Empire of Shadows

”Fight?”

”How do we fight?”

”Fight with our lives?”

The tone of a gangster boss was full of doubt and arrogance. He was very young, thirty-seven or thirty-eight. To be able to become a gangster boss at this age, he had either fought his way up himself, or he had a good father.

This ”young man” belonged to the former. Through his own ability, he had led his men and had forcefully occupied a place in the underworld of New Birmingham.

A few years ago, about seven or eight years ago, ten years ago, was also his most arrogant time.

Young people are bold and are not afraid of death, unlike these old guys who are either worried about this or afraid of that.

This had also given him a very vivid nickname in the underworld. People called him ”Bomb,” to describe his explosive temper, and also his madness.

It was by fighting with his life that he had fought for the status of his gang, had fought for a piece of territory, and the foundation of the gang.

Ten years later, this young man who had made a name for himself by fighting desperately was beginning to say the same things as those old guys. This was actually an interesting cycle.The challenger will eventually become the challenged. This is fate.

He twisted his neck and looked at the other four people in the room. ”Have you looked into the Lance Family?”

The remaining few looked at each other. Of course, they had looked into this Lance Family, and even before this matter.

It was precisely because they had looked into it that they were gathered together now.

Before, someone from above had supported them to fight with the Lance Family. They had done it, but look at the result?

Those who were locked up were locked up, those who were dead were dead. Even the chief of the state police had been replaced!

It was said that the lieutenant governor had also suffered a little because of this.

What were they, the people at the bottom of society, supposed to do?

Bomb shook his head with an unclear meaning. ”See, you’re not talking anymore.”

He glared at the person who had spoken first. ”Aren’t you very good at talking?”

”Speak!”

”Keep talking!”

The man gave a forced laugh. ”I’m just anxious that they are pressing too hard. If we don’t have any countermeasures, maybe the next one to die on the road will be us!”

A person sitting between them began to mediate. ”Alright, let’s not have any internal conflicts now. This will only let the Lance Family take advantage.”

He looked at Bomb. ”What are your thoughts?”

Bomb took a puff of his cigarette and continued to shake his head for some unknown reason. The speed was very slow, not the kind of fast shaking, as if he were a snake, swaying back and forth.

This might have been a habit he had developed. In addition, with his arrogant expression and his somewhat choking attitude when he spoke, it could be seen that he was indeed not easy to provoke, at least among this group of people.

”My thoughts are very simple. Either we cooperate with them, or we withdraw from here.”

”Go to war?”

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud. ”What about the Perez family?”

He was still shaking his head. If someone who had met him for the first time saw him shaking like this, it’s unknown if it would cause any physiological discomfort.

It would have been better if he hadn’t mentioned this Perez family. As soon as he mentioned it, everyone’s mood became a little lower.

The Perez family had suffered a loss in their conflict with the Lance Family. What benefits could these minor characters get?

There was indeed no hope in going to war, which made them feel very dejected.

They were also prominent figures in this city, but now that the Lance Family had come, if they were to be told to tuck their tails and get out... they were not very willing.

Even if they left here, where could they go?

To the surrounding cities?

Wouldn’t they still have to go to war with the local gangs to be able to snatch a piece of territory?

And to go to war with them on their own turf, unless you have an overwhelming force, otherwise they will definitely suffer a great loss!

They couldn’t win the fight, and they didn’t want to run. The few of them were all sullen and silent.

In the end, a short guy said, ”Why don’t we... just do nothing for now and see what Lance plans to do with us.”

”If he wants to recruit us, I think we can also follow him.”

”Look at the gangs in Golden Port City. It’s not just the Lance Family there. There are also dozens of large and small gangs. Aren’t they all living quite well?”

”Although the Lance Family’s rules are a little more, making money is also a little more stable, and the order is also more stable.”

”For him, this is a brand new map. And he is not from Indeno State, he is from Likalai State.”

”After he has come here, he needs to set an example for the people in other cities!”

The short guy’s ideas came out in a continuous stream. ”If he wipes us all out, what about the cities behind?”

”Will the gangs in the cities behind fight him to the death?”

”So, brothers, I think there is a high probability that he will still talk to us, and will not really make a move.”

”The death of Carl and the other brother was just a means for him to deter us. Carl was originally an Empire immigrant. For the Lance Family, this is equivalent to being betrayed by one of their own. His death is very normal.”

”The other guy can only be said to be unlucky, to have been chosen to be the means to deter us. In this aspect, we are undoubtedly lucky.”

”So now the best thing for us to do is to not mess around, and then wait and see, to see what Lance plans to do with us.”

”If he is willing to recruit us, then we will follow him.”

”If he is not willing to recruit us, then we will talk to him.”

”If he strongly demands that we leave here...” the short guy was silent for a moment, ”then we’ll just leave. There’s no need to go head-to-head with him.”

