Empire of Shadows

Stone was hysterically shouting, cursing, and making a scene. He was seeking death.

He was crying while doing this, all the while being terrified, yet trying to be strong. What a fool.

Lance nodded slightly. “Grant his wish.”

When he said this, Stone was visibly stunned. Before the shock on his face could even register as an emotion, a rope was slipped around his neck and pulled tight.

He didn’t struggle at first, just closed his eyes, seemingly seeking death.

But as time passed, bit by bit, he suddenly began to struggle uncontrollably. He grabbed at the rope, trying to loosen it, tearing at it with all his might, even trying to stand up.

But his legs were held down. Only his hands could try to pry the rope loose, even just for a sliver of a gap, just enough to catch his breath.

But he couldn’t do it. Even though his nails were breaking, he couldn’t do it.

The man behind him held the two ends of the rope tightly, pulling hard. Stone was no match for him.

Finally, after a brief, forceful stiffening, his body suddenly went limp.Logically, it should have ended here. But then they loosened the rope, started pressing on Stone’s chest, and gave him artificial respiration.

The power that had been turned off was turned back on after less than two minutes of resuscitation.

He took a sharp breath, a whistling sound coming from his throat. He sat up abruptly, looking at the people in the room with a dazed expression.

He wanted to speak, but he couldn’t. His voice was very hoarse.

Didn’t I die?

How am I alive again?

He didn’t know, but he knew one thing: it was good to be alive!

To be able to breathe freely, it was so good!

His eyes had changed from before. Although he was timid, although he was afraid, he still had the determination to face death.

At this moment, this moment of coming back from the dead, his determination was shattered.

His gaze flickered, no longer daring to look at Lance. But Lance looked at him with a smile. “Still want to die?”

He didn’t speak, didn’t make a move, just lowered his head.

“You’ve already died once, Stone.”

“This time you were dead for a few minutes, and we could still bring you back. What about next time?”

“How many minutes can you be dead next time?”

“Five minutes?”

“Ten minutes?”

“Twenty minutes?”

He shook his head. “Or will it be a permanent death?”

“What does it feel like to be dead, Stone?”

Before he could recover from Lance’s questions, his attention was drawn away by a new one.

He didn’t know. His mind was a blank. Perhaps this was the world after death?

No, it wasn’t!

A tremor from the depths of his soul, from the depths of his species’ genes, made his whole body tremble!

He didn’t want to die!

Because he had died once, he cherished life even more than before and didn’t want to die.

So much so that at this moment, he felt that even being beaten was a kind of enjoyment. At least he was still alive!

“It seems Ted still hasn’t taught you how to respect others.”

He nodded slightly. The person behind him suddenly tightened the rope around his neck again. Just as he was about to struggle, the people beside him held down his arms and legs. This time, they didn’t even give him a chance to struggle.

His whole body was pressed firmly against the chair, and then he felt death descending bit by bit…

A minute or so later, he was placed on the ground again, and resuscitation began.

This time, the resuscitation took a little longer, but fortunately, he was brought back. Amidst heavy panting and coughing, he got up.

The coughing was not because of a problem with his lungs, but because of his heart.

Many people think that coughing must be a problem with the lungs. In fact, heart problems can also cause coughing, constant coughing, it’s just that people don’t associate them.

After he sat up, he looked at Lance in terror, as if he were looking at a demon.

Lance still had the same expression. He looked at Stone with a smile. “This time, it took us ten minutes to resuscitate you, Stone.”

“How long do you think it will be next time?”

“Or will there be no next time?”

As soon as he heard these words from Lance, he couldn’t help but be afraid!

Lance had someone bring a chair. He sat down. “Actually, you’re not as important as you think, Stone.”

“And it’s not just you who is valuable.”

“How many times do you think Fleming can withstand death?”

“What about your cousins?”

“Bandy is so afraid of death. Will he be able to hold on less than you?”

“People are not as strong as you think. People are very fragile.”

“Look, you’ve already died twice.”

“Will the third time be an eternal sleep?”

Lance looked at him and raised his hand. Stone’s eyes were instantly filled with fear. He held his hands in front of his neck and asked in a hoarse voice, “You… cough, what do you want me to do?”

Lance lowered his hand, and the people around him also moved away from him a little, which gave him an unprecedented sense of security.

He looked at Lance, his voice terribly hoarse. “What do you want me to do?”

