Empire of Shadows

Everyone cherishes time, but time is also the most helpless thing.

It won't show you more mercy just because you cherish it, or slow down its pace around you.

Whether you cherish it or ignore it, your time is the same as everyone else's.

Or rather, the process of matter acting on you is the same.

It's even possible that cherishing time makes you more tired.

But who can really say for sure about these things?

Two days passed by in the blink of an eye.

After lunch, Salif went to the cemetery, they had a family cemetery where all their relatives were buried.

This year, several new tombstones have been added here, standing quietly, showing no signs of decay, nor any heavy sorrow.

Inadvertently, he noticed a fallen yellow leaf in the grass on the ground. When he looked up at the trees above, he realized that although it was still summer, some of the leaves on the trees were already turning yellow.

No matter how intensely the sun shines on this world, it cannot stop the arrival of autumn.

Those lives that once bloomed against the scorching sun in midsummer are finally about to meet their end, just like the people lying here.

They may have once had their own glories, joys, sorrows, and angers, but when everything comes to an end, they are all the same, whether you were excellent or mediocre before.

A sense of desolation hidden in the wind, accompanied by some spiritual and ideological touches, swept through the world.

He patted the tombstone closest to him, turned around, and strode towards the outside. Today, he would bring a conclusion to the deaths of his relatives this year.

He would make Rick understand that the stupidest thing he had ever done was to attack him!

He got into his car and headed towards the city center, while his men also got into their cars one after another and began to act according to the established plan.

More than ten kilometers away, Rick stood by the window, enjoying a fine cigar. In front of him, in the open space of the manor, there were more than a dozen cars parked, and a large group of newly arrived gunmen were chatting in small groups.

As long as Salif is killed, the Tita family will be like a cripple with a broken leg, unable to jump around anymore.

Then, after solving some other people, he and the Koda family will become one of the two emperors of Goldenport City!

He never even dared to fantasize about such a scene in all these years, but now it actually had the possibility of becoming a reality. He felt an unspeakable joy in his heart.

He held the thick cigar, savoring the taste of burning money.

Every fine cigar is rolled with money, and every puff probably costs several cents, a dozen cents, or even more.

A gust of wind blew, gentle and warm. He glanced at the time, made a gesture, and the gunmen all got into their cars.

He looked down at this scene from a high position, like an emperor about to ascend the throne, reviewing his soldiers.

It was time to bring everything to a conclusion.

"Are you afraid?"

In the Pasreto family's manor, Alberto looked at Francisco. The sixteen-year-old boy shook his head, "No, I'm not afraid."

If his voice hadn't trembled, his expression would have been more convincing.

He was afraid. In fact, it was normal to be afraid, because this wasn't a game, but a battle.

In a battle, someone will die, either the enemy or your own people.

Every life is worthy of respect, no matter whose person it is, and what a battle does is take away the most precious thing from others.

Alberto stuffed his newly lit cigarette into his mouth, "You'll get used to it."

He opened the car door. They weren't needed today, but they would also go to the scene to watch Rick meet his end.

Francisco took a deep drag of the cigarette, feeling a slight itch in his lungs. He coughed twice after exhaling the smoke, not used to the strong cigarettes Alberto gave him.

But he didn't throw it away, holding the cigarette as he got into the car. Behind them, people from seven or eight cars also got into their cars.

Sitting in the car, Francisco felt his blood start to burn, a very special feeling. He didn't know how to describe it, but he was very excited now.

"Are we going directly, or with Uncle Lance?"

"Cisco, anyone in this world can be unreliable, including me. In the end, the only person you can rely on, the only one who can help you, is yourself."

Alberto patted the driver's seat, and the driver started the car.

Lance was awakened from his nap by the alarm clock, and he rubbed his face.

It's especially easy to get sleepy in the summer afternoon, and he was still growing, so he started to feel drowsy and took a nap on the sofa.

After he gets Mr. Chobaf's bank, he will arrange a rest room in his office, so he can lie down for a while when he needs to rest.

"Is everyone ready?"

He reached out and took a glass of iced orange juice from Elvin, taking a sip.

The sour and sweet taste, coupled with the ice-cold coolness, made him feel much more awake.

No, it's not just ice-cold, there are also things like mint leaves added, and the air is cool through the trachea when breathing.

"The lads are all ready."

Lance took two more sips, put it back on the table, supported his leg and stood up, twisted his neck, making a creaking sound, "Then let's go!"

He added in his heart, blowing the horn of destruction for the five major families!

