Empire of Shadows

“I hear there’s an Anderson restaurant in the Starlight District that’s incredibly delicious…”

As the group left the company, one of them started talking about a highly-rated restaurant they had recently discovered.

Everyone has different hobbies, but most people are quite interested in local cuisine.

Seeing them ask for his opinion, the specialist had no objection. “Let’s go there, then.”

He had traveled all over the Federation. At first, he still enjoyed trying some fine dining, but as he visited more and more places, these external things gradually lost their appeal to him.

What he truly liked, what he wanted, was power within the company!

Equity, the board of directors—these brought him far more satisfaction than fine food.

Although he had passed the stage of pursuing fine dining, who could refuse delicious food?

The group took two cars and arrived at Anderson’s restaurant in the Starlight District.

With Anderson, the head chef and owner, completely letting go of the restaurant’s management, the manager had fully unleashed his business abilities.Now the restaurant already had three locations in Golden Port, and they were planning to open a fourth, a very, very high-end fourth.

Its positioning was to serve “successful people.” Ordinary people couldn’t even get in the door. They were either well-known political and business figures in Golden Port…

Or you had to be invited to become a member and book a table at the restaurant.

There was one sentence the manager said that Anderson still found hard to forget to this day—

“We want to make some people proud to dine at our restaurant!”

Isn’t this the highest realm a chef could pursue in his life? If people were proud to dine at this restaurant, then it naturally also included the meaning that they were proud to enjoy the food made by old man Anderson!

He couldn’t refuse this!

Anderson’s first restaurant was now extremely popular, because only here could you taste the food personally cooked by Mr. Anderson.

The group arrived at just the right time. The restaurant manager gave them a table.

Every mealtime, the restaurant would leave two or three tables reserved for unforeseen needs, just like now.

The Liji Group was very famous in the Federation. The manager was willing to pay the price of a table for their great fame and social status.

It had to be said that this old man Anderson had a bad temper, but his skills were flawless. The food he carefully cooked exuded an enticing aroma. Even the absent-minded specialist began to focus his attention on the food under the temptation of the aroma.

At the dinner table, they discussed some of their upcoming work directions, some public relations directions, and talked about their work matters.

The food was unknowingly finished, and everyone was about seventy or eighty percent full.

The middle class is very refined in their lives. They will read all kinds of books about life and health.

When the books say that the middle class should eat until they are seventy or eighty percent full to be healthy, they will do so.

Eat more beef, more eggs, drink more milk.

After the specialist paid the bill, the group returned to their cars, satisfied, ready to go back to the company to continue the work they hadn’t finished today.

For some reason, on the way back, it was noticeably a bit congested.

“The traffic in Golden Port is really visibly terrible. It’s even more congested here than in Golden State!”

“I always thought the most congested place was the central district of the Special District, but look at this…”

The driver of the vehicle couldn’t help but complain a few times.

Golden State was indeed one of the most congested places in the Federation, but only one of them.

The Special District was congested because there were too many celebrities and political figures. Their maids might even drive a car when they went out.

Golden Port was congested because there were many rich people, many people doing business. It was not strange for a company to have three or five cars, or even thirty or fifty.

When the car slowly reached the middle of the road with the flow of traffic, it suddenly stopped.

Inexplicably, the specialist was a bit absent-minded, and also a little apprehensive.

He had just taken out a pack of cigarettes and was preparing to light one with a lighter when his attention was drawn to the scene outside the window.

A large truck was charging towards his car at an extremely high speed.

The cigarette dangling from his lips quietly slipped out. He gradually raised his head to look at the truck’s front, which was already close at hand, and uttered the last words of his life—

“Motherfucker!”

He turned his head sharply and looked at the people in the car.

His life and time seemed to have been paused at this moment. No, it should be said that it was on a slow-motion key.

The driver was slapping the steering wheel and complaining about something with his colleague in the passenger seat. Tiny bits of spittle flew from his slightly twisted mouth.

The colleague in the passenger seat could only see his side profile, wearing a fawning, pleasing smile.

The colleague sitting next to him seemed to be in a daze. He did not participate in any of the topics, nor did he realize the danger was coming.

A small piece of glass shard, about the size of a soybean, slowly flew from his front, from right to left. It was constantly rotating in the air, and occasionally it would reflect some of the light coming through the car window into his eyes!

Then more glass began to fly from right to left, and the expressions on his colleagues’ faces changed rapidly and with terror! The next second, with a huge bang, he was violently shaken and flew towards his colleague, losing consciousness at the same time! The truck pushed his car straight into a house on the side of the road. Just as the surrounding people were still in shock, a second truck crashed into the other car! The specialist’s body twitched continuously. He was constantly vomiting blood. His neck was bent at an exaggerated and twisted angle with his body.

