Empire of Shadows

It's often like this: we struggle in dissatisfaction and search for direction after getting lost.

Only when we see the light again do we realize that the happiness we seek, we actually possessed long, long ago.

It's just that in the process of struggling and getting lost, we misplaced that happiness.

But some things require choices, choices of self, choices of humanity.

Perhaps many years later, they will still recall the words they spoke that day, remember the story that made Alberto laugh until he cried.

It's just unknown what kind of mood they will be in at that time.

"Those grandfathers and uncles of Cisco, do you want me to help?" Lance asked.

Alberto understood his meaning; Lance meant, did he need help getting rid of these old fogies?

The existence of these old fogies is an obstacle to Francisco's control of the family's power; they will try their best to prevent him from grasping the family's actual power. Getting rid of them would make everything easier.

Alberto shook his head, "I want to leave these people to him, as a coming-of-age gift."

"And…," Alberto's lips curled up, but this expression was definitely not a smile, "I am, after all, not a member of the Pasreto family. Only Cisco can decide their fate."

Lance curled his lip, this was typical ignorant thinking, "I thought you were as young as me, and your thinking would be more avant-garde."

Alberto laughed upon hearing this, "This is tradition…"

"Tradition isn't necessarily good. If tradition was always good, why would science need to advance?"

"Isn't this a very typical example of 'untraditional'?"

Alberto shook his head, not continuing to discuss this issue with him. He knew he was no match for Lance.

"Everything that needs to be said has been said. I'm going back; you should also prepare yourself."

Lance stood up, and Alberto followed suit, embracing him briefly. Afterwards, they parted ways, leaving in different directions.

Sitting back in the car, Lance shook his head slightly. Sometimes Alberto seemed quite trendy, but on some issues, he seemed very old-fashioned.

In his opinion, the simplest thing now was to quickly establish Francisco's prestige and then use these events to eliminate dissenting voices within the family, quickly uniting the family's power.

Whether it's for self-preservation or external expansion, at least there will be a good foundation.

As for confronting the four major families of Sumuri Island on Sumuri Island?

Hopefully, he can return alive to realize the dreams he once had!

In September, with only twenty-odd days left until the municipal councilor election results were announced, the election activities in Goldport City became slightly more frequent, but only slightly.

The results of the municipal councilor elections were actually basically decided from the beginning.

Most politicians who run for municipal councilor must have done basic investigations and groundwork. They will not choose administrative districts where no one knows them to participate in the election; they will only participate in the places where they are most likely to win.

Like William, he lives in Prisilin, but he is running in the Empire District, not because the election situation here is simpler and clearer, but because his chances of winning are the greatest!

It can even be said that he locked in the victory from the beginning, so he came.

Even the lowest-level municipal councilor elections require a lot of funding. If these people cannot secure a victory in advance, their investors, or people within the party, will not allocate resources to them.

During this period, William has been running around the Empire District every day, still promoting his theory. If it weren't known that he was only running for municipal councilor, some of the issues could even be used in a presidential election, such as solving the education problem.

Undoubtedly, his chances of winning are very high. On the contrary, Mr. Chobaf is already in a state of withdrawal from the election. His campaign office has been disbanded because he cannot afford the campaign funds.

People like him participate in elections entirely relying on their own financial support. He has no supporters, no investors. Once his own funds run into problems, the entire election process will be immediately cut off.

The loopholes in the banking sector are getting bigger and bigger, and the encirclement and suppression of him by other banks has exhausted him. He is about to collapse, so how can he possibly come up with money to continue launching an election offensive?

William will become the municipal councilor of the Empire District with an absolute advantage. At the same time, there is also something that Lance needs to do, which is "distribute money."

Accompanied by the children chasing and running, Alvin smiled and grabbed a large handful of change, throwing it towards them.

The children screamed and chased after the coins, carefully picking them up from the cracks in the bricks or on the ground, holding them securely in their hands, and thanking Lance and Alvin for their generosity.

Every time he sees this scene, Lance feels very relaxed. Small gains can make them show satisfied smiles, and these pure, unadulterated smiles can also infect others.

A homeless man mustered up the courage to walk towards Lance, but before he could get close to Lance's car, he was stopped.

"I have a few words I want to say to Mr. Lance," he said to the others.

Lance looked at the homeless man, who looked somewhat familiar. He nodded, and he was allowed to come over.

"Make sure your hands are in our sight, otherwise we might misjudge!" people told him. He didn't dare to mess around, ensuring his hands were hanging at his sides.

