Empire of Shadows

A few cars driving towards this side from outside the farm made Milo’s sphincter inexplicably tighten a little. He glanced at the shotgun in the corner of the tower.

This was the wilderness, and there would be many wild animals. They would harass the farmland here, and also the farm.

Different animals needed to be dealt with at different times. For example, during planting season, they had to deal with those birds.

A scarecrow was not a good solution, because the birds evolved very quickly.

At first, they would be frightened and fly up, but soon they would land again.

Now they were too lazy to even fly.

So shotguns and cowboys were a must.

Sometimes there would also be wild boars and wolves here.

In the autumn, Milo would have the cowboys drive the prey from the surroundings over, and he would stand here and hunt those panicked preys.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, turned around in a single stride, and took the shotgun in his hand. Then he skillfully opened the loading gate and glanced at it. The bullets in the loading gate were full.In the drawer of the table next to it were two boxes of bullets. He took out the bullets and placed them on the table.

At this time, several cars had already entered the farm and had stopped on an open ground not too far from him.

The farm’s butler ran out of the house. “Gentlemen, gentlemen, this is a private farm, and we are not open to the public.”

“So please state your purpose, otherwise…”

A young man got out of the front car. He was wearing a short-sleeved floral shirt and shorts.

He had a braid. To be honest, not many men wore braids at this time, and he also had long bangs.

He flicked his hair and beckoned to the butler. “Come here, I want to ask you something.”

There were too many of them all at once. The butler was stunned for a moment. He subconsciously looked back at Milo on the tower, which also made Hiram’s gaze shift to the tower.

“This fool!” Milo cursed silently, but still nodded slightly.

The butler ran to Hiram’s side with a smile. “Sir?”

Hiram suddenly put his arm around his shoulder, and in the moment he was a little stunned, he turned around and pressed the gun against his chin, and at the same time ensured that the two of them were both facing away from the direction of the tower.

“I don’t understand, sir…” The butler was breaking out in a cold sweat!

It was such a hot day, but he couldn’t feel the slightest warmth, only a bone-chilling cold!

His teeth were chattering!

Hiram always had a smile on his face, a cold smile with not much warmth. “Is this the Perez family’s farm?”

The butler was silent. He realized something. Just as he was about to say something, Hiram shook his head. “Thank you, you’ve already told me!”

Before the butler could figure out what he had said, and how he had told this person in front of him, he realized something.

He stared at Hiram with eyes that were about to pop out. Hiram grinned and squeezed the trigger.

In an instant, the gas released from the barrel made the butler’s head lift up. He didn’t feel the slightest pain. The bullet entered from his chin and blew off his skull. He collapsed on the ground at once.

The sudden gunshot startled Milo on the tower. He cursed “son of a bitch,” raised the shotgun in his hand, and was about to aim at Hiram.

But at this time, it was already too late.

The people who came out of the cars were holding submachine guns. Someone noticed Milo on the tower and directly pulled the trigger.

The bullets “xiuxiuxiu” shattered the bricks, and the broken brick fragments flew everywhere. He didn’t even dare to raise his head and fired a random shot.

“Fuck, fuck!”

“Fuck you, you son of a bitch, fuck you!”

Milo’s hands were trembling. To get down from the tower, he had to go through a wooden ladder. Usually, he could slide down without holding on.

But today, even with his hands on it, he almost fell down.

At the last few steps, he still couldn’t control it and fell heavily to the ground.

There were only some maids in the room. His bed partner from last night, wrapped in a sheet, rushed out of the bedroom, panicked and not knowing where to run.

She saw Milo and was about to go up to him, but was rudely pushed away by him!

He was going to get a weapon, to go to a safer place!

The suddenly exploding gunshots had startled the cowboys on the farm at the first opportunity. The cowboys at the very front suddenly pulled the reins and looked back at the direction of the farm with a puzzled look.

Sometimes Milo would indeed fire a few shots, but such a dense gunshot was definitely not something that Milo could produce alone.

The cowboy leader’s face became extremely ugly. His deputy rode over. Although he didn’t speak, he had already expressed his thoughts.

“Go back,” after a short consideration, he made a decision.

He knew very well the power of the Perez family. If Milo died, these people might not be able to live either.

But if Milo was still alive, even if they died, their families could still enjoy a pension.

The big families were still not bad in this aspect. At least the superficial work would be done very beautifully, so that people could not find fault with it.

The other cowboys all turned their horses around, and there were also some farmers, male and female.

He glanced at the increasingly thick smoke in the distance. “You continue to fight the fire. We’ll do the rest.”

The farmers and farm women all breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t want to risk their lives for a few dozen dollars a month.

A few of the more prestigious people among the farmers quickly agreed, swore an oath that they would put out the fire with all their might, and then led their men away, running.

The cowboy leader took out two bullets from the saddlebag, bit them in his mouth, and then pulled out the two rifles that were inserted in the saddle, and pressed the two bullets into the chambers of the two rifles. The other cowboys were also doing the same.

