Empire of Shadows

Chapter 499: One Must Go [666+24]

The violent thumping of his heart accelerated his metabolism, also making Little Eugene a bit more awake.

He half-lay on the floor of the van, maintaining a side-lying position, his eyes staring at the person sitting next to him in the darkness.

At this moment, he was filled with regret, like a bad kid who couldn't even go to high school because he didn't listen, full of remorse for his past life and rebellion.

He not only wanted to cry now, but also wanted to take a dump.

The car sped along the road, slightly bumpy. He didn't say who he was, nor did he make a loud commotion, only maintaining his composure.

Composure was the last thing he could control.

There weren't many cars on the roads of King's Gold City at night, and with the constant running of red lights, the car's speed quickly decreased.

With a crash, the door was opened from the outside, and someone suddenly grabbed his hair and dragged him out.

He had no choice but to actively cooperate to make it easier for them to drag him out.

He collapsed on the ground, the dim light illuminating some of the surrounding environment. This should be an alley in a back street, somewhere in the city.

All he could hear was the drumming of his heartbeat, making him extremely nervous.

"Help him up and take him to see the Boss."

Someone spoke, and then two people, one on the left and one on the right, propped him up and walked towards a small door.

There was a dim light bulb on the door, with the words "Number Sixty-Six" written on it.

The creaking of the hinges, unable to bear the weight, slowly opened the door, revealing faint music, as well as a strong smell of alcohol and tobacco.

The sound under his feet also changed from the friction between his shoe soles and the cement ground to the thudding of his shoe soles against the floor.

Soon, he was taken to a room. There were some people in the room, sitting on the sofa or standing beside it.

A gramophone on a corner cabinet was playing the most fashionable music. Just listening to it, one could tell that the person singing this song not only had talent in singing, but must have also inherited their ancestors' ability to pick cotton.

The slow, melodious singing could soothe people's moods, but at this moment, he only felt fear.

"Lance…"

The person in the very center of the crowd held a wine glass in his hand. When his seemingly smiling yet not smiling gaze looked over, Little Eugene could no longer stand still.

If it were some other force trying to extort him or blackmail his family, he might still have a way to deal with it.

But with Lance and the Lance family, he was already in despair.

"Give our friend a chair. It seems he can't stand to answer our questions," Lance instructed. Immediately, someone brought a chair and placed it in the very center of the room, and then Little Eugene was thrown onto it.

"Looks like you should know who I am," Lance put the wine glass on the coffee table. "Give him a drink. He needs to relax a little."

Immediately, someone poured a glass of wine and placed it in Little Eugene's hand. Lance raised his hand, signaling him to take a sip. He hesitated a little.

But then a punch landed on his face, knocking him directly off the chair and onto the ground!

The wine in his hand naturally spilled all over the floor.

"That's why I said never put a carpet in my office!" Lance said with a smile as he sat there. The people around him burst into laughter.

"Now it's wine, maybe later it'll be urine, or even blood. Any place with you bastards isn't suitable for flooring."

Lance complained, "Oh, right, and cigarette butts!"

Everyone laughed again. Little Eugene was helped up again and sat back on the chair.

Lance took the wine bottle and walked to his side. Someone had stuffed another wine glass into his hand, and Lance personally poured some wine for him.

"Drink it, and you'll feel better."

Little Eugene, whose cheeks were unbearably sore, finally decided to obey Lance's order. He held the wine glass with both hands and gulped down the wine, then looked at Lance somewhat blankly, holding the glass.

Lance took the wine glass from his hand and placed it on the table next to him along with the wine bottle.

He went back to the sofa and sat down. "Actually, there's no direct hatred between us. It's just that your father did something he shouldn't have, implicating you and your family."

"Tell me, where is Eugene hiding now? I guarantee that you and your mother won't be involved in this matter."

Little Eugene remained silent. He actually admired his father very much. This feeling was like "I Have a Gangster Father", which gave him extraordinary respect at school and in society!

He loved his father, but as a grown young man, he didn't quite know how to express it. His father had done a lot for him, and now it was his turn to do something for his father.

He mustered his courage and looked up at Lance, "I won't say."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they all burst out laughing, some even laughing to tears!

For some reason, seeing these people laugh, a surge of anger arose in Little Eugene's heart. He once again emphasized and strengthened his resolve. This time, it was his turn to protect his father!

