Empire of Shadows

Our

The atmosphere was oppressive.

Actually, bullets are also a kind of gift, and as long as it’s a gift, there will be something similar to “gift message” during the giving process.

Giving chocolates, for example, is like a disguised confession.

So giving a bullet also has a meaning; it means “you will die by a bullet,” and this is mostly used as a “death threat.”

When Lance placed the bullet on the banknotes, Officer Feren immediately snapped back to his senses, his greed defeated by rationality, and he even felt a sense of dread!

“Lance…” his expression was a bit unpleasant, “I’m a police officer!”

Lance slightly shook his head, “Yes, but you’ve overlooked some issues.”

“You are first a person, then you have a family, and finally you are a police officer.”

“Are you threatening me?” Officer Feren found it a bit incredible. Although federal police officers are often threatened, he still found it incredible.Lance remained as calm as ever, showing no emotional波动, “You can consider this a threat, or you can consider it a warning.”

“You can take the money, and we can continue to be friends. I believe you can get more from me.”

“Friendship, or something else.”

“Or you can let me put these things away and leave.”

“I want to be friends with you, Feren, but you don’t seem to feel the same way.”

The two looked at each other without backing down. From Lance’s calm and composed eyes, he saw some hidden bad things.

People always have to consider many things when facing great danger: family, wife, children, and his currently happy life.

The more things he considered, the more he felt… some things didn’t need to be pushed to a point of no return.

When a person’s thoughts are no longer steadfast and unwavering, a moment of wavering will lead to concessions, continuous concessions.

He spread his hands, avoiding direct confrontation, and his gaze shifted, no longer meeting Lance’s eyes. “You might have misunderstood me. I just feel… we are friends, there’s no need…” His hand gestured in front of him, “You know, friends helping each other is only right.”

Lance smiled, put away the bullet, then counted out two more ten-dollar bills, making it a hundred dollars, and pushed them over. “You’re worth this friendship, Feren. May I call you that?”

“Of course, Lance, just as I call you, that’s what friends call each other.”

Lance gave him an extra twenty dollars. Although there was still a small grudge in his heart, it had diminished much more than before.

He could keep sixty dollars for himself and give his partner forty dollars. Was sixty dollars a lot?

A month’s legal income, and then some. He could get about three hundred dollars a month from the precinct’s dirty money system.

It seemed like sixty dollars was only a fifth, but he had already received some from Lance, and with the current sixty, this was a large income!

Watching him put the money into his opening, Lance nodded with satisfaction. A police officer willing to be a friend was better than one who wasn’t, or one who was more greedy.

“So, tomorrow morning?”

People often, after making a compromise, in order to strengthen their inner conviction that the compromise was the right choice, then more firmly walk down that path. “I’ll come to you at eight o’clock, and then we’ll go together.”

Lance stood up and shook his hand, then gestured to the boss, who had already prepared the takeout, to bring the items over. “Excellent. I’ll wait for you in the office. These are for you and your partner to eat during your break.”

Looking at the paper bag, Officer Feren’s expression was peculiar. He had been threatened, but he had to admit that Lance had handled it very gracefully.

More money was added, and extra takeout was provided. Although these things might not be of high value, they indeed made people feel somewhat good.

“Thank you.” This sentence was not insincere.

When Lance left the coffee shop, he greeted the other officer in the patrol car, and the other person smiled in return.

After Officer Feren went to the restroom and returned to the car, he handed the paper bag to his partner.

His partner asked curiously, “What did you two talk about?”

In the police system, a partner is absolutely the most important companion, which relates to whether one can survive in some emergencies.

He briefly explained, “So we have to get up early tomorrow morning and come over.”

His partner looked at him, and he took sixty dollars from his pocket, counted out thirty of them, and handed them over. “This is your share.”

His partner whistled, “Mr. Lance is really generous!”

Officer Feren started the engine and began to shift gears, “You can say that again.”

As for whether it was true, only he knew.

After a night of fermentation, many people knew that Jamie had been bullied at the docks. During work hours, he was robbed of money and stripped of his clothes by a guy named Johnny and his accomplices.

Many people were furious after hearing this and wanted to do something to vent their anger. Federal people were too damn awful. Everyone was at the bottom, so why couldn’t they take care of each other instead of persecuting each other?

When they learned that Lance was going to seek justice for Jamie, it was as if… by coincidence, they gathered outside Lance’s office early the next morning.

Of course, not everyone, but at least seven or eight hundred people were there, and others were said to be outside the dock.

When Officer Feren’s car slowly drove in, and he saw so many people dressed in uniform, some even staring at him with hostile eyes, he suddenly felt that the tens of dollars were a bit hot.

