Empire of Shadows

The blond young man tilted his head slightly, with no fear in his eyes.

He looked at Christopher. “Lance is your father.”

“Pfft…”

Christopher turned sharply to look at the person who had laughed. The guy’s face immediately changed, and he stopped smiling, lowering his head, not daring to look at Christopher’s gaze.

“Funny?” Christopher asked. “Tell me, is it funny?”

He walked towards that person. The guy knew in his heart that something was wrong. He quickly answered in accordance with Christopher’s words, “No, it’s not funny.”

Christopher walked up to him. “If it’s not funny, what were you laughing at just now?”

He was very sensitive in this aspect, and had been since he was a child. He was very sensitive about his identity and status. Even now that he was back on this island, he was just as sensitive.

The more you lack something, the more you care about it.

When he was in the Federation, he had begun to emphasize his identity as the “orthodox heir” in the rumors, precisely because he was afraid of losing these things.The man stammered, not knowing what to say. In the end, he could only lower his head. “I’m sorry, Dover.”

Christopher’s gaze was like a dagger, piercing the man. He suddenly threw an uppercut at the guy’s abdomen. The sudden attack made the muscles in the beaten man’s abdomen begin to spasm. In an instant, he clutched his stomach and curled up on the ground.

He twisted his neck and turned back to the blond young man. “You’re not afraid of death?”

The blond young man had an unruly look on his face. “When I came, I didn’t think I would be able to go back alive.”

“Lance will avenge us. I’m just a minor character, and you…” he sized up Christopher, “trading my life for yours, I’ve made a profit!”

Christopher directly raised the handgun in his hand and pulled the trigger at the blond kid’s head. Click. It jammed.

He had been paying attention to the blond young man’s state the whole time. When he pulled the trigger, he could clearly feel that this guy had closed his eyes.

But soon he opened them again, still staring at him fiercely, just like before.

He pulled the trigger twice more. It had really jammed.

“Fuck!” he took a step back, lowered his raised hand, and with his other hand, he held the slide and pushed it hard twice. Only then was a bullet ejected from the ejector.

He reloaded and pressed the gun against the blond young man’s head. The latter also took a deep breath and held it in his chest, and then, with an indescribably strange smile, he looked at him.

In his life, Christopher had not seen many people who were not afraid of death, so he could not understand this mental state.

After the two had looked at each other for a long while, his thoughts had changed a little. “Lock them up.”

His own subordinates did not understand why he had suddenly not opened fire, but Christopher was the boss here. They had to listen to him.

The two young men were quickly taken to the basement. In the basement of this villa, there were several iron cages specially used to imprison some people.

They were integrated with the entire building, very difficult to integrate. It was almost impossible for anyone to escape with their bare hands.

After watching the two people being sent to the basement, Christopher walked to the side of the sofa, picked up his wine glass, and took a large gulp.

He actually had been paying attention to the news on the Golden Port City side. After all, Summuri Island… for the four major families here, they might think this was paradise.

But for a young man who was used to the life of the Federation and was born in the Federation, this place was as boring as the Xilin District.

He wanted to go back to the Federation!

So he had been paying attention to the changes on the Golden Port City side. He knew that the Five Families had become a thing of the past, knew that the Bay Area had been conquered, knew that Lance had become the ruler of the underworld of Golden Port City. He knew a lot!

He had also heard that Lance had even made connections in Congress. He was becoming more and more powerful.

If he killed these two young men now, it would mean that the road back for him was blocked.

He couldn’t possibly stay on Summuri Island for the rest of his life, as a “son-in-law.” He didn’t like anything here, and he disliked the lack of freedom here even more.

He wanted to go back to the Federation. This place was just a springboard for him to return to the Federation.

After sitting and pouring himself two or three glasses of wine, he finally, through some connections in Golden Port City, got Lance’s phone number.

Under the influence of some wine, he returned to his study and dialed Lance’s number.

The sound of the beeping made his heart beat a little faster. He had many voices in his head, all telling him what to do next.

The more these voices, the more chaotic his mind became.

After an unknown amount of time, the phone was suddenly answered.

“This is Lance.”

“Lance…”

Christopher’s voice was still relatively unfamiliar to Lance. They had not had much contact, and the two had not spoken much either.

“Yes, it’s me. Who is this?”

He held the receiver with his shoulder, took a cigarette from the cigarette case, tilted his head, and lit it with a desktop lighter.

“Hiss…”

“Huff…”

“If this is a prank call, then I’m going to hang up.”

“If it’s not a prank call, you’d better say something.”

Christopher pursed his lips. “It’s me, Christopher.”

Lance also hadn’t expected Christopher to call him. He had not expected it at all. After two or three seconds, he finally asked, “What do you want to say?”

