Empire of Shadows

After Lance hung up the phone, he immediately made a call to Figal. When the call was connected and he announced his name, the other end of the line fell into complete silence.

Figal had never imagined that under these circumstances, Lance would still call him, but he also felt that this call had come at just the right time.

In the middle of the night, those high-level cadres had all returned. When they learned that the plan had fallen through and the Kodak Family’s reinforcements had been cut off, everyone had a strange expression on their faces.

They had been played like a globe in the palm of a hand!

Amidst the turmoil of complex emotions, Figal had a very uncomfortable night.

He did not show any rage, nor was he sarcastic. He just asked softly, “Are you calling me just to show off that you have the upper hand?”

“No, no, I’m not that shallow. I just think that the two of us should have a talk.”

“A talk?”

“Yes, a talk.”

Figal thought for a moment. He certainly didn’t dare to talk to Lance face to face. Maybe as soon as he sat down, Lance would pull out a gun and kill him.But to have Lance come to his manor to talk to him, he estimated that Lance would not do that either. He was definitely not a fool.

Even if he repeatedly guaranteed that he would not make a move on Lance, if he really came, he would still not be able to control himself from killing Lance and ending all of this.

He couldn’t trust Lance, and he couldn’t trust himself, which made him feel very depressed.

“Let’s just talk on the phone.”

Lance did not object. “What do you think of the recent tense situation between us?”

After thinking seriously for a while, Figal said, “I don’t think much of it. You attacked us, that’s all.”

It was hard to believe that he could actually talk to Lance so calmly now, and he wasn’t even that angry.

When did he become so magnanimous?

How come he didn’t even know it himself?

Maybe it was because he had suffered too many setbacks recently!

After all, a person’s growth is inseparable from pain.

The pain of falling before learning to walk, the pain of tripping while running, the pain of not being good enough at school, the pain of not being able to make money after entering society…

The pain he had suffered during this time had also made him grow.

He was a little expectant, wanting to know what Lance could say.

“Last night, Bandy arranged for at least one or two hundred gunmen to come and support you, but they were intercepted on the way.”

“Not only were many of their men killed or injured, but even Stone is in my hands.”

Figal frowned. He knew about this, but he didn’t know why Lance had to say it. “You think I don’t know?”

“No, I know you know. You must have talked to Bandy.”

“I’m saying these things just to make you recognize a reality.”

“That is, no matter what happens next, Bandy will no longer support you.”

He finally reacted!

Because of supporting him, they had lost a core family member and had suffered heavy casualties.

If he wanted to persuade Bandy to help him again, it was almost impossible!

If it were him, he would do the same.

He didn’t know if the next move would be known to Lance in advance, if it would be obstructed and eliminated by him like this, so that all the plans would not achieve their goals, and he would also have lost so much.

He would not easily promise others that he would lend a helping hand again. So, in turn, would Bandy still help him?

He thought that there was a high probability that he wouldn’t, if Lance held on to Stone.

This also made his mood low, and his face visibly became much uglier. Unfortunately, Lance couldn’t see it.

“If you just wanted to tell me this, then you’ve succeeded.”

“Even if it’s just us, we won’t give in!” His voice was firm, but… not so absolutely firm.

Lance laughed twice. “Figal, in fact, there isn’t much conflict between us. Even that accident was instigated by others.”

“Have you ever thought about it? We’ve always been at peace. Why did an accident just happen to occur when I was launching an attack on the Kodak Family?”

This question made Figal’s mood even worse. He had definitely thought about it!

He had even cursed those subordinates who had died in the first attack. Who else could they have provoked but the Lance Family?

Even if they had really done it, killed the person, killed the witness, and then hidden and pretended that it had nothing to do with them, it would have been much better than just beating those people up and leaving!

This was like a deliberate provocation, but it had already happened, so he could only deal with it.

Now that Lance was bringing this up again, driven by instinct and the desire to shirk responsibility, he felt that what Lance said was very, very reasonable.

However, he was not a yes-man. “So what?”

Lance said with a smile, “You are isolated and helpless now, Figal.”

“Don’t think that just you guys are enough to fight against me. You can’t do it. We all know it.”

“Believe it or not, with just one phone call, in one week, I can have you completely wiped out of Golden Port City?”

Figal sneered. He had tried his best to control his temper, but when he heard such arrogant words, he still couldn’t help but retort, “Then let’s give it a try?”

“Even if you can really do it, Lance, I guarantee I will knock out a tooth of yours!”

After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone. He didn’t show a strong demeanor just because he had said harsh words. On the contrary, he was even more worried.

Lance was not wrong at all. He was isolated and helpless.

The Tita family?

They couldn’t be counted on!

A man can only rely on himself!

He was now eager to know, when would the next attack from Lance begin, and in what way.