His ears were buzzing, and he could faintly hear a man’s exasperated curses.

The model of a car crash that the company’s janitor had taken away, which he had considered a form of intimidation, came to his mind.

So, that wasn’t a model! He suddenly had this realization. He didn’t want to die.

Everything from his past flashed before him like a revolving lantern. He remembered the first time he, according to the company’s rules and regulations, mercilessly drove the “master” who had taught him how to work in the company out of the company.

He thought of the smiles on people’s faces when they faced him, and their curses and mockery behind his back.

He thought of the people who had cursed him as a running dog, who would not have a good end, and this very moment! Perhaps from the very beginning, his fate had been decided, he thought! The strength in his body was getting less and less, his eyelids were getting darker and darker, and he was gradually and completely swallowed by the darkness…

Soon, the fire trucks and the police arrived at the scene. They arrested the two truck drivers, and the two truck drivers were also very cooperative.

The police officer who responded to the call just took one look and knew that this was a murder case, because the bumpers of the two trucks had been modified.

It was as if they had been specially modified for ramming. To say that this was not intentional would be to look down on their intelligence.

But regardless of whether it was intentional or not, they would handle it impartially.

The two small cars were rescued. A total of nine people were found here. Six of them had already lost their vital signs.

The remaining three were not in a particularly good condition either. They also faced various problems.

In a car parked on the side of the road, several people had been watching everything happen. They had been here before the specialist’s car had arrived at this intersection.

After the scene was more or less under control, it drove away with the people inside.

“…I just heard a boom, and that car was pushed out by our truck and crashed into the corner of a wall!”

“There’s something particularly interesting. A part of the wall of that house was smashed open, revealing the people inside.”

“He was cursing over there, his face covered in wall dust…”

Lance listened to Lawn’s account of observing the execution of the car crash process up close. Lance listened attentively.

Their trucks had all been modified, with two I-beams running through the entire vehicle.

The heavier the cargo in the truck, the stronger the impact force would be when the truck picked up speed! From Lawn’s description, the people in the two cars were basically dead.

He nodded. “That’s very funny…” he paused, “Alan, go to the hospital and find out if the people are really dead.”

“If not…” he made a throat-slitting gesture, “then help them end their pain.”

Alan stood up and walked outside. Lance looked at the people in the room and said with a laugh, “Then next, let’s see how they will respond…”

After lunch, the general manager of the Liji Group felt a sense of unease. He didn’t know why he had this feeling. Maybe he had stayed up late last night?

He couldn’t sleep last night; he had insomnia.

After the specialist and his team entered the company, some rumors began to spread within the company, saying that the board of directors was already dissatisfied with the general manager’s ability. It was very likely that the specialist would stay and directly replace his job, becoming the manager of a large branch company.

In terms of power, this was actually a “step up.” The general manager of a regional branch company definitely had more power than a specialist at the headquarters, and could also benefit from more businesses.

He scoffed at these rumors. He had someone collect information on who was spreading these rumors, intending to give these people a good lesson after the specialists left.

After lunch, he was originally planning to take a nap, but for some reason, his heart was beating a little fast.

He sat in his office, looking at the scenery outside the window, his mind a blank.

Suddenly, the harsh ringing of the telephone suddenly sounded, making him shiver.

After a few seconds, after the phone had rung several times, he finally picked it up.

“General Manager, you should go to the hospital and see. The specialists got into a car accident when they were coming back from lunch, two large trucks…”

In that instant, the general manager’s blood pressure suddenly rose, and a rather strong ringing appeared in his ears, buzzing so loudly that he could hardly hear the voice in the receiver! Ten minutes later, he arrived at the hospital, but what he faced were seven hospital beds already covered with white cloths.

“…The two trucks had some accidental collisions. They lost control, and then this tragedy happened.”

A police officer was explaining the situation at the scene to him. According to the results of the on-site investigation, the two trucks were originally driving side by side.

But some collisions occurred between them, which caused the two truck drivers to misjudge the situation. They might have mistakenly stepped on the accelerator, and in the end, one after the other, they crashed into the two cars stopped in the middle of the intersection.

“So… you’re saying my colleagues are also responsible?”

The police officer shrugged. “They could have waited for the red light to end before moving forward.”

The general manager’s expression looked as if he was about to laugh. After a while, he finally asked, “How are the two drivers?”

The police officer shook his head. “In that kind of crash, even the truck drivers are in a very bad situation.”

“They have been rescued, but in the end, they couldn’t be saved.”

