Empire of Shadows

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What do you want?

Money, power, status. There are many desires, but Lance knew that saying these things didn’t have much meaning.

Because whether it was money, power, social status, or other things, he could obtain all of these himself.

What people wish for from a wish-granting genie is always something they cannot obtain through their own efforts, not something that is readily available.

He thought for a moment and said with a serious expression, “I want world peace.”

Mr. Pasoretto was stunned for a moment, for about two or three seconds, and then burst into laughter!

He pulled Lance’s arm and looked at Alberto, “This is really too humorous!” Alberto also laughed for a while.After the laughter ended, he spoke again, “Perhaps this was a very stupid question. Your heart is even stronger than we imagined.”

“Thank you for your evaluation, Mr. Pasoretto…”

“You can call me Paul.” Mr. Pasoretto was not at all stingy with these things. “Is this what you want?”

He looked at Lance with an expression of anticipation, and Lance nodded, “That’s right, Paul.”

He knew that he had gained the friendship of the Pasoretto family. Being able to call him “Paul” was proof.

Whether it was the Pasoretto family or the other families, their internal hierarchies were very strict, even if it seemed like there was no hierarchy among them.

But in reality, they had their own detailed hierarchy that no one could easily overstep.

This was also the core rule of a gang.

“So what do you plan to do next?” Paul flipped the barbecue and incidentally reminded him, “If you don’t flip your barbecue soon, it will burn, and it won’t be tasty then.”

While flipping the barbecue, Lance said, “The eyes of Congress and the public can’t stay focused here forever. We can maintain restraint for now. When their attention is drawn elsewhere, that will be our time for liquidation.”

“I like the word liquidation!” Paul strongly agreed with Lance’s idea. “But we shouldn’t do nothing.”

“I don’t believe that everyone in this Bureau of Hazardous Materials is ‘Mr. Justice.’ There will definitely be people who are not so righteous. Find them, and then win them over.”

“I’ve thought a lot, is there anything that I have, but you don’t have and desperately need? Thinking about it, it seems only military arms are what you need.”

“So if there’s anything you want, you can call Alberto. He will bring you everything you want.”

“But don’t play too big, be careful not to hurt yourself!”

Alberto nodded, “I’ll remember.”

The barbecue was ready soon. Lance met Paul’s family here: his three sons and one daughter, and a little granddaughter.

Besides his family, there were also some family members.

Summurian families often have some blood ties, more or less. They are organizations with both family and religious characteristics.

The relationship between them is not entirely one of superiors and subordinates, but also kinship.

Of course, there are also many peripheral members. These people may not be related to them by blood.

But those who could appear here today were all Paul’s family.

On the way back from the Summuri District, Lance was thinking about some things behind this seemingly unremarkable dinner tonight.

For example, the Five Families were sending him a signal through Paul, telling him that everyone supported him, letting him go and fight these mongrels from out of town.

But he wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually do that, to get hot-headed and work to the death for these people.

If they wanted him to risk his life, they couldn’t afford the price.

But in the end, this was good news. At least the locals were starting to accept him.

He drank some liquor at night. Nothing happened overnight.

The next morning, Lance, Hiram, and a few others drove two cars, together with Gerald, to Valley City. They were going to vent Gerald’s anger for him.

Incidentally, Lance was also a little interested in the current state of film shooting.

Lance firmly believed that the film industry would explode. Perhaps the profit it brought would not be as good as selling liquor, but among legal investments, the rate of return would definitely be very amazing!

He had also begun to lay out plans for cinemas in Golden Port, and soon it would not just be Golden Port, but the entire state, and even the entire eastern part of the Federation!

At that time, whether he was making movies or showing movies, it would continuously bring him legal profits.

More legal profits would allow him to launder more black money.

By almost eleven o’clock, the group had already arrived in Valley City. It was clearly not as prosperous as Golden Port, but it was much better than other places.

Many of the local young people worked in Golden Port and only came back on weekends, which made the city seem to lack some vitality.

Those walking on the streets were either half-grown kids who were not yet adults, or people in their thirties or even forties.

It was worth mentioning that the scenery here was nice, with the beauty of being by a mountain and near water. On one side was the city, on the other was nature, and the climate was very pleasant.

Many middle-class people believed that retiring in Valley City was a good choice. It was very close to Golden Port, but the prices were much lower, and the cost of living was lower.

The film crew Gerald was with was shooting in the suburbs. Recently, a lot of content needed to be shot in an open-air environment.

