Empire of Shadows

“I hope you get better soon……”

Lance stood at the head of the hospital bed, carrying some gifts. He was there to visit Eric.

Eric lay in bed, his face bruised and swollen. One leg and one arm were in casts and suspended in the air.

He seemed like he wanted to… curse?

Or make some other grand gesture after seeing Lance, but because his movements were too large, he felt a heart-wrenching pain.

He could only grit his teeth and suck in cold air, constantly shouting "It hurts."

In the end, Chief Charlie chose to dispatch the police. He called other precinct stations, but either the chief was out or there weren't enough officers. He knew someone was forcing him to take sides.

Although he didn't know why they had to force him to take sides. He was about to retire, with only two years left before he could enjoy his old age in peace.

Why did they have to force him to take sides in these last two years?

He had been a dog for a long time, and now he didn't want to stand up!

He thought of the slave emancipation movement of the past, where some slaves helped the slave owners suppress the rebels. As the rebels were about to be sent to the gallows, they asked those slaves who were helping the slave owners hunt down their own kind:

Why were they helping the slave owners persecute their own kind? Didn't they want freedom?

Some of the slaves told them, "Not everyone wants freedom." This sentence silenced many.

Especially since the side opposing the slave emancipation movement used these people and events as examples for propaganda.

Chief Charlie felt that it could also be applied to himself. Not everyone wants to be a human; some people are willing to be dogs forever, like him.

This time, he only arranged for one police car and two officers to be dispatched, as he had to show his stance.

Either stand with the Mayor—but that was absolutely impossible. His entire family lived in Goldport City. He dared not take the risk, nor could he afford to.

Then he could only stand with the local forces, using the lowest configuration to tell everyone that he was still everyone's loyal "Bay Area Hound."

The two police officers eventually stopped the violence, and Eric was immediately sent to the hospital.

He had multiple fractures and even more severe contusions. In short, he had been beaten too badly.

Watching him howl in the hospital bed, Lance couldn't help but walk over to the doctor. "Give him an extra-strength painkiller, the best one, the fastest-acting one. I'll pay for it."

The doctor sized up Lance and then looked at Eric.

Eric was only injured, not brain-damaged. He heard Lance's words and shouted, "Give me a shot, hurry, I need it!"

He had never suffered such a loss from childhood to adulthood!

If having his head broken made him feel the terror of pain, then this fracture and whole-body contusion made him feel like he was about to die!

It was worse than dying now, because dying would be over in a flash, but he had to endure the pain that tormented him every moment.

In this era, neither medical means nor drugs were that advanced. The pain caused by tibial fractures and rib fractures was unimaginable!

Finally, the doctor had the nurse fetch the special medicine and injected it into him.

The power of the special medicine was that it could quickly relieve pain. Obviously, the wound was still there, and the fracture was still there, but miraculously, it didn't hurt anymore!

Eric, who had been in pain all over his body, suddenly felt comfortable after twenty or thirty seconds.

It didn't hurt anymore.

He had never thought that just "not hurting" could be so comfortable, even… the ceiling suddenly cracked open, and a beautiful snake crawled out, flicked its tongue at him, but quickly crawled back in.

What the hell was that?

He blinked, and the whole world seemed to be swaying slightly, but he wasn't uncomfortable at all, but rather more comfortable.

He liked this feeling.

Hehe!

He laughed inexplicably. He didn't even know why he was laughing, maybe because he was comfortable.

The doctor and nurse didn't care. Recently, many special painkillers had been launched on the market, and some patients had experienced this kind of situation. This didn't mean that there was a problem with the drug, on the contrary, it showed that the drug worked very well.

The special medicine they injected into Eric was the latest model, costing nine dollars and eighty cents per shot, which ordinary people couldn't afford.

Most of them used painkillers that cost a little over a dollar per shot, or several pills for fifty cents.

Although those painkillers or analgesics also worked, they were far less long-lasting, fast-acting, and effective than this one.

Lance took out a wad of money from his pocket, counted out two hundred and fifty dollars, and handed it to the doctor. "Eric is my close friend. I can't bear to see him in pain."

"When he feels uncomfortable, give him another shot. There are over two hundred dollars here, enough for at least twenty shots."

"The rest is for your trouble."

With over fifty dollars for his trouble, the doctor's face showed some smiles. "Your friendship is touching, sir."

Lance sighed with a smile, "After all, we are friends."

He walked to the bedside. At this time, Eric couldn't care less about him. From his unfocused eyes and silly smile, it could be seen that he should be very comfortable now.

Lance walked out of the ward. It was full of people, and Attorney Olsen was also there.

The Mayor couldn't come in person, so Attorney Olsen, as the full representative, intervened in the whole matter.

