Empire of Shadows

The entire city was filled with a sense of tension, as if a storm was about to break. On the seaside boardwalk, a fisherman pulled hard on his fishing rod, the taut line looking like it could snap at any moment.

Beneath the dark surface of the sea, a great terror seemed to be lurking. A fierce gust of sea wind swept the waves, crashing against the rocks with a thunderous bloom!

Boom!

The gloomy sky quickly began to rain. The few pedestrians on the road ran to nearby shelters and stood, looking up at the oppressive sky.

Those who had just arrived in Golden Port seemed unaccustomed to the sudden changes in the weather here. One moment it was sunny for miles, the next, dark clouds drifted in from nowhere, completely covering the entire sky.

The heavy rain carried the unique salty smell of the sea, as well as the scent of vigorous life at the turn of spring and summer—a fishy smell emitted by the earth and vegetation.

“It looks like this rain won’t stop for a while.”

Under the eaves of a building on the roadside, someone among the people taking shelter from the rain said out of boredom.

At this time, people were not yet possessed, not to the point where they would continue to walk in the heavy rain. Everyone would take shelter from the rain like normal people.

Maz lit a cigarette. The sudden downpour seemed to have dampened his cigarette with moisture, giving it a somewhat damp feeling, and the smoke was particularly heavy.“I wonder how long it will rain,” he said, but it also sounded like a question.

The old man next to him looked at him with a chuckle, seeming to want to find a shadow of his past self on his young, tender face.

He didn’t mind sharing his experience and insights with the young man, “At least another fifteen minutes. I actually like sudden downpours. They make us all stand here and rest for a while, wait for a while.”

“Life is very interesting. We are all chasing, but we don’t know what we are chasing.”

“Sometimes stopping, standing for a while, thinking for a while, when we set off again, it will make us walk faster.”

The others all looked at him. The old man was satisfied; this was what he liked.

In their youth, boys and girls liked love. In their prime, they were obsessed with money. When they reached middle and old age, they would realize the value of health.

When they were completely old, on some night, they would suddenly realize, “I’m f—king old!”

This was cruel.

But being cruel didn’t mean that life was only left with gloom. Passing on his experience and knowledge was what he considered a meaningful thing.

Maz smiled and nodded, “How can you tell that it will dissipate in fifteen minutes?”

The others were also very curious. The old man said with a smile, “When you have lived here for sixty years and have seen probably thousands of such rains, you will be able to, like me, know everything like the back of your hand.”

Perhaps the old man’s small talk had dissipated much of the strangeness among the people taking shelter from the rain. They also began to chat, talking about the recent crackdown on smuggled liquor by the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.

A week had passed since the House of Good Fortune was shut down. Although it had reopened for business, people who had lived here for a long time knew that things were just getting started.

The locals became a little uneasy, while the outsiders did not feel these things.

They talked about many things, and also talked about the upcoming dockworkers’ union skills competition. It was said that it would be very lively, and people were not forbidden from watching.

Maz smoked on the side, listening to them talk about these things, and suddenly felt a sense of relaxation for no reason.

His undercover life had not been easy during this period. He was very, very careful every day, for fear of revealing any flaws and bringing about a fatal disaster.

But… he felt that these people were very stupid. Those people in the Lance Family had not yet discovered that he was actually an undercover agent.

What annoyed him a little was that he could never get any major intelligence, and at the same time, he couldn’t pass on the information in a timely manner. For two consecutive weeks, whenever he passed on the information, the bar would move.

He had his doubts at first, but now he felt it was bad luck, or the timing was wrong.

He wanted to talk to his contact again to see if they could switch to passing information every two or three days. Only in this way could he “render meritorious service” and take another step towards becoming a “Federation citizen.”

The heavy rain did indeed stop after twelve minutes. The remaining scattered drizzle could no longer stop people from getting on their way.

The old man took off his hat and said goodbye to everyone with a smile. Many people also said goodbye to him, thinking he was a very interesting person.

Maz arrived at the place he had arranged with his contact. He actually didn’t see his contact, but he and his contact had agreed that he would write the intelligence on a piece of paper and then clip it in the two hundredth page of the public phone book in front of him.

After he left, the contact would come over and take the intelligence clipped in the phone book.

Each time, their rendezvous point was not in the same place. This was to prevent being discovered. Who knew if among those seemingly foolish peers, there would be a few smart ones secretly following him?

Not long after he arrived at the phone booth, he opened the phone book and clipped the note with some intelligence recorded on it into the phone book.

On it was recorded the work of those people he could come into contact with at present. For example, Elvin would mainly follow Lance and make decisions when Lance was not around, considered the number two figure.

Morris was responsible for search, tracking, infiltration, surveillance, and other work, considered the number three figure.

