Empire of Shadows

“A great victory!”

The announcer’s passionate and affirmative words came through the speakers in the stadium!

“Ethan has defeated his opponent this time. He now has the qualification to challenge the boxing champion. Next, it will depend on his recovery, and whether he can move the boxing champion.”

“If I were the league president, I would consider giving him such an opportunity now. We need a young, miracle-powered young boxer.”

“We need Ethan, we need him to create a miracle!”

The commentator unhesitatingly offered his praise. Although he did not say that he believed Ethan could also defeat the boxing champion, his words, both inside and out, revealed a strong confidence in Ethan.

Ethan was completely covered by the magnesium flashes of the flashbulbs. The praise from the people made him feel a sense of honor from the bottom of his heart, from the inside out.

At this moment, he seemed to understand a little why Lance had wanted him to stand on the ring, instead of standing behind Lance with a gun.

Lance and the others also came out of the box and walked over.

Ethan pushed aside the people who were blocking his way and came to Lance’s side, scratching his head and saying, “I hope I haven’t let you down.”This sentence made Lance feel a little emotional. He walked to Ethan’s side and put his arm around his broad shoulders. He couldn’t even get his whole arm around them!

“You haven’t let anyone down, and you are only responsible for yourself, not us.”

“I hope you can walk a different path. This is your life!”

He did not take up too much of Ethan’s time. Looking at the screaming girls around him, and the fanatical fans, he smiled and patted Ethan’s firm muscles. “Now, go and enjoy your moment!”

After walking out of the stadium, Lance was in a rare good mood. Ethan’s success on the ring proved that the Empire immigrants did not only have the two paths of being a low-level worker and joining a gang.

Being a boxer, or an actor, were both good choices.

“Mr. Lance!”

After Lance and his group had walked out of the stadium, Ethan’s coach ran out after them. Someone blocked his way, but Lance signaled to let him through.

“Mr. Lance, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Lance nodded slightly. “About what?”

“About whether Ethan will go for the gold belt in the future.”

Lance stopped there and motioned for him to continue.

“Ethan’s victory this time is not necessarily a good thing. It will make his opponents treat him more cautiously than before.”

“The boxing champion’s demands might be very high, in terms of appearance fees.”

The appearance fee this time was ridiculously high, but for Lance, it was not a problem.

To think of it in another way, although this Mr. Ninth had participated in this match for twice the appearance fee, what he had lost here was far more than what he had gained!

His ranking had been replaced by Ethan, and his ranking had plummeted. Even if he could fight his way back up, his commercial value was not as good as before.

And as long as Ethan continued to move forward and never stopped, then every time he was mentioned, people would think of his “background boards.”

Even if one day Ethan retired from the boxing world, these celebrities he had defeated would still be his background boards.

Unless Mr. Ninth could get a gold belt, he would never be able to wash away the shame of this defeat in his life!

His commercial value would continue to shrink, and his appearance fees would continue to decrease.

Maybe his next appearance fee would only be a few tens of thousands. If he couldn’t win the match cleanly, his commercial value and appearance fee would shrink further.

In the boxing world, there is also no shortage of a large number of blue-collar workers. If he can’t do it, he can only be relegated to the blue-collar level.

Hearing some of the coach’s thoughts, Lance gave him a number. “Within a million, you can directly agree to it.”

A smile appeared on the coach’s face. “He would at most ask for 500,000, 600,000 would be the limit. It’s impossible to go up to a million!”

Lance was not so optimistic. Now a ninth-ranked boxer dared to ask for a price of 350,000. For a boxing champion to ask for a million, it wasn’t too much, was it?

After a few simple words, Lance and his group got into the car and left.

And the coach walked towards the officials of the boxing league.

For this kind of official match that involved a change in ranking, there would definitely be officials from the boxing league here.

Before Ethan had made a name for himself, no one knew Ethan’s coach, but everyone believed that as the results of today’s match began to spread more widely, he would also become a celebrity.

So the officials were not so difficult to get close to. They took the initiative to stop and shake hands with him.

After a couple of pleasantries, the coach asked, “If Ethan wants to challenge for the gold belt, will the league give some support?”

The official from the league found it a little funny. “You’ve just changed your ranking!”

He was trying to remind the coach, even if they were going to fight, did Ethan need time?

“We can build up the momentum first. People will like to hear this news, the path of a poor boy’s Federation dream!”

“This is a good opportunity for the league to expand its influence!”

The official, after thinking seriously for a moment, shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t make a decision on this matter. After all, it involves the light heavyweight gold belt.”

“After we go back, we will tell the chairman your idea. As for whether he will agree, we can’t guarantee, but we will definitely do our best to communicate with him on your side.”

The coach knew that this was the best result. He thanked the two officials again and again and then returned to the gymnasium.

The reporters were still interviewing Ethan. Although today’s match was very short, it was absolutely exciting, like a super bomb that had suddenly exploded. Everyone was so shocked that they couldn’t close their jaws!

