Empire of Shadows

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“Actually, you could introduce me to work at your company.” Sitting in the passenger seat, Nancy’s hand rested on the car window.

The wind blew in through the window, lifting her hair. This refreshing feeling was simply fantastic!

Although this was a used car, which in her estimation should be worth four or five hundred dollars, it was a car after all.

Walking home, riding a bike home, taking the bus home, and riding home in a private car are always different experiences.

When she was on the bus, she didn’t really want people on the street to see her clearly, and she especially didn’t want to run into people she knew, like classmates.

But now, she hoped everyone on the street could see her clearly, even though it was just an old car.

She especially hoped to run into a few old classmates who were walking, so she could have Rob stop and chat with them.When you have money, you can be vain. When you don’t have money, there’s also vanity that doesn’t cost money.

“You can’t do my job,” Rob rejected Nancy’s suggestion because he didn’t have a proper job at all.

After the Bureau of Hazardous Materials was hit by two bomb attacks, they received more special privileges and material support from Congress. They solicited information from the public, offering rewards for tips on illegal liquor businesses.

And they promised that as long as the information was true and effective, leading them to catch these bootleggers and the bars that sold liquor, they would give the informants a percentage of the value of the goods seized on site, paid in cash.

For cases with a value under one thousand dollars, the informant could get fifty dollars.

Between one thousand and two thousand dollars, they could get ten percent.

Between two thousand and five thousand dollars, they could get fifteen percent.

Between five thousand and ten thousand dollars, they could get twenty percent!

If the case value exceeded ten thousand dollars, they could get the maximum reward, twenty-five percent of the case value!

Congress had actually realized the difficulty of enforcing the Prohibition. They were up against entrenched local forces; it might not just be criminal groups smuggling and selling alcoholic beverages.

Even the local prominent families were smuggling and selling alcoholic beverages. After all, it was becoming more and more profitable!

No one could refuse the exorbitant profits brought by a rapidly growing market. Whether congressmen were also involved was another matter. In any case, on the surface, they were very supportive of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials stepping up its crackdown on organizations and individuals violating the Prohibition.

So, taking the smugglers’ money from the seized assets to reward the informants was perfectly acceptable.

Rob had reported one of Lance’s bars. He had been there with others. Because he was Bolton’s son, the bar staff wasn’t too wary of him.

Then he ran off and reported the bar.

That day, the total value of the seizure was over seven thousand dollars. Calculated at twenty percent, he got about one thousand five hundred dollars.

He used three hundred and fifty dollars to buy this car, bought two sets of clothes with the remaining thousand-plus, and then saved the rest.

He had never handled such a large sum of money before.

Reporting Lance’s bar gave him a thrill of revenge from the act of informing, but what annoyed him was that he was also at the scene that day, and Lance didn’t fly into a rage, not even showing an expression of heartache.

So he planned to report another one soon.

But this matter was known only to him.

“I have to go to the company later, so I’ll drop you at this intersection. It’s only a seven or eight-minute walk back from here.”

When the car reached the intersection of the street where they lived, Rob pulled over. Nancy rolled her eyes, “If you just drive in from here, it’s less than two minutes to our building, but you’re making me walk back?”

There was no room for negotiation on Rob’s face, “It would be a big detour for me.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, then Nancy left the car complaining, even giving Rob the middle finger.

“Go to hell!”

She swayed her hips and left, while Rob drove to another bar he had heard of.

This one might be larger in scale. He hoped to get over two thousand five hundred dollars this time!

On the other side, Lance had no idea about Rob’s complex psychology. To him, these were just emotions that only little kids would have.

It was just that he had overestimated Rob’s jealousy. Especially as Lance became more and more successful, Rob’s hatred for Lance grew heavier and heavier.

This was a very complex emotion. Although it doesn’t appear often in people, it does exist.

“Lance, can I join you guys?”

In the middle of a conversation, a young man suddenly asked. The other young people also chimed in.

They liked the Lance Family’s uniform.

Serious yet with a touch of liveliness, especially that red armband, which gave them a strange sense of mission!

And joining a gang, becoming a gangster, was actually a very cool thing for these young people.

This “coolness” was like… they had discovered and joined a secret base!

For the vast majority of young people, a “secret base” was definitely the most desired thing of their childhood and adolescence, a small world of their own that adults couldn’t detect.

They could do anything here. Whatever they did, no adult would come to criticize them.