Whether it was the doctor or the police, they had both concealed the fact that the truck drivers were already on the verge of death. Even if they hadn’t been driving and had such a violent crash, they probably wouldn’t have lived for too long, a month or two.

The general manager took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. That familiar smell, it was fucking back again.

He looked at the police officer, and the police officer also looked at him. The two looked at each other for a moment, and in the end, he gave up the idea of telling the police officer his “guess.”

He had no evidence, and he also didn’t know if these police officers were on the same side as Lance and his crew. This city was far more dangerous than the directors in Golden State had imagined.

He left two company employees to be in charge of the subsequent matters here. After he returned to the company, he directly made a phone call to the vice president. “The work group sent by headquarters got into a car accident.”

The vice president did not realize the seriousness of the matter at first. He said jokingly, “Did they catch you for some official crime, and you planned to get rid of them?”

They had a good relationship in private, which was why the vice president would joke with him like this.

But the general manager said very seriously, “They were on their way back from lunch when they got into a car accident. Two reportedly fully loaded trucks crashed into the cars they were riding in from the side, one after the other.”

“Now, seven out of the nine people are already dead, and the other two are in the process of being rescued.”

The receiver was so quiet that only some breathing could be heard.

After about a minute, the vice president’s off-key “what the fuck happened” came through.

“Are you sure you’re not fucking kidding me?” his tone was still full of disbelief, a distrustful attitude.

The general manager confirmed again, “I’m sure.”

“Fuck!”

“God, why did these things happen?!”

“This is terrible!”

After he had vented his emotions for a while, the general manager said, “Do you feel a sense of familiarity?”

“Half a year ago, the headquarters also arranged for a specialist to come over.”

The vice president was taken aback for a moment. “Are you saying… this was intentional?”

“Who was it?”

Without waiting for the general manager to answer his question, he took the initiative to say that name—

“The Lance Family?”

It seemed that this was the only possibility.

The vice president calmed down a little. “I need to discuss it with the others. You take care of your own safety. I will notify you as soon as there is a result.”

Soon the entire board of directors knew about this matter, which made all the directors feel furious. Some were clamoring to have Lance and the people of the Lance Family all sent to prison. Some also said that they should let them know what the consequences of provoking a corporate group are.

After everyone had calmed down, the executive president had some people leave, and stayed behind with the vice president, the chairman of the board, and the director in charge of arranging the gunmen.

“I remember last time we didn’t seem to have noticed this aspect…” the chairman of the board was a little confused.

He knew about the matter of the specialist’s car accident last time, but no one had ever told him that this matter was related to a gang.

If he had known the real situation last time, the way many problems were handled would have changed.

The vice president said softly on the side, “His family was making a big fuss.”

The chairman of the board slapped his forehead. “I remember now.”

At that time, the specialist’s family had made a big fuss, insisting that this was an accident that had happened at work and demanding a large compensation from the company.

How could that be possible?

They had even sued the deceased’s family, proving through various means that the car accident had happened after work, and that there was no overtime.

This also meant that for the specialist’s death, the company did not need to pay any compensation for death in the line of duty.

However, out of humanitarianism, the company’s board of directors had arranged for a special person to give the deceased’s family $200, as… a kind of comfort? Their attention at that time was all focused on the lawsuit with the deceased’s family, not on “who caused the car accident,” and they had missed the opportunity to go deeper into this matter.

And at that time, they also did not think that anyone would dare to so openly murder a specialist of a corporate group. But now, they knew.

Someone did indeed dare to do so.

The office was quiet for a moment. Then someone asked, “So what do we do next?”

“Should we… just let it go?”

The chairman of the board immediately shook his head. “Let it go?”

“This is $4,000,000, and we can be sure that it was this whatever Garden Trading Company that used some underhanded means to force us to face a breach of contract and pay the penalty.”

“This is naked extortion, contract fraud. We cannot possibly pay this money.”

“If you think we should let it go, then you pay this money. I will agree to ‘let it go’.”

“Otherwise, we continue.”

The vice president said in a low voice from the side, “But… they are not easy to deal with. What if we fail?”

The president sat on the side and thought for a long while before saying, “If we fail, we’ll consider the matter of failure then.”

“What the chairman said is actually very clear. Someone is trying to extort $4,000,000 from us. If we bow our heads, then there will be many people trying to extort us next.”

“We can’t set this precedent, gentlemen.”

The executive president and the chairman of the board had the same idea. The vice president naturally would not interfere anymore and kept his mouth shut.

And the director in charge of this matter also remained silent.

“Then let’s leave it at that for now. Call the person you found, have them make a move as soon as possible. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the name Lance Family and Lance White in the newspapers.”

(End of chapter)