Empire of Shadows

Life is full of forks in the road, and many choices. Not everyone can choose the right path at the right time.

Mr. Thurley had made the wrong choice before—he wanted to embezzle more than ten thousand dollars in box office revenue from Wanli Film Company. As a result, he not only lost six hundred thousand in cash but also all of his cinemas.

In this choice, he made a wise decision. He chose to hand over the cinemas instead of taking them and his family to hell.

Lance was a man of his word. He said he wouldn't kill him, and he didn't. After he signed the transfer agreement, the fourteen cinemas in Golden State became the property of Wanli Cinemas.

Now he still had some money in his hands, several hundred thousand, but he felt as if he were dead.

"You should go to the police," his wife sat on the sofa, looking at Mr. Thurley with some anger and dissatisfaction. Her voice was like a sharp knife, piercing into Mr. Thurley's head.

"Let the police and judges take back what belongs to us. That's our wealth!"

"You're such a wimp, Thurley. You lost everything and you're still sitting here like nothing happened. Why don't you get your ass off the chair and tell the police what you encountered?"

"God, what bad things did I do to marry you? This is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life."

"Even a homeless person on the street knows what to do at this time, but you're just sitting there daydreaming like a mentally retarded idiot!"

"I..."

Mr. Thurley finally couldn't bear it anymore. He slapped the table, stood up, and in his wife's confused gaze, walked to her side and punched her hard.

The woman was a little dazed from the blow. After another punch, the pain made her start screaming, "You have the ability to hit me, but you don't have the ability to take back what those people stole from us. You're a piece of trash!"

Mr. Thurley's eyes twitched. He straddled his wife and frantically punched her head. Soon, her screams turned into begging and crying.

Mr. Thurley finally breathed a sigh of relief. He got off the woman, walked to the sofa next to him, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

The cigarette made a circle in his lungs and exhaled from his mouth and nose. His tired body was instantly nourished.

He had wanted to beat this woman for a long time.

Today, he finally vented his anger!

"Divorce, I want a divorce!" the woman jumped up, covering her bruised face. "I can't live with you for another day, you piece of trash. I want to divorce you!"

Thurley nodded, "Divorce, divorce now. Whoever stops is a son of a bitch!"

His eyes shot at his wife like knives. The woman who was always talking suddenly seemed to have her neck grabbed by something, unable to make a sound.

Awesome!

Really awesome!

Mr. Thurley took another deep breath of the cigarette, letting the smoke formed by tar, nicotine, and more than two thousand chemical substances permeate his entire lungs.

That fulfilling, filled feeling was deeply fascinating!

A smile was on the corner of his mouth. Just as he was about to ask the woman to find a lawyer, the door of the room was suddenly kicked open.

Several men in leather vests walked in from outside.

Leather pants, leather vests, the big cigars hanging on their chests, and the shiny winged skull logo—they were members of the Angel of Death.

Mr. Thurley and his wife closed their mouths. At the same time, he also stood up, "Gentlemen..."

Before he could finish speaking, the guy in the front, who looked to be in his thirties, rushed over and punched Mr. Thurley in the stomach.

As he bent over with a grimace of pain from the spasm, the guy grabbed his hair and slammed his head hard on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Before he could look up, a riding boot stepped on his head.

The hard rubber and iron heel made his scalp ache, but he didn't dare to shout.

He didn't dare to shout, but someone dared to shout.

"Ah!" Mr. Thurley's wife finally couldn't help but scream, but a fist quickly shut her up.

She was told to sit on the sofa. If she dared to make a sound, those people would cut her face with a knife.

Whether it was in another world or this world, or other worlds, for women, even a wrinkled face was better than a scarred one.

She closed her mouth. At this moment, Mr. Thurley felt an unprecedented peace...

The next second, a guy who looked to be in his forties sat on the sofa, facing him, "Tell me, where did Jordan go?"

Jordan was a high-ranking member of the Angel of Death. Although he was old, it did not affect his authority in the gang.

Many younger generations had received some favors from him. He had spent half of his life in prison, and he had taught the young people many things.

Even if some guys didn't like him, they didn't hate him. After all, he didn't interfere too much in gang affairs, and he was considering retirement.

Such an old gang member who was not annoying and had a certain reputation had a problem, and many people were willing to help him "avenge".

Especially some captains, and even some ordinary gang members. If they could complete the "honorable kill", then they might have the opportunity to be promoted.

