Empire of Shadows

All night, Nate couldn’t get any proper rest. He lay on the living room sofa, thinking about what Director Bruce had told him.

He had to admit one thing: his good classmate had very unique views on many issues, and he had also shown him a higher level of gamesmanship and struggle.

The defeated mayoral faction—he had once asked Director Bruce, “How can you be sure you can become the new chief?” Then he said that Lance had already taken care of the mayor.

As long as Hunter was finished, the mayor would appoint him as the chief of the city police department, fully in charge of the Golden Port police force.

As an old police officer, one who had worked in the city police department for twenty years, he was very clear about one thing.

There was no such thing as “purity” in the police force.

This was not to say that the entire police force itself had a problem, but that this was just how society was.

Just like the case of the assault after the car accident, where the victim and the perpetrator eventually reached an out-of-court settlement. A person full of righteousness would be angry about it, but after the anger, what then?

If the police department arrested the gentleman’s child, they would soon face political pressure.

From municipal councilmen to state assemblymen, all committee members related to the police system would call their chief one by one.The mayor would also call their chief, hinting both overtly and covertly about how this matter should be handled.

Then some companies would suddenly announce layoffs and pay cuts. The gentleman could mobilize at least a few hundred to a thousand people to protest at the police station, and would even incite some people to throw rocks or garbage.

They would follow the officers handling the case, threatening and intimidating their families. Society would become a mess.

The whole city would be filled with complaining people, and the other party involved might lose their job, have their house and car repossessed, and no company in the city would hire them.

They would have to flee Golden Port with their families in disgrace to start over in another city, and it wasn’t certain they could really start over.

This was the price of “justice”!

But what about the other way around?

The victim received a sum of money, a sum that was nothing to the gentlemen, but a large extra income for the victim.

No harassment from municipal councilmen, state assemblymen, the mayor, or any other officials. No workers on strike protesting outside the police station. No one smashing the windows of the police station or the officers’ homes.

Everything was so peaceful, as if nothing had ever happened.

And!

From the chief to the officers, lawyers, and judges who handled the case, everyone could get a reward from it.

Everyone was satisfied, no one was dissatisfied, and no one had to pay a price.

This was the truest, most foolish, but also the most helpless side of this society.

Sometimes, justice is not necessarily what people really want.

Now, such a “justice” was placed before him. All he had to do was flip it over, and it would be an opportunity.

He didn’t fall asleep until the sky was getting light. After a short nap, he was lured up by the smell of breakfast.

With something on his mind, he couldn’t sleep. His wife came over with a salad bowl she was tossing and kissed him on the cheek. “Sweetheart, you’re so sweet!”

“You don’t have to worry about waking me up. Compared to my sleep, I’d rather you be lying in a soft bed, not the sofa!”

His children also came out of their bedrooms. His young son said in surprise, “Mom, are you saying Dad slept on the sofa all night? Can I?”

The lady of the house stood with her hands on her hips, looking at their young son. “Don’t even think about it!”

His young son had always wanted to sleep on the sofa for a night but had always been refused.

Nate forced a smile. After eating breakfast and escaping the trivialities of family life, he quickly arrived at the police station.

When he had let Director Bruce stay, he had already made his decision.

After entering his office, he called over the people from his team. “You didn’t go back last night?”

Two of his subordinates sat in the chairs opposite him, rubbing their eyes. “No, Hunter wouldn’t let us. But fortunately, he couldn’t take it anymore around four o’clock, so we all got some sleep.”

Nate nodded. “Has anyone cracked those hard bones yet?”

His two subordinates shook their heads. “Not yet. These guys are tough. Even when they’re beaten into shock, they refuse to talk.”

“I really don’t know what kind of potion Lance has given them to make them protect him like this.”

Nate understood a little. Young men of this age, especially those who had experienced battles, would have a sense of bloody courage and loyalty that made them disregard life.

But there were also some who were cunning and afraid of death. Hunter was looking for those who were afraid of death, but he couldn’t deal with so many people in one or two hours.

Nate nodded. Just as he was about to say something, the phone on his desk rang. It was an internal call.

He picked it up and heard Hunter’s voice. “Come to my office.”

Hunter was awake.

He put down the receiver and rubbed his face. His eyes were bloodshot.

These people were so damn disobedient. He had to find another way to pry their mouths open.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door. He said, “Come in.”

