Empire of Shadows

An eighteen or nineteen-year-old teenager is, legally speaking, about to become an adult, but psychologically, they are not quite mature.

Erwin felt very wronged.

He was doing well at home when the war suddenly broke out. To prevent him from being sent to the battlefield and dying meaninglessly, his family sold their house to raise money and sent him to the Federation.

He thought it would be a "journey of growth," after all, the rumors he heard about the Federation in the Empire were all positive and wonderful.

For example, the air is sweet, the donuts are delicious, and people hand out free food and clothing on the roadside. Even if you are penniless, hospitals are willing to treat you…

There were so many positive rumors about the Federation that almost everyone who came to the Federation was full of longing and fantasy about life here.

But after arriving here, everything was terrible.

The air was filled with the smell of horse manure and the pungent smell of incompletely burned engine oil, as well as exhaust fumes from cars.

People were also unfriendly, everyone was so snobbish and mean, and they looked at him as if he were trash.

He didn't smell the sweet air, nor did he taste whether the donuts were really sweet.

It was as if the whole world was targeting him, even though he had endured their exploitation, oppression, and humiliation!

Now, even the opportunity to be exploited and oppressed has been taken away. The feelings of grievance, hatred, and disgust all surged up at once.

Erwin is not a person who is very good at expressing his emotions outwardly, unlike Ethan.

Ethan is very direct; happiness and unhappiness are written all over his face, and he even takes the initiative to talk to others about it.

He is different; he hides things in his heart.

It's just that sometimes he hides too many things, and there's no room for more grievances.

Seeing Erwin struggling to suppress the urge to cry, Lance hugged him tightly, "Everything will pass, Erwin, everything will be alright."

"Now we need to treat your wounds first. If they get infected, it will be very troublesome."

"As for other things, I'll figure out a way."

Soon he met his companions hiding in the alley. Most of them were injured, but fortunately, no one had any fractures.

This was already the best of a bad situation!

Lance heard an old man on this street say that he broke his leg last year and waited two weeks before seeing a doctor. The doctor told him that his wound was already somewhat deformed and healing.

He had two choices—

First, re-break the possibly already healing fracture and then treat it in the proper way, with a splint and a wheelchair.

This would cost about two thousand five hundred dollars, and the old man only had twenty-seven dollars of disposable income per month.

Second, have a simple correction, but he would definitely walk with a limp in the future, and it would definitely be deformed if left untreated. This was the inevitable result.

The doctor would put a splint on him to see if it could be corrected, but there was no guarantee of the effect, and he would have to pay three hundred and seventy dollars for this.

In the end, he paid forty dollars for the consultation fee and came back without doing anything.

He made two copper tubes himself, and with the help of his old buddies, he straightened the somewhat healed bone and then provided support.

Now, although he walks with a slight limp, it's not very noticeable unless you stare at it.

If any of the companions had a fracture, they would most likely be left with a disability, but fortunately, no one had a fracture.

Lance took them to the pharmacy on the street. The pharmacy was already closed, with an iron gate blocking people from entering.

The nights in Goldport City are also unsafe, and pharmacies are actually more likely to be looted than other shops.

Because everyone knows that medicine is very valuable.

"We need some medicine."

A somewhat cautious voice came from inside, "What do you need?"

"Gauze, bandages, alcohol, preferably some anti-inflammatory medicine, and some thread for stitching wounds. How many needles in a pack?"

"Ten."

"Then give us two packs."

The person on duty quickly prepared everything and, in front of Lance, put it into a kraft paper bag through the iron gate, "It should have cost you twenty-one dollars and fifteen cents, but now I'll only charge you twenty-one dollars."

Lance said thank you and handed the money in first—money that should have been given to the finance company in a while, but he used it first.

Then the person inside sent the things out.

Some people were wandering in the dark, but Lance's group was too large, and they looked like they had just experienced a battle. Without figuring out the details of these people, they would not act rashly.

Lance looked around and lowered his voice slightly, "Let's leave here first…"

The federal government manages the city before 8 p.m., and gangs become kings after 8 p.m.

If you don't want to cause misunderstandings, it's best not to run around with a large group of people at night.

They found an alley, and Lance used the light of the street lamp to help them clean their wounds.

At this time, everyone's morale was very low, and everyone seemed to have lost the drive and motivation they had when talking about their dreams before.

He knew that this was not a solution, so while helping the trembling Mero stitch his wound, he asked, "Have you seen the people who attacked you?"

Perhaps this topic caught their attention, and the atmosphere here improved slightly.

One of the companions took the initiative to say, "I've seen one of them. He's been to the port several times, but I don't know what he does."

Under the dim street lamp, pairs of eyes reflecting the light of the street lamp were staring at Lance, as if expecting something.

Lance tugged at the thread in his hand, and Mero was trembling all over in pain!

The freshly broken branch he was holding in his mouth had been chewed until the skin was torn, and the bitter juice inside flowed into his mouth, but it was not even a fraction of his pain.

But even so, this usually taciturn guy looked at Lance with a gleam of fire in his eyes!

"We can't let this matter go. The city will definitely not be too safe these days. Let's hide for a while first."

"After the storm passes, we will take revenge."

He applied anti-inflammatory medicine to Mero's wound. A small bottle of about ten milliliters of white powdered medicine cost nineteen dollars and eighty cents.

While applying the medicine to Mero, he said, "We don't owe them anything. Your injuries can't be in vain."

"We must retaliate in kind, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"

"Otherwise, everyone will ride on our heads and shit and pee!"

In that instant, the seemingly decadent companions suddenly condensed a momentum!

Ethan stomped his feet hard, "Lance is right, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"

They all said so and made up their minds!

After a while, the feeling of being hot-blooded subsided, reason began to return, and people began to think about what to do in the coming days.

Lance actually had a plan in his mind, "You don't need to worry too much about the money. You can hide in the culvert during this time."

"The chaos will not last too long. Goldport City is one of the most important economic centers in the Federation. Those big shots will not let this place be chaotic for these things."

"Whether it's big capitalists or certain political forces, they will compete for the results as soon as possible."

"So be sure to remember, endure first."

"Don't be taken out as a typical example to deter others at this time!"

"After this period of time, I will take you to get justice!"

"Don't act alone, try not to cause trouble, but once there is a conflict, if it is in a sparsely populated place…"

Lance looked at them, his eyes flashing with a knife-like cold light in the night, "Then kill them, hide them, and then come to me."

Considering safety issues, Lance did not send them back. Of course, so many people did not need him to send them alone.

Instead, they sent Lance back to the bakery. Lance hugged everyone, and the group left under the cover of the night.

The black night is still filled with black, like an unclear road ahead, which makes people feel fear.

But in this dark night, there is already a spark, a flame, burning tenaciously and unyieldingly.