Empire of Shadows

Besides the people who went to trade with Christopher, Lance had also sent another group over. They would watch Christopher, figure out his situation, and prepare for subsequent actions.

These people would observe Christopher’s routine, to see if he had any specific habits.

According to some members of the Passoreto family, Christopher had maintained some rather peculiar habits when he was in Golden Port City.

For example, he had to drink first, and then smoke.

Or, for example, he would only go to his own bar to play on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Other times, he would go to other people’s bars or the like.

This was a kind of habit that people themselves might not even be aware of. Some people like to have the things in front of them all neatly arranged. Some people don’t like it when the things they have placed in a fixed position are messed up by others. These are all habits.

As long as a person has a habit, they will definitely leave some behavioral flaws.

While Lance’s men were monitoring Christopher, Christopher’s men were also inquiring about the origins of this group of merchants.

”All because he felt one of them looked a bit familiar!” two Summuri gangsters complained as they drove to the port. Becca was also by the sea, also a port city.

It was just that Becca’s port resources were far inferior to Golden Port City’s, so the ones that docked here were basically all domestic transport ships from the Federation.There was also some ocean shipping, but the volume was not very large.

There are many ports along the West Coast. These ports can all dock international cargo ships. They have formed one after another of independent ”nodes,” and the surrounding goods will all be transported to these nodes.

If it was to be sent to the farther Becca, it was better to send it to Golden Port City, so there were not many ships docked at Becca’s docks.

This time, what they were going to investigate was the situation of one of the ships.

It was high summer now, and the weather was abnormally hot. The cars at this time certainly didn’t have air conditioning or anything.

On the contrary, a part of the heat generated by the internal combustion engine would also radiate into the driver’s cab.

In winter, this might not be a problem. Not only would it not bring any problems to the driver and passengers in the car, but on the contrary, it could keep the space warm.

But this was fucking summer!

The temperature of 36 or 37 degrees outside was already a little unbearable for the federal people, and then the heat radiation generated by the engine had raised the temperature of the car body by a few more degrees. The two of them, after sitting in the car for not long, were already covered in sweat.

Even if they had opened the windows, and had stepped on the accelerator to the floor, the hot wind had no way of bringing them a single bit of relief.

The two of them, covered in sweat, were complaining about Christopher’s ”meddling,” but they still did as they were told, because now Christopher was the ”Boss.”

After the two had arrived at the dock, they had parked their car, and had found the customs official here, a guy they knew.

The large amount of liquor they had transported from Summuri would certainly not go through customs blindly. They had already, through various means, cleared all the checkpoints of the customs. Now, as long as it was a container that was marked with their mark, it could be released directly without inspection.

So they were very familiar with the customs staff here. After all, every once in a while, they had to stuff money, or something else, to these people.

”I want to ask about a ship’s situation,” the two pushed open the door of a customs officer’s office.

The customs officer immediately stood up. ”Fuck, is there a problem that you can’t say on the phone?”

”Do you have to come to my office?”

As he spoke, he had walked to the door and had stuck his head out to look at both sides of the corridor. After confirming that there was no one, he had finally closed the door.

Although the customs had been thoroughly corrupted by these people, it was impossible for everyone to be able to get a share of the benefits from them.

Like those at the very bottom, the customs officers, only a very small number of them could get benefits from the Summurie gang. Most of them were not aware, or they knew something but didn’t know the specifics.

If they were to be discovered, that the Summuri people had, with a swagger, entered his room, maybe someday some rumors that people shouldn’t know would be spread.

The official’s face was very ugly. After he had reprimanded them, he had not invited the two to sit down and talk, but had just let them stand there. ”Why couldn’t you have called me first?”

The two of them had, with a look of indifference, directly sat down on the sofa. One of them had even taken a fruit from the fruit bowl on the coffee table and had begun to eat, as if he was not at all embarrassed or inconvenienced.

The other person had said, ”This matter requires us to come over. The Boss wants you to help us to investigate a ship’s registration information.”

Only the customs knew these things. After these ships had docked, they would check the registration information of these ships and the like.

The official’s eyes widened. ”Just this?”

”Fuck!”

As he spoke, he had returned to his desk. With these uncultured and uneducated gangsters, they really had nothing to say.

He had picked up the phone, had dialed a string of numbers. There was still one last number that he had not dialed. He had raised his head to look at the two. ”What’s the name of that ship?”

The guy who was gnawing on the fruit had said, with a slurred voice, ”The Free Potato.”

The official had looked at him as if he were looking at a fool. ”Are you fucking kidding me?”

The Summurie man, who was holding the fruit in his hand, was a little annoyed. ”Fuck!”

”I’m not kidding you. That fucking ship is fucking called this name!”

The official, half-believing, half-doubting, had dialed the last number. Soon the call was answered by a staff member in another office. He had directly asked, ”This is Office No. 7. Have I seen a ship on the dock called ’Free Potato’?”

