Empire of Shadows

Ross’s men were highly motivated.

Faced with jewelry, wealth, and food, it was hard for them not to be.

This wasn’t working for a boss in a factory, after all. A portion of the jewelry they stuffed into their bags would eventually end up on their own heads!

They were a hundred, a thousand times more enthusiastic than when they were working, stuffing jewelry into their bags.

Ross noticed some people secretly hiding jewelry for themselves. He made a mental note of these people but didn’t expose them immediately.

He hadn’t had much schooling, he could only barely read and write.

But Lance’s ”lessons” had taught him many principles, one of which was—before the final victory is achieved, minimize the outbreak of internal conflicts as much as possible.

He didn’t really understand what ”internal conflicts” meant, but it probably referred to this.

Soon, all the visible jewelry in the jewelry store had been put into their bags. The people who had gone upstairs to get food also came running down.

Each of them carried a grain sack stuffed full of food. If what they had packed was wheat or wheat flour, then one bag would be thirty-five pounds.It looked like there were several hundred pounds of grain here, enough for them to eat for a while.

In the surrounding shops, there were also some people who had followed them in to take advantage, and were currently looting the goods.

One of the guys by Ross’s side said with some resentment, ”Should we drive them away?”

”This is all our stuff!”

Ross glanced at him. ”This isn’t ours, and it isn’t theirs. Whoever snatches it, it’s theirs.”

Although the man who spoke was a little unwilling, he still shut his mouth.

Ross, who had led them from afar to Zhuolan, and had now obtained so much wealth and food, had already become their undisputed ”leader.”

They believed in Ross and were willing to follow his commands.

”Once everyone is here, we’ll leave first,” he said, about to lead his men away.

At this time, someone chimed in, ”I heard them say there are many foreigners upstairs. They have a lot of valuables on them.”

”Lots of cash, watches, and other things.”

Rapa’s national bank had no business dealings with the Federation’s banks, so there was no such thing as transfers, remittances, or the like. In addition, the exchange rate was unstable.

Anyone who wanted to invest in Rapa had to invest with real gold and silver. They had to bring money, not a bank checkbook or a cashier’s check.

This was also the reason why Lance had to pack a container of currency and smuggle it here. He also needed cash to invest here.

These were all high-value items. The gazes of some people immediately fell on Ross.

Ross frowned. ”You want to go upstairs?”

The person who spoke looked at him frankly. ”They are all running upstairs.”

His words had made some people eager to move. In the end, before today, they were just a group of ordinary people who were starving and had no other choice.

If it weren’t for the fact that they really had no other way and wanted to come to Zhuolan to seek some help, to find a chance to survive, and then by chance had a conflict with the law enforcers, they might not be here now.

Ross turned around. He looked at the people who were still looting all kinds of goods, at their crazy appearance, and shook his head slightly.

”Don’t associate us with those lowly things. Remember, we are not robbers. We are not doing these things for money or anything else.”

”We are just trying to survive!”

”Before we reach the point where we have to harm others to survive, you’d better dismiss your thoughts. I don’t want any of us to become villains!”

Some felt that he had spoken well, but there were also some who secretly showed a disdainful expression.

They’ve already shot and killed people, and now they’re pretending that everything was forced?

If it was really forced, why did you come in?

They didn’t understand Ross, just as Ross actually didn’t understand them. It was just that now, the cohesion of this small group of Ross’s was very strong, and the people around him were all armed.

He had made a decision, and the others did not dare to say much.

In fact, just a moment ago, he had also had a momentary impulse to go up and see if Lance was there, and to walk up to him and sit down, and to chat with him about their current situations.

That would definitely be a very interesting scene!

He couldn’t even imagine it, how interesting it would be!

Like Pedro and the old teacher, Ross did not trust this person, Lance.

A foreigner had suddenly come to your country, and then had gathered you and some others, and had taught you some methods to overthrow the current regime, and then the country had fallen into chaos. Would you feel that this person was a trustworthy person?

No, as long as your IQ is normal, and your EQ is normal, no one will think that this person is a good person.

Ross was the same. He didn’t think Lance was a good person, although Lance had given him some help.

He had answered some of his confusion about his dissatisfaction with the current social situation, and had also taught him how to make this country return to normal, but he still didn’t like Lance.

In his heart, Lance was like a destroyer, an ambitious man. Everything he did was to satisfy his, or rather, the federal government’s selfish desires, not really for the people.

Although the people of Rapa would also get some benefits from this, this was not their real purpose.

He had thought of appearing in front of Lance as a victor, to tell Lance that he had already taken the first step towards success!

However, in the end, he had still dismissed this idea.

Because he was not sure what Lance’s attitude towards him would be, whether it would still be the same as before.

He also realized that now was not a good time to see Lance. He should seek a better time, an opportunity, and then to see Lance as a victor.

He would have the qualification to be on an equal footing with Lance. At that time, he wanted to know what kind of an expression Lance would have!

Of course, in the deepest part of his heart, he was actually still a little worried, and also a little afraid.

