Empire of Shadows

Emerging from the elevator, Panda stood in the lobby, looking around, a happy smile quickly spreading across his face.

He walked towards the small sofa set where Lisa was sitting, his gaze falling on Lisa's slightly bulging abdomen, which held his child.

He had often fantasized about his marriage and family, but at the time, the objects of his fantasies were some students from the neighboring girls' school, even… a nun.

He would have very shameful dreams with these girls who had once appeared around him in his life, fantasizing about living a happy life with them.

But life was clearly not that simple. He had had girlfriends, but they all ended in failure.

Only Lisa gave him a kind of crazy feeling. He loved this woman and looked forward to their child.

Lisa didn't seem to notice Panda until he sat down, her gaze fixed on the glass wall outside.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Lisa suddenly turned to look at him, a trace of solemnity and unease on her face. After a few seconds of eye contact, she quickly recomposed herself. "No, it's nothing."

"You seem worried?" Panda didn't believe her. "Your expression tells me something happened."

Lisa was silent for a moment. She had actually seen Mr. Hoff.

She had considered that this situation might occur, but she had deceived herself into believing it was unlikely.

Because Mr. Hoff, as an opinion leader, was unlikely to have a face-to-face encounter with her.

She was just the wife of an ordinary Hazardous Materials Administration agent. They were not important people, and there would be no opportunity or occasion for them to meet.

But just now, she seemed to have really seen Mr. Hoff, which made her feel a little terrified!

She was afraid that Panda would find out about these things one day.

But now, she needed to get through this first.

"I…" she stammered, but quickly found a reason. "I'm worried about the baby in my belly. I don't know if he's healthy."

The expression on Panda's face quickly softened. He moved closer to Lisa, put his arm around her shoulders, and kissed the hair at her temples. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

He paused. "I heard that a film crew is shooting a movie and they are recruiting some temporary actors. You are very interested in movies, why don't we go and experience it?"

"We might have a few shots in the movie, a few seconds, maybe ten seconds," he said, as if taking credit.

In fact, being a guest actor in the film crew was not as simple as he said. He had found a colleague, because something indispensable in movies is alcohol.

The Prohibition Act did not prohibit scenes of drinking in movies. The explosion of movies was so rapid that the Prohibition Committee had not yet made corresponding countermeasures.

Moreover, some people believed that the appearance of drinking scenes in movies, especially if the content being filmed took place before the Prohibition Act was issued, was appropriate and should not be prohibited.

Therefore, they might use "prop alcohol" as props on the set.

The Hazardous Materials Administration has the right to supervise their use of such props, including determining whether the prop alcohol is real alcohol or just beverages or water.

There would be an agent from the Hazardous Materials Administration on site, and it was through this agent that he had obtained a guest appearance opportunity.

And the cost was that they could use real alcohol.

This was equivalent to opening a small hole for them, allowing them to have a drink.

It was conceivable that from the director to the actors, they would definitely use the excuse of "rehearsing" to have a good drink.

This was a favor. He didn't tell Lisa because he was worried that Lisa would think he… cared about her.

Lisa didn't know this, and even if she did, she would refuse.

Her main customer in Red High Heels in the later period was Mr. Hoff, but before Mr. Hoff, there had been several other customers.

If she appeared in a movie and was discovered by these people, it would definitely be a terrible thing!

So Lisa directly refused him, "I don't really want to go."

Panda was still trying to persuade her, "Just for a while."

"Panda!" Lisa called out his name, and he immediately wilted.

"Okay," he had recently read a lot of books related to pregnancy and childbirth, and he knew that women's tempers could be a bit bad after pregnancy.

After the two discussed where to go, they left the hotel lobby. Lisa's mood seemed to be a little off all day, but Panda thought it was just because of her pregnancy-related mood swings.

Only she knew that her mood was off entirely because of lies.

The lies she told Panda.

One lie requires countless lies to cover it up. She didn't know if this lie would eventually be exposed, nor did she know if Panda would still love her after he knew these things, or if he would divorce her.

She didn't know, wanted to know, but was afraid to know.

Past experiences and pain tormented her. After going to a few places, she used the excuse of being a little tired to return to the hotel and suggested going home early.

She was very uneasy now, and only after returning to King's Harbor City would she feel better.

Panda didn't think much about it, checked out directly, and drove her back to King's Harbor City.

It was only a few hours from Creek Valley City to King's Harbor City. The atmosphere in the car was a bit dull along the way. Perhaps to cheer Lisa up, he took the initiative to say, "I have good news."

Lisa's gaze returned from the wilderness on both sides of the road. She looked at Panda, "What good news?"

