Empire of Shadows

The moment the young man walked out of the apartment building’s unit door, sunlight spilled onto his body. He squinted and glanced up at the sun.

The sunlight was very warm. He thought he would have some other emotional fluctuations today, such as excitement, or perhaps panic, but in fact, he was exceptionally calm at this moment.

So calm, it was as if he was about to do something very simple, like... buying groceries, or some other ordinary thing.

No great expectations, no excitement, and no fear.

He looked at the sun for a while, then turned and walked toward his ”work” place. As a peripheral member of the Lance Family , his main job every day was to be a ”courier.”

”Courier” is a relatively low-level job in the gang. To put it more simply, his job was to run errands, deliver things, and the like.

Because he had to shuttle back and forth delivering things, he got the title ”courier.”

But in reality, it was manual labor.

However, the Lance Family paid very well. He could get about a hundred dollars a month. It sounded just like a normal job.

He did the work, and the company paid him.Except, the one paying his salary wasn’t the company’s accountant or finance department, but the family member he followed.

Below the regular family members were these peripheral members. He had to follow a family member and do things for him.

This was his job. Sometimes he felt it was a bit comical to call himself a gangster, but he was indeed in the service of the Lance Family .

He had money, but he didn’t buy a car. Buying a car from the family came with a very good discount, because of the casinos here.

The Golden Casino and the Golden Port Casino brought in huge profits every year, as well as... collateral.

Those people whose eyes turned red from gambling didn’t care what they had just mortgaged to the casino. As long as they could get chips, they dared to sign any contract.

This also led to the casino—

Every day!

Receiving a lot of collateral.

Ninety percent of this collateral would become the casino’s property, because their owners were highly unlikely to be able to redeem these items.

Watches, luxury goods, houses, and cars.

There were some second-hand luxury shops near the casino, specializing in second-hand luxury goods. These items all came from the casino.

Morris and the others would give these unredeemed items to family members to sell around the casino. Then they would hand the sales money back to the casino to be counted as revenue.

Besides these, there were also a large number of used cars, all kinds of used cars, from two or three hundred dollars, to several thousand.

If he wanted to buy a car, as a peripheral member of the family, he could probably buy a very decent car for just three hundred dollars.

But he didn’t buy one, because the family provided him with a car, and sometimes having a car wasn’t convenient.

If you have a car, as long as you drive it, you will be seen by the ubiquitous Golden Port City surveillance system. His movements would be almost impossible to keep secret. On the contrary, walking was the right choice for his current undercover work.

And what he had to do every day was shuttle back and forth between some second-hand luxury shops and the casino, delivering some goods to those shops, and then taking some money back to the casino to be booked.

Sometimes he was also responsible for making calls, or going to find those gamblers to ask if they wanted to redeem their expired items. If they didn’t want to redeem, the contract would end.

But if they wanted to redeem and had no money, they could continue to borrow from the casino to redeem their things. Of course, the price might be higher.

In short, from a law enforcement perspective, these were all methods the gang used to exploit others, and he was a participant.

But to say how illegal it was... not entirely, because the entire process involved signed contracts. Everything was legal.

He trotted to his workplace. His ”boss” was already leaning against the car smoking, chatting with two girls who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen.

Members of the Lance Family were very popular in the eyes of these girls who were new to society, because if they got with a Lance Family member, they wouldn’t have to worry about being bullied when they were out.

Whether going to nightclubs, bars, or any other entertainment venues where gangs were involved or dishonest people participated, as long as they told people their boyfriend was from the Lance Family , no one would harass them.

The reason the Lance Family had such prestige was purely because of the rules written with the lives and blood of certain people!

”My brother is here. We’ll chat tonight. I’ll drive you guys out to have some fun then, guaranteed you’ll like it!”

The young man’s boss said goodbye to the two girls, then walked over and casually put his arm around the young man’s shoulder. ”You’re a little later than yesterday, but it’s fine, we don’t have a strict clock-in system. As long as you don’t just fucking disappear, it’s fine.”

”Now, let’s get to work!”

”This is your work for this morning. I’ll have Little Ka go with you.”

Little Ka was another peripheral member, just twenty years old, a young man full of longing for the gangster life.

He was a local, an imperial immigrant, and had joined the Lance Family through an introduction. He was now a peripheral member in his probation period.

For imperial immigrants like Little Ka , their ”probation period” on the periphery would end a bit faster than for Federation people or non-imperial immigrants like the young man.

The thing Little Ka talked to him about most was helping the family defeat their enemies, kill off those... Five Families or whatever, and make the Lance Family the greatest gang in the Federation, bar none!

