Empire of Shadows

Before even entering the room, Lance could hear the most tragic screams coming from inside the wooden house.

The person at the door took the initiative to open the wooden door for Lance. Lance bent over slightly and entered the wooden house.

The wooden house had been redecorated once. It had now become a place for executions.

The walls and floors were easy to clean. Even if a whole basin of blood was splashed on them, in the end, they could be cleaned up spotlessly, leaving no trace.

One of the gunmen was sitting in a chair, completely naked. In this weather of only a few degrees, his body was a bit blue from the cold.

He had many wounds on his body. These were all the results of the execution.

Beside him was a small cart. On the small cart was a white plate, on which were a few bloody teeth, and two or three fingernails.

Most of the instruments of torture were stained with blood. Lance was a little surprised to see this and looked at the person being tortured, then turned his head to look at the guy next to him who was panting slightly, in charge of the execution.

A young captain named Devon, one of the newly promoted captains.

“Has he not confessed yet?”Devon was a little embarrassed. “He has actually already confessed.”

Lance looked at him. Devon scratched his head. Lawn, standing in the corner, explained for him, “The young man who died was his good friend.”

Understood.

Lance walked over and patted his arm. “Just clean it up when you leave.”

Devon showed a grateful expression. “I know what to do, Boss.”

He turned his head to look at the guy. His body was already a little numb.

After being sent here, he was first given a severe beating, then stripped of his clothes and tied to this special chair, this cold chair.

Then this madman in front of him began to torture him. He no longer hoped to be able to leave alive. He only hoped to die a quick and painless death.

“Kill me…” he said indistinctly, his whole cheek swollen.

Devon had used pliers to directly pull out several of his teeth. The sharp, piercing pain was driving him mad.

There was also urine from incontinence on the chair he was sitting on and under his feet. Lance took a few steps back.

“They are from a gang in Golden State called the Black Blood Gang. It was their Boss who sent them. Currently, they are under the orders of a person named Steven Johnson. They are not very clear who this person is, but their Boss told them to listen to this person.”

Lawn couldn’t help but laugh. “They said their goal was to kill you.”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “It seems they really hate me.”

“After all, it’s $4,000,000.”

He walked to Lawn’s side and stood, looking at Devon. “Do you have any other tricks?”

“If not, then I’m leaving.”

Devon nodded and took out a very interesting instrument. It had two claws, like clips, and a plug.

The guy, who could barely open his eyes, couldn’t help but start cursing when he saw these things, but his hands and feet were bound to the chair with iron wire. He couldn’t struggle free.

Devon clipped one of them to his dick, and then the other to his arm…

Lance cursed and took the initiative to leave. He actually couldn’t stand this either.

Lawn followed him and handed him a piece of paper with some clues recorded on it. On it were some names, times, places, and a phone number.

“What do you plan to do?”

Lance was silent for a moment as he looked at the information in his hand, then looked at Lawn. “Since they want to kill me, they can’t blame me for fighting back.”

“Are you going to Golden State?”

Lance held the paper and walked towards the car. “They can come, so I can naturally go too.”

“We don’t have to hand these people over to Chief Bruce for now. Except for the one who was killed by him, let’s lock up the others first. After we’ve settled the matter, we’ll hand them over.”

Lance had expected the Liji Group to make a move, but he hadn’t expected them to actually set their sights on William.

But this wasn’t too surprising. He was always surrounded by a lot of people when he went out. For this group of outside gangsters to try to make a move on him and still want to succeed, the difficulty was too low.

On the contrary, kidnapping William was a good idea.

Especially when he saw these people say that they planned to use a bomb to blow him and William up together. If William was really kidnapped, there might really be this possibility.

If he ignored the fact that William was kidnapped, then he wouldn’t be him.

Fortunately, the strategy he had been using to run his family was correct. By having more of his men on the streets and complementing them with the “cameras” in Bolton’s hands, he could quickly provide support to any place on his turf at any time.

But at the same time, this also meant that he had to occupy more territory. Only in this way could he ensure that the entire city was under his control.

After getting into the car, he quickly returned to the company. Elvin and the others also knew what had happened. Lance showed them the paper, and everyone was furious.

“What do you plan to do?” Elvin asked.

The voices of the people around him quieted down at once. Lance propped his chin with both hands and looked at them. “I plan to go to Golden State to pay these people a visit.”

His eyes moved down and looked at the paper with these materials recorded on it, at the name on it. “Let’s pay a visit to this… Mr. Steven Johnson first.”

Elvin asked again, “Kill him?”

“What about the others?”

Lance pursed his lips. “The others?”

“The ones on top are all small characters. Get rid of Steven, and then use his death to intimidate the people who are controlling him from behind.”

“As long as we let these people understand that he can indeed cause us trouble, but we also have the ability to fight back.”