Hiram was responsible for combat work. Some of the things he had boasted about were also recorded by Maz on the note, such as Hiram saying he had killed dozens of enemies while under fire from a dozen guns.

Although this kind of thing was obviously not credible at a glance, he still wrote it down because he didn’t like Hiram very much.

He had collected all the personnel information intelligence he could. Now that they couldn’t pass on useful intelligence, the contact, or rather the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, had changed their thinking.

They hoped that they could provide more intelligence and evidence about the crimes of the Lance Family. As the power of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials grew larger, maybe at some point they could make arrests based on “I think,” without any substantial evidence.

As for Lance, he couldn’t get close to him, only having seen him from a distance a few times, thinking that Lance was a “formidable character.”

After he had done all this, he seemingly made two phone calls, but in reality, he didn’t dial anything. He then left the phone booth and walked away without looking back.

What he didn’t know was that not long after he left, in a coffee shop diagonally across the street, someone got up to pay the bill.

And during this process of him paying the bill, another person entered the phone booth.

When the contact had paid the bill, crossed the street, and arrived at the phone booth, he was surprised to find that the piece of intelligence that was supposed to be on page two hundred was gone.

He chased out of the phone booth, looked around, but did not find Maz, nor did he find anyone who could have possibly taken the intelligence!

He kicked the trash can on the side of the road hard, returned to the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, and reported this matter to his superiors.

But right now, the senior agents, and Chief Dale, were all dealing with those bars.

In fact, after shutting down the House of Good Fortune, Chief Dale had gradually calmed down after talking with the mayor.

But with no way out, he had already decided to fight against these evil forces of Golden Port to the end!

Right now, his mind was full of how to deal a heavy blow to these criminal forces. He had even mentioned the idea of a large-scale search of the entire dock warehouse area.

This idea was suppressed by the mayor. Now they were only offending the gangs; the local politicians had not yet entered the fray.

Who knows what they were hiding in the dock warehouses. What if they were also alarmed and entered the scene, they would become even more passive.

At this stage, their main work was still to crack down on and sweep away underground bars. They had already taken down several bars in the Starlight District and the Bay Area, causing heavy losses to the operators behind these bars!

At a time like this, he simply had no mind to discuss the life and death of an undercover agent.

Maz walked around outside for a while, bought some cooked food, and returned to the firm.

He greeted the people he saw, then shared some of the food, and then started to work.

Just as he was about to start moving things, Alan called out to him, “The boss is looking for you.”

Maz clapped his hands, stomped his feet. There was a thin layer of mud on the wet ground. After walking around outside, the soles of his shoes were covered in mud prints.

He had gotten along well with Alan during this time, especially when he found out that Alan had also joined halfway. His attitude became even better.

“Did he say what he’s looking for me for?” he asked tentatively.

Alan smiled and shook his head, “Who knows?”

“But I heard a new bar is about to open. Maybe he’ll let you be the manager…”

This was a joke, but it did make Maz a little tempted. Sometimes he was very conflicted. If it weren’t for the strong desire to become a Federation citizen, perhaps he would also submit to his current life.

He took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, “I’ll go right now.”

Alan waved from behind, “Don’t forget me when you get rich!”

He waved his hand as he walked towards the inner room, “I won’t. I’ll let you be the bartender then…”

He took a deep breath. This was the first time in this period that he had been summoned alone by Lance. He was a little nervous, and to be honest, afraid of revealing any flaws.

After doing some mental preparation, he knocked on the door of Lance’s office, “Boss, Alan said you were looking for me?”

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Ethan stood behind the door looking at him. The two were actually about the same age, but Ethan’s eyes made him feel afraid.

He didn’t know, this was a kind of gaze that only those who had dealt with their own kind would have, a gaze that disregarded life.

He squeezed past Ethan and into the room. Hiram was sitting on the sofa, trimming his nails with a dagger. Everything looked very calm, just like usual.

He collected his thoughts and appeared in front of Lance. Lance let him sit in the chair.

“I heard you’ve been doing very well recently, working very proactively, and your mind is also very quick.” Lance opened the cigarette case and motioned for him to take one.

Maz took one of the cigarettes and lit it, “Thanks, Boss.” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, the pressure also lessening a lot, “This is all what I should do.”

Lance placed a note on the table, leaned forward, and pushed it over, “Is this also what you should do?”

At that moment, Maz’s mind went blank for a short time. His instinct told him to run!

But his reason told him that he couldn’t escape. The best way now was to sit still.

His hands were trembling a little. He put the cigarette between his fingers to his mouth and took a sharp drag. You could see the process of the tobacco being quickly ignited by the suction.

“Boss…”

“Call me Mr. Lance.”

“Mr. Lance… I don’t know what to say.”

Lance looked at Maz, “You’ve been here for more than half a month. You should be able to see that we are different from those other gangs.”