This was not the new-style repeating rifle. It used the previous feeding structure. The magazine plus the one in the chamber had a total of ten rounds. Two rifles, that was twenty rounds.

Hunting and a firefight were two different things. He was not sure if he could aim and shoot as calmly as when he was hunting. The only thing he could do now was to do his best to perfection.

He inserted one of the guns back into the saddle, and then looked around. There were about forty or fifty cowboys.

In fact, their total number was more than the current one, but some were on rotation and had gone to the nearby town. He hoped they could come back in time.

The cowboy leader had originally wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

These traditional old cowboys knew very well where their value lay. The salary of several dozen a month was definitely not for them to retire here.

They had to face packs of wild beasts, and also those with malicious intentions.

If it were a few decades ago, they would also have been responsible for capturing and hunting slaves.

They were getting the money for this job. When something happened, they naturally had to step up. Otherwise, they would be a joke for the rest of their lives!

“Be careful. You few young ones, go to the back. The rest of you, with me at the front!”

“This is not a hunt. There’s no need to aim perfectly before you shoot. And don’t expose yourself for too long. Someone will always be aiming at you!”

He sighed silently in his heart, and with a flick of his reins, “Let’s go!”

The spurs on his boots gently pricked the horse’s belly. His beloved horse neighed, its body sinking slightly. Then its muscular four limbs tensed up, so much so that the lines of its blood vessels were exposed, and then it rushed out at an extremely fast speed!

Galloping on a horse is always a pleasant thing. Although they were facing enemies and a firefight, it still could not stop the romance that belonged to men, to cowboys, in their hearts!

“Yee-haw!”

A cowboy couldn’t help but shout. This one shout completely aroused the courage of the cowboys. The unease on their faces disappeared, leaving only the perseverance and courage in the face of difficulties!

Dozens of fine horses galloping across the land was an extremely spectacular sight. You could even hear the “thunder” from the ground!

The cowboy leader lowered his body slightly, holding the handle in front of the saddle with one hand, while pulling out a rifle.

Seeing that the tower was not far away, he suddenly frowned and looked at the Maple Iris Grass field not far away. The dense and lush Maple Iris Grass was more than a person tall. Although there would be some gaps between the corollas, you couldn’t see everything after all.

Just as he was wondering why there was the sound of a generator’s engine in the farmland, three pickup trucks with steel crash bars suddenly rushed out from behind the corollas!

The cowboy leader’s eyes widened in an instant. Time, in his eyes, seemed to have slowed down at this moment.

He looked at the front of those cars with a ferocious expression, wanting to pull his horse to a stop with force, but it seemed that his action had no effect.

The square crash bar hit his horse. He could see his beloved horse being hit and tilting to one side, and at the same time it was struggling. Its eyes were even filled with terror!

Then he saw the front of those cars, slowly squeezing his calf, but strangely, he couldn’t feel the slightest pain.

The next second, he and his horse were sent flying. What was worse was that this pickup truck also ran over them!

But his horse had saved his life. He was lying next to the horse. The hard rubber off-road tires were like a meat grinder, tearing apart the horse’s fur and flesh, which made him feel a deep fear again.

His mind, his ears, were all filled with the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat. He looked up and looked behind him. At least a dozen or so horses had been overturned.

When he looked at the three pickup trucks, the sound of a submachine gun had already sounded.

At this moment, his mind was a blank. His beloved horse beside him was convulsing and constantly kicking its four hooves. Several times it struggled to stand up but couldn’t.

Around him were the injured cowboys. The remaining cowboys were also firing their guns in a panic.

The submachine gun’s bullets were like the scythe of the god of death, constantly reaping the large targets, horses, or people.

Watching one familiar face after another fall, he let out a wild cry and kept pulling the trigger at the direction from which the gunshots were coming!

However, what greeted him was another car front!

With a thud, his head hit the protruding square iron. At this moment, the world around him was suddenly paused.

The entire world was swallowed by a white light. When he saw the scene around him clearly again, he was back in his childhood.

He was sitting on his father’s horse, and his father was leading the horse that had run through his childhood and had left him with countless beautiful memories.

As he walked, he turned back and smiled at him. “You’re a great cowboy, kid.”

His nose was a little sour. “Will you still leave me?”

His father turned his head and continued to look ahead. “Not this time, I swear…”

The cowboy leader wiped the tears from his face. He looked back at the distance of the white light, but saw nothing.

But in reality, the killing was still continuing. The modified pickup trucks were filled with an astonishing killing power, and the bullets that were sprayed from the firing ports were even more desperate.

The farmland was filled with cries and screams.

At this time, the farm, which was not very far from them, was not much better. Except for some of the farm women who had escaped in the opposite direction, Hiram had already led his men into the main building of the farm, which was the house where Milo was.

This was not a very tall house. It actually only had two floors above ground, one underground, and a tower.

