Empire of Shadows

Lance was not the type to take a punch without hitting back. And when he hit back, he hit back hard.

This wasn’t Roger’s first day at the casino.

Arthur had a friend bring Roger to the casino, where he smoothly signed up for a membership card. He had been visiting for several days now.

He had some wins and some losses, but overall, he lost more than he won, and the house take was significant.

Although the amounts weren’t massive, for an ordinary person, it was still a considerable sum of money.

Coupled with his generous appearance, he had become friendly with the staff at the cashier’s counter in just a few days.

“They do an inventory count once a month, at the end of the month, around the 28th to the 30th.”

“They’ll keep a certain amount of cash on hand, and the rest is sent to the bank for deposit.”

“Normally, they keep about 1 million in cash at the counter. The rest is in their vault. I heard a tip that they also have gold bars and other things that can be quickly liquidated.”

As he spoke, he used a pen to sketch the layout of the first floor on a piece of paper.“The counter is on the right-hand side as you enter. It’s a separate room, no bars, but there is glass.”

“The counter is about 1.5 meters high, with only a small opening about a foot wide. There are two doors inside.”

“One leads to the main hall. I’m not sure where the other one goes.”

“Then inside is the public casino. It’s not very crowded, with most people concentrated at a few tables.”

“As for the people in the private rooms, I have no idea. I haven’t been in one yet.”

Many high-rollers who knew each other would arrange to participate in private card games in one of the rooms. The casino provided the venue, the dealer, and various games; the players just needed to bring their money.

The casino took a 2.5% cut from each round of the game. Since they bore no risk, the fee seemed small.

But in reality, it wasn’t small at all.

Because after every 40 rounds of play, it was equivalent to the casino having collected all the chips on the table for one round.

For the high-stakes games played here, that could be tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand.

These private games were by invitation only. Roger was new to the casino, and the regulars weren’t familiar with him, so they wouldn’t rashly invite him to a game.

It was normal for him not to know.

Lance looked at the rough floor plan he had drawn and placed it on a map of the Bay Area.

What was the best way to make a half-legitimate, half-criminal family like the Kodaks feel pain?

Lance had considered this question.

With a purely criminal gang, the simplest method was to go in killing. Kill until rivers of blood flowed, until they were terrified, until everyone was dead. Then it would all be over.

Against the socialites and politicians of the Bay Area, he had the ledger, which was enough to plunge these outwardly glamorous figures into a vortex of scandal and ruin their reputations.

But neither of these methods was very effective against the Kodak Family.

If you killed their men, they could just use their money to quickly recruit more people to die for them.

Expose their scandals?

They wouldn’t care. Their foundation was what it was, and they didn’t care what others said. No one would really risk their life to gossip about their dirty laundry.

So, the best method was to take their money.

They had to deliver a large amount of profit to their superiors at regular intervals. If they suddenly couldn’t produce the money, they would have to find a way to fill the gap.

Not only that, but it would also make their superiors question their competence.

The attention of the rulers is never on the low-level rebels who can kill the privileged class, but on the useless privileged class who gets killed by the low-level rebels.

This was Roger’s first time participating in such a “plan,” and he was currently buzzing with excitement.

Of course, there was a high probability he wouldn’t be needed… no, he would be useful.

“They will definitely be on high alert for the next two days. Don’t expose yourself yet.”

“Arrange for two new faces to go in with you tomorrow. Do they search you?” Lance asked.

Roger nodded. “No, but they ask us to leave any dangerous items in the safe at the counter. Otherwise, unpleasant things might happen.”

“I’ve noticed they observe what we carry on us. Someone helps us take off our coats, and if we were carrying a weapon, it would definitely show.”

He even stood up and tucked a hand into his coat, pretending to hold a weapon, then turned in a circle.

Whether it was a pistol or another weapon, it was hard to conceal completely. It would create a bulge in the coat or at the waist.

If you showed any signs, the doorman would ask you to leave your weapon behind. Otherwise, for the safety of the other guests, they wouldn’t let you in.

This practice was supported by all the members. After all, they were there to relax, not to take risks.

Sometimes the casino would even request a body search, which everyone also supported.

“But I noticed they don’t inspect my briefcase. They open it, but just glance inside, give it a cursory flip-through, and then close it.”

He provided a very important clue. Lance pointed at him. “You’ve made a great contribution!”

A humble smile appeared on Roger’s face. “It’s what I ought to do.”

Lance looked at Elvin. “Ask the gunsmith. Isn’t he good with sheet metal?”

“Ask him if he can make a convenient briefcase that we can use.”

“We’ll wait a couple of days. When they let their guard down, we’ll hit them!”

The men around them grew excited. This job could net them at least a million.

