Empire of Shadows

Our

In the room, under the lights, everyone was loading bullets into magazines.

To Lance’s surprise, there were also two drum magazines here.

He was also loading bullets. There were no specialized tools for quick loading yet, so each bullet had to be pressed in by hand.

Perhaps he could register a patent?

But for now, he still had to solve the current problem.

Everyone was silent. There were definitely enough bullets, but the situation they were about to face always caused some fear.

Lance decided to talk about something to ease their tension and ignite their fighting spirit.

“Hiram, where are you from?”

Hiram, suddenly called upon, didn’t react immediately. After a few seconds, he finally named a district in the Empire.“I have two older brothers, one of whom has already died on the battlefield, and the other, I don’t know when he’ll die. They didn’t want me to be sent to the battlefield too, so they sent me over.”

“I came earlier than you all. At that time, our Emperor wasn’t completely insane yet, so the price was a bit lower.”

“You’ve seen the situation after coming here. Even though I came earlier than you, they still wouldn’t pay me when they decided not to.”

Hiram seemed relaxed. “Last week, my mom called me. My living brother became a deserter, and their life is very difficult.”

“Now I have no other thoughts; I just want to earn more money and bring them over.”

“But as you can see, they don’t give me this chance.”

The first “they” referred to his parents, and the second “they” referred to the Federation people.

They withheld wages, lowered pay, and sometimes didn’t pay at all.

He turned to Lance , “It wasn’t until I met Lance through Elvin that things got better. I sent some money home, but I don’t know if they received it…”

Lance looked at Lawn, “How about you?”

Lawn, while placing a loaded magazine into a box, picked up another magazine. “Hiram and I are neighbors, but all my older siblings are sisters. They were worried I’d die on the battlefield, so they hid me in the straw.”

“Later, he said he was coming to the Federation, so I followed him.”

“Before I came, I always heard that the Federation was a place paved with gold…”, he said, and couldn’t help but laugh. The others were also amused by his words.

“But after I arrived, I found out it’s paved with dog shit!”

“Lance, if it weren’t for you, we might not even have five dollars right now. I don’t know what words of thanks to say.”

“But I think, rather than dying ignominiously, it’s better to fight for it!”

Lance nodded. “Yes, everyone is the same. The Emperor wants us dead, the rebels don’t care if we live or die, and after coming to the Federation, the capitalists don’t want us to have an easy time either.”

“I don’t know why, but suffering always surrounds us. Since this world doesn’t give us a way to live, let’s use our hands and the weapons in our hands to carve out a glittering golden path for ourselves!”

He lit a cigarette, and with a click, pushed a loaded magazine into his gun, then looked at the others, “Brothers… and sisters, today is a day we should remember for the rest of our lives.”

“Because our destiny, from today onwards, is officially different…”

There were still over two hours until three o’clock. Lance and the others took turns sleeping, even if it was just for an hour, it was good.

Before three o’clock, everything was quiet.

Standing by the window, he could even see the night sky in the direction of the city center dyed in various colors by neon lights.

Beneath the glamorous facade of revelry, there was rotting flesh filled with stench; this was the Federation.

By two o’clock, the others had almost woken up, and it was Lance and his group’s turn to sleep.

Regardless of whether others could sleep, he certainly could. Even the night before they told him he would say goodbye to the world the next day, he could sleep and had a very long dream.

Rather than fearfully greeting the judgment brought by fate, it was better to build up strength and then punch fate in the face!

He slept for an unknown amount of time in a daze, having three dreams during that period, until someone pushed him awake. He rubbed his face and sat up from the sofa, “What time is it?”

Elvin squatted by the sofa, “Two minutes to three. The police outside have left. Should we…”

Lance stood up from the sofa and walked to the window.

At his request, all bright lights were turned off. Now, looking in from outside, it was all dark, nothing visible.

Through the window, Lance saw some car lights at the end of the road. Clearly, someone had arrived.

These people were tightly organized, giving no chances, which was also related to their repeated similar actions.

Lance shook his head, patted his cheeks a few times, “They’ve already arrived.”

“Their numbers are definitely more than ours. If we rush out, we definitely won’t be their match. Right now, being in the room is advantageous for us.”

He quickly walked towards the first floor. “Put the movable lights in places where they can enter the house. When they come in, turn on the lights to illuminate them. Prepare for battle!”

“Remember!” He turned to look at them, “We’ve almost barricaded all the windows on the first floor. The only places they can enter are the front door and the back door.”

“As long as they come in, they’re targets. Let’s see how many of them can die. This time, we have the advantage.”

Hearing Lance say this, everyone seemed to gain more confidence!

On the street, a high-ranking cadre of the Camille Gang handed a manila envelope to the police officer responsible for “maintaining order” that night. The officer squeezed the envelope, nodded expressionlessly, then watched them enter the “encirclement.”

Yes. An encirclement.

