Empire of Shadows

“…So, you guys have to come over quickly. Sidney (mayor) is already a little dissatisfied with us.”

“The situation here is worse than imagined. He’s having a little trouble suppressing the people here.”

Snake held the receiver with his shoulder. He was tidying up his drawer, “I know, I’ll be over in a few days.”

“Our people are almost ready. Everyone will go over. I’ve given the territory here directly to Binks. He provided us with some weapons.”

Binks was the leader of another gang. Snake decided to withdraw from Fides. Whether he was willing to hand over these territories to others or not, they would eventually fall into someone else’s hands.

So it was better to just do a favor on his way out, and Binks had also given him a lot of weapons.

These weapons could help them establish a firm foothold in Golden Port.

Hearing that Snake was ready to come to Golden Port, Brinton finally breathed a sigh of relief, “Great, I look forward to your early arrival. We can have a big showdown then.”

He paused for a moment, “When are you guys coming?”

Snake heard a trace of cowardice in Brinton’s tone. He couldn’t help but stop what he was doing, “Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?”Brinton didn’t understand what he meant, “What do you mean what’s wrong?”

“Brinton, where did my ‘Chainsaw’ go?”

“Do you f—king remember when you used a chainsaw to cut up those idiots at the lumberyard?”

“Why has that courageous Brinton disappeared?”

“Why is it now you… this coward?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Snake and Brinton were neighbors since they were young. They both had less than beautiful childhood experiences, being bullied, being harassed. Then they joined a neighborhood family together, gained some respect from people, but also received a lot of contempt.

One day Snake said to Brinton that if they didn’t make a change, they would be like those old men sitting at the intersection for the rest of their lives, their lives would be over.

They had to do something big!

At that time, they were only in their twenties. The two hit it off, first robbing several shops in other districts, then using the stolen money to buy a handgun, and then began their crazy expansion.

In their early twenties, with nothing to their name, and full of guts.

They had experienced many dangerous times together, and also some glorious moments. When they kidnapped the leader of the big gang in this area to the lumberyard, and then Brinton used a chainsaw to saw those people into a pile of meat chunks, the nickname “Chainsaw Brinton” also spread in Fides.

That was his craziest and most glorious time. He never cared if there were cars when crossing the road, because everyone who saw him would take the initiative to stop their cars.

But look now, only a dozen years have passed, and Brinton’s tone is full of weakness. This made Snake, who was still planning to go to Golden Port for a big showdown, feel dissatisfied!

He was going to strive, to build a career that could be passed down to his children!

Not to watch Brinton tremble in a corner!

Brinton was stunned for a moment. Many things flashed through his mind. In the end, everything that had happened that night resurfaced in his heart.

“I… don’t know how to say it, Snake.”

“Dozens of them went out, and then they completely vanished into thin air!”

“No one called the police, no one said they heard gunshots, but these people, are gone.”

“It’s like… they never came here with me at all. I actually had people go look for them.”

“No bodies, not even any bloodstains, no trace of their existence. I even sometimes wonder if they all just drove off in their cars!”

“I don’t know how to describe that feeling, Snake. This place doesn’t feel like Fides to me. This Lance Family gives me a very bad feeling.”

“It’s like there are countless pairs of eyes staring at me…”

“Enough!” Snake interrupted him, “You were scared by them, that’s all!”

“Don’t forget, that’s their turf. They have ways to make people not talk, so there must have been a gunfight. Our people were killed, it’s that simple.”

“They disposed of the bodies and created some illusion that made you feel scared and uneasy. It’s actually no big deal.”

“Maybe they are more civilized, unlike us, who often leave bodies lying around everywhere.”

“There’s nothing scary about them. When I get there, I’ll tear them to pieces for you to see!”

Brinton spoke after a few seconds, “I need you, Snake. When will you arrive?”

His psychological pressure had also been great recently. In fact, he hadn’t told Snake that several of the people he had sent out to gather information had also gone missing.

These people were missing, dead or alive. This gave him a different feeling from a real gunfight. It was a bit strange, unsettling, like there was something dirty outside the nightclub!

He needed Snake, not physically, but psychologically.

Snake knew that Brinton must have been scared badly, and also knew that he must have something he hadn’t told him.

He thought for a moment, “In four to five days at the latest, I will arrive in Golden Port.”