At 2:50 PM, Bandi sat at an outdoor coffee table on the third-floor terrace. He was the only one at the entire terrace, and he was the only person there.

He was smoking a cigarette, thinking about some things.

Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, he looked towards the door. Salif had arrived.

He stood up, took one last puff of his cigarette, threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it, then smiled and greeted him two steps forward. After shaking hands with Salif, they hugged each other.

"Thank you for coming."

Bandi invited him to sit down, "Rick should be here soon. Today I invited you here again to end the terrible situation in Goldenport City as soon as possible."

"Salif, you are a smart man, you must understand that our current situation is not good."

This is a very "kidnapping" statement. If you "don't understand", then it means you are not a smart person. Most people are unwilling to admit that they are not smart people, so they can only follow his words.

But obviously, Salif didn't intend to accept this statement, "I don't want to know what the situation is now at all, and I don't want to care too much. I just want to know when I can avenge my family."

Bandi frowned slightly, "You have already killed his son, it should be even."

"I repeat again, I didn't do it!"

As he spoke, Rick also walked in from outside. He glanced at Salif, "What didn't you do?"

Salif said directly, "I didn't kill your son!"

"Alberto and Lance are responsible for this matter, so we are not even."

Rick didn't even sit down, he slammed the table and leaned forward, looking at him. The coffee on the table was shaken by the slamming action, so much so that it splashed out, "Don't fucking portray yourself as so innocent, you are all in the same gang. I don't care who specifically did it, you are all responsible."

Salif also started arguing, "My cousin also died, my cousin also died, my... why the fuck don't you talk about these?"

Watching the two people start arguing again, Bandi frowned with a headache. He patted the table, using a loud voice to suppress the two people, "Today I invited you here not to let you argue here, but to solve the problem!"

"Sit back!"

The two glared at each other fiercely, but in the end, they still sat back.

Although everyone is one of the five major families, there are also strengths and weaknesses among the five major families.

Families like the Koda family, which have already started laundering money through the transfer of profits generated by casinos, are obviously ahead of other families.

They are the ones who have truly achieved "full coverage", whether it is the gang business or the federal government.

When he speaks, these two guys still need to take some things into consideration.

In fact, whether it is Rick, Salif, or Figal or Paul, they have never thought about doing anything to the Koda family, because they are too strong.

The gangs of this era are indeed very strong. They can even formulate social rules on an equal footing with the federal government in some areas.

But after all, a gang is just a gang. It has an upper limit. Before a gang that can be equal to the state emerges, as long as things continue to escalate, the gang will ultimately fail.

Here at the five major families in Goldenport City, the Koda family has the power to continuously escalate and solve problems.

Watching the two people sit back down, with some reserved smiles on their faces, "We can have a good talk..."

In fact, this conversation didn't last long, because besides cursing each other and demanding some impossible things, they never thought about working towards the direction of negotiation!

Their gunmen are outside, now just waiting for the other party to step out of the hotel, and then be riddled with bullets the moment they do.

Maybe in ten minutes, maybe in twenty minutes, the people opposite them will die, so why bother talking to them?

Bandi was too lazy to continue mediating, he directly declared the negotiation a failure, and left first.

He didn't want to get blood on himself, after all, they were old friends for many years.

After getting into the car and closing the door, Bandi said softly, "Faster, get out of this area as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," the driver said, and there was a noticeable push as the car started.

In fact, these old men don't like the feeling of being pushed back. When they're not looking for speed, the pushback only makes them feel uncomfortable.

Like elevators.

For some reason, Bandi kept looking at both sides of the street as the car drove away. He found that the street was a bit strange today.

The strange thing was that there were people sitting in the cars on both sides of the road. These people were basically quiet, not talking or moving around, just sitting inside.

Some people even looked over at him, and the indifference in their eyes gave him a shiver in this hot summer.

Are these gunmen Rake hired?

That's all he could think. He wouldn't have thought that Salifu had also arranged people, let alone that Alberto and Lance had also arranged people, all to completely eliminate Rake today.

"Should we follow them?"

Erwin asked, sitting in the passenger seat.

If they were to follow, he only needed a gesture, and a car would follow. Lance shook his head, "Our target isn't him today."

Only then did Erwin's gaze leave that car. Just as he was watching that car, Bandi seemed to sense the gaze.

He saw the young man in the passenger seat looking at him, and he also vaguely saw another person in the back seat, who was not very clear.

This person's eyes didn't have respect, fear, or other similar emotions towards him. Instead, there was a kind of gaze that made him uncomfortable, like looking at prey.

