethan away to check on the "Steel Chin's" condition, and then stood up and waved his arms in a cross, indicating the end of the match!

Although only one minute and a few seconds have passed from the beginning to the present, it has given everyone a sense of satisfaction that the ticket was worth it!

Especially those gambling dogs who are obsessed with Ethan continuing to win, they are laughing wildly!

Accompanied by the smiles on their faces, a group of people constantly tore up the gambling tickets in their hands and cursed at the "Steel Chin" lying on the ground!

Ethan glanced at the "Steel Chin" being sent onto a stretcher, turned his head and smiled at the boxing fans who were shouting his name, waving his arms!

At this moment, he loves this ring!