Empire of Shadows

Hearing Lance’s words, his expression changed slightly.

He then looked down at the small card in his hand and said, “I don’t lay a hand on innocent people.”

Although he engaged in dirty dealings, he never considered himself an evil person.

Those moonshiners deserved to go to hell, but the liquor was innocent. He also agreed with the majority view that Prohibition was a foolish decision.

Selling liquor to Lance had no direct bearing on whether he was a good or bad person. He was still a guardian of the people, a guarantor of coastal security.

But if he were to harm innocent ordinary people, then he truly wouldn’t be a good person, and he didn’t want to become one.

That would make it impossible for him to face his family, to face his child.

In fact, everyone has a line they inexplicably won’t cross. A person who wanks all day, who can get off on any random bit of information, might still have a certain bottom line, a certain type of film they won’t watch, or a certain type of actress they won’t touch.

To others, this bottom line, this reservation, seems as stupid as shitting in your pants, but some people will always have such convictions.

Lance had his convictions, and so did McCock.“Those aren’t innocent people!” Lance explained. “They are all gunmen from Yalan. Their arrival will only bring harm and disaster. Leaving them at sea forever is the most correct course of action.”

“These people will join the gang wars after arriving in Golden Port. They are not locals, have no love for this place, and no one can restrain them.”

“They will bring pain to the people living here and disrupt social stability. So you don’t need to have any psychological burden at all. Just get rid of them.”

McCock was still a little hesitant. “Can I know whose men these people are?”

“Rick’s men.”

Hearing this name, an image of a person appeared in McCock’s mind. He looked at Lance, his eyes showing some shock. “You’re going to make a move on his men?”

“You’re crazy, that’s one of the Five Families!”

A half-smile played on Lance’s face. He gave McCock a cigarette. “Who made the rule that you can’t make a move on the Five Families?”

He lit his own cigarette, took a drag, and blew the smoke towards McCock.

This gesture was not very friendly. McCock frowned and leaned back in his chair. “If they find out we did it, we’ll also be sunk in Angel Lake.”

Lance shook his head slightly. “Before the Five Families became the Five Families, they were also ordinary gangs. Were you so afraid of them then?”

“Even if they are the Five Families, they are no different from us. If you shoot at them, they will also get hurt, they will also die.”

“Besides, the Cassia family is in trouble now. They are targeting him.”

McCock looked at Lance, as if trying to dig something out from beneath his surface.

After two or three seconds, he asked with a cigarette dangling from his lips as he looked up, “Including you?”

“Including me.”

After considering for a while, McCock finally agreed. “If they are really gunmen, then I’ll do it.”

Lance took out a manila envelope and handed it to him. “There’s five thousand inside. You and your friends can split it.”

Lance didn’t care how much of this money was divided up. In fact, it would be even better if he didn’t share the money with his subordinates.

Feeling the manila envelope, the heavy feeling gave McCock an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

He always felt that there might be something wrong with him.

He hadn’t spent much of that money. Most of what he was spending now was his savings, which he had earned through hard work.

Before, he didn’t dare to spend money casually, but now he did, and his life had changed.

Although he hadn’t touched much of that money, for some reason, his attitude towards life, and his family’s attitude towards life, were different.

This also made him clearly realize one thing: money is really important.

He said a “thank you” and took the manila envelope in his hand. “Wait for my good news…”

At the same time, in the Kodak family’s estate, Rick and Bandy sat together. Gory, Fleming, and Stone were also there.

“I’ve spoken with Figal. He’s willing to remain neutral, but his condition is that the Pasoretto family’s territory in the Starlight District be handed over to him.”

The Starlight District was not an area that could be purely dominated by a single force. This was also because there was too much wealth here, so much that it was difficult for any single family to swallow it all.

So the Five Families all had their own territory in the Starlight District. They ate up the best resources here, and then left some of the ordinary, not-so-good ones for the other nearby gangs to divide, jointly forming the underground order of the Starlight District.

Figal had his eyes on the Pasoretto family’s territory: two blocks, with one opera house, two movie theaters, bars, dance halls, and nightclubs.

Taking over these territories would allow him to merge them with his own, creating an even larger territory, which would also be convenient for him to manage and operate.

Rick’s face was a bit gloomy. “He sure thinks highly of himself. On what grounds does he get to eat up half the benefits without doing anything?”

“If he doesn’t contribute to this matter, I’d think even one bar is too much for him.”

Bandy held his teacup, savoring the high-quality black tea from the Lesser Islands, which also had some other spices added for aroma.

The taste of the black tea was also good. Of course, the price was definitely not cheap. A price of over a hundred dollars a pound was basically at the ceiling.

