Empire of Shadows

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Heller stood on the upper floor of the Empire Night nightclub. Through the window, he could see several groups of police officers on the street below.

Some of these police officers were still questioning his men.

It wasn’t just here; some other high-ranking executives were also being watched by the police because of the damn shootout last night.

Will was dead.

Actually, he didn’t care much about who lived or died.

When the Camilla gang first arrived in the Federation, how many people died trying to gain a foothold here?

That was when the real brutal fighting happened; almost every few days, some people would completely disappear from everyone’s lives, and new faces would join.

Heller’s grandfather, father, uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters—over a dozen died, but he never cared much, especially after he took this position!As long as it wasn’t him who died.

Countless people outside wanted to join the Camilla gang.

Just pick a subordinate he liked, promote them to a high-ranking executive, and then the numbers would be complete again, wouldn’t they?

The reason for his grim expression now was that someone dared to challenge him, to challenge the Camilla gang, and he was also angry that Will, knowing he had to pick up goods today, still caused such a huge mess.

The people he arranged to pick up the goods were now also being watched by the police, who suspected they might seek revenge in a shootout.

To control the situation and prevent these gang members from having shootouts in the middle of the street in broad daylight, many police officers had come to watch them.

Doing this was said to reduce public anxiety and ensure urban public safety. Therefore, they would keep a close eye on these people for at least one to two weeks.

How could they pick up the goods while being watched by the police?

The liquor was already on the high seas, damn it, and about to reach the waters outside the port.

These smugglers were not good guys. If no one showed up at the rendezvous point on time after a while, they would just leave with the goods.

Heller had already paid for the liquor.

The Camilla gang was not like the five major families, who more or less had some smuggling business, or enough influence to have people bring the goods first and then pay.

Heller didn’t have that much influence with the smugglers, so he had to pay first, and then the other side would send the goods.

As for whether he could receive it, that was none of their business; they were only responsible for delivery.

In other words, if he didn’t pick up this two hundred thousand dollar shipment, the other party would rather dump the liquor into the sea than wait for him.

His anger at this moment was beyond words: a scumbag who dared to challenge the gang’s authority, and a dead fool who had cost him two hundred thousand!

It still seemed like a long time until dark, but strictly speaking, it was only a little over ten hours, and he had to make a choice.

He picked up the phone, hesitated for a moment, and dialed the number of the Red Dog Gang’s boss. The Red Dog Gang spanned two districts, the Imperial District and the Port District, but they weren’t considered a highly dangerous gang.

Their main means of livelihood was collecting protection fees, providing protection for all businesses, such as the bar Lance had visited before.

They provided six security guards for the bar, and the bar owner only had to pay five hundred dollars including protection fees, with no other charges.

This amount of money was nothing for an underground bar; they could earn it back in two or three days with more customers.

In addition, they had some other sources of income, such as theft and running prostitution businesses. In short, they were not very malicious criminals and were considered a “friendly gang.”

So there was no major conflict between the two sides.

The phone was quickly answered, “Hey, brother Bill, it’s Heller.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“It’s like this, I ran into a bit of trouble. There’s a shipment coming in tonight, but I’m currently tied up by the police and can’t get away. So I plan to transfer this shipment to you.”

“And…”

Red Dog Gang leader Bill interrupted him, “What kind of goods?”

“Liquor, twenty thousand dollars worth of liquor. It can sell for over three hundred and fifty thousand on the market. You just give me one hundred and eighty thousand, and it’s yours.”

The guy on the other end was decisive, cutting straight to the chase, “One hundred thousand.”

Heller choked a bit, “It can sell for three hundred and fifty thousand. For one hundred and eighty thousand, you’d already have almost double the profit.”

A woman’s laughter came through the receiver, and Bill directly refused, “I don’t want it…”

The next second, the call was disconnected.

Heller stared blankly at the receiver for a while, cursed a few dirty words, then dialed another number.

This was the phone number of a gang leader in Xilin District. They had no conflict with the Camilla gang, neither in business nor territory. They were also immigrants. Heller had met their boss a few times and had some acquaintance with them.

But as soon as he brought it up, the other party refused. The reason was simple: they didn’t have such a deep friendship, and last night’s shootout made the police in the port and Imperial districts very tense.

Picking up the goods carried a high risk. If they failed to pick them up, or picked them up but were discovered by the police, whose loss would it be?

Instead of risking money to take on this job, it would be better to arrange their own ship when the police were less tense.

Everyone was now planning, or already engaging in, the illicit liquor business, unwilling to jeopardize their original business for a small profit.

After reluctantly hanging up the phone, Heller’s chest ached with anger!

He took out his special medicine and swallowed a tablet, and seemed to feel a little better.

