Empire of Shadows

Inside the room, under the lamplight, everyone was loading bullets into magazines.

To Lance's surprise, there were also two drum magazines here.

He was also loading bullets. Currently, there were no specialized tools for quickly loading magazines, so each bullet had to be manually pressed in.

Perhaps he could register a patent?

But right now, he had to solve the immediate problem first.

Everyone was silent. There were definitely enough bullets, but the things they were about to face would inevitably cause some fear.

Lance decided to chat about something to alleviate everyone's nervousness and stimulate their desire to fight.

"Hiram, where are you from?"

Hiram was caught off guard by being called out suddenly. After a few seconds, he said the name of an Imperial state.

"I have two older brothers. One of them has already died on the battlefield, and the other doesn't know when he will die. They didn't want me to be sent to the battlefield as well, so they sent me here."

"I came here a little earlier than you guys. At that time, our Emperor hadn't completely gone mad yet, so the price was a bit lower."

"You've seen the situation after coming here. Although I arrived a while earlier than you, they still wouldn't pay me when it came time for wages."

Hiram seemed relaxed. "Last week, my mom called me. My brother who's still alive deserted. Their lives are very difficult."

"Right now, I don't have any other ideas. I just want to earn more money and bring them over here."

"But you've seen it. They won't give me that chance."

The first "they" refers to his parents, while the second "they" refers to the Federation people.

Deducting wages, lowering prices, or even not paying wages at all.

He turned to look at Lance. "It wasn't until I met Lance through Elvin that things got a little better. I sent some money home, but I don't know if they received it…"

Lance looked at Raun. "What about you?"

Raun placed a magazine full of bullets into a box while picking up another magazine. "Hiram and I are neighbors, but I only have older sisters. They were worried I would die on the battlefield, so they hid me in the straw."

"Later, he said he was coming to the Federation, so I came with him."

"Before coming, I always heard that the Federation was a place paved with gold…"

As he said this, he couldn't help but laugh, and the others were amused by his words.

"But after coming here, I realized that it's paved with dog shit!"

"Lance, if it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't even be able to scrape together five dollars. I don't know what to say to thank you."

"But I think, rather than dying pathetically, it's better to take a gamble!"

Lance nodded. "Yes, everyone is the same. The Emperor wants us to die, the rebels don't care about our lives, and the capitalists don't want us to have a good life after coming to the Federation."

"I don't know why, but suffering always surrounds us. Since this world won't give us a way out, then let's use our hands and the weapons in our hands to fight for a shining golden path for ourselves!"

He held a cigarette in his mouth, pushed the magazine full of bullets into the gun with a 'click' sound, and then looked at the others. "Brothers… and sisters, today is a day worth remembering for the rest of our lives."

"Because our destiny, starting from today, is officially different…"

With more than two hours until three o'clock, Lance and everyone took turns sleeping. Even sleeping for just an hour was good.

Before three o'clock, everything was quiet.

Standing by the window, he could even see the night sky in the direction of the city center being dyed in various colors by the neon lights.

Beneath the dazzling appearance of extravagance and luxury, there was a stench of rotting flesh. This was the Federation.

When it was almost two o'clock, the others woke up and took Lance's turn to sleep.

Regardless of whether others could fall asleep, he could definitely fall asleep. You should know that on the night before they notified him that he would say goodbye to the world the next day, he could also fall asleep and had a very long dream.

Rather than anxiously welcoming the judgment brought by fate, it was better to recharge and then punch fate in the face!

He vaguely slept for who knows how long, had three dreams in between, until someone pushed him awake. He rubbed his face and woke up from the sofa. "What time is it?"

Elvin squatted beside the sofa. "It's two minutes to three. The police outside have all left. Should we…"

Lance stood up from the sofa and walked to the window.

At his request, all the bright lights were turned off. Now, looking from the outside, it was all dark and nothing could be seen.

Through the window, Lance saw some car lights turn on at the end of the road. Obviously, someone was coming.

These people were arranged very tightly, not giving them any chance at all. Of course, this was also related to the fact that they had done similar things more than once.

Lance shook his head and slapped his cheeks a few times. "They're here."

"They definitely outnumber us. If we rush out, we definitely won't be a match for them. It's actually more advantageous for us to be in the room now."

He quickly walked towards the first floor. "Put those movable lamps in places where they can enter the house. When they come in, turn on the lights to illuminate them. Prepare for battle!"

"Remember!"

He turned to look at these people. "We've almost blocked all the windows on the first floor. The only places they can enter are the front door and the back door."

"As long as they come in, they'll be targets. I want to see how many people they can kill. This time, we have the advantage."

Hearing Lance say this, everyone seemed more confident!

On the street, a senior member of the Camilla Gang handed a kraft paper bag to the police officer in charge of "maintaining order" that night. The police officer squeezed the kraft paper bag, nodded expressionlessly, and then watched them enter the "encirclement."

Yes. An encirclement.

