Empire of Shadows

“Good work.” Lukar patted his subordinate’s shoulder, watching as a large quantity of liquor was loaded into the warehouse. The liquor had a

“Good work.”

Lukar patted his subordinate’s shoulder, watching as a large quantity of liquor was loaded into the warehouse.

The liquor had already been inventoried. It was a shipment worth over fifty thousand dollars. The haul wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t small either.

Considering the recent crackdown on the Lance Family’s smuggled liquor, this was a considerable gain.

The Prohibition agents all had smiles on their faces.

Perhaps at the very beginning, they really did things by the book, seizing these privately brewed or smuggled liquors, counting them, and then publicly destroying them.

But now, many agents would keep a bottle or two for themselves in the process, or even a whole case. Of course, this depended on who their superior was. If it was someone who didn’t allow his subordinates to do so, they would be well-behaved.

But if they encountered someone easy-going, like Lukar, they could all take a bottle or two home.

As long as they didn’t sell it and weren’t caught selling it, Lukar would pretend not to see their little actions.This work habit was brought over from his days at the police department. Back at the police department, they would also split money. The fees collected from various places would be calculated and distributed uniformly.

He also received a good share, about one or two hundred dollars a month.

He never thought he shouldn’t take this money. He was a criminal police officer, a fairly dangerous type of police in the department.

People say patrol officers are dangerous because when they are on duty, they don’t know if some idiot will suddenly get stressed and pull out a gun to shoot at them.

But when a detective goes to handle a case, there is a higher probability that those people will shoot him first. Risking your life for forty-something dollars a month, are you out of your mind? So this was a habit that couldn’t be considered bad. At least it promoted harmony among everyone.

As long as it didn’t affect the “upholding of justice,” he wouldn’t care too much.

Compared to the smiles on the others’ faces, the smile on his face was obviously a bit less.

That cunning Lance made him feel like he had prepared a grand feast but was missing the seasoning. Not being able to catch a big case was very boring.

He would forever be chasing Lance’s tail, which was not what he wanted.

The recent chaos in the city had caused the bar business to decline continuously. If it weren’t for the bad business and being somewhat affected, he might not have even found fifty thousand dollars’ worth of liquor when he found this warehouse.

At the same time, a doubt arose deep in his heart: had Beno defected?

Alan was a new captain in the Lance Family who was rising rapidly. He must have access to more family information.

Lukar had previously leaked some intelligence to help Beno and Alan gain Lance’s attention. Logically, Alan and he should have been able to get more important intelligence by now. Why was the intelligence he was given still so insignificant? Tens of thousands of dollars worth of liquor was a lot for an ordinary person, but for the increasingly hot smuggled liquor market and speakeasies, this was just a few days’ worth of goods.

He was considering whether Beno was stringing him along with this “worthless” intelligence.

He decided to test Beno the next time they contacted each other.

If Beno had defected, then he would make Beno regret everything he had done.

If the other party had not defected, then he would continue to keep Beno’s secret.

On the top page of his desk notepad, he wrote the letter “B” and two question marks with a pen.

After looking at it for a while, he tore off the page, shredded it, and threw it into the trash can.

He organized the report, reviewed it twice to confirm there were no problems, and then took the report to Director Dale’s office.

Dale was on the phone. He signaled for Lukar to wait a moment.

“…Yes, okay, I understand. I will definitely not screw things up, you can rest assured.”

“Okay… that’s it, I have other things here. I’ll call you when I have news.”

Director Dale hung up the phone. He ran his hands from his hairline back over his scalp. The pressure from his palms on his scalp relieved some of his stress.

The failure of the Mayor’s plan had put him in a passive position now. If the Mayor couldn’t hold on and gave up, then his days in Golden Port as a former “vanguard of the resistance” would be very difficult.

Although on the surface, the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Hazardous Materials was a vertical department and did not receive management from the local government, it was nonsense to say that they didn’t care about the local government’s attitude at all.

After all, all the agents had to live, work, and interact with the people and events of this city. They couldn’t be completely independent in the true sense.

He also had a terrible headache.

He temporarily suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind and looked up at Lukar. “What is it?”

Lukar handed over the report. He casually flipped through it. He was in no mood to read this right now. After getting a general idea of the cause, process, and result of the matter, he signed his name on the last page.

This was a reward application report. According to the Bureau’s regulations, for any tip-off involving more than ten thousand dollars, if successful, the informant could receive a “commission” of twenty-five percent of the case value.

He was worried that Beno would defect under Lance’s financial assault, so he had saved up the bounties generated from the several pieces of information Beno had provided.

He told Beno that this money would be given to him after his undercover career was over.

Clean money, no need to be afraid of using it, and the amount was not small.

