Empire of Shadows

"In the next few days, we will take action against the Cassia family. After we eliminate them, we will have no more opponents."

Alberto was on the phone, discussing some of the Pasreto family's upcoming plans. "When the time comes, we might need to borrow some of your strength."

Lance was sitting in his office, taking the call. He couldn't help but joke, "You have three families. Isn't that enough to deal with one Cassia family?"

Alberto sighed. "You know we're severely short on manpower right now, and they keep bringing in more people from Yalan."

"Of course, this is just a possibility, and it might not even happen. Actually, I also think it's unlikely they'll let us ask others for help."

"The mayor was shot, the docks are in chaos again, and soon we'll be at war..."

"Lance, I have a very strange feeling. It's like we've gone back to 1180!"

The year 1180 was the most chaotic period in Goldport City's history, and also the stage when the five major families gradually emerged from the chaos.

Actually, Alberto wasn't that old, but from the older gang members, he had an endless longing for that legendary era.

Everyone hopes to be one of the protagonists of the story, to become a legend.

Instead of being someone who reads stories, or an embellishment around the legend!

"I don't think the governor will allow things to be this chaotic," Lance said candidly. "This isn't forty years ago. Forty years ago, anything was possible, but now, there are many things that are impossible!"

Just as he was speaking, the office door suddenly burst open. Lance lowered his voice slightly. "Looks like I have something to deal with. I'll call you later."

He hung up the phone and watched Raun rush in from outside, slightly out of breath. "Borton was attacked. He's slightly injured and has been taken to the hospital."

Lance frowned. "Who did it?"

"The Wolf Gang!"

Lance frowned. "They're planning to attack us in the chaos, but why attack Borton?"

Borton's "safety factor" wasn't considered high. On one hand, he didn't have access to the family's core internal business, so even if he was captured, others wouldn't be able to pry any valuable information from him.

Secondly, he couldn't even be considered a gang member in the true sense. He only collected information and passed it on to Lance, nothing more.

He wasn't harmful, he wasn't aggressive. Attacking him served no practical purpose other than to anger the Lance family.

This made Lance a little confused.

Others gradually entered the room as well. Except for a few people who weren't in Goldport City, or were on their way, everyone else was here.

Erwin walked in from outside and expressed his thoughts. "Borton controls our largest intelligence network. Although this intelligence network isn't proactive, it's undeniable that if someone enters the Imperial District, Borton would definitely be the first to know."

Lance was reminded by this, and his gaze swept over the others again. "Where's Morris?"

A young man who came with Enio and the others said, "Morris went to play ball."

Morris liked to play ball, basketball.

In fact, the young people of the Federation liked sports very much, except for those fatties.

The Federal government spent a lot of energy and money to promote the development of national sports. Things like baseball and rugby were becoming, or had already become, very influential sports, and basketball was too.

There were many theories for promoting basketball, but one relatively reliable one was that the space required for basketball was far lower than the space required for baseball and rugby.

Even half a basketball court could allow young people on the street to hold basketball games, while playing baseball or rugby not only required equipment, but also wide open spaces.

So basketball was promoted because it didn't require much space.

Surveys showed that areas with stadiums had a significantly higher security rate in terms of public order than areas without stadiums.

When young people put their energy into sports, it reduces the occurrence of crime, although some sociologists believe that doing so is useless.

This is like an unmarried worker who is already exhausted after working all day, but when he thinks about it, he will still happily prepare his hands when he gets home and reward himself.

Sociologists believe that if a person really wants to commit a crime, it has nothing to do with whether they are tired or not.

Many people in the family had their favorite sports, with baseball and basketball being the most popular. Morris wasn't tall, but he loved to play, and he played okay, at least he had a certain chance of throwing the ball into the basket.

The court he often went to wasn't too far from the company, about a ten-minute drive.

Lance looked at the few people at the door. "Someone go get him back. It's not safe outside right now."

Someone raised their hand. "I'll go."

Lance watched that person leave, and then talked about some of the upcoming arrangements...

On the way, Morris didn't know that Lance was sending someone to find him, nor did he know that Borton had been attacked. He was bare-chested. The weather in August was so hot that it was suffocating, even though this was the seaside.

Waves of salty, humid air were like knives cutting into people's skin. The worst thing to do at this time was to have a crack in your skin.

Otherwise, the salt crystals brought by the sea breeze on the skin, mixed with sweat, would enter the wound, and it would hurt like being stung.

The driver was driving the vehicle closer to the alley where the casino was located. Morris had been here many times. The place he used to live was nearby.

The old man liked to gamble here, because everyone was familiar, it would feel unrestrained, and they knew each other well.

Casinos, especially underground casinos like this, often had a very fixed target audience.

