Empire of Shadows

The police chief looked at these two bastards with anger in his eyes.

In fact, he knew the style of these people when they handled cases, but he had never interfered.

This was a very complicated issue.

Criminals would basically not honestly confess what they had done. Even if evidence was presented, they would do their best to deny it.

Facing this kind of criminal who firmly refused to admit and did not cooperate would sometimes be very troublesome.

So, the appropriate use of some violence to quickly close the case at hand was necessary for the police department.

Police resources have a cost. The chief did not want to invest limited police resources in endless wrangling, so even if he knew that the work style of some police officers was very unfriendly, he would pretend not to see it.

This was a good thing for him. As a manager, whether he was competent for this job was never judged by how much ability he had in handling cases, but by how many cases the entire police department had solved.

The rough style of these people in handling cases was obviously conducive to quickly closing cases and increasing the case closure rate.

Almost every police station would have a few “disobedient” police officers.But now, these people had affected him, and the chief began to hate these two people.

However, the police chief was also a human, which was understandable.

“Take off Mr. Lance’s handcuffs!” the police chief shouted angrily. The two police officers, their scalps tingling, unlocked the handcuffs for Lance.

The handcuffs were very tight, and there were red marks on both of his wrists. As Lance rubbed his wrists, the two police officers stood in front of him with their heads bowed and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Lance.”

Lance shook his head and did not accept their apology. “My wallet, watch, ring, and some other things.”

“Take them out.”

This was like a public execution. The faces of the two police officers were flushed. The things that had happened here had already alarmed some of the passing police officers, and more and more people were gathering at the door to watch.

At this time, they all realized what had happened, and someone let out a sneer.

The chief turned his head and glared fiercely at them, and then closed the door.

He looked angrily at the two of them as they took out those things from their pockets, and also two stacks of banknotes. At this moment, the chief’s face was constantly changing, and finally, he gritted his teeth.

Lance sorted out these things, put them in his pocket, and then shook his clothes, which were a little wrinkled.

“They didn’t…” Tom asked.

Lance glanced at him, said nothing, and then stood up. “That’s it. What about the others?”

The police chief quickly said, “They’ve already been let out.”

The chief wiped the fine beads of sweat, swallowed, and then glared fiercely at the two police officers again.

Lance nodded slightly, said a “thank you,” and then walked out of the interrogation room.

Tom followed behind Lance. As he passed by the chief, he said in a slightly threatening tone, “I will report what I have seen to the senator truthfully.”

The chief’s scalp tingled when he heard this. He quickly took a few steps and chased after him. “Is it still too late for me to explain now?”

Soon Lance saw his men. They all looked fine. Besides someone whose cheek was red from being hit, most of them had not been tortured.

There were bad ones, but not every police officer was bad. Lance looked like their leader or chieftain, so he was also targeted.

Tom followed behind Lance. He said in a low voice, “The chief just said that we have to go through the procedures.”

Lance did not refuse. He called Roben the lawyer. Soon, Roben the lawyer’s “junior” rushed to the police station.

After Roben the lawyer had graduated, he had worked in Golden State for a period of time. Because of some matters, he had finally left for Golden Port City and had begun to work exclusively for the gangs.

In New Golden City, he also knew people.

What Tom meant by “going through the procedures” was that if these people wanted to leave, they had to go through the bail procedure. But for the sake of the senator, all the procedures were simplified. As long as they paid the money, they could leave.

And the bail was not high, only two thousand dollars.

For a major case of a firefight in the street that had killed nine people, a bail of two thousand for so many people was equivalent to no bail!

After paying the bail and signing the papers, Lance and his group came out of the police station. Tom had a guilty look on his face. “I’m late.”

Lance shook his head. “I said, you came at just the right time.”

These people had wanted to extort some more money from him. They had demanded that Lance admit that he had premeditated the firefight, so that the charges he would have to bear would be heavier, and it would also be more convenient for them to control him.

They couldn’t just ask Lance to give them money. That would be an obvious solicitation of bribes, and very dangerous.

Only after Lance had pleaded guilty and they had obtained these statements would any subsequent operations be very simple.

If he wanted money, Lance could satisfy them. Problems that could be solved with money were not problems. Even if they were a little greedier and asked for more, Lance could satisfy them!

But to have him plead guilty, that was absolutely not possible.

When he was young, his boss had taught him a lesson. As long as you are caught by the police, even if you are beaten to death, you cannot admit it.

As long as you don’t open your mouth, don’t admit it, you will always have the initiative. In the absence of a confession, and then a hunger strike, that would be absolute initiative!

But once you can’t stand it, admit it, and sign it, even if you have a reason, at this time you will have no reason.

It was impossible for Lance to admit that he had premeditated a firefight in the city center. This was definitely a case that could alarm some big shots. In the situation where he was not yet able to withstand bigger waves, unless these people killed him, he would definitely not admit it, nor would he sign.

