Empire of Shadows

The middle-aged man standing at the forefront of the refugees did not have a look of hatred or anger in his eyes, nor were they dull.

He was standing in this position because he had come with a mission.

A few days ago, Hope had found him and talked to him about some things. To this moment, he still clearly remembered the shock that conversation had brought him!

“Do you think anyone really cares if we live or die, besides ourselves?” This was the first thing Hope, who should now be addressed as Mr. Hope, had said to him.

He was working for Mr. Hope. As his prestige among the refugee community grew, some Federation citizens also began to approach him.

Those Federation citizens who approached him definitely wanted to get some benefits from him, and this was a manifestation of the advanced nature of the Federation’s capitalist society.

When people want to get more benefits from him, they will first put down bait, letting him get some benefits, whether in terms of money or other aspects.

In short, he had become rich. While most other refugees were still racking their brains on how not to go hungry, not to be woken up by the cold, he was already wearing thick cotton clothes and eating extremely well.

He had found some people with higher education to work for him, and this middle-aged man, this middle-aged teacher, was one of them.

He was a high school teacher with a certain cultural foundation, which made him stand out in this group of mostly illiterate people.That day, Mr. Hope had asked him this question. Besides themselves, who else truly cared if they lived or died?

This was indeed a question. He had considered it for a long time, and in the end, he could only shake his head with regret. “No one, sir.”

Mr. Hope nodded with a grave expression. “Yes, no one, only ourselves.”

“We thought that after escaping from the battlefield, we would at least have a chance to survive, but it was only after we came here that we discovered that it is not an easy thing to survive in the Federation.”

“Sometimes I really fucking don’t know how those people at the bottom of the Federation have managed to hold on!”

His complaint made the middle-aged teacher’s mouth twitch. He wanted to laugh, but he held it back.

Mr. Hope sighed. “We can’t do nothing!”

“If we do nothing, many more people will die this winter, because there are no clothes to help them stay warm, because they have no food in the cold and hungry nights.”

“We have to change the status quo!”

He said it decisively. The middle-aged teacher couldn’t help but ask, “But the problem is, how do we change the status quo?”

“The people of the Federation have already expressed their ‘benevolence’ to us, some worthless food, some worthless clothes. That aid can’t even help a tenth of the people here!”

Mr. Hope just listened quietly to his complaints. After he had complained for a long while, Mr. Hope said, “You might as well hope for a miracle from God than hope for the people of the Federation to help you!”

“My friend, haven’t you seen through the nature of the Federation yet?”

“This is a primitive jungle. It has its own laws of survival, its own special food chain.”

“If you don’t want to be someone else’s food, you have to make yourself look stronger and have more thorns!”

“We need to send a strong message, so that the people of the Federation can’t pretend to be deaf, to be blind, and to avoid our demands.”

“Only in this way can we get a little bit of fair treatment from their hands!”

“You see, they treat their own underlying structure so badly, let alone us outsiders?”

During the conversation, other people had also gathered around. They sat next to the middle-aged teacher, listening to Mr. Hope’s words.

Mr. Hope had actually never been to college. He hadn’t even finished high school. In this group, his education was not the highest, and was even at the bottom.

But now, so many highly educated people were gathered around him, listening to him speak. This was not because they worshipped low education.

It was because Mr. Hope had more, richer, and more real survival experience.

His followers looked at him, and he also looked at these people, and then he clenched his fists, very hard, so much so that his hands were trembling slightly.

“We have to fight. Only by fighting can we make them take us seriously!”

“A cowardly ethnic group will never get the respect of others. Would you admire a group of cowards and pitiful creatures?”

A captivating light shone in his eyes. The middle-aged professor, following his heart, shook his head.

In the past, when he was teaching in school, although he had always protected the students who were hurt by the small groups, he also looked down on those students in his heart.

Looking at this matter from an adult’s perspective, it was “can’t you fight back?”

This was not a difficult thing. The degree of harm in a fight between students was often not high. When someone tried to bully you, as long as you said no, the worst possible outcome was to get a beating.

But if you said no, and even fought back during the beating, the other party would think “you are a trouble,” and the next time they were choosing a target for bullying, you would be ranked at the very end!

Until you were completely removed from their list.

Resisting is not an easy thing, but it is also an easy thing.

Because resistance does not require you to have any background, wealth, status, prestige, influence, or other social factors as the threshold, the foundation for resistance.

You just need to muster up your courage, and you can do these things!

And those who are weak, who can’t even control themselves, how can they let someone who wants to help them, help them walk out of this?

