Empire of Shadows

Eric had always looked down on Lance. If Lance weren't so "docile," he would have found a way to get rid of him long ago.

However, considering his tact and his ability to make money for him, he thought he was actually quite good to Lance—'I can even tolerate your presence, isn't that the greatest kindness?'

For… those in power, that's how it is.

Since Eric was old enough to understand, rumors about the mayor and his relationship had always existed, and he had become the target of many people's flattery.

The mayor was married, but he and his wife had never had children, which made Eric's position even more important.

Those who looked decades older than him acted like… children in his presence, which made his confidence swell unprecedentedly.

He knew why all this was happening, and he often told himself not to be too arrogant, but it was impossible not to be.

The most profound thing he remembered was when he was a child, about six or seven years old, he couldn't quite remember.

Because his age was far less important to him than what happened later.

At that time, Mayor Uncle was not yet the mayor, but just a city councilor, but this city councilor had backing and heritage.

Equivalent to Wade and Williams, the councilors of King's Harbor, with immense power.

That day, while he was playing at the door, an adult who looked about forty years old found him and gave him many toys.

He knew what these adults were trying to do, and he made a very excessive request—'I want to ride on your back and play the game of riding a horse and fighting a battle.'

The green grass underfoot was lovely, but the mud soaked by the rain made people feel uncomfortable. Even stepping on it made shoes and feet feel like they were slowly sinking.

Under his gaze, that "adult" first wanted to laugh, but the smile froze on his face halfway through.

His expression became very complicated, and it changed very quickly. At that time, he didn't know it was a psychological struggle, but he became a little impatient.

"If you don't play with me, I'll find someone else to play with!" he said.

A person similar to a housekeeper, who was responsible for taking care of him, also planned to drive this guy away.

Then he, this adult, knelt on the grass with a thud. The mud stained his hands and expensive clothes, but his face was full of smiles.

Even now, Eric still remembers how he pleased him, "Young Master Eric, please get on!"

That day he had a great time, and that "horse" also had a great time. He served Eric very comfortably.

This guy is now a powerful figure in another city because he got through the relationship with Mayor Uncle.

This incident gave Eric a very special set of values. In the face of his uncle's power, no one could stand forever.

Even if some of them can still stand and talk to his uncle now, one day, they will kneel down.

Even those big shots had been his toys, so why should Lance, a mudskipper, be able to stand and talk to me?

This is the source of Eric's arrogance.

Of course, he would also respect those governors, state legislators, and even bigger figures, because he knew that in the eyes of even bigger big shots, he was no different from those "toys" in his eyes.

But Lance was obviously not a big shot yet.

He could feel the impatience in his tone, but this was his truest thought.

What the hell do you want from me?

Lance was not angry at all, but smiled obsequiously, "Young Master Eric, I heard some news. Fleming somehow found out that our casino is still open."

"He plans to bring people to smash the casino and the nightclub in two days."

"I don't know how to deal with such a big thing, so I can only tell you first. Maybe you will have a good idea."

Eric was stunned for a moment, "Are you kidding me?"

There was a hint of doubt in his tone. Did they really dare to do this?

Lance promised, "I swear on Johnny, everything is true."

Eric didn't ask who Johnny was. It must be someone important to Lance, right?

Federals usually swear by the most important person or thing to them, such as swearing by their family or their toys.

Eric was silent for a while, "Good job, I know."

He paused, "Then you arrange some people there…"

This time Lance interrupted him, "Young Master Eric, I'm just a small character, but this time our opponent is one of the five great families. I feel scared even thinking about it, and I can't even muster a trace of fighting spirit."

"If it weren't for the fact that this is your industry, and you and… Mr. Mayor are a solid backing, I would have run away overnight."

"So I think it's best for you to handle this matter yourself…"

After listening, Eric felt a little ridiculous, then cursed "waste," and then asked, "It's two days later, right?"

"Yes, Young Master Eric."

"Okay, I'll handle it myself when the time comes. I'll see if they dare to do that!"

The casino is too important!

Eric couldn't lose it. The "huge profits" of several thousand dollars a day made him unable to extricate himself.

If he lost this part of his income, he would soon lose the happiness of spending his days in revelry.

Since he stopped revolving around Shayna these past few days, he realized that he actually had a lot of money to spend every day.

This money could bring him many times more happiness than getting Shayna, which also made him less obsessed with Shayna.

Moreover, he now regarded this as a challenge from the locals to their uncle and nephew, father and son. He had no possibility of avoiding the challenge, because he represented not only himself, but also his uncle!