This was perhaps what many young men his age who joined gangs loved to fantasize about—they became ”Mr. Key,” became big shots, could get more money, had higher status and influence. There were countless young men like this.

The young man nodded, ”Okay...”

And so, a full day of busyness began. They needed to run around frequently. For example, a certain second-hand luxury shop would call, saying they needed a certain style of men’s wallet.

Then the young man and his little follower, Little Ka , would have to call around everywhere to ask if other second-hand luxury shops, or even the casino, had such an item.

If they did, they had to run over, get the item, and deliver it to the designated second-hand luxury shop.

It sounded like a simple job. In reality, not only was it tiring, but sometimes it also required the use of violence.

For example, they had experienced such a thing a while ago, which was also the reason why Derrick sensed a trace of ferocity from the young man.

A shop needed a men’s handbag. The casino happened to have one, and it was in very good condition.

So they went to the casino to get it. But this bag’s contract agreement had two more days before it expired. To meet the shop’s demand, they had to go find the owner of the handbag.

Coincidentally, he was living in a room above the Golden Port Casino. The young man then took Little Ka and found this guy.

He had already lost all his money. The only reason he could still live in the casino’s room was that he had lost enough money, and the casino had given him a few hotel vouchers for a free room.

This kind of voucher allowed him to enjoy the casino’s hotel services for free. It was also a form of promotion.

Things like this often happened: some gambling addicts wouldn’t use the rooms themselves but would sell these vouchers at a relatively cheap price to tourists, in exchange for gambling money to re-enter the casino.

But this customer’s attitude was extremely rude. He not only refused to end the contract early, but also cursed the young man and Little Ka in a very foul tone, as well as the casino and Lance .

Cursing Lance on Lance Family territory was no different from seeking death.

The young man might not have acted immediately, perhaps because he was a law enforcer, but Little Ka , who saw Lance as his life goal and idol, directly punched first.

The two of them gave that bastard a harsh beating in the hotel. They beat him badly.

He didn’t dare not to join in. If he didn’t, Little Ka might tell others about his abnormality, and he could be exposed.

Although he hated Lance and the Lance Family , it didn’t mean he wanted to die.

So this was not an easy job.

Of course, it wasn’t just them. There were at least seventy or eighty such shops in all of Golden Port City , spread throughout the city. There were even twenty-plus shops in Creek Valley City , and sometimes they needed to make deliveries there too.

This was a very prosperous business. Many gambling addicts who won money would buy some second-hand luxury goods here to experience and enjoy them. But before long, these items would reappear on the shop shelves, because those gambling addicts had lost their money in the casino again.

Win it in Golden Port , spend it in Golden Port . Don’t even think about taking a cent home!

The whole day’s work was considered over at seven in the evening. But this didn’t mean the entire job was over, only that the young man’s work was over.

”This is today’s payment. Get it to the casino as soon as possible.”

The young man looked at the handbag in his hand. It was heavy, containing probably more than ten thousand dollars, and some other things.

He nodded, then carried the handbag to the back of their car, opened the trunk, and tossed it in.

There were already seven or eight such handbags inside. This was the part where they were responsible for collecting payments.

Next, if there was nothing else, they would deliver these handbags and the money inside to the casino, and their work would be over.

After that, they could enjoy a sumptuous dinner at the casino’s buffet, play a few hands, then go to a nightclub, entertainment venue, bar, or other such places to hang out until midnight, and then go home.

This was the daily life of a gang member. If you were to say it was that attractive, it probably wasn’t.

But to say it held no attraction for young people, that’s not necessarily true either, because Little Ka really liked this kind of life.

The day was full of responsibility and very fulfilling. The night was for indulging emotions in a bar, enjoying everything.

“Hurry, hurry, I can’t wait. There are two pretty girls waiting for me!”

The boss, sitting in the back seat, was clamoring. He couldn’t stop thinking about those two young girls. As for whether he could score tonight, that depended on whether he could bring his A-game later.

The young man took a deep breath, and slammed the trunk lid shut. He then went around to the second-row door and pulled it open.

His boss, though a bit strange why the young man wanted to sit in the back today, was only strange for a moment and didn’t overthink it. They were all brothers in the family. He never thought these two would harm him.

The car started to move. Little Ka in the driver’s seat was driving very seriously. He had just learned to drive less than two months ago and was at the stage of being addicted to driving.

No matter where they went, they would basically let Little Ka drive. This kind of young man who proactively took on more work was indeed likable.

