Empire of Shadows

Derek Hansen, the new director’s junior, was very lucky.

After graduating from college, he quickly found an invitation from a law firm. After working as a criminal lawyer for a few years, he, at the invitation of an alumnus, had successfully passed the federal government’s judicial examination and had become an intern prosecutor.

Because he was a top student who had graduated from a law university, and his alumni were all over the federal judicial circle, after he took office, he had quickly passed two cases, proved his ability, and then had become a formal prosecutor.

During his time as a prosecutor, he had also worked on many cases and had sent some criminals to prison.

But he was not a rigid person. He had used some possibly controversial means to win in some cases.

And it was precisely this point that had made him be noticed by the current director-general of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After talking to him once about “what is justice,” he had been transferred from the prosecutor’s office to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility.

After this discussion, he had chosen to take Likalai State as his main work direction.

He had not chosen to go to the Manteno branch, the branch in the capital of Likalai State, but had chosen to come to Golden Port City.

In the early stage, he had done some detailed investigation. He was very clear that the biggest “hidden danger” in Likalai State now was not the corrupt government officials in Manteno, or the corrupt party members.

It was the “Lance Family” hidden in Golden Port City, which controlled the order of the entire Likalai State in a place that people couldn’t see.If the problem of the Lance Family was not solved, the “public security” of Likalai State would never be solved.

If the problem of the Lance Family could be solved, then Likalai State would be under their control.

Derek knew very well that this “freak” of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was rushing in a direction that no one could have imagined.

This was also the reason why he was willing to give up his job as a prosecutor and transfer to a law enforcement department. From a “politician” to a “law enforcer,” this was a “decline,” but as long as everything went as he had imagined, wasn’t this also a kind of promotion?

This was not just his senior’s problem, but also his own problem.

He sat on the sofa, his legs crossed, looking at the five “rookies” in front of him.

His gaze lingered on the faces of these people one by one, and finally settled on the last one, a handsome-looking young man.

“What do you think this job is?”

“Easy, decent, glamorous?”

“Tell me your thoughts on your own work.”

He asked.

The five young people did not have any serious expressions on their faces. They were all smiling, and they did not feel nervous at all.

The young man on the far left said with a smile, “I think this is a just job. Our purpose this time is to solve the biggest criminal organization locally.”

“To arrest their leader and send him to the dock!”

“People will applaud our actions, and we will become the heroes of this city!”

When he said these words, Derek could see that there was not a single bit of “performance” in him. He really thought so, and considered it so.

Perhaps this was what it was like to be young. They thought that what they saw was their world.

He would not discourage this emotion. He had also been a young man. If he had directly entered the judicial system to work after he had joined a law firm, perhaps he would also be like this young man.

It was only after he had seen enough of the upper-class people trampling on the laws of this world with their money and power that he had understood that hot blood, besides making himself cold, had no meaning.

He looked at the second person. The second person was a little shy. “I haven’t graduated for long. I don’t know much about these things, and I haven’t had any contact with the work of a law enforcer before.”

“But I believe…” he glanced at Derek, “under the leadership of the director, we will definitely be able to defeat evil.”

Director Derek couldn’t help but laugh. The few people by his side also laughed one after another. Someone laughed and cursed, “You’re just trying to please the director,” but he smiled and did not refute.

What he had said was also from his heart. What did these young people know about this kind of work? In the end, didn’t it still require the director to take the helm?

The one in the middle was a female agent, twenty-six years old, a college graduate of four years, working in the prosecutor’s office.

Her appearance was very sweet, which was in line with the characteristics of the middle and high-income classes of the Federation in this period. The improvement of the mixed genes from generation to generation had allowed the middle and high-income classes to always obtain better genes to fill their own vacancies.

In the middle and high levels of the Federation, it was very difficult to see those with strange or very ugly appearances, unless they came from a large family that prohibited marriage with outsiders—no one knew what the result of inbreeding would be.

The four young men were all peeking at her. Women are always the focus of people’s attention at any time.

“They have all said what I wanted to say. In short, I will do my best to be worthy of my job.”

The fourth person also said something similar. When it came to the last person, his face revealed a discernible hatred. “I will catch him and send him to the electric chair!”

Although he did not say who “he” was, everyone here knew that that person was the leader of the Lance Family, Lance White.

Director Derek nodded. “Well said.”

He first affirmed the thoughts of these people, but then there was a turning point. “However, you are still not very clear about our work.”

“Our work is to, while ensuring our own safety, send the criminals to the dock.”

“I am different from those officials who encourage you to sacrifice. I will not encourage you to use your own sacrifice to achieve the victory of justice.”

“When a person is dead, what does the victory of justice have to do with a dead person?”

“The moment you sacrifice, your world will forever be stuck at the moment when justice has not yet won, and will be eternally stuck at that second.”

