Empire of Shadows

To persuade others, you must first persuade yourself.

Hope knew this well.

Right now, his persona was to play the savior of the Slad refugees in the Federation. People called him the “Light of Slad,” which was a sign of his success.

Although he was profiting for himself, he usually had to remind himself to do things that fit his persona.

Just like at this very moment, when he saw those young faces, a certain switch in his heart was instantly activated.

He walked towards the young people. There were already some people on the surrounding streets. They looked at Hope. This was his moment to perform!

“Young gentlemen, what has made you look like this?”

“If you’ve run into any trouble, please tell me. I might be able to offer some help.”

“But rather than giving you money or food directly, I’d rather give you a job!”

“Only through the labor of your own hands can you change your future!”Some people in the crowd had already started to applaud. What a benevolent, friendly, and wise Mr. Hope!

The few young men looked at each other, still with a look of disbelief!

Yesterday, they were still fucking considering how to get close to him, almost freezing to death here. Now, this person was standing right in front of them, which gave them a somewhat unreal feeling.

The bald kid couldn’t help but ask with a slightly questioning tone and expression, “Are you… Mr. Hope?”

“Hope Wright?”

Hope untied his scarf, revealing more of his face. “If there isn’t a second Hope Wright here, then you must be talking about me.”

Some passersby had also stopped, and one after another, they confirmed that he was the “Light of Slad” whom everyone respected.

Hope enjoyed all this. On the one hand, it could satisfy his own desires. On the other hand, people’s respect also allowed him to balance the distortion in his heart.

What he showed in front of those big shots, and what he got in front of these people, had reached a balance, preventing him from becoming distorted.

Looking at the young men whose expressions of confusion and doubt had turned to pleasant surprise, a smile also appeared on his face. “How about it?”

“Do you need me to arrange a job for you?”

“By the way, if possible, on the first day of the New Year, I hope you can come…”

His voice stopped abruptly at this moment. His eyes widened as he looked at the few young men in front of him, at one of them who had pulled a handgun from his coat and was now aiming it at his chest.

At this moment, he could hear his own heartbeat, and the faint sound of blood rubbing against his blood vessels.

The entire world seemed to have fallen silent at this moment, so quiet that he could hear the sound of all things!

He saw the hammer slowly striking the primer. He could see the muzzle of the handgun in the young man’s hand start to rise due to the recoil. He could see the small, pointed thing, accompanied by a flash of fire, being ejected from the barrel!

He felt as if he could stop it all just by reaching out and pinching it!

But as it happened, his movements also became extremely slow. He had already reacted, but his arm, as if it hadn’t understood his command, had barely moved.

The sound of the gunshot that came to his ears seemed to have woken him up in an instant, and also made time, at this moment, restored, and began to flow again.

He felt a force push him, and then he took a step back, and then a few more gunshots rang out in his ears.

He looked at the young men who had no look of panic on their faces, and then lowered his head and pulled open his scarf and collar. Seeing his white shirt gradually being dyed, he cursed a couple of times, and then fell to the ground with a thud.

Everyone was stunned by this scene!

Whether it was the passersby or the people around Hope, they all looked in disbelief at the fallen Hope, whose body was twitching slightly, at the blood starting to gush from his mouth, at his eyes losing focus, becoming unfocused and dim.

People screamed and fled in all directions. One of Hope’s bodyguards subconsciously wanted to reach for his gun, but was immediately hit and fell to the ground.

Another one, who was farther away, relied on cover and exchanged a few shots with the young men.

He watched the young men’s backs as they quickly left, and did not continue to fire, but instead shouted for someone to call the police and for an ambulance.

Soon, the police and an ambulance arrived at the scene. The doctor checked Hope’s condition at the scene and then shook his head. “He’s beyond saving.”

A very simple sentence, which caused a huge change in the faces of the assistants standing by Hope’s side!

“How… is that possible?”

“Maybe if he’s sent to the hospital and they use their medical equipment, there might still be some hope?”

An assistant’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke. He couldn’t believe this was true!

The doctor didn’t even continue to check. “It’s been more than ten minutes, sir. He’s already dead, gone to see God, and he’s not coming back!”

“With this kind of injury, even if he were sent to the operating room the moment he was shot, there’s a high probability that he wouldn’t make it off the operating table.”

