Empire of Shadows

In a warm room, Lance listened to the baby’s voice through the receiver, his heart filled with tranquility.

The baby’s voice was a little distorted when it came through, but his whimpering could still be heard clearly.

”He’s very cute, but he’s always sleeping. You can’t wake him up even if you call him.”

”I’ll tell you a secret, don’t tell anyone!”

Patricia’s voice was filled with an eagerness to share. Lance agreed, ”Alright, I won’t tell anyone.”

”Actually, he prefers to drink Emily’s milk!”

Patricia said without hesitation something that might not have been so suitable for sharing. ”I don’t know how to say it. The nurse said my milk is not as nutritious as Emily’s.”

”You haven’t seen it. Her milk, after being placed in a bowl for a short while, will separate into layers. Half of it is fat or something, a thick layer floating on top.”

”Little Ace likes her very much, and he even often fights with Victor for it...”

As she spoke, she seemed to have thought of something and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.Lance’s eldest son had been born, and his name was Ace White.

This was his short name. William had suggested that Lance add his paternal name as a middle name, as this would be helpful for the little fellow’s future growth in a certain aspect, which was to be called ”Ace Lance White.” Sometimes he felt that their way of naming was like a joke.

However, this was their way of naming. Fortunately, it was no longer the era of the past, otherwise they might have had to add the place name ”Golden Port” and some of Lance’s deeds.

In William’s words, adding the name of a great father to a name would have a positive effect on a child’s childhood growth.

He would take Lance, this father, as a role model. At the same time, when others got to know him, they would also know who his father was from his paternal name!

That’s right, the people of the Federation, or rather, most people, had directly put the matter of ”competing with their fathers” on the surface.

While some people were still considering whether to shout ”who is my father,” they, as long as they stated their own name, others would know.

When the teachers in a school saw a certain person’s full name, there was a high probability that they would, through the possible paternal name plus the surname, associate it with some remarkable person, and thus treat this student specially.

When he entered society and needed to submit some resumes or the like, when people saw his full name, they would also be in awe of his old man.

Lance had not refused, so his child had this somewhat strange name.

He actually didn’t care much about this aspect. A name was just a name. What this child would become in the future had no direct relationship with his name.

In Patricia’s mouth, Ace’s nickname was Little Ace.

Lance listened to her talk about the interesting things at home, and he also felt a wave of happiness and peace from the bottom of his heart.

The three old uncles had sent two pure-blood hounds that had not yet opened their eyes. They would grow up with Ace. This was a treatment that even Victor did not have.

They had even chosen a batch of good stallions for Little Ace, and planned to get a colt out when he started elementary school.

This child represented Lance’s future, and also represented the future of the Lawrence family. They attached great importance to it.

After chatting for a while, Patricia suddenly came out with a ”I miss you,” which almost made Lance not react. ”I miss you too.”

”When are you coming back?” Her tone was filled with a longing for Lance. She wanted to see Lance right now.

Lance thought for a moment. ”I’ll try to come back after the New Year. The business trip this time is a bit long. In the future, I won’t be away for such a long time so often.”

”After the foundation here is laid, the rest is just constant replication.”

After the two had talked for a while more, Elvin knocked on the door, and he had to hang up the phone.

”They have arrived,” Elvin reminded Lance. Lance nodded, and after straightening his attire, he and Elvin went out and got into the car.

”Are you planning to recruit them?” Elvin asked.

Lance shook his head. ”They have made a move on us and have shown malice. How can I recruit them?”

”Even if I were to recruit them and promise that I will not pursue what has happened in the past, do you think they will believe my promise?”

”Do you think I can trust them?”

”They can’t trust me, just as I can’t trust them. They are not willing to leave just because they are reluctant to leave the foundation here.”

”Since you are reluctant, then don’t go. Just stay here forever!”

Lance had never considered letting these people go from the very beginning. Only by cleaning up this city, and completely wiping out some people’s little thoughts, would they be obedient.

Pain and death are the best way to restrain a person from breaking the rules, bar none!

Elvin was a little strange. ”Then you’ve gathered them all here...”

Lance replied with a smile, ”It’s too much trouble to find them one by one. Isn’t it more convenient to have them gather together themselves?”

Elvin was a little astonished, but then he laughed. ”This might be the unluckiest day of their lives!”

Lance corrected his statement. ”No, it’s the luckiest day, because they can see God today.”