There was still one guy’s number he hadn’t dialed. He actually didn’t really want to call this number, but now, this might be his last chance.

“Hey, Big Polly, it’s me, Heller.”

“Hah, Heller, Heller!”

“I remember you. Is there anything you need my help with?”

The flamboyant voice from the receiver, even though Heller couldn’t see him, he could sense his demeanor.

This was also why Heller disliked him.

Actually, people in Golden Port City, if they could, would rather not have any connection with Big Polly. This person wasn’t quite right in the head. Using a submachine gun to spray bullets in broad daylight on a bustling street was enough to show how messed up he was.

“I’ve run into a bit of trouble. Tonight, a shipment of goods is coming in from the sea, but I’m currently being watched by the police and can’t get away.”

“I plan to transfer this shipment. Perhaps you’d be interested.”

Immediately, his distinctive voice came through the receiver, “That’s right, I’m interested in any business that makes money.”

“So Heller, what can you give me, and what do I have to pay for it?”

Heller took a deep breath. “Twenty thousand dollars worth of liquor. It can sell for three hundred and fifty thousand on the market. I’ve already paid for it. You can pick up the goods directly.”

“As payment, you give me one hundred thousand, and this batch of goods is yours.”

After about ten seconds, a response that satisfied Heller came from the other side. “No problem, but one thing: I’ll only give you the money after I receive the goods and confirm that my people and the goods are safe.”

“Of course, of course, that’s only right.”

“Heller, I must say, you’re a very interesting person. Perhaps we’ll become good friends.”

“So, tell me the pickup time, location, and code…”

After hanging up the phone, Heller sighed slightly in relief. Just yesterday, he was still thinking that he would take the lion’s share of the at least one hundred and fifty thousand profit from this deal.

But just one day, twenty-four hours later, not only was the profit gone, but he also lost a hundred thousand.

That son of a bitch Will, and that son of a bitch, what was his name!

If the Red Dog Gang was a relatively mild gang, then the Camilla gang was anything but.

Over the years, not a few Imperial people had been killed by them after ransom was paid. Heller was not a kind and benevolent person either. After thinking it over, he dialed a phone number.

When the call connected, he said “It’s me,” and then the other party hung up.

About four or five minutes later, the phone in front of him rang. “What’s wrong?”

A muffled male voice answered, clearly speaking through a handkerchief wrapped around the receiver to disguise his voice, making any recording useless.

“Regarding Will’s case last night, who was responsible?” he asked. He intended to get back the money he lost from them.

Will was finished, and he didn’t know Will’s accounts or passwords, so this might be his only chance to get some compensation. The voice from the receiver said, “Currently, we here believe it’s most likely the ‘Lance Family’ from Port District’s Seventh Street, but there’s no direct evidence so far.”

“Many people are watching them now. If you don’t want trouble, you’d best not make a move at this time.”

“And don’t call the police station indiscriminately. Don’t you dare get me killed!”

The busy tone sounded. Heller stared at the receiver for a while, then placed it back on the cradle, picked up a pen, and scrawled the name “Lance Family” on a piece of paper.

It wasn’t just ugly writing; he even misspelled it, damn it!

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that he knew who to go to to get back his lost one hundred thousand dollars and the expected one hundred and fifty thousand dollar profit!

Around ten o’clock, Lance arrived at the office and immediately saw two police cars being “besieged.”

The police had already obtained a search warrant and were trying to make their last “struggle.” As long as they could find the guns that fired the bullets they found at the scene, Lance would have to obediently go to the police station for investigation.

Being in the police station and not being in the police station were completely different things.

Federal police were not to be trifled with. It was not uncommon news in recent years for suspects to die from sudden illnesses in police stations.

Even federal law had repeatedly added provisions regarding the potential means and scope of “interrogation” to ensure the safety of suspects.

But even so, it was still often heard that suspects died suddenly in police stations.

Some of them were indeed accidentally beaten too hard and killed.

But others were silenced because someone made a call.

If Lance entered the police station and no one protected him, he would certainly confess.

So far, even the toughest individuals, after a set of measures, have all confessed—they really would use waterboarding!

However, to their regret, Lance did not give them this opportunity, as all the weapons had already been returned to the bearded man.

If nothing went wrong, even if they found those weapons now, they would discover that they had no relation to the bullets left at the scene.

At this moment, they were surrounded by workers, who glared angrily. They mistakenly believed that these police officers were there to trouble Lance over Jamie’s and Johnny’s case.

Those damned federal police! When those people bullied them, the police wouldn’t intervene even if they saw it.

But they had only slightly retaliated, and the police showed up as if it were a major incident, rushing here.

The anger born in a collective can infect those around them, and soon these people began pushing and shoving the police in the crowd.

The police also didn’t dare to fight back and could only retreat to their cars. If Lance hadn’t arrived in time, they might have even overturned the police car!

