Empire of Shadows

A scantily clad girl gathered the poker cards on the table with her slender fingers, while gentlemen who looked wealthy and influential sat around the table.

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Beside them were girls, women, females of all kinds accompanying them.

These women were all exceptional; they might be many people's dream lovers, the goals they pursued.

But here, they all wore careful and fawning expressions, attending to the people around them.

"Are you just going to let it go?" a gentleman with already greying hair, sitting in the number one seat, looked at Mr. Bowen in the number three seat. "Do nothing, let him owe you a favor, and that's it?"

Mr. Bowen settled the lost chips, feeling somewhat frustrated.

The matter had quickly become known to everyone, because a columnist from "Golden Port Today" had even published an article entitled "Darkness Under the Sunlight."

He exposed some of the things behind Dream Crystal Agency, such as providing high-end escorts for some celebrities and politicians, and even forcing some young girls to do terrible things.

The reporter named "George" also talked about the possible human trafficking problems behind it, and linked it to the hundreds of thousands of missing teenagers every year.

Once the report was published, it caused a huge public outcry.

Almost everyone had encountered similar things: a child from a family in the neighborhood suddenly disappeared one day and could never be found again, as if they had never existed!

They might guess whether these children got lost and encountered something bad.

It is also possible to think about whether they were forced into the dark times of human trafficking.

But speculation is always just speculation, and humans are very stubborn animals.

Sometimes people know that something is wrong, but before they personally verify that it is indeed wrong, they will insist that it is not wrong.

Just as people guessed that there might be kidnapping, trafficking, and human trafficking behind this, but before they found real evidence, these guesses only existed as "the worst possible scenario."

Now, a corner of the darkness has been revealed.

The Golden Port police were very helpful this time, and immediately controlled all the staff in the Dream Crystal Agency and interrogated them.

The whole action was very fast, so fast that it gave people a very special feeling, as if… they solved the case first, and then there was this report.

But in fact, the report came out first, and the case was solved later.

A large number of criminal evidences were found, and under internal and external pressure, the general manager chose to commit suicide with some management in his villa.

The court interrogated all the criminals at an unprecedented speed, and gave them heavy penalties. The entire Golden Port City and even Licari State felt that this was a successful act of justice.

People began to highly praise the police's speed and attitude, and also discussed these things.

In terms of public opinion, in addition to discussing the topic of the matter itself, the praise for the federal government and the city hall was even more than the criticism.

Of course, some people planned to dig deeper into the case, but it was destined to have no results, because these relevant personnel would soon die in prison.

Because of the kidnapping conflict in prison, and because some criminals were very angry about the content of their crimes against these people, they accidentally beat them to death.

This is quite normal.

All suspected female crimes are the most despised in prison, not just despised, because for these criminals.

They cannot take care of their families in prison, so it is possible that someone will harm their families, the women in those families, their wives, their daughters, may be the targets of these people.

If the taste is heavy enough, their mothers are not impossible.

According to statistics from some institutions, single-parent families with women living alone with children are more likely to be harmed than healthy families.

Everything seems perfect.

George's news was also reprinted by "The Federal Daily" and "The Federal Post", gradually causing greater discussion across the country.

Because it involves hundreds of thousands of missing people every year, and crimes hidden in the sun, this is the pain point that federal people are most enthusiastic about. Many people believe that George has a high probability of winning a Golden Newspaper Award this year.

It is worth mentioning that the Golden Newspaper Award is not a "sole winner award", that is to say, many people can win this honor, not just one person.

Several days have passed, all the loose ends have been dealt with, and Mr. Bowen has nothing to do, so he sits with some friends to play cards.

The friend next to him couldn't help but mention this topic.

The gentleman sitting in the number two seat raised his hand, "Give us some private space, thank you for your service."

The girls, including the dealer, took the initiative to leave the table, and after bowing, even left the room, leaving only the people at the gambling table.

Bowen picked up the poker cards and began to shuffle them with a rustling sound, "I learned through other channels that the Lance family is developing very rapidly."

He tried to cover up the real reason for his compromise, but the others obviously didn't intend to let him off so easily.

"Okay, stop saying these lies to deceive us, say something meaningful."

"Why compromise?"

Bowen began to deal them cards, "Compromise is the best I can do."

"It was Wade who called me."

"And do you remember?"

"The last time Cleveland came, he also spoke to Lance alone, as well as the Secretary of State and the Attorney General."

