Empire of Shadows

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A dozen minutes later, Morris came before Lance, bringing a young man with him.

“Tonight, Bolton’s son, Rob, was there.”

“He drank too much, the bartender wouldn’t sell him any more liquor, he wanted to cause trouble, and then he was kicked out.”

“He saw Rob go to the phone booth across the street, and then a little while later, Lukar and his men arrived.”

Lance glanced at the young man next to Morris, repeating a part of what Morris had just said, “Across the street?”

Who the hell would be stupid enough to run across the street to report someone?

The young man quickly explained, “It was diagonally across the street, about fifty or sixty meters away from the bar.”Lance looked at him, then sized him up again.

In this era, because people’s understanding of “nutrition” was still insufficient, coupled with the very difficult life of the lower class, many people actually had night blindness, especially the poor.

It was difficult for them to get enough nutrients from their food. Even now that these people’s living conditions had improved, they more or less had some degree of night blindness.

It’s not like you eat a piece of liver today and you can f—king see tomorrow. This requires a long process.

This young man didn’t look like someone who ate very well. Lance decided to test him, “I’ll have someone take you fifty meters away, then the three of us will change clothes. If you can state the correct order, then I will believe every word you say.”

The young man didn’t hesitate in the slightest, looking at Lance with a determined expression, “I am willing. If I lie, or if I fail, I am willing to accept any punishment!”

Lance patted his arm, “Go on.”

The young man quickly ran a long way, perhaps even more than fifty meters.

They changed their clothes, and then the three of them walked out of the room and stood near a streetlight.

They were visible, but not very clearly. They didn’t wear hats, just looked at the young man fifty meters away.

There was another person next to the young man. The two of them quickly determined the order. When they approached, the person Lance had sent showed a look of astonishment.

Because the young man told him that one of the men was not Morris, and he didn’t know him either.

Without a doubt, he could really see.

Lance couldn’t help but pat his arm again, “Good kid, what’s your name?”

“My name is Carter, Boss.”

“Alright, Carter, tell me what you discovered tonight…”

What he said was roughly the same as what Morris had said. He even mentioned that Rob had a car but didn’t drive away, instead parking it not far away and leaving it there.

The reason he noticed this was because Rob’s car was parked crookedly on the side of the road, not properly parked.

Elvin had a bit of a headache, “Bolton has been working very proactively recently, and he identifies with his current status and job.”

Lance shook his head slightly, “This has nothing to do with him. This is Rob’s problem. He hurt all of us. Bolton knows how to choose.”

Elvin was still a little worried, “He is his own son, after all.”

Lance always stuck to his own ideas, “If he is unwilling, then send them away together.”

“I can’t possibly let Rob go just because he works for us. He hurt all of us.”

“Today he can sell out our bar’s location to those law enforcers, tomorrow he might sell out our location to our rival gangs.”

“He will get us all killed one day.”

“As for whether Bolton will hate me for this?”

“That’s a real person, Elvin. As long as I run fast enough and don’t give him a chance to catch up with me, he will never have such a thought in his life.”

“Do you think I will lose to him?”

…

In the evening, Bolton finished a day’s work. The Empire District was now full of his informants. The funds Lance gave him had increased by a lot. He still only kept one hundred and fifty dollars for himself each month, and used the rest to develop his network of informants.

Developing informants in the Empire District didn’t actually require hiring those who did nothing all day but wander the streets. Those people were too conspicuous.

Although these people were indeed needed, there was a more money-saving way, and that was the old men.

Those old men had already lost their ability to work and had nothing to do all day. If you just took a stroll on the street, you could find many little old men scattered in every corner of the street.

They sat on benches by the roadside, or behind the window of a bakery, or perhaps in an open-air or indoor coffee shop, observing everything on the road through the glass window.

He only needed to pay these little old men ten dollars, and they would be willing to work for him for a month.

These gazes hidden in the corners, which were harder to detect, helped him watch over most of the Empire District.

