Empire of Shadows

Lance had been arrested.

The news spread quickly, reaching almost the entire upper crust of Golden Port society in a very short time.

At the same time, they also learned about the attack on the Kodak Club. It was said that millions in gambling funds had been stolen by the robbers.

For a moment, the telephone lines in Golden Port hit a small peak as many people became concerned with one question—was there a chance to pry this money out of Lance’s mouth?

After all, it was several million, enough to attract their serious attention. And this was just the “loose cash.” Even more people were discussing the possible future developments of the situation.

The mayor learned of the matter immediately as well. Although he had failed in the last round of political struggles and was down on his luck, it didn’t mean he was completely out of touch with the city.

Political opportunists and some allies who hadn’t been too deeply implicated would still pass him some news.

A smile appeared on his face when he heard the news. This was what he wanted to see. The more chaotic the city became, the more people got hurt, the happier he was.

“I’m afraid Lance won’t have an easy time of it,” his secretary remarked casually as he poured him some black tea.

The tea filled the cup, and the rising steam carried a rich aroma of tea, along with hints of spices and even orange peel.Mayor Sidney took a small sip of the tea and thought seriously. After a moment, he put down his cup and said, “The more difficult it is for him, the more advantageous it is for us.”

As he spoke, he picked up the phone. The secretary, somewhat surprised, stood by motionless and silent.

The call was quickly connected. As the heir to the mayor’s political legacy, the mayor never hesitated to share his political experience. The phone was on speaker.

Hunter’s voice came through the small speaker. “It’s me.”

This was the police chief’s private number. Anyone who knew this number was not some nameless nobody, but someone with a certain social standing and influence.

“It’s me…” the mayor said, without revealing his identity.

Another person’s voice came from the small speaker, somewhat muffled and unclear, but soon Hunter seemed to know who it was.

“Your Honor, what can I do for you?”

Although the mayor had lost the political struggle, the ones who defeated him were not Hunter or Charlie.

Even as a loser in the struggle, he was not someone Hunter could ignore.

And for him to recognize the mayor’s voice so quickly could only mean that the person next to him was very familiar with the mayor.

The secretary standing to the side immediately pictured a character with a smiling, seemingly upright face, but who was actually a villain—the Bay Area’s hound, Charlie.

“I hear you’ve arrested Lance?”

The mayor’s question left Hunter at a loss for words. He froze for a moment, then looked at Charlie.

Charlie frowned and wrote the word “purpose” on a piece of paper.

Hunter reacted. “Not arrested. We invited Mr. Lance to the police station to assist us with an investigation. There might have been some incorrect wording when the news was spread outside.”

“May I ask why you are calling so late…”

This was Hunter’s weak point. He was not as good as Charlie in this regard. But then again, Charlie had been in the chief’s position for too long; he knew how to deal with people.

Hunter had always been doing the dirty work behind his back and didn’t need to interact with the Bay Area or politicians, so he was somewhat lacking in this area.

Now, Charlie was still assisting him, which seemed like help but was also a way to limit his development.

“Are you done questioning him?” the mayor asked.

Hunter didn’t understand what this mayor was trying to do so late at night.

He frowned. “We’re not quite done yet.”

This was a very clear answer—it’s not over yet.

A normal conversation should have ended on this point, with the mayor concluding the topic with something like, “Let me know when you have results.”

But the mayor broke this rule, pressing on, “When will you be done?”

Both Hunter and Charlie felt that something was wrong. Charlie wrote something else on the paper, and Hunter replied, “That depends on our understanding of the case. You know, it was the Kodak Family who reported the crime. The losses are huge, and we need to be responsible for the safety and property of our citizens.”

The mayor let out a “hmm,” and one could sense he was not pleased. “Do you have any evidence to prove his involvement in the crime?”

The two felt more and more that the mayor was overstepping, but he was the mayor, after all. Even a politically defeated mayor was not someone they could afford to offend.

And the fewer scruples he had, the harder he was to deal with.

Hunter could only answer honestly, “At present, we have no actual evidence that proves Mr. Lance is connected to this case.”

The next second, the mayor’s voice, filled with anger, came from the other end of the line. “This is absolute nonsense!”

“It’s so late, you have no evidence to prove his guilt, and you’re still holding him. What are you trying to do?”