"Actually, I was planning to tell you tonight, I'm getting promoted."

Lisa didn't speak. He continued, "I've been doing a good job recently, catching a lot of bootleggers and the alcohol they smuggled."

"There's been a Senior Agent position open since Lucar left us. Director Dale thinks I've been performing very well and has decided to promote me. The process is underway."

"I'll be promoted when I report to the office!"

He seemed a little excited. Becoming a Senior Agent not only brought him emotional joy.

He received positive feedback through his own efforts, which made him feel excited and happy.

At the same time, promotion would also give him more resources and opportunities!

At this moment, he selectively forgot that some of the credit, also important credit, was given to him by Lance.

He only wanted to share this news with Lisa, but he didn't know why, although Lisa was smiling and saying okay, what she showed was not quite right with her emotions.

She didn't seem very happy about Panda's promotion.

Panda didn't know why she was acting so strangely, and couldn't find a reasonable explanation, so he could only continue to regard it as her pregnancy reaction.

But only Lisa herself knew that the faster and higher Panda was promoted, the greater the chance of her "exposure."

If one day Panda became the director or something, then she would inevitably be exposed in front of the Bay Area's elite!

No, now, she would be exposed!

During this period, because of Panda's work, she had come into contact with many things she had not been able to contact before, and she had gradually come to understand the importance of the Hazardous Materials Administration.

Once Panda became a Senior Agent, then someone would inevitably collect his information and put it on the desks of those Bay Area dignitaries.

People who didn't know her might just regard her as Panda's wife, but those who knew her and had in-depth exchanges…

Just thinking about it gave her a chilling feeling!

But she had no way to tell Panda. She couldn't possibly tell her husband—

"I used to be a high-end call girl, and the kind with very heavy tastes."

"Many dignitaries in the Bay Area have traded with me, you have to be prepared to face them!"

She couldn't do that, and she didn't know what to do.

Panda took a moment to glance at his wife, who seemed uninterested and even a little sullen. He decided to give up the topic, drive quietly, and not stir up trouble.

After the afternoon cocktail party, the hotel manager personally handed a small card to Mr. Hoff, which recorded the information of the room's occupants.

Although he was only an opinion leader in King's Harbor City, he still had a great influence in Creek Valley City.

The hotel should not have disclosed this information to others, but this was Mr. Hoff, and they couldn't refuse!

After thanking him, he looked at the card, which had two names on it.

"Mr. Panda Green."

"Ms. Lisa Green."

The former Lisa was very attractive to him, and now the appearance of that married woman, and seemingly pregnant Lisa, was even more attractive to him!

But he was not in a hurry. An excellent hunter never acts at the first sight of a gift. This was an interesting game of chess, and he would devote himself to it!

Lisa didn't know that she had once again become Mr. Hoff's prey.

This time, perhaps even her husband would become prey as well.

It was now after the Saint-Agricultural Festival, and there were only a few days left until the date that Ligee Group would deliver grain to Garden Trading Company.

They had already begun to fulfill the contract, and large quantities of wheat were being transferred from other places to King's Harbor City.

Ligee Group had also rented many warehouses on the docks. They needed to use the King's Harbor City docks for many of their trades, whether buying or selling.

Agricultural products generally have a common characteristic, that is, "large quantities."

No one would buy a freighter's hold for a ton of wheat and then transport it to other places, because the freight would exceed its own value.

The trade in agricultural products on the docks must be in large quantities.

This required many warehouses, long-term warehouses. They had cooperated with the dock management company for many years, and everyone trusted each other.

Because of this, the Lijigroup did not have strict management systems for its own warehouses. Unlike some companies, they would set up a dedicated warehousing department to be responsible for entry and exit procedures, security patrols, and supervision, preventing anyone from entering the warehouse to steal.

For them, in addition to trusting the security of the docks, they were not very afraid of someone stealing from the warehouse.

Agricultural products piled up like mountains were very inconvenient to move, and the unit price was very low.

A wooden barrel of wheat was only a few dollars, far less cost-effective than stealing some high-value items.

In addition, to save costs, the Lijigroup did not use "wooden barrels" to pack the wheat.

All the wheat was piled up naturally. If someone really wanted to steal wheat, they would need to prepare too many things, making it difficult to steal.

After the wheat was dumped into the warehouse by trucks, they did a good job of moisture-proofing and insect-proofing, and then didn't continue to manage it much.

Once the goods were loaded onto the ship and shipped away in a few days, it had nothing to do with them anymore.

They could even skip insect-proofing, because the insects would not have time to breed on a large scale in a few days.

It was because of their negligence that Lance's people could easily enter here.

