Empire of Shadows

Hammer got beaten up again, by Ethan, and then the group returned to the company.

In the garage, Morris and Lorn spread tarpaulins all over the floor.

Then Hammer was brought in, looking very dejected.

His head had suffered continuous heavy blows, constantly being beaten, and his consciousness was a little blurred.

But the moment Ervin came in, he suddenly perked up a bit.

The rapid secretion of adrenaline made him feel more "awake" than ever before. He looked at Ervin and knelt on the ground, "It's all my fault, I... beg your forgiveness, sir."

Ervin lifted his clothes and uncovered the gauze himself, revealing a wound about fifteen centimeters long, with dark stitches on both sides.

His intestines were twisted. If the intestinal torsion isn't resolved, it will lead to intestinal obstruction and necrosis, eventually endangering his life.

Moreover, this process doesn't actually take much time, especially when caused by external forces: swelling, rupture, bleeding, and then death from shock.

Therefore, the doctor had to take out his intestines, straighten them out, and then put them back in, which required a larger incision.

In the actual surgery, there would be many hooks around the incision, hooking the edges and pulling them forcefully in all directions to ensure the opening was large enough.

This was very painful. Even now, his stomach still hurt, and his intestines also hurt.

"The doctor told me I was lucky, I almost died."

He put down his clothes and looked at Hammer. Everyone around was watching him.

"I didn't die because you showed mercy, but because I'm tough enough. Your God didn't want me to enter your heaven, so he sent me rolling back."

"Now, I'm going to do the same thing to you. If you can survive, this matter ends here."

"If you can't survive, don't blame me."

Lance switched off the safety of the pistol, chambered a round, and handed it to him.

Hammer suddenly stood up and rushed towards Ervin. Ervin had wanted to say something, but it was too late.

He pulled the trigger directly. The clicking sounds of the gun were sealed in the small garage. Eventually, he fell less than two meters away from Ervin.

He was shot once in the neck and four times in the body. Seeing the three bullet holes in the wall behind him, Lance took back the weapon, "When your injury heals, you all go practice shooting for me!"

Blood quickly flowed from his wounds. Fortunately, the ground was covered with tarpaulins, preventing it from seeping into the ground.

Everyone cleaned up the scene, pried the bullets stuck in the bricks on the wall, and then smashed the bullet holes into small pits, which would be filled with cement later.

They dragged the tarpaulin and Hammer's body to the sewer drain in the yard, then raised one end to let the blood flow into the sewer.

The oil drum had been prepared for a long time. Following the previous method, Ethan threw him in and then filled it with cement.

There would be no special farewell ceremony tomorrow. Lance told Mello to throw it into Angel Lake.

Almost everyone, good or bad, disposes of bodies near Angel Lake.

Everyone knows that there are several places along the shore of Angel Lake where these gasoline drums are buried underneath, but neither the FBI, the local police station, nor the state police, no law enforcement agency, has ever thought of investigating it, not even once!

Sometimes they even help cover up some of the things that happen there!

The federal social rules are so interesting and incomprehensible.

Back in the hospital, lying down, Ervin clearly felt much more comfortable, although it still hurt a lot.

"They said you wouldn't let me use painkillers.", Ervin, lying in the hospital bed, felt another throbbing pain.

Lance nodded and lit a cigarette for him, "Modern painkillers are addictive. Once you use them, you'll have to keep using them for the rest of your life, and you're very likely not to live to be forty."

Ervin couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Is this poison or a painkiller? Why would they do this?"

Lance shrugged, "Because it brings profit."

"I know your wound hurts now, but you have to learn to endure it. Before safe painkillers appear, you, me, and everyone else, better not use painkillers."

The medical scientists at this time had not yet realized, or had already realized, the dependence of drugs.

But the medical capital, led by medical groups, was happy to see this happen. If painkillers could only be sold when relieving pain, then in fact, most people would not need painkillers more than a few times in their lives.

But if it is addictive, it means that many people only need to use it once, and they will have to use it for the rest of their lives.

The profits generated from this are enough to make the federal and any medical capital in the world ecstatic!

They have tablets, suppositories, and injections, just to make it easier for people to use them anytime, anywhere, according to their preferences.

Hearing Lance say this so solemnly, Ervin gave up the idea of asking the hospital for painkillers.