”If they don’t have to go to hell!”

It was a fucking hell of a joke. Elvin couldn’t help but laugh out loud. ”You’re right, Lance!”

The atmosphere in the car was relaxed and cheerful. Lance did not plan to let these people go.

He had indeed considered it before. After all, to kill all the gangs in the first city he had taken over might indeed set a bad precedent.

But on the other hand, if he didn’t do this, and recruited these people, would it set another kind of bad precedent for the gangs in other cities?

They would feel that they could try to challenge Lance and the Lance Family. If they could win, they would fight. If they couldn’t, they would join. Isn’t this a kind of wrong guidance!

As long as you are willing to bow your head, Lance will definitely forgive their actions, and then let them join.

Then there will be more and more people who want to challenge Lance. This is not in line with Lance’s strategy and plan.

Although killing these people would indeed make some people nervous, it would also make these people afraid, and make them realize that Mr. Lance is not so easy to offend!

The restaurant where they were talking today was right next to the city center.

Seeing that it was almost time for the negotiation, some police cars had arrived on both sides of this street. They had set up roadblocks and had begun to control the traffic.

All private vehicles were not allowed to enter this street. The police were guarding the intersections on both sides.

Some people did not know what was happening here, but the residents of a small city, compared to the residents of a big city, were still relatively more obedient when they were facing the law enforcers.

Many cars had already been parked in the street. The remaining five gangs had also brought many people this time. These people were scattered and standing on the street.

They also saw that the police had controlled the traffic here, but no one felt that there was any problem. On the contrary, some young people were pointing at the police, giggling, not serious at all.

For these local gangs, the police did not have a very good impression.

The mayor of New Birmingham had not cooperated with the gangs before Lance had arrived.

On the one hand, the level of the gangs here was too low. They could not reach a politician of the mayor’s level, let alone have all kinds of interest cooperation with the mayor.

The mayor, the police chief, had no obligation to take care of their criminal behavior and business.

They might be able to corrupt some of the low-level police officers, to provide them with some information, for example, when there was an arrest operation, to give them a heads-up in advance. This was the limit of what they could do.

On the other hand, the scale of the city was not large, and the economy was not developed. Even the speed at which the gangs made money was not as fast as imagined.

A population of 200,000 was about one-twelfth of that of Golden Port City, but this did not mean that the income of the gangs in this city was also one-twelfth of the income of the gangs in Golden Port City.

Maybe it was only one-twentieth, or even less, so even if they wanted to cooperate with the mayor, they couldn’t come up with anything that could move the mayor.

A mayor couldn’t possibly, for a few tens of thousands a month, get involved with a gang. That would be too demeaning!

You know, by the time you reach the level of a mayor, it means that you have already taken the most firm step in your political career. If you want money, you don’t necessarily have to cooperate with a gang.

So they and the mayor, and the police, did not have a very comprehensive cooperation.

The relationship between the police and the bandits was still in a state of opposition.

Today, the police chief had had these police officers come over to maintain order and to control the traffic. They were a little puzzled.

When did the police also have to maintain order for the gangs?

Why not take the opportunity to arrest them all at this time?

Although most of the police officers did not understand, they still seriously carried out the chief’s decision.

With the arrival of Lance’s convoy, the police had also reluctantly removed a part of the roadblocks to let the convoy enter the street.

A young police officer who had just entered the police system for half a year straightened his police cap and spat at Lance’s convoy.

His partner, an old police officer, walked over and pressed his shoulder. ”Keep a calm mind, buddy.”

The young police officer was a little indignant. ”I just don’t understand why we allow these cancerous tumors to exist in the city!”

”If you ask me, we all know they are criminals. There is no need at all to consider whether the evidence is sufficient. Just arrest them all, give them a good interrogation, and some of them will definitely confess.”

His partner smiled helplessly. ”It’s not as simple as you think.”

He also looked at Lance’s convoy. ”I hear that the person who organized the event this time is that Lance from Likalai State. I don’t know what they are going to discuss this time, that even the chief’s side has to cooperate.”

”What else can they discuss?”

The young police officer shook his head. ”It’s nothing more than the matter of dividing up the territory...”

The convoy slowly stopped outside the restaurant. Although there were many local gang members around, they were all just watching from a distance. The closest group of people were still Lance’s men.

”They are already inside,” Ennio walked over and said in a low voice.

Lance nodded and walked towards the restaurant.