Empire of Shadows

Eric had never had such a comfortable sleep. He knew this was called deep sleep.

He might have only slept for a short time, but it had the effect of a long time. He thought of that girl, and it seemed as if a force was flowing within his body.

He opened his eyes, but what was puzzling was that this was not a hotel suite.

He quickly discovered that his situation was a bit bad; he was tied to a chair.

He quickly raised his head to look around, and this movement made his neck instantly stiffen!

He had been sleeping with his head down for a long time, and his cervical spine couldn’t handle such a large movement all at once.

But this also allowed him to see clearly where this place was: a garage.

The floor was covered with a layer of waterproof cloth. The light red waterproof cloth made him feel a little uncomfortable; he had never seen a waterproof cloth of this color.

Some old car repair tools were hanging on the wall, like wrenches, rulers, screwdrivers, and the like.

There was a smell of rotting wood in the air. This place should be relatively remote, and the air was very humid.“Is anyone here?” he shouted twice. The side door of the garage opened, and someone walked in.

The sunlight outside was a bit harsh. Summer sunlight is like this, so bright that it makes it impossible to open one’s eyes.

He watched the dark figure walk into the garage, and his appearance was also revealed.

“Lance?!” he suddenly began to struggle violently. “Are you f—king crazy?”

“You actually tied me up like this, f—king let me go!” he shouted excitedly. “Otherwise, I’ll make you suffer bad luck, I guarantee it!”

Lance just walked up to him. Just as he thought Lance was going to untie the rope binding him, Lance punched him.

One punch down, and Eric was left with only coughing, unable to even speak.

Tears and snot were all coughed out!

Elvin came in from outside, his arms a little wet.

This was a small house by Angel Lake. He had found someone to rent it.

Before the legend of Angel Lake spread, many people would come here to swim, dive, or fish.

After all, the scenery of Angel Lake was indeed very beautiful, especially when standing on some hillsides. When the weather was good, looking at the lake surface, the sparkling lake surface made the entire lake shimmer with golden light!

Its beauty was something that even poets could not describe with verses. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Golden Port was also called the City of Angels, because of this Angel Lake!

It was as beautiful and breathtaking as an angel fallen to the mortal world!

But as many people discovered that this place had become the largest body disposal site in Golden Port, the number of tourists here was not so many anymore. Only some outsiders who didn’t know the situation would come.

In recent years, the legend of Angel Lake has spread more and more widely, and even outsiders will not come here anymore.

Someone who didn’t believe it once dived into some dangerous waters marked with “chemical leak” and found countless oil drums at the bottom of the water…

These small houses originally built around Angel Lake for rent to tourists have also been gradually abandoned.

Eric took a punch. The severe pain and spasms made it impossible for him to continue shouting. Lance took two steps back, sat on a chair, and lit a cigarette.

“You don’t seem to be that important to your father, Eric,” he took out a newspaper from his pocket, unfolded the first page, and placed it on the ground.

This was a supplementary issue of “Golden Port Today,” urgently printed, with only four pages. The price had not been reduced, but it had already sold out!

Eric looked at those paragraphs. He began to feel fear. His eyes were no longer as puzzled and arrogant as before. At this time, he became pitiful.

“Lance… I… I won’t tell anyone you did it, I promise, I swear on my mother!”

“Including my uncle, no one will know what happened. I’ll tell people that I wanted to go out for a walk by myself and forgot to tell them.”

“Everything will go back to normal. No kidnapping, no ransom note. I’ll prove it was just a joke!”

As he spoke, he couldn’t continue because although he was a bit stupid, he was not stupid to the point of being incurable.

That ransom note.

His body trembled slightly. He seemed very scared. Lance held the cigarette upside down and put it in his mouth. He greedily inhaled, as if the cigarette could soothe the fear in his heart!

He was very nervous, looked up at Lance, then lowered his head again, “I don’t want to die, Lance, spare me…”

Lance shook his head slightly, “This is not you.”

Before Eric could understand what this sentence meant, Lance said with a smile, “I liked the way you took my $500 check that day, Eric. That’s the real you.”

“Arrogant, conceited, with no one in your eyes except your uncle, including me!”

He was about to cry!

“Lance, listen to me, listen to me. It wasn’t intentional. I… I did something stupid. I don’t want to die!”

Tears appeared in his eyes. Elvin stood by with his hands on his hips, “You didn’t treat that girl like this last night.”

