Empire of Shadows

From a certain door of the abandoned factory walked out a dozen or so young men with their hands up. The police outside immediately rushed over.

The man at the very front walked up to Alan and punched him directly. “Get down!”

Alan didn’t move, just watched. This police officer punched him again.

Because of the large movement, the things he was wearing on his body jingled and clattered.

With one punch, Alan’s cheekbone immediately turned red, and the skin was broken in two places. This punch was not light.

He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the police officer’s shoe. The officer wanted to give Alan a few more punches to properly teach him how to respect a police officer when someone grabbed his arm and then shook his head.

“You’re in luck!”

The police officer who had come later pulled him aside. “There’s no need to do this… ”

The police officer who had hit Alan didn’t speak, just remained silent.

Of course, he knew there was no need to do this, but a person living in this world is not just themselves; there are many people and things.It’s not an easy thing to climb up in the police department. Either you have enough money to bribe Charlie and Hunter…

Or, you become what they want you to be: a running dog.

Undoubtedly, he didn’t have much money to bribe Charlie and Hunter, nor did he have any capable people who could put in a good word for him.

The only thing he could offer was to act like a qualified running dog, offering his loyalty, his barks, and his bites.

He believed that his show of loyalty could be seen by Chief Hunter and Councilman Charlie, who were paying attention to this matter. Then he might get some attention because of it.

The police officer next to him actually understood his colleague’s thoughts, but he couldn’t say anything about this matter.

After all, this was someone else’s business. He wanted to get ahead, which had nothing to do with him. He had no right to say anything.

Alan and the others were handcuffed and then put into the police cars. Eugene’s wife and child were also rescued. This seemed to be a successful rescue.

Not everyone knew that a new storm was forming.

Charlie, sitting in Hunter’s seat, propped his chin with one hand, thinking about what had happened.

To be honest, some things had indeed exceeded his expectations.

At this time, the office door was opened. Hunter came in from outside and sat down in the chair that was usually for visitors and subordinates. “Roben the lawyer is here, and he’s brought legal documents. We can’t keep these people.”

Charlie nodded. His initial thought was that after surrounding Lance’s men, he would force Lance to call him.

What is the most important thing when encountering a problem? It is the initiative and the channel of communication.

As long as Lance called him, Charlie would have grasped the initiative and established a channel of communication, and the subsequent matters would become very easy.

He would tell Lance that he would not take away Lance’s men, but he also hoped that Lance could hand over Eugene’s wife and child to him.

Then he would act as a middleman to mediate the relationship between the two sides, and this matter would be over.

This was not the Bay Area’s intention; it was his own idea.

The idea from the Bay Area’s side was for him to show Lance some color, to let Lance know that Golden Port belonged to the Bay Area, not to his Lance Family!

Mr. Hoff and some others had also expressed their dissatisfaction with the Lance Family, both overtly and covertly. With such a large gang entrenched in the Empire District and the Port District, if it wasn’t dealt with, people outside would think how chaotic Golden Port was.

But Charlie himself knew very well that this matter was not so easy to handle. He wanted to drag this matter on and also gave Lance a way out.

Who would have thought that Lance would not take this way out and would directly have his men surrender?

Things had become a bit troublesome.

Councilman Charlie, who had originally wanted to seize the initiative, had not only lost all initiative at once, but had also been pushed onto the fire by Lance to be roasted.

Looking at Hunter sitting opposite him, Charlie leaned back a little. He didn’t like Hunter’s chair. It was a bit soft, and when he sat on it, he had a feeling of sliding down.

“What are your thoughts?” he asked.

Hunter was taken aback for a moment. “What do you mean, ‘ what are my thoughts’?”

“About the relationship with Lance,” Charlie took out a cigarette and lit it. “I don’t know what happened. The people in the Bay Area are not very friendly to Lance now.”

“Plus, the Kodak family is behind this matter. Have you noticed that it seems they are up against half of Golden Port?”

“Our situation in the middle has become less convenient. We must make a choice.”

In the past, as the loyal hound of the Bay Area, Charlie had only had to deal with some low-to-middle-class people with no background.

When he really encountered some well-known figures, he didn’t need to deal with them. The old masters of the Bay Area would personally take action to deal with those who were not on their side.

So although he was a running dog, a knife in the hands of the Bay Area, this dog was a bully to the weak and afraid of the strong, and this knife had only ever cut fruit.

Now, to be up against the Lance Family, Charlie felt a little uneasy.

And this time, once they were up against each other, a winner and a loser would have to be decided.

He believed he understood Lance to some extent. He knew that Lance, who looked like a very normal person, was actually a crazy person underneath.

In the past, he just had to do his job well. Now, he needed to take care of many other things.

