Empire of Shadows

Francisco was jolted awake from his sleep. He had a nightmare in which Alberto was killed by Christopher’s men.

To him, besides Paul, only Alberto had treated him the best. He had always regarded Alberto as a family member.

He had tried to stop Alberto from returning to Summuri Island, but he had failed.

That was a man of principle. Once he had decided on something, no one could stop him.

When he was leaving, Francisco had talked to him, with only one request: come back alive.

Alberto had promised him. He had never disappointed anyone, and this time should be no different.

The night was deep, deep and quiet. He glanced at the luminous clock on his bedside table. It was only a little after two in the morning. There was still a long time until dawn.

Just as he was about to fall back asleep, he suddenly heard something. Was the phone ringing?

Someone was on watch outside the villa to ensure that no one would get close to Francisco at night. After Alberto had left, he had paid more attention to his own safety.

So he was the only one in the entire house.Only he was alone, so no one would remind him that the phone was ringing.

There was no phone in Francisco’s bedroom. Sometimes the phone would wake him up, and he had a bit of a temper when he woke up.

As long as he didn’t wake up naturally, no matter how he woke up, he would be a little unhappy.

The house was very large and seemed empty. For the seventeen-year-old Francisco, it was a little scary.

His pace was very fast. It was possible that he was afraid of the dark living room downstairs, or it was possible that he wanted to answer the phone earlier.

“This is the Pasoretto family. I am Francisco.”

“Mr. Francisco, there is something I have to inform you. A gentleman named Alberto had an accident last night.”

“His remains are now in the… city’s funeral home. See when you have time to come over and take him away.”

“In addition, you need to pay a daily fee of fifteen reyas (a currency) for the cold storage, otherwise we can only put it in the corridor.”

“The weather is getting hot. It will soon start to stink.”

“This is our phone number. You can contact us anytime, anywhere if you have any questions.”

“Mr. Francisco, are you still listening?”

“Sir?”

The voice from the receiver was full of confusion. “Anyway… that’s it.”

Soon, only the busy tone was left. Francisco sat on the sofa, his hand supporting his forehead, his face full of unbelievable grief and despair!

He dropped the phone and, instead, ran his hands back through his hair. His whole person exuded a sense of dejection.

In a hospital thousands of miles away, Christopher was lying on his side on a hospital bed. The doctor had already checked him. His shoulder blade was fractured, and the surgery had just been completed.

The effect of the painkiller had not yet worn off. He looked as if, besides his left shoulder and arm, which he could not move casually, he was not very limited.

In front of him, the manager of the funeral home had finished his phone call. He nodded from his side on the bed. “Very good. Someone will be playing the role of a staff member in the funeral home during this period.”

“If this Francisco calls you and says he has arrived here, you have to tell me in time.”

“Stall him. It’s best if you can get him to the funeral home. Do you understand what I mean?”

The manager of the funeral home nodded very cautiously. “Yes, Mr. Christopher, I know what you mean.”

“Get him to come over, and then catch him.”

Christopher nodded. “Very good. If you do a good job, I will not be stingy with your reward.”

The manager of the funeral home bowed his waist. “It is my honor to be of service to you, Mr. Christopher.”

As he spoke, he asked tentatively, “My son over there…”

Christopher nodded. “I have already contacted them. He is exempt from military service.”

The manager of the funeral home almost knelt down and kowtowed to Christopher!

The reason why he was willing to agree to Christopher’s request and take the initiative to contact Francisco was because his son had been selected for military service.

The “living space” on Summuri Island was not large, but that did not mean that the population was necessarily large.

This was like a small house. The reason it was full was not because there were too many people, but because the house was small.

Now that the war had broken out, if the Summuri government wanted to get more benefits from the war, they would definitely have to send troops to participate in this war.

Otherwise, on what basis would others give you a share of the benefits they had worked so hard to get?

The Summuri government had initially planned to send 200,000 troops to assist and support the war of its allies.

The situation on the island was a little complicated. Besides the four major families and the ruling privileged class males who were willing to go to the front lines, the others were all unwilling to participate in the war.

Not only did they themselves not participate in the war, but the subordinates of their families would also not participate in the war.