“So, what we need is to protect our own lives and safety, and to be able to see the moment of justice’s victory as much as possible.”

He smiled and changed his sitting posture, and also lit a cigarette. “This job is very dangerous. you need to have this awareness.”

“Although we are law enforcers, we are not stronger than the gangs here. They dare to kill law enforcement officers, and they don’t care at all whether you are an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or a Prohibition agent.”

“So our investigation must be careful, without revealing any flaws. Before we have collected enough evidence, we cannot alert the other party!”

Seeing that the faces of a few of the young people still had some unconvinced expressions, he couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile. “If you dare to stand on the street and say that you are going to investigate the Lance Family and send Lance to the dock,”

“Then a few hours later, Lance’s men will appear where you live. They will give you a lot of money, or have you make your own demands.”

“No matter what demands you make, as long as they are not ridiculously outrageous, they will satisfy you.”

“Money, sex, power, all are possible.”

“But if you resist the corrosion, refuse to join them, and become a part of their power pyramid, then congratulations to you.”

“Because the next time we meet will be when I see your black and white photos in the newspaper.”

“This is Golden Port City!”

He exhaled a puff of smoke. The situation in Golden Port City was worse than in other places!

In other places, because there were many gangs, and the gangs also competed and fought with each other, so the law enforcement department, as long as they did not offend all of them, could still establish some advantages.

But in Golden Port City, from the low-level dock workers, to the mayor, and even to many people in the state government, they were all Lance’s “friends.”

They formed a solid, electrified chain of interests.

As long as you touch it carelessly, you will be electrocuted.

Evidence and the like were of no significance to a person like Lance. He could have a gunman kill someone on one side, and on the other side, he would put down his weapon on the spot, kneel on the ground, and raise his hands to plead guilty.

In fact, there are many legal provisions in the Federation that are biased towards the criminal, and many that can reduce the sentence of a criminal.

And if this state doesn’t work, they still have a way to help you change to another state for the trial.

Because the local laws of the Federation are all different. The most severe state, for multiple thefts, the sentence starts at twenty years, while in a relatively lenient state, theft only requires the payment of a fine and an admission of guilt.

For these top criminal groups, they have ways to get their own people acquitted.

A nobody, for a few or a dozen years in prison, in exchange for the fall of a law enforcement officer, a rising star. This is the worst first-line law enforcement environment.

Director Derek was afraid that these young fools would make the most serious mistake as soon as they came up, so he had introduced all the dark sides that they had not come into contact with.

What he said was very useful. At least the expressions of the few people in front of him had become panicked and uneasy. They felt afraid.

Especially when Director Derek told them that at Lance’s level, killing was no longer considered a crime, they had finally truly experienced what Director Derek wanted them to experience.

A kind of despair.

A kind of coldness under the sun, and also a deep despair!

“Then… what should we do now?”

The only girl was already very uneasy. Director Derek, seeing that his goal had been achieved, also had a lot of smiles on his face.

“Don’t be so uneasy. I told you these things just so that you wouldn’t, just because you are playing the role of a law enforcer, think that those evil forces will be afraid of you, will make way for you.”

“In front of these top evil forces, we are actually no different from ordinary people. Our identity is not enough to make them tolerate us threatening them.”

“So before the decisive force appears, we had better be a transparent person.”

“If someone finds you and mentions that they want to be friends with you, to give you some money, or some other benefits, and asks you to cooperate with them,”

“Don’t refuse. You can even ask for more!”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Don’t be afraid to take this money. Write a report, and then transfer the money to the investigation bureau’s account. This will be considered as an extra expenditure for the investigation bureau.”

“If any accident happens in the future, I will prove for you that you are all good children.”

The handsome young man at the end couldn’t help but ask, “Director, if Lance were to give you money and have you cooperate with him, would you also take the money?”

Director Derek immediately retorted, “Why not?”

“If I don’t take it, wouldn’t I be clearly telling Lance that he and I are not on the same path?”

“If I don’t take it, will he not feel that I have become a threat to him, and thus start to guard against me, to investigate me, and even to plot to get rid of me?”

“The purpose of my coming here is to send him to the dock. Before I achieve this, nothing can stop me.”

“Even if someone misunderstands me, let them misunderstand!”

“When I stand on the witness stand and present the evidence to testify against him, all the misunderstandings will be cleared up!”

“So children, don’t think of being a hero from the very beginning. All heroes are either for people to see, or to make up for those who have already died.”

“There is no real living hero!”

“First take care of yourself, and then consider the matter of work.”

This was a rare occasion when Director Derek had said so much. He really didn’t want these young alumni, whom he was very optimistic about, to become the one who had died in an accident in some report because of their “naivety.”

The more difficult an opponent is to provoke, the more you have to disguise yourself, to be careful.