Especially the part where the two hit each other at the same time, and then fell down at the same time, but Ethan got up again.

These scenes formed a super-violent aesthetic art. The people of the Federation would love this!

Everyone could foresee that a star of the boxing world was rising.

The coach pushed through the crowd and squeezed in from the side. He came to Ethan’s side and said loudly to the reporters, “We will challenge the light heavyweight boxing champion and the gold belt later. We will create history!”

The reporters, who had already cooled down a little, went crazy again. They wished they could blind the coach’s dog eyes with their flashes!

This match had let people know Golden Port City, and also the “King Kong” in Golden Port City!

In a place that people didn’t notice, Mr. Ninth and his team were leaving. Their faces no longer had the confidence they had before they came. Each of them had a cold face.

The agent looked at Mr. Ninth, who was lying on the stretcher, and couldn’t help but say, “You said you could win.”

Mr. Ninth just said calmly, “I said I would do my best to win. No one can guarantee that they will definitely win in the ring, not even a boxing champion!”

“It’s normal to lose…”

As he spoke, his voice became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared.

The group of people did not continue to speak. Everyone was thinking about their own things, because they all knew that this was not just a matter of losing a match.

Some people’s lives are in the ring, but some people’s lives are on the gambling table.

Of course, these things no longer had much to do with Ethan, and with Lance and his group. The next time they saw Ethan in the ring, it should be the battle between him and the boxing champion.

Lance was very much looking forward to the arrival of this day.

In September, something that was not so important to the people of the Federation happened. The Slad people had once again suffered a heavy blow on the battlefield. The three mechanized divisions of Dantra had, at an extremely fast speed, a speed that surpassed people’s imagination, bypassed the defensive line that the Slad people were holding, from another route.

Although the Slad people had organized their forces in time to launch a counterattack and had driven these Dantra people back, they had also paid an extremely heavy price.

Originally, the Slad military alliance was still considering accumulating strength to launch an active counterattack. The federal people had set a good example for them. After the federal people had drawn a part of the Dantra people’s attention, they had launched an attack from the front and the south.

The people of South Trier (the main force in the south of the Slad military alliance) were also ready to fight a beautiful counterattack, but as a result, the failure of the main battlefield had ruined the entire plan.

The reinforcements that Summuri had sent to support the Slad alliance had also been shattered in this war.

The Dantra people had never thought of pushing the front line. Their purpose was just to make the defensive line riddled with holes, and then to withdraw from where they had come.

On the level of strategy and tactics, there was a relatively large gap between the two sides, and it had already begun to snowball.

It was said that anti-war sentiment had begun to appear within Slad. In this environment of always being pressed and hammered, there would definitely be some people who would have some problems in their thinking.

More and more Slad people began to hide, or to smuggle to other countries, to avoid being sent to the front line.

“A pig-like commander” and “a fishing net-like defensive line” were the names they had for the front-line commander and their defensive line.

Then the Slad front-line commander was dismissed from his post on the spot and was escorted back to the capital to be interrogated. Along with him, a group of military officers were also arrested.

It was said that the prime minister of Slad believed that there might be a traitor in the army. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to so accurately bypass some of the checkpoints and directly stab them in the back.

The continuous failure of the main battlefield had made the federal people’s desire to prepare for an attack be stopped in time. For a short period of time, a peaceful side had appeared on the front line.

But everyone knew that this was just temporary.

Dantra’s allies were continuing to invade to the east. A large number of the coerced local people were being armed by the Dantra people and then sent to the battlefield.

The federal people, on the northern battlefield, had given them a heavy blow with a human sea tactic. If you just look at the data on the battlefield, they were undoubtedly outstanding, excellent, and even victorious!

Every Dantra soldier could take out 2.3 federal soldiers. A gap of nearly three times made the Dantra people, from top to bottom, unable to find any fault.

But the problem was that they were retreating again and again, constantly being forced back. Although the data was in their favor, they were always losing their positions, just because there were too few people.

Now they were no longer pursuing a policy of elite troops, but were pushing more of their vassal troops to the front line to consume the federal people, to curb the federal people’s continuous eastward advance, and then to free up their hands to deal with the pressure on the main battlefield, and then to find a way to outflank the federal people’s rear.

As long as they could eat this part of the two or three hundred thousand federal troops, the pressure on the northern battlefield would be greatly reduced.

All the actions hinted that the changes on the battlefield were intensifying. The Slad people had once again opened a mobilization order, requiring more Slad men to go to the battlefield, instead of thinking of fleeing to other places.

At the same time, they were also calling on the two small countries to the west of Slad to contribute money and effort. Once Slad was defeated, the Dantra people would definitely not let them go.

The impact of the “world war” was still continuing to spread. More and more countries were being forced or taking the initiative to move closer to the center of the war.

The strange international situation made everyone feel dull and breathless.