He mulled over the aftertaste, put the teacup back on its saucer, and said meaningfully, “If the Pasoretto and Tita families are all gone, then there will only be three of the Five Families left.”

He looked at Rick. The two looked at each other, their eyes exchanging some communication, some hints.

Rick’s gaze soon began to change. He seemed to have figured out the meaning behind Bandy’s words. “Figal and the Bear Gang fought to a mutual exhaustion. Their strength has also been severely damaged.”

Bandy nodded. “Yes, that’s one of the reasons they are remaining neutral.”

“Then if we…” he looked at Bandy tentatively. Bandy, however, looked away, a meaningful smile on his face.

This smile made him realize that what he was thinking was also what Bandy was thinking.

However, neither of them said it out loud.

Get rid of the Keane family, and then they would divide the whole of Golden Port.

Rick was not a fool. A fool could not reach the position of a leader of the Five Families. The Cassia family and the Kodak family could coexist, or rather, the Kodak family could coexist with any family, gang, or other organization.

Because their profit model was relatively simple, everything revolved around the casino.

They had always used various methods of interest transfer to prevent the state government from issuing new casino licenses, achieving a monopoly in this industry, and the profits generated were naturally huge.

So huge that they didn’t even need to think about expanding the family business.

When your business continuously brings in far more money than other businesses can earn, you are less likely to want to risk doing other business.

The rest, naturally, would be his.

The two sides had already reached an agreement on this matter. Bandy exhaled a puff of smoke. “I hear Lance has also joined their little alliance.”

“Lance?” Rick was taken aback after hearing this, and then a look of contempt appeared on his face. “Have they fallen to the point of colluding with this kind of small gang?”

“How disappointing.”

At the same time, he was also very curious about the source of Bandy’s news. “Who did you hear it from?”

Gory, on the side, said, “The source of the news is definitely not a problem. Sarif himself revealed it.”

“And you shouldn’t underestimate Lance and his Lance Family. They have already firmly controlled two districts. According to some intelligence I’ve gathered, the number of core members of the Lance Family has exceeded five hundred.”

Hearing this number, Rick was also a little surprised. “So many?”

His expression gradually became solemn. “Then this is indeed a capable opponent.”

“Golden Port hasn’t seen such a powerful gang for a long time. We can’t let him continue to expand. We’ll deal with them along with the others this time.”

Each district in Golden Port actually had two or three large gangs, and below them were some smaller gangs and small groups.

This seemed unreasonable, but it was also very reasonable, because the entire underground world of Golden Port was also a pyramid.

In each administrative district, they had squeezed in multiple gangs, thus occupying the space for development.

If a gang wanted to continue to expand, they had to wage war against other gangs, and at this time, someone from the Five Families would stand up to mediate, always controlling the situation from deviating, and preventing the emergence of another powerful gang in Golden Port.

What the Five Families needed was stability, not creating new challengers.

But this period was indeed too chaotic. The chaos on all sides had prevented them from noticing the rapid expansion of the Lance Family. By the time they discovered it, it had already expanded to a daunting scale.

If it continued to expand, it might threaten the rule of the Five Families.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Sarif had taken the initiative to reveal that the Lance Family would be with them to deal with the Cassia family.

It both reminded everyone that a new challenger had emerged, and at the same time, it could let the Lance Family attract some of the firepower for them.

Sarif’s purpose was not pure.

“It’s not surprising that he can do this,” Bandy also commented from the side. “What if they win? With the current strength of the Lance Family, and his relationship with Alberto, they are definitely a team.”

“At that time, Sarif and his men will instead become the weakest party, so the effect of dragging the Lance Family down and putting them in the spotlight is here.”

Rick nodded. “Then what should we do first?”

Bandy elegantly took a drag of his cigarette. “Let’s deal with Sarif first. If the internal problems of the Pasoretto family are not resolved, Alberto won’t be able to spare a hand to deal with us. If he doesn’t move, Lance will most likely not move either. And I will go and have a chat with them.”

“There is nothing in this world that cannot be resolved. It’s just a matter of whether they accept our offer.”

Rick did not refuse this decision. “I will start to make arrangements.”

“When do you plan to make a move?”

He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch, which had a calendar. “At most a week. The gunmen need to get familiar with the place after they arrive. This time we’ll try to knock him down directly…”

Bandy also nodded and said, “That’s just right. I’ll see if I can get Alberto and Lance to change their stance. If we can avoid a fight, let’s try not to. After all, for this city, stability is the most important thing.”

The chaotic city, the rampaging firefights—the Kodak family’s profits had plummeted in the last two months, so much so that some of the old masters were a little dissatisfied with the current situation.

After the conversation ended, Bandy had Fleming see Rick off. He stood by the window on the third floor and watched Rick’s convoy leave the estate.