”What is the reason for this ship to enter the port, and also, where is its place of registration?”

Now is wartime, and Golden Port City had been sneak-attacked, so the port management was relatively strict.

Even if it wasn’t during wartime, the management was just as strict. Not all ships, after they had arrived outside the Federation’s port docks, could directly enter the port.

They still needed to apply for a berth, and at the same time, they also had to state their nationality, and to show some documents and the like.

Soon, the staff member had reported the basic information. The official had then hung up the phone. He looked at these two uninvited guests.

”This ship is registered under the name of New Golden City’s ’Global Connect Shipping Company.’ I can’t find any more specific information. The place of registration is in New Golden City.”

”They will be staying here for a week. Counting the time, it should be about time. As for their next stop, I’m not clear. This is not within the scope of our inspection.”

As he spoke, he had, as if to add, ”By the way, their last port of call was Golden Port Dock.”

The two Summurie men had looked at each other, and had both seen in each other’s eyes what they had wanted. The two had then stood up. ”We will tell the Boss how cooperative you have been.”

The official had snorted coldly. ”No need. As long as you call me first the next time you have something, I will thank you!”

He had, seeing that the two were planning to leave, taken the initiative to stand up and had walked to the door, and had opened it. At the same time, he had glanced at the outside. After confirming that there was no one else in the corridor, he had finally let them leave.

As long as he was not seen by anyone, that these two had entered his office, he could, through the most simple method, to deny that he had any connection with the Summuri gang—to deny.

The two had walked to the road outside the customs. One of them had entered a phone booth on the side of the road, and had then given Christopher a call.

”Their ship’s place of registration is in New Golden City, but this ship’s last stop was at Golden Port Dock.”

Christopher, on the other end of the line, had said, ”I know,” and had hung up.

As he had put down the phone, he had stood up, and couldn’t help but to walk back and forth a few steps. Could it be Lance’s or Francisco’s men?

He had instinctively not wanted these people to be from Golden Port City, but he had, on the other hand, not dared to risk to ignore these, which might be, dangerous factors. He had again, summoned a few men, and had had them to keep an eye on this group, and what they had done, before they had left.

If these people were Lance’s men, or Francisco’s, this would clearly mean that there was a high probability that he had already been exposed. Then he could only, one step earlier, return to Summurie Island, although he did not want to go back now.

When he was on Summuri Island, they had had him come over. He had been very unwilling, as if this place was some kind of a terrible place.

But after he had really come, he, on the contrary, was not willing to leave.

People all say that the Federation is paradise. This is a paradise for the rich. As long as you have money, you can do whatever you want here. The rich never have any worries.

On the contrary, Summuri Island, the place that had been deified in the minds of the Summurian people, was exuding a rotten smell everywhere!

After he had arranged for his men to do it, he had turned and had looked at the white, fluffy clouds in the sky, and had prayed in his heart that these people must not have anything to do with Lance, or Francisco.

At the same time, he had also made a decision. In the future, he would no longer personally meet those merchants, even if it was a bulk trade!

Too dangerous!

For the next few days, Christopher’s men had been keeping an eye on that merchant, almost to the point of not letting him out of their sight.

Fortunately, they had no other missions. Every day, these people were just spending their time eating, drinking, and having fun. And the casual attitude of a gang that they had shown, had made Christopher relax his vigilance a little. It seemed that these people really had no problems.

But this had not made Christopher completely relax. He had thought it over, and had found the Becca City’s police chief.

They had had dealings. After all, as the largest gang that had invaded the local area from the outside, it was impossible for the police department not to have dealings with the Summuri people.

Before, they had always been in a hostile relationship. The police chief also did not like the gangs in the city. But on this issue of dealing with the external invaders, he and the local gangs were on the same side.

But later, he had been persuaded.

He had been persuaded by Christopher, with sincerity and threats. When his three children had all received a threatening letter with a check and a bullet, he had given up on targeting these Summuri people.

In the eyes of the federal people, the most famous specialty of Summuri is not their coffee, not their pizza, not their tobacco, not their brandy.

It’s their gang gunmen!

In the memory of some, these people would, in groups of three and five, suddenly appear in front of their targets, and would draw their guns and shoot. After shooting, they would casually toss the weapons in their hands, and then would turn and leave.

The whole process would only last for maybe twenty or thirty seconds. Before people had reacted, they had completed all their actions. By the time people had reacted, they had long since run away.

Before, in Lance’s development in Golden Port City, he had received the attention of Paul and the other five major families. Among them, it was not without the reason that Lance’s style was somewhat similar to that of the Summuri people.

The same decisiveness, indifference, and ruthlessness. To solve an opponent in an extremely short time and then to leave. Even if people knew who had done it, it was very difficult to catch the evidence at the scene.

Those discarded handguns were also a method of self-protection.