Christopher’s chaotic thoughts began to become a little more organized. “Your men are in my hands. I can kill them, or I can let them go.”

“Listen, Lance, there’s no direct conflict between you and me.”

“When Paul asked me to give the bar to you, you also did as you were told.”

“You and I don’t necessarily have to be enemies. And this is an internal matter of the Pasoretto family, isn’t it?”

“Don’t interfere in the matter between me and Francisco, and I’ll let your men go back!”

After he had finished speaking, he waited for a while. Not hearing Lance’s response, he finally added, “I’ve said my piece. You think about it.”

“No need to think!” Lance gave him the answer directly. “Let them bring back the bodies of Alberto and Fordis. I can make the decision to let you go once, but only once!”

Francisco couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Are you crazy or am I crazy?”

“This world is so fucking interesting. This is Summuri Island!”

“Not Golden Port City, not the Federation. On what grounds do you let me go once?”

“I hate people like you the most, you know?”

“You, and Paul, you are all this kind of person, who like to talk to others in that annoying tone. What the fuck are you?”

“You let me go?”

“Lance, you’re not as great as you think, you know?”

“I will go and kill your men, and then throw the bodies of Alberto and Fordis into the sewer. If you have the guts, come to Summuri and let me see how you let me go once!”

He slammed down the phone. Lance’s condescending tone reminded him of Paul, and of many bad memories from the past.

He poured himself another large glass of wine, and then beckoned to a subordinate. The subordinate walked to the side of the sofa. “Dover?”

“Kill the two in the basement, and then throw them on the docks!”

The subordinate nodded and then left.

Christopher sat on the sofa, fuming. They all looked down on him. Fuck!

He drank the wine in his glass in one gulp and slammed it on the ground, shattering it. Then let’s give it a try!

Let’s see who can laugh last.

Lance’s side also put down the phone. He was smoking, and in his heart, he actually knew that the situation of the two of them might not be so good.

When choosing the candidates to go to Summuri, Elvin had followed Lance’s decision not to raise money, but to have people sign up on their own.

For this kind of action with obvious huge risks, they would not be forcibly assigned. Lance had let them decide who would go.

The people who went would be captains when they came back, regardless of whether they could complete their work or not.

What they were exchanging their lives for was definitely not a “well done,” but a tangible benefit.

This time, they might have lost the bet.

He made a phone call to Elvin. “For the two guys who went to Summuri, give their families double the pension and compensation.”

Elvin reacted. “They failed?”

“Yes, they were caught. There’s a high probability that they won’t be able to come back. Give them the money first.”

Elvin sighed. “They were good lads…” For some reason, now that his status was getting higher and higher, and he was getting richer and richer, he had actually become more and more compassionate.

If it were in the past, he would only have thought that the two of them were worthy of being members of the Lance Family, and that they had not lost face for everyone wherever they went.

But now, on the contrary, he hoped that the two could survive.

“I see. I will personally handle this matter tomorrow morning.”

He hesitated for a moment. “This matter…”

He wanted to ask something, and Lance naturally knew it. “Don’t be in a hurry. Let’s solve the troubles in front of us first. Summuri is right there. He can’t escape.”

Elvin said “hmm.” “It’s good that you have a plan.”

The next day, a day off, Director Dale was shopping with his family.

Ever since he had chosen to follow his heart, his days had become much more leisurely. Especially recently, when he had heard that Lance had obtained a franchise and could brew liquor openly, he had a new understanding of Lance’s power in Golden State.

When he was in Golden State, he had understood a truth. No matter how well a person did, how many good deeds he had done, how many people he had helped, as long as Congress thought he was evil, then he was definitely evil.

The other way around was also the same. Even if a person had done all bad things, as bad as it could be, but as long as Congress felt that he was useful, had value, then he was a good person, a law-abiding citizen.

The closer you are to Congress, the more you can feel your worldview, your values, and your worldview collapsing.

The education that people have received since they were young, the information they have received, are completely different from those of the ruling class.

In the past, he might have had some other thoughts in his dreams, but now, he no longer thought of anything.

Isn’t it good to enjoy life?

Look, after putting aside his career ambition, he was now earning much more than before!

He stood by a television set, a little dazed. He turned his head and looked at the salesman who was trying his best to sell this television to his family. “Put it on the bill.”

The salesman was stunned for a moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you clearly, sir?”

“I said!” Director Dale patted the television next to him with his hand. “Add it to our shopping list. We’ve bought it.”

“But you have to send me a new one!”

The salesman’s expression changed to one of pleasant surprise. Director Dale’s child also showed a look of liking, and his wife was even smiling at him.

1,399.9, which was equal to 1,400.

