Empire of Shadows

Wherever there are people, there will be disputes.

You like to put a pot of flowers on the windowsill, while I just like to place a sculpture.

People’s ideas are always difficult to keep in absolute alignment. There will always be some small differences, and these differences are the key points that trigger contradictions and conflicts.

People like those who are relatively milder, because being with these people who have non-aggressive personalities is very relaxing.

But being with those who have aggressive personalities is very tiring. You never know if the last thing he said to you was just to express his thoughts, or to test you.

If these problems can exist between ordinary people, it’s even more so when so many gangs are gathered together.

Some people don’t like Lance’s style. Everyone is a gangster, everyone is a bad guy. They feel that Lance puts himself in a higher position, which they don’t like.

There’s definitely more than one or two who don’t like him. Once these people are numerous, they will produce an erroneous perception: that they are very strong.

In reality, they are not strong. Under the ulterior motives and instigation of others, two hot-tempered guys finally ran to the casino. Without their own clear understanding, they were incited by the people around them and finally caused trouble.

”What do you think Lance will do?” In the room, the leaders of the Four Families sat together. The incident in the casino had quickly reached their ears.

Stephen is the youngest here. If his old man hadn’t had an accident, he might still be doing what he loves.

In terms of hobbies, he and Lance would definitely have something to talk about. He likes making movies, has a unique passion for movies. He even has his own film company and has shot a few films.

It’s just a pity that before he could become a famous producer, he had to return to the family to inherit a huge gang family.

He sat at the table, rummaging through the fruit basket for cherries. While eating until his lips turned red, he said, ”I think he will handle it impartially.”

”Although I’m not familiar with him, from my understanding of the things he has done, this time, whether it’s a test or an accident, they won’t get the result they want.”

What result do ”they” want?

They want Lance to pardon those two idiots, to make Lance make a statement—a statement that Lance is one of them, one with all the gangs in the Federation.

This world has never lacked smart people, just as it has never lacked idiots.

Even as the sun is about to rise, there are still people praising the darkness at this moment.

If Lance pardons these two people who caused trouble on his territory, then they will talk to Lance about more things.

In the past, although the Federal Five Families set the rules for the entire federal underworld on the surface, in reality, these rules also needed people to abide by them for them to be the rules of the underworld.

These rules didn’t just benefit them, but everyone. They were just the biggest gangs, but definitely not the ones with absolute dominance.

So when these small gangs united, they (the Five Families) could ignore them, but they wouldn’t proactively confront them.

Kevin laughed twice. He seemed to have a different opinion, but he didn’t say it, just used the laughter to express it.

Clark turned to look at him, ”You think he’ll compromise?”

Kevin pouted. It’s a bit funny for an old man to make this gesture. ”If he wants to fill the vacancy of the Perez family, to go further in prestige, and become one of the new ’Five Families’, he will need the support of these small gangs.”

”If they all strongly oppose it, even if we agree, there’s nothing to be done.”

Clark frowned, ”Actually, I have a feeling he won’t care about this title, this honor.”

At the same time, some gang bosses, from the same state as the two idiots who were caught, also found Lance.

Looking at these people, the ”I’m obviously not a good person” aura they gave off was very strong. If it were an ordinary person, they might feel a little pressure, but Lance was not an ordinary person.

”...If someone causes trouble on your territory, I believe you would also act according to your rules.”

”Gentlemen, this is my territory. Here, I call the shots!”

”You can dislike the rules I’ve set, and dislike me, my family, but you must not violate them.”

”If someone violates them, then I must act according to my rules.”

A guy who looked tall and sturdy, with a face full of fierce flesh, walked out of the crowd with a smile. ”Mr. Lance, those two just have bad tempers. I believe they have calmed down now.”

”I can have them apologize to the beaten customer and provide active compensation. I guarantee that customer will be very satisfied with what he is about to receive!”

Lance stared at this guy, for a good ten seconds. When the other’s smile began to stiffen, he shook his head, ”I said, here, my rules come first.”

The guy with the fierce flesh was suddenly annoyed. He felt Lance had dismissed him and made him lose face. He looked back at the people standing behind him, ”Can’t there be an exception?”

Lance shook his head, ”If there’s nothing else, you can go back.”

”There’s still the event this afternoon. You can go prepare, or look around. Don’t waste time here.”