For those police officers who were used to using torture, if a suspect did not cooperate, it did not mean that their direction was wrong, or that they had arrested the wrong person, but that their fists were not hard enough.

They had given Lance two punches. Lance had remained silent. They had been about to give him a good beating, and it just so happened that at this moment, the door had opened.

Tom didn’t know how good Lance’s “just right” was, and could only sigh. “I’ll tell the senator about this.”

“And that what’s-his-name… Death Angels matter.”

Lance nodded slightly. He looked at Tom. “If you really feel guilty…” he was silent for a moment, “then send me the information of the police officers who made a move today.”

Tom’s eyes widened a little as he looked at Lance. Lance showed a smile. “We are a gang. We have our own methods.”

Tom was silent for a moment, then nodded. “But I will tell the senator.”

Lance nodded indifferently. “Whatever.”

Soon Tom got the personal information of the few police officers from the chief’s side. Tom’s explanation was that the lawyer planned to sue them. The chief had no good solution to this.

The situation of a suspect being beaten and being sued has happened from time to time in the police stations in every region. He did not think too deeply about it.

After Tom had handled this matter, he returned to the senator’s manor in the suburbs. He recounted the matter to Senator Cleveland.

He had thought that the senator would express some dissatisfaction or other emotions. After all, Lance’s meaning was already very clear. He was going to take revenge in private, and he might even kill these people.

But Senator Cleveland just said “I see” as if he didn’t care at all.

In a daze, he seemed to have a sudden epiphany. In the face of tens of millions or hundreds of millions in interests, a few police officers who had made a mistake died. These were all small matters!

He then thought, did Lance already know the result, so he didn’t care if he told the senator or not?

This matter, which was very small in the eyes of the senator, had given Tom some new insights: politics, human nature, and cruelty.

In the police station, the police chief had gathered the five police officers who had made a move together. He stood by the side of the table and walked back and forth a few steps, looking at these five capable generals. For a moment, he couldn’t tell what kind of emotion was boiling in him.

At first, it was definitely anger, but now, after the anger, there was also a little guilt. He glared fiercely at these people. “Look what you’ve done!”

“Now their lawyer wants to sue you!”

One of the police officers was still a little playful. “We are all for solving the case. Such a big case certainly can’t follow the procedure of an ordinary case. We certainly have to use some methods.”

He didn’t think there was any problem with this. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been sued before.

The court in New Golden City was still biased towards the police station’s side. At that time, it would be nothing more than a public apology in the newspaper, and then a superficial transfer of their work positions.

After a period of time, they could just be transferred back.

The other few police officers also didn’t seem to think it was a big deal, except for the two police officers who had interrogated Lance.

They did feel a little tricky, but now there was nothing to say. They just hoped that this matter would end here.

The police chief gave them a good scolding, from their work attitude to their frequent complaints. After a good vent, he finally let them get lost.

The two police officers did not go directly back to their offices, but came to the window outside the tea room. The two of them took out their cigarettes and huddled together.

“I’m a little worried,” the older police officer couldn’t hide his worries and couldn’t help but say it. “It’s my fault for this. I saw that they were all from out of town…”

The younger police officer patted his arm. “I’m also responsible.”

The older one asked, “Do you have any ideas?”

The younger one nodded. “I’m planning to ask where Mr. Lance… lives. I’ll bring some gifts to his door to apologize tomorrow.”

The older one thought it was a good idea after listening. He nodded. “I’ll go too. You see what to buy. We’ll split the cost of the things we buy.”

Both of them had money. The money they had “confiscated” from the suspects over the years, and the money they had extorted from those criminals, made them richer than the average middle-class person.

When a criminal in the Federation is sentenced, the length of the sentence is also based on the amount of money involved in the case.

For example, if a thief steals something worth fifty dollars, then he may have to go to jail for six months.

But if he steals five hundred, then this number will be increased to one year.

If it’s five thousand, good news, he will have to go to jail for at least three years.

So for many cases where they catch the scene, they can put a part of the cash in their own car.

The arrested criminal will not make a fuss, and will even take the initiative to cooperate, just so that the sentence will not be too long because the value of the case is too large.

There are also some cases that have their own doubts. In fact, as long as you stick to your bottom line and don’t admit it, you will be released in the end.

But they will intimidate the suspect, telling him what will happen if he doesn’t cooperate.

The vast majority of people in the Federation are unwilling to go to jail, because the situation in prison is really complicated, and with a history of being in prison, it is also very difficult to find a job after getting out.

Some people say that the people of the Federation never discriminate against released prisoners, but in fact, they discriminate more than those people imagine!

In the Federation, released prisoners also can’t find a job.

They will propose that they can help the suspect, but they need the suspect… to pay a little reward.