Hiram met him at the door and led him inside. The office was not working at the moment. If the workers in blue overalls outside made him feel tricky.

Then the more than twenty men in the room, dressed in tailored suits, trench coats, with pure red pocket squares and uniformly slicked-back, distinctive oiled hair, made him feel afraid.

These people had killed!

The moment Officer Feren saw them, he found that reckless disregard for life in their expressions and eyes.

He had seen that look on many murderers. Whether a person has killed a fellow human being, some things they exhibit cannot be hidden.

The disregard for life, and even a subtle feeling of being superior to others, will emanate from within.

His palms were sweating, and he quickly averted his gaze. In his perception, only the foolish person leading him seemed like a good person.

Lance was sitting in the innermost office. Hiram knocked on the door and pushed it open. “Lance is waiting for you inside.”

Officer Feren nodded, and even said thank you, “Thank you for leading the way.”

Hiram flipped his hair, and the long bangs that almost covered half his face were swept behind his ears, but then slowly began to slide down again. “You’re welcome.”

Officer Feren looked at the half-open door, took off his hat and held it in his hand, then pushed the door open.

“Please sit!” Lance motioned for him to sit down, and he obediently walked to a chair and sat down.

And he voluntarily said, “I told the radio station that I would be patrolling around the docks this morning. No matter what happens, they will contact me immediately.”

“I also arranged things at the precinct. I told my colleagues that a relative from my wife’s side might get into some trouble and come in, and they guaranteed to arrange a safe room for him.”

Lance listened and then sincerely said “Thank you.” Seeing Officer Feren’s desire to say something, he didn’t give the other party a chance to speak, “I’m not being polite, Feren.”

“For me, each of them is my brother. If something happens to them, I will unconditionally stand up for them, no matter how much it costs.”

“I also hope that we can not only become friends but also brothers, but we don’t know each other very well, and we need some opportunities to deepen our understanding of each other.”

“I thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my brothers. I hope that in the future, this situation can also happen between us.”

He paused, picked up his hat from the table, then stood up. “Let’s go, don’t keep the brothers waiting!”

Officer Feren quickly stood up, “Yes, it’s time to go.” When Lance pushed the door open and walked out, and Officer Feren followed behind him, everyone in the office hall, whether sitting or standing, uniformly dressed, stood up. They waited for Lance to follow him out of the office in order.

When the group left the office and stood on the street outside the office, the noisy street suddenly quieted down. Officer Feren only felt a slight tingling in his scalp, and an indescribable emotion surged within him.

There was excitement, but also fear. The look in his eyes towards Lance no longer underestimated him because of his youth, but already showed reverence for his power!

Lance glanced at Jamie, who was standing not far away, and waved to him. “You’re in my car. Now, let’s go get you justice!”

The crowd began to disperse, but it gave the illusion of power consolidating!

At 8:40, the peak hour for dock workers, Johnny was walking towards Pier 1 with a few of his good brothers.

Their fathers were basically all dock workers, and they had no family property or wealth to pass on to these children, only the status of a worker.

However, this was also a good inheritance, at least there was a job to do.

Johnny, being strong and robust, had been a school bully since childhood, and still was.

One of his friends was wearing Jamie’s work uniform. They had removed the name tag from the chest and were chatting as they walked towards the entrance.

“During lunch break, you guys go with me to the boat cleaners and get a few more sets of clothes.”

“Yesterday… (a local worker) talked to me, and he also wants ten sets of these work uniforms. He can pay eighty cents a set.”

“I think this is an opportunity to make money.”

“There are at least two or three thousand people like this at the dock, which means two or three thousand dollars.”

Someone nearby was a bit worried, “If we make too much trouble, will it cause any unnecessary trouble?”

Johnny pushed his shoulder, his voice growing louder, “Hey, this is Golden Port of the Federation. We Federal people are in charge here. At worst, we’ll have another demonstration.”

“As long as they want to make a living here, they have to put up with it!”

“Didn’t we… just a while ago, aren’t these people still working here?”

They had done nothing good during the demonstration, only bad things. Not only did no one come to bother them, but those they had beaten also disappeared.

Doing bad things without paying any cost was why they became increasingly arrogant.

Just like yesterday, they robbed Jamie and stripped him of his clothes. What was the result?

The dock office didn’t come looking for them, the police didn’t come looking for them, and instead, some fellow workers expressed hope that they could buy some work clothes from their pockets.

On this dog-eat-dog dock, fists were the truth!

The group arrived at the pier, changed into their clothes, and prepared to start working when they suddenly saw a large group of people in blue overalls walking towards them in the distance. Jamie was leading the way.