After hanging up the phone, Lance shook his head. He dialed Chief Bruce’s number. “Proceed according to the plan.”

Chief Bruce had already obtained the search warrant. Last night, there were constant gunshots at Figal’s manor, and half the city had heard them!

So it was not a very difficult matter to obtain a search warrant. With a search warrant, they could break in.

Such a large manor, and it was the lair of a gang. Would there be no criminal evidence inside?

Lance didn’t believe it. Even if they really didn’t have any, Chief Bruce would arrange for people to create some.

This was not a troublesome matter either. For them, it was all in a day’s work.

So, at less than nine o’clock, a large number of police cars, with their sirens wailing, drove towards the Keane family’s manor.

By less than nine-forty, the entire area outside the manor was filled with police cars.

Golden Port City has tens of thousands of police officers, including temporary workers. Today, it wasn’t necessary to dispatch all of them, but at least a thousand had come!

A thousand police officers, and more than a hundred police cars of various types, had surrounded the entire manor so tightly that not even water could get through.

Figal, standing behind a window on the fourth floor, his face became even worse. Lance had once again refreshed Figal’s understanding of him!

“This is the search warrant…”

Soon, Figal saw the precinct chief of the city center precinct. The other party placed the search warrant on the table in front of him. On it was the authorization from the Golden Port City Justice Department to search the entire manor.

Looking at this search warrant, which actually didn’t contain much content, Figal’s emotions were in turmoil, and his heart was complicated.

He didn’t know how to express it. Anger, dissatisfaction, hatred—he had all of these emotions.

But for some reason, when he saw this wanted poster, these emotions suddenly subsided.

There were also many high-level cadres in the room. They were also waiting for Figal’s reply, whether to let these police officers search, or to drive them out.

Of course, driving them out was just a joke. They wouldn’t dare to act recklessly. These police officers, whom they usually wouldn’t even deign to look at, at this moment, gave them an unprecedentedly huge pressure.

It was only at this moment that they remembered that these inconspicuous little police officers, the police uniforms and badges on them, represented the law enforcement power of a country, not their personal power.

Resisting the police is easy, but what about the entire federal government?

Figal pursed his lips. “I’ll make a phone call.”

He glanced at the precinct chief. “To Lance.”

Only then did the precinct chief seem to understand. “Should I step aside?”

Figal was suddenly so angry he laughed. “Son of a bitch!”

He didn’t answer anymore and directly picked up the phone. Soon the call was answered.

“Is this your method, is it?”

Lance could hear the dissatisfaction in his tone, but his emotions were no longer as strongly opposed as before.

People all have “self-awareness.” A person who tells himself “I’m the most handsome” every day, whether he is handsome or not, he actually knows better than anyone else!

All you have to do is look in the mirror!

Figal also had self-awareness. He knew that if Lance really used various means, he might not be able to withstand it.

Like using police force in a gang firefight, he had never encountered such a thing in his life, and he also knew it was an unsolvable problem.

Unless they were planning to declare independence, in the end, they would only have one fate, which was to be arrested, sent to prison, and then secretly executed by Lance.

At this moment, he had a deep realization that he had lost.

So there was also a trace of transparency hidden in his voice.

Lance laughed after listening. “I hope you find my methods a bit challenging. Do you want to try?”

“Damn it!”

“Lance, you know what?”

“You’re a real son of a bitch!”

He took a deep breath. “But a capable son of a bitch!”

“I’ve lost. What are you going to do with us? Send us to prison?”

When he heard him say this, the precinct chief in his room breathed a sigh of relief, and the other high-level cadres also breathed a sigh of relief.

They had already realized that they were not necessarily a match for the Lance Family, even in a direct confrontation.

Now they also had to face the police group, which was tantamount to indirectly colliding with the rules and order established by the federal government.

They really didn’t want to continue, because this was a dead end. Someone had fucking gone beyond the scope of the exam!

This also made some of them suddenly realize why it was said that Golden Port City had always been the Bay Area’s Golden Port City.

Because the Bay Area had previously controlled this force, but now, it belonged to Lance.

Lance also had a smile on his face. “How could I?”

“Figal, you are an old-timer in Golden Port City. Since you’ve already made a decision, I won’t drive you to extinction.”

“I’m not a good person, but I’m definitely not a bad person either.”

“I will ensure that all of you can leave Golden Port City safely, with everything you want to take with you!”

I have to leave my home and native land…

Figal squeezed his eyes. “Can’t I stay?”

Lance said with a smile, “What do you think?”

He paused for a moment and then added, “No matter where else you go, I will support you. If you are worried about needing to re-establish a supply source after going to another place,”

“Whether it’s arms, liquor, or anything else, I’ll arrange it for you.”

“Figal, we can not only not be opponents, but we can also be partners. But the premise is, you have to give me face!”

