Empire of Shadows

Director Derek turned to look at the five young men, all of whom had varying degrees of fear on their faces.

Suddenly, he felt that this might not be a bad thing. At least it could make these young people let go of some of their inherent prejudices, as well as their blind optimism.

This was actually like a scary bedtime story. You tell them that there is a big gray wolf living in the forest, who specializes in eating children.

They may not take what you say seriously, until they really see the big gray wolf.

If they become vigilant because of this, then this is a good thing.

He turned his head to look at the restaurant manager. “Thank you. Tell Mr. Lance, thank you very much for his hospitality.”

In fact, whether it was him or the manager, they both knew that these words would not reach Mr. Lance’s ears, but the manager still nodded and opened the door to the outside with a smile.

Director Derek turned and looked at the five young men, maintaining a smile. “Let’s go. We’re going back.”

The few young men, as if they had been frightened, quickly walked outside, their steps a little messy.

In the parking lot, they looked around in a panic, wanting to find the people who were staring at them from the corners, but they couldn’t find anything.After getting into the car, the female agent couldn’t help but ask, “Is he staring at us?!”

Director Derek stopped the work of starting the car. He looked at this female agent. “He is not staring at us. This is what I told you. Don’t be optimistic, but maintain your vigilance.”

“The Lance Family’s control over this city is too strong. And it is precisely because of this that we can find their criminal evidence here.”

“Going to Manteno is indeed simpler, but we will never be able to get to the core criminal evidence of the Lance Family!”

“To be honest, I was also taken aback, but this just tells me that we have chosen the right direction, because they, he, are paying attention to us!”

“They have become vigilant, worried, and even fearful because of our arrival, which is why they did this to startle us.”

“Maintain your usual emotions and calm yourselves down.”

“We are agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We are employees of the federal government. He wouldn’t dare to harm us casually, without reason!”

Unlike other law enforcement agencies, the superior of the Golden Port branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the city was the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which was directly responsible to Mr. President.

Killing them would most likely alarm the director-general, and even Mr. President, so as long as they did not expose their malice towards Lance and the Lance Family, there was a high probability that Lance would not directly make a move on them.

Director Derek explained, which greatly eased the emotions of the young people, and also made them relax.

Now they were living in the dormitory of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After sending these young people back and watching them go upstairs, the smile on Derek’s face gradually faded.

He had appeased the emotions of these young people very well. He wanted them to not be so terrified.

Fear would make them make mistakes. To make a mistake at a time like this would really get people killed.

But this matter had made him feel a heavy pressure.

He drove his car back to his own residence, did not get out, but sat in the car and lit a cigarette.

He had thought that this would be an interesting game in the end, but in fact, everything was under Lance’s control.

He slammed the steering wheel hard. The sudden sound of the horn in the night brought all kinds of curses from the surroundings.

He was smoking, looking at the dark and deep sky. The stagnant water of Golden Port City was much more terrifying than he had imagined.

He sat in the car for half an hour, and finally confirmed his previous line of thought. He would not investigate any cases related to the Lance Family. He could only do this for now.

For his own safety, for the safety of his subordinates… fuck!

The next morning, everyone met in the office. Although these young people didn’t say anything, it could be seen that they hadn’t had a good rest last night.

Director Derek hadn’t had a good rest either. He had much more to think about than these young people.

Fortunately, Lance’s “greeting” seemed to be just a greeting. In the week following this incident, they seemed to have walked out of the shadow of being shrouded by the Lance Family. The ordinary agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation also successively arrived at their posts and began their official work.

At this time, there were only a dozen or so days left before the Harvest Festival.

In the morning, Roger (the old man from the Empire Chamber of Commerce) and Mr. Martin (a trusted subordinate of the leader of the Empire’s resistance army, the young Count Griffiths) had arrived outside the office early. When they saw Lance, the two of them immediately stood up.

A smile immediately appeared on Mr. Martin’s face.

Lance’s fame in the Federation was now growing, which also meant that Lance could play a more important role.

To put it bluntly, even if the young Count Griffiths were to sell out his country, the price could be a little higher.

For a resistance army that hated this country and was being chased around by His Majesty the Emperor, returning home had long since lost its meaning.

Only to live, to take revenge, and to overthrow the royal family had meaning!

Mr. Martin had first found Roger, because many people had said that Roger had in his hands various scarce medicines worth tens of millions of federal sols.

Not long ago, the resistance army had just had a battle with the imperial army. This time, because of a traitor’s betrayal, although the resistance army had severely damaged the imperial army, it had also suffered heavy losses.

Not to mention the consumption of ammunition, the most crucial thing was the lack of medicine.

Without bullets, weapons, they could still get them.

Now there were still some nobles who were willing to sell weapons to the young Count Griffiths on a small scale.

They neither wanted His Majesty the Emperor to break free from this matter so quickly—

Once His Majesty the Emperor solved the problem of the resistance army, he might start to retaliate against the nobles who had been wavering in their stance before.