"I—"

"Won't say a word!"

After laughing for a while, Lance shook his head. "Who can help our young friend confirm?"

"I'll do it!" Devon, standing in the corner, walked out of the crowd. As a newly promoted captain, he was very clear about his position.

Ambitious, capable, and discerning—that's why he was here.

Lance wasn't afraid of ambitious people. He was only afraid of ambitious but incapable people sitting in positions they shouldn't be in.

As long as he could continue to be strong, then even if these people were more ambitious, they could only be driven by him!

Devon took off his jacket, revealing the coffee-colored vest and clean shirt underneath.

He had never worn such good clothes in his life until he joined the Lance family.

He carefully rolled up his sleeves, then took a pair of pliers and a towel from someone else's hand.

Amidst Little Eugene's anxiety, Devon wrapped Little Eugene's hand in the towel, then had the pliers clamp down on one of his fingers.

Little Eugene's gaze shifted from his hand, covered by the towel, to Devon's eyes. The two stared at each other for a little over a second, and then Little Eugene let out a scream more tragic than he had ever made in his life!

Ah…

The gramophone in the corner continued to turn soothingly, the vocal enhancement brought by the cotton-picking small expert race gave the music soul.

The gentlemen, sitting or standing on the sofa, held wine glasses, smoked cigarettes, and smiled as they watched the young man less than five meters away struggling and screaming!

The distance between civilization and barbarism is sometimes much closer than people think!

I don't know how long it had been, maybe only a few minutes, maybe more than ten minutes later, Devon, already sweating, spread out the towel, and the pliers clamped down on another one of Little Eugene's fingers. Just as he was about to use force, Little Eugene couldn't bear it anymore.

He was much weaker than he had imagined. He had already tried his best to hold on until now.

The fingertips of all five fingers on his right hand were almost shattered!

"I…"

Just as he made a sound, Lance raised his hand to stop Devon. "Our friend seems to want to say something."

His lips moved, silent for four or five seconds, seemingly still struggling in his heart, but the next second, the excruciating pain struck again, and he could no longer resist!

"We live in…"

He said the location where they were currently hiding. Lance glanced at Hiram, who led people to stand up and leave the room.

Lance had someone give Little Eugene an effective painkiller injection, and he immediately felt much better.

Little Eugene just kept crying, not because of the pain, but because of his fear of pain and his weakness!

He regretted it very much, regretting why he didn't persevere a little longer, but when he thought of the piercing pain, he felt that he really couldn't hold on anymore.

At this time, Eugene sat withered in the dining room chair of the apartment, smoking a cigarette. There were already many cigarette butts at his feet. He didn't call Stone.

Stone should already be asleep at this time, and he still had a glimmer of hope.

He knew that he shouldn't have these thoughts, and he should have told Stone in time, but he just felt that his son would come back!

Everything will be fine!

He glanced sideways at his wife, but didn't say anything.

Time passed little by little. Seeing that it was already late at night, Eugene seemed much more defeated.

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening made him breathe a heavy sigh of relief. He glared again at his wife, who was full of surprise, although there was no deterrent force because his face was full of shallow smiles.

He walked to the door with a straight face, waiting for the moment the door opened to let his son know what fatherly love was.

As the door was pushed open, both the people inside the door and the people outside the door were stunned for a moment.

Then Eugene slowly raised his hands.

More than ten minutes later, Eugene met Lance.

"I can explain…" he kept explaining as soon as they met, "I only asked people to find a boxer, I didn't say to let them cheat!"

Lance looked at him and asked, "Do you believe it yourself?"

Eugene was stunned for a moment, then nodded firmly, "What I said is true, I swear!"

Lance shook his head and said, "God is worthless!"

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance, fight my brother Ethan for nine rounds."

"As long as you can survive, I'll let you go."

"This is your atonement!"

Eugene looked at the massive figure standing in the light, swallowed hard, and glanced back at his family. Finally, he gritted his teeth and took off his coat.

He knew that at this point, nothing he said would matter.

At this moment, he felt no dissatisfaction with his wife, no anger towards his children, only the desire to survive.

No gloves, no protective gear, just bare fists.

When he stood opposite Ethan, he finally felt the kind of pressure he could never experience outside the ring!

Ethan grinned, "Kill me, or be killed by me!"