He had met such a person. He had offered to help the other party, but he also needed the other party to give a positive feedback. What he found incredible was that that person had refused his good intentions.

That guy would rather be bullied than resist and face the unknown.

Sometimes, after kneeling for a while, you get used to it, and you can no longer straighten your back!

These things that had actually happened around him in the past were now connected with what Mr. Hope was saying. Suddenly, it made him feel as if he had broken through a fog and discovered the truth!

So, what we have been lacking is just the courage to say “no”!

His eyes immediately became firm. He would not be like the student he knew who had refused others’ help, and continue to face such an environment and life.

He was going to stand up, arm himself with courage, for him, for those behind him, to fight for their legitimate rights and interests.

The middle-aged teacher may not have yet connected what it would bring him if he could do these things.

Whether it was good, bad, disastrous, or super positive, he didn’t know. He only knew that he should do so.

Because if he didn’t do it, then no one else would!

People’s eyes began to change from thinking to becoming firm.

Mr. Hope was indeed a mature, experienced, and active social activist. He knew very well how to instill his own ideas and brainwash these people who had some knowledge and culture, but on closer inspection, not much.

His own persona was like this. His ideal and ambition was to help all the refugees in the Federation, from their current terrible state, to a good life and environment.

And his actions, the promotion of his persona, were also conducive to attracting a group of people who had the same ideas as him to join his team.

In other words, before these people joined, they already had these tendencies. And what he was doing now was just to make their original not-so-certain direction become certain and intuitive.

“So, we have to resist, we have to fight!” he clenched his fist and waved it again. What seemed like an ordinary and common action gave people great strength!

The middle-aged teacher and the others were so moved that their hearts were immediately filled with the ideal of changing the world, and they nodded in agreement one after another.

Mr. Hope’s tone immediately became low. “Every resistance, every battle, and every victory they bring is not obtained out of thin air.”

“You know, the Federation in reality and the Federation we have heard of are two completely different countries.”

“To resist, to struggle here, is even less likely to be a peaceful discussion. It must be fierce, dangerous.”

“And only when it is fierce and dangerous can people truly pay attention to us, listen to the voice we send out.”

“This is a sacred battle. There will be bloodshed, and there will be injuries. But after it, people will respect us, listen to the voice we send out, and have an equal dialogue with us!”

“Awakening!”

He pointed a finger at the sky. Although they were in a room, and there was a roof above, the middle-aged teacher at that time could feel that Mr. Hope was pointing at the sky!

“We need to shed blood, and even need to make sacrifices, to bring us victory.”

He then stated his plan. Everyone was so shocked by this plan that they couldn’t speak, including the middle-aged teacher. He was speechless for a long time.

Because this action plan had considerable risks, and might trigger unpredictable consequences and dangers.

Someone raised an objection. “Will the federal police open fire?”

“Will innocent people die because of our decision?”

“We just want them to respect us, not to let anyone lose their life!”

Mr. Hope shook his head. “From the previous riots in the local area, the probability of the federal police opening fire is not high.”

“Once they open fire, it will be very troublesome for them. The whole society will condemn their recklessness, and they can’t bear the consequences of causing a majority of casualties.”

These words, coming from his mouth, seemed to carry a kind of magic, making people have to be convinced.

“And!” he emphasized, “every person who pushes the progress of the times often cannot see what it looks like after the progress of the times. They have all fallen at the moment before the progress of the times.”

“Gentlemen, what we are talking about now is the life and treatment of hundreds of thousands, millions, or even more refugees in the Federation. Even if we sacrifice a small part of the people, to save the majority, it is also worth it!”

“Without sacrifice, there can be no progress, and there is no progress without sacrifice!”

“This action will make the people of the Federation feel pain. When they are in pain and see us as a wooden thorn in their body that needs to be pulled out, they will talk to us.”

Mr. Hope looked at them, a somewhat fanatical longing on his face. “As long as they talk to us, and not like now, where they don’t care, they will, in order to prevent similar things from happening again, give us some promises, compromises.”

“I have never considered letting our people be treated like the people of the Federation, but as long as we can guarantee the most basic justice, and give us the most basic protection, we believe that we can, with our own hands, achieve a happy life!”

“This plan is very dangerous, with bloodshed, injuries, and even death!”

“The best result is to be deported. The worst case, we may have to stay in prison for a long time.”

As he spoke, he straightened his back and stretched his body. “But I will not regret it. From the moment I came here and saw their terrible situation and the terrible environment here, as well as the arrogant eyes of the people of the Federation, I decided to do something for them, for us, for everyone!”

“Even if I have to pay with my life for it!”

