Empire of Shadows

People only feel fear when they are on the verge of death.

Christopher looked at his wife’s face, filled with terror, no longer with the arrogance and haughtiness she once had.

This is the feeling!

The feeling of controlling someone else’s life!

“Go to hell and repent, you bitch!”

He pulled the trigger. The bullet instantly pierced through the woman’s head, but she did not die immediately. Instead, she raised her hand and tried to touch the gunshot wound on her head.

This scene made Christopher shudder suddenly. He kicked the woman away and kept pulling the trigger at her head until she was dead beyond dead.

In fact… a bullet piercing the brain sometimes does not cause the injured person to die immediately. There are even some people who will have nothing wrong with them for their entire lives.

As long as the bullet doesn’t tumble inside, and doesn’t turn the brain into a mush.

Then there is a high probability that she would have been fine.However, the subsequent bullets solved the problem of her not dying from the gunshot. Glancing at the men who had fled into the room, Christopher’s attention gradually shifted to the outside of the house.

His subordinates from outside all rushed in. Little De was also dragging an injured guy. That guy had been shot twice just as he was about to enter the door and had completely collapsed at the entrance.

He looked at the five people in the room. “Kill the few who are hiding. They are on the second floor.”

Then he walked to the side of the table and picked up the phone. He wanted to call Mr. Leonardo and tell this old man that someone was trying to kill him.

This was obviously a trap!

But they seemed to have anticipated that he would hide in here and had cut the phone line early on.

However, Alberto was not nervous at all, because this was Summuri Island, the crowded Summuri Island.

The entire city was the territory of the Bianchi family. An unknown firefight here would definitely attract the attention of the Bianchi family members.

In the dark of the night, gunshots could travel a very long distance. Maybe someone was already heading this way.

Fierce gunshots came from the second floor of the room. Soon, five bodies were dragged out by them and thrown in front of Christopher.

Looking at these faces with frozen fear, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

At this moment, he felt an unprecedented tranquility, even quieter than the tranquility he had obtained after killing Paul!

If it weren’t for the threats outside, he could even close his eyes and have one right now!

That kind of comfort that tickled the soul, it was so fucking satisfying!

He cursed “fuck” again, but it could be seen that this curse should be an emotional interjection.

“Get behind the handrail of the stairs, find a suitable place, and turn off the lights.”

He was smarter, more mature than before. He knew how to deal with the current situation.

Soon the lights in the villa went out. It was pitch black, and it was simply impossible to distinguish what was what.

The gunshots outside the window also seemed to have stopped. Christopher walked to the side of the window and hid behind it. “Alberto?”

“I know it’s you, Alberto. You’re here to avenge Paul, right?”

A sudden gunshot hit the windowsill. The broken shrapnel shattered the glass, and it shattered all over the floor with a “kuachacha” sound.

Christopher knew he had guessed right.

“Paul actually wanted to kill me. Fucking hell, what did I do wrong?”

“He actually wanted to kill me?”

“Do you know how I killed him?”

He ducked his head sharply. Although he was behind a wall, unless a bullet could penetrate the wall behind him, it would be impossible to hit him, but he still instinctively ducked his neck.

“I knelt in front of him and begged for mercy. I repented. I hoped he could let me go this one time.”

“But he was so ridiculous that he didn’t even know to open fire, and he still wanted to lecture me.”

“Fuck, Alberto, fuck!”

“He wanted to kill me, but he still wanted to teach me a lesson before I died. I took advantage of his inattention, snatched the gun from his hand, and then killed him!”

“I thought I was stupid enough, until that day, I found someone who was even stupider than me!”

Two more gunshots rang out in succession. Christopher’s voice was filled with arrogance. “I’m wearing a bulletproof vest, Alberto. You didn’t expect that, did you?”

“Even God doesn’t want to see me go to heaven, so I’ll have to trouble you to go!”

“Help me send a message to God, and also to Paul—”

“Fuck you!”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. When facing Alberto, he actually had a bit of an inferiority complex. In the past, now, it was all the same.

Alberto was too capable. Compared to them, they could hardly be considered human!

Paul also often used Alberto to motivate the young people. He would tell some stories about what had happened to Alberto, how he was when he was a child, how he was when he was young, and how he was now.

This kind of motivational education was not a problem in itself, but sometimes, if the person using it was not so careful in their wording, and their expression and emotions were not so in place, it would turn into a kind of criticism.

It gave people the feeling of changing from “you should be like him” to “you have no merits and are completely inferior to him.” This would have a terrible blow to the person being educated!

Every person who is educated has the impulse to destroy the role model!

Today, he was going to destroy Alberto!

On a high ground not far away, Fordis tugged at Alberto’s arm. “We have to go!”

Alberto glanced at the dark villa. He knew very well that if he rushed in with a gun at this time, he would just be riddled with bullets.

He punched the stone in front of him hard, cursed a couple of times, put away his weapon, and then left with the others.

At this time, the entire city had long been alarmed. A large number of vehicles with weapons were already converging on this side from all directions.

