Empire of Shadows

The car slowly came to a halt. Prosecutor Crown gripped the steering wheel tightly due to tension, yet he turned to calm his wife.

”Don’t worry. They just want to talk to me. Everything will be over, and everything will be fine.”

But this reassurance was largely ineffective. As the convoy blocked him on the open road, even the air seemed to become barbed.

Every breath felt like an intake of fear and suffering.

The convoy stopped. Someone came up to the car door and knocked on the window. Prosecutor Crown looked at the man outside. Seeing the man gesture for him to roll down the window, he waited a few seconds, then quickly lowered it.

”Is there a problem, gentlemen?” He tried his best to appear calm, like an innocent person.

But his acting was poor. He was not a truly competent politician; he was merely a prosecutor who wanted to climb the ladder and only knew how to sternly read out charges when necessary.

He was not a politician and couldn’t effectively control his emotions or expressions.

His slightly twitching eye and his anxious, constantly tapping fingers betrayed his inner turmoil.

The young man standing outside shook his head. ”Get out. Let’s talk by the roadside.”He glanced at Mrs. Crown and the bewildered child in the back seat. ”We try not to let these matters affect people who aren’t involved, but first, you need to cooperate.”

Prosecutor Crown looked at his wife and child in the rearview mirror again. He took a deep breath and forced a smile. ”Of course, why not?”

He opened the car door, keeping his eye on his wife via the rearview mirror. He whispered, ”I’ll be right back.”

With that, he climbed out of the car and walked with the young man to the side of the road.

”You shouldn’t have done that.”

The young man, standing before Prosecutor Crown, first offered a critique of his actions. ”Mr. Lance has other business and couldn’t come personally, so I’m here on his behalf. You can call me Alan. Everyone does.”

Alan was impeccably dressed. It seemed that once people reached this stage, becoming wealthy and no longer worried about money, they tried to make their external appearance match their internal status.

Wealth, status, and influence.

When he shifted his light jacket, the gold watch chain inside was visible.

In reality, he rarely bothered to check the time on the watch, but the item was considered the ”standard accessory for a gentleman” and had been popular in the Federation for a long time, even now.

If one ignored his profession and his past deeds, he looked like a social elite, not a gang cadre.

He pulled out a cigarette case, offered one to Prosecutor Crown, and lit his own with a lighter.

Prosecutor Crown eventually took the offered cigarette, lit it with his own lighter, and took a drag. After a brief silence, he spoke. ”I know.”

He had intended to argue, but after thinking it over, he realized he didn’t know how to defend himself.

This was not a normal investigation. If it were a legitimate investigation, he could simply claim it was a directive from the Attorney General’s office.

This was entrapment, a trap. It fell outside the scope of normal investigation.

He had no option but to accept the reality.

Alan watched his subservient demeanor and showed a slight, mocking smile.

He looked back at Mrs. Crown and their child in the car, even waving at the child. ”A beautiful child. Is it a boy?”

Prosecutor Crown’s voice began to tremble slightly. He tightly pressed his lips together. His gaze, which had been lowered to the ground, slowly lifted to meet Alan’s eyes. ”Don’t touch my family.”

Alan looked at his serious face and couldn’t help finding it amusing. ”You started this, Prosecutor.”

That one sentence significantly diminished Prosecutor Crown’s intensity. The stern, almost predatory expression quickly vanished, replaced by a look of pleading.

”They have nothing to do with this. Whatever you want, direct it at me.”

Alan curled his lip. ”You should have studied the files. Did the lessons there not make you a little wiser?”

”When did we ever leave people the chance to retaliate?”

”Unless they were lucky and just missed us, otherwise, we handle everything.”

”Boss says hatred makes people mad. We don’t want to deal with reckless maniacs, so we cut off that path of fate before they turn into madmen.”

He took a deep drag from his cigarette. ”Who told you to do this?”

”Say the name, and half your problem is solved.”

Prosecutor Crown remained silent. He didn’t know if he should speak.

His rationality told him not to speak. Once he revealed the name, if Lance moved against the Attorney General, he would surely know that Crown had betrayed his information.

Since Crown was the only person who knew the name of the orchestrator, it was a crucial decision.