The next morning, Stone, having just left the Kodak Club, frowned at the crowd of onlookers on the street.

Yesterday’s events had put them all on edge, constantly worrying about retaliation from Lance’s men.

From a results perspective, Lance had come out on top, but this kind of thing wasn’t judged by the outcome.

It’s like if you try to punch someone, miss, and get beaten up instead. You can’t say they attacked you; you were just unlucky.

If the other party demands compensation or seeks revenge, it’s perfectly reasonable.

Today, Stone was making the rounds between several casinos with his men. At the same time, all the private gambling games in the villas had been suspended.

The gentlemen of the Bay Area could understand his concerns. If Lance targeted them, it would be bad for everyone.

He had seven or eight men with him. If you looked closely, you could see the distinct unevenness under their coats at the shoulder—shoulder straps. They were all armed.

“What’s going on?” he asked, calling over a security guard from the entrance.

A large crowd had gathered on the side of the road in the distance, and the faint sounds of arguing and shouting could be heard. The situation was tense, and even the slightest disturbance made him nervous.

The guard, unaware of the details, replied casually, “Mr. Stone, two cars had a fender bender over there, and they started arguing.”

The guard even mimicked how the two drivers had escalated their verbal greetings into a heated argument.

“Disperse them.”

The guard looked troubled. “They already called the police…”

“The police?” Stone was taken aback for a moment but quickly lost interest in the matter.

The guard continued to nod. “Someone called the police.”

Stone walked towards the crowd and watched for a while.

In the middle of the crowd, two fashionably dressed young men stood by their cars, cursing loudly, showing no class at all.

He glanced at the two cars; the point of impact was indeed quite bad.

Gawking is human nature, here or anywhere else. He didn’t leave, but waited until the police car arrived before leaving with his men.

After the police arrived, they made a simple ruling—50-50 responsibility for both parties—and then sent them on their way.

The two seemingly disgruntled young men drove off, and the crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed. With the show over, the security guard returned to his post.

“It took a total of nine minutes from the time the police were called until they arrived.”

In a nearby coffee shop, Lance glanced at his watch and jotted down the time in a notebook.

He took a sip of his coffee. It tasted pretty good.

Compared to the one or two-cent coffee elsewhere, the cheapest coffee here was ten cents, clearly a notch above. After all, this was the Starlight District, famous throughout the Federation.

Famous for its prices, its glamour, and its fashion!

“Can we pull off the entire plan in nine minutes?” he asked, putting down his cup and licking his lips.

It seemed like he was asking someone else, but he was really asking himself.

If you told the Lance Family to go in and just start shooting without thinking, no problem.

But to have them plan a precision robbery, they were probably a little lacking.

Elvin sat opposite him without a word. He knew the question wasn’t for him.

If he could answer or even handle such a thing, he wouldn’t have ended up as a worker on the docks.

Lance scribbled and sketched as he nibbled on a small pastry.

“We need bombs. If that glass is bulletproof and we can’t break it quickly, their vault will lock down!”

…

In Creek Valley City, a director put down the phone and thought for a moment before contacting a local prop provider.

As the Creek Valley City Hall began to prioritize filmmaking as a key direction for the city’s development, more and more film crews flocked in from all over, and supporting industries were actively following suit.

For example, prop companies.

These companies specialized in providing all sorts of props for movies that required “big scenes.”

From making armor and sheet metal cars to providing fake blood packs that burst and even explosives—as long as you paid, they provided everything.

The director contacted the prop company currently working with his studio and inquired about explosives.

Filming certain genres required explosives, and buying them directly was very troublesome. It required providing the necessary documentation to the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.

Explosives were included in the “Hazardous Materials” managed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Hazardous Materials. So, in other words, the so-called “Prohibition Bureau” actually had regulatory power over companies that filmed explosions.

To facilitate filming and minimize trouble, many prop companies would help handle these issues. They could provide the production companies with the corresponding “props.”

All they had to do was notify the prop company when they were going to use them, and a safety supervisor from the prop company would oversee the use of the explosives.

Wanli Productions was not a small company, and the new movie they released this year had received high praise from the media and film critics. The prop company was also hoping to establish a deep cooperative relationship with a production company that was clearly developing ahead of its peers.

So, after they signed an agreement, the prop company delivered the explosives to the location specified by the director.

A short time later, a young man knocked on the director’s door and took away two bombs.

As for why he didn’t ask Alberto?

Lance was worried about “traitors” in the Pasoretto Family. After all, the Five Families had been united before. It was possible they might leak some information to the Kodak Family, even if it was unintentional or just a slip of the tongue.