Seeing Lance arrive, the agitated mood of the people calmed down a bit. He said a few simple words to the leading workers inside, and the workers gathered there dispersed at once.

The police who came this time were from the city police department, not from the port district.

“Mr. Lance, it seems you are very respected here,” the speaking officer said, his meaning unclear. Lance simply smiled and nodded.

“People respect those who can provide them with work and a stable life.”

He paused, “Do you have a search warrant?”

The officer presented the search warrant. After Lance read it, he handed it to Sean, “You can search, but don’t touch the file documents. They’re a hassle to organize.”

“I don’t like trouble. If you cause me trouble…”

The officer looked at him, “And then?”

Lance smiled, said nothing, and just nodded twice. “Please.”

The officers from both cars got out. With the inclusion of “fingerprints” in the chain of legal evidence in recent years, these police officers were all wearing gloves during their search.

They searched almost everywhere, not even sparing the water tank in the toilet.

Someone also held an iron rod, tapping on the walls, seemingly searching for secret compartments or something.

Perhaps Lance’s warning had an effect, as they didn’t mess up the archives room. Of course, those archives were also easy to see through at a glance.

Whether there were weapons, or if anything was hidden, could be seen at a glance.

Close to noon, they finished all the thorough search work; even the yard and alley behind the firm were searched.

“It seems you’ve handled it very cleanly, Mr. Lance,” the leading officer said, standing by the roadside and taking off his gloves.

Lance, who always avoided such trap-laden words, said, “I don’t quite understand what you mean, but as a federal citizen, I will unconditionally cooperate with the enforcement power granted to you by the judiciary.”

“Now, are you sure you’ve searched everywhere and found what you wanted?”

The officer shook his head, “Hope you stay this careful!”

He said, and then left with his officers, but both he and Lance knew that this matter was far from over.

Lance returned to the office, and many people looked at him. Meeting their gaze, he “scolded” them with his confident voice, “What are you all dazing about? Get back to work!”

He returned to his office, called Hiram over, took thirty dollars from a drawer, and placed it on the table.

“Go buy some gifts, take the money, deliver them to Johnny’s house, then visit him in the hospital. Tell him we’ve obtained his family’s forgiveness.”

“Tell him not to talk nonsense. I can’t be bothered with him right now, and don’t make me bother with him. You know what to say.”

Hiram nodded and pocketed the money, “Tell him the seriousness of the matter.”

Lance pointed at him, “Yes, tell him how serious it is, then go check on Elvin, see if he needs anything…”

Dealing with Johnny’s problem was Lance’s consideration if Officer Lukar or the Golden Port City police intended to confront him.

Then Johnny might become a disgusting breakthrough, for example, by insisting that Lance broke his arm and refusing to reconcile.

Although Lance was sure he wouldn’t go to jail for this, the police could use witness testimonies to call him to the police station multiple times, or even openly monitor him.

This was annoying, so he had to warn Johnny in advance not to do anything stupid!

After sending Hiram off, Lance drove to the dock. He felt someone following him.

In the Federation, besides plainclothes police officers from the city bureau, only a few other law enforcement agencies like the Federal Investigation Bureau had law enforcement powers without wearing uniforms.

But he didn’t think this small case would alarm the Federal Investigation Bureau. Of course, the Federal Investigation Bureau wasn’t actually a powerful agency at the moment, even though it had been established for some time, it hadn’t yet shown its strength among law enforcement departments.

Then the correct answer seemed to be only one: Officer Lukar, or someone he arranged.

Lance didn’t consider this tailing as trouble and went directly to the dock.

He had contracted the workers’ club, so he naturally had to come and see how it should be renovated.

On the way, he saw Vaughn and chatted with him. Vaughn seemed to want to say something but couldn’t. Lance thought he might know about last night’s shootout.

Golden Port City was definitely a large city in this era, but for those with convenient information dissemination channels, it was also a small city.

The worker’s club was very large. After looking around, Lance had a general idea of how to renovate it, and also discovered flashing golden light there.

Actually, it had a lot of potential, but the union members were still too timid, but he was bold.

All day long, Lance acted no differently than usual. In fact, both he and the people following him knew that in the short term, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to actively do anything that could easily cause problems.

Watching him now was just a form of “accountability.”

To account to the public, who actually didn’t care much about this matter, and to give themselves an account.

Around one in the morning, Jimmy, with his subordinates, drove a speedboat into the waters outside the harbor. Soon, he spotted the people delivering the goods.

After exchanging signals, he immediately received a large quantity of liquor.

The other party showed no intention of communicating with him throughout the process, watching them move the goods, then directly driving away.

And Jimmy, meanwhile, returned to the warehouse with a large number of speedboats filled with liquor…