"I think I've seen you before," Lance said, sitting in the car, looking at this very clean homeless man.

A smile appeared on the homeless man's face, "Mr. Lance, in winter, I accidentally got splashed with some water, and you kindly gave me some money to help me get through the cold winter."

Lance immediately remembered, "It's you!"

A few more smiles appeared on his face, and then he took out a cigarette and handed one over, "Do you smoke?"

The homeless man was somewhat flattered and took the cigarette with both hands, "Of course, of course…"

He carefully put the cigarette in his mouth and took out a match. At that moment, he suddenly felt a creepy feeling.

He had to slow down his movements, taking his hand out of his pocket little by little. It was indeed a box of matches.

Although he couldn't see it, he knew that there must be many weapons pointing at him.

But he had no complaints at all. After all, a great philanthropist like Mr. Lance did need to pay attention to his safety.

He struck the match, hesitated a little. Lance reached out and covered part of the cigarette butt. He quickly smiled and greeted him, bending down, lighting Lance's cigarette first, and then lighting his own.

"Mr. Lance, I don't know what to say. Your kindness has given me the strength to face life again."

"I am ready to get back on the road and plan to fight life again!" he said with a smile, slightly turning his head to spit out the smoke from his mouth to the side.

"I have always wanted to face you in person and say 'thank you' to you. You have given me courage and goals. I will not continue to be decadent."

"After talking to you this time, I will leave here soon to look for opportunities."

Lance thought this homeless man was very interesting when he heard this, "What are you planning to do?"

The homeless man thought for a while, "I plan to find a job as a sailor first, go around and see a wider world, and then save some money to find my own path."

"I don't know what kind of person I will become in the future, but no matter what, I will never stop!"

"I will take the courage you gave me to open up my own life and world!"

Lance took a deep puff of his cigarette, then slowly exhaled. He nodded slowly and easily, "You have a heart of gold. I wish you success."

He thought about asking Alvin to take out two hundred dollars and handing the two hundred dollars to him, "Don't refuse. I don't know what you will face in the future, but since I have encouraged you, then please accept my little help."

"It won't change your future, it will only put sails on your dreams, making them sail faster than we expected!"

The homeless man hesitated for a while, but ultimately did not refuse, "I accept it, Mr. Lance. I don't know… what to say."

"You are the best person in the world to me. I feel like crying a little now!"

Lance smiled and raised his hand, "This is an exciting moment. May I ask your name?"

"Maybe someday in the future, I may need your help, but I don't know your name."

"Mafford, Mafford Adams."

Lance got out of the car and extended his hand, "Mafford, I have a feeling that you will definitely become a successful person."

Mafford put the cigarette on the ground, grasped Lance's hand with both hands, bending over.

"Stand up straight, stand up straight!" Lance looked at him, "You are a man now, you should stand up straight and face the future with your chest out. This is the demeanor a man should have."

Mafford was so excited that he didn't know what to say. He nodded repeatedly, tears dripping onto Lance's hand. He let go of his hand and patted him on the shoulder, "Everything will be fine, I firmly believe it!"

He completed his pre-departure wish, not only personally thanking Lance for giving him the courage to face life again, but also exceeding the task, gaining Lance's encouragement.

It took a while for his emotions to calm down, "Mr. Lance, thank you, thank you. I don't know what else I can say to express my current mood."

"I don't have much time left, I'm leaving this afternoon, so…"

Lance nodded, "Go, go welcome your new life, which is also your rebirth."

Before leaving, he lowered his voice slightly, "There's one last thing I find a bit strange. There's a homeless man who doesn't interact with others and doesn't beg."

"I've noticed he's been observing you and this place, and his limp isn't actually a limp. I don't know... if he has malicious intent."

"He's over there."

He was just about to turn around when Lance stopped him, "Don't turn around, don't look at him. I'll take care of it."

Lance didn't even look himself. Looking now would only make the homeless man suspicious.

Seeing Lance treat his words with such seriousness, Marfu felt nothing but gratitude.

He had to say goodbye to Lance because he was leaving by ship that afternoon. If it weren't for the uncertainty of when he could return, he might have kept these words to himself for a while longer.

He initially thought Lance wouldn't communicate with him so easily, but he didn't expect it all to be like a dream!

The weather was hot and dry, and his heart was even hotter!

He would carry the courage and blessings Mr. Lance had bestowed upon him to face the world anew!

Lance had someone drive Marfu away. He didn't even glance at the homeless man's direction before entering the company.