Now the Lance Family had become a kind of secret base, a place they yearned for.

There were many young people around. Looking at these vivid, young faces, Lance didn’t immediately agree.

“Do you know what it means to join a gang?”

The young man who first proposed joining shouted, “It means we are also part of the gang, and it’s very… I don’t know how to say it, but I know if I let my classmates know, they will definitely respect me!”

Lance looked at him, reached out, and ruffled his hair, messing it up. But he just giggled and didn’t mind Lance doing so.

Others also chattered about the positive changes they thought joining a gang would bring, such as not being bullied, and having more friends.

Lance looked at them and finally shook his head, “No, what you’ve all said is just the better side you see, but have you ever thought, this is a gang, not an after-school activities club?”

“Our work, besides looking for troublemakers on the street and doing things you find cool or special, also involves facing more risks than you do.”

“Friends, life is not a movie, not those literary works. Here, no one can survive after being shot a few times.”

“In a battle, in a conflict, maybe when you least expect it, a bullet flying from who knows where can take your life.”

“In that battle in the Triangle Area…”

Someone shouted, “I’ve heard about it! You guys fought off an attack by dozens of men from the Camille gang!”

The crowd also gave positive feedback. People were happy to discuss these “legendary stories,” especially this kind of story that made the Lance Family famous in one battle.

But Lance didn’t feel very happy. “Yes, you all know a little. You know we fought off an attack by dozens of their men, but do you know?”

“We also lost a lot of people.”

“Those brothers who might have been discussing food, new movies, or their new girlfriends with you just a few minutes ago, who were with you every day.”

“In the next second, because of a gunshot, he suddenly falls in front of you, and then just stares at you.”

“You can read the desire to live in their eyes, but you can do nothing.”

“You can only watch them die in front of you!”

The group suddenly fell silent. It was hard for them to imagine such a scene, but Lance’s description made them feel heavy.

“Every conflict, every battle, someone gets hurt. Ennio has also been injured…” They were more familiar with Ennio. After all, Ennio used to charge them a fee to help them fight in middle school.

For some Empire immigrants who were bullied in middle school, spending a dollar or two to have Ennio, a “member of society,” stand up for them, really could bring them a sense of security.

And most of the time, after Ennio made a trip, they would no longer be bullied.

When they heard that Ennio had also been injured, some people clearly flinched a little, their enthusiasm no longer as fiery as before.

“Every one of us has been injured. It’s just that some were injured more seriously and didn’t make it, while others were injured less seriously and could continue to live.”

“So this matter is not as romantic as you imagine. This is not a job where someone wears a trench coat, holds a gun, and walks down the street surrounded by little girls.”

“You will face danger every moment, the danger of death.”

“If you have families who love you, a complete family, and a plan for your future, I do not recommend you join a gang.”

“Whether it’s our Lance Family or any other gang, I don’t recommend you do that.”

“Of course, if you say, I just want to experience gang life, that’s no problem!”

“I will arrange it for you, for a few days, to let you feel that gang life is not as wonderful as you imagine, and then you can return to your life.”

“Of course, if someone says they really must join us and are mentally prepared for injury or even death, alright, come on, I welcome you.”

“We can become a new family, new brothers, entrusting our lives to each other!”

“But no matter what decision you make, you must think it through maturely and discuss it with your families.”

“I hope you can live well without having to walk this path. It should not be a choice people aspire to…”

Lance then chatted with these people for a while longer, talking about his views on the future changes in Golden Port and the future of the Empire District, before leaving.

But what he said quickly spread throughout the Empire District through the mouths of these young people.

Especially his last sentence, which made the adults in many families start to think and change their perception of Lance.

At least he seemed really, very different from those scumbags in the Camille gang. He actually refused to let young people join!

Some of them had once been afraid that Lance would lead these young people astray, but now it seemed that Lance was doing much better than they had imagined!

On the way back, Ennio was a bit puzzled, “Why… don’t you want them to join us?”

Lance looked at the scenery receding outside the window and shrugged, “Gang life is too cruel for them, Ennio.”

“If we weren’t out of options, do you think we would be here?”

This question also made Ennio sink into deep thought.

If he had a perfect family, and his parents were both capable of earning money, he should be in college at this time, planning his future life, right?

He couldn’t possibly be here!

And the reason for being here was actually very simple. He needed to escape from his past life and find a new direction.