After hanging up the phone, he returned to the living room, where there were many young people who were obviously drunk.

These people had come from their "hometown" in the past two days. Their fathers and the mayor used to be good partners. Some of them knew Eric before, but there were also some new friends.

Launching a challenge to the locals was not a simple matter. Director Dale's joining only gave the mayor the qualification to challenge the local order.

Although qualification is also a manifestation of strength, he couldn't possibly let Director Dale bring his agents to be the mayor's thugs, right?

These dirty jobs definitely still need to be done by other people, and this time the mayor has a strong desire to vigorously develop the New Port District again.

Now it is no longer a question of whether the New Port District has development value, but an ultimate contest between him and the local order!

So this time, the people who came to support him were not only capitalists, but also some gang members from the hometown, and they were coming in batches.

With the mayor guaranteeing them, what else did they have to worry about?

The prosperity and wealth of King's Harbor had long been coveted, and now that there was a chance to get a share of the pie here, no one would fall behind!

Adults interacted with adults, and these young people naturally interacted with young people. Most of them revolved around Eric, which was what they used to do.

"Eric, you don't look very happy?"

Seeing him come back cursing, someone asked.

Eric told him what he had encountered, "These locals have bullied us for several years, and now they even have to call me before they take action. They are too ungrateful!"

The others chimed in, and someone suggested, "Eric, we'll bring some people over to help you when the time comes. It's just right for us to see how powerful these 'locals' are."

The worried look on Eric's face disappeared, and he raised his glass, "Haha, okay, it's settled then. Let these locals see the strength of our brothers…"

After Lance hung up the phone, he looked at the old tailor beside him. The old tailor had not been feeling well recently. Because the weather was too cold, he had been coughing.

The original plan to open a tailor shop for him in the city center had been delayed until now, but as the weather began to warm up, his condition improved.

When he gets better, Lance will help him realize his dream of opening his own shop in the Federation.

At this time, he was wearing glasses and staring intently at several photos. After Lance sat down, he asked, "How is it, is it easy to do?"

The old tailor blinked his dry eyes and raised his head, "Mr. Lance, there is no technical difficulty. If you don't require the fabric to be exactly the same, we can make at least four sets by tonight if we hurry."

Lance smiled, "Then I'll have to trouble you with this matter."

He looked back at the four people standing by the wall. These four people were all veterans who had just come from the Empire. They were tired of the civil war, and after Alvin's people contacted them, they came to the Federation.

Before, the guy who led them, named "Madol," had chatted with Lance. The rebel army, in order to fight for power and profit, actually gave up attacking the last bit of resistance from the royal family at the last moment, and instead began to kill each other.

So he brought these dozen veterans to join Lance. He couldn't stand those villains who used people's enthusiasm to overthrow the royal family for their own benefit.

During this time, he had been helping Lance train those gang members, teaching them how to properly use firearms.

Not everyone can use firearms, and not everyone knows how to properly use firearms.

These people just made up for these shortcomings.

This time Lance gave them a new task, because they don't show up often, so no one knows they are Lance's people.

The people in the old tailor's photos were all members of the Kodak family. They all wore roughly the same kind of clothes, and Lance needed several sets of these clothes.

And this was also a test for Mador and the others.

The old tailor, with two new apprentices, began to measure Mador and the others, recording the measurements in a notebook. The next step was much simpler: just wait!

Two days passed quickly. On Thursday morning, Eric got up early and arrived at the Empire Nightclub with a large group of people around ten o'clock.

Lance was nowhere to be seen, hiding far away to avoid getting splashed with blood when the time came.

They walked around the first and second floors. It wasn't open yet, so it wasn't clear whether it was lively or not. It wasn't until they reached the third floor that they felt the sense of "every second is money!"

Even in the morning, five gambling tables were already crowded with people. They held handfuls of banknotes, shouting hoarsely and throwing money onto the tables.

This made some of them want to join in.

Eric looked at the lively scene and couldn't help but feel a little smug. "A small business, just enough to earn a little pocket money."

Then they went to the fourth-floor office.

Sitting in Lance's chair, they chatted for a while. Someone suddenly made a suggestion, "Eric, why don't you fire that Lance and I'll arrange for someone to do it? Just give him a salary, and you can save some money and feel more at ease."

"After all, we're all family."

Eric agreed almost without hesitation, "No problem!"

He was already fantasizing about things like the "Eric Family". He was just an illegitimate son, and he wouldn't inherit his uncle's "political legacy", so he never expected to become a great politician from the start.