By the time the group arrived, the film crew happened to not be on break yet.

The director nodded after seeing Gerald, signaling him to stand for a while. As a shot finished filming, and the director and screenwriter felt there were no problems, that take was considered finished.

“You can let your friends watch our filming, but don’t let them cause trouble!” The director didn’t know who Lance and the others were, just subconsciously thinking that they might be Gerald’s friends.

Because those people were as young as him, they could only be friends. And the cars they drove were not particularly good, just very average.

Gerald did not refuse.

Because of his return, they had to reshoot some content related to Gerald in the afternoon. It was clear that he was very popular among the female actresses, but the male actors were clearly isolating him.

The bullying of the Federation’s people was always directly expressed. This might be one of their very few virtues, at least not so hypocritical.

As the shooting progressed, the location also moved from the suburbs back to the city. This scene was a plot where Gerald and the female lead were chatting in a roadside coffee shop.

Then they were discovered by the male lead. The male lead was very angry and splashed the coffee from the table all over Gerald’s face.

The whole plot was very simple, but it had already been shot four times and still hadn’t passed.

The male lead always messed up something after splashing the coffee.

Either he said the wrong lines, or he couldn’t express the emotion he was supposed to have, leading to constant retakes.

Although for movies of this period, perhaps they didn’t need such exquisite acting, but… you can’t show a gloating smile when you’re supposed to be angry, right?

“Sorry, sorry, Gerald, my emotions are a bit off. Let’s do it again!” The upturned corners of the male lead’s mouth showed no sign of apology, but instead made people feel he was asking for a beating.

The female lead held a towel to help Gerald wipe the coffee off him, and at the same time looked at the male lead with a reproachful expression, “Are you trying to find trouble with him?”

The male lead quickly denied this claim, “How could that be?”

“I’m just having a little trouble finding the feeling…”

Gerald’s face was grim. He squeezed out a smile. If the other party had made a mistake at the beginning, he wouldn’t have reacted, but now this was definitely intentional.

The director also had a headache. He protested to the producer that this would obviously make the crew disunited.

But the producer’s half-smiling expression was telling the director that this matter was not that simple.

In the end, the director could only return to his post and have them start preparing again.

“…Fifth take, begin!”

Although Gerald was not an actor trained in opera or drama, he learned quickly. He was already able to switch emotions quickly.

Even though he was very unhappy right now, he quickly showed a sunny smile, and with a look and expression of admiration, he chatted happily with the female lead.

Even that guy Hiram could feel that the character Gerald was playing should really like the female lead.

“There’s a rotten smell in his expression, damn it!” This was Hiram’s evaluation of Gerald.

At this moment, the male lead walked over from a distance with a cold smile on his lips. He walked to the table, reached out to grab the coffee cup, and just as he was about to splash it on Gerald again, a hand suddenly pressed down on his.

He turned his head, somewhat at a loss, and saw the friend Gerald had brought. Just as he was about to say something, he was punched in the lower abdomen by Lance!

The male lead, who had never suffered like this before, immediately squatted on the ground holding his stomach. He couldn’t even cry out in pain!

Gerald was also stunned by this scene. He thought Lance would help him solve this problem after the filming was over, not now.

He stood there, a little unsure of what to do, but watching Lance use a soccer kick on that bastard, he felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction!

The producer was greatly surprised when he saw this. He quickly ran to Lance’s side. Just as he was about to pull him, a gun was pressed against his head.

There was no threat, but at this moment, it was more powerful than a thousand words. Hiram’s other hand was picking his nose, not forgetting to flick his hair, otherwise the booger might stick to his hair.

Although the producer felt… this guy was very stupid, he really didn’t dare to do anything and could only slowly raise his hands.

Lance gave him a sideways glance, took a step back, stepped forward with his left foot, and swung his right foot back fiercely, kicking the male lead in the face!

In an instant, the male lead was kicked and sent rolling away!

Blood quickly stained the ground. After Lance took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood splattered on the tip of his leather shoe, he casually threw the handkerchief on the ground.

He gave a sideways glance at the male lead, who had completely lost the ability to resist, and looked at Gerald, “Who else?”

Gerald inexplicably wanted to laugh. Suddenly, he let go of the hand the female lead was tightly holding onto, walked to Lance’s side, and pointed at the several other male supporting actors who were at a loss, saying, “And them.”

Lance beckoned to them with his finger and said words that made their scalps tingle.

“Get over here!”

***

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