“Although I don’t want to admit it, I have to say that we can’t solve everyone, at least not for now.”

Mello said from the side, “That’s true. The scale of the Liji Group is too large. They have deep connections with the high-level politicians and celebrities of the Federation. If we go too far, it might cause dissatisfaction against us.”

Congress can control the army. No matter how strong a gang is, it is no match for the army.

So killing a key, but not-so-important character, this matter might just end here.

As for the future?

If he could continue to grow stronger, maybe one day, he could ignore these people and the connections hidden behind them.

“So, who plans to go to Golden State with me for some fun?”

Except for Mello, everyone raised their hands.

Sometimes having too many people is not very convenient. For example, at this time, choosing who to take and who not to take is a trouble.

Golden State was located in the central-northern part of the Federation, also on the long coastline of the eastern part of the continent. If Golden Port was a new city that had gradually started to gain economic momentum due to geographical factors after international trade began to flourish…

Then Golden State and New Golden City had always been the engine core of the Federation.

This was the center of the Federation, in terms of economy, politics, and culture. It was the heart of this country.

All the best things were concentrated here, and with New Golden City as the center, they continuously spread to the surrounding areas. The entire Golden State had gained huge opportunities because of New Golden City. This place indeed looked much more developed than Likalai State.

After all, one was an old and powerful city, and the other was a new city. They were certainly different.

Even in terms of population, there was a huge difference. According to the federal government’s own statistics, New Golden City already had a permanent population of over six million at this time, making it one of the largest cities in the world.

Many experts and scholars believed that it would also be the center of the world in the future, if it continued to develop at its current speed.

This time, Lance and his crew came directly by train. The long journey would have taken longer if they had driven. The train was much more convenient, and people would not be so tired.

As the train began to enter Golden State, New Golden City appeared on the horizon, a city completely different from Golden Port, and even more spectacular, magnificent, and prosperous, appeared before them.

Many times, Lance and his people had felt that Golden Port should be the most prosperous city in the Federation. Until they entered here, they had all thought so.

But after entering here, they no longer thought so.

There were high-rise buildings everywhere. The tallest building in Golden Port was only a little over a hundred meters, and most of them were still buildings of forty or fifty meters, sixty or seventy meters.

But here, buildings of over a hundred meters could be seen everywhere, and some might even be two hundred meters high.

This was like an industrial spectacle, condensed in a city. Anyone who came here from other places would be so shocked by these miracles that their brains would lose the ability to think, as if they had suddenly entered a “world of giants.”

Getting off at the train station, Alan stared at the surrounding skyscrapers, his eyes almost popping out.

Some people passing by them would linger on them for a moment, and then show obvious expressions and actions of avoidance, walking around them.

Lance spread his hands with a smile. “It seems we are being disliked.”

Actually, their attire was not bad, but their “country bumpkin in the city” appearance made the people of New Golden City, who were used to seeing high-end clothes, not so sensitive to them.

“Let’s go, let’s find a place to stay first.”

Lance picked up his suitcase and walked towards the outside of the station. A group of people followed closely behind him, and soon they merged into the crowd and became a part of the masses.

They found a hotel close to the city center and stayed there. The long journey was very tiring, both physically and psychologically. They all needed to rest.

The next morning, everyone gathered together again. Lance enjoyed the breakfast provided by the hotel while reading the Federation Daily.

Although he was a gang leader, he was also very concerned about national affairs.

“Negotiations Break Down, Where Will the Two Countries Go?”

Today’s front-page headline. Below it was a subtitle—

The Federation Government and the Dantra Republic Cannot Reach an Agreement on International Trade Issues.

The hotel’s breakfast was very delicious, but Lance’s attention was now all on this newspaper.

The newspaper stated that the ambassador of the Dantra Republic had requested that the federal government immediately stop transporting supplies to Slade (a country), but was rejected by the federal government.

The Secretary of State stated that the Federation did not have a clear bias towards either side in the Tanfit continent’s war. Slade could buy supplies from the Federation, so Dantra could also buy supplies from the Federation.

There was no reason for the Federation, a country not involved in the war, to stop its normal international trade activities just because Dantra and Slade were in a state of war.

The two sides argued endlessly about this. The Dantra ambassador believed that the Federation’s ass was already crooked and used some threatening means to try to coerce the Federation to obey them, but did not achieve any result.

The political columnist who wrote this article felt uneasy about some of the things that might happen next. In the middle and late parts of the article, he analyzed some of the things that might happen.

At the same time, he proposed that the Federation merchants doing business in the Dantra Republic, and the Federation citizens residing there, should leave Dantra and return to the Federation as soon as possible.

The intensification of the war might lead the Prime Minister of the Dantra Republic to use some extreme and radical means to protect what they believed to be their legitimate rights and interests.

Seeing this, Lance already felt that the war was actually not far from the Federation.