As long as there were no fingerprints on the handguns, and no serial numbers, it would be very difficult to find the person who had fired the shot through these black-market guns.

Because the guns were all at the scene.

On the contrary, if these guns were taken away, what if one day in the future, people had found evidence related to this gun, then they could accuse the person who owned it.

Although, like some of the more regular gangs, they would re-rifle the barrels, not all gangs would. They didn’t pay much attention to this.

So in this era, the Summuri people still had a certain deterrent power and status in the underworld. They were also very team-oriented.

In the face of Christopher’s threats, the police chief could only compromise. He did not dare to gamble, with the lives of his three children, his wife, and his own, to gamble that this guy, Christopher, would not dare to make a move on him.

He had bet correctly. Christopher had even dared to kill his own uncle, who had loved him the most. Although he was now very regretful, as long as the police chief had continued to target him, he would definitely have made a move.

He had given the police chief a call. The police chief had, with some impatience, agreed.

Now, between the two sides, there was actually no conflict. On the contrary, Christopher would often send him money. If you really wanted to talk about their relationship, it was actually not bad.

It was just that as a police chief, he had felt that he had to obey a gangster boss, which had made the chief a little ashamed and annoyed. So most of the time, he would, as if he were losing his temper, to make a long story short.

A few minutes later, two police cars had gone out from the police station. This time, it was a deputy chief who was leading the team. They were going to make a surprise raid on the people Christopher had mentioned, to check their identities.

The Federation actually did not have anything like an ID card. If you wanted to check, there was no way to. However, the police also had their own set of methods—a checkbook.

The whole world had not yet entered the information age, so there was no such thing as inter-bank deposits and withdrawals.

So much so that in the banks of the Empire District in Golden Port City, if you had deposited money, and you wanted to go to the port district to withdraw it, it was not possible. You had to do it at the bank where you had opened the account.

As for a same-bank transfer, it would take at least a week, for the entire banking system to settle once.

As for an inter-bank transfer, you had to do it two weeks, or even a month in advance. Otherwise, there would be no time.

The checkbooks in each region had their own independent numbers. For example, the checkbooks in New Golden City would often start with ”11,” and the city next to New Golden City would start with ”12.”

Through the numbers on these checks, you could find out which region they often lived in. This trick was very effective!

With the cooperation of Christopher’s men, the police had soon locked onto the room they were living in, and then had carried out a raid.

When the police storming the room, the few people in the room had all stood up, and they were, with an unfriendly gaze, staring at the police who had rushed in.

For these ”big thieves,” the police not only would not make them feel afraid, but on the contrary, might even arouse their ferocity.

Perhaps sensing that a shootout was imminent, the deputy chief had immediately stated his identity and purpose, ”Someone has reported that you are soliciting here.”

Soliciting, that is, helping those girls in need, is a criminal act in the Federation, although there are many open red-light districts.

But the law is the law. Although many times it will not be enforced, when someone needs them as a basis, these legal clauses must exist.

The guy who was leading the team this time had had someone open all the room doors. ”There are no women here. You must have received a fake alarm call.”

The police had pretended to search the room, and of course they couldn’t find any women. Then they had requested to check these people’s personal belongings.

In the attitude of ”more is not as good as less,” these people had not resisted. Then the police had checked the things they were carrying, but it was a pity that they had not found the existence of a checkbook.

It was precisely because inter-bank and inter-regional deposits and withdrawals were not yet possible, so they had not carried their checkbooks at all, and they didn’t even have much cash.

In the end, the police, after an apology, had left the room.

The one who had led the team this time was Devon. Although Devon was a sadist, his mind was very sharp.

This was very strange. Most of the sadists were more focused than ordinary people, perhaps because of some of the problems in their personality.

God had given them this problem, but had also given them a compensation that others did not have.

After he had closed the door, Devon had checked the things they were carrying, and then he had left the hotel, and had come to a nearby phone booth, and had dialed a number.

This had made the person who was monitoring him feel a little suffocated. If he had used the phone in the hotel, he would definitely have been monitored.

But he had used the one outside the hotel. Now even if they had gone to the telegraph office, it was probably too late.

”...Just now, the local police had searched our rooms and our personal belongings, and then they had left. I feel that they might be a little suspicious of us.”

Lance, after listening to his account, had smiled. ”The Christopher of today has become much smarter than before. It proves that adversity really does train a person!”

”Do this: call him directly, lose your temper at him, say it was him who had sent the police, and then tell him, this matter isn’t over.”

Devon was a little hesitant. ”Won’t this make him run away?”

Lance laughed a few times. ”He has become much smarter than before, so he definitely won’t run.”

”Not only will he not run, he will, on the contrary, continue to stay there.”

Lance had a precise grasp of Christopher’s mentality. As long as it wasn’t Lance’s or Francisco’s men, he wouldn’t run!