In fact, these police officers had not left; they had already surrounded the imminent shootout. Now, all they had to do was wait for the shootout to end, then rush in and arrest some “gang members” who were committing crimes, and bring them to justice.

By the time the media and the public reacted, they would have already completed the encirclement of the fighting gangs. Undoubtedly, this would be another great victory for the Golden Port City Police Department!

It was said that Chief Charlie and the two Assistant Chiefs had already prepared their speeches, just waiting to boast about Golden Port City’s superior public safety.

The high-ranking cadre sitting in the car smoked a cigarette, showing no signs of tension.

This time, they brought about a hundred people.

More wanted to come because there was extra pay, and everyone wanted to. However, the police department said that if too many people were mobilized, it would be detrimental to stable public opinion, so they finally selected about a hundred people.

Four trucks and five sedans, with three high-ranking cadres and their subordinates, arrived here.

In addition, the scapegoats also arrived, sitting quietly in two cars.

Their job was to take some weapons from other gang members after the shootout ended and then testify that they were the ones who fired the shots.

Heller spent a hundred dollars asking lawyer Robin, who specialized in gang lawsuits, about the sentencing outcomes for those caught in shootouts under implicit agreement, which ranged from one year to the electric chair, making it very flexible.

This depended on whether he was willing to spend money on these people and if the money was sufficient.

Lawyer Robin told him that if the money wasn’t sufficient, these people, as gang captains and high-ranking cadres, would face a minimum of ten years.

But if the money was sufficient, then the gang’s captains and high-ranking cadres would have already died in the shootout.

These small fries would be out in two to three years at most, possibly even less — all problems would be pushed onto those who had already died.

Although the dead could not voluntarily plead guilty, they also could not defend themselves.

They all seemed relaxed; this was one of the benefits of having a gang.

No one believed they would lose this time.

When the vehicles were about twenty meters from Lance’s storefront, they all stopped. People jumped out of the trucks. A high-ranking cadre briefly assigned tasks and then returned to the car.

A dense crowd, armed with weapons, moved towards them. Lance saw them from the second floor through the gaps between the windows.

He felt… a bit puzzled.

There was an indescribable feeling; everything seemed… so comical!

He signaled to the person beside him to hand him the submachine gun, aimed at the dense crowd, and directly pulled the trigger.

The first shot was fired by Lance’s side, which clearly caught the other party off guard, but they quickly returned fire.

Perhaps having been arrogant in the Empire District for too long, these Camille Gang members actually made such a foolish mistake, which made Lance feel… these people were really trash!

The spitting flames from the second-floor window were particularly conspicuous in the dark night. Gunshots suddenly erupted. Someone yelled “I’m hit” and lay on the ground calling for help, while others cursed and fired at the house.

Lance pulled his head back, ejected the empty magazine, put in a new one, and went to another window.

The exchange of fire between the two sides instantly echoed through the surrounding sky. The phone lines at several branch offices and the city police department immediately became busy.

Almost all were alarm calls, with people reporting intense gunfire, “like a war had started”!

Some elderly people even fearfully asked if the Imperials had attacked!

A while ago, the President for reelection had been politically cooperating with the Imperial Emperor across the sea. Media supporting the President’s re-election were hyping up the possibility of Imperial troops attacking at any time.

This was also the core reason for the Federation people’s anti-Imperial immigrant sentiment; they did not want their stable lives to be disrupted by the already insane Imperial dictator.

But they couldn’t condemn the Imperial Emperor, so they could only vent their anger on Imperial immigrants.

The police, while reassuring the public, said they would send people to investigate the situation, but they were all waiting for the outcome.

However, many police cars were driving around the city streets with sirens blaring, and the flashing police lights and siren sounds could bring some sense of stability to the public.

Fortunately, it was three o’clock, so only a minority of people reported it, as most were already asleep, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome!

“Stick to the wall, goddammit, stick to the wall!” A cadre was the first to react. The others, hearing this, were startled and pressed themselves against the wall, making it difficult for those firing from the second floor to hit them.

Unless that person leaned out, but if they dared to lean out, they would become a target!

As expected, Lance stopped firing, and the focus of the shootout shifted from the street to the first floor.

The moment the first brave person charged directly through the main door, he saw gun flashes light up in several places, and then… there was no then.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire became deafeningly noisy again. The two sides exchanged intense fire around the doorway, and people who had been nervous suddenly realized that there was no need to be nervous!

Originally, the house on the first floor facing the street had only two windows, a large display window, and a door. Now the windows were barricaded, and the display window was filled with miscellaneous items. They had no other way to enter except through the door.

Intense gunfire erupted around this area, but it was clear that if they didn’t find another way to break the stalemate, they might return empty-handed tonight.

Although the police department implicitly allowed their shootout, they did not grant them the right to use heavy weapons, which was why the fragmentation grenades Fordis brought were prohibited.