"That homeless man just told me that there's a cripple in the homeless population who's been watching us. Arrest him and see what's wrong."

Hiram's cold had improved a lot, but he still had a bit of a nasal voice. At least he wouldn't do those disgusting things anymore.

He nodded and led several people out the front door.

At this moment, someone was handing out money to the homeless people at the entrance, one dollar per person, enough for their needs for a week.

Of course, money wasn't given out every day; it was given out once a week or every two weeks.

Giving it out too frequently would make these homeless people even less willing to work. If they were willing to work, Lance could actually arrange jobs for them.

However, most homeless people find it difficult to return to work. They've become accustomed to this rhythm of surviving without labor.

Asking them to accept the exploitation and oppression of capitalists is a bit unrealistic.

The cripple was also in line to receive money. If everyone else came to receive money and he didn't, it would seem very unreasonable.

So he also stood there, slowly moving forward.

When Hiram led people out of the building, he only glanced at him and didn't pay much attention.

People from the company often stood in groups of three or five at the entrance smoking or chatting. It wasn't like there were fights or certain tasks to do every day; most of the time, they were actually quite idle.

They were observing the homeless people. As the line moved forward, Hiram and the others also discovered their target and walked towards the cripple.

The cripple looked at these people walking towards him, and he felt vaguely uneasy, but he didn't think he had been exposed.

He just continued to lower his head, stand in line, and pretend that nothing had happened.

It wasn't until Hiram raised his hand that he realized they were really coming for him!

The next second, he took off running, and Hiram and his men followed closely behind.

The cripple's limp was gone, and he was running damn fast. The distance was getting wider and wider, but this was the Empire District.

Some people on the road would indeed step aside, but there would also be young people who suddenly pounced on the cripple.

The cripple suddenly lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground. He struggled to reach into his arms, but Hiram directly pulled out his gun.

The guy who had tackled the cripple quickly rolled to the side, followed by the sound of gunfire and fragments that hit him, causing a stinging pain!

The cripple ultimately became a dead cripple, but Lance also figured out who he was—a young gunman from the assassin group.

The older one had been killed, and this younger one had escaped. He had been looking for an opportunity to assassinate Lance, not only for the mayor's reward but also for revenge.

But assassinating Lance was not an easy task. After Lance was attacked several times, his current security had been upgraded more than one level.

Most of the time, measures had been taken around him when he went in and out. If there was a slight disturbance, the gunmen on the buildings might open fire.

Many of these gunmen were professional soldiers, and their marksmanship was definitely not comparable to ordinary gang members.

Although he wanted to avenge his relatives, he didn't have the awareness to sacrifice his own life.

He just didn't expect that he would be exposed before the plan was implemented.

This matter didn't cause much discussion, but the homeless community outside the company was dispersed, and several high points were added.

A few days later, Lance called McCock out. Alberto had already obtained the smuggling route of the Cassia family.

When he met McCock before, he was just an ordinary coast patrol captain, nothing special.

But this time, his mental outlook was very different from before.

He exuded a confidence, ease, and casualness from the inside out. Except for being a little restrained when facing Lance, he actually looked like a different person!

"I heard that your son has already registered for university?"

McCock's expression was slightly unnatural, but Lance didn't explain and just kept smiling.

He nodded and took off his sunglasses, "Yes, he has already registered for university."

The money he got from Lance solved all the troubles in his life.

But he was very low-key. He didn't spend lavishly, just changed to a slightly better used car and rented a better house, all within his spending power.

At the same time, he also applied for a student loan, so that his son's tuition fees had a clear source and could withstand scrutiny.

It seemed that this money didn't change his life, but it actually changed a lot.

When a person has thirty or fifty dollars, or even a hundred dollars, in his pocket at all times, that's a change.

When he and his family don't care about those suffocating student loans, that's a change.

He was planning to move a few people to live elsewhere, so that the money could be taken out and used openly little by little.

A coast patrol captain has a higher spending power than ordinary people, which is normal, right?!

Confidence can make people blind. Lance didn't want him to be a blind person, so he reminded him a little that everything was still under control!

"I envy those students who can go to university. They have a better social foundation after graduation, unlike us, who can only rely on risking our lives to get promoted."

He picked up the coffee and took a small sip, "I have something I need your help with. There's a smuggling ship coming, and they will take this route..."

Lance handed over the route with some coordinates recorded on it. He couldn't understand it, but he believed McCock could.

McCock glanced at it, "Do you want me to arrest them?"

Lance shook his head, "I want you to sink them into the sea..."