The difficult choice was this: if he spoke, he would have absolutely no future in the judiciary.

But if he didn’t speak, he was worried Alan would harm his family. He could only respond with silence.

Alan took a drag from his cigarette and said softly, ”Your friend, the gang leader... what was his name again?”

He couldn’t recall the minor character’s name. ”In any case, your friend was smart. He eagerly gave up your name without us even having to use force.”

”Resistance is pointless, Prosecutor. We have too many bargaining chips, and you only have one—and it’s the cheapest one!”

Prosecutor Crown’s body seemed to tremble slightly. In that moment, he realized he wasn’t as tough as he had always imagined himself to be.

Everyone has had similar thoughts: what would they do when facing an extremely hostile situation?

During ”hypothetical” scenarios, people’s thinking tends to be objective and rational.

Because the imagined situation hasn’t truly happened to them, they can think about the problem rationally and objectively.

They would give an answer everyone agrees with: face danger and threat without compromise, maintaining secrecy even unto death.

But when they truly faced that choice, human weakness was exposed under the immense pressure of subjective fear.

”If I tell you...” Prosecutor Crown looked at Alan. ”Will you let me go?”

Alan suddenly laughed. ”Did you know?”

”Your friend asked the same question. Do you know where he is now?”

Instinctively, Prosecutor Crown’s face grew darker. He had already guessed what happened to the missing gang members.

But even after his suspicions were confirmed, he was still shocked, angry, and terrified by the realization!

However, these emotions ultimately dissolved into profound helplessness.

He took a deep drag from his cigarette. ”It was the State Attorney General. He told me to do it.”

”If you want to deal with me, then go ahead!”

”Please spare my family.”

”Take me far away. Tell my son I went out of town for work and won’t be back for a long time.”

He took several quick drags of the cigarette, using it to soothe his tension and fear.

When the fingers holding the cigarette started to feel hot, he fiercely threw it onto the ground, then glared at Alan. ”Come on. Take me away, and kill me!”

Alan looked at him for seven or eight seconds, then smiled. ”Did you know?”

”Your current display is a huge contrast to your decision. I didn’t expect you to be this way.”

He curled his lip, showing both a slight contempt and a hint of appreciation.

”You should thank your status and Mr. Lance’s leniency. We won’t hurt you. Not only that, but we will also give you many benefits and opportunities, helping you climb higher.”

”But there is a precondition: you must relay information to us promptly. That is the other half of solving your problem.”

Surviving this sudden turn of events became the greatest surprise for Prosecutor Crown!

He had mentally prepared himself to be eliminated, all to protect his wife and family.

He had indeed seen the files on the Lance family and knew they favored elimination. Of course, most Federal gang members and politicians did the same.

So he held no illusions.

If his death could save his wife and child, he considered it a worthwhile trade—at least two lives would be saved in exchange for his own!

But now, the situation seemed different.

Alan pulled out an envelope and placed it in his hand. ”Here is a bank cashier’s check for $100,000. You can cash it at any bank.”

”And here is a card with the phone number of the Boss, Mr. Lance.”

”If you have any intelligence concerning us, you can call him to communicate.”

”You can, of course, refuse, but you know the consequences.”

”Friend or enemy?”

It is said that when a person faces death for the first time and refuses to yield, they become braver when facing future threats of death!

Some people are like that, but most people feel even greater fear!

Those who have never intimately faced death will never know how suffocating the pressure of mortality is in that moment.

Prosecutor Crown, having already ”broken through” once, was one such person. He looked down at the exquisite envelope in Alan’s hand. After a period of thought, he took the envelope and placed it in his coat pocket.

”So, when I go back, I will report to Mr. Lance that you are already our friend?”

Prosecutor Crown nodded after a long pause, a movement that seemed to drain him completely.

Alan patted his arm. ”See? That wasn’t hard at all.”

”I have some advice for you: do not try to trick us. Even if you live in Auris, protected by the State Government, we have enough patience to hunt you down.”

He then glanced at Mrs. Crown and young Crown in the car. ”Your family doesn’t want anything to happen to you either!”

The last sentence sounded like emotional reassurance, but it was, in fact, a clear threat!

”Good. I must return and report to Mr. Lance. We have gained a new good friend!”