“Chief Hunter, I’m giving you five minutes to release Lance. If I hear that Lance is still at the police station in five minutes, you can write me a resignation letter tomorrow.”

“That’s all!” With that, he pressed the speakerphone button, ending the call.

The mayor pursed his lips, a smile on his face. He looked at his secretary standing by. “Did you understand?”

The secretary nodded slightly. “Don’t let things stop.”

The mayor was very satisfied with his secretary’s answer. “Since they’ve already started fighting, then don’t let them stop. Soon, more people will join in!”

There was a hint of anticipation on his face. This group had fought him fiercely when they were ganging up on him. So when they fought among themselves, would they also be just as fierce?

The secretary was a little uncertain. “Will Hunter release Lance?”

The mayor couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It had been a long time since he had shown such outward, positive emotion. “He will, and he will do it immediately, because he knows I can really make him lose that job he values so much!”

The mayoralty system was the most basic system of governance in the Federation, meaning that at the level of “city management,” not even the governor had more authority than the mayor.

If the governor and the mayor had a disagreement on certain issues, the governor would first have to find a way to remove the mayor before he could interfere in the city’s management. Otherwise, he could only watch from the sidelines.

In fact, the mayor’s term would be over in seven months. At this time, no one, including Hunter, wanted to provoke him.

Otherwise, with a single executive order from the mayor, Hunter would be out of a job. For the sake of his position and power, he had to do as the mayor demanded.

They made his life difficult, so he would make everyone’s life difficult.

Besides, he and Lance still had an agreement.

On the other end, Hunter’s face was already very grim after he hung up the phone, as was Charlie’s.

Even with Charlie’s deeper cunning, he was helpless in the face of such an unreasonable demand.

He was just about to say something when the phone rang again. Hunter answered it with some reluctance. “This is Hunter.”

“Chief Hunter, hello, this is Municipal Councilman William Lawrence. I am shocked and angry that you have taken Lance away without evidence or legal documents.”

“I hope to see Mr. Lance out of the police station as soon as possible. Otherwise, I will take all necessary measures…”

Everyone knew that William and Lance were on the same side. Hunter was silent for a moment. “I understand.”

Just as he hung up, the phone rang again. Charlie and Hunter looked at each other, their expressions becoming hard to read.

“This is Hunter…”

“Hunter, it’s me, Arthur. I heard you guys arrested Lance?”

Hunter was silent again for a moment. “We asked him to come in to consult on some matters. He’ll be able to leave soon.”

“Is that so?”

“Alright, I understand. That’s all.”

After hanging up, Hunter stood up. He had realized that without evidence, he was completely powerless against Lance.

Charlie also rubbed his temples and signaled that he could go and release him. He, in turn, would consider how to explain this to Bandy later.

Two minutes later, Hunter arrived at the interrogation room. Lance was leaning back in his chair, looking at him with an untroubled expression.

“Is it your turn to interrogate me?” Lance’s face wore a half-smile.

Hunter looked at him for a couple of seconds, then turned and pushed the door open. “You can go.”

The other officers in the interrogation room, including a deputy chief, turned to look at Hunter in disbelief, their expressions seeming to say, “We’ve pissed the guy off completely, and now you’re saying he can go? What kind of stupid thing were we just doing?”

It was strange that a single expression could contain so much meaning, but that’s how it was.

In truth, Hunter didn’t want to let Lance go either. Since he had already offended him, he should have seen it through to the end.

But who the hell knew that Lance had somehow gotten involved with the mayor?

Lance uncrossed his legs, pressed one hand on the table to stand up, and stomped his foot. He took a cigarette from an ivory case.

Roben the lawyer immediately took out a lighter and lit it for Lance. With one hand in his pocket and the other holding the cigarette, Lance blew smoke at Hunter. “Looks like victory came a little earlier than I thought!”

His gaze then shifted to the deputy chief. “I kept thinking we’d met before. You look familiar, but not that familiar.”

The deputy chief turned his head and looked at someone else. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lance smiled and pointed at him. “I remember now, that night!”

He stopped mid-sentence, then laughed twice, flicked his coattails, and pushed past Hunter at the door to walk out.

This left Hunter’s face so grim you could squeeze water from it.

So damn arrogant!

This is my territory!