Empire of Shadows

The Kodak family was already on the menu, a concept that Bandi hadn't quite… grasped or fully understood before.

But as things continued to develop, those who were supposed to be his "helpers" and "protectors" began to tell him they were powerless.

It wasn't that they were truly powerless, but rather that they had discovered the delightful aroma emanating from their good friend.

The plump, juicy, and profitable Kodak family's scent drove them to secrete saliva like madmen; they couldn't wait to add him to the menu.

Especially those who hadn't had a good meal before but now had the chance to choose their seats and dishes.

Although the food kept increasing, its quantity was ultimately insufficient to satisfy everyone's appetite.

Hunger drove them mad; they no longer cared where the ingredients came from. All they wanted now was to fill their bellies and possess the ability to deal with the next batch of diners.

If Bandi could accept these things after figuring them out, then Lance's appearance was something he couldn't quite accept.

A fellow he had never taken seriously before had transformed into a chef.

And, to top it off, the chef who was going to cook him! He didn't understand what was so special about Lance that allowed him to stand by the table in a different capacity.

Sometimes, if a good "ingredient" lacks a qualified chef, people would rather wait longer than hastily use the precious ingredient haphazardly.

Lance's appearance made these diners realize they had found a chef capable of handling these "ingredients," so they added the precious ingredient, the Kodak family, to the menu.

Once the order of the menu was set, even if the chef was changed, the menu wouldn't change because of the chef's replacement; they were already starving.

Even if Lance was gone, there would still be a Reds, a Yellows, or someone else to take his place, cooking the Kodak family to a fragrant perfection and serving it to the diners at the table for a feast.

Since they couldn't escape the fate of becoming ingredients, they had to leave some hope behind.

Fleming's eyes still held some doubts, some incomprehension, some disbelief.

They had always been diners at the table; when had they been placed on the menu?

"This may be the last lesson I teach you, Fleming."

Bandi looked at him, smoothed down his somewhat unruly hair, and slowly combed it back with his hand, making it neat.

"We've actually been making a mistake all along."

Bandi glanced at him. "Pour me some wine."

Fleming immediately poured him a glass of wine. He took a small sip. "We're still too slow."

"Too slow at laundering money."

"The organizers of this never-ending banquet are those gentlemen in Congress."

"They decide who is a diner, who is an ingredient, who should be at the table, and who should be on the table."

"We were fortunate enough to be on the diner list in the last round, perhaps only at a small table, but it allowed us to avoid becoming food."

"We greedily devoured everything, and the Kodak family's development far surpassed that of the other five major families."

"But our muscles have grown too slowly; there's been almost no significant change in recent years."

"We still don't have anyone outstanding who can be called a 'politician.'"

He looked at Fleming. In fact, Fleming was the successor he had chosen. He would use his own and the family's influence to help Fleming become a politician; he was already working on it.

But the speed was still a bit slow, and he had misunderstood the rules of this banquet. He thought that changing the list was a long way off. Who knew it would come so quickly!

"We ate too fast, making us fat, with every inch of our skin filled with the scent of profit."

"But we grew too slowly. We don't have tough skin, strong muscles, or the power to make others fear the consequences!"

"In this banquet, as long as you can't demonstrate a strength that others fear, the distinction between diner and ingredient is sometimes not so clear."

"If only…"

He shook his head, able only to sigh in regret for his greed.

Yes, in a way, it was his greed that doomed the entire family.

If he had understood their status and position a little better, and had also figured out where the future lay, he wouldn't have thought of letting his son do it.

Instead, he would have chosen one of his siblings, who were in their thirties at the time, the prime of their lives.

They were still sitting at the table and had enough influence to elevate their position.

But he was greedy. He hoped that such a huge amount of profit would ultimately be digested within his own lineage, rather than his brothers working hard their whole lives only to have their other cousins become the core of the family.

He waited and waited, missing all the opportunities, until he suddenly understood at the last moment.

The opportunity had been given to him, but he hadn't seized it.

He couldn't blame anyone else for this.

"After leaving, live quietly with your family and children. Don't be high-profile, don't be ostentatious, and don't let others know how much money you have or how glorious you used to be."

"You have to become ordinary people, an ordinary family, and then try to take root in the new environment."

"With so much money and resources, in the future, you, we, may not have the opportunity to return to the table."

"Fleming, you bear a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. Whether the family can be revived depends on you."

Bandi took another sip of wine. "I know this is selfish. I shouldn't entrust you with things I can't do. I hope you can do it. It's not fair to you."