It didn’t take much effort. They knew where Milo was hiding, the basement.

He used the terrain and cover to shoot at the entrance. Hiram had his men guard here, and then had them go and clear the other rooms and the people in the other buildings.

From the first gunshot to now, seven or eight minutes had passed. The resistance in the farm had basically all been dealt with.

As long as they made a misleading move, regardless of whether they were men, women, old, or young, they would return to the embrace of God.

As the gunshots outside also ended, the farm seemed to have quieted down.

On the edge of the town in the distance, many of the town’s residents had already gathered, as well as the mayor and the sheriff.

They had originally wanted to go over and see what had happened. If necessary, they could also offer a helping hand.

After all, for them, to have such a rich and not-so-stingy neighbor here was a good thing.

The entire town had benefited from it!

There were also some cowboys. They were being stuffed into police cars.

Some cowboys still wanted to resist, but they soon became obedient.

A dozen or so state police cars were parked here, blocking the residents of the town from going to the farmland to check on the situation.

A police captain was negotiating something with the mayor.

“…I don’t believe you don’t know what they are planting!”

“Listen, I’m not interested in what you have done in the past, but now, we are going to eradicate this group of people.”

“If you want to help them, then very well. The next time it won’t be us who come, but the militia!”

The police captain, with his hands on his hips, warned with an indifferent look, “If you don’t believe me, you can try!”

The mayor had already taken off his hat and was holding it in his hand. “But there are still many residents of the town over there. I have to take care of their safety.”

The police captain was unmoved by his words. “They are no longer residents of the town now. They are criminals.”

“Did you hear those gunshots?”

“Do you think a good family would resist our law enforcement like this?”

“If you don’t want to get into trouble, and don’t want the prosecutor to investigate the deals between you and these criminal organizations,”

“Then you’d better take your residents and leave this place now!”

Although the mayor really wanted to say no, looking at the wary gazes of the surrounding police, and the weapons in their hands, in the end, he still chose to accept this result.

If it weren’t for the police, not the people of the federal government, they might have dared to do something.

But to attack the state police, and in such a situation, was no different from being anti-government.

When the danger had been cleared, another convoy drove into the farm.

Lance got out of the car. He looked at the increasingly obvious thick smoke in the distance, and then entered the farm, which was covered in bullet marks.

Hiram strode out. “The person is still in the basement.”

Lance nodded slightly and came to the outside of the basement. He didn’t even get close to the dark opening, but just watched from a distance.

Who the hell knows if the people inside will fire a shot at the outside?

“He’s not willing to come out?”

“Yes.”

Lance shook his head slightly. “Have someone pour gasoline inside. If he still doesn’t come out, just burn him to death with a fire.”

He did not lower his voice when he said these words, but just said them normally.

A “fuck” immediately came from the basement, followed by the sound of footsteps. “I surrender. I want to see your boss. I’m Milo, Milo Perez, a direct descendant of the Perez family!”

“I’m throwing out my gun now. Don’t misunderstand!”

Soon, a shotgun and a revolver were thrown out from inside, followed by two hands, and then a somewhat disheveled Milo.

He held his hands high and said loudly before his head was even exposed, “Don’t shoot. I’m coming out now. I’m out!”

He slowly stuck his head out and glanced. No one was shooting at him. Only then did he walk out completely.

“Whose men are you?”

He had a look of confusion on his face at this moment. He had said several of the major forces that were not on good terms with the Perez family, but he had never gotten it right.

Lance turned and walked outside. Milo was also pushed and followed behind Lance, coming to the outside of the house.

The sky in the distance was like it was covered by dark clouds. A large area of black smoke covered half of the sky.

The air was filled with a burnt smell, and also a pleasant fragrance, which was the smell of Maple Iris Grass after being heated.

The bright red Maple Iris Grass, the wind and waves, and the fiercely burning flames added a special charm to this summer morning.

Lance stopped under a wooden frame similar to a “7.” In the past, this kind of place was used by the farmers to execute their slaves.

They might be hung here and whipped in front of everyone, or they might be directly hanged on it.

Lance turned around and looked at Milo. Milo took a deep breath. “Who are you?”

But what answered him was not Lance’s voice, but two kicks from behind him.

Both kicks had landed on the back of his knees. The force had lost its support, and he had stumbled and knelt on the ground.

He looked up at Lance, and Lance also looked at him.

“My name is Lance.”

“Lance White.”

“Frank just burned down my movie theater…” he turned his head slightly and looked at the direction of the big fire, and then gestured in that direction, “so I’m here for revenge.”

After hearing this, Milo was so angry he laughed. “You have a grudge with Frank. You can go and find him. I have no grudge with you!”

“I also didn’t burn down your what-the-fuck thing!”

“Fuck!”

It could be seen that he was really angry.

He was angry not because Lance had found the wrong person, but because he knew that he might be finished.

(End of a Chapter)