What a noble soul!

At that moment, the middle-aged teacher found that a person could really glow!

Mr. Hope’s body was exuding the brilliance of humanity, a holy light!

If it weren’t for him holding back his impulse, he might have knelt down and worshipped!

He had never thought that someone could be so great!

Willing to pay so much for people who had nothing to do with him!

As for why Mr. Hope did not participate in this turmoil?

That was because he would be directly facing the most terrible federal government, facing those capitalists, and even more terrible groups.

He would become the “protruding wooden wedge on the side of the ship,” and would be scraped flat the moment he docked!

What he had to bear would be much heavier than what others had to bear!

The middle-aged teacher unhesitatingly participated in this action and became one of the commanders of this action.

At this moment, he was standing at the very front of the crowd, his mind full of Mr. Hope’s final instructions.

The more pain you cause the people of the Federation, the more bargaining chips you will have in your hands during negotiations!

He began to take deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart.

Five minutes passed quickly, so quickly that he hadn’t even had time to react, when the “big shot” who called himself the police chief opposite him spoke again.

“Five minutes are up. Put down your weapons immediately and accept management…”

The middle-aged teacher let out a breath. He slowly raised the crowbar in his hand and pointed it at the police chief.

Both the crowd behind him and the police force opposite him showed some signs of unrest.

A person next to him suddenly said loudly, “I have surrendered many times, but this time, I will absolutely not surrender!”

As he spoke, the young man raised the steel pipe in his hand and rushed towards the police, and at this time, people were crazy.

The moment he rushed out, beside him, behind him, many others also rushed over.

Chief Bruce’s pupils suddenly contracted. He immediately dropped the microphone of the loudspeaker, drew his handgun, raised it, and fired!

The crowd that had launched a death charge was cooled down by the constantly ringing gunshots and the constantly falling people, and then they began to flee in all directions.

The middle-aged teacher lay on the ground, panting heavily. His body temperature was dropping due to blood loss.

He clutched his wound, looked up at the fallen people around him, and suddenly his eyes were a little dazed.

Didn’t they say… the Federation people wouldn’t open fire?

He was a little dazed. How was all this different from what had been said?

In fact, he didn’t feel much pain now, just a little numb, a little cold. He wanted to stand up and see, but he couldn’t do it at all.

His body, including his strength, at this moment, seemed not to belong to him anymore.

Those who were still fleeing in all directions, under the shouts of “drop your weapons and raise your hands and kneel on the ground,” impatiently threw down their weapons and knelt there. Soon the police came over and handcuffed them. Finally, an ambulance entered the scene.

Chief Bruce came to the nearest phone booth and made a call to the mayor’s office. The call was quickly answered. “This is the mayor’s office.”

James’s voice was much more impatient than usual. The sky was already getting dark, and he still didn’t know the result from the scene.

I hope it’s not any bad news.

“Councilman James, this is Bruce. I have already controlled the situation and arrested a group of rioters, but the number may be a little large.”

“The good news is that the riot did not spread, but the bad news is… some people may have died.”

When he heard the first half of the sentence, the tension on Councilman James’s face was replaced by a smile, but the second half made these changes meaningless and he became nervous again. “A little… means how many?”

Chief Bruce was silent for a moment. “Twenty or thirty, maybe more. I haven’t counted yet. I came over to call you at the first opportunity.”

James’s vision went a little dark. It definitely wasn’t caused by the darkening sky. His heart was also racing. He wanted to curse, but in the end, he gave up.

“Is it safe over there?”

“Can I go over?”

Chief Bruce looked back at the block that had completely quieted down and gave an affirmative answer. “This is now the safest place in Golden Port City!”

James had the secretary work overtime. He got in the car and went to the old industrial district. He wanted to see how bad the specific situation was over there.

At the same time, he was also praying, praying for his father or Lance, whoever, to come back quickly. He needed them!

Mayor Williams probably couldn’t come back that early. Even if Lance’s side handled it quickly, it would still take some time.

They had basically locked down a few houses. The one with a basement was listed as a top priority.

It wasn’t that Lance had any superpowers to be able to tell fortunes, but that he had checked the owner information of these suspected houses.

The owner information of the other few suspected locations could be found, but for that basement, the owner information could not be found.

In other words, it might not have been sold and had always been in the hands of the developer.

But now there were people living in it, and according to the people around, no one had lived in that house before this month, and they had never seen the people living in it.

Mayor Williams had mentioned the real estate developer here. He was also in that small circle of Charles’s. So it was very likely that they were hiding in here!

(End of a Chapter)