Becoming a captain from an ordinary gang member, or becoming a cadre from a captain, was considered a shortcut.

Now, the guy in front of him had discovered this "secret". He immediately rushed here before everyone else arrived.

He wanted to avenge Jordan and then become a senior member of the gang. This was an important qualification.

There were senior cadres who had a very good relationship with him. When the time came, he would make a recommendation, and he would be sure to become a senior cadre.

A senior cadre of this gang with thousands of core members—just thinking about it was exciting!

Mr. Thurley swallowed. He carefully explained, "Mr. Jordan is also my friend, no, a brother, a good brother!"

"He and I were in high school..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt the sole of the shoe stepping on his head begin to exert force, pressing his head as if it were about to shatter!

He groaned in horror and pain. The guy on the sofa shook his head, "Wrong answer."

"Second chance, Jordan, where did he go?!"

Mr. Thurley didn't dare to hide anything anymore and quickly confessed everything.

"...That's the situation. Jordan heard that I was extorted for a sum of money, and then he decided to take his people to Goldenport City to help me recover the losses."

"I swear I absolutely didn't add anything. That's the whole truth!"

The middle-aged man on the sofa nodded, "So you mean, he died in Goldenport City."

Before Mr. Thurley could answer, he stood up, "It's called Wanli Film Company, right?"

Mr. Thurley nodded repeatedly. The middle-aged man nodded slightly to the person stepping on his head, and then walked outside without looking back.

Several young men pulled out large-caliber hunting revolvers and shot Mr. Thurley and his wife to death in their horrified expressions!

On the one hand, this was a trigger; their mistake led to Jordan's death in Licalai State.

Secondly, the middle-aged man also wanted to cut off the clues so that others could not compete with him.

Killing two people was as simple as eating and drinking to him, to the Angel of Death.

After the others cleaned up the traces they left behind and sat back in the van, one of them asked, "Are we going over there now?"

The middle-aged man shook his head, "We definitely have to go over there, but not now."

He lit a cigarette, "Jordan took people over there and now there's no news. If we go over there like this, do you think the same thing will happen?"

The people around him were a little at a loss, not knowing how to answer. The middle-aged man curled his lips, "Find someone to inquire about the situation first."

The gangs in the entire Federation were not in a state of you not knowing me and me not knowing you.

If the administrative region of a city was the map of the city's underworld, then the map of the Federation's underworld was the entire country!

The five major families were uprooted, and a touch of the Lance family's color had been painted in the Goldenport City area, but for the entire Federation map, that was just a small area.

Although small, it was indeed a bit conspicuous.

The gang forces in Licalai State are mainly divided into four parts.

The Marcus family, which mainly engages in smuggling in the coastal areas, the Stab Gang, which is entrenched in Mentenon and north of Mentenon and operates almost all criminal businesses, the Holy Bell Party in the area west of Mentenon, and the former five major families in Goldenport City.

Goldenport City was singled out because of its special geographical location. The benefits brought by one city were worth several or even a dozen cities, so it was in a unique category.

Under the recommendation and promotion of the five major families in the Federation, every November, gang leaders from various regions will participate in the "Federal Gang United Conference" in a certain city in the East China Sea.

So this member of the Angel of Death in his thirties could indeed find someone to inquire about the situation in Goldenport City.

After all, it was too far away. Even if he knew that a huge change had taken place in the underworld of Goldenport City, he couldn't know everything as clearly as the locals.

"That John of the Holy Bell Party is a psychopath. I don't want to talk to him. The people from the Stab Gang don't have a good relationship with us..."

The middle-aged man pondered for a while, "It seems we can only ask the people from the Marcus family."

Fortunately, he had the contact information of someone from the Marcus family. They met at the Gang United Conference.

The call connected quickly, answered by a member of the Marcus family.

When the other party heard that he was inquiring about the Lance family, they didn't seem to take it too seriously.

“The downfall of the five major families doesn't have much to do with the Lance family. They had internal problems. The Kasha family, incited by the mayor, fought with the other three families, ultimately destroying themselves.”

“Paul was killed by his adopted son. The other two families have weakened severely and, unable to stabilize their positions, proactively left Gold Harbor City.”

“As for Bundy, he was unlucky. I heard it's related to some power shifts within the National Assembly. Lance just picked up a bargain…”