Hunter was silent for a moment. He understood what Charlie meant. This meant that it was time for their “team” to make a choice.

This was a somewhat difficult choice. After thinking for a while, he asked, “Can we win?”

Charlie’s eyes, behind the smoke, were a bit evasive. He quickly nodded. “We can.”

“I’ve been in Golden Port for almost sixty years, and I’ve never seen anyone defeat the Bay Area.”

“Whether it’s those mayors, those politicians, or the Five Families, the strongest have only been able to contend with the Bay Area, not conquer it.”

“Lance is not as good as many of them. Even if he can’t lose, he can’t win either.”

This wasn’t Charlie boasting about the strength of the Bay Area; it was a fact.

Over the years, how many people who had tried to challenge the order of Golden Port had appeared and then disappeared?

Not to mention those from long ago, the most recent one was the mayor. He had almost succeeded, but hadn’t he failed in the end?

The Bay Area was not so easily defeated. They had even stronger, more terrible, and more destructive means that they had not yet used.

The more important Golden Port’s position was, the greater the lethality of the Bay Area’s trump card would be.

Hunter pondered for a moment again. “Do we have a choice?”

They used to.

If Lance had called as Charlie had thought, then they would still have had a choice.

But Lance had directly refused them the opportunity to choose, letting everything move towards opposition. They no longer had any other options.

Both of them understood this point and both fell into silence.

“Then let’s get ready.”

Hunter nodded. Charlie then stood up. “They all say we are running dogs. Then let them see the power of a running dog.”

As he spoke, he walked towards the door. “I’m going for a walk in the Bay Area. I’ll call you if anything comes up… ”

Charlie was already mentally prepared. He had to go and communicate with the old masters of the Bay Area.

Since he had thoroughly offended Lance this time, then he might as well just overturn Lance and his Lance Family directly.

With the three forces of the Kodak family, the Bay Area, and the police system united, could they still not handle a single Lance?

He didn’t believe it. He didn’t believe Lance was that strong, nor did he believe that they, united, were that weak.

A dozen minutes later, Alan and the others had just arrived at the police station when they were released.

As soon as they left the police station, they came to the side of the convoy parked on the street.

The car window slowly rolled down, revealing Lance’s face. “What happened to your face?”

Alan touched his already somewhat swollen cheek and said with a grin, “A dog bit it.”

Lance looked at his face for a few more seconds and nodded slightly. “Since a dog bit it, then kill the dog.”

He looked at the young men. No one else was injured, so he was relieved.

“The police department’s attitude has changed a little. Be careful in your actions in the future, understand?”

The young men all nodded. “Understood, Boss.”

The convoy slowly started. Elvin, sitting next to him, was a little confused. “Will Hunter and his crew really make a move on us?”

Lance nodded, looking at the solemn police station building outside the window.

The Golden Port City Police Department looked very solemn and dignified, but in fact, this was the largest “gang” headquarters in Golden Port.

“The fact that he helped Stone make a move on us shows that they are already prepared.”

“Charlie wanted me to talk to them. I didn’t give them this opportunity at all.”

“It’s either an enemy or a friend. Where is there a middle option?”

“To keep them and let them jump back and forth, and then stab us in the back in the end?”

“Have someone find out the current situation of Eugene and his family. We can’t just not get justice because Charlie and Hunter have also entered the fray.”

“After you find them, deal with them. Leave them at the entrance of the police station.”

Elvin nodded and recorded this matter. He didn’t consider whether doing so would provoke the police department, provoke Hunter, provoke Charlie.

Anyway, since he had already offended them, then he might as well offend them a little more.

Fortunately, the Empire District Sub-bureau and the Port District Sub-bureau, under Lance’s profit-sharing model, had already completely sided with Lance.

Even if Hunter were to transfer Sub-bureau Chief Bruce and Sub-bureau Chief Duke away, the newly appointed sub-bureau chiefs would either die in an accident or be completely sidelined.

They were not just up against Lance and the Lance Family, but also the livelihood and well-being of more than a thousand police officers from two sub-bureaus.

At night, the police officer who had hit Alan drove out of the police station.

He was indeed a little impulsive today, but he also did indeed want to be valued.

Hunter had found him and told him to do a good job, which had made the unease in his heart vanish into thin air, and he had relaxed.

He was thinking about how to perform even more diligently, to let Chief Hunter realize that he was willing to take on some more responsibilities, when a car suddenly hit his car from behind.

“Damn!”

He pulled the handbrake hard and stopped the car. He had bought this car on loan, and he still hadn’t finished paying it off.

If he didn’t extort a sum from this idiot behind him, he would have taken this loss for nothing.

(End of chapter)