In the evening, several dockworkers did not leave directly after finishing their night shift. They walked around outside and then returned to the dock.

A large number of people and goods came and went on the dock every day. To ensure its cleanliness, water pipes and faucets could be seen almost everywhere, including outside each warehouse.

After the warehouse lease expired, the items inside would be removed. The next tenant might have certain requirements for hygiene. At this time, they would renovate the warehouse, so water pipes and faucets were everywhere.

Several people used the keys given to them by others to open the side door of the Lijigroup's warehouse. Inside was a mountain of wheat, dumped directly together.

The room was a little stuffy. The men only turned on a small light and then started working.

They connected the water pipe they brought to the faucet, then went up the high-level stairs of the warehouse and started watering the wheat from above.

They had been doing this for two days. Today, the temperature in the warehouse was obviously more stuffy than outside.

The group watered in silence. They were all adults and were well aware of the consequences of doing so.

One of them did not water the wheat like the others. He took a shovel and began to randomly turn over the wheat grains on the ground.

Some of the wheat further inside had already begun to germinate, and the root system had also begun to grow.

With the watering in the past few days, more wheat would germinate.

This germinated wheat was obviously not the wheat that Garden Trading Company wanted, and the contract stipulated very strictly that there was a time limit for loading the ship. They could not temporarily transfer so much wheat over, and they would have to pay liquidated damages for the breach of contract.

More than half an hour later, they went to the second warehouse and started watering.

There were a total of four warehouses. After all the warehouses were watered, the men were exhausted.

After the men finished doing these things, they left. No one knew what they had done, except for themselves and Lance.

Lance returned from Jincheng in the evening of the twenty-seventh. After sending the Lawrence family back, he planned to leave.

But William kept him, saying he had something to talk to him about, and everyone would talk together.

After Emily prepared some food, the family sat at the dining table. William seemed a little embarrassed, so embarrassed that he didn't know where to put his hands.

"I want to state first, it's not me who wants to ask!"

He emphasized his tone a bit, first removing himself from this matter.

Lance looked at his expression and roughly knew what he wanted to ask, "Speak, I will answer."

"They all want to know when you plan to get married. Of course, if it's too early to propose marriage now, we can get engaged first."

He stared at Lance. Emily and Patricia also stopped their movements and stared at him.

In the Federation, you can get married at sixteen years old, and Lance is also twenty, and he will be twenty-one soon. This age is not too early to get married in the Federation, it can only be said to be just right.

Most people get married around this age. After graduating from high school, they participate in two or three years of work, and after they stabilize, they will start considering the issue of marriage.

Lance and Patricia have also known each other for a year. With a year of precipitation, their relationship should have stabilized.

It is not too early to propose this idea at this time.

But they were a little worried about whether Lance would set the wedding date.

At the farm, when these "elders" chatted privately, they talked about Lance and Patricia's marriage.

For the rapidly developing William and Lance now, whether or not they are in a gang is not the reason why people can accept him.

On the contrary, family members hope that they can finalize the marriage as soon as possible, so that the cooperation between the two parties will become more stable.

William needs Lance's help, and other Lawrence family members may also need Lance's help.

At the same time, Lance can also use their network to continuously deepen his influence on this city.

This is a correct political marriage, not to mention that Lance and Patricia also like each other.

The couple discussed it for several days, and finally asked it tonight.

Patricia looked at Lance nervously. Lance pondered for a while, "It may be too late this year, let's do it in the spring."

The family obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile quickly climbed onto Patricia's face. She took the initiative to reach out and hold Lance's hand, holding it tightly.

The Lawrence couple also became full of smiles. Emily said in surprise, "This is news worth celebrating!"

William nodded repeatedly, "We need a grand ceremony, and these must be prepared in advance."

"If it is placed in March or April next year, we will have to start preparing after the New Year."

The atmosphere at the dining table immediately became very harmonious, and their connection with Lance seemed to become closer.

Lance was about to say goodbye after dinner. Patricia sent him out, "If you are worried that it is too fast, we can actually delay it."

She was afraid that this would make Lance feel pressured. Not everyone hopes to get engaged and married early.

For the new generation of young people, they think they haven't played enough and they are still children.

As the level of social development gets higher and higher, people's age choices for marriage will also get later and later.

Lance shook his head. He kissed Patricia, "Everyone, at least most people, have to take this step. Sooner or later, nothing will change."

"I'm not afraid of marriage, and you are my best choice, why refuse?"

Patricia hugged his waist, feeling无比的安心 at this moment.

After a while of tenderness, Lance left here by car. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Patricia standing outside the house for a long time until he couldn't see her.