A moment later, the convoy turned around and drove away. Prosecutor Crown watched them leave for a long time, then smoked another cigarette outside the car before returning to the vehicle.

”Those people just now...”

Prosecutor Crown pretended to be relaxed. ”Like I said, everything is over.”

In that moment, he realized why so many people wanted to eliminate Lance: because Lance was too rich!

And he was willing to spend money—that was his advantage and strength.

He could afford to give Senator Cleveland’s faction almost limitless resources to buy off anyone they wanted.

At the same time, he could use Lance to eliminate those who threatened the entire interest group. They were allies, not just a relationship of dominance and subjugation!

Realizing this, Prosecutor Crown instinctively thought of many things regarding case investigations, but he quickly dismissed them. He was no longer the same person he was a few minutes ago.

He had stepped into this interest group himself, becoming a peripheral member.

If he couldn’t cling to the core, he and his family might die.

He knew Lance’s methods. He was a master of creating ”accidents”—car crashes, electrical failures, gas explosions—all were likely in his repertoire.

He instinctively touched the pocket of his coat. The cashier’s check and contact information were there. He could feel those items. This was the largest single ”bribe” he had ever taken since graduating from university and becoming a prosecutor.

But in this moment, it was a talisman, a charm that protected his and his family’s lives.

The car sped down the interstate. The pursuers were gone, but he kept the accelerator pressed to the floor, as if something was still relentlessly chasing him.

His wife also gradually relaxed, her gaze shifting between her husband and child.

The following afternoon, they arrived in Auris. At the State Attorney General’s office, he met the Attorney General.

”Was the journey smooth?” the Attorney General asked.

Prosecutor Crown nodded, a look of guilt on his face. ”I didn’t handle the matter well.”

The Attorney General had already considered sidelining him but hadn’t yet acted. If he immediately sidelined his subordinate just because he failed one task, what would others think?

Some jobs required subjective initiative, not just reluctantly taking directions. He had to give Prosecutor Crown some work first, then sideline him later.

So, the Attorney General wore no expression of blame. He smiled. ”It’s fine. Everyone fails sometimes, and this wasn’t entirely your fault. We didn’t anticipate the Lance family’s caution.”

As the Attorney General, he had the authority to speak directly with the head of the local Hazardous Materials Administration and knew the entire flow of the case.

The plan itself was successful. The Lance family truly intended to complete the transaction, but their first shipment was soda water.

If the Hazardous Materials Administration had waited longer, after the buyers inspected the goods and found it wasn’t liquor, they might have sent the real liquor later.

Strictly speaking, the failure of the trap stemmed from underestimating the Lance family’s vigilance, assuming they were eager to get their goods into Gold State and would therefore be careless.

Even if the Attorney General had personally handled it, the outcome might not have been much better, but he wouldn’t have used such a direct method—

He would have let the small gang trade with Lance several times normally, then set the trap, when basic trust was established. The chance of success would have been higher.

Ultimately, Prosecutor Crown’s work ability was lacking.

His gaze fixed on his seemingly mediocre subordinate. After a few seconds, he said, ”I have a couple of cases here. If you don’t mind, you can start working on them.”

He handed over two files. ”You can also use this time to get acquainted with your colleagues here.”

Both cases were quite tricky, not ordinary ones. De-gangsterization had become a consensus.

Even Senator Cleveland’s faction, by voting in Congress, fundamentally supported the idea.

They only opposed moving against Lance and their own ”gloves” or public figures.

But they supported the overall objective.

Two gangs had been engaged in a lengthy turf war in Auris for years. Regardless of the complexity of Federal high-level politics, these ground-level issues still needed to be addressed.

The Attorney General might not be limited to just serving until the end of the year. If he aligned his stance and actions with the will of the superiors, he could continue in his role.

Those who have never wielded power never know its addictive nature. Anyone who tastes power is reluctant to give it up.

If he could eliminate these two major gangs, it would significantly boost his reputation and standing with the new government and Congress, helping him retain his position or even get a promotion!

What if Prosecutor Crown couldn’t handle the cases?

That would simply be an excuse to move him to ordinary work.

The Attorney General smiled faintly, highly satisfied with his artistic arrangement.