“We don’t collect protection fees, don’t extort ordinary people, don’t deceive or rob them. We just sell liquor and provide protection for some girls’ businesses, but we never force them.”

Lance spread his hands, “Perhaps from the perspective of Federal law or those big shots, some of the businesses we run are illegal.”

“But from our own perspective, every one of our businesses is legal, reasonable, and fair.”

“You can’t stop people from drinking, just as you can’t stop them from breathing air. If the masters in Congress say that breathing air is also wrong, then should we all go and die?”

“Maybe I’m not a good person, but I’m definitely not a bad person. I won’t harm ordinary people for no reason.”

“But you people are always thinking of harming me to get what you want. This is actually not right!”

Maz’s body went numb. He swallowed. Even this very ordinary action felt a little difficult for him.

“Mr. Lance,” he wanted to speak, but Lance stopped him with a shake of his head.

“You’ve had three chances, Maz.” Lance’s tone was filled with some regret. This emotion made Maz extremely nervous!

Maz seemed to have realized something. He quickly shouted, “I’m innocent, Mr. Lance…”

He also tried to stand up, but was just about to exert force when he was pushed back into the chair by Ethan.

Lance scratched his eyebrow, “When people are judged after they die, everyone will say they are innocent.”

“But whether you are truly innocent or not, I believe you know better than I do!”

The next morning, Maz’s contact came out of his apartment. He was currently living in an apartment not far from the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.

He had bought the house, but his other family members did not live here.

What had happened yesterday made him feel some unease. He planned to find a way to pull Maz back. Regardless of whether he was exposed or not, the contact felt that he was in danger.

Maz was sent in by him. Perhaps others didn’t care about Maz’s safety, but he still had a little sense of responsibility.

He planned to take the initiative to contact Maz and bring him back safely.

Just as he was about to leave the apartment building, he suddenly heard a cry of surprise from outside the door. Just as he was about to go out and see what had happened, suddenly, a… figure fell from the sky outside the main door of the apartment!

It fell downwards, then bounced up, and then began to swing back and forth outside the main door.

The contact looked at the neck that had been stretched long, clearly broken into several pieces, with only muscles and skin connecting the head to the body, crookedly set in a noose.

His mouth was sealed, his eyes were gouged out, two fingers were stuck in his ears, and in his hands were nailed an eye and a tongue.

Many people had already vomited at the sight of this. The contact seemed to have thought of something. He rushed out of the apartment and looked up at the roof. Sure enough, he saw a head peeking out.

A mocking smile appeared on that person’s face, and then he quickly disappeared.

“F—k!” He told the apartment manager to call the police while taking off his coat and rushing up the stairs to the rooftop. But when he opened the iron door to the rooftop, there was no one there long ago.

The sound of a car starting came from the alley. This made him rush to the side of the back street, lie down on the edge of the roof and look down. Two cars had already started and were driving away.

He cursed a few more times and gave up chasing because he knew he couldn’t catch up.

By the time the car entered the main road, after just a few turns, it could shake him off. He had no chance at all.

By the time he got downstairs, the police had already arrived. They took Maz down from the noose and put him in a body bag.

He would be sent to the coroner’s office and then be made a mess of.

Looking at the disrespectful actions of these police officers towards the body, the contact showed his credentials, “Agent of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials. This is my informant…”

The several police officers gave him a sideways glance, said nothing, and continued to treat Maz’s body roughly.

This made the contact even more annoyed. He had just pushed one of the police officers when the hands of the other police officers all went to their holsters, and they all stared at him at the same time!

This action also made him calm down in an instant. He raised his hands and took two steps back, “I will file a complaint against you.”

The person in the lead sneered with indifference, “Do whatever the f—k you want!”

The contact was very annoyed, but there was nothing he could do.

He knew that this was Lance and the Lance Family demonstrating their power to him, but he was powerless!

At the same time, another undercover agent was also killed, in the same way.

The police quickly took away the body and started an investigation.

Lance had left two undercover agents.

The first undercover agent had not yet met with anyone, which even made Lance and the others suspect, had they guessed wrong?

There was also one left by the Bureau of Hazardous Materials. Lance needed to disguise him as a lucky one so that he could continue to pass some intelligence to the outside.

Sometimes, using the Bureau of Hazardous Materials was far more convenient than doing it himself.

The deaths of the two undercover agents made Lukar feel that the time had come. And the Lance Family was recruiting people again. Under his arrangement, Beno also quickly mixed into this group and became a peripheral member of the Lance Family.

Lukar and Beno had discussed that they couldn’t have too frequent contact, and even couldn’t meet or get close when they did.

This was a very dangerous mission. In order to get Beno into the core layer of the Lance Family, Lukar had also promised him that no matter whether he had committed any crimes during his time in the Lance Family, even murder, it would not be recorded in his file!

Only in this way could Beno do his best to climb up!

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