Because he was not sure if he really went up, and had seen Lance, whether he could still come back alive.

Maybe Lance would let him come back, but it was also possible that he would kill him.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the people around him again. ”We have already exceeded our plan. We have to leave.”

”With the city in such a mess, the army might intervene.”

Hearing his words, the people who had originally been not-so-concerned had all shown a look of surprise, and then had become grave.

This time, no one had refused.

The group of people left in a hurry, and the remaining people breathed a sigh of relief.

If this largest group, and the one with the guns, didn’t leave, it would be very difficult for them to feel at ease.

Now that Ross and his group were gone, these people had begun to plunder the supplies even more crazily.

Many people had begun to spontaneously take the elevators, to the floors above the sixth floor.

The floors above the sixth floor were basically all inhabited by foreigners. These foreigners were very rich. A single watch was their whole life.

If they could also get some cameras or something, they could lie flat for the rest of their lives!

At this time, the people had already forgotten that their purpose in coming here, to Zhuolan, was to ask the government for help, to get some grain to fill their stomachs.

The desire to fill their stomachs had begun to degenerate, to become more complex, more destructive.

One after another, the room doors were knocked open, and the foreigners had, screaming, handed over all the things they were carrying.

Some girls were, while being cursed as ”vain bitches,” being dragged into the rooms.

The only fortunate thing was that this group of people had not yet been dominated by the desire to kill. Although they had done many bad things, in the end, they had not gone on a killing spree.

Perhaps it was just for now. If they were allowed to continue to be dominated by their desires, maybe in a few days, just making people bow their heads would no longer be able to bring them a stimulating pleasure, and only taking the lives of their own kind could.

To treat killing as a way of seeking pleasure.

Mador glanced at the constantly rising elevator. He crooked his finger at his team members, and at the same time, he walked into the room.

”Boss, the elevator is moving.”

Lance glanced at him, put down the book in his hand, and walked out of the study.

With a ”ding,” the elevator doors slowly opened, and the people inside, whose expressions had already become somewhat frenzied and twisted, had suddenly rushed out.

The luxurious room and decoration had made them completely fail to notice the people who were standing there, and the weapons they were holding.

These refugees had already completely fallen into a state of madness. They were no longer ”human.”

They were just monsters, draped in human skin, and dominated by desire!

In their eyes, the people in front of them did not exist. They were holding all kinds of weapons, enough to cut people’s fragile throats or arteries.

He looked at these people with some disappointment. His ideal ”student” had not arrived. Seeing them rushing towards his side, he just calmly shook his head. ”Open fire.”

In an instant, a storm of bullets had, in an instant, stopped the rushing refugees.

The guy who was rushing at the very front had been hit several times and had fallen heavily to the ground. His head was less than a meter away from Lance’s toes.

The continuous, roaring gunshots of the submachine guns had made these people, who were dominated by desire, wake up. They were screaming, begging, but they could not escape the fate of death.

Just after one round of shooting had ended, all the people who had rushed out of the elevator were lying on the ground.

Lance raised his chin slightly and looked at a survivor in the elevator. He was trembling all over, constantly pressing the buttons in the elevator car with his bloody hand.

But the closing elevator doors would, because they were clamped by a corpse that was lying across the elevator car, both inside and out, spring open again.

This guy’s head was still bleeding. It’s unknown if he should be said to be lucky, or unlucky.

In the quiet room, there was only the ”kaka” sound of him constantly hitting the buttons.

Lance drew a handgun from Mador’s holster and, as much as possible, chose to step on the places where there were no corpses.

It had to be said, once a camel-hair carpet was soaked with blood, when you stepped on it and then lifted your foot, there would be a suction force that would suck on the sole of your shoe, not letting your foot be lifted so easily.

This was actually quite bad. It affected your speed, and was also a bit slippery.

Seeing Lance getting closer and closer, the person in the elevator was already crying. Clearly, as long as he had moved the corpse that was stuck in the elevator door, he would have been able to smoothly close the door.

But he didn’t dare to do so!

He was afraid that if his movements were a little too big, he would be met with a round of saturated shooting. He could only beg God to hear his prayers, and to let the elevator go down without having to close the door!

Seeing Lance getting closer and closer, his body was trembling even more. From originally tapping the buttons with his fingers, he was now ”slapping” the buttons with his entire palm.

But it was still useless.

The elevator doors slowly closed, and after the corpse on the ground had been squeezed a little, the elevator doors had slowly opened again. He was completely desperate!

He fell to his knees on the ground, holding his head, and in great pain, he begged, ”Let me go.”

Lance looked down at him from above and raised the handgun in his hand.

”Bang!”

”Bang! Bang!”

A high-caliber handgun. Mador liked high-caliber weapons. This point was different from Hiram. Hiram liked more ammunition.

The high-caliber bullets had not only easily shattered the skull of the last survivor in the elevator, but had also left a deep pit on the floor of the elevator car.