He began to suspect whether these people were Rake's gunmen, or whether... they were actually other people.

This thought startled him, and a chill crawled up his tailbone to his spine. With every inch it climbed, another layer of goosebumps would rise. He shivered again!

He also withdrew his gaze from those people. At this time, he could have stopped and dialed a number at the phone booth on the side of the road to tell Rake that the situation might be changing beyond the plan.

But for some reason, not only did he not stop, but he also told the driver to speed up, "Faster."

Only by getting further away from that place could his uneasy feeling gradually disappear.

He kept looking back, always feeling that the street at this time seemed to turn into a monster's mouth, which would swallow everything here!

At this time, two angry guys also walked out of the hotel. They each went to the ramps on both sides of the hotel, where their cars were waiting for them.

Neither of them got into the car immediately, but stood by the car doors, looking at each other.

Across a distance of twenty meters, the eyes of the two met in the air, and they both saw something very familiar in each other's eyes, just like what they were showing at this time.

Contempt, mockery, waiting to watch a good show...

Damn, sick!

The two turned around and got into the car. Salifu lit a cigarette, while Rake took out a half-smoked cigar from the cabinet in the car.

The car trembled slightly and started to move.

He held the lighter to the cigar for a while before taking a puff.

After today, the structure of Jincheng City will undergo tremendous changes!

A faint smile appeared on Rake's face. This damn guy, let him go see God!

Just as he was fantasizing about ruling the entire city, a car suddenly pulled up next to him. He frowned and looked at the car.

He didn't like this situation, being side by side with someone. What kind of thing was worthy of being side by side with him?

But the next second, the other party pulled out a submachine gun and pulled the trigger at him.

He subconsciously hid in the seat, but the sound of bullets hitting the glass made him realize that this car was bulletproof!

But his front and rear cars were not so lucky. Bulletproof vehicles are not cheap, and he couldn't possibly prepare one for every one of his men.

These subordinates escorting him were quickly shot into a hornet's nest, and the car lost control and crashed into a house on the side of the road.

The moment the gunshots rang out, the whole street was filled with screaming people. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the glass cabinets on the side of the road were constantly being shot with bullet holes, and thus shattered.

Those shop owners were making emergency calls, praying that the police would come a little faster, at least not until everything was so bad that it couldn't get any worse.

Salifu straightened up a little embarrassedly, his face flushed!

Partly out of anger, partly out of embarrassment, he forgot that his car was bulletproof, so he had just fallen to the ground in a very embarrassed manner, hoping that the driver didn't see it, otherwise he would have to change drivers.

It's just that he obviously didn't have so much thought to deal with this matter at this time. The cars escorting him in front and behind had disappeared, and the only thing he could do now was to find support as soon as possible!

Bulletproof glass is indeed bulletproof, but it is not unlimitedly bulletproof, it also has a limit to withstand!

Moreover, these gunmen were obviously veterans. They constantly used bats or other things to knock on the bulletproof glass that was full of cracks during the brief moments of impact.

Seeing that it was already deeply dented and starting to drop glass shards, Rake hurriedly shouted, "Quick, drive back, go after Salifu, we have people over there!"

The driver also realized this, and he turned the steering wheel sharply when passing through the intersection.

At the same time, Salifu was also subjected to the same attack. Bullets were dinging on his car, and those gunmen from Yalan were really not afraid of death one by one.

They kept driving their cars to hit Salifu's car, trying to force him to stop. The whole street was already in chaos.

Salifu's bodyguards also began to stop their cars and exchange fire with these gunmen, and the whole street was in chaos in an instant!

When Lance saw this scene, he felt both unexpected and reasonable.

There was some streamer flickering in his eyes, obviously planning something.

Without his instructions, none of his people moved.

Alberto didn't let his people move when he saw that Lance's people didn't move.

The street became more and more chaotic, and the traffic order was completely over.

Some passing drivers were even hit, and the cars occupied the entire street in a haphazard manner.

Both sides also discovered each other's "existence", and the scope of the firefight became even larger!

"Solve Rake first, he is still too dangerous to us."

After a while, Lance made a decision. Erwin stretched his arm out of the car window and waved towards where Rake was. The car doors of more than a dozen cars on both sides of the road were pulled open in an instant, and a large number of gang members with weapons rushed out of the cars and chased after Rake's car.

Alberto's people also began to act. With so many people, even if some of the gunmen had returned to support Rake, they probably wouldn't be able to hold on for too long.

The whole street became very lively, and the crackling gunshots resounded throughout the city center!