Empire of Shadows

"I heard that there's an Anderson restaurant in Starlight District that tastes very good..."

As they left the company, one of them mentioned a highly-rated restaurant they had recently discovered.

Everyone has different preferences, but most people are interested in local cuisine.

Seeing their expectant gazes, the specialist had no objections, "Let's go there then."

He traveled back and forth across the Federation, and at first, he enjoyed trying different foods, but as he visited more and more places, these external things gradually lost their appeal to him.

What he truly liked, what he wanted, was power within the company!

Shares, board of directors – these could bring him far more satisfaction than food.

Although he had already passed the stage of pursuing gourmet food, who could refuse delicious food?

The group took two cars to Anderson's restaurant in Starlight District.

With Chef and owner Anderson completely relinquishing control over the restaurant's management, the manager was able to fully utilize his business acumen.

Now the restaurant has opened three branches in Goldenport City, and they are planning to open a fourth, a very, very high-end one.

Its positioning is to serve "successful people"; ordinary people simply cannot enter. Either they are well-known political figures and celebrities in Goldenport City,

or they need an invitation to become a member and book a table at the restaurant.

The manager once said something that Anderson would never forget—

"We want to make it an honor for some people to dine at our restaurant!"

Isn't this the highest realm a chef can pursue in his lifetime?

If people consider it an honor to dine at this restaurant, then it naturally includes the implication that they are honored to enjoy the food made by old man Anderson!

He couldn't refuse this!

Anderson's first restaurant is now extremely popular because only here can you taste food personally cooked by Mr. Anderson.

The group arrived at just the right time, and the restaurant manager gave them a table.

Every mealtime, the restaurant reserves two or three tables for unforeseen circumstances, just like now.

The Legere Group has a great reputation in the Federation, and the manager is willing to set aside a table for their huge reputation and social status.

It must be said that Anderson, the old man, has a bad temper, but his skills are unquestionable. The food he carefully cooks exudes a tempting aroma, and even the absent-minded specialist begins to focus on the food under the lure of the aroma.

At the table, they discussed some future work directions, some public relations directions, and their work matters.

The food was quickly and unconsciously eaten, and everyone was about seven or eight percent full.

Middle-class people are very refined in their lives. They read all kinds of books about life and health.

When books say that the middle class should only eat seven or eight percent full to be healthy, they will do so.

Eat more beef, more eggs, and drink more milk.

After the specialist paid the bill, the group returned to the car contentedly, ready to return to the company to continue the work they hadn't finished today.

For some reason, on the way back, they clearly felt a slight traffic jam.

"The traffic in Goldenport City is really visibly terrible. It's even more congested here than in Goldstate!"

"I always thought the most congested place was the central district of the Special Zone, but look at this..."

The driver driving the car couldn't help but complain a few times.

Goldstate is indeed one of the most congested places in the Federation, but only one of them.

The Special Zone is congested because there are too many celebrities and dignitaries in the Special Zone, and even their nannies may drive a car when they go out.

Goldenport City is congested because there are many wealthy people here and many people doing business. It is not surprising for a company to have three or five cars, or even thirty or fifty cars.

The car slowly came to a stop in the middle of the road with the flow of traffic.

For no reason, the specialist felt a little absent-minded and a little uneasy.

He had just taken out a pack of cigarettes, and when he took out a lighter to light one for himself, his attention was drawn to the scene outside the window.

A large truck was crashing into his car at an extremely fast speed.

The cigarette he had in his mouth quietly slipped from his lips, and he slowly raised his head to look at the front of the truck, which was already close at hand, and said the last words of his life—

"Motherfucker!"

He turned his head sharply and looked at the people in the car.

His life and time seemed to be paused at this moment, no, it should be said to be in slow motion.

The driver was patting the steering wheel with both hands and complaining to his colleague in the passenger seat about something, and small droplets of saliva splashed out of his open, slightly distorted mouth.

The colleague sitting in the passenger seat could only see his profile, with a flattering smile.

The colleague sitting next to him seemed to be in a daze. He didn't participate in any of the topics, nor was he aware of the danger that was coming.

A small piece of glass, about the size of a soybean, slowly flew from right to left in front of him. It kept spinning in the air, and occasionally it would refract some of the light coming through the car window into his eyes!

Then more glass began to fly from right to left, as well as the rapid and horrified changes in the expressions on his colleagues' faces!

The next second, with a loud bang, he shook violently and flew towards the colleague next to him, losing consciousness at the same time!