So, they hoped that the resistance army would continue to exist, neither growing too large, nor ceasing to be a headache for His Majesty the Emperor.

There was news that His Majesty the Emperor’s headaches were becoming more and more frequent.

Weapons and ammunition could still be replenished from somewhere, but all kinds of medicines were really not easy to get.

Some of the large pharmaceutical factories in the Empire were controlled by the royal family and the great nobles. It was almost impossible for them to get medicine.

As it happened, Mr. Martin had recently heard that the Empire Chamber of Commerce had a batch of various special medicines that had been hoarded before the outbreak of the war, so he had immediately contacted the nominal president of the Empire Chamber of Commerce, Roger.

Roger himself did not dare to make a decision on this matter. Martin had seen through his difficulty at a glance and had begged to come here to see Lance with him, hoping to get this batch of medicine.

Lance welcomed the two into his office. After hearing Mr. Martin’s purpose, he did not refuse, but instead asked, “Can the young Count Griffiths still come up with tens of millions of federal sols?”

“It seems I have to look up to him!”

This sentence actually carried a hint of sarcastic teasing. The young Count Griffiths, who had lost his “rear,” now relied entirely on overseas activists like Mr. Martin to raise funds.

His family’s account had long been confiscated by the royal family, and the castle and the works of art inside had almost all been confiscated. He had no money at all!

For Mr. Martin to, as soon as he opened his mouth, want the special medicine in Lance’s hands was indeed a bit… arrogant, or rather, conceited.

He, as if he hadn’t heard the meaning in Lance’s words, still said very seriously, “Mr. Lance, this batch of medicine is very important to us!”

“Please, you must sell them to us!”

Lance pursed his lips. “How much money can you come up with?”

Mr. Martin had a passionate and generous look on his face. “No money!”

Roger, by the side, widened his eyes. He suddenly felt that this person’s brain was not very good, and he moved a little further away from him, for fear that the blood would splash on him.

Before Lance could react, he said again, “Count Griffiths has already contacted me. He has promised you, Mr. Lance.”

“As long as we defeat the royal family, and Count Griffiths replaces the royal family as the new ruler of the Empire, he will grant you the title of a duke.”

“At that time, people will have to call you ‘Duke White’!”

Lance smiled. “I respect the young Count Griffiths very much, but I don’t think he can prove that he can do what you said.”

“His situation is always very dangerous, and the things he has promised are like deceiving a fool in the countryside.”

“I believe that any mature leader would not give such a promise, unless he can no longer see any hope of victory.”

This kind of promise, you can figure it out just by thinking about it. It is absolutely impossible to realize, or rather, there is definitely a problem.

Once he really did that, would he have to grant Lance a fief?

With a fief, Lance would at least be a governor.

For a duke to be a governor in the Empire was actually very miserable. Normally, at the level of a duke, there was a high probability that he would develop in the direction of a duchy.

If Count Griffiths really did what he had said and overthrew the rule of the royal family, then he must have been helped by other nobles.

Where could he grant Lance?

He would grant Lance to the fiefs of the nobles who were not on good terms with him, but whom he was not very good at dealing with, or whose strength was not yet enough to deal with. He would let Lance and those nobles fight to the death.

If he was lucky enough to win, I’m afraid Lance would not have much strength left. At that time, he could, with a random reason, say that Lance had despised the royal family, and he could flatten Lance.

If he couldn’t win, then that’s great. With the help of others, he had not only dealt with Lance, but had also deterred these nobles, and had also fulfilled his promise.

This was still under the condition that he could win. If he couldn’t win, everything would be for nothing.

No matter if this idea was thought up by the young Count Griffiths, or by this Mr. Martin, they were all bullying Lance for his “commoner” status, thinking that he couldn’t figure out the things in here.

Once he fell for it, there would be an endless stream of trouble in the future.

It was just that neither Mr. Martin nor the young Count Griffiths had realized that although Lance still looked like the same Lance, he had actually changed into a different person.

Such a small trick was of no use to him at all.

Mr. Martin still wanted to say something, but was stopped by Lance’s raised hand. “This batch of goods is now worth thirteen or fourteen million. I can’t make a decision on other people’s things. I can only guarantee my part, to give you a fair price.”

“Ten million. As soon as it’s received, I’ll arrange for someone to ship it to you, or you can pick it up yourself.”

“Mr. Martin, if you feel that I can’t understand your and the young count’s troubles, you can go and ask anywhere. Is your face worth three or four million?”

This sentence hit the nail on the head. Mr. Martin’s face changed slightly.

The faces of these people, added up, were only worth three or five hundred thousand federal sols a month.

Mr. Martin was not a fool. On the contrary, he was also very smart, so he realized that his little trick had been seen through.

This also made him a little anxious, because he felt that Lance was not satisfied with them.