Lance breathed a sigh of relief. “Help Mr. Stone sit up…”

After Stone sat down, Lance said, “I need the Kodak Family’s criminal evidence.”

“Over the years, it’s been you and your father who have been managing the Kodak Family’s criminal activities. You must have left some criminal evidence behind. I want it.”

“Give it to me, and I promise to let you change your name and live in a place where no one knows you.”

“If you don’t give it to me, then permanent slumber awaits you. You can’t be this lucky every time. Death will snatch you from our hands one day!”

Dealing with the Kodak Family was not quite the same as dealing with the Keane or Tita families. This was also a change brought about by Bandy’s whitewashing process.

Many of his businesses, including his personnel, had already been separated from “criminal organizations,” for example, those gunmen.

They were mixed with ordinary security guards in a security company. If you say that this security company is the violent arm of a criminal organization, how do you prove it?

Lance couldn’t prove it, so they were always not so easy to eliminate—

If they were to be wiped out purely in a physical sense, it would not be difficult.

No one can withstand a bullet with their flesh and not die. They can’t, and Lance can’t either.

But doing so would leave some bad records. For example, people would remember that Lance used the violent methods of a gangster to murder some legitimate and legal businessmen. This would become a piece of criminal evidence placed in front of every big shot, without even needing to be collected.

In the future, when they wanted to deal with Lance, they would only need to take these things out, and Lance would have nowhere to run.

At the same time, using such a low-level method to complete a high-difficulty task would only trap him in this class.

Senator Cleveland did not lack people who were willing to kill for him. What he lacked were partners.

Although from now on, this partner was still a bit out of reach for Lance, at least he couldn’t let himself have no chance at all.

So, how to do this without leaving a trace?

In fact, it’s very simple. He had already controlled the Golden Port City police force, and he had a good relationship with the State Prosecutor’s Office. He could completely treat the Kodak Family as a large-scale organized crime group.

As long as he got the evidence, when it came to court, even if the president’s mother fucking personally came over on a train overnight and said she wanted to protect the Kodak Family, she wouldn’t be able to!

Of course, this had nothing to do with whether the law was equal or not, because the moment the president appeared, the law was no longer equal.

No matter what other tricks the Kodak Family had, Senator Cleveland, and his political circle, would have a chance to intervene—

This is why it is said that even the president’s arrival won’t work.

You, a president, interfering with judicial fairness that doesn’t involve politics?

Congress would immediately protest or even impeach!

So, in other words, doing this leaves fewer traces and is less likely to have accidents. They are dead for sure!

Perhaps at this moment, Senator Cleveland, Attorney General Terry, and even the Lieutenant Governor and the Secretary of State had not really taken Lance seriously. They all thought he would use violent means to foolishly solve this matter, and would leave behind a handle, a piece of criminal evidence that could put him to death at any time.

But who would have thought that he, a gangster boss, would not think of using guns and bullets to solve this problem, but would use the weapon of the law?

No one could have thought of this, no one!

Stone’s reaction was a bit slow now. After all, his brain had been deprived of oxygen for seven or eight minutes, and many brain cells had died. He really needed more time.

After a while, he finally asked, “What do you want this evidence for?”

Lance shook his head. “That’s not a question you should be asking. You just need to answer me, where is the evidence, or tell me, you want to die one more time.”

A look of pain appeared on his face. He… felt that he had already done his best for the family, for his father, for Bandy!

He had already died twice!

Lance didn’t even know if he could save him the third time. He himself didn’t have much confidence. He didn’t dare to gamble.

He didn’t dare to gamble that he could always escape the embrace of death.

He could succeed many times, but he only had one chance to fail. And with just one failure, he would be completely dead.

His mind was racing, and his eyes turned red again. It was only then that he gradually realized that his pants were a little damp, a little cold and wet.

The effect of touch on his body was beginning to slow down. He had already wet his pants when he died for the first time.

When a person dies, their sphincters and urethra will relax uncontrollably, and feces and urine will come out naturally.

He hadn’t eaten much since yesterday, so there was no feces, but there was a lot of urine.

Countless thoughts and ideas were constantly churning in his mind. He kept telling himself that it was just death. He had already died twice. Was he still afraid of really dying?

On the other side was another version of himself, constantly persuading him that if he could live, why die, why not someone else, why him?

He had done enough for the family, for his relatives!

The past him was already dead. Now, he should live for himself.

“We have some notebooks…”

(End of a Chapter)