After seeing Lance, he waved to Lance, "How is he?"

"He said he was in too much pain. I asked the doctor to give him a painkiller shot. He should be falling asleep now."

Attorney Olsen has some ability in law and political views, but he doesn't know much about medical issues.

He nodded noncommittally and pulled Lance to a corner.

"What role did you play in this matter?" Attorney Olsen went straight to the heart of the matter.

Lance shook his head. "I don't quite understand what you mean, Attorney Olsen. I just played the role I was supposed to play."

"Young Master Eric wanted quick money, and I gave him some suggestions. He chose one of them."

Attorney Olsen's gaze was very serious and unkind.

Originally, they had a plan to move forward little by little, instead of… leaping forward.

But the problems of Eric and the Coda family directly ruined their plan. Now the contradictions and conflicts have become transparent, which makes the Mayor's side very passive—

His rumored illegitimate son has been beaten like this. If he makes some counterattacks, then everyone will look down on him!

And this kind of contempt, that is, disappointment, will make him lose some important things.

The Federation's aesthetics have not yet been distorted and changed. For men, muscles, strength, and the courage to punch are what people appreciate.

A sissy, a weak person is not.

He must fight back, but he doesn't want to do it at this time. Someone has forced him to a position he shouldn't be in, destroying all plans!

After carefully considering the whole process, Attorney Olsen found that Lance may have played an "unscrupulous" role.

If Eric, or rather, the nightclub, didn't operate a casino, the Coda family wouldn't be able to find a reason to directly attack their industry.

Attacking Eric's industry for no reason is definitely not a smart move.

But Eric operated a casino, violating the rules of this city, so they had a reason.

But even so, it doesn't matter, anyway, Lance has always been running the nightclub.

The first person to be affected after the Coda family came should be Lance, but as a result, Lance not only didn't go, but also revealed the news to Eric.

This put Eric at the forefront.

Then an unreasonable battle suddenly broke out. Until now, he hasn't heard any rumors from the Coda family about finding the first few people who started the fight.

This series of coincidences cannot be a coincidence.

His expression was very serious. "You better understand what you are doing."

Lance shook his head. "I just did what I was supposed to do, Attorney Olsen."

"Let me listen to you, you said."

"I listened to you, and you said I didn't listen."

"This makes me very troubled." Lance's expression was a little subtle, and the way he looked at Attorney Olsen was not as "pretentious" as before.

"Is it that becoming a big shot, the first thing to master is to pass your responsibilities to others?"

"Will this make you seem more brilliant?"

Attorney Olsen's expression was very bad. He was silent for a while, "The nightclub and those few bars don't need you to run them anymore. Take your people and withdraw from those places."

This is completely distrusting Lance. Lance didn't care. He didn't want to do it there long ago. "No problem, then does this mean that there will be no more contact between us?"

Attorney Olsen was silent for a while, "If you are willing to lean towards the Mayor…"

"And then he wouldn't even give me five hundred dollars a month?" Lance sneered. He shrugged his shoulders. "That's good, Attorney Olsen, we all tried our best!"

Attorney Olsen didn't speak. He was thinking about the development of some subsequent events, while Lance said goodbye to him and then left with light steps.

The matter of Eric being seriously injured began to ferment rapidly as Lance had predicted. The Mayor also knew very well that he must give a strong counterattack in the face of this situation!

As for the Coda family saying that they haven't found the people who started the fight, and even saying that those people are not their people, it is actually no longer important.

The next day, in the afternoon, Director Dale received a "tip-off call." They quickly dispatched two armored vehicles and more than a dozen police cars to a villa in the Bay Area.

They directly and violently invaded the villa, discovering a group of people gathered there, drinking and gambling.

The professional gambling equipment and tables on-site clearly indicated that this was a small, private casino, and it had not been registered.

Originally, this matter wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Hazardous Materials Administration, but the large amount of alcoholic beverages found on-site gave them the right to intervene.

These people were taken back for investigation. If they couldn't clear themselves of the potential charges of "smuggling and selling alcoholic beverages" and "gathering for drinking," they could all face severe penalties.

And this villa was an asset of the Coda family.

At the same time, Director Dale also made a public broadcast speech, announcing that Goldport City would enter a period of strict alcohol prohibition starting today. Anyone who violated the prohibition order, or any related matter, would be severely judged if caught.

Furthermore, they had obtained the consent of the state government, and when necessary, they could try these criminals outside of the local area, dragging them to the state government and state court for trial.

The mayor used a powerful counterattack to tell people that he was not a pushover, and that the rules of this city could no longer bind him!

For a time, the entire Goldport City was filled with an unsettling feeling of oppression. If anyone noticed the changes in the Commercial Services Bureau during this period, they would find that a large number of companies were registering there these days.