For example, although Mr. Leonardo advocated for war, besides two nephews and about four or five grandchildren who had joined the army and served as officers on the front lines, the others were all still at home. And along with them, the gang members under the family had also not been conscripted.

What if these gang members were conscripted, and the other three major families discovered that they were now in a weak state and directly took them down?

The four major families, and those ruling class, the privileged class, all had similar thoughts, so a large group of adult males who existed around them were also not in the scope of conscription.

In the end, the unlucky choice fell on the ordinary people.

According to the latest bill of the Summuri government, every family with two adult males, or one adult male and one underage male, must register for conscription.

They would give priority to selecting families with more than two males for conscription, and then to those families with a “father-son” relationship.

The age range for conscription was from sixteen to forty-five. This was just the initial stage.

If the war did not go well, it might be from fourteen to sixty.

The son of the funeral home manager was just in his early twenties. They were also registered as a conscription family, and their family was selected in the random selection.

For a family like this, it was as if the sky had fallen!

He didn’t know any powerful big shots. Originally, he was even planning to go to the front line himself and let his son stay behind. As a result, Christopher’s men had found him.

He had no other requests and was willing to cooperate fully, but he had only one thought, which was to let his son be exempted from military service.

For Christopher, this was just a small matter, solved with a phone call.

He liked this feeling, people begging for his help. This gave him a feeling of floating.

Many years ago, he had seen this scene in Paul’s office. Those well-dressed big shots in the eyes of some people were standing in front of Paul like children who had done something wrong.

They lowered their heads, pleading for Paul’s forgiveness or help. Then Paul, with a cigar in his mouth, picked up the phone and casually solved their troubles.

That feeling… was satisfying!

After sending the manager of the funeral home away, Christopher also gradually fell into a drowsy sleep.

He didn’t know how long he had slept before he was finally woken up by the pain.

The constantly increasing pain was attacking his mental defense line. The more and more painful pain made him clench his fists. “Give me a shot of painkiller!”

He shouted at the nurse. Soon the doctor came. He checked Christopher’s condition. “Young Master Christopher, my personal advice is not to use painkillers.”

“Recently, some medical institutions have proven that these special painkillers from the Federation can be addictive.”

Christopher knew some of the situation. He used to often steal the special medicine from Paul’s warehouse and sell it to exchange for a large amount of funds for his own extravagance.

He felt that those who were addicted to painkillers were all good-for-nothings. If it were him, he would definitely not be addicted to painkillers.

And now he was in too much pain. This pain after the fracture made his whole body tremble.

“Don’t say it. I know. I do this for a living. Give me a shot, quickly!”

The doctor still intended to persuade him a little more. After all, everyone who had a fracture had endured it like this.

When the body begins to secrete some hormones, and to adapt to these pains, it will soon not be so painful.

In just a few days, the feeling of pain will obviously decrease, and then to an acceptable degree.

“Fuck, don’t make me say it again!”

He glared at the doctor. It was really too painful. It wasn’t that there was no way to solve this problem. He didn’t want to endure it!

The doctor could only take the distilled water and the medicine bottle from the nurse’s hands. After the painkiller was diluted, it was injected into Christopher’s body.

In just… twenty or thirty seconds, the impatience and fear of pain on Christopher’s face instantly disappeared, and was replaced by a comfortable stretch.

“See, wouldn’t it have been better if you had done this earlier?”

The doctor still insisting, “The side effects of these drugs are very large…”

Christopher shook his head. “I’m just in too much pain. I won’t take it next time.”

“Don’t worry!”

He had someone drive the doctor out. Since there was a way to not endure the pain, why should he endure it himself?

And he didn’t think he couldn’t fight against these painkillers. It was just some painkillers. Could it be stronger than his will?

He was a man who had, with his own strength, overturned the Pasoretto family!

Now his only thought was to get rid of Francisco, to regain control of the Pasoretto family, and even to find a way to return to the Federation.

That old man Leonardo was not too bad to him, but he was not very good either. They were just using each other.

Without his own power, he would always be just a parasite.

He wanted to be a great hero, not an advertisement for marrying into the Bianchi family!

“Francisco, don’t let me down!”

“Your most beloved Uncle Alberto is right here. You will definitely come, right?!”

(End of a Chapter)