No one spoke on the way back; everyone was lost in thought.

After a not-so-long journey, Ennio parked the car steadily. Just as Lance got out of the car, Morris came up to him.

After Lance and the others left the Empire of the Night nightclub, they bought a house near the largest bar, hanging a sign that read “Wanli Firm,” but it wasn’t open to the public.

This was a place like a gang base. When there was nothing to do, people would gather here.

There was a large backyard and many rooms.

“Some new faces have appeared near our bar, and their accents don’t sound like locals.”

“I heard that the new manager of Empire of the Night, Brinton, they’re forming a Viper Gang in Golden Port.”

Lance listened to Morris’s report, making some calculations in his mind, “Have someone keep an eye on these people. If necessary, you can grab one to probe for information.”

Morris nodded and left. Undoubtedly, he thought now was a “necessary” time.

Everyone sincerely maintained this small collective. Lance was very happy because it showed that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

As for some of the details in handling matters, he didn’t think it was a problem. After all, in a way, everyone was still very young and had a lot of time and space to grow and mature.

There were actually many gang matters. For example, Elvin would report yesterday’s income to Lance. The daily revenue from the bars would be transported here for counting.

Because there were many poor people in the Empire District, and Lance required the price of liquor to not be too high, he would rather earn one dollar from two people than one dollar from one person.

So there were a lot of small change every day, mostly coins, with a few banknotes. After all, for the poor, coins were the mainstream in their world.

These coins could be spent through some other channels, or they could be paid out as wages to the gang members.

At first, everyone scrambled to do the job of counting money. When someone first saw a small mountain of money, they were too excited to speak.

But after two days, they never wanted to do it again, because counting money was really too damn boring.

As they counted, it was as if their brains froze, losing even the ability to think, only able to count by fives and tens subconsciously.

“Yesterday, the several bars brought us a profit of eight thousand one hundred fifty-two dollars and thirty-two cents. If a bar hadn’t been shut down, our income could have reached nine thousand.”

Speaking of this, he exuded a sense of hatred for the informant. Each bar brought in a net profit of over a thousand a day. To suddenly lose so much, Elvin also felt the pain.

Not to mention, to bail out those few people, he gave four thousand dollars to Roben the lawyer. The bail was three thousand seven hundred, and the lawyer’s fee was three hundred.

What a f—king vampire!

After listening, Lance asked, “Our liquor sales seem to have increased a lot in the last half month.”

There was an increase of about two thousand. If the shut-down bar was included, the increase might be nearly three thousand.

Elvin nodded, “The Bureau of Hazardous Materials is like a wild dog now, biting whoever they see. Several bars in the Port District have been shut down, so some customers have come to our side.”

He emphasized a point, “Our prices here are cheaper, and the alcohol content is also higher. In the low-end market, no one can be our rival.”

“Let Nick continue to brew wine, expand the scale. The new season’s grapes will be on the market soon. Also, brew more potato wine and beer, summer is coming.”

Summer is the peak season for beer sales. Who can refuse a glass of iced beer after a tiring day of work?

If you could also watch girls dance for free while tasting the refreshing beer, it would be even more physically and mentally pleasant.

“Should we open a few more bars?”

“The managers now say the bars are full every day.”

Lance nodded, “Our liquor supply supports us to continue increasing our business locations, so why not?”

As they were talking, the phone on the desk suddenly rang. Lance found it a bit strange because this phone line had only been installed recently, and the telephone company probably hadn’t printed this number in the phone book yet.

Very few people knew this number. Now that it suddenly rang, what could it be?

“Hello, this is the Wanli Firm.”

“Is this Mr. Lance?”

The voice was a bit familiar, but Lance couldn’t place it at the moment. He answered, “Yes, I’m Lance, and you are?”

“Mr. Lance, I didn’t expect you to forget me after such a short time. I’m Lainey from the Liji Group. I hope you still have some impression.”

Lance immediately remembered who this guy was. He had previously represented the Empire Merchants Association and signed a contract with the Liji Group to order a large batch of first-season grapes from them.

The person they had contacted at that time was this Manager Lainey.

“Of course I remember, Manager Lainey. Is something the matter?”

“It seems we don’t have any contact outside of our commodity trade?”

Manager Lainey’s laughter was hearty, but Lance felt that this might not be a good thing.

“It’s like this, the headquarters has some opinions on the contract we signed and hopes we can re-sign one…”

***

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