He looked around, and then finished off a few of the guys who might not have been dead, or were pretending to be dead. Soon the entire top floor was completely quiet.

The people who had been resting in the side hall, after hearing the gunshots end, had also come out of the side hall.

They had seen Lance, in his white suit, standing in the middle of a floor full of corpses. His trouser legs were still stained with some glaring blood. Whether it was Albert or Andy, after their shock, they had all averted their gaze from Lance.

The arrogance on Andy’s body had also disappeared.

Roger was the first to react. He took a few steps and came up. ”Boss, are you hurt?”

He was very concerned, and he had used the word ”Boss.”

In fact, most of the time, he would directly call Lance’s name, or call him ”Mr. Chairman” (of the Empire Chamber of Commerce). To call him ”Boss” at a time like this was actually also to show their close relationship.

Lance shook his head. He walked back out of the pile of corpses and casually threw the handgun to Mador. ”These small characters can’t hurt me.”

He looked down at his trouser leg. ”A pity about my newly changed clothes.”

As he spoke, the usual amiable smile had appeared on his face. ”Clean up the opposite side. These garbage have made a mess of this place!”

His smile, combined with the bodies on the ground behind him, had made almost everyone lower their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

The chaos in the city was still continuing. The rioters seemed to have forgotten that their purpose in coming to Zhuolan was just to not starve to death, and had begun to frantically smash, loot, and burn.

The grain bags that were hanging on everyone’s body were all filled with the things they had robbed, but even so, they did not stop, and were still smashing, looting, and burning.

Fierce gunshots were also constantly erupting in the city. It was clear that these people must have touched a place they shouldn’t have.

This was not the Federation, not other civilized countries, and not even the Jede Republic.

The ruling group, the privileged group, when they killed their people, they would not be soft-hearted at all.

The situation in the city was changing very rapidly. By the evening, the riot had already spread to the entire city.

Ross, Pedro, and some of the other not-so-stupid people had already, after plundering some supplies, all retreated from the city.

They knew very well that with Zhuolan, as the capital, in this state, the army would soon intervene.

Lance had also talked about it in the ”class.” Once a parade and demonstration turns into a riot, the violent organs of the state will immediately intervene.

The police could not be counted on, but Rapa still had an army.

At a little after six, the army had finally arrived. They, according to the requirements of the Presidential Palace, had, on the one hand, blocked the roads, and on the other hand, had arrested the rioters.

As long as they dared to resist, they would be immediately shot and killed.

The gunshots were loud, and the city’s public security seemed to have improved a lot at once.

What had made these soldiers feel a little strange was that all along the way, there had been a few cars that had been following them.

Those strange-looking cars that did not look like they were produced in their own country.

They had later sent someone to go and ask. In Rapa, to be able to drive a car, and this kind of a strange car, you were either a member of the ruling group, or a foreigner who had just come recently. Neither was someone they could afford to provoke.

After knowing that these people were from the Federation, they had asked the great president for instructions, and had then stopped bothering them.

Sitting in the car, Lance asked, ”What do you think of their army?”

Mador, although he was a ”deserter,” he had indeed been an Imperial soldier before, and also a military officer of a not-low rank.

He had become a deserter just because he was tired of the nobles’ tricks, and was also tired of the stupid-to-the-core rebel army, and was not willing to let himself and his brothers be involved in a meaningless war.

He had not left because he was afraid of war and death. He just didn’t want to die a meaningless death.

This was their first time to observe the specific situation of the Rapa soldiers at close range. After watching for a while, Mador couldn’t help but say with a laugh, ”They are not even as good as a militia that has been trained for three months!”

Hearing this, Lance was very satisfied. ”So you’re saying our men should be stronger.”

Mador did not deny it. ”With the same military equipment, we are definitely stronger. If we have more advanced weapons, then we are enough to crush them.”

Lance nodded. ”If I let you train the Rapa people, how long would it take for them to be able to fight?”

Mador thought for a moment. ”If it’s just to make them about the same, it actually won’t take long, a month at most.”

”But if you want to make them stronger, it will take more than three months, and you will need a large amount of ammunition to increase their shooting experience.”

”Marksmanship is not innate. It is always fed with bullets.”

Lance deeply agreed. ”You are right.”

At a little after eight in the evening, the chaos had finally stopped. Besides the occasional, sporadic gunshots, the entire city was already completely safe.

This turmoil had not only not solved the problem of the large number of refugees outside the city having no food, but had on the contrary, aggravated the split between the people of Zhuolan and the people outside the city.

Diego was very furious. In the afternoon, someone had even come to attack the Presidential Palace, and had been beaten back by the army he had stationed here. This had made him feel a deep humiliation!

Those pariahs, they actually dared to find trouble with him?

He couldn’t understand. How did these pariahs dare?

In the evening, he, with his anger, had convened an emergency presidential meeting to discuss the subsequent disposal methods...

(End of a Chapter)

This chapter was translated by Nightjar Reads. For advance chapters and the newest releases, visit nightjarreads.com