Gory, standing behind him, asked, “Are we really going to split Golden Port with him?”

There was a hint of worry in his voice. Bandy showed a not-so-warm smile. “With him?”

“Is he even worthy?”

He sneered. “A country bumpkin upstart from Yalan, and he thinks he can sit on an equal footing with us? Is he worthy?”

“After he’s taken care of those people, we’ll send him on his way.”

Given Rick’s trust in them, to be able to be in the same room with them alone, it would be very simple for them to deal with Rick.

They didn’t even need to specially arrange any means. They just needed to find a reason to have him come over, and then get rid of him.

Although the Kodak family had laundered a lot of their image over the years, they were ultimately an organization with a gang background. As long as there was a need, they would also kill people, and they could kill without blinking an eye.

“This chaos has also made me understand one thing. Golden Port doesn’t need so many powerful families. One of us is enough.”

In Bandy’s plan, the future Golden Port would be full of small gangs, with only their family at the top of the pyramid.

No matter who was the mayor, no matter who wanted to create some kind of miracle, they couldn’t bypass them.

They would grasp the real control over the city’s underworld, and use it to influence the world under the sun.

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. The good days of “I am the only one” were coming.

These two days, it had been raining continuously in Golden Port. It might be that the seasons were about to change. The cold air was beginning to form and flow.

In this world without a greenhouse effect, the winters in both poles came very early.

The cold air continuously moved south and north, eventually forming one storm after another, sweeping through the coastal cities.

The continuous rainy days were the most uncomfortable weather. The air was damp, and people felt damp too.

If it wasn’t necessary, people were not very willing to leave their homes to go out onto the streets. Whether they were holding an umbrella or wearing rubber boots, in the end, they would be in a mess.

But at this time, outside Jinda Bank, the large crowd of people queuing to withdraw money not only did not decrease, but actually increased.

They stood in a long, slow-moving line, inching forward.

In the bank, Mr. Jobav’s eyes were bloodshot. He hadn’t slept much for two days.

Mostly, he would doze off when he was too tired, and then start working again.

He put down the phone in his hand with some dejection. Another bank had refused his loan. He grabbed his hair in pain. He was finished.

He had tried his best. Perhaps he really should have listened to Lance earlier, transferred some of his money out, and applied for bankruptcy.

But how could he be willing?

After all, this was the business he had worked his whole life for.

He was in pain when someone knocked on the door. He quickly tidied up his clothes and appearance to make himself look not so broken.

“Come in.”

The door opened. The supervisor stood at the door, his face anxious. “Mr. Jobav, we don’t have much money left. If we can’t get some more soon, we might not be able to last until closing time today.”

In fact, these Jinda Bank employees also knew very well that the bank was really out of money. Otherwise, Mr. Jobav wouldn’t have been scraping together money bit by bit to give to them.

Before, when the bank was not short of money, he just had to push a small cart to the vault once, and he could take out a lot of money.

But at that time, no one was making a run on the bank. Everyone would deposit their money.

But now, it was different.

They guessed that the vault was already empty, and maybe even the other things were gone, because an employee had seen Mr. Jobav pushing a cart to the back garage with great effort two days ago.

Then they heard the sound of metal colliding. If there were no accidents, he should have taken away the last of the gold.

Then, not long after, a batch of money came back, but this batch of money did not last for too long, and now it was about to be gone again.

How much more money could he come up with?

No one knew.

For the sake of Mr. Jobav having given them work for so long, they were still holding on, standing their last post.

“I… understand.”

“Let me be alone for a while. I need to think of a way.”

The supervisor sighed lightly, closed the door, and left.

Mr. Jobav just sat there in his chair, his mind a blank.

He didn’t know how long had passed. A clap of thunder woke him from that unthinking environment. Hearing the vague sound of shouting, he stood up and walked to the window.

The depositors downstairs were no longer queuing. The security guards were maintaining order, but more and more depositors began to storm the bank. He realized that the money was gone.

Sure enough, the supervisor ran in, his face full of panic. “Mr. Jobav, the money has all been withdrawn. We can’t come up with any more.”

His gaze lingered on the supervisor for a long while before he raised his hand and gestured, “Tell everyone to protect their own safety.”

He paused. “I’ll be down in a moment.”

The supervisor returned outside. Perhaps because Mr. Jobav was about to come out, the people quieted down for a moment.

Seven or eight minutes later, amidst the sounds of discussion, Mr. Jobav appeared before the people.

He walked outside the door. The sky was getting darker, and the rain was getting heavier.

His whole body was quickly soaked by the pattering raindrops.

“I… am sorry to everyone.”

(End of chapter)