He finished speaking and turned to leave, but this fleshy-faced guy actually wanted to chase after him. He was immediately blocked by people. He shouted at Lance through the men between them, ”Mr. Lance, we respect you very much, but we hope you can also set an example worthy of our respect!”

”I’m not a highly educated person. I may speak directly. We give you face, and we hope you can give us face too.”

Lance looked back at him with a slightly strange expression, ”You’d better not give me face. I’m not interested in your face either.”

He left without looking back. He didn’t know who had incited these people, and he didn’t much care.

In fact, even if these people didn’t show ”disagreement” with him now, he would have found a way to make an example of one or two targets at this afternoon’s meeting.

Senator Cleveland was worried he would really mix with these people and give others grounds for criticism.

But if he directly had a frontal conflict with these people, he could show everyone that he was not one of them.

Sometimes what you say isn’t important; what you do is.

But sometimes it’s the opposite. No one cares what you did; they just want to hear what they want to hear from your mouth.

Back in the casino’s inner room, Lance had someone push the unlucky guy’s wheelchair, and they went to a room together.

The two gang bosses were in here, smoking with gloomy faces. They were indeed a bit impulsive, but the nasty words from those around them made them gradually lose control.

Especially since that idiot was always betting against them, and winning more than losing.

This is what people who love to gamble in casinos can’t stand the most.

”What do you think will happen next?” one of them asked.

The two are brothers. One is the gang boss, the other is his deputy. Both have equally bad tempers.

Back when they were young, Federal society was very chaotic.

Sometimes, rampant gangs weren’t the fault of the people, but of society.

When an ordinary person who didn’t provoke others was targeted and harmed, they had to find a way to protect their own rights and interests.

And joining a gang was the simplest, most direct way.

Once you joined a gang, you wouldn’t be bullied, and you could even bully others.

Only by showing toughness, even arrogance, could you avoid being preyed upon in society.

The brother who was the boss snorted, ”What else can happen?”

”At worst, we apologize to that big-nose (the guest they stabbed). I don’t like this Lance White guy. He’s not like us.”

”Whether it’s his style of doing things, or everything here, it all tells me, this guy is an anomaly!”

He couldn’t imagine anyone who would offend other gang bosses for the sake of their customers. If this had happened on his territory, he would have just said the beaten person deserved it, and even had someone ”handle” the trouble to avoid any follow-up problems.

But here, they were ”invited” to this room, told to wait for Lance to come find them.

His brother sighed, ”If it’s really like that, then I’ll do the talking when we apologize. You just shut up.”

He was afraid his brother’s temper would flare up again and make things more unpleasant.

Before, it was just against a player at the table. If it looked bad, it looked bad. It wasn’t a matter of disrespect.

But if they caused a scene in front of Lance, that would be truly disrespecting him.

His brother clearly knew this too. He just snorted and said no more.

Before long, the door opened. Lance came in with some people, and the guy with the stabbed thigh.

Seeing these two bastards, the big-nosed guest became very agitated, ”Mr. Lance, it’s them! It’s them!”

Lance nodded slightly, patted his shoulder, signaling him to calm down. He then looked at the two men in the room, ”You injured my guest on my territory. You didn’t take my words to heart, and you didn’t give me face.”

As he was speaking, the younger brother stood up. ”We are willing to compensate, Mr. Lance. Give him twenty thousand dollars, and I’ll apologize. Let’s just call it even, okay?”

He had a smile, but Lance could clearly feel his dissatisfaction, even a bit of resentment.

Lance looked at the older brother, ”You two seem very unconvinced.”

The younger brother was about to speak, but the older one cut him off, ”Lance, this is just a small thing. Do you have to do this? Isn’t it going too far?”

”I know you want to establish your prestige, but you shouldn’t use us brothers for it.”

”It was just a beating. We’re already willing to compensate and apologize. What more do you want?”

He stared at Lance with wide, angry eyes, as if Lance was the culprit.

Lance pressed his lips, ”You’ve misunderstood one thing.”

”If breaking my rules here can be fixed with just an apology and compensation, letting me pretend nothing happened, then who will ever follow this rule again?”

”There are many people richer than you in this world. If every rich person acts so recklessly, who will ever believe my words in the future?”

”Since you violated my rules here, you must accept my punishment.”

