Empire of Shadows

“Smooch…”

The guy in the passenger seat sucked on his finger, then took out a handkerchief to wipe it clean, “This has been a bit tricky these past few days of observation.”

The driver was also tidying up what he had left to eat, putting the leftover food scraps back into the brown paper bag, and then casually tossing it on the side of the road.

The cleanliness of the Federation's ground is just as much of a joke as its proclaimed freedom.

Trash is everywhere, but it's worth mentioning that you can't see cigarette butts here.

Because the cigarette butts are picked up by some poor people, re-rolled into cigarettes, and sold to other poor people.

And there isn't much garbage that can be sold for money either. With so many refugees flooding in, there's very little garbage in the entire city that can be sold, and the garbage you see on the streets is worthless and can't be exchanged for money.

The driver wiped his hands clean, gathered some of the residue still in his mouth, and swallowed it, “His security is very tight, we can only get him out through other means.”

For the past few days, they had been observing around Lance's company and the places he might go. Lance's security was very high, and there weren't any major loopholes.

Even when going to the same place, he would constantly change his route, which made it impossible to ambush him on the way.

“Perhaps giving him a ‘must-come’ reason is a good approach, only then is there a slight possibility.”

“Boss took on this task without investigating clearly, it's really unwise.”

The driver was a little worried, “The Lance family's power is very strong, I'm worried that if we fail, they might retaliate against us as well.”

The person in the passenger seat seemed very relaxed, “Don't think too much, if he wants to retaliate against us, unless he can develop to Gold Port!”

“And whether we succeed or not, we'll leave as soon as we're done, not giving him a chance to keep us here. Unless those people betray us, I can't think of any reason why we would be exposed.”

The driver didn't discuss this unlucky-sounding topic any further. He pondered for a moment, “So, do you have any ideas now?”

The person in the passenger seat nodded, “Let's give him a little surprise from our Gold Port colleagues!”

A little later, William called Lance, “Some people came here, saying you arranged them to protect me?”

“What happened?”

Lance had arranged security for all important people, including William.

“There was a bit of a challenge. They might use some irregular methods. To prevent these uncomfortable things from happening, I arranged bodyguards for each of you.”

“Protect Emily and Patricia.”

William was silent for a while, “Sounds dangerous.”

“Actually, I have a guess and will know the answer soon. Then there won't be these problems.”

Lance didn't think it was likely that the Coda family had done it; they had been actively trying to clean up their image.

Although Gaoli would still be responsible for some gang-related work, like beatings and murders, they would rarely do it so blatantly.

Now, the Coda family mostly uses the power they accumulated in the past to deal with challengers through rules.

Instead of actually engaging in fights and killings, hiring a bunch of gunmen, and parading them around.

Moreover, the core members of the Coda family are all in Gold Port. If they mess around, the trouble and danger they face will be much greater than what Lance faces.

So, from the perspective of 'who benefits the most' right now, the most likely is the Leitch Group.

The Leitch Group isn't a 'civilized' company. During the Saint Nong Festival, Lance had discussed these things with Hubert (Patricia's great-uncle).

Years ago, the Leitch Group had approached the Lawrence family, proposing to contract all of their annual agricultural product sales.

When they came, it didn't seem like a business negotiation at all, more like a 'showdown'.

Seven or eight cars came, a total of twenty or thirty people, looking like the kind you wouldn't want to mess with.

But fortunately, the men of the Lawrence family weren't timid or afraid of trouble, and some cowboys who had grown up on the farm since childhood came out with guns, and ultimately it wasn't 'agreed'.

Later, they encountered some trouble, like animals being shot and rice paddies being set on fire. There were also some actual frictions between the two sides.

Both sides had casualties until they confirmed that the Lawrence Farm couldn't compromise, then they left.

This is also why the Lawrence Farm has a very large farm, and so many agricultural products mature every year, but they don't have any contact with any distributors, insisting on selling it themselves.

Moreover, it's said that they've done this more than once. In some more desolate places, there have even been horrifying rumors of the Leitch Group killing farmers and directly entrusting the farmers' property to those farmers willing to cooperate with them!

In short, they're not good people, and using some means outside the rules is within Lance's expectations.

William looked at the bodyguards inside and outside the room. Although he wasn't quite used to it, he had to say that the sense of security was maxed out.

“Then let's leave it at that for now, pay attention to Emily and Pat's side…”

After the phone hung up, Patricia called Lance, “Some people came over, saying you arranged it. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Lance repeated the explanation he gave to William. Patricia could also understand, after all, she grew up on the farm as a child.