"A woman is just a small matter to us, don't let the situation escalate, I don't think I did anything wrong."

The others were stunned for a moment, then remembered this.

The gentleman in the number four seat took a look at his hand, and casually threw two chips on the table, "You didn't do anything wrong, who is that Lance White to that girl?"

"Girlfriend, or friend?"

Mr. Bowen was a little speechless, "I don't know, they didn't tell me."

"But I think it should just be an ordinary friend."

If it was a girlfriend, Mr. Bowen felt that the other party would not compromise, let alone give him a statement that "Mr. Lance owes you a favor."

He shook his head, "Let's end this matter here, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

He picked up his hand and glanced at it, "Call."

The gentleman in the number two seat didn't even look at the hole cards in his hand, and chose to call, while saying, "Has anyone contacted him?"

"We are not allowed to play in our garden, this is against the rules!"

"Five major families, Charlie, can't we solve this problem?"

"I don't want to be like Bowen, the next time I'm having fun, some Lance calls me and says he owes me a favor, and asks me to hand over the person!"

The other gentlemen laughed softly, which annoyed Mr. Bowen, but what they said was not unreasonable, so he could only sulk.

The gentleman in the number one seat threw his hand into the pile, "Can't Charlie handle him?"

"A gang, the police, plus the five major families, can't handle him?"

"When did Golden Port City have such a top-notch organization?"

"How come I don't know?"

He looked at the others, "I don't know what you think, but my idea is that Golden Port City doesn't allow such a special existence."

"What about Sidney, what about those congressmen, the final facts proved…"

He reached out and poked the clay on the table, making a "duoduo" sound, "We are the masters here!"

Everyone had their own ideas, and their topic quickly shifted from Mr. Bowen's matter to other aspects.

For example, the ongoing War of Tanfit, which is also a topic that the powerful have been interested in recently.

"I heard from someone in the Presidential Palace that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Dantera scolded the President in a phone call."

Mr. Bowen was also interested in this topic. He looked at his hand and asked, "Who?"

"The President scolded the Prime Minister?"

The person who brought up this topic shook his head, "It was they who scolded our President."

The others also became interested, "How did they scold him?"

"Starting with son of a bitch…"

Everyone couldn't help laughing after listening, because the Prime Minister's way of scolding people was not much different from when they swore.

After laughing for a while, their thinking began to change to other aspects, "If our relationship continues to deteriorate, some trade issues with the Republic of Dantera need to be considered."

"I heard that the local situation is also very tense, is there any possibility of an outbreak of danger against federal people?"

Someone chimed in, "Do you want to stop it?"

That person didn't speak, and Mr. Bowen threw the cards in his hand into the pile, "I think perhaps an outbreak of conflict is the most beneficial to us!"

On the other side of the city, Lance was sitting in the car with Patricia and the Lawrence couple, heading to the Lawrence family's farm.

The Holy Farm Festival is in two days.

The Holy Farm Festival is a very important festival in the Federation, basically there will be holidays, and some towns will also hold several days of "Holy Farm Festival activities".

Like farmers watching the huge crops grown in their fields, exhibiting them on the streets with the parade.

The Saint Farmer's Day activities vary from place to place. Golden Port City, located in the southeast of the Federation, connected with the world earlier and has more cultural exchanges, making the Saint Farmer's Day more lively.

There will be horse races, bull-roping competitions, and various parades, which are very interesting!

Every year, members of the Lawrence family return to the farm during the Saint Farmer's Day to spend this important holiday with the elders in the family.

As Patricia's boyfriend and William's business partner, Lance's story had reached the ears of the three grandfathers in the family, who specially asked people to bring him back to the farm for a visit.

Along the way, Patricia kept telling Lance about the interesting things in the countryside.

For a considerable part of her childhood, she spent her time on the farm because the Lawrence family elders, like most old-timers from families with a certain background, were a bit... traditional, rigid, and old-fashioned.

They believed that children who grew up on the farm would have a stronger sense of family and be more united than children who grew up in the city.

They didn't like any bullshit spirit of questioning. They hoped that the family could always be united and loving, so that the Lawrence family could continue to develop.

So, many interesting things indeed happened during Patricia's childhood, which is hard for children who haven't lived on a farm to understand.

"I don't know if there are many dung beetles on the farm this year. If there are, you'll see a very interesting scene!"