…

“Once we succeed with the robbery, they’ll be on our tail quickly. We’ll be facing a high-speed chase. We need a sturdy, fast car…”

…

Several fast cars were brought into a garage. The person in charge of modifications picked up his tools and began to alter these luxury cars, which cost tens of thousands each.

Although time was tight, the structure of cars from this era was relatively simple. In just a few days, these cars would be modified to meet Lance’s requirements.

Steel plates stacked in a corner would provide them with the most reliable defense, and he had even designed some “firing ports.”

If he didn’t have to keep a low profile, he would have even considered just building an armored car from scratch.

An armored car held no technical mysteries for him. It was basically just an outer shell and a powerful engine.

He had the engines now; all he needed was the metal shell.

The sounds of cutting and welding in the garage continued late into the night…

…

“We need to run through it a few times as soon as possible to make sure there are no problems with our operation…”

…

Mello found an abandoned factory near the suburbs. Based on Roger’s sketch, he had his men set up a simple layout, largely recreating the real situation.

Lance led his men in drills. He knew that behind every successful robbery lay hard work and sweat.

Situations where a robbery succeeded on the first try without calculation, planning, or rehearsal only happened in morality plays, not in real life.

To make the situation more realistic, Lance even shortened the time, setting the police response time from the call to arrival at seven minutes.

After all, a “traffic accident” and an “armed robbery” were not on the same level, and the police’s attitude would be different.

“Faster!” Lance panted slightly, having the men push the stacks of bundled paper and gold bars back into place.

This time it took eight minutes. Logically, that should have been good enough, but he needed it to be shorter, faster.

Robbery and masturbation are essentially the same. It’s not instinctual; at first, you have no idea how to get a satisfying release.

Only through repeated attempts do you finally find the method that suits you, allowing you to hit every spot, every detail, and only release after everything is fully stretched out.

They came out of the factory building. Lance checked the time. When the second hand pointed to sixty, he yanked open the car door.

The men in the car immediately piled out. Lance led the charge into the hall, conveniently shooting two “wooden security guards” along the way…

With a series of coordinated movements, everyone knew what they had to do and where they had to stand. They were so familiar with it they couldn’t be more so.

In Hiram’s words, he could now do his part with his eyes closed.

And that was exactly the effect Lance wanted—for everyone to know what they were doing instead of running around like headless chickens.

When they had thrown the bags of money into the car, pushed the gold bars in, and everyone was seated, Lance pulled out the crown of his watch.

The moment the crown was pulled out, the watch stopped.

“Seven minutes!”

The faces of the young men around him were filled with excitement. Lance pushed the crown back in. “Rest for a bit. We’ll do it two more times. We need to be consistent.”

“I want you to know, I’m not doing this to be difficult. The risk of this operation is high, and I must be responsible for your safety.”

The others all expressed their understanding and willingness to cooperate.

In truth, Lance had a few other tricks up his sleeve, like causing a traffic accident to slightly delay the police cars from reaching the scene.

But these were ultimately minor tactics. If the road was blocked, they could take a detour. The most crucial factor was still speed.

Lance also had several drivers practice on the actual routes, pushing their speed as much as possible.

That evening, the group sat in a courtyard around a fire pit.

Although it was still a bit cold, it wasn’t unbearable.

With the fire pit, no one felt cold. There was also some food on the grill. They ate barbecue and chatted.

“Lance, give this operation a name,” someone suggested.

The others immediately chimed in. Lance smiled and thought for a moment. “Let’s call it… Operation Broken Blade.”

On Saturday night, after several days of keeping watch for trouble from Lance’s crew that never came, the Kodak Family began to relax their guard slightly.

Weekend nights were the busiest time at the Kodak Club, and Stone had arrived early.

He sat in the manager’s office, looking down at the casino’s main hall through the window. Although there weren’t many tables and it wasn’t as crowded as the Golden Port Casino, the family placed great importance on this location.

Not only was the cash flow here high, but more importantly, the guests who gambled here were either rich or noble.

They used this method to divide their customers into two groups: the poor and the rich.

By providing better service to the rich, they expanded their network of connections and aided the family’s development. It had to be said that this method had indeed brought them a lot of help.

He held his wine glass, frowning as he thought about the events of the past few days.

Bandy had contacted Figal of the Keane Family. Figal had agreed to act as a mediator for this matter, setting up a meeting between Lance and Bandy to help them make peace.

Bandy hadn’t told Figal the truth. As long as Lance was willing to come, it would be the day he died.

But would Lance come?

Stone didn’t know. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he had to acknowledge that Lance was definitely a formidable character.

There was a high probability he wouldn’t come, but who knew?

As he pondered these things, the clock struck 8:30 PM. The nightlife had begun, and the casino was getting more and more crowded.

A strange-looking convoy of cars was rapidly approaching…

(End of Chapter)

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