Although he hadn’t done a particularly detailed examination, four shots had pierced his lungs, and one might have hit his heart. Even if he had been shot on the operating table, he wouldn’t have survived a ruptured heart.

Not just in this era, but even a hundred, two hundred years from now, it would still be a fatal wound.

The doctor stood up and had the police contact the morgue. This body had died from a gunshot. He would be transported to the police station’s morgue, processed, and then kept to be used in the case.

Hope’s assistants still couldn’t believe it at this moment. One of them pulled at the doctor’s clothes and even took out a wad of money and handed it over. “Help him, he’s Hope, he can’t die!”

The doctor didn’t take the money. He just shook his head and pried the person’s hand off his arm. “Even if he were the president, he’s beyond saving!”

Soon the ambulance left, and at the same time, the police also arrested the few gunmen on another street.

They hadn’t even run far. Carl had already told them what to do after the deed was done.

Under the witness of some eyewitnesses, they were surrounded by the police who had quickly arrived. They then put down their weapons, knelt on the ground with their hands raised high, and surrendered.

These young men were pressed hard to the ground by the police, their faces rubbing against the snowflakes, their cheeks flushed and hot.

They were handcuffed, but their faces showed no signs of fear.

The police also took away several eyewitnesses, along with these criminals.

The nature of this case was different. After the conflict that had just occurred with numerous casualties, a relatively important and well-known social activist had been shot. The emotions of the entire refugee community were ignited in this cold winter!

Many refugees had gathered outside the police station in the old industrial district—because of the large-scale demolition of the old industrial district, the police station in the old industrial district was now temporarily in charge of the police affairs in this area of the New Port District.

According to the news from the mayor’s office, in the new administrative division, the New Port District had been clearly established as an administrative area. A new police station was also to be established here, and there was a high probability that a part of the police from the old industrial district would be transferred over.

In short, a large number of Hope’s followers all rushed to the police station in the old industrial district, surrounding it tightly!

“…Yes, I know what to do.”

“Okay… okay, I’ll notify you as soon as I have news!”

The precinct chief hung up the phone. The call was from Chief Bruce, bringing instructions on how to handle this case.

The instructions were definitely not from Chief Bruce himself. You didn’t even have to guess to know that this was Lance’s meaning.

The precinct chief had no objections or doubts. Now all the police in Golden Port City, regardless of their rank, were taking money from Lance’s foundation.

Some people privately joked that this was a “police company,” with Lance as the sole shareholder and chairman of the board, and then below that was the board of directors (the precinct chiefs), then the management (the office commanders), and the very bottom (the police officers and patrolmen).

You can disobey the chief’s orders. At most, he’ll send you to a remote place to patrol the streets.

But if you disobey Mr. Lance’s orders, then you might disappear.

The precinct chief had no intention of disappearing. He was very satisfied with his current life, so he would only do as he was told.

He put on his wide-brimmed police hat, tidied up his appearance in the mirror, and even deliberately wiped the police badge on his hat with a handkerchief to make it shine.

He strode to the outside of the police station’s office building. Facing the dense crowd of emotional citizens, he could only use a microphone to communicate with them.

“I have just received an order from my superior. Chief Bruce and the gentlemen in the city are paying great attention to this matter. In order to avoid any misunderstanding between us,”

“During their interrogation, we will allow ten observers to watch the entire interrogation process, and we will also allow reporters from the Golden Port Today to follow and report on the entire process.”

“Now, please select ten representatives who can represent you to participate in our interrogation process.”

The boiling crowd quickly quieted down. About ten minutes later, they had selected ten representatives, one of whom was Hope’s assistant.

Their faces were filled with anger and distrust of the federal police as they entered the interrogation room. The moment Hope’s assistant saw the bald man, he was so agitated that he was about to rush up, but was stopped.

“If you do that again, I’ll have you escorted out and replaced!”

After being warned once, he restrained himself a little, and then the ten people were asked not to speak and sat in a corner, watching them conduct the interrogation.

These young men already knew what to say. They were also very calm now, because everything was happening just as Carl had told them in the script.

So they were not flustered at all.

The precinct chief sat in the main interrogation position. He tapped the table with his hand and asked the “prime suspect” in front of him, “Did you shoot and kill Hope Wright?”

The bald kid nodded without any hesitation. “I did.”

“Why did you kill him?”

“What was the reason?”

The bald man smiled and glanced sideways at the people sitting against the wall. “He was destroying us!”

(End of a Chapter)