Lance would give them 100,000 every month. This 100,000 might not seem like much, but for the current resistance army, it was still of great use. Whether it was food or ammunition, it all required money, and this money could be of great use.

He quickly stood up and bowed. “I apologize for our recklessness, Mr. Lance. I will contact Count Griffiths as soon as possible to discuss this matter.”

“I’ll be taking my leave first.”

Lance did not ask him to stay. He nodded and let him leave.

He was sure that these people had no money. Even if the young Count Griffiths had money, he would not use this money to really buy medicine to treat his wounded soldiers.

The reason was very simple. An Empire that was still in chaos, human life was not worth much!

A dose of a special anti-inflammatory drug now costs more than a hundred a shot, but with more than a hundred, you can hire several soldiers to fight, especially those pariahs, or those low-level speculators who are thinking of overthrowing the rule of the royal family and the nobility.

The upper-level speculators use funds, power, and connections to speculate. They don’t have these, so they can only use their own lives.

The lives of these people are also not worth much. They may not even need to be paid any salary, and they can still bring their own dry rations to participate in this war.

The reason why the young Count Griffiths wanted to get these medicines was essentially to master more initiative, on the political level of the Empire.

These medicines were actually more like a strategic material. He could make the young Count Griffiths’s “situation” look not so bad, just like those capitalists. They could live in their offices, but they also had to have a luxury car.

He was going to use these medicines to give people some confidence, after suffering a heavy blow.

If you only consider the actual use, Lance felt that it would be enough for them to buy a few hundred thousand worth of medicine. Who the fuck would inject a special medicine into a worthless mud-legged dog?

After having someone see Mr. Martin off, Lance had Roger sit back down. “This batch of medicine is getting more and more dazzling. The people who should have noticed will soon notice. Find a way to sell some. As long as the price is right.”

“Having too many good things is a trouble!”

Roger also had some feelings. “I see. I will contact some buyers.”

He paused as he spoke, a look of some difficulty on his face. Lance raised his chin. “Is there anything else?”

Roger stammered a little, “Some people are willing to pay a high price, higher than the market price, but…”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when Lance knew what he meant.

It must be the Dantra people. The medical technology of the Federation, in the whole world, was still quite good. Even if it was not the most advanced, it was first-class.

It was normal for them to want to import a large amount of medicine from the Federation, but now because of the war between the two sides, it was very difficult to do so.

Inevitably, some merchants would buy these medicines through smuggling and sell them to the Dantra Republic’s side at a higher price.

On the one hand, they would obtain a large amount of benefits as a “patriotic merchant,” and on the other hand, they would be ruthlessly making money from the blood and sweat of the patriotic people.

And to say it out loud would be very respectable.

Lance didn’t like these people very much. On the contrary, he was a little disgusted.

He frowned. “Although we are from the Empire, we are now nominally people of the Federation.”

“If these things are not discovered, it’s fine, but once they are…”

“Roger, you and your family will all disappear.”

He paused for a moment. “The merchants of Dantra know that we have made a huge profit from them. At that time, they will find a way to create a confidential document and expose you. You won’t even have a place to cry.”

As he said this, he thought for a moment. “The new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Derek, is an interesting person. You go and contact him. Just say that you know that some of Dantra’s spies are active in the Federation, and then find a way to arrest these people.”

“Patriotism, you know!”

“We will too!”

Roger was originally very conflicted about this matter, because the other party had given too much. Now that Lance had said so, he had nothing to hesitate about.

“I know what to do, Mr. Lance.”

Lance raised his hand to signal that he could leave. He turned his head and, according to Lance’s instructions, went to the Golden Port branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

If it weren’t for the fact that his driver was also an old Golden Port person, he might not have even heard of this department.

After all, even until now, many people didn’t even know what it mainly did, and for whom it served!

Roger came to the bottom of the inconspicuous four-story small building. He entered the main hall, and there was actually no one inside.

If it weren’t for the sign of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Golden Port Branch) hanging outside, he might even have thought that he had come to the wrong place.

He knocked on the front desk. After a long while, someone ran over.

A young man who looked to be only twenty-four or twenty-five. “Sir, do you have any questions?”

To be honest, this tone was not very polite, but Roger didn’t care. He didn’t know what Lance’s purpose in having him do this was, but he knew that he had to do it.

“I’ve come… to report a crime.”

He had searched in his mind for a long time and had only found this one word to describe what he was going to do.

The young man was stunned for a moment, and then became a little excited. “What crime are you reporting?”

Although Roger felt that this young man was a bit unreliable, he still continued to speak. “I have found some people who are suspected of being Dantra spies active in Golden Port City. I feel that they have ill intentions.”

“I don’t know if the police’s side handles this matter, so I came over to try my luck first.”

These words actually couldn’t be supported at all, but a young man is a young man. He had no experience, and he immediately took this case.

“I haven’t had the pleasure of your name, sir?”

“Just call me Roger…”

(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