”His strength is more abundant than ours. For him, the death of a few people is like nothing has happened, but for us, our strength will be greatly lost.”

The short guy’s words had won everyone’s approval. The few of them decided to wait and see. This meeting was just like it had never happened.

However, the words could not be completely said this way. At least they had reached the idea of ”no resistance.” Either stay, or run. In short, they would not go against the Lance Family.

During the day, some one-sided firefights occurred in the urban area again. Lance had taken into account the mayor’s thoughts and had used small-caliber rifles, which had made Hiram very unhappy.

Because with this small-caliber bullet, he couldn’t even feel much of a recoil. He was telling people everywhere that this small-caliber bullet was specially used by women.

A country gang is a country gang. After Carl’s death, some of his subordinates didn’t even know what to do.

If it were a big city gang, these people would have long since run away with the gang’s funds and wealth.

However, this also made it convenient for Lance to clean up these participants.

In just three days, the two gangs had been completely wiped out from New Birmingham.

Some of the locals knew what had happened, but they did not have much of a negative feeling.

The Lance Family was so fucking professional at this.

A few people were walking on the street. Suddenly a car stopped by their side. Two people in the car took out their submachine guns and strafed these people. After the strafing was over in just a dozen or so seconds, the car quickly left.

Then a truck came over. They threw the bodies inside onto the truck, and then the truck quickly left.

Then a car with ”City Cleaning Company” on it arrived at the scene. They, with very professional tools and chemical reagents, had, in the shortest possible time, cleaned the crime scene completely.

The most interesting thing was that an operator of a shop was asking around where the current headquarters of the Lance Family was.

It wasn’t that he wanted to avenge anyone, or to challenge the authority of the Lance Family, but that they had given him twenty dollars, because a bullet had shattered his shop window and some of the goods inside.

But these things, added up, were only worth seven or eight dollars. They had given him twenty dollars, which was too much. He was a little worried, so he wanted to return the extra money to them.

Fortunately, he had really found the people of the Lance Family, and had also seen Lance!

In the afternoon, a car stopped outside ”Frank’s Shop.” This was not a rich people’s district, and there were very few cars on the side of the road.

So when a not-bad-looking car stopped here, the people who were bored and had nothing to do on the road would all look over.

Soon they saw Frank, the owner of ”Frank’s Shop,” get out of the car.

Frank was a thin old man in his fifties. He was wearing a dusty, gray-edged, worn-out flat cap, a dark brown woolen overcoat, and a pair of equally somewhat worn-out old leather boots.

A set of ordinary outerwear, plus a gray waistcoat, was all he had.

He looked very ordinary, and could even be said to be a little shabby.

He was also a minor celebrity on this street. When everyone saw him get out of the car, they were all very surprised!

The tailor of the tailor shop next to him was looking at him with a pipe in his mouth and couldn’t help but ask, ”Frank, is this the rich relative you often talk about?”

Some of the onlookers around couldn’t help but laugh!

Frank sometimes liked to brag. He would always boast that he had a rich relative, but everyone knew that that person did not actually exist.

But he would argue with you. If you said he was bragging, he would turn red and swear and bet with you, so sometimes people would use this topic to tease him.

The slow-paced life of New Birmingham had made these people with no business all stand on the street when the weather was nice, to sunbathe, to chat, or to sit together and drink some coffee. These were all good choices.

The tailor and Frank had a very good relationship and could be considered good friends. He also liked to tease this little old man.

It was just that this time, it was very unexpected. Frank did not jump up and refute anything. He just looked at the tailor in a daze. ”You have no idea what I just went through!”

His appearance was indeed a bit attractive. The tailor admitted that his curiosity had been aroused.

”What did you go through?” he pursued, and the others also came closer.

Frank coughed. ”I have to go back and get a drink. I’m a little thirsty.”

The owner of the coffee shop across the street immediately came over with a coffee pot. ”I have some here.”

Someone else had also brought over a chair and had Frank sit there.

This was their daily life. A small city is always like this. The human touch is much more than in a big city!

Frank held the coffee cup and took a sip of coffee. ”Free coffee is really delicious!”

The people around all laughed and also wanted a drink. The owner of the coffee shop didn’t mind. He gave everyone a little. Of course, they had to get their own cups.

Then Frank finally said, ”Yesterday they were not outside my shop...” he did not continue. The people were all scared!

Five adults were standing outside the window of Frank’s shop. They seemed to be saying something.

Suddenly two cars came. A few people poked out of the cars. They were holding submachine guns and pulled the trigger on the five people.

The five unlucky bastards immediately lay on the ground, and then those terrible guys had even gone over with their submachine guns to finish them off. Everyone’s head was shattered.