The truck pushed his car straight into a house on the side of the road. Just as the surrounding people were still in shock, a second truck crashed into another car!

The specialist's body kept twitching, and he was constantly vomiting blood. His neck formed an exaggerated and distorted angle with his body.

There was a buzzing sound in his ears, and he faintly heard a man's furious curse.

He remembered the model that the company's cleaner had taken away when he left, which he considered a kind of intimidation.

So, that's not a model!

He suddenly had this realization, he didn't want to die.

Everything in the past flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern. He remembered the first time he ruthlessly drove the "master" who taught him how to work in the company out of the company according to the company's rules and regulations.

He thought of the smiles people gave him when they faced him, and the curses and taunts they gave him when they turned their backs.

He thought of those who scolded him for being a lackey and that he would not end well, and this moment!

Perhaps from the beginning, his fate was decided, he thought!

The strength in his body was getting less and less, his eyelids were getting darker and darker, and gradually he was completely swallowed by darkness...

Soon the fire truck and the police arrived at the scene, and they arrested the two truck drivers, who were also very cooperative.

The police officer in charge of the dispatch glanced at it and knew that this was a murder case, because the crash barriers of the two trucks had been modified.

It was as if they were specially modified for collision. To say that this was not intentional would definitely be underestimating their intelligence.

But whether it was intentional or not, they would handle it impartially.

The two cars were rescued, and a total of nine people were found in them, six of whom had already lost their vital signs.

The remaining three people were not in very good condition either, and they were also facing various problems.

Several people in a car parked on the side of the road had been watching everything happen. They had been here before the specialist and his team's car arrived at this intersection.

After the scene was almost busy, it took the people inside away.

"...I heard a bang, and after that car was pushed out by our truck, it crashed into the corner of the wall!"

"Something very interesting happened. Part of the wall of that house was smashed open, revealing the people in the house."

"He was scolding angrily, his face covered in wall dust..."

Lance listened carefully as Ron described the process of observing the car accident up close.

Their trucks were modified, with two I-beams running through the entire car.

The heavier the cargo in the car, the stronger the impact force when the speed is increased!

Judging from Ron's description, the people in the two cars basically couldn't survive.

He nodded, "It's very funny...", he paused, "Alan, go to the hospital to inquire and see if the people are really dead."

"If not...", he made a throat-cutting gesture, "Then help them relieve their pain."

After Alan stood up and walked outside, Lance looked at the people in the room and said with a smile, "Then next, let's see how they deal with it..."

After lunch, the general manager of the Legere Group felt a sense of unease. He didn't know why he had this feeling, maybe it was because he stayed up late last night?

He couldn't sleep last night and had insomnia.

After the specialist and his team entered the company, some rumors spread within the company, saying that the board of directors was already dissatisfied with the general manager's ability.

It was very likely that the specialist would stay and directly replace his job and become the manager of a large branch.

In terms of power, this is actually a kind of "progress". The general manager of a regional branch definitely has more power than the specialist at headquarters, and can also seek more benefits for himself from more businesses.

He scoffed at these rumors. He had people collect information on who was spreading these rumors, intending to give these people a good look after the specialists left.

He originally planned to take a nap after lunch, but for some reason, his heart was beating a little faster.

He sat in the office, looking out the window at the scenery, his mind blank.

Suddenly, the piercing telephone ring suddenly rang, making him shiver.

Several seconds passed, and the phone rang several times before he answered.

"General Manager, you need to get to the hospital right away. The specialists were in a car accident on their way back from lunch. Two big trucks..."

In that instant, the General Manager's blood pressure soared, and he experienced a strong ringing in his ears, an incessant buzzing that almost drowned out the voice in the receiver!

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the hospital, only to be confronted with seven beds covered in white sheets.

"...Two trucks collided in an accident. They lost control, and that's what led to this tragedy."

The police officer was explaining the situation at the scene to him. According to the on-site investigation, the two trucks had originally been driving side-by-side.

But they bumped into each other, causing both truck drivers to misjudge the situation. They may have mistakenly stepped on the gas, ultimately crashing into the two cars stopped in the middle of the intersection, one after the other.

"So… you're saying my colleagues were also responsible?"

The police officer shrugged. "They could have waited for the light to change before moving forward."

The General Manager's expression looked like he wanted to laugh. After a moment, he asked, "How are the two drivers?"

The police officer shook his head. "After a crash like that, even truck drivers would be in bad shape."

"They were rushed into emergency care, but they didn't make it."