At this time, the initiative is already in their hands. They will blackmail according to the suspect’s situation, a few thousand, ten thousand.

Originally, the case was not right, so after paying the money, they directly withdrew the investigation. The person who paid the money would not make a fuss everywhere, for fear of being arrested again.

The two of them had saved a lot of money over the years. Not just them, but many police officers had saved a lot of money.

Although the police of the entire Federation were a whole, how the police in different regions made money was another different situation.

Golden Port City did not have so many troublesome things. The police, according to their different ranks, directly received an extra legal investment return from Lance’s foundation on time.

But in New Golden City, no one could, and no one dared, to “contract” the police department. The police also did not dare to casually collect protection fees, so they had to find a way to generate income themselves.

After the two had discussed the details, they went to their respective jobs, but they were a little absent-minded all afternoon.

In the evening, after the older police officer had handled the matters at hand, he drove his car and left the police station.

The housing prices in the better areas of Golden Port City were very high, let alone the more prosperous New Golden City.

Here, there was no such thing as judging the price of a house and the living environment by the block. The closer to the city center, the higher the price. Even though the police officer’s income was not bad, it still took him about twenty minutes to drive.

When the car stopped at the entrance of his house, looking at the lit house, he didn’t know why he suddenly had a little uneasy feeling.

He looked around. Tonight was the same as every night. There was nothing wrong, but it just gave him an uneasy feeling.

His heart began to pound. He sat in the car for a while, smoked a cigarette, and calmed himself down.

After a heavy sigh, he touched the handgun in his holster.

The handgun provided him with a lot of security. He closed the car door and pushed open the main door of his house.

After opening the door, he saw his wife standing at the edge of the living room, looking at him. His gaze was then attracted by a picture frame behind her.

There was a layer of glass on the outside of the picture frame. Through the glass, he saw some shadows moving. There was someone else in the living room!

His heart tightened. He and his wife only had one child, and that child was already in college in another city and had just left a few days ago. There shouldn’t be anyone else in the house.

An indescribable emotion made his stomach feel very uncomfortable, and he wanted to shit. His hand subconsciously rested on his holster, and a cold object was pressed against his head.

Then the weapon in his holster, and the other weapon on his waist, were all disarmed.

The person behind him gave him a push. He stumbled forward two steps and steadied himself by holding on to his wife. Then he saw Lance sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading a magazine.

He swallowed, his voice trembling a little. “Mr. Lance…”

Lance put down the magazine in his hand. It was a copy of “Baseball World,” which belonged to the old police officer.

Most of the people in the Federation liked baseball. “Baseball World” was a relatively authoritative magazine, which would introduce the game situation and personnel changes of some teams.

There were also often interviews with some star players, and occasionally some autographs would be given away randomly. For baseball fans, it was a must-buy magazine.

Lance threw the magazine back on the coffee table. “I still prefer the way you called me during the day!” He didn’t say what it was specifically, but it was definitely not nice.

The old police officer’s face was full of anxiousness. “I can ex…”

Before he could finish, he heard a “thud,” the sound of a hollow metal rod hitting bone. Then he felt a darkness in front of his eyes, and his body lost its balance and fell to the ground.

His wife’s screams were in his ears, but the screams were very short. With another “thud,” the screams stopped.

He struggled to open his eyes and saw Lance sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, his hands clasped over his knees, and his head tilted to look at him. He stretched out his hand and, with all his strength, “Mr. Lance…”

Then there was another “thud,” and he fell completely to the ground, his body twitching.

In a daze, he saw the person behind him holding his treasured baseball bat and raising it high!

His consciousness receded like a receding tide, back into the abyss of consciousness, and never came out again.

Seeing that the two of them had completely stopped breathing, Lance glanced at the bloodstains on his trouser cuffs. He took out a handkerchief and wiped them, casually throwing it on the ground.

“Next house.”

The younger police officer lived not far away, only a ten-minute drive.

At this time, he had just arrived home, holding a lot of gifts in his hands, all for apologizing to Lance tomorrow.

He was not yet married and lived alone. After putting these things away, he came to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and took out a bottle of beer.

For an ordinary person, it was very troublesome to get a bottle of beer.

But for a police officer like him with connections, it was very simple.

Feeling the cold beer wash away a day’s fatigue, he let out a heavy sigh!

For a moment, he didn’t know what to think.

Just as he was about to cook dinner and fool his stomach, the doorbell suddenly rang.

“Coming!” He wiped his hands on his apron and came to the door. He opened it without looking.

This was a middle-class community with a very good security system. It was very difficult for strangers to get in. Only those who had been registered by the owner could get in.

The moment he opened the door, he looked at Lance, who was standing outside with his head slightly tilted, looking at him with a mocking smile—

“Good evening, Mr. Officer!”

(End of a Chapter)