Perhaps just one “punishment” in a fit of anger could trigger a larger-scale war.

After finishing breakfast, they had a short gathering in Lance’s room, and then went to do their own things.

Transportation, they had to have it.

They had brought their own weapons, but they definitely needed some supplements.

In addition, they had to investigate clearly who this “Steven Johnson” was, what role he played in the Liji Group, where he lived, and figure out some of the terrain and environment, and finally formulate an action plan.

This might take two or three, or even three or five days. Launching a plan hastily was not a good decision.

Besides doing these things, Lance also wanted to use his own eyes to personally feel and experience this huge city.

The countless shops on the street, and the exquisite goods behind the bright showcases.

The rich aroma coming from the roadside bakeries, and the sausages and various meat products hanging from the roofs of the delis.

The girls on the street wearing fur coats, but with brightly colored dresses underneath, had become an unignorable microcosm of this city.

It was like a huge living thing. Everyone was just a cell in its body, a kind of life rhythm that was clearer and more detailed than in Golden Port, flowing in this city.

Lance stood on the street, looking at everything here. A smile appeared on his face.

It was just so inexplicable, or rather, he smiled with a knowing heart. He liked this city, liked its pulse, liked its atmosphere.

For several days in a row, they were busy investigating various intelligence, and in the end, they gradually figured out the results Lance wanted.

The Liji Group had its own building in New Golden City, ninety-nine meters high, with thirty-two floors. Many years ago, it was also considered a landmark building.

But in recent years, as the Federation’s infrastructure began to show its power, and with the progress in the industrial field, high-rise buildings were built one after another, and the Liji Group’s building was no longer considered a tall building.

It was said that a building with a total design height of 249 meters had already started construction and would become the new tallest building in New Golden City.

And its goal was to break the record of the tallest building in New Golden City from more than a decade ago.

Using height to measure wealth had become a new game for the rich here.

If you think you are rich, then do you have a “tallest” building that can set off your wealth?

The smell of money permeated every corner of this city, making people intoxicated, fascinated by it.

Steven tugged at his tie knot forcefully, letting it stay in a slightly loose state.

This made him feel a little more comfortable.

After maintaining his appearance for a day, he could finally not be so tense when he got off work, which was much more comfortable.

These few days, he had tried to contact the people in Golden Port, but to no effect. He realized that something might have happened over there.

The “accident” of the specialist and his team had already been confirmed by the Golden Port police department. It was just an “accident.”

At the same time, the workers who had caused the wheat to sprout had all been brought to justice. The prosecutor had directly filed a lawsuit against them.

Although the appellate court had not yet rejected the Liji Group’s appeal request, they had already heard the news through some internal sources.

Once the Golden Port city court opened a trial on the property damage case, the appellate court would reject the Liji Group’s appeal, and then unless they appealed to the Federal Supreme Court…

The lawyers told them that even if they appealed to the Federal Supreme Court, the result would most likely not change.

Because the judiciary is an independent and vertical department. To ensure the majesty and accuracy of the judiciary, the Supreme Court will definitely first respect the trial results and explanations of the local courts.

As long as there are no problems with the trial process of the local court, the judgment will be based on the results of the local court.

This case had been split. The Supreme Court would also only reject it.

If they wanted to drag this case on in the Supreme Court, then they would have to lobby those real “justices,” which was not a simple public relations project.

The company was internally discussing how to deal with it next. There was still no definite answer. Once they decided to give up the appeal, they would have to face a compensation of $4 million.

But if they didn’t give up the appeal, they would have to persuade the justices to adopt their point of view, and then continue to make meaningless efforts in a lawsuit that they were highly unlikely to win.

Not only were the public relations fees not cheap, but the final result would most likely not change.

And Lance had not yet appeared in the news. This made Steven get a scolding from the president.

He could understand the president’s bad mood. After all, so much money was at stake, concerning the vital interests of the shareholders and directors. He could understand.

Now, he needed to go back and take a hot bath, then have a drink and relax.

He threw his clothes on the passenger seat and drove out of the company’s parking lot.

The parking lot attendant even took the initiative to bow and greet him, but he didn’t even bother to glance at him.

The car merged into the traffic. A mega-city with a population of several million was no joke during rush hour. The traffic was very congested.

He impatiently honked his horn, but it didn’t get him any acceleration.

Seeing that he was getting closer and closer to the expressway, his mood also began to gradually improve. Suddenly, the car in front of him had an accident.

This made his head start to ache.

He slammed the steering wheel, honked the horn, and even stuck his head out of the car window and cursed.

Just as he was not paying attention, someone pulled open the back door of the car and got in.

He turned his head sharply and looked at the person in the back seat with a frown. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Get out of my car.”

(End of chapter)

The novel has already been fully translated up to the last updated chapter (c1300). You can access it on my Patreon at /caleredhair