Like this time, he would have an income of more than thirteen thousand dollars. A few times accumulated would be an astonishing number. After signing, Director Dale gave the application report to Lukar and kept the case file.

“Good job, Lukar. I simply can’t find any fault with your work.”

After saying these words, the two looked at each other for more than ten seconds, until Director Dale showed a “what the fuck are you still doing here” expression. Only then did Lukar get up. “I’m going back to work.”

Director Dale nodded. Just as Lukar was about to leave the room, he suddenly called out, “Lukar…”

Lukar turned back and looked at him quizzically. He showed a smile. “You’re doing great, keep it up. You are very important to us.”

This sentence… was clearly more like a politician’s speech. Lukar smiled, gave a casual salute, and closed the door.

Previously, after receiving a report, Director Dale would ask about some details and constantly praise him. This time he didn’t. He guessed it might be related to the recent situation, but it didn’t have much to do with him.

He had just returned to his office and sat down when his secretary reminded him, “Your wife called for you just now. You’d better call her back.”

“Thanks!” Lukar said his thanks, picked up the phone, and dialed his home number. The call was quickly answered.

“Any operations tonight?” his wife asked.

Lukar lit a cigarette. “No, what’s up?”

“Come back early. I’ve prepared a sumptuous meal. There’s something important to tell you tonight.”

“Hoo…” he exhaled a puff of smoke, hesitated for a few seconds, “Okay, I’ll be back early.”

He didn’t know why, but what should have been a happy thing for him didn’t make him feel any excitement.

Evil had been punished, so why did he feel even more irritable? The documents, the reports on the desk, suddenly gave him an indescribable sense of annoyance. Now he needed to rest, not continue to work under pressure.

He told his secretary, “I’m going out for a bit. If anyone is looking for me, but it’s not very urgent, record their names and have them call me tomorrow morning.”

The secretary took a note. “What if they are in a hurry?”

Lukar shook his head slightly. “Have them call my home number in the evening.”

He left without looking back. He needed to go out and clear his head.

He first went to the finance office and put the money approved by the director into his bag. There were seven stacks in total. Even he was tempted for a moment.

But compared to the things he wanted from catching Lance, and the possible financial benefits, he could still hold back from these things.

Just as his car left the Bureau, he saw someone following him.

These people were Lance’s men, he recognized them. Openly tailing… no, it couldn’t be called tailing anymore, it should be called surveillance. At first, he would try to shake them off or have someone cause them trouble, but it was of no practical use, so he just ignored them.

He had no evidence to prove that these people were tailing and monitoring him, and not just happening to be on the same road, making the same choices.

As a law enforcement officer, he sometimes felt that the Federation’s laws were a load of crap.

He first went to the bank to deposit the money. The female teller at the counter kept winking at him. If he just nodded, they could have dinner together tonight, and after watching a movie, find a hotel to rest. But he had promised his wife to go back early.

There was still a long time before dinner. He drove his car to a nearby park, parked, bought something to eat, and walked into the park alone.

He needed to think seriously, about himself, about his work, about the future.

The hot dog was delicious. The yellow mustard added more flavor and possibility. He was like an ordinary person, sitting on a bench, eating and seeming to be in a daze.

His mind wandered, thinking about this and that.

In fact, he had been thinking about these problems recently, whether there was any practical meaning in staring at Lance. His reason told him that it was actually not necessary.

There was still a lot of evil in this city, but his emotions were constantly telling him that he had been played for a fool.

Lukar was actually a proud person, because he was very outstanding.

He was very outstanding, so he had obtained some things that others had not.

The director’s favor, advancement in his career.

His excellence and pride did not allow him to be played by a criminal without retaliating. Even if he knew he shouldn’t be so willful, he couldn’t do it.

If people could be 100% rational, the world would have perished long ago.

He didn’t know how long he had been here. The sky had gradually darkened a little, and the hot dog in his hand had long been finished.

By the trash can not far away, there was the oil paper used to wrap the hot dog. It seemed that he had not made the shot like a god-tier pitcher just now.

Many times people are like this. They will take the waste paper that needs to be thrown away, crumple it into a ball, and shoot it at the trash can.

If they can make it in, they will be in a good mood for a while.

At this moment, two young men walked over. They were wearing Sailing Team baseball caps and team uniforms. One of them was holding a baseball glove and a baseball.

The other was holding a Sailing Team bat, and it looked like a metal one. They were both baseball enthusiasts.

In fact, up to now, the baseball games in the Federation were still mainly played with wooden bats, but many amateur enthusiasts would use metal bats.

After all, metal bats are more durable. Although the price of a bat is not high, it is ultimately a consumable.

The Sailing Team had done well last year. The better a team’s performance, the more people will support it, and the more people will like the sport.

The Federation government promoted and encouraged the sport of baseball, so almost most parks would have a place for playing baseball.