They couldn't open their doors to attract casual passers-by to gamble, so basically everyone who could come to this casino to play cards lived nearby.

In fact, almost all of the guests mostly knew each other, or were simply friends.

The more stable the casino, the harder it was for strangers to integrate, because gambling itself had a "fraud" attribute.

Strangers wouldn't go up against a group of people alone. They couldn't use experience and intuition to judge whether these people were colluding to cheat their money.

Blindly believing that the casino and other gamblers were good people was really stupid, so in this atmosphere, if the casino didn't open its doors for business, it would be difficult to continue to have new guests join.

The car slowly began to turn into the open space in the alley, but Morris's eyes stayed on the two strangers at the entrance of the alley.

They stood at the entrance of the alley, as if they were on duty. Morris had never seen them before.

These people had a very strong gang aura and traces on them. They were gang members!

These people and ordinary pedestrians on the roadside were always two types of people, like two different colors, which could be easily distinguished.

There were also some small neighborhood families in the Imperial District. This was an ecosystem of a region. As long as they didn't cause trouble or mess around, Lance would allow them to exist.

The car slowly entered the open space in the alley. Morris got out of the car and didn't forget to turn his head and say, "Don't turn off the engine."

He took out a lighter, lit a cigarette, inserted his weapon into his belt, and then put his clothes back on.

It was very quiet around. He didn't notice anything unusual, but he felt a little uneasy.

He didn't know where the unease came from, and he couldn't explain it, but he just felt uneasy, like a nervous breakdown.

He took two puffs of his cigarette and came to the outside of the casino door and pressed the electric button.

Standing here, he could faintly hear the "beep beep" of the electric bell in the room.

Soon, the door opened, and it was an old acquaintance of his.

Seeing familiar people always made people feel safe. Morris relaxed a little. He bumped fists with the guy who opened the door. "How much did the old man lose again today?"

The doorman shrugged. "A thousand."

Morris whistled. "You guys are fleecing him like that, aren't you afraid I'll fleece you?"

The doorman showed a smile. "You can't blame us this time. The ones who won his money were two unfamiliar faces."

"Unfamiliar faces?" Morris repeated, and the doorman confirmed it. "Introduced by someone else, never been here before."

Morris took another puff of his cigarette. "Only two unfamiliar faces?"

The doorman nodded. "I guarantee it."

Morris hesitated for a moment, but still chose to go in, after all, his father was inside.

He soon saw his father, sitting at the gambling table throwing a tantrum, surrounded by many onlookers.

For the vast majority of gamblers here, losing a thousand dollars in one game only existed in legends.

If the protagonist of this legend was someone they knew, they would be even more interested!

Some people were advising Morris's father to calm down, but there were also people egging him on, saying that he would definitely win the next game. Casinos were always like this, a microcosm of life.

Morris's gaze immediately fell on the two unfamiliar faces. The other party didn't show anything when they saw him, and continued to stare at the poker in their hands, which relieved his worries.

He walked to the casino operator and took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket, lost fifty and handed it over. "You shouldn't have given him so many chips at once!"

The operator's face showed a seemingly embarrassed smile. "I know, but that's your father. It's hard for me to do anything when he threatens me."

The casino operator also looked aggrieved. Morris's old father said he wanted to buy chips, how could he refuse?

In case the little old man said something bad about him, he might not be able to continue operating his underground casino in the Imperial District, after all, this was the Blue Si Family's territory.

But if he satisfied all of the little old man's requests, even if Morris got angry, he could just say a few kind words, and the casino would still be able to continue operating.

The casino operator actually understood everything!

Morris knew what kind of person his father was. As long as there was money to gamble, that was the most important thing to him.

Whether it was family or his wife, they all had to give way in the face of gambling. He just shook his head and then walked to the gambling table.

Many people around him were greeting him. It was indeed an interesting thing to see the little guy who had grown up become a big shot.

This also became fodder for many people to brag about, such as "Morris is someone I watched grow up since he was a child," which could attract the blind worship of some young people!

After dealing with the people around him, he walked to his old father's side, put his hand on his shoulder, "I'll clear your debt. Although I don't mind you losing money in the casino, your luck is so bad that you lost so much at once, you better wait before playing again!"

"What you need to do now is put away your remaining chips, then end the game, go back and eat something, take a bath and get some sleep, and come back tomorrow!"

There were hidden meanings in these words, and his father, who had been mixing in the casino for so many years, immediately understood.

He glanced at the two unfamiliar faces sitting opposite him, and casually threw the cards in his hand onto the table, "I quit."

With that, he stood up, and the dealer began to settle his chips.

The two unfamiliar faces seemed to really not care, glanced at him, and then withdrew their gaze.