Fortunately, pain is also adaptable. When he begins to be able to endure it, he will feel that the pain is getting lighter and lighter.

The next morning, Hammer's family reported to the police that someone saw two more police cars at the dock when they went to work and told Lance the news.

In fact, if the police really wanted to investigate, they would definitely be able to find out. Now, making such a big show is partly to give the person who reported it an explanation, and partly to provide the perpetrator with a countdown.

Lance made a call to Officer Braden, "Which branch handles the police affairs at the port, who is in charge?"

Officer Braden has been making a fortune recently in the federal identity trade. Although Lance knew from the beginning that there wouldn't be too many people who could get federal identity through him.

But even if there aren't many, there are still some.

In the two months since, he has earned nearly five thousand dollars by helping people recognize their ancestors!

Except for the first two transactions, now he charges at least six hundred dollars each time. He keeps two hundred dollars, and the rest goes to the recipient.

He has also reached an agreement with those recipients. After a while, he will find a way to transfer the relationship of these people away from them, so that they can continue to make money.

For many poor families, although using their already missing children to make money does make them feel uncomfortable, compared to poverty, they still feel comforted if the already missing children can bring them a large income.

Lance provided him with such a business, and Officer Braden was very grateful to him, so he quickly gave him the answer.

"The entire port is under the management of the port branch. Their branch chief is about to retire and doesn't do much work. Now a new assistant chief is in charge."

"You may have heard of his name, it's John, and he also has a nickname, called Vulture."

"If you need him to do something for you, all you need to do is prepare the money that can impress him!"

"Also, when you go to find him, you can say that I introduced you, but don't expect him to give me face and not charge you, or charge you less. It's just to give you an excuse to approach him."

Lance kept these things in mind, "Thanks, I'll treat you next time."

"Waiting for your good news!"

After hanging up the phone, Lance whistled, but then the phone rang again. After answering it, it was Vaughn calling.

"Hammer is missing. Someone said it was related to you. They saw a lot of illegal immigrants looking for Hammer last night.", Vaughn's tone wasn't as angry or anxious as expected, more like he was blaming him for being so careless. This feeling was strange.

Lance explained, "He beat my friend, had surgery, a lot of money, I wanted to find him to get the medical expenses back, but I haven't been able to find him."

"I can guarantee that this has nothing to do with me."

Vaughn listened and thought for a while, "You better solve this problem as soon as possible, otherwise there will be more conflicts between the local workers and you."

"Also, Ms. Debbie called me. Your machine has entered your factory, and skilled workers have been found for you. Now you need a professional manager, and then you can start recruiting and starting work."

Ms. Debbie's actions were very swift, or rather, work is a very valuable resource for anyone who is even slightly involved in politics at this time.

So she can easily turn these things into cash, or power, or something else.

Lance was a little surprised, "I'll arrange it immediately..."

When he was considering who to find to do this, suddenly Mello knocked on the door and poked his head in from outside, "The tailor and his son-in-law are here with the clothes."

Lance suddenly had an idea and stood up, "I'll go right now."

The old tailor and his son-in-law worked overtime to finish all the remaining clothes. Of course, in terms of meticulousness, they were definitely not as good as Lance's two sets, but they were definitely not bad either.

It was definitely much better than ordinary small tailors. Everyone was changing into new clothes, and everyone had smiles on their faces.

The old tailor stood next to him with a notebook. If anyone felt uncomfortable anywhere, he could record it and then go back and change it.

This is the power of a great tailor. They can modify these clothes at any time, unlike those tailors who don't have much ability and will only tell you "I can't do it."

When the two saw Lance coming over, they enthusiastically temporarily put down the work in their hands and greeted Lance.

After all, this deal was enough for them to fill their stomachs for at least more than a month, and Lance said that he would also sponsor them to open a store in the city center.

Lance asked the old tailor's son-in-law, "I recently opened a clothing factory, but I'm lacking a manager. Do you have experience in this area?"

Both men were a little surprised, but soon the old tailor's son-in-law nodded. "I worked at the Imperial before, but it wasn't very large."

In reality, it wasn't really a factory. It was just a larger workshop, but it could also be called a small factory.

Lance immediately extended an invitation. "Would you like to change jobs?"