Looking at the carefree appearance of the young men, a trace of envy and jealousy flashed in Lukar’s eyes. He had also been so carefree once.

The two walked and passed the ball. It’s not clear who made a mistake, but the baseball suddenly rolled under the bench where Lukar was sitting.

The two young men looked at him with a shy smile. He thought it was a shy smile. His mood improved slightly. On a whim, he wanted to throw his troubles away with this baseball. “I’ll get it!” he bent down. The ball was very deep under the seat. He had to bend even lower to see it.

When his hand passed between his legs to the very deep part under the seat, and he had fumbled around for a long time before finally getting it out, his whole face was flushed.

Just as he was about to straighten up, he saw four legs not far in front of him.

The brand-new baseball shoes didn’t look like they had been on a turf at all. Everyone knows that the shoes of a person who plays baseball can’t be clean.

He even saw that the tag had not been removed and was still on the back of the shoe. This pair of shoes was newly bought, maybe even just now. Then there were the clean white elastic long socks, without any dust, snow-white and clean.

Perhaps it was such a close observation that made him discover these wrong places. These two people didn’t look like they had just finished playing baseball at all.

Suddenly, a thought that made him break out in a cold sweat appeared in his mind. He clutched the snow-white baseball in his hand, did not straighten up completely, but looked up at the two people. “I am…”

With a “dong” sound, the sound of a metal bat hitting a head came out. He was hit and fell to the side.

He fell heavily to the ground. Due to the blow to the head, he had completely lost his balance.

It’s not clear if it was because of nervousness or some other reason, but his hand tightly clutched the baseball. Using both hands and feet, he propped himself up on the bench’s surface and tried to climb up.

The young man wearing the baseball glove squatted down in front of him and looked at him.

Lukar, his eyes already somewhat stiff, also looked at the other party.

“Mr. Lance asked me to tell you, he didn’t kill you not because he didn’t dare, but because he didn’t want to.”

“But you dug your own grave, Lukar.”

The more agitated Lukar became, the tighter he gripped the baseball in his hand. He wanted to say something, but for some reason, he just couldn’t get it out.

It was as if the blow to the head had made him lose the ability to speak. His whole face was flushed. Just as he felt he was about to “get it out,” he suddenly heard a crisp “dong” sound by his ear again.

His gaze was fixed on the young man’s face. His face, his hat, were all spattered with some blood.

No longer able to support his body, he collapsed completely in front of the bench.

But then, there was a second blow.

And a third.

Some people in the distance saw what was happening here and quickly left.

In the park, by the bench, only a middle-aged man lying on the ground was left, and the two young men standing in front of him.

As the bat fell again and again, Lukar’s body convulsed violently after making a “smack” sound like hitting water.

After about thirty or forty seconds, the young man swinging the bat was panting heavily. He stood there with his hands on his hips. “That should be enough.”

The other young man began to search his body, taking out everything on him and putting it in a manila envelope.

He searched very carefully, even putting the lighter and cigarette case in.

After finishing the search, he glanced at the baseball clutched in Lukar’s hand, pulled it hard, but actually couldn’t pull it out. His five fingers had already pressed into the surface of the ball. He tried to pry his fingers open, but failed.

“Shit!” he was a little angry. This ball had cost him fifteen cents.

His companion pushed him. “Forget it, it’s just a baseball.”

The young man stood up. The two looked around and quickly ran into the depths of the park, leaving only a person with a smashed face, unrecognizable, lying on the spot.

Blood began to slowly seep from his face and the back of his head, like a slowly blooming flower.

At this time, Lukar’s wife was humming a cheerful little tune while cooking dinner. She had bought a lot of ingredients and carefully prepared a sumptuous meal.

She had a surprise for Lukar. She was pregnant.

She was going to be a mother, and Lukar was going to be a father. They would welcome a new life and form a complete family.

At the thought of this, she was very much looking forward to the expression on Lukar’s face when he heard this good news.

He would definitely be very surprised, then very pleasantly surprised, and finally hug her and spin her around in the air. Thinking of this, her face was full of a happy smile. What could be happier than a happy family welcoming a small life?

Chief Charlie sat in his office, smoking a cigarette, looking with a worried expression at the sunset gradually appearing outside the window, his mind full of the terrible situation he was facing now and in the future.

The glow of the sunset also shone through the window onto Beno’s face. He sat in a chair, looking towards the city center. For some reason, he felt that today’s sunset was particularly red, particularly brilliant.

The door to Lance’s office suddenly opened. Alan walked out. The three people sitting at the door suddenly all stood up.

Beno threw his cigarette on the floor and crushed it with his foot. “Is it done?”

Alan nodded, a slight smile on his face. “It’s over.”

Beno asked, “Do we have a new job?”

Alan smiled. “Yes, a new job…”

(End of chapter)