In fact, these police officers had not left. They had already surrounded the scene of the upcoming gang fight. Now, what they had to do was wait for the gang fight to end, rush over to arrest some "gang members" who were committing criminal acts, and then bring them to justice.

When the media and the public reacted, they would have already completed the encirclement and suppression of the fighting gangs. Without a doubt, this would be another great victory for the Golden Harbor City Police Department!

It was said that Chief Charlie and the two assistant chiefs had already prepared their speeches, just waiting to boast about the superior public security of Golden Harbor City.

The senior member sitting in the car held a cigarette in his mouth and didn't seem nervous at all.

This time, they brought about a hundred people.

Even more people wanted to come because there was an extra subsidy for coming. Everyone wanted to come, but the police department said that if too many people were dispatched, it would be detrimental to stabilizing public opinion. In the end, they selected about a hundred people.

Four trucks and five sedans, three senior members brought their subordinates here.

In addition, the people who would take the blame had also come and were sitting obediently in two cars.

Their job was to take some weapons from the other gang members after the gang fight ended and then prove that they were the ones who fired the shots.

Heller spent a hundred dollars to inquire with Robin, a lawyer specializing in serving gang lawsuits. He learned that in a situation like this where everyone tacitly agreed to a gang fight and was caught on the spot, the sentencing results ranged from one year to the electric chair, which was very flexible.

It depended on whether he was willing to spend money for these people and whether the money could be delivered properly.

Lawyer Robin told him that if the money wasn't delivered properly, these people would be the gang leaders, senior members, the kind that started at ten years.

But if the money was delivered properly, then the gang leaders and senior members would have already died in the gang fight.

These small fries could go out in two or three years at most, and the term might even be shorter—any problem would be pushed onto those who had already died.

Although the dead could not actively confess, they could not defend themselves either.

They all seemed very relaxed. This was one of the benefits of having a gang.

No one thought they would lose this time.

When they were about twenty meters away from Lance's storefront, the cars stopped. People jumped out of the trucks, a senior member briefly assigned the work, and then sat back in the car.

A dark mass of people walked over with weapons. Lance saw them through the gaps between the windows on the second floor.

He felt… a little confused.

There was an indescribable feeling. All of this seemed… so ridiculous!

He signaled the person beside him to give him the submachine gun, aimed at the dark mass of people, and directly pulled the trigger.

The first shot was fired by Lance's side, which obviously caught the other side off guard, but they quickly began to fight back.

Perhaps they had been acting mighty and dominating in the Imperial District for too long, these people from the Camilla Gang actually made such a stupid mistake, which made Lance feel… these people were so fucking trash!

The flames spitting from the windows on the second floor were particularly obvious in the dark night. Gunshots suddenly rang out. Someone shouted "I've been shot" and lay on the ground calling for help, while others cursed and fired at the house.

Lance retracted his head, ejected the empty magazine, replaced it with a new one, and went to another window.

The exchange of fire instantly resounded throughout the surrounding sky. The switchboards of several sub-bureaus and the city police bureau instantly became busy.

Almost all of them were emergency calls. These people all said they heard intense gunfire, as if "war had broken out!"

Some elderly people even asked in fear whether the Imperials had attacked!

Some time ago, in order to be re-elected, Mr. President had been conducting political cooperation with the Imperial Emperor across the sea. Those media outlets that supported Mr. President's re-election were touting that the Imperial army would attack at any time.

This was also the core reason for the Federation people's anti-Imperial immigration; they did not want their stable lives to be disrupted by the Empire's already insane dictator.

But they couldn't denounce the Empire's Emperor, so they could only vent their anger on the Empire's immigrants.

The police were trying to appease the public's unease while saying they would arrange for people to investigate the situation, but they were all waiting, waiting for the outcome of the matter.

However, many police cars were driving around the city streets with their sirens on, and the flashing警lights and sirens could bring some stability to the public's emotions.

Fortunately, it was only three o'clock in the morning, and only a few people reported the crime. Most people had already entered dreamland, otherwise, it would only be more troublesome!

"Stick to the wall, damn it, stick to the wall!" an executive was the first to react. The others were shocked when they heard this and stuck to the wall, making it difficult for the people on the second floor to hit them.

Unless that person leaned out, but as long as he dared to lean out, he would become a target!

Sure enough, Lance stopped shooting, and the core of the firefight shifted from the street to the first floor.

The moment the first warrior rushed in through the front door, he saw several flashes of gunfire, and then... then there was no then.

In an instant, the sound of gunfire became as harsh as noise again, with both sides engaging in fierce exchanges around the doorway. The people who had been nervous suddenly realized that there was no need to be nervous!

Originally, the houses on the street on the first floor only had two windows, a large display window and a door. Now the windows were blocked, and the display window was full of debris. They had no other way to enter except through the door.

A fierce exchange of fire unfolded around this area, but it was clear that if they didn't have other ways to break the deadlock, they might return empty-handed tonight.