On Summuri Island, the news that the Summuri reinforcements had been directly scattered by the Dantra mechanized division on the front line had already been sent back. Almost everywhere on the island, you could see people crying.

Their children, husbands, fathers, had become a number in this war, a cold number!

They would never come back.

Even if they could, it might just be an urn, and it was not even certain if the ashes inside were of their relatives.

Imagine, under the constant crushing of the tracks on the battlefield, who the fuck could know who that pile on the ground was?

Let alone tattoos, even with a name tag, it might not be possible.

Christopher, along with Leonardo, attended a meeting of the four major families. This time, Leonardo was obviously not as “arrogant” as the last few times.

He sat in his position, his hand supporting his cheek, and said nothing.

The family head who was sitting opposite him and represented the anti-war faction on Summuri Island coughed, and had been staring at Leonardo, while Leonardo could only play dead at this time.

“The Slad ambassador contacted the prime minister at night, asking us to continue to send more troops.”

“The last conscription has already made many people very dissatisfied with our decision. If we continue to conscript, what will the men on the island think?”

“And how can we guarantee that the soldiers who are sent out this time will be able to come back alive?”

This matter was indeed very troublesome. So many people had died. Originally, everyone was a little hesitant, including Leonardo.

But the problem now was not that he, this pro-war faction, wanted to continue to conscript and go to war, but that the Slad people’s side was demanding that they must conscript, and then send them to the battlefield.

The Slad people might have realized that if they only exploited their own war potential, in the end, even if they won, they would have actually lost.

They had to ensure that at the end of the war, they were not in a state of “exhausting all their strength,” but at least about the same as the surrounding countries.

This also meant that the surrounding countries also had to participate more in the war.

They might be a little lacking in dealing with the Dantra people, but to deal with people like the ones on Summuri Island, that was too easy.

The others in the room did not speak. Facts had proven that the game of war was not something that the Summurian people could play.

Tens of thousands of people had been sent out, and in a short time, more than half had been lost. Although some might have been hiding, these people would definitely not come back.

“Leonardo, you have always advocated for participating in the war. Now tell us your thoughts.”

People’s attention was focused on Leonardo. He waved his hand with some shame and annoyance, as if he were shooing away a fly in front of him. “Don’t say that. Although I advocate for joining the war, I never thought of sacrificing the lives of the Summurian people to get something for myself.”

“And you see now, even if I don’t advocate for war, we will still be forced to join the war now.”

“This war will affect the entire Tanfit continent. No one can escape!”

“Whether it’s us, or someone else, this is just a matter of sooner or later.”

“If we can take the initiative to participate in the war, at least we can have some initiative on the alliance’s side.”

“If we are forced to join the war, our situation may be even worse than now.”

He leaned back. “Not only will we have no initiative, but we will also have to send our children to the battlefield.”

The old man sitting opposite him sarcastically said, “It’s ‘children’ now?”

Leonardo ignored him.

“Now we need to unify our thoughts. Should we agree to the ambassador’s request to continue to send more troops to the front line, or should we directly reject him.”

The people in the room began to discuss. This, after all, was related to the fate of Summuri Island.

It may seem that they were choosing, but in fact, they did not have much of a choice, because besides supporting this request, they had no other choice.

To choose to refuse?

Maybe the Slad people would turn around and make a move on them.

Even if they didn’t, cutting off the supply of goods to the island would also cause them great trouble.

The population on the island was too large, and food had to be imported to meet the people’s needs. Once the transportation of goods was cut off, it wouldn’t take long for them to compromise.

So this matter, from the very beginning, had nothing to be discussed.

The so-called discussion was nothing more than giving everyone a decent form, and at the same time, sharing the responsibility.

After discussing for a while, everyone’s opinions were basically unified, which was also foreseeable from the beginning.

Originally, Leonardo was preparing to leave, but the old man opposite him said another thing.

“This time we have to send at least a hundred thousand people to the front line. The prime minister’s side will solve twenty thousand. The rest, we will each take twenty thousand.”

As he spoke, the old man opposite him stood up. “Anyway, that’s it.”

After he finished speaking, he patted his butt and left. The other two also had nothing to say now. After saying goodbye to Leonardo, they left, leaving only Leonardo and these men under his command.

He was a little frantic. He scratched his head. It hadn’t been long since the last conscription, and now there was another one. In addition, the bad news from the front line would definitely spread in a short time. He could already imagine the difficulty of conscription.

After returning to the manor, he summoned the members of the family and talked about this.

Everyone had said a lot. In the end, Leonardo’s son-in-law said, “We can still get the people, but the problem is, who will pay for arming these people.”

“If it’s from the government, we all know they don’t have much money left.”

“If the Slad people don’t give us some support, will these expenses ultimately fall on us?”

“Even if it’s just to arm twenty thousand people, it means we have to spend tens of millions (converted into federal sols).”

“Do we have so much money?”

“And should we take it.”

(End of a Chapter)