The older brother’s temper was clearly worse. He seemed inexplicably unafraid of Lance turning hostile. He walked up to him, almost touching him, and asked face-to-face in a slightly arrogant voice, ”Are you going to fucking kill me?”

Lance smiled. He shook his head, but in the next second, he suddenly grabbed the man’s hair, took a short run, and used his whole body’s strength to pull him toward the nearby wall, smashing his head hard against it.

A THUD made everyone react. The younger brother was about to make a move, but was instantly pointed at by several guns. He didn’t dare move, just glared at them.

By the wall, Lance kept grabbing the guy’s hair, slamming his head against the wall.

The first impact caught him off guard, leaving him dizzy. Now, he found it hard to resist.

He could only flail his arms wildly, trying to keep his head from making intimate contact with the wall. But as soon as he did, Lance’s fist would land on his face.

When his arms went to cover his face, Lance’s hand, holding his hair, would apply force, smashing him against the wall again.

Even though Lance hadn’t been on the front lines fighting much these years, he still maintained a very good exercise habit. He worked out every morning, or whenever he had time. His body was at its physical peak.

Blood soon stained the wall, and Lance also landed several hard punches on the bastard’s nose and mouth. He was bent over, facing down, blood dripping to the floor.

Lance was also breathing a little heavily. Maybe because the other guy had been on the defensive, his stamina was better preserved. He began to struggle more.

He cursed Lance while struggling, still trying to fight back.

Lance suddenly pushed him forward, turned, and took a claw hammer from someone behind him. Amidst the younger brother’s screams, he strode up to the older brother and brought it down hard on his head.

It was a... sound that made one’s teeth ache. A claw hammer isn’t meant for bone. Even though a human skull is hard, it’s nothing in front of a claw hammer.

A dull thud. The gang boss, bent over with arms outstretched and trembling, just fell backward.

Blood splattered onto Lance’s face, but he didn’t wipe it. He took a few steps forward, toward the guy who was lying on the ground, his eyes a bit vacant, but clearly still conscious, trying to defend himself but unable to control his arms. Lance once again raised the thing in his hand high.

His younger brother ran over, but didn’t make it. The moment he moved, he was tackled by several young men and pinned to the ground, struggling bitterly.

”We accept all punishment, Mr. Lance! Whatever it is, we accept!”

He begged loudly, trying to get Lance to spare his brother, but Lance just bent over, raised the claw hammer high, and looked back at him sideways.

His blood-splattered face was indifferent. His eyes looked like they were staring at an animal to be slaughtered in an abattoir.

The next second, he turned his head back. The hammer fell viciously. Thud. Accompanied by the sound of something shattering, the bastard’s body began to tremble violently.

Then the second hit, the third...

The dull thud thud turned into a splat splat sound, like hitting water or something full of moisture. Lance slowly straightened up and looked at the other guy, who was pinned to the ground, still struggling.

He spat, handed the hammer to Hiram, and made a ”finish him” gesture.

Then he took a towel from Melo, walked over to the guest who had completely... turned to wood, and said, wiping his hands, ”Hope this didn’t scare you.”

”My original idea was just to break their hands, but you saw...” He turned to look at Hiram, who was swinging the hammer, blood splattering everywhere. ”Not only were they unconvinced, they tried to resist. What I can’t tolerate most is breaking my rules and showing no remorse!”

”Do I have blood on my face?” Lance asked.

The guest, whose soul had already left his body, suddenly shivered. He looked at Lance’s face in terror.

Very handsome, with a charming temperament that comes from age. Just... a few specks of blood ruined his image.

”Yes, yes, right here...” He motioned on his own face. Lance said, ”Thanks,” and quickly wiped most of the blood off his face.

While he was wiping the blood, the two bodies had become completely still. Their emotions were very stable. They just lay there, blood slowly flowing from their wounds.

This made the guest not even dare to breathe loudly. He didn’t even have the urge to be nauseous. He just hoped to leave this place as soon as possible.

Lance took a paper bag from Melo and handed it over. ”Here’s ten thousand in chips. I hope you won’t be disappointed in our casino because of this small... unpleasantness. We still warmly welcome you to come play here.”

”As for this unpleasantness, let’s just let it pass!”

”I hope you can be magnanimous and forgive them.”

The guest nodded repeatedly, ”You’re right, Mr. Lance. I’ve already forgiven them!”