“Later, there will be about a dozen or twenty more colleagues who will be transferred from other states. I don’t feel at ease using the people here, so I have applied for personnel from other places.”

“At that time, each of you will lead a team. Our preliminary investigation will not be aimed at the Lance Family and Lance White, but at other gangs, some old unsolved murder cases, and missing person cases.”

“You have to be careful with the investigation. When the investigation has a result, you will seal the file. Don’t go and handle it immediately. Don’t give them the feeling that we are very fierce.”

“It’s best to let them still think that we are just a decoration, and that we are just wandering around every day.”

“I’ll say it again. Our target this time, the evil forces in this city, are more treacherous, more cunning, and more brutal than any you have ever come into contact with, or heard of!”

“Protect yourself, and then uphold justice. This is the only advice I can give you.”

He took a final puff of his cigarette, and then stubbed it out in the ashtray. “Alright, go and tidy up the office. In the evening, we will go to a restaurant to eat together, to celebrate the first day of official work!”

The entire investigation bureau was cleaned inside and out by them. It was almost time for dinner when all this was sorted out.

Director Derek had heard that the dishes at Anderson’s Restaurant were very famous in Golden Port City. He directly took the five young people to Anderson’s Restaurant to dine.

The high-end Anderson’s Restaurant had always maintained its noble and low-key style. Dim lights and some plants or other things separated each table, and also reserved a private space for each table of guests.

Director Derek was not poor. He was not the kind of pure justice. He had his own set of styles. But even so, looking at these outrageous prices, he still felt that he was really not rich.

However, as a director, and it was the first day of work today, he needed a sumptuous dinner to get these young people into the state. He could only endure the pain and order a table of dishes.

The total was about two hundred or so.

Fuck.

He had never eaten such an expensive thing. Had the consumption in Golden Port City become so outrageous?

The waiter, after recording the menu, seemed to have remembered something. “Sir, should I bring over the wine you stored here last time?”

Wine?

The few young people all looked at Director Derek. Director Derek knew what the waiter meant.

Because Lance and that stubborn old man Anderson could be considered to have become friends through a fight, and his manager was indeed a smart person, so the fact that Anderson’s Restaurant could almost openly sell alcoholic beverages was already an open secret.

Of course, in order to avoid risks, they also had their own set of rhetoric.

Even if they encountered a Prohibition agent with a bad brain, they had only committed a relatively light crime, drinking in public.

However, the restaurant would hire a lawyer to argue to the judge that because there were those coverings, this did not belong to a public place.

Drinking your own stored wine in a private place did not violate the provisions and supplementary clauses in the constitutional amendment. This was not a fucking crime!

See, the laws of the Federation often have a back door.

Director Derek, thinking of giving these young people a lesson, thought for a moment. “What whiskey did I store?”

The waiter raised an eyebrow. “You have stored a bottle of Silver Lion Whiskey with us, the one that costs four hundred.”

Director Derek’s heart was bleeding. “Alright, a glass for each of us.”

The waiter then recorded the bill and turned and left.

The few young people were full of confusion. They seemed to have written the questions on their faces—

Didn’t you say… prohibition?

Director Derek shook his head. “You have to get used to this, because this is the real society, not what this society, some people, want you to see.”

Soon, a sumptuous dinner and a glass of Silver Lion Whiskey for each person were served. Silver Lion Whiskey was just a mid-range whiskey. The ex-factory price on Lance’s side was 150. A bar would sell it for 300 to 350. A restaurant would sell it for 400. Very reasonable.

In fact, there was also Copper Lion Whiskey. The ex-factory price was 90. In a bar, it could be sold for over 200.

As for Golden Lion?

Now the ex-factory price was over 200. The sales in a bar in the market were about 600. In a restaurant, it would be 750 a bottle.

People were sipping their whiskey and eating their perfect dinner. For the first time, they had tasted a different, a real society!

The meal was very enjoyable, and with the embellishment of the wine, everyone was a little intoxicated.

When a person drinks too much, they talk a lot. The people in the restaurant were not repulsed by these drunk young people. On the contrary, they showed a look of understanding.

When Director Derek came to the door and took out his checkbook, preparing for a big hemorrhage, the manager said with a smile, “Director Derek, your dinner has already been paid for by someone.”

Director Derek’s wine sobered up in an instant. He frowned and looked back, but couldn’t see anything.

Every table was hidden by the decorations. He turned back. “Can I know which table of guests it was?”

“Maybe it was a friend of mine. I can go over and say hello.”

He tried to find that person, but the manager said very directly, “It was Mr. Lance…”

At this moment, the five young people all shivered. In an instant, a chill went straight from their butts to the top of their heads. The girl even peed a little!

(End of a Chapter)

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at /caleredhair