Mr. Leonardo was not yet asleep. He was originally communicating with some government officials about the war.

As a representative who advocated for foreign expansion, in fact, these hawkish officials hoped that Mr. Leonardo could come to power.

The biggest problem that Summuri currently had was its small land area. If they could get a piece of land on the continent, it would be of great benefit to the development of the entire country!

Originally, they had planned to secretly join the Dantra Republic’s military alliance, because only in this way, in the matter of obtaining territory, could it be in line with their interests.

To put it plainly, they were in the western part of the Tanfit continent. Between Summuri and the Dantra military alliance was another military alliance formed by countries like Slad.

If they joined the military alliance of countries like Slad, it would be impossible for them to get land from these countries. They could only, across the entire central Tan region, possibly get a piece of land in the eastern Tan region.

That piece of land was far away from the homeland of Summuri, difficult to manage, and might eventually be lost.

If they joined the Dantra Republic’s military alliance, and they could win, then he could directly get a large piece of land on the mainland near the island.

Being close to the homeland, management would also become convenient.

But there was a problem with this matter, which was that if they joined the Dantra Republic’s military alliance, then the countries next to it would turn around and deal with them first, so they could only go with the flow.

Mr. Leonardo wanted to get more land, to let him have greater merits, and thus to become the next prime minister more stably.

They were discussing some of the details in here when a piercing gunshot resounded through the city’s sky.

Looking at the officials with slightly uneasy faces, Mr. Leonardo raised his hand and pressed it down. “This is the territory of the Bianchi family. Please rest assured, no one will be injured, I guarantee it!”

As he spoke, he stood up. “Excuse me for a moment. I’ll go and find out what happened. I’ll be back soon.”

He came to another room and began to make phone calls to inquire about what had happened. Not long after, someone came with news that Christopher had taken his men to Doyle’s villa.

Now gunshots were coming from over there, which gave Mr. Leonardo a bit of a headache.

He knew what his family members were like. A family of this underground emperor character could always produce some guys with a spirit different from ordinary people.

In fact, it wasn’t just the gangs; the ruling class was also like this. As long as power was absolutely centralized, there would be absolute perverts.

“Have someone keep an eye on Christopher. He can kill her lovers, but he can’t harm my granddaughter.”

He paused for a moment. “She has the sacred bloodline of the Bianchi family flowing in her veins. A person with an outside surname cannot harm her.”

“Tell Dover, this time I will definitely teach his wife a good lesson, to let her understand what rules a wife should abide by.”

“Those things that are just annoying to listen to will not happen again in the future.”

After he had given these instructions, he returned to the room, but soon the butler came to his side. “An accident has happened.”

Mr. Leonardo apologized again and walked out the door with the butler. The butler took the initiative to say, “Christopher was ambushed. Someone was planning to assassinate him. He seems to have been shot.”

He immediately made a judgment. “It’s the people of the Pasoretto family!” he walked back and forth a couple of steps. “Have everyone go and support. If possible, save Dover.”

“If it’s really…” he pursed his lips, “no way, then don’t let him suffer.”

If he fell into Alberto’s hands, he would definitely be tortured. Alberto and the Pasoretto family both had honor killings. He would die in a bizarre way.

And he might be recorded in a book about the honor killing methods of gangster families, and become a celebrity, big or small.

He was very sure that there was a high probability that Christopher could not hold on. So instead of letting him say something he shouldn’t say, it was better to just shut him up.

The butler nodded and quickly made the notifications.

One after another, cars carrying people with weapons drove towards Doyle’s villa.

Standing on a high ground and looking at the same car lights coming towards this side from different distances, Alberto lit a cigarette with some melancholy.

Running while smoking, he wanted to say something, but everyone was running with their heads down. He seemed unable to say anything unpleasant and could only run with them.

Those cars quickly converged on the side of Doyle’s villa. Then they cleared the surrounding area of any possible hiding places, and finally came to the outside of Doyle’s villa.

“Christopher, are you dead?”

Hearing that arrogant and domineering voice, Christopher breathed a sigh of relief.

The speaker was one of Leonardo’s grandsons, who was a little at odds with him.

For this kid to be able to appear here meant that Mr. Leonardo knew, and also meant that the vicinity was really safe.

He had someone turn on the lights. The lights in the room came on again. A few guys came in from outside. After checking the safety of the house, they finally called the people from outside in.

As soon as the young man came in, he saw his sister, who was lying on the ground with her head shattered by bullets. He frowned. “You shouldn’t have killed him.”

Christopher was silent for a moment. “I will explain to Mr. Leonardo.”

The young man nodded slightly. “You’d better!”

As he spoke, he paused. “Whose men were those outside? Why did they want to kill you?”

He knew very well what his sister was like, and also knew that besides Christopher, no one would want to kill her.

To kill a princess of the Bianchi family on the territory of the Bianchi family?

If someone were really stupid enough to do so, there was a high probability that he would not live to the day he was going to do so.