Most of them came from inland cities. The arrival of these people not only brought some fresh blood and vitality to the city, but also brought chaos!

"Our bar was raided..."

When Lance arrived at the entrance of the bar, the Hazardous Materials Administration had not only arranged for police cars to come, but also an armored vehicle.

The surrounding area was cordoned off, and on the street and ground, there were thirty or so boxes of various alcoholic drinks and beverages, and a dozen young people were handcuffed, standing behind these drinks.

Agents and reporters were taking pictures of them, and a large crowd had already gathered around.

Someone saw Lance coming and made way for him, allowing him to walk to the innermost part.

Perhaps because of Lance's arrival, the sound of discussion became quieter, perhaps so as not to offend Lance.

Lucar, the senior agent in charge of the case on-site, immediately noticed Lance, who was dressed noticeably different, in the crowd.

With a smile that wasn't quite a smile, he walked closer to Lance, holding a clipboard in his hand, and chatted with Lance as if talking to a familiar acquaintance, "Hi, out for a stroll tonight?"

Lance glanced at him and said nothing.

Lucar didn't care at all, "Guess how much these wines are worth?"

He seemed to have already guessed that Lance wouldn't talk to him, and he said to himself, "There are about four hundred bottles of wine here, and the market price is about two thousand four hundred dollars."

"And over there...", he "pointed" with the clipboard in his hand at the young people standing in a row behind the drinks, "These people need at least three hundred dollars each for bail."

"Let me count... There are eleven young people here, and their bail needs at least three thousand three hundred dollars, plus these wines, and the赃款 we seized..."

Lucar whistled, "You lost seven or eight thousand dollars, Lance."

There was some complacency on his face. During this period, Lucar also felt Director Dale's difference. He asked everyone to be more proactive in carrying out the tasks assigned to them by Congress.

Lucar's first thought was Lance, so after he got the detailed location of this bar from a young man, he came directly to arrest people.

Without a doubt, the information was very accurate. He wanted to see some... negative emotions on Lance's face, but unfortunately, Lance had been very calm.

"Seven or eight thousand dollars, Lucar, have you never seen money before?"

"Or are you saying that seven or eight thousand dollars is already an astronomical figure that you can't count?"

Lance took out his ivory cigarette case, took out a cigarette, lit it, and blew a puff of smoke towards Lucar. Lucar turned his head to avoid it.

Perhaps he didn't like seeing Lance's indifferent appearance, perhaps he wanted to stimulate Lance, or perhaps he wanted to find that kind of失态 expression on his face.

He lowered his voice slightly, "Lance, you think everyone likes you, but in fact, you are not as popular as you think."

"Do you know who reported you?"

Lance squinted at him, "Who is it?"

He didn't expect Lucar to say, and the fact was indeed so, but Lucar couldn't be said to have said nothing at all.

He said with a tone of watching the excitement, "Someone close to you."

Lance raised his eyebrows, repeated, "Someone close to me?", then he chuckled, "You don't understand me and the people around me, Lucar."

"We are all brothers who can entrust each other with our lives, they will not betray me."

"If they really betrayed me, then there must be something wrong with me, not them."

"You people wouldn't understand."

He was clearly planning to watch Lance's joke, but inexplicably... He looked around, and the expressions on the faces of the onlookers were not the same, but the kind of expression he wanted to see was almost non-existent.

No one laughed at Lance, and no one sympathized with him. On the contrary, many people looked at him with disgusted eyes.

The smile on his face gradually faded away. He took a step forward and reached out to tap Lance on the chest, "You better get the money ready to pay the bail!"

Saying that, he turned his head and returned to the center.

Lance lowered his head and looked at his chest, flicked the non-existent dust, nodded to the young people standing with handcuffs on their faces, and then disappeared into the crowd.

He sat back in the car, "Check who Lucar has been in contact with recently, and send someone to watch him."

Elvin was a little incredulous, "Has a traitor really appeared around us?"

Lance shook his head, "It's not necessarily someone around us. He said that just to make us suspicious of each other. We can't fall for his trick."

"Tomorrow, let Lawyer Robben bring the money to bail them out."

Hiram, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked, "Then is this matter just going to be let go?"

Lance shook his head, "He said it himself, seven or eight thousand dollars, such a large sum of money, how could it just be let go?"

"Check first to see how many locals there are in this Hazardous Materials Administration, and list their names."

"He can bribe some insiders to deal with us, then we can also bribe some insiders to deal with him."

"That idiot Polly just created two explosions. Now is not a good time to deal with them harshly. First, let the bar take some precautions and build more escape routes."

"If the wine is gone, we can get more. I don't want anything to happen to anyone..."