He was very satisfied with his current job, full of a sense of accomplishment, which gave him a kind of… thrill of controlling the entire Empire District.

Especially when people saw him, they would take off their hats and place them on their chests, sincerely calling out “Mr. Bolton.” Amidst the calls of “Mr. Bolton,” he became a little lost.

Thinking of his cramped house, he had already started to consider changing houses. He had already earned almost eight hundred dollars during this period. By the end of the year, he could save more than two thousand.

Damn it to hell. When he used to work honestly, he only saved about a hundred a year.

But now, in just one year, he could match the total income of the past ten or even twenty years. This gave him a kind of unreal feeling that many people have had, as if everything he had experienced in the past was just a not-so-pleasant dream.

Now, the nightmare was over, and everything had become comfortable.

He turned on the light. Just as he was about to call Nancy over to take his clothes, he saw the people sitting in the living room.

He was stunned for a moment, then began to break out in a cold sweat.

“Sit,” Lance pointed to the chair next to him.

Bolton was at a loss. He glanced at the slightly ajar door and at Nancy hiding behind it. In the end, he still followed Lance’s words and sat in the chair from which he usually gave orders at home.

His brain began to spin wildly, thinking about whether he had done anything stupid recently, but he had no idea what had caused Lance and all these people to come over, and in this manner.

“Lance… I…” He didn’t know what to say, or how to say it.

Lance directly gave him an answer, “Rob sold out our bar’s location. That’s why they came so quickly.”

If they only knew a general location, they wouldn’t act rashly, because it might alert the bar operator.

If they didn’t catch them this time, they would change locations next time. So they would only make a real move after they had completely figured out the bar’s specific location.

The bars Lance had chosen were all very hidden, all in alleys, with some tough-looking gang members at the entrance.

If you weren’t an acquaintance, you wouldn’t go looking for trouble!

So it must have been an acquaintance who leaked the secret. Bolton himself had even participated in the meetings and actions to find this leaker.

He also knew that his son had appeared at the scene, but he had absolutely no idea that it would be Rob who leaked the secret.

“Could it be a misunderstanding?” His head was covered in sweat. Even though he had taken off his coat and torn open his collar, he still felt like he was heating up, like a piece of red-hot coal.

Lance shook his head, “I heard he recently bought a car.”

Bolton said nothing, just sat there stunned.

A crashing sound came from outside the window, along with the sound of someone cursing drunkenly.

Morris walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and looked out. “Rob is back.”

Lance nodded, “Soon we will know the truth.”

Rob was so excited he couldn’t control himself after seeing Lance’s bar get taken down in one go. Not only had he gotten his revenge, but he was also about to receive a large sum of money. Because in front of the reporters, Lukar had declared that they had confiscated over eleven thousand dollars worth of liquor and cash.

He even took the initiative to mention that the informant would receive a reward of about two thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, and actively encouraged everyone to report, with no cap on the bonus.

If anyone could report a smuggled liquor warehouse worth hundreds of thousands like before, they would also be rewarded according to the value of the case.

For the current mayor, including Chief Dale, every bottle of liquor in this city was controlled by the locals.

Their liquor hadn’t entered here yet, so crack down hard, don’t be afraid of catching the wrong person!

Rob, having gotten all his emotional release and satisfaction, then went to help a poor girl in need on the side of the road. Not only did he give her a sum of money, but he also gave her some much-needed protein.

By the time he finished all this, he wasn’t so drunk anymore.

He fumbled along the wall and twisted open the door lock. The dark room made him feel uncomfortable. He turned on the light switch just as Mr. Bolton would. “Turning off the light won’t save much…”

The moment the light came on, a chill crawled up his spine from the crack of his ass. The skin around every inch of his spine was covered in goosebumps. In an instant, the drunkenness that hadn’t worn off for over an hour, was gone!

And at that very instant, he turned and wanted to run. He completely ignored the look of longing in Bolton’s eyes, which turned to despair the moment he turned.

The next second, a huge force kicked him from the doorway into the room. Ethan walked in from outside the door and closed it.