Morris had been paying attention to the two of them. When he found that they had not made any radical moves, he breathed a sigh of relief, maybe he was just too sensitive.

The old man collected the remaining cash and walked towards the door with Morris. No one stopped them, and no one would do that.

"Do you think they were cheating?"

Standing outside the casino door, Morris's father took a cigarette from his hand and lit it.

Morris shook his head, "I'm not sure, but they're a team. They can get two hands of cards every time, and you can only get one hand of cards. Your win rate will always be lower than theirs!"

These two people don't even need to communicate what cards they have, they just need to determine who has the better hand.

Then use the best hand to gamble with other people, the win rate is very high!

It's like ten people gambling, if nine people are a team, they don't even need to cheat to drain the other person's wallet.

You always use your uncertain cards to bet against other people's best cards, you can't possibly win in the end!

The old man woke up and stomped his feet heavily, "Those sons of bitches."

Morris patted the old man's shoulder, "Okay, don't be angry, it's just a thousand dollars!"

"I'll give you another two hundred, go back and relax with your girlfriend, and remember not to play with unfamiliar faces next time!"

The old man, having received the money, was no longer so angry. The father and son got into the car, and just as they were about to say something, several cars suddenly drove into the alley.

These cars stopped directly opposite them, and then a large number of people got out of the cars, holding pistols and submachine guns, aiming at Morris's car.

The moment Morris saw these changes, he pressed his father's head down, pressing him behind the car seat, and then took out a submachine gun from the base.

He felt despair, deep despair, because there were too many of them!

Now the only thing he could pray for was that the Blue Si Family would hear the noise and come over as soon as possible!

Inside the casino, the doorman stood expressionlessly by the door with his hands raised, and the casino boss was having a gun pointed at his head, slowly putting down the phone in his hand.

A group of gambling addicts were squatting in the corner, not even daring to breathe loudly at this time.

Outside the door, there was intense gunfire!

Morris's old father had always felt that gambling was the most exciting thing, especially when the last card had not been turned over, but he was facing a heavy bet!

The moment he picked up the chips and threw them out, his heart would beat violently, there was a suffocating but very refreshing feeling, he liked that feeling!

He gambled not only for winning or losing, but also for that thrilling moment, which was addictive and irresistible.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt that the excitement of gambling on unknown wins and losses was too weak, how could it compare to the excitement of one in ten thousand now?

He stretched out his hand a little tremblingly, looking at Morris, "Give me a gun."

Morris took out another one from under the seat, "Do you want me to teach you how to use it?"

The old man shook his head, "I wasn't even born when you were shooting!"

Morris squeezed out a smile, "I hope what you said about shooting is really shooting!"

The little old man rolled his eyes, "I had a lot of girls who liked me when I was young, I didn't need to solve it myself!"

They couldn't even lift their heads under the rain of bullets, but their emotions were quite stable at this time.

Blue Si was discussing some preparations for the next step when the phone suddenly rang. He glanced at it and immediately answered it.

"Morris is trapped in the alley near the casino, they are in a firefight, the location is..., hurry up, or it will be too late!"

Blue Si stood up abruptly, "Morris is in trouble, go over there now!"

Everyone was shocked, and then they followed Blue Si to the garage. The motorcade quickly drove into the driveway, not even bothering with traffic lights, and drove towards the casino.

They had already stepped on the accelerator to the limit, and the car was flying on the road!

When they arrived, they happened to see the car inside retreating. Blue Si didn't chase, but went directly into the alley.

The car in the open space had been riddled with holes, and everyone's heart sank. Blue Si trotted to the car. All four people were lying in a pool of blood.

He clenched his fist, "Quick, send them to the hospital..."

There was a hospital nearby, and the four people were immediately pushed into the operating room. Blue Si also called the doctor and asked him to transfer a few doctors with better skills from a large hospital.

A large number of family members were gathered around the hospital, including Burton, who also came.

Burton was lucky. He was shot, but it wasn't fatal. The bullet grazed his ribs, and the bullet changed direction after breaking the bone and pierced through.

He bled a lot, but it just looked scary.

Blue Si nodded when he saw him, not in the mood to speak. The operating room had already pushed two people out, the bodyguards he had arranged for Morris, were already dead.

Morris and his father were also in bad condition, multiple bullets had shot into their bodies. Saving them now was only because they were sent in time, but the doctors didn't guarantee they could be saved.

The doctor Blue Si had found also told him these things separately. With the current technology, even if they were saved, the situation would not be too good, basically they would be crippled.

Especially Morris's father, even if he could be rescued, he might only have a year or two left.

The doctor hoped that Blue Si would prepare for the worst...