The sound of gunfire was actually inaudible to people farther away, especially late at night like this, when they were in their houses with windows closed.

The gunshots outside probably sounded like beans falling on a windowsill to them.

They could hear it, but it wouldn’t be deafening or keep them awake.

However, if heavy weapons were used, if grenades were used, the result would be different.

The intensity of the battle made the high-ranking cadres restless. They also pressed against the wall and came to the scene of the shootout. When they found they couldn’t break through and had suffered many casualties.

One of the high-ranking cadres was so angry he stomped his feet!

“They don’t allow us to use explosives, but they didn’t say we couldn’t burn this house down!”

He turned to his subordinates, “Go get some gasoline…”

Soon, several makeshift Molotov cocktails were ready. One of the high-ranking cadres took out a lighter and lit a gasoline-soaked cloth strip, and flames instantly blazed fiercely!

He aimed at the pile of debris in the display window and threw it hard.

The display window, already shattered by stray bullets, could not stop the breaking of the wine bottle. The shattered bottle splattered gasoline everywhere, and instantly, both inside and outside the house became brightly lit.

More gasoline bottles were ignited, and Lance immediately ordered everyone to retreat through the back door.

In the alley behind the house, they had their cars and enough cover!

Blazing flames quickly engulfed everything in the room. Furniture from this period was mostly made of wooden materials, and dry wood encountering gasoline and fire instantly ignited into a massive blaze.

The police officer on the roadside saw the rising flames and felt something was amiss. He quickly walked to the phone booth and dialed the chief’s number. “The Camille gang set Lance Family’s house on fire. The fire is burning now, and I’m worried it might spread to the surroundings.”

Chief Charlie’s drowsy sleepiness instantly vanished by a third. He stood up to make himself more alert. “Is the battle over?”

Without waiting for the officer to reply, he heard the dense sound of gunshots again through the receiver.

Lance’s people and the Camille gang, were still exchanging fierce fire in the back alley.

Chief Charlie paced a few steps. “Go tell them to end the battle as soon as possible. Also, if the fire shows signs of spreading, call the fire department immediately… No, call them now and have them on standby at the scene.”

“They’re a bunch of useless bastards!”

Chief Charlie was rarely angry. He raised his wrist and rolled up his sleeve, revealing his gold watch. The time was 3:11 AM.

The battle in the back alley intensified as both sides had more open ground to engage in, but it was still difficult for them to charge through.

Someone tried to climb over the wall to get behind them, but Lance had anticipated this, and people were specifically watching those walls.

If anyone dared to get on the roof, or try to climb the wall, they would be shot dead!

In these old houses, if they dared to exceed the height of the wall, they would be absolutely exposed.

“I’m hit,” someone shouted from the crowd, though Lance couldn’t hear clearly who it was. “Take cover, take care of yourselves!”

As he spoke, his voice might have been too loud, immediately drawing concentrated fire.

Sparks flew everywhere, and the car, which had been brought back from Alberto less than a month ago, was again riddled with bullet holes!

Now both sides seemed to be in a stalemate. The Camille gang hadn’t expected these people’s resistance to be so strong, nor had they expected their ammunition to be so plentiful!

After almost twenty minutes of fighting, the counterattack was still fierce, while on their side, more than twenty had been killed or wounded.

As for whether Lance’s side had any casualties, they didn’t know.

The fire in the house grew larger, and everything in the back alley gradually became illuminated.

The Camille Gang’s courage was gradually dissipating. With no substantial progress for such a long time and many casualties, this made some lower-level gang members begin to feel intimidated.

The exchange of fire between the two sides also became sporadic, and apart from the increasingly fierce fire, it seemed that everything was almost over.

At 3:25 AM, seeing the flames spewing from the second-floor windows like pressurized water jets, the police officer felt that if it wasn’t controlled soon, it might spread to the surrounding areas.

He walked to the parking spot, knocked on the window, and someone was still guarding in the car. “Tell your people, last ten minutes.”

“If it’s not resolved in ten minutes, we’re going in.”

The driver stopped, then ran, leaving them with little time!

When the three high-ranking cadres learned that the police were about to terminate the conflict, their expressions were very grim.

No one thought that the small Lance Family would be so difficult to deal with, but they were indeed much tougher than imagined.

The three discussed for a while. The driver ran back, along with other drivers, and drove three sedans towards Lance’s “position,” crashing into it.

However, unfortunately, except for the driver of the last car who was not killed, the drivers of the first and second cars were hit immediately.

The three cars not only failed to break through Lance’s position but instead lay across the back alley, becoming a new defensive line!

The crackling sound of the fire grew louder, and suddenly the siren, which had not been heard for a long time, rang out. The three high-ranking cadres were stunned. Although unwilling, they began to call for people to leave.

Fire trucks also sounded their alarms promptly, disregarding the bodies lying on the roadside, and began to put out the fire…

(End of this chapter)

***

Additional chapters: /caleredhair