Only then did Rob react. He scrambled up on all fours and hid behind Bolton, “What are you going to do?”

He didn’t notice that the expression on Bolton’s face was uglier than when he got divorced.

Lance looked at him, “How much did they give you to sell out the bar’s location to them?”

Rob paused for a moment. He didn’t know how he was exposed, but he quickly began to argue, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lance was very disappointed. Hiram flicked his hair and stood up.

Rob had heard of Hiram. This horse-faced, pockmarked idiot who f—king flicked his hair thinking he was handsome, was a very vicious person in Lance’s group.

Rumor had it that he alone had killed over a hundred people with four submachine guns!

Although no one could imagine how he could use four submachine guns by himself, in short, people believed it.

Rob tightly grasped Bolton’s clothes, “Dad, Dad, do something, do something!”

Tears were already streaming down his face, and he was even about to lose all his strength.

Hiram walked over and slammed his fist on his head several times, making his nose bleed profusely. Finally, he no longer dared to hold onto Bolton’s clothes and was dragged like a dead dog in front of Lance.

Lance used the tip of his leather shoe to lift his chin, “Look at me.”

Rob’s terrified face was filled with fear and remorse, as well as tears, snot, and blood from his nose.

“Now, tell me, why did you sell us out?”

“I didn’t…”

Lance’s leg retracted slightly, then kicked out forcefully. Rob cried out in pain, clutching his face as he was kicked backwards, rolling twice.

He screamed and cried loudly, but no one in the room pitied him, except for his father and his sister hiding in her room.

“I didn’t pursue the matter of you mistreating Gerald, I didn’t pursue your derogatory and presumptuous remarks about me, I didn’t hold it against you for jumping up and down like an immature child.”

“I even gave your family hope.” Lance looked at Bolton. Bolton sat there motionless, as if he had aged several years. He seemed to be thinking, or perhaps in a daze.

Lance’s gaze returned to him, “But you, how did you repay me?”

Perhaps realizing that no matter how much he argued, it was useless, he began to plead, “Lance, I’m sorry, I was wrong, I know I was wrong. I’ll give you all the money they gave me. Let me go, for the sake of you not having lost much!”

“I lost twenty thousand, had my brothers arrested, and lost face in the Empire District, even in all of Golden Port.”

“Now everyone knows two of my bars have been taken down in a row, and you say I didn’t lose much?”

Lance stood up as he spoke. Perhaps realizing something terrible was about to happen, Rob suddenly scrambled over and hugged Lance’s leg, “Spare me, I’ll never dare to do it again!”

Lance drew his pistol and aimed it at his head. Bolton’s body moved slightly, but then it seemed as if it hadn’t moved at all.

“Get your filthy hands off my pants.”

Rob cried until he was about to pass out. Lance put away his pistol, “Since you did it, you have to accept the punishment. If one day I sell out others, I will also accept the same punishment.”

“Even these brothers of mine, if they do something as stupid as you did, I will personally take care of them.”

“You should be happy, because I don’t want to get my hands dirty, so someone else will do it.”

“Take him away!”

Rob was greatly shocked and terrified. He turned and wanted to go to Bolton for help but was directly grabbed by the back of his collar by Ethan, who held his neck against his waist, not so tight as to suffocate him, but enough to make him unable to speak or resist.

They filed out, with Lance walking last.

Only Lance and Bolton were left in the room. Bolton rubbed his face, “I’m sorry, I…”

Lance patted his shoulder, “You’re still young. Find a young wife and have a few more children.”

“Don’t blame me for being harsh, Bolton. Even if I let him go this time, he will still bring trouble to you, to all of us.”

“You are Gerald’s uncle. I hope we can get along well, but the premise is, don’t do anything stupid.”

He picked up the hat on the coat rack by the door and stood by the door, holding the doorknob, “Good night, Mr. Bolton.”

The quickly closing door cut off the line of sight between inside and outside, and also like a sharp blade, cut off Rob’s last sliver of life.

***

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