Empire of Shadows

Many scientists, through scientific demonstration and the burning of their own lives, finally made most people accept the view that the planet under our feet is a sphere.

In the process they used to persuade people, many had mentioned that by observing the sea level, the first thing to appear in people’s line of sight must be the highest point of a ship, perhaps the top of the mast, or a sailor standing on the observation deck with a pair of binoculars looking at you.

Only then can you gradually see more of the ship’s body. Therefore, the water surface is not flat, but an arc.

So when the warships first began to appear within the visible range of the fishing boat, they actually couldn’t see anything at all.

But as the warships got closer and closer, they could already see clearly.

The two of them stood foolishly on the swaying deck. The rotation of the turbine made the desire tighter and tighter. In the end, the desire could not withstand the constantly contracting force and directly exploded with force.

A large number of fish instantly returned to the ocean, but there were also some fish that were just floating on the surface of the water.

In the process of the fishing net tightening, the fishing net was embedded in their bodies, cutting them to pieces. The blood also dyed the sea surface around the fishing boat red.

But it was clear that the school of fish did not seem to have the idea of having a full meal, because they had also felt that huge ”vibration” from within the ocean!

The school of fish crazily moved in other directions where there was no vibration, or dived into deeper seas!The captain had reacted. He had rushed into the cockpit, had begun to turn the bow, and had pulled the throttle to the end.

But a fishing boat, and a not-so-large one, had a speed of only less than eight knots.

What it was facing were warships of more than twenty knots.

The captain was so scared that he didn’t dare to look back. He could also feel that this fishing boat under his feet was, at a theoretical maximum speed that it had never run at since its launch, crazily racing on the slightly rippling sea surface!

But the speed was still too slow.

Without looking back, he could hear the sound of the sea surface being torn apart getting closer and closer.

The engine of the fishing boat, with a violent cough like an old man who couldn’t catch his breath, suddenly stopped in the distance. This old engine had gone on strike.

The captain slammed the control hard and couldn’t help but curse, ”Fuck!” When he walked out of the cockpit, that huge warship seemed to be right in his face!

He walked to the stern and lifted the engine compartment cover. A thick cloud of smoke came out. Seeing this scene, he was completely desperate.

He looked at his crew in terror and despair, and the latter also looked at him with the same eyes and emotions.

After an unknown amount of time, the force of the sea began to increase. The waves on the side of the sea were turbulent, and the sky seemed to have darkened.

In the two’s completely given-up gaze, the small fishing boat was swept to pieces, and the two also fell into the water and disappeared.

After a lifetime of fishing, he had finally taken from the fish, and was used by the fish.

”Did we just hit something?”

The captain on the warship asked casually.

The sailor in charge of observing the sea surface said with an indifferent face, ”We’ve overturned a small fishing boat.”

The captain’s expression became a little more serious. ”Did they scratch my warship?”

”Soldier?”

”No, sir!”

The captain was very satisfied and continued to look down at some of the documents in his hand. If this fishing boat had scratched his warship, he would definitely not let the people on that fishing boat have it easy.

Of course, they were not having it easy now either.

00:05:00

In an open-air coffee shop in the Golden Port City tourist port, a professor and a few students were sitting here, participating in a social practice course. It was now their break time, in the afternoon. They had just had something to eat, and then had sat down for a cup of coffee, to chat about the things that cultured people liked to talk about. There was nothing more pleasant than this.

They had talked about many things. It’s unknown who had started it, but soon the topic had shifted to ”whether Dantra would, as shown in the movie, attack Golden Port City.” This was a research direction for the development of the international war situation.

When a matter can bring a positive emotional feedback and benefits, people will go and study this matter, just like mining.

Mining can dig out mineral resources. Resources can be sold for money, and can meet people’s demand for materials. Then there will be people who will come and study the mineral resources, to study how to find these minerals, and then how to better dig them out.

War is the same.

The constant victories in the war had made people see greater benefits, so more and more people had begun to devote themselves to the study of war. Maybe their research topics had some possibility, which would let them walk another path!

The research projects of every university would eventually have a chance to be sent to the relevant government departments. If a government department was interested in their research project, they would inquire with them. This was a very good opportunity.

To get extra project research funds from the Department of Defense or the Presidential Palace, for many professors and scholars, besides bringing benefits, was also a special honor.

What these students were studying was related to war, and were some of the changes in society under a state of war.

Since this issue had been raised, as a prerequisite for their topic, everyone was expressing their own views.

Everyone had their own views and opinions, which could not necessarily be unified. And some students, just to catch people’s attention, had deliberately thrown out an idea that was not their original intention, but was enough of a gimmick.

After their heated discussion, they finally focused their gaze on the professor.

A female university student who was the professor’s favorite asked, ”Professor, what do you think of this question?”

”Is it possible that the Dantra people will attack Golden Port City?”

The professor, while drinking his coffee, smiled and nodded. ”I think this possibility exists, but the probability of it happening is not high, not more than 5%!”