"But I hope you can try your best. If you really can't…"

He smiled. "Then so be it."

"You've grown up. The future is your world. You decide how to take every fork in the road."

"I can no longer give you more advice, nor can I watch you make the next and all future decisions and remind you whether you should do so."

"Think more; that's the only thing I can leave you."

He stopped there. "Okay, leave as soon as possible!"

"Lance is coming soon!"

Gao Li's assassination of Lance failed, so Lance's revenge will come soon. He knew this very well.

It's like a chef standing by the sink preparing ingredients. If the ingredient almost hurts the chef, then the chef will definitely vent his anger without ruining the dish's appearance and taste.

He was the one who used that kind of method first, so he couldn't blame Lance for retaliating.

Fleming also realized the seriousness of the matter. He pursed his lips, walked over, and hugged Bandi.

In a trance, Bandi felt as if time had reversed to a day long, long ago. He hugged Fleming, giving him a warm, reliable embrace, filling him with confidence and strength in this world full of danger and opportunity.

"Okay, you're the family head now. You should set an example," he patted Fleming's back, released him, "Go, take our hope with you."

Fleming no longer lingered. He nodded, turned, and strode away. At the last moment, as he pulled open the door and walked out, he looked back.

The father and son's eyes were severed by the slowly closing door, followed by the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside, fading further and further away.

Bandi leaned back in his chair, looking at the good weather outside. The tender green lawn seemed to be shrouded in a layer of emerald green fluorescence.

He thought of Gao Li, thought of Shi Dong, thought of everything. What a pity!

Later in the day, a large number of police officers rushed into the manor. Chief Brewer appeared in front of him with an arrest warrant. "Mr. Bandi, you can call your lawyer now."

Bandi nodded. He hadn't actually cheered up, but he just made himself look less… disappointing.

Disappointing to the people in the family. Those family members didn't know what was happening. They still thought they were at the table, not on it.

The lawyer arrived quickly. After reading the relevant legal documents, he nodded to Bandi with a slightly somber expression. "The documents are fine, Mr. Bandi. You need to go with them, but I'll be with you."

"Thank you!" Bandi then got up. The police officers demanded to handcuff him. The lawyer argued for a while, but without success.

In fact, sometimes handcuffs can be avoided. The police officers' enforcement at this time mainly depends on their mood.

But if they insist on saying "regulations," then handcuffs are the regulation, even if the lawyer sues to the highest court, there will be no chance of victory.

Bandi was put in shiny silver handcuffs. They even refused to give Bandi a hood. He walked out of his house with handcuffs on.

Many Kodak family members watched this scene in disbelief. Some people wanted to come forward and ask him what had happened, but they were stopped by the police officers.

Soon, news about Bandi's arrest began to ferment in the city, and more rumors introducing why he was arrested also began to spread rapidly.

Rumors about the Kodak family being suspected of a large number of crimes once again became the focus of people's discussion. This time, people even linked the strange phenomenon of the annual rise in the water level of Angel Lake with the Kodak family.

It was as if… the rise in the water level of Angel Lake was purely because they had done too many bad things!

Besides these news, even more explosive news came out. For example, Shi Dong, the fourth core figure of the Coda family, has now turned into a tainted witness and is willing to testify in court to accuse the Coda family of a series of criminal acts.

His cousin, another member of the Coda family, although not a core member, is also willing to turn into a tainted witness and accuse the Coda family of some criminal acts.

These include a series of shocking crimes such as beatings, kidnappings, extortion, blackmail, rape, injury, murder, desecration of corpses, and smuggling and selling alcohol.

The entire State of Licar was shaken by this incident, because the Coda family is very famous throughout the State of Licar.

Not to mention King's Port, it's like an unsettling bomb suddenly exploded, catching many people in the Bay Area off guard!

Especially those who have transactions with the Coda family, and have some behind-the-scenes exchange of interests, if the Coda family's problems are dug out in detail, some old men in the Bay Area will also suffer heavy losses!

Despite the fact that the lawyers hired by Bandi and the lawyers hired later tried everything they could, they still couldn't get Bandi bailed out.

This time, in addition to Attorney General Terry intervening to maintain "judicial justice", some people in the Bay Area were also using some means to prevent Bandi from being released on bail.

The reason for not letting Bandi be released on bail is that they don't want Bandi to come out, don't want Bandi to run around, they plan to take action against Bandi.

Erasing all factors that threaten the Bay Area is one of the reasons why the Bay Area has become more and more inflated in recent years.