Figal thought for a long time, and finally, with Lance’s help, he recognized the reality. “You said it.”

“Yes, I said it!”

Although the words had already reached his lips, to say them still required great strength!

The whole room was quiet. Everyone held their breath, whether it was the precinct chief, the police officers, or his high-level cadres.

“I’ve lost. I’m leaving.”

The moment he said these words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The faces of his high-level cadres even showed a smile!

If the development of the situation had remained on the matter of mutual firefights, then they would have supported Figal to continue to fight with Lance.

But now that the police had even started to intervene, they had almost no resistance at all. Besides admitting defeat, there was really no other way!

Lance was very satisfied with his answer. “You’ve made the right decision. I’ll wait for your good news. If you need anything, anything, contact me.”

“Then give the phone to the precinct chief or the police officer who came…”

Figal handed the phone to the newly appointed precinct chief. The latter held the phone with both hands, facing the window, slightly bent over, very respectful.

“Yes, yes… good, I understand, I understand, don’t worry…”

After he had talked for a while, he handed the receiver back to Figal. There was also a smile on his face. “We should all be glad.”

Figal did not deny it. “Indeed.”

With that, the precinct chief took his leave and left. In less than fifteen minutes, almost all the police cars had withdrawn.

The police officers who had been surrounding their manor also left in their police cars.

What search warrant, what search and arrest, it was as if nothing had happened!

Still sitting in that chair, at this moment, Figal suddenly had another feeling. He patted the armrest of the chair and looked at the blue sky outside the window.

He knew that at this moment, no one could stop Lance’s pace of complete rise!

“Notify everyone. Get ready to leave.”

“Those peripheral members, and those who are not willing to come with us, cut them off.”

Although his high-level cadres were very happy when he made the decision, now that they really had to leave, there was also a bit of sadness.

Someone asked, “Where are we going?”

Figal laughed twice. “Where can’t we go?”

“We have people, we have guns, we have money, gentlemen. Besides here and Lance, we can go anywhere!”

“I suddenly fucking want to leave this place early. I’ve had enough of everything that has happened here!”

At this moment, his eyes were incredibly clear!

Lance told Alberto about the news that the Keane family was preparing to leave, and asked him to talk to the people from the Tita family.

He had forged a relatively deep friendship with the people from the Tita family when they were fighting against the Cassia family together. Although there was also mutual use between them, at least it was closer than with other families.

When the Tita family learned that they were about to lose another of their old partners, they also felt a sense of sadness, a sense of heaviness.

“The Five Families…”

“There are only three left.”

The head of the Tita family was a little gloomy. The glory of the Five Families seemed like it was just yesterday, but in just one night, everything had changed.

It had become so strange, so different.

Alberto was also very emotional.

Paul was dead, Rick (Cassia family) was dead, Sarifo (Tita family) was dead. Three of the five family heads were dead.

Then the Cassia family was destroyed, the Keane family was about to leave, and only three families were left.

Looking at Lance’s meaning, the Tita family also had to go, and then the Kodak family would be eliminated. The entire Golden Port City would quietly fall into his hands.

He still vaguely remembered the way Lance had looked when he had asked him to borrow money that summer. He had not expected that in such a short time, he had grown to a level that even he needed to look up to.

The two of them were very emotional, and also a little sad.

“He asked you to tell me this… does he hope that we will also leave?”

Facing the question from the current head of the Tita family, Alberto did not deny it. “Yes, the entire city will fall into his hands, including us here.”

The current head of the Tita family had a headache. They had too many businesses here, as well as businesses, connections, and if they left, everything would have to start over.

Of course, relatively speaking.

But he didn’t have any good way to fight against Lance’s combination punch. He was fighting you here, and the next thing you know, the police were at your door to arrest you. They might even suddenly appear at the scene during a firefight.

Arrest their men, and let Lance’s men go. This was entirely possible!

The player, the coach, the referee, the judges, the organizers of the competition, are all fucking Lance’s people. How can we still fight?

Once Councilman Williams takes office as mayor, even the people who set the rules of the competition have a deep relationship with him. There is no hope at all!

He sighed. “I have to go back and discuss with everyone, such an important matter.”

Alberto nodded and said, “If you plan to leave, those businesses can be sold to Lance. Lance will be willing to take them over.”

“You can treat this as a condition. He will not refuse.”

The current head of the Tita family could only nod. “Yes, this is a method.”

As he spoke, he shook his head again. “I have to go back. This news is too important, and too shocking!”

Alberto did not stop him and even saw him off.

After returning to the company, Francisco looked at him with some worry. Alberto shook his head. “Don’t worry. You can trust me, so you can trust him!”

He said these words very firmly. He believed that this was Lance.

(End of a Chapter)