Empire of Shadows

In the morning, Ennio and several friends met at his doorstep, their faces beaming with heartfelt smiles.

Yesterday, they closed two deals, earning eleven dollars including commissions. It might seem like eleven dollars wasn't much.

But you have to understand that, during this time, illegal immigrants renting other people's work permits could only keep a little over ten dollars of their actual earnings.

Furthermore, that was equivalent to an illegal immigrant's monthly income, but they had earned it in just one day.

To be precise, in one afternoon.

This kind of earning speed made people's eyes turn red with envy.

Lance paid them in cash, distributing all commissions immediately, which better motivated them to work for him.

There's nothing in this world that can't be driven by profit. If there is, it just means you're not offering enough profit.

Eleven dollars was enough to make these young immigrants, who didn't have any proper jobs, work hard for him.

Ennio passed out cigarettes to his buddies. Today, he bought cigarettes that cost twenty-five cents a pack. Usually, they bought hand-rolled tobacco from ordinary families.

It was not only harsh but also stained their teeth yellow. These small packs of cigarettes were different; they weren't as harsh, and they wouldn't yellow their teeth as much.

At this time, it was all raw tobacco. Flue-cured tobacco hadn't yet been marketed to the general public, mainly because the market for women smokers wasn't big enough. Cigarette companies hadn't yet noticed the brewing female consumer base.

When women linked smoking to the fight for women's rights, cigarette companies would start finding ways to get more women to start smoking.

But now, they hadn't thought of it.

The young men stood at the street corner, puffing out smoke. Passersby would deliberately walk a distance away, a reaction that was actually a kind of resistance, even disdain, towards these people.

But to the young men, they felt it was "powerful" and "cool."

This area was inhabited by Imperial immigrants, so most people knew the neighbors who lived nearby. While these people were chatting about whose family might need to borrow money, Maurice, a small guy who hadn't said anything, suddenly spoke up, "I know a place where there are definitely a lot of people who need to borrow money."

Maurice wasn't tall, only about five feet. Even with shoes on, although he was only seventeen, he probably wouldn't grow much taller.

He looked like he was suffering from malnutrition, his hair was a bit yellow, he wore an old baseball cap, and the clothes he wore were hand-me-downs from his brother, washed until they were faded.

Ennio perked up immediately. His father had divorced his mother after coming to the Federation, and now he lived with his father.

He didn't feel any gratitude towards this old man, but rather some resentment, because his father was prone to violence—violent only towards his family.

He worked at a sales company, earning only twenty dollars a month as a base salary, and even that base salary was only obtainable after completing at least one order.

Then, for each additional item sold that month, he could earn an additional income.

His mother had once tried to persuade his father to find a higher-paying and more stable job, such as a worker on an assembly line.

The income would be higher, the union would protect him from being bullied, and the family's finances would be more comfortable.

But his father believed that this was a negation of his potential future. He always felt that he would become a sales champion, then have his own office, his own company, and even his own brand in the future.

After obtaining his Federal Permanent Resident Card, he had read too many inspirational books about sales creating myths. He believed that he would be the next lucky one to become someone of importance through sales, even though many times the only order he sold each month was bought by himself.

Anyone who asked him to change jobs was ruining his future; he would turn hostile!

To promote these products, he didn't want any dignity. He didn't care about others saying nasty things, nor did he care if anyone spat in his face.

Trying to introduce his products and finding ways to sell things was the only shining point in his life.

He seemed like a coward who could be bullied by anyone outside, but back home, he was the demon of the house. He couldn't handle alcohol; one glass would get him drunk.

When drunk, he would use a belt to whip his wife to vent the negative emotions repressed at work, which was also the main reason for their divorce.

He always beat that woman in front of Ennio, not necessarily because he did it on purpose, but possibly because the apartment they lived in was too small, and there was no escape.

In short, one time his father got drunk, stripped her naked, hung her up, and beat her, after which the woman took her things and left overnight.

They were married in the Empire, but they weren't registered in the Federation, so from a certain point of view, they weren't husband and wife in the Federation.

After the woman left, Ennio's father turned his venting target to him. At first, when he was young, he could only passively take the beatings, but now that he was older, he would run away, fight back, and even resist.

Now, Ennio's only thought was to earn more money and then leave this damn house.

So when his little friend Maurice said that there was a place where many people needed to borrow money, Ennio's heart immediately stirred, and he even felt a little thirsty.

He took a hard puff of his cigarette. He liked to bite the cigarette filter; the bitter taste of the accumulated tar made him feel relaxed, "What place?"

"In the building behind the Leiby's house, there's a casino. My father often goes there. There must be people inside who need money."

Ennio's eyes lit up, "Right, I've heard of it too."

He couldn't help himself, "Why don't we go take a look now?"

Two of the young men hesitated, but everyone else was willing to go take a look, so they naturally had to follow.

So seven or eight young men walked quickly down the street. Almost everyone who came towards them would avoid them and show that look of disgust.

No one liked these young men wandering around the streets because no one knew when they would pull out a dagger from somewhere and demand that you hand over the money in your pocket.

It wasn't too far from here to the casino that Maurice mentioned, about less than two kilometers away. After a dozen minutes, they stood in front of a wooden door.

This was in an alley behind the main street. The wooden door looked like the kind that led to a basement. Maurice knocked on the door, and the metal peephole on the door was pulled open with a click, revealing a pair of eyes.

The eyes looked up and down at the people behind Maurice and then closed again.

Just when they thought they couldn't get in, the door suddenly opened.

"Your father didn't come today."

Maurice was a little nervous, "I brought my friends to have some fun. They want to see what it's like."

The strong man guarding the door scrutinized the young men behind him again, finally stopping his gaze on Ennio, "Do you have money?"

Ennio pulled out two five-dollar bills. The strong man hesitated for a moment and finally chose to make way, "Don't cause trouble, or you'll regret it!"

The young men breathed a sigh of relief, and smiles appeared on their faces as a group of people squeezed into the wooden door.

The air inside the door was humid, stuffy, and had a strange smell, like the fermented stench of many rotten people gathered together, a smell very common among the homeless.

After they passed through the downward staircase of about ten meters, they came to a hall.

Calling it a hall, it wasn't too big, less than seventy square meters, and it suddenly became lively.

There were six tables, and the tables were filled with gamblers covered in stinking sweat.

Even though there were several fans working, they still couldn't lower the temperature here.

Some people were shouting loudly, some were laughing wildly, and some were pounding themselves in regret and pain. In that instant, this bizarre scene gave these young men an unimaginable shock!

Some people noticed them, but after seeing Maurice, they didn't pay much attention. He was a "regular" here. He had been brought here by his father and often ran errands for him.

Buying cigarettes or food, and other guests would also ask him to run errands, giving him a penny or two for the errand.

They thought that Maurice brought these people to let them see what it was like and play a couple of rounds.

As long as they came to gamble, the casino operators didn't care who they brought.

Even if it was the president, they wouldn't care!

"This is Blackjack, very popular recently. There are three tables here that are Blackjack…"

Maurice introduced the gameplay on this table to the young men. There were six seats here, and those who didn't have a seat could also bet on these six seats, but sitting down obviously gave a greater sense of participation.

Blackjack had just been introduced to the Federation, and almost all casinos had Blackjack tables, with a large number of participants.

Compared to other gambling methods with more rules and complex gameplay, Blackjack obviously had more confrontation and fun. As soon as it was introduced to the Federation, it became a popular game among the Federation's gambling dogs.

There were no chips on the table. This small underground casino in the neighborhood only