The boss, sitting in the back seat, was chatting about recent news, while fantasizing about how to take the two girls home later. Just as his thoughts and words diverged, while he was distracted, he suddenly heard an ”I’m sorry” by his ear, which he couldn’t understand.

He turned his head and looked at the young man, full of curiosity, “Did you just say ‘I’m sorry’?”

“What did you do?”

What answered him was not the young man’s words, but the weapon in his hand.

The small-caliber weapon was becoming the Lance Family’s ”standard issue.” Because it made almost no sound and was just as deadly at close range, it became a weapon the family relied on.

It wouldn’t cause a lot of noise, so it wouldn’t produce a huge negative social impact.

While other gangs were pursuing larger calibers, the Lance Family had begun to pursue low noise, which was indeed unconventional.

With a ”pff” sound, the glass window shattered. A bullet hole suddenly appeared on the shop window of a closed store by the road. Cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the entire glass window.

Little Ka , sitting in the driver’s seat, still didn’t know what had happened. He was just about to turn his head when a slightly warm metal cylinder was pressed against his head. “Listen to me, drive... this way.”

Little Ka was very nervous, and also very scared. He asked while driving, “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“You can totally tell the family! There’s nothing we can’t solve!”

“You don’t have to do this. If they find you, you’ll die a horrible death!”

The young man didn’t speak, just pressed the weapon in his hand harder against Little Ka’s head. “Stop saying things I don’t want to hear. Just drive, or I can’t guarantee I won’t kill you!”

Little Ka stopped talking and just drove silently. The atmosphere in the car was very heavy, and the smell of blood was spreading.

After a while, Little Ka asked, “You killed him?”

“Yeah.”

The young man answered this question. “He was sitting next to me. It would be too dangerous if I didn’t kill him.”

Perhaps feeling that communication was possible, Little Ka asked again, “Why did you do this? If you’re short on money, you can tell me, you can tell the family! We have special funds to solve your troubles!”

Lance had considered this problem. Most gang members are on a fixed salary. They, or their families, might also run into trouble. In short, they might need more money in a short period than they can afford.

In this situation, gang members might turn their eyes to the family’s businesses. After all, criminal businesses make money fast, and they wouldn’t feel bad about using that money.

Lance didn’t want family members to be executed, to be honor-killed, for such small matters, so he established a series of rules.

As long as a family member genuinely needed money and couldn’t afford it themselves, the family could absolutely pay this money for them.

As for paying it back, there was no interest, and they could pay it back slowly, even if it took a lifetime.

The Lance Family was possibly the ”company” with the best employee benefits in the Federation, bar none.

So Little Ka was baffled by his ”brother’s” actions at this moment. He really couldn’t understand why he would do this. This clearly showed he didn’t plan to live!

The car soon arrived in the suburbs. In the plan, Little Ka could not die. If he died, there would be no one to report it.

So the young man kicked him out of the car, whacked him on the head, and then drove away himself.

Clutching his head and looking at the blood in his palm, Little Ka immediately ran to a nearby phone booth and made a call to Melo .

Melo was watching TV. This thing, television, had played a very important role since it entered people’s lives. It was almost becoming an important reliance for people’s boring evening hours.

The sudden ringing of the phone gave Melo a bad feeling. He was currently in charge of the family’s affairs in Golden Port City . Given the current ”tranquility” of Golden Port City , it was impossible for a call to come in here directly at this time.

He first turned off the TV, then walked to the phone and picked it up. His expression immediately became serious.

A few minutes later, a motorcade left the manor. Ten-plus minutes later, they arrived at the scene.

The wound on Little Ka’s head was already bandaged. Not far away, there was an ambulance. A person was lying on the stretcher inside, but covered with a white cloth.

Obviously, this unlucky bastard was truly, thoroughly unlucky.

Melo walked to the stretcher and lifted the white cloth to take a look. Although he didn’t really know this person, it was clear that the serious expressions of those around him told him that this person was indeed a family member.

He came to Little Ka’s side and said, ”Tell me everything that happened. No matter how small the detail, even if it’s something you felt was a bit off.”

Little Ka repeated it in great detail, but nothing sounded off. Melo asked a few more questions to confirm nothing was missed, then began to arrange for people to pursue.

The entire Golden Port City , the entire Likalai State , had a very tight surveillance system. Soon, someone reported seeing the car by a certain interstate highway.

A rough trajectory appeared in Melo’s mind.

He arranged for people to go to the young man’s residence to see if there were any discoveries, and at the same time, arranged for people to hunt down this young man...

(End of this chapter)