Her eyes curved into a slit, and Lance could feel a sense of joy rising naturally from the bottom of her heart, without any concealment. It was from the bottom of her heart!

"There will be many dung beetles pushing cow dung around on the farm. We used to catch one each and only give them one ball of dung..."

Emily couldn't help but say, "Pat, you are a lady. You can't always talk about this!"

William kept laughing, holding his wife's hand, "Honey, I think it's fun. No one says farm kids can't play with dung beetles. I played with them when I was a kid."

Patricia, having received William's support, made a face at Emily and continued to say to Lance, "Then these dung beetles will push this ball of dung together from different directions. Whoever pushes the ball of dung away in the end wins."

"The winner is entitled to choose food first at dinner!"

There are actually many wild birds on the farm. If you find two wild birds constantly circling and chirping above your head while you are working, then you must pay attention. There must be a hidden bird's nest nearby.

On the farm, bird eggs are definitely one of the children's favorite foods.

There may be some other foods as well. In fact, the people of the Federation at this time were not as picky as they would be later. People ate everything, as long as it was meat!

She also talked about her little lambs, calves, and foals, but that foal had grown into a big horse. Whenever she had a long vacation and nothing else to do, she would return to the farm.

She liked the scenery and the leisurely life there.

Lance listened to her talk about those things with a smile. Some he knew and had even experienced, and some he had not experienced, such as riding a horse.

It takes about a day and a half to get from Golden Port City to the Lawrence Farm, mainly because some of the roads are not easy to travel, but overall, the time is not tight.

When the car came off the interstate and entered a small road with a "Lawrence Farm" sign, they were not far from their destination.

They had rested in a motel last night, and the soundproofing wasn't very good.

William introduced to Lance with a proud look at this time, "Looking south from here, all that you can see is our land!"

Lance looked out of the car window and gained a clearer understanding of the "landlord class" for the first time.

"Including that mountain?"

There was a mountain in the distance, which didn't look too short.

William nodded and said, "Including that mountain!"

Everything around was filled with the joy of autumn harvest. Among the undulating crops after the wind blew, many workers could be seen working.

They were all farm workers, coming from the nearby town. One-third of the town's population worked for the Lawrence Farm.

It can be said that they are the undisputed masters here!

There were also some large harvesting machines during this period, but overall, there was still more labor.

Even if these crops are not their own, they will have a heartfelt joy of harvest during the harvest!

Because the Lawrence family's harvest this year is stable, there will be no problems with their work. This is the most simple idea of the working people.

The car gradually slowed down. The roads in the countryside were not easy to travel, and it took about forty more minutes to truly reach the core area of "Lawrence Farm."

A very large manor, just as Lance had expected.

Many people were wearing overalls, large rubber shoes, and straw hats, working here.

Many other people had already arrived. When the convoy stopped, everyone's eyes were focused on them.

William got out of the car, and people's eyes were focused on him. Some called him "Councilor Lawrence," and others called him "Young William."

Looking at this group of at least dozens or even more people, the concept of "family" became more vivid in Lance's mind.

"Good lad, our family has finally produced a councilor. When we report to God, we don't have to look at your grandfather's dark face!"

The speaker was an old man with completely white hair. He was also wearing overalls and was not much different from the surrounding farmers.

If Patricia hadn't introduced Lance, this was her second grandfather, Lance would have only thought that he might be an ordinary member of the farm.

Although the Lawrence family is not as good as the Williams family and the Wade family, it is also a large landlord family with a certain influence near Golden Port City.

A decision-making error by their ancestors caused them to miss the initial golden development of Golden Port City, so that the Williams family and the Wade family had already crossed the class.

And they are still fucking farming in the countryside!

The old men get angry when they talk about this, but they can't express it, after all, it was the wrong decision made by their fathers and grandfathers.

William then introduced Lance to the three old men, "This is Lance, Patricia's boyfriend, and also my business partner."

"This time I was able to become a councilor entirely thanks to Lance."

"He put in a lot of effort" and "entirely thanks to him" sound similar, but they are actually two completely different things.

The eyes of the three old men were focused on Lance. They looked him up and down.

Because it was the first day meeting, there was no understanding, so there was no evaluation, but they greeted him very warmly.

"William can bring you here, which means he has already regarded you as family."

"Then you are also our family. I hope you have a pleasant holiday here..."