From a young age, she had heard her grandfathers talking about the various bad things that the federal agricultural channel interest groups had done. She believed these people could do it.

“I'll be careful, you be careful too!”, she instructed him, “I plan to take a leave of absence. I've already told my supervisor. I'll come back to work after your matter is over.”

The girl had a high level of awareness and didn't have the idea of 'I know I'm in danger, but compared to the danger, my work is clearly more important'.

Lance was very pleased with this. He had originally planned to actively persuade Patricia to rest for a few days first.

The court will have a result soon. Once the prosecutor indicts those workers, the appeals court will reject the case and uphold the original verdict. Then Lance can directly apply for enforcement after receiving the result.

At most, it will take no more than a week!

If it weren't to make everything comply with the procedures, in fact, this kind of case with conclusive evidence and complete confessions could go through the fast track court.

After the two chatted for a few words, Patricia hung up the phone. She had to go back as soon as possible and also take care of Emily.

She was worried that Emily would be afraid, but actually, Emily wouldn't be afraid at all, because she had already taken out the pistol she bought when she was young and was studying how to load the bullets into it.

A few minutes later, the police received a 'tip-off' and located the last three fugitive criminals in the Leitch Group's wheat sprouting case, and successfully captured them.

These people very cooperatively completed the statements and explained the criminal process.

Among them, the main culprit claimed that they were humiliated by the Leitch Group's staff during their work, which led to a retaliatory mentality.

However, they didn't dare to directly harm those staff members, so they thought of using their identities as dockworkers to wet the wheat and cause it to sprout, causing losses to the Leitch Group, in order to vent their anger.

The case itself wasn't complicated. There was a motive, a process, and an ending, and all the procedures and processes complied with the federal judicial requirements.

This case could even be taken out as a textbook case, without finding a single problem or flaw!

But the more like this kind of case, the bigger the problem actually is.

In the police station of the port sub-bureau, a police officer left the police station after receiving a call.

He came to a coffee shop diagonally opposite the police sub-bureau, sat down, ordered a coffee, and asked for a cracker. Soon someone sat down opposite him.

This police officer looked up and down at the person in front of him. He was also wearing a police uniform, but the temperament on his body made him look less like an ordinary police officer.

“Your police uniform is too clean.”, he said.

The guy in front of him was the legal advisor beside the specialist. He needed to talk to a suspect privately to continue delaying the case.

If the prosecutor really intervened and entered the prosecution stage, then they would soon have to face huge liquidated damages claims, which was not what the headquarters wanted to see.

Therefore, only by letting the witness recant and make statements unfavorable to the other suspects could it be possible to delay it.

Although those accomplices were detained separately, in fact, no one was specifically watching them. They were all in independent detention rooms.

As long as the door was closed, no one knew what happened inside.

The legal advisor nodded. He also made his hair a little messier, “I won't do anything else.”

The police officer nodded, “It looks much better this way.”, he picked up the coffee and took a sip, “You only have five minutes.”

He shook his head again as he spoke, “I actually don't want to help you, but I owe him a favor.”

“Don't do anything beyond what you promised, I don't want to cause trouble!”

Hunter had just called him, telling him to find a way to arrange for someone to talk to one of the suspects alone. Five minutes would be enough.

He had originally refused because the main culprit's side was under strict guard, but Hunter said that they wanted to see an unimportant accomplice, so he agreed.

As he spoke, he took out an envelope from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

Judging by its thickness, there were at least two thousand yuan inside, if they were using twenty-yuan bills.

"We didn't discuss this before," he said, his eyes fixed on the envelope.

The legal advisor smiled and said, "This is your reward. I don't care what relationship you have with Hunter. You helped me, and he helped me."

"He helped me, and I've already given him his reward."

"You also helped me, and this is your reward."

"Two thousand yuan."

He specifically mentioned how much money was there.

Even though the speculation had become a reality, the police officer couldn't help but gasp.

Based on his current salary, this was almost two years' worth of income without eating or drinking.

Without the slightest hesitation, he picked it up and put it in his inside pocket. "Thank you."

As he said this, he stood up. "Let's go. The sooner we finish this, the better. Otherwise, I always feel uneasy."

The legal advisor followed behind him, and the two of them entered the harbor precinct one after the other.

Golden Harbor City has a total of eleven precincts and one city police department, which is the headquarters.