Eric suddenly reacted. He was stunned for a moment, “You are a team.”

Using an affirmative sentence, Lance did not deny it, “It’s actually not very easy to secretly kidnap you without anyone knowing who did it.”

“I considered kidnapping you on the road, but that’s not good. You have too many lackeys around you. I would have to kill them all.”

“But once the gun is fired, it will be difficult for me to hide you. That dog of yours, John, might conduct a city-wide search to please your uncle.”

“Controlling you where you live is also not very realistic. You live in the mayor’s manor. The protection there is very strict. I have no way to take you out without alerting others.”

“So, I had to make you leave them voluntarily.”

“Do you regret it?”

Lance asked.

Eric nodded with a mournful face, “Yes, yes, I regret it.”

He could only follow what Lance said, but Lance smiled, “Maybe you are now thinking about how to get revenge after you leave.”

Eric was greatly shocked, “I haven’t, I swear I really haven’t thought about it!”

He saw Lance stand up, and his voice went off-key!

“Please, don’t kill me, help, help, I’m Eric, someone wants to kill me…”

Lance looked at him. He shouted for a good while, and the surroundings were as quiet as… a desolate wilderness.

“This is Angel Lake, Eric,” Lance said. “There’s no one around. Even if you shout all day, no one will hear you.”

He turned into a crying face again because just now he had been shouting that Lance was going to kill him.

Perhaps feeling the general of death, fear began to well up. He cried with snot and tears, and even peed himself!

“Please, I don’t want to die…”

Lance took out a piece of steel wire from his pocket and walked behind Eric. He began to struggle violently again, but the moment the cold steel wire was wrapped around his neck, he despaired!

“You used $500 to buy yourself a one-way ticket to hell, Eric!”

“This is what you deserve!”

The end of life seemed to have arrived in an instant. Eric cried and begged for mercy in an emotional breakdown, but it was all meaningless.

Lance tightened the steel wire in his hands. Eric struggled violently again, his face flushed, unable to make any sound.

It didn’t take long, not even a minute, and all the struggling stopped.

Elvin looked at the waterproof cloth on the ground, “I thought you were going to make a mess everywhere.”

Lance shook his head. He coiled the steel wire back up and put it back in his pocket, “Just in case.”

Elvin looked at him, “What now?”

Lance straightened his hair, put another cigarette in his mouth. The last one had been smoked by Eric.

He lowered his head, struck a match, took a deep drag on the cigarette, and smoke rose, “Send him back. Aren’t they looking for Eric?”

Then give it to them!

The two of them simply tidied up. The waterproof cloth was washed in the water. Just now, Elvin had water stains on him because he had taken the things from the car to the water’s edge to wash them, trying his best not to leave any evidence in the car.

Now the waterproof cloth also had to be washed, and then used to wrap Eric.

He was placed on the back seat of the car. The two of them, as if nothing had happened, drove back to the city.

At this time, some citizens had already spontaneously launched a “Find Eric” campaign. They were looking for traces of Eric everywhere, whether it was in the city’s inner rivers, some ponds, or any hidden places.

But without a doubt, it was impossible for Eric to appear there.

In fact, the more they couldn’t find him, the more the mayor understood that Eric was already dead. He had to use Eric’s death to make a big deal out of it.

In fact, it wasn’t just some citizens who were spontaneously looking for Eric; the people of the Five Families were also looking for Eric, but obviously, they couldn’t find him.

After Lance returned, he heard that Alberto had called him. He immediately called back.

“Damn it, have you seen Eric?”

“No, I was out on business. The news said he was kidnapped. Is it true?”

“He was indeed kidnapped. It’s very bad, Lance. I’m a little uneasy.”

“About what?”

“Things are developing in an unknown direction step by step. Ever since… I don’t know when, everything has become uncontrollable.”

“Once the situation gets out of control, I’m worried…”

He didn’t say what he was worried about, but it could be heard that he was indeed very anxious.

Lance comforted him, “Everything will be fine, just like every time before.”

“And even if something really happens, it’s the Five Families and those masters who will be staring at it. What does it have to do with us?”

Alberto sighed, “I don’t know. Anyway, let’s be prepared. I feel the storm has already arrived.”

It had to be said that his feeling was very accurate.

At three-something in the middle of the night, there were no more people on the street. Lance was driving, and Elvin was sitting in the back seat.

As the car passed City Hall, Elvin pushed open the car door and pushed Eric out. Then the car quickly disappeared into the darkness…

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