Then Nate entered the room. Hunter asked him to close the door tightly.

“It’ll be a little tiring for the next two days. I’ll give you a vacation after this is over.”

Nate nodded without expressing an opinion. Hunter didn’t mind; they had worked together for a long time. These were just casual words.

“I remember you had a case last time where we seized a batch of Maple Iris Grass?”

Maple Iris Grass was an herbaceous plant, native to the area, but not common.

In the past, the natives used it more often because it had a strong hallucinogenic effect and was also quite harmful to people. If the dose was too high, it could cause a person to become a vegetable or even lead to death.

In 922, the federal government legislated to classify Maple Iris Grass as a high-risk plant. Whether it was planting, transporting, storing, possessing, selling, or using it… all were illegal acts.

And a nationwide campaign to eradicate Maple Iris Grass was launched. Now it was almost extinct, with only some laboratories and the like still having its seeds.

But it was impossible for this kind of thing to be completely eradicated from the market. They had previously caught a case of transportation and sale and obtained more than a dozen seeds.

Logically, these things should have been destroyed immediately, but Charlie hadn’t done so at the time. He had Hunter remind Nate to forget about it, as they might be able to use it sometime in the future.

So this small bag of contraband was placed in a corner of the evidence room.

Maple Iris Grass was also within the management scope of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, but this thing’s side effects were too great, and few people would use it because there were other substitutes.

Although its toxicity was high, it was said that some truth serums contained a component of Maple Iris Grass.

Nate’s eyebrows twitched slightly when he heard this. If something went wrong, he would definitely be held responsible, and no one could bear this problem.

He suddenly understood the decision Director Bruce had made, and what he had said.

Under immense pressure, Hunter had become somewhat crazy.

Nate nodded and said, “There is such a thing. But Hunter, even if we use Maple Iris Grass to make them talk, will these testimonies really be useful?”

“Will they really be able to play a role in court?”

“We all know they are Lance’s men. What we need now is for them to stand up and testify against Lance, not for the judge to know they are Lance’s men.”

Although what he said was a bit convoluted, Hunter understood. He was also a little annoyed. “But no one is willing to stand up now!”

He had no other choice. Now that he had arrested so many of Lance’s men, he could already imagine that Lance wanted his life.

He had to race against time. As long as he could find someone to accuse Lance of operating those bars, to testify that he was the family’s Boss, and remotely controlled these gang members to commit numerous crimes, then they could get the legal documents to directly arrest Lance and put him in prison, never to come out.

The more high-profile a character was, the more complete and strict the evidence needed to be, because this kind of case could not be resolved locally at all.

Lance would definitely appeal to the appellate court, and even the federal supreme court, so the evidence had to be clear and effective.

This was also the reason why Hunter was very anxious now. The longer it dragged on, the more preparations Lance could make!

Hoping that the Kodak Family would beat them?

To hell with that!

Last night he had noticed that the casualties of the Kodak Family were much more than Lance’s. They were no match for the Lance Family at all!

He had to do it himself!

Hunter’s mania and madness had made Nate, who was still hesitating, make a decision. He had his own family, a wife, children, and a future. He had no need to gamble his everything with Hunter.

If the gamble paid off, it would be Hunter and Charlie’s celebration, with nothing to do with him.

But if they lost, he would have to go to hell with Hunter at least. Why should he gamble?

“I think these people were just arrested last night. They still have some hope. When we wear down their patience a little and let them know that not only can they not leave, but they might also spend the rest of their lives in prison, they will panic.”

“At that time, some of them will definitely be willing to stand up and testify against Lance, which can help us achieve our goal. You need to be a little patient.”

Hunter really wanted to destroy something, but he also knew that Nate was right. He could only take a deep breath. “Yes, I should listen to you on this matter.”

“You go and handle it. See if you can get them to talk. You can promise them some conditions. As long as they sign a confession and are willing to help us testify against Lance and the Lance Family, I can promise that their sentence will not exceed three years…”

This was obviously also an illegal act of inducing a confession, but the federal government would not deal with it, because since the Department of Justice had set a “wrong example” a few years ago to settle cases as soon as possible, now various places, in order to speed up the case handling process, have begun to use this set of plea bargaining for a reduced sentence.

To put it bluntly, it was a transaction between justice and evil.

Nate stood up. “You get some rest. I’ll keep an eye on things this morning…”

(End of a Chapter)