Although the police system is a relatively closed system, the police officers between the precincts don't all know each other.

There will always be some new faces. As long as the police officer's badge on his chest looks fine, no one will stop him.

Especially since people didn't doubt his authenticity at this time, because they didn't think anyone would be so bold as to impersonate a police officer and wander around the police station.

The place to detain criminal suspects is behind the precinct building. The police officer seemed to have something to do, but in reality, he was taking the legal advisor to the detention room of the suspect he had chosen.

The police officer took the initiative to walk to the police officer in charge of guarding these people, found a reason, and left with him.

As he left, he glanced at the legal advisor and left without looking back.

The legal advisor picked up a bunch of keys from the table, found the one he needed, opened the door to the detention room, and walked in.

The worker sitting on the bench looked up at the police officer who came in, a little confused.

The legal advisor, however, spoke very quickly, but in a way that was completely clear and understandable, and told the worker's family situation.

Seeing the other party's still confused face, he asked, "How much money did they promise to give you to take the blame?"

The worker became a little wary. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"No, you know, because they gave you a sum of money to take the blame. I believe it must be a considerable amount, otherwise you wouldn't agree."

"I heard that you'll be staying inside for at least five or six years, so do you think the money they gave you is enough to buy your precious time?"

The worker looked around. The legal advisor stopped his possible actions. "Don't rush to shout. Let's just chat simply for a few words."

"After all, besides yourself, you also have a family, right?"

This sentence didn't sound fierce at all, but it was the most unsettling threat.

Because the worker was here and couldn't get out in a short time, his worries about his family would increase.

His expression also became serious. "If you dare to hurt my family, I guarantee I will find you and tear you apart!"

The legal advisor shook his head. "No, I haven't hurt them. You are the one who hurt them!"

Looking at the worker's wide eyes as if he didn't understand what he was saying, the legal advisor's face showed a smile. "Your child lost your company during the most important time of his growth."

"His classmates will also laugh at him because his father is a criminal, thereby neglecting him and even bullying him."

"Your wife lost your protection. She has no one to rely on. Even if they promise to give you a sum of money, this money cannot replace you to accompany her."

"She will be disappointed, will be in pain, will be lonely. Do you think such a woman will need to find someone to accompany her when she is most lonely and painful?"

"Your parents cannot get your help because you are in prison, whether in life or in other matters."

"They may also suffer huge mental trauma because of your imprisonment, become silent, and become unwilling to talk and communicate."

"Have you considered it?"

"When your family encounters trouble when you are in prison, who can help you?"

"Your wife, children, they lose your company. Can they still have the same feelings with you as they do now in a few years?"

"You have to learn to think, and it's not just this way that you can earn money."

The legal advisor looked at the watch on his wrist. "If you can tell the truth in court, then I will give you 20,000 yuan, give you and your wife a new job, and let you stay away from Licarley State."

"You don't have to worry about the gang causing you trouble, because they can't find you, and if they want to cause trouble, they will cause us trouble."

"Take the 20,000 yuan and start a new life."

"Or take what they promised you, I don't know exactly how much money, and spend the best years of your life in prison."

"Let your child lose the pride of having a father, let your wife lose the warmth of having a husband, and let your parents lose the support of their child!"

"Where are you when they need you the most?"

"I believe you should have a choice."

As he said this, he paused for a moment. "You can think about it carefully."

"As long as you tell the truth in court, I can guarantee your safety and guarantee that you can get this money!"

As he said this, he looked at the watch on his hand again. "I'm leaving now, but I believe we'll meet again!"

As he said this, he left the room directly, locked the door again, and then put the key on the table.

When he finished all this, the door of the detention room happened to open, and the police officer and the guard came in from outside.

The guard's somewhat suspicious eyes stayed on the legal advisor's face for a moment, and the two passed by each other.

"I haven't seen this person before. Is he a new colleague?"

"Looks a little arrogant!"

The police officer showed some smiles. "I don't know. You know, a lot of people have come here recently!"

The guard nodded and sat back at the table. "Thank you for the cigarettes and donuts. I'll treat you next time!"

The police officer smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Anytime, anywhere!"

As he said this, he turned around and left.

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and pushed the door open with a smile.

Outside the door, the legal advisor had already arrived at the phone booth and dialed a number.

"I've already seen him, and there's a high probability that I've shaken him... Yes, okay, I'll keep an eye on him personally."

Soon, he hung up the phone. Now, what he needs to do is to let a child need a father, a wife need a husband, and let an old couple need their son!