Then they had seen an amazing ”professional service.” In less than fifteen minutes, the ground had been cleaned spotlessly, leaving only the smell of cleaning agents and disinfectants.

No bodies, no splattered blood, nothing at all!

What made them even more incredible was that when they were strafing, they had broken Frank’s shop window and the goods inside. When the operators were still feeling sorry for Frank, one of them had actually gone over and had given old Frank twenty dollars, saying it was as compensation!

This was not only something that had never happened before, but they had never even heard of it, but it was the truth!

Old Frank had also encountered this kind of thing for the first time.

In the afternoon, he had found a glazier, had re-customized the shop window, and had also counted the damaged goods, which was less than eight dollars.

He had planned to return the extra money to those people. The neighbors on the street had not stopped him. As a result, he had really managed to find the people of the Lance Family.

”When I got there, I saw their leader, the guy named Lance!”

”My God, you don’t know how handsome, how young he is!”

”I’m probably even younger than my son, but he rules a large gang!”

”This guy is very polite. I have to admit this honestly. He called me ’Mr. Frank,’ and he didn’t, because of my...” he made some gestures to show his shabbiness, ”...look down on me.”

”He also spoke very gently. I like his voice.”

”I told him what had happened, and he actually apologized to me!”

”He said that his subordinates had accidentally broken my shop window, and he also asked if they had already compensated me!”

Frank, as he said this, seemed to have suddenly crashed. The people around also had a look of amazement. Someone couldn’t help but pursue, ”And then?”

”And then?” Frank came back from his memories. ”Then he said that the extra was as compensation for the fright I had received, and he also promised me that the city would soon be quiet.”

”He also asked about the protection fee...”

When the protection fee was mentioned, the operators around all became energetic.

This place was not like Golden Port City. The development of Golden Port City was extremely rapid. The gangs could collect a lot of money just by collecting protection fees. This was just an inconspicuous country city. The income and consumption power of the people were limited.

But they also had to pay a protection fee, a few dollars a month. Some of the businesses that were particularly good might have to pay ten dollars or even more.

It might not seem like much, but for these shop owners, it was not a small amount either. The profit was not high in the first place, and they also had to be skinned by a gang. How could they be happy?

The people on the side had been urging for a long while before Frank finally continued, ”Mr. Lance said that after he has dealt with the disobedient cancerous tumors in the city, we will permanently cancel the protection fee!”

”My God, is this true?”

The people were all surprised, and then someone asked, ”Then how does he make money?”

Sometimes the people at the bottom are like this. When they realize that the Lance Family is not a bad gang, their first reaction is not to let this good gang go out of business because it doesn’t collect a protection fee, and then be driven away by a bad gang!

Someone said, ”I think we can pay some, just a little less...”

But there were also some who laughed out loud. ”You’re actually worried about a gangster not making money!”

”Just by selling liquor, it’s enough for them to get rich!”

Hearing this, people finally reacted. The Lance Family in Frank’s description was too perfect. For them, these low-level people, so they had subconsciously thought that the Lance Family really did not make money through criminal businesses.

The owner of the coffee shop exclaimed, ”So you’re saying that the good days are coming?”

Yes, the good days are coming!

The next morning, the Lance Family had announced that the two areas that had already been cleaned up would be completely exempt from any form of protection fee.

This had made the people who were still a little skeptical completely believe that they were for real!

And this move had also made the mayor very satisfied. Not collecting a protection fee meant that these small property owners would have more disposable resources. If this money was used for consumption, even if it was not much, for the city’s not-so-obvious economic development, it was definitely good news!

These actions of the Lance Family had won the support of the public, and had also soon let the other remaining five gangs know.

Besides thinking that Lance had some means of buying people’s hearts, they had no other thoughts.

If you love to collect, then collect. If you don’t love to collect, then don’t!

In fact, for the gangs that were now profiting from the sale of liquor, the income brought by collecting protection fees was actually far lower than the profits they had obtained from selling liquor.

But why did they still have to collect it?

And doing so would also cause many people to be dissatisfied with them.

In fact, the reason was very simple. This was a means of rule.

If you don’t whip a slave, and don’t make him work hard for you, the slave will think that he is also a human.

This is a challenge to authority. Under a feudal rule, it will be considered as a shaking of authority!

So even if the income from collecting protection fees was not as much as the profit they had made from selling wine in one night, they still had to collect the money.

They wanted these people to understand that they were lambs that could be placed on the chopping block at any time. Only in this way could their rule over these blocks be stable, and could these ruled ordinary people continue to have a fear of them!

Lance had abolished these, which was not scientific at all.

So they said that Lance was buying people’s hearts, but it was indeed very effective!

After dealing with some miscellaneous matters in the morning, Lance had Elvin send out an invitation to the leaders of the other five gangs, inviting them to meet.

To talk about the future.