“We will bring a lot of weapons this time, so we can’t take the train, we can only drive ourselves.”

“Before we are about to arrive, I will give you a call. Then you find a way to ask that Lance out for negotiations, and then we’ll ambush him.”

“When I kill him in front of you, you will know that he is also human, and there is nothing remarkable about him!”

Brinton seemed to feel much better, “Where are you guys planning to come from?”

“From Interstate 24.”

The Viper Gang was no small gang in Fides. Snake’s every move was watched by many people.

There were also many Empire people here, and gangs formed by Empire people, but they were just small gangs and hadn’t formed any major climate yet.

These past few days, everyone had been discussing this issue. Binks’s people were taking over the Viper Gang’s territory, plus some previous events, many people had guessed that the Viper Gang was planning to go to Golden Port.

Unlike the prosperity of Golden Port, Fides was actually… more like a huge concentration camp!

Its world was gray. Everyone was a numb worker, and their daily life revolved around the factory.

Besides work and production, there weren’t many other entertainment options here. Everything seemed monotonous and boring.

No one had ever had a question, which was that so many factories were continuously producing goods. Did anyone actually buy these goods, and how many people bought them.

They just buried their heads in production and never cared about these things. Perhaps only the bosses would care about these things.

Most of the time, the Empire gangs here just banded together to avoid being bullied by other unions’ workers or gangs. They were not the kind of gang that profited from crime, but more like an organization similar to a “brotherhood.”

Originally, they didn’t care about the changes in the gang forces in Fides, but today, a phone call was made to their Boss.

The gang leader, in his forties, was on the phone for more than half an hour. He even dismissed the others in the room. Everyone was discussing what kind of call could make him talk for so long.

After he came out, he called a few of his trusted subordinates in. Soon these people left. No one knew where they were going.

Two days later, in the morning, the girl at the front desk knocked on Elvin’s window, “You have a call, on line three.”

Elvin pressed the button for line three and picked it up, “This is the Wanli Firm, I’m Elvin.”

“…Can you confirm?”

“Okay, no problem. Don’t hang up, Lance is right here.”

He didn’t hang up the phone but went directly to Lance’s office. When he pushed the door open, Lance was reading the newspaper, “What’s the matter?”

He asked without looking up. A smile appeared on Elvin’s face, “We got some news from Fides. They know how Snake is coming, and the route.”

Hearing this, Lance let out an “uh-huh,” “and then asked, so what are their conditions?”

“Liquor, at least $100,000 worth of liquor.” He looked at Lance’s expression, which was slightly showing a look of “not knowing what’s good for one,” and quickly said, “They will pay.”

The next second, Lance’s expression returned to normal, “Is Fides that short on liquor?”

Elvin shook his head, “I’m not sure. It’s also possible that their days are not going well.”

This point was possible. The profit from liquor was so high. If they didn’t have some powerful connections, the relatively weak Empire gangs, even if they knew the supplier, would find it difficult to actually get the goods.

Being scammed was a possibility.

“Okay, promise them, but we only have wine and potato wine.”

Elvin didn’t leave, but closed the door, walked to the desk, pressed the button for line three, and picked up the phone.

“The Boss has agreed.”

“Do you want to talk to him?”

Elvin handed the receiver to Lance.

Lance took it and put it to his ear, “This is Lance.”

“Mr. Lance, hello, I’m Gallio Bocks. It’s a pleasure to speak with you.”

A thick, middle-aged man’s voice came from the receiver, with a hint of caution.

“Mr. Gallio, let’s skip this worthless small talk. I agree to your request, $100,000 worth of liquor, mainly wine, and some high-proof rum.”

Rum sounded better than potato wine, sweet potato wine, and the like, and was also more high-class.

“Now, tell me when they are coming, and from which road.”

“I have a feeling that this won’t be our first cooperation. We will have more cooperation in the future!”

Gallio seemed to agree with this point very much. He no longer concealed it and spoke frankly, “I found out that they will be leaving in one day from… you might not know, anyway, after leaving the city on that road, it’s Interstate 24!”

Lance quickly found the very end of Interstate 24 on the Golden Port map.

“Mr. Gallio, if the information is correct, I guarantee that this will be the most correct choice you have ever made!”

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