Both the doctor and the police officer concealed the fact that the truck drivers were already close to death. Even if they hadn't been driving and involved in such a violent collision, they probably wouldn't have lived much longer, maybe a month or two.

The General Manager took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. That familiar scent… was back again!

He looked at the police officer, and the police officer looked back at him. They stared at each other for a moment, and finally, he abandoned the thought of telling the police officer his "guess."

He had no evidence, and he didn't know if these police officers were in league with Lance and his people. This city was far more dangerous than the directors in Jinzhou imagined!

He left two of the company's employees to handle the follow-up matters there. After returning to the company, he immediately called the Vice President. "The working group sent by headquarters was in a car accident."

At first, the Vice President didn't realize the seriousness of the situation. He joked, "Did they catch you committing a crime in office? Are you planning to get rid of them?"

They had a good relationship in private, so the Vice President would joke with him like that.

But the General Manager said very seriously, "They just went out for lunch, and on their way back, they were in a car accident. Two trucks, supposedly loaded with goods, crashed into the side of their car, one after the other."

"Now seven out of nine people are dead, and two are still in emergency care."

The receiver was so quiet that only some breathing could be heard.

About a minute passed before the Vice President's somewhat off-key words came through: "What the hell happened?!"

"Are you sure you're not fucking kidding me?" His tone was still full of disbelief and mistrust.

The General Manager reaffirmed, "I'm sure."

"Fuck!"

"God, why did this happen?!"

"This is terrible!"

After he vented his emotions for a while, the General Manager said, "Don't you feel a sense of familiarity?"

"Half a year ago, headquarters also arranged for a specialist to come over."

The Vice President paused for a moment. "Are you saying… this was deliberate?"

"Who is it?"

Without waiting for the General Manager to answer his question, he proactively said the name—

"The Lance family?"

It seemed that this was the only possibility.

The Vice President calmed down a bit. "I need to discuss this with the others. Watch your own safety. I'll notify you as soon as there's a result."

Soon, the entire board of directors knew about this, which infuriated all the directors!

Some clamored to send Lance and the people of the Lance family in, while others said they should know what the consequences of provoking the group company were.

After everyone calmed down, the CEO asked some people to leave, and the Vice President, the Chairman of the Board, and the director in charge of arranging hitmen stayed behind.

"I remember last time we didn't seem to pay attention to this aspect…" The Chairman of the Board was a little puzzled.

He knew about the specialist's car accident last time, but no one had ever told him that it was related to the mafia.

If they had known these facts last time, many of the ways of handling the problem would have changed.

The Vice President said softly from the side, "His family made a lot of noise."

The Chairman of the Board slapped his forehead. "I remember now."

At that time, the family of the specialist made a lot of noise, insisting that it was an accident that occurred during work, and demanded that the company provide corresponding compensation.

How was this possible?

They also fought a lawsuit with the deceased's family, proving in various ways that the car accident occurred after work, and there was no overtime.

This also meant that the company did not need to pay any compensation for death on duty.

However, out of humanitarianism, the company's board of directors arranged for a special person to give the deceased's family two hundred yuan, as… a kind of comfort?

Their attention at the time was focused on the lawsuit with the deceased's family, rather than "who caused the car accident," missing the opportunity to delve deeper into the matter.

And at that time, they didn't think anyone would dare to openly murder the group company's specialist!

But now, they knew.

Indeed, someone dared to do so.

The office was quiet for a moment, then someone asked, "So, how are we going to deal with this next?"

"Should we… forget it?"

The Chairman of the Board immediately shook his head. "Forget it?"

"This is four million, and we can be sure that this Garden Trading Company has used some shady means to force us to face breach of contract and pay liquidated damages."

"This is naked blackmail, it's contract fraud, we can't pay this money!"

"If you think we should forget it, then you pay the money, and I will agree to 'forget it.'"

"Otherwise, we continue."

The Vice President lowered his voice a little and asked, "But… they are not very easy to deal with. What if we fail?"

The CEO sat aside and thought for a long time before saying, "If we fail, we will consider the matter of failure."

"What Mr. Chairman said is already very clear. Someone intends to blackmail us for four million. If we bow our heads, then many people will try to blackmail us."

"We can't set this precedent, gentlemen!"

The CEO and the Chairman of the Board had the same idea, and the Vice President naturally would not interfere and remained silent.

And the director in charge of this matter also remained silent.

"Then let's do this first. Call the people you found and let them take action as soon as possible. I am eager to see the names of the Lance family and Lance White in the newspapers!"