”The movie ’Surprise Attack on Golden Port’ has already briefly explained the purpose of the Dantra people’s attack on Golden Port City. I don’t think what they said is completely right, but there are basically no major directional problems.”

”We all know that sometimes the right choice is not necessarily a must.”

”A surprise attack on Golden Port City will cause the hatred of the entire federal society for Dantra to escalate. In fact, our current degree of participation in the war is not very large. It is just the ruling class of society that is leading the interference in the war.”

”The middle and lower classes of society have not taken the initiative to participate. They are just passive.”

”At this time, to provoke us, the price to be paid is not something that the Dantra people can necessarily afford.”

”Once the people of the Federation are completely provoked, then in this war, they can only win, and cannot lose!”

The professor took another sip of his coffee. He liked to show off his learning in front of his students. Everyone has their own preferences.

Some like money, some like sex, some like to show off. The professor belonged to the kind who liked all of them.

He liked money, liked sex, and also liked to show off.

He liked the admiring gaze of his students, which made him feel light and airy.

”So, there is this possibility, but the probability is not high!”

”Compared to attacking Golden Port City, if we were the ones who could decide the direction of the war, I would mobilize the fleet to find a way to cut off the sea transportation channel between us and Slad.”

”The production capacity of the participating groups in the war is constantly being reduced due to the destruction of war, but the Federation is not. The Federation has become the blood-making machine of Slad’s war potential.”

”If we don’t stop them from transporting supplies to Slad, the balance will tilt towards us little by little!”

As a highly educated, and also a university professor of social-related subjects, his point of view was very much in line with the mainstream thinking of society. At least he thought so.

Normally, at a time like this, his students should have started to applaud or praise his point of view, but what was wrong with them today?

At this moment, he had subconsciously gone over what he had said. No problem!

He looked up at the students at the side of the table. They had all stood up, their mouths agape as they looked at the direction of the sea behind him.

He was stunned for a moment, tilted his body, supported himself with the armrest of his chair with his right hand, and turned his head to look at the sea. Then he couldn’t help but stand up and slowly opened his mouth wide.

On the sea to the east, many warships that were clearly painted differently from the federal warships had appeared. Just when they were still not clear what these were, the professor saw that on the warships in the distance, firelight and thick smoke had lit up!

Bang!

”Happy birthday!”

People laughed and twisted their confetti poppers. The ribbons had in an instant sprayed out from the paper tubes. These ribbons refracted the sunlight, as if the entire birthday party had been covered with a layer of gorgeous and psychedelic colors!

A grand birthday party. Besides the fact that almost all the core members of the Lance Family had come, some of the partners had also sent people over, including Arthur and James.

Mayor Williams had also wanted to come, but now it was a critical moment for the city’s expansion project. He had to ensure that his grand plan would not be stopped by any problems.

And he had sent his two sons over, which was enough to show his sincerity.

A standard heir, and the one he liked the most. This was enough to show his attitude to everyone.

Many of the locals of Creek Valley City had also come, especially the major production companies.

Lance was currently serving as the honorary chairman of the film committee. This organization did not have a permanent chairman, but the executive committee was in charge of the daily work. Wanli Film Production was an executive committee member unit.

In addition, Wanli Distribution Company and the newly established Wanli Ticketing Company, these few companies of Lance’s had a huge influence on the entire film industry!

Even if these production companies did not like Lance, at this time they had to send someone over to congratulate Lance on his birthday.

And also the local dignitaries and celebrities. With Mayor Williams constantly expanding the urban circle, the ”boundary” between Creek Valley City and Golden Port City would only become more and more blurred.

The influence of Golden Port City on Creek Valley City would also be greater and greater.

Lance, this new emperor of the underworld of Golden Port City and even the entire Likalai State, was celebrating his birthday here. He might not remember who had all come today, but someone would definitely remind him who had not come!

So it could be said that today was definitely the liveliest day in the history of Creek Valley City!

This had also led to the fact that at the birthday party today, a large number of celebrities had appeared!

After all... Lance was a proper big shot. To please him, and also the other big shots, no matter if the celebrities liked it or not, the production companies, the management companies, all kinds of companies, had all brought their most popular celebrities.

These male and female celebrities, as if they were attending a film festival, were walking the red carpet outside the birthday party venue, which had also attracted a large number of reporters to take pictures. There were also many movie fans watching at the scene, all asking what on earth was happening.

This didn’t look like a birthday party at all, but more like a celebration!

Lance had not expected it to be so grand either, but... it didn’t matter. To the outside world, he had promoted that this year was a very special year.

Because Ace had been born, and he had gone from being an ordinary young man to a father. His life had entered another stage, a completely different stage from the past!

This statement had received the general approval of everyone. This was Lance’s first child. He attached great importance to his own child. There was nothing wrong with that.

In ancient times, if a ruler had had a first child who could inherit all he had, then this ruler would definitely hold a grand celebration to celebrate this moment!