If a worker could save twenty dollars a month, he would need about seventy months, which was almost six years, to be able to afford this television.

But for him, he didn’t even care much about this level of consumption anymore.

The salesperson quickly nodded and bowed, and recorded the television on the shopping list. Enjoying the envious gazes of those people, Director Dale’s mood became a little better.

“The weather will be getting warmer soon. I was thinking we should have time to go for a picnic in the suburbs, and maybe do some fishing.”

He looked at the salesperson. “Introduce me to a boat that is suitable for our family, and it would be best if it could come with a car that can tow that boat, and also some camping equipment.”

The salesperson was already so excited that he began to tremble a little. He remembered the reason why he had joined this line of work—”From a Sewing Needle to a Commercial Empire.”

The book was about a salesman who, starting from selling a single needle, had gotten his customer to buy more thread. After all, a needle and thread are inseparable.

Then he promoted scissors, rulers, and a series of other tools, and in the end, he even sold a villa!

In this era, no one had ever thought whether the things said in this book could become a reality, whether someone was fucking lying.

They just subconsciously thought that this was true.

It was indeed very difficult to sell a villa, but to sell a sewing needle did not seem to be a difficult thing.

People were crazy about the things said in the book. They even felt that they could also become such a person, until they began to reflect on whether they could really do it when they were buying and failing to sell their own products to boost their performance.

However, the salesperson in front of him seemed to have done it. A television, a boat, a car, and a complete set of camping equipment. How much would that cost?

Three thousand, or four thousand, he was not very clear anymore. The only thing he had to do now was to follow the rhythm in the book as much as possible.

“Sir, I suggest you should add a barbecue grill to the list!”

“Think about it, when spring comes, having a barbecue with your family by the lake, isn’t it very artistic?”

“Yes, we also have barbecue grills here, and the best kind!”

After spending half a day in the shopping mall, when he was paying, he didn’t care at all about the five-digit number at the end of the bill. He casually signed a check and handed it over.

His family looked at him with an incredulous look. His wife even kissed him.

“You’re like a different person!”

On the way back in the car, his wife couldn’t help but talk about some of the changes in Director Dale in the past few months.

In the past, he was always busy with work, and he would even eat and live in the office many times, and could only go home occasionally.

She had already complained to him several times—”We haven’t been intimate for a long time!”

But Director Dale had always used work as an excuse and had refused to take a few minutes off.

In the past few months, he had had more time, and his wife was also a beneficiary. Although it was only a few minutes, at least there was, right?

And Director Dale had begun to spend money on his family. This was completely different from the past. These changes were all positive, and the family liked them very much.

Director Dale also had a faint smile on his face. “Do you like my new changes?”

“Of course!” His wife was the first supporter of his new changes.

His child also very much supported it. “It would be even better if you could give me more pocket money!”

Director Dale couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The whole family was happy.

The goods in the shopping mall needed to be transferred and then delivered. It would still take a day or two, so besides some of the goods that could be taken away directly, they would have to wait two more days to enjoy them.

Just as Director Dale had parked the car, opened the door, and was about to go back home with his family, the sound of a car horn suddenly came from behind.

Two very short honks. It was clear that it was to attract his attention.

He looked back. He didn’t know when three cars had parked on the side of the road in the community.

He said to his family, “A friend is looking for me. You go back first.”

As he spoke, he turned and straightened his attire, and walked towards the car in the very middle.

The person in the passenger seat got out of the car, opened the back door for him. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment and then got in.

“You could have just called me.”

His tone was not too happy, because today was a day off, a time when he should be relaxing with his family. Lance’s appearance made him feel a little nervous.

Lance didn’t care much. “I just came back from out of town. The first thing I did was to come and see you. You should feel honored!”

If someone had said so in the past, saying that he should feel honored to be able to see Lance at the first opportunity, he would have laughed and said that this person’s brain was full of shit.

But now, he no longer thought so. “What’s so urgent?”

Lance signaled for the driver to drive, and they talked as they drove.

“Before, I mentioned to you about you going to the State Prohibition Committee. Do you still remember?”

Director Dale’s heart began to beat uncontrollably fast. “Yes, there was such a thing. We are already working on it.”

Lance shook his head slightly. “Too slow. But don’t worry, I’m not here to find trouble with you.”

“This time I went to New Golden City, and I got to know a few of the executive committee members of the Congressional Prohibition Committee, so…”

He turned to look at Director Dale, who was sitting at the other end. “You have to prepare. At the latest next week, your appointment will arrive, Executive Committee Member Mr. Dale!”

At this time, Dale’s mouth was dry. He suddenly had a little urge to kowtow to Lance.

(End of a Chapter)