Johnny wasn’t scared at all. He was still laughing and chatting with the people around him, and even actively walked towards Jamie.

He looked at the brand new work uniform Jamie was wearing, and the people around him, and a greedy look appeared in his eyes.

“What, you called so many people to beat me?” He wasn’t scared at all; instead, he laughed arrogantly. “Let me tell you, you Imperial bastards, if I get even a little hurt today, I guarantee you’ll all go to jail and get out of the Federation!”

Federal law, to some extent, fueled the malice of such villains. Regardless of right or wrong, it was always the fault of illegal immigrants, which was why he dared to be so arrogant.

Especially the Imperials.

If it were Summurians or others, he might not dare to do this, because many of them were tough characters, but the Imperials were not; they were as honest as lambs of God, doing nothing but bleating.

The wild laughter and the lack of further action from Jamie and the others made Johnny’s companions also laugh.

They loved this feeling; they felt extremely refreshed!

After two laughs, seeing that Jamie said nothing, his laughter gradually stopped. “If you just wanted to see me, now you’ve seen me, you can get lost.”

“By the way, come find me at noon, don’t force me to come find you!” He continued to threaten Jamie in front of many people.

The entire crowd was unusually quiet, so quiet that it made him feel a bit abnormal. Just as he was about to say a few harsh words and then leave, the crowd suddenly parted.

More than twenty people in long black trench coats emerged from the crowd. They wore tailored suits, dark vests, red ties, and hats.

This feeling gave off a terrifying sense of oppression. Johnny swallowed, and he took two steps back.

Then he looked at Jamie fiercely, “Is this the helper you found?”

Lance walked to the front, holding a baseball bat from the sailing team, and walked up to Johnny. Johnny looked at him with a fierce expression, an expression he had used to scare away many people.

“You want to hit me?” He grinned and thrust his head forward, tilting his head and pointing to one side of his face, saying, “Come on, hit me here.”

As he turned his head, he looked at his fellow workers around and behind him, showing an arrogant expression. He didn’t believe Lance would make a move!

But then, he felt as if he were in an intense baseball game, because he heard the sound of a bat swinging in his ear.

The wind, squeezed by the powerfully swung bat, made a “whoosh” sound, and finally a dull “thud”!

Home run!

His ears were filled with joyful cheers!

Next, his world began to tilt, and he fell heavily to the ground, his head still ringing.

The world tilted ninety degrees, but his body, his consciousness, seemed to be stuck in the past!

His companions seemed to want to help him, but they were quickly pressed to the ground and forcefully pounded. Johnny, whose ears were ringing, whose vision was blurred, and whose mind was blank, like those he had bullied in the past, suddenly felt a sense of helplessness!

“Do something!”

“Quickly do something!”

He was telling himself, but his body showed no reaction.

After a while, intense pain made his body react, and he suddenly let out a piercing scream. His arm was broken.

He tried to get up, but Lance stepped on his head, pressing down hard, pushing his raised head back down.

The rough ground of the dock, corroded by wind, rain, and salt from the seawater, was pitted and uneven. He felt intense pain and discomfort.

The sailing team’s bat jabbed at his face, and a spit landed on his face. “You’re not as strong as you think, Johnny.”

More and more people in blue overalls gathered around, and shouts of “Kill him!” began to erupt from the crowd. When these shouts began to coalesce into a single voice, Johnny, who was still trying to struggle, suddenly became scared!

Lance lifted his foot, handed the bat to the person beside him, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his palms. “If you want to retaliate against me, or anyone, just come. I’ll let you know the consequences of making the wrong choice.”

“For now, this is just a repayment for you hurting my brother Jamie, and an apology to Jamie. This is where it ends, or if the situation escalates, the choice is yours.”

He threw the handkerchief at Johnny, covering his face. The others who participated in the incident were also beaten black and blue.

From the time the two sides met until the conflict erupted, only two minutes had passed.

Someone at the dock had already called the police. At this moment, the two people eating donuts outside the dock were chatting.

The sailing team was about to encounter a formidable opponent, Duke Kate’s team, this weekend. As they were discussing who had a better chance of winning, the radio suddenly crackled and then spoke.

“Someone reported a fight at Pier 1. Is anyone available to go check it out?”

Officer Feren immediately picked up the walkie-talkie. “This is Feren. I’m near Pier 1. I’ll go check it out.”

“Okay, Officer Feren has taken the call. This incident is assigned to you. Keep communication open…”

Officer Feren handed the donut to his partner. “Time to work!”

Then he turned on the siren, stepped on the gas, and the police car sped into the dock with a wailing sound.

(End of this chapter)