If Bandi fell at a banquet with the state as the table, then at this small banquet with King's Port as the largest table, the organizers of the banquet greedily put everything that could be put on the table.

They don't even need a cook. Whether it's raw or cooked, as long as it can get them benefits, they grab it with their hands and stuff it into their mouths.

At the same time, they will also eliminate factors that may affect their eating, such as the arrested Bandi.

In the interrogation room of the city police station, Bandi's lawyer stood in front of him with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry, Mr. Bandi, I have tried my best, but they refused to sign the documents allowing you to be released on bail."

"So…"

Bandi shook his head, "This has nothing to do with you. We all know that someone doesn't want me running around right now."

He laughed twice as he spoke, which must have included those who used to be his good friends.

He took out a cigarette and lit it. There was a strong smell of smoke in the room, and there were many cigarette butts on the ground.

The police station did not prohibit him from smoking. On the contrary, the police station provided him with whatever he wanted, which was very humane.

He didn't make any excessive demands, just asked for cigarettes to be supplied to him.

He looked at the lawyer, "How is the family doing now?"

The lawyer was silent for a while, "Bru and Duke have led a large number of police officers to arrest your clansmen. They are being held separately in their own rooms, and are not allowed to communicate with others in the manor."

"The entire manor has become a huge interrogation room. Some of your... clansmen have made statements that are detrimental to you and your family."

"We contacted some people, but they rejected our proposal."

The lawyer told them not to say anything that would be detrimental to the family, but obviously, no one took his words seriously.

Everyone can see that the giant ship of the Coda family is about to sink. If they don't speak at this time, they will only sink into the deep sea with it.

Even if some family members do not have any serious crimes, after all, it is impossible for everyone to commit crimes. A considerable part of them have not participated in criminal activities.

But even so, they will be afraid, because this ship is too big.

The downward suction generated when it sinks will drag everyone down to the bottom of the sea together.

Even those floating on the surface are no exception.

So before it starts to sink, these people have to save themselves.

No one knows better than them what bad things the family has done. Case after case was confessed, and shocking news spread in society.

Even the governor is very concerned about this case, and urged the mayor to investigate clearly, and then collect all the evidence and send it to the state government.

He requested that such a heinous case be tried in a state-level court, on the grounds that he felt suspicious about whether the King's Port court could treat these cases and parties fairly and justly.

Everyone knows clearly and deeply that they are going to be finished.

So Bandi has no problem with these clansmen's self-rescue behavior.

He shook his head, "Let them be."

"If they think that doing so can extricate themselves from this storm, then it can only be said that they have imagined this disaster too simply."

He paused, and asked with a tone that even he himself didn't realize, with some complicated, guilty and cautious expression, "Shi Dong... how is he doing?"

"Shi Dong has now turned into a tainted witness. It is said that the Department of Justice is discussing whether to sign a waiver order for him."

"Once the Department of Justice passes this discussion, he will be exempt from prosecution."

Bandi showed some smile on his face, "That's good news."

The lawyer had a somewhat错愕 expression on his face, as if asking him, shouldn't he hate Shi Dong?

From the moment Gori died, he had actually "let go", forcing himself to let go.

He had tried his best, and Gori and Shi Dong had also sacrificed a lot. If failure was inevitable, he had no regrets.

If Shi Dong can survive, he will have an explanation to Gori.

So he is very happy that Shi Dong has a chance to be exempt from prosecution, if this is true.

"Can I talk to Shi Dong?", he asked.

He still has some things that only he and Gori know. If these things let Shi Dong expose himself, maybe he will have a chance to increase his weight and value in the eyes of those in the Department of Justice who can determine their fate.

After the lawyer considered for a while, he did not give him an accurate answer, "I can try, but it may not work."

Bandi was very calm, "Then try it. Whether it succeeds or fails, at least we have tried."

He has a lot to say to Shi Dong.

After the lawyer reported the recent progress of the case to him, he left. Not long after, a person came who he didn't expect, but who was reasonable, Lance.

He didn't stand up the moment he saw Lance. If it was before, he would definitely stand up, but now he is the biggest one.

Because he is about to die, he knows that he will definitely not live to the day of sentencing, so what is the point of him caring about these things?

"I just... you know, to make some people nervous, you have to make them have doubts that can make them uneasy."

Lance walked to the table and sat down, saying casually.

Bandi smiled and nodded, "They must be curious about what we talked about, whether it is harmful to them."

"In order to avoid more unplanned problems, they will try to kill me."

"Right?"