Although the police局implicitly allowed their firefight, they did not allow them the right to use heavy weapons, which was why the fragmentation grenades that Fordyce brought were prohibited.

The sound of gunfire was actually inaudible to people further away, especially in the middle of the night when they were living in their houses with the windows closed.

To them at this time, the sound of gunfire outside was probably like the sound of beans falling on the windowsill.

They could hear it, but they wouldn't find it harsh or sleepless.

But if heavy weapons were used, if grenades were used, the result would be different.

The stalemate of the battle made the senior executives unable to sit still. They also stuck to the wall and came to the scene of the firefight. When they found that they couldn't break through and many people were killed or injured.

One of the senior executives was so angry that he jumped up and down!

"They don't allow us to use explosives, but they don't forbid us from burning this house down!"

He turned to look at his subordinates, "Go get some gasoline..."

Soon, several simple gasoline bombs were made. One of the senior executives took out a lighter and lit the gasoline-soaked cloth strip. The flames burst into flames in an instant!

He aimed at the debris piled up in the display window and threw it hard.

The display window, which had been shattered by stray bullets, could not stop the breaking of the bottle. The broken bottle caused the gasoline to spill everywhere, and the inside and outside of the house became bright in an instant.

More gasoline bottles were lit, and Lance immediately ordered everyone to evacuate from the back door.

There were their cars in the alley behind the door, as well as enough cover!

The raging flames devoured everything in the room in a very short period of time. The furniture at this time was mainly made of wood. When dry wood encountered gasoline and flames, a raging fire burned in an instant.

The police officer on the side of the road felt that something was wrong when he saw the rising flames. He quickly walked to the phone booth and dialed the director's phone, "Camilla's people set fire to the Lance family's house, and now the fire has started to burn. I'm worried that it will spread to the surrounding area."

Chief Charlie's drowsy sleepiness disappeared by a third in an instant. He stood up to make himself more awake, "Is the battle over?"

Before the police officer could answer, he heard the sound of intensive gunfire coming from the receiver again.

Lance's people and Camilla's people continued to engage in fierce exchanges in the back alley.

Chief Charlie walked back and forth a few steps, "Go tell them to end the battle as soon as possible, and if there is a tendency for the fire to spread, call the fire department immediately... No, call now and let them stand by at the scene."

"What a bunch of trash!"

Chief Charlie rarely got angry. He raised his wrist and rolled up his sleeves, revealing his gold watch. The time was now 3:11 p.m.

The battle in the back alley became more intense because both sides had a larger battlefield, but it was obviously not easy for them to rush over.

Some people tried to climb over the wall to jump behind them, but Lance had already anticipated this, and someone was specifically watching those walls.

If anyone dared to go on the roof, or wanted to climb over the wall, they would be killed!

As long as they dared to exceed the height of the wall in this old house, they would definitely be clearly visible.

"I've been shot," someone in the crowd shouted. Lance couldn't hear who it was, "Hide and take care of yourselves!"

He may have spoken too loudly and immediately attracted a barrage of fire.

Sparks were flying everywhere, and the car that had just been brought back from Alberto less than a month ago was once again riddled with bullet holes!

Now the two sides seemed to be in a stalemate. Camilla's people did not expect these people to have such a strong desire to resist, nor did they expect them to have so much ammunition!

After fighting for nearly twenty minutes, the counterattack was still very fierce. On the contrary, more than twenty people were killed or injured on their side.

As for whether there were any deaths or injuries on Lance's side, they were not sure.

The fire in the house was getting bigger and bigger, and everything in the back alley was gradually lit up.

The courage of Camilla's gang was gradually dissipating. After such a long time without any real achievements, but instead many people were killed or injured, this made some lower-level gang members begin to feel timid.

The exchange of fire between the two sides also became sparse. Except for the increasingly fierce fire, it seemed that everything was almost over.

At 3:25, the police officer felt that if he didn't control the flames that were spewing out of the windows on the second floor like a pressurized water column, they might spread to the surrounding area.

He walked to the parking spot and knocked on the window. There were still people guarding in the car, "Tell your people, the last ten minutes."

"If we can't solve it within ten minutes, we will enter the field."

The driver pulled out his legs and ran after stopping, leaving them with not much time!

When the three senior executives learned that the police were about to end the dispute, their expressions were very ugly.

No one felt that this small Lance family was so difficult to deal with, but they were indeed much more difficult to deal with than they had imagined.

The three discussed for a while, and the driver ran back, along with the other drivers, driving three cars over and crashing into Lance's "position."

Unfortunately, except for the driver of the last car who was not killed, the drivers of the first and second cars were hit immediately.

Not only did the three cars not break through Lance's position, but they also lay across the back alley, becoming a new line of defense!

The sound of the fire crackling was getting louder and louder, and suddenly the sound of police sirens that had not been heard for a long time sounded. The three senior executives were stunned. Although they were unwilling, they still began to call people to leave.

The fire truck also sounded the alarm in a very timely manner, ignoring the dead bodies lying on the side of the road and starting to put out the fire...