So those people outside were definitely after Christopher.

Christopher’s face was not very good. “Alberto. They came for me because of Paul’s matter.”

As he spoke, he frowned. “I was wearing a bulletproof vest, but I was shot. My left back is in a lot of pain now.”

The young man saw that he was not pretending and immediately had him take off his coat.

There was a fist-sized purple mark on his back, and there were also some bloodstains being squeezed out of his pores. It was also very swollen.

“You go to the hospital first. I’ll find that Alberto and then kill him!”

“By the way, what does he look like?”

Christopher coughed twice. “I have it in my drawer. Little De…” he looked at the young man behind him, “give Alberto’s photo to them…”

There were people everywhere.

The entire city had entered a state of martial law. The streets were full of gang members checking the passing vehicles, and they were also expanding outwards.

Before dawn, they had already obtained a large number of Alberto’s photos and were searching everywhere.

Alberto, who had been hiding for half a day, was finally discovered. There were too many people from the four major families, and there were no good hiding places around. After killing a few of the people who had come to inspect, they immediately drove away in their car.

The gunshots were like activating some special… superpower. The people who were searching for them in the entire city immediately drove their cars towards the direction from which the gunshots were coming.

Along the way, Alberto and his group had tried their best to shake off the enemy, but they could never shake those people off.

The members of the four major families pounced and bit like madmen.

If you cared about them and wanted to deal with them, you would attract more people.

If you didn’t consider dealing with them and let them follow behind, then it would only become more and more troublesome.

The more pursuers you killed, the more new pursuers would come. This was a vicious cycle.

They fled all the way, and the people behind also chased all the way. In the end, Alberto himself became a little numb.

It wasn’t that they had no casualties. Brothers were constantly being injured. Those injured brothers, in order not to drag Alberto and the others down, could only take the initiative to stay behind.

Every time a dense burst of gunfire came from behind, Alberto felt his heart bleed!

At this moment, he and Christopher had a similar emotion, an emotion of regret.

He really shouldn’t have come!

At least he shouldn’t have brought so many people.

But if he didn’t come, and others didn’t pull him, he would never be able to get over this hurdle in his life.

It can only be said that the regret now is not necessarily real regret.

There were fewer and fewer people around him. The sky was getting darker and darker, and he could already smell the sea.

Having lived in Golden Port City for so many years, he was too familiar with this unique smell of the seaside.

There were no good places along the coast of Summuri Island, a few beaches, no deep-water ports, and no value.

No development value meant that most of the coastal areas had maintained their most primitive state, with reefs everywhere.

The sky was getting darker and darker. The car that had been running all day finally broke down. Alberto and Fordis, and two others got out of the car. The four of them had no other escape route to choose from and ran directly towards the seaside.

The pursuers behind them, not long after, also discovered their tracks, and more people joined in the action to annihilate them.

The two sides had exchanged fire several times, with casualties on both sides. In the end, only Fordis was left by Alberto’s side.

“Huff…”

“Huff…”

Alberto’s chest was like the broken bellows of the old blacksmith outside his childhood home. Every pull would bring a harsh, broken sound.

The small sheepskin of the bellows’ wind chamber had two cracks. Every time he pushed the wind hard, the airflow would rush out of those two cracks, making a sound like his panting now.

He leaned against a reef by the sea. The moon hanging in the sky looked at him curiously.

He tried his best to hide in the shadows, but the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer had already entered his ears with the wind.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Fordis by his side. “Are you okay?”

Fordis gritted his teeth and supported his body. “I won’t die for now.”

The two looked at each other in the dark night. Fordis took a deep breath. “I can’t run anymore. I can hold them off for two or three minutes at most.”

“You find a way to escape, or hide. There are reefs everywhere here. If you hide, there’s still a chance to leave.”

It was just that as soon as he had finished speaking, the sound of a speedboat’s engine came from the sea in the distance. An unknown number of speedboats appeared on the sea, shining their searchlights and sweeping across the reefs by the sea.

Alberto looked at Fordis and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “It seems God’s meaning is for me to stay here.”

Fordis looked at this good brother, was silent for a long time, cursed “fuck,” and then began to check his remaining ammunition.

The two were very silent. After checking the not-so-many bullets left in their weapons, and the few two or three magazines on their bodies, they had already reached the “end.”

In fact, at this time, they shouldn’t be smoking, because the firelight produced by the attraction would attract others’ attention. But Alberto could no longer care about these things.

He only hoped that when he died, at least he would not regret not having had time to smoke a final one!

“Want one?” he asked Fordis.

The latter nodded. “Come on, the last cigarette.”

The two huddled together and lit their cigarettes. Alberto took a deep breath. “I never thought it would be so fragrant!”

Fordis laughed a few times and said nothing.

The faint light from their lighting their cigarettes was also discovered by someone.

Listening to these “they’re here” sounds, and the searchlights from the speedboats on the beach, Alberto, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, raised the weapon in his hand and aimed at the person closest to him—

“Fuck you!”