At the same time, more than a dozen cars sped along the road. If it weren't for the license plates telling the traffic police who these vehicles belonged to, they might have been stopped more than once.

Everyone in the cars was expressionless. They carried clubs and some handguns.

The operation was mainly focused on "smashing and looting" rather than complete destruction or killing, so not so many firearms were needed.

Around noon, the convoy stopped outside the steps of the Empire Nightclub. For a moment, many pedestrians around felt something was wrong and hurried away.

A large group of people, wearing roughly the same clothes, carrying either clubs or hatchets, didn't look like good people. They gathered for a moment and then walked together towards the steps.

Lance was in a building across the street at this time, holding a bag of still-warm fried small fish, eating while watching the show.

He didn't plan to kill Eric today. Eric was still useful, but he would collect a little interest first!

As the group entered the nightclub lobby, in that moment where light and shadow intersected, their eyes would be briefly unable to see clearly.

It was also at this moment that four people, wearing almost the same clothes as them and also carrying sailboat team bats, came out from the blind spot behind the opened door and joined them.

No one would wonder why there were other people nearby. The people in front couldn't see them, and the people behind could only see the backs of their heads.

And the people next to them couldn't see them clearly.

They simply and easily blended into the crowd.

A small group went to the first floor, not many in number, and they were responsible for smashing and destroying all the performance equipment on the first and second floors, making it impossible for the nightclub to continue operating normally.

A larger group went directly to the third floor.

Eric had already gathered a large group of people in the third-floor hall when he heard the news. They also had dozens of people on their side, so Eric wasn't afraid at all.

What, they dared to hit him?

You should know that because he was beaten, the director of the Starlight District branch had been dismissed!

Even Chief Charlie had been severely scolded by his uncle!

This was still under the premise that both sides had restrained their emotions. If he were beaten again, one could imagine what the consequences would be. Even the Kodak family would have to be cautious!

When the door of the hall was violently pushed open, Wolfley's cousin didn't realize that Eric had brought so many people. How did they know?

His cousin wasn't sure, but he knew that there was a little trouble now, because Eric was also here.

Eric was a little flustered at first, but when he saw that these people didn't dare to continue because he was standing here, he became arrogant again.

He pushed aside the bodyguards in front of him and walked to the middle of the two groups, "This is my territory!"

He pointed to the red carpet under his feet. He especially liked using these gang-like tones and words these days. He thought it was cool and could show his masculinity.

"If you're here to play cards, I welcome you."

"But if you're here to cause trouble, I can only say you've come to the wrong place."

"I'm standing here today, let's see who dares to touch me?"

His arrogance made the people behind him laugh out loud, and even Eric himself couldn't help but laugh. He thought it was extremely funny.

He didn't know if others could feel his happiness at this moment, but he was really happy.

Until... a buzzing sound rang in his ears, followed by a sharp pain that not only stopped his laughter but also stopped his ability to think.

He instinctively fell down, lying on the ground, his mind blank!

Mador didn't recognize Eric, but he had seen Eric's photo. He didn't care who Eric was, who the mayor was, or who these people were.

He only knew that to live well in this city, he had to listen to Lance, at least for now.

Lance gave them very high wages and a place to live, and even promised to find a way to bring their families over.

They couldn't do it with their own abilities.

The dockworkers could only save a few dollars a month. If they became like that too, they would probably never be able to bring their families over.

So, even if Eric was Eric, even if Eric was the president, they wouldn't stop swinging their bats.

But it must be said that the quality of the Federation's bats is really good!

Mador swung hard, hearing the whistling sound in his ears. This little scene was far from the battlefield!

Eric's screams and their four people's frantic swinging seemed to interrupt everyone's nerves. After four or five seconds, when Eric cried for help, the pause button was released!

"F*ck, get them, save Eric!"

Wolfley's cousin still didn't know how things had developed to this point, but since both sides had started fighting, he had no chance to back down.

Because he not only represented himself, but also the face of the Kodak family.

But his face was very ugly at this time. He glanced at the four guys who were still beating Eric. When he got back, he would definitely make these four guys accept punishment!

But now... he waved his hand and said, "Do it!", and the family members around him immediately joined the battle, and soon it turned into a melee.

Lance threw the last small fish into his mouth, chewing it up with the bones, picked up the phone, and covered the microphone with a handkerchief.

"Is this the City Police Department?"

"I want to report a case. A Mr. Eric was attacked by a group of people from who knows where at the Empire Nightclub..."

"Yes, that Mr. Eric!"