”Lance, say something!”

Someone had begun to jeer, and soon the sound had begun to become unified. Some were also applauding, all hoping that Lance would say something.

In fact, not all of these people had hoped that Lance could say something. Some were jeering, and some in their hearts were wanting to see Lance make a fool of himself.

Not many people actually knew Lance. They were all curious, and in their hearts, they longed for this Lance, who had not received a higher education, to say something inappropriate at such a grand birthday party.

This kind of thought was actually not strange. The poor hated the rich, and the lower class was hostile to the upper class. Lance was no longer the minor character of the past. Someone would still be envious, jealous, and hate everything he had!

The microphone was soon passed to Lance’s hand. It seemed that it was not okay not to say something. Lance’s emotions were also being stirred up by everyone’s jeers.

He held the microphone and thought for a moment. He needed time to think. Every time at a moment like this, he would greatly admire old Du and old Lin. These two were the kind who could speak off the cuff, and could fool people into a daze. His ability was a little lacking.

”Actually, I don’t know what to say at this happy moment. I have too many things I want to say, and also too many emotions I need to express.”

”This journey has not been easy. We have experienced low points, we have also struggled, and in the end, we have come here.”

”The road ahead is still long, so long that I can’t see the end of it. We still have many high mountains to conquer, and we still need to appreciate more beautiful scenery.”

”Some people, as they walk, disappear from our lives, but there are also some who suddenly break into our lives.”

”We walk forward side by side, to face the difficulties, the hardships, everything together!”

”This is my twenty-sixth birthday. If you calculate it in a hundred years, I have just walked a quarter of my life. We still have three-quarters of our lives waiting for us.”

”I hope that every stage of my life will shine, and can illuminate more people.”

”I also hope that we, these good friends, good brothers, can always be together.”

”Life is only complete with you!”

”Thank you!”

”Thank you all for being able to come to my birthday party. Thank you very much!”

Lance bowed slightly. The crowd became boisterous again.

The people who had wanted to see a joke had not seen one. The people had only seen a very ”simple” Lance, without any particularly high-class wishes, only a very ordinary pursuit of life.

How well said! He just hoped that his friends and brothers could always be together. Was there a more simple wish than this?

Everyone began to applaud. Regardless of whether they liked it or not, Lance’s brothers by his side had also hugged him one by one. They felt very honored and pleasantly surprised!

This was not just Lance’s birthday, but also their ”birthday,” the day of their new life, just in that summer six years ago!

Lance took a glass of wine from the waiter provided by the local party company and raised it high. ”For today’s friends, brothers, family, and for a better tomorrow, cheers!”

The people all raised their wine glasses. The sunlight, at this moment, was dyed into a riot of colors by the swaying of the various colored liquids!

It was like... the raised gun barrels of the fleet on the sea!

The first shelling was just a test, to find the landing point. The second shelling was the real shelling!

The professor had come back to his senses. He quickly turned around and, in terror, raised his arms to signal for his students to all run with him. The entire tourist dock was in chaos, and the port dock was also in chaos!

After thirty or forty seconds, the gun barrels of the warships on the sea once again emitted firelight, and thick black smoke rose. After a while, people finally heard the sound of the cannons, which was like the sound of Thor’s anger.

The earth began to shake. It was full of running people. Not only had the shrapnel become the scythe of the god of death, but the things that were being rolled around by the shock wave had also become the scythe of the god of death!

The bombarded port was in complete chaos. At the same time, the main fleet had already locked onto the warships that were docked at the New Port Docks.

There was no complete formation here, only about half of the warships were here for a break. The rest were all on a mission on the East Ocean.

They could never have imagined that the Dantra people would actually kill their way to their doorstep, and without any warning!

In fact, they had taken a big detour, had dodged the observation posts in the Yalan region, and had come directly from the East Ocean, to the east of Golden Port City.

Although the journey was a little longer, it was indeed not discovered by anyone.

The warships that were docked in the port were not at full load at all. There were not even many sailors on the warships!

The sailors were all relaxing!

All the warships had become targets!

Admiral Miles suddenly stood up in shock. He looked in disbelief at the New Port Docks, which were constantly emitting black smoke in the distance. He picked up the phone and dialed the logistics department on the New Port Docks’ side. ”What happened?”

”Was it an ammunition depot explosion, or... have the Dantra people attacked?”

The operator of the logistics department, at this time, could not even speak clearly. ”The navy, the warships on the sea are attacking us...”

The next second, the sound of an explosion came from the receiver, and then the line was cut off!

Admiral Miles immediately sounded the red alert. The entire naval base was mobilized!

At the same time, at Lance’s birthday celebration, a large number of entourages and the like had run to the scene of the birthday party from all over. Soon the first person to ask Lance to leave had appeared, and then the second.

Soon, everyone knew what had happened.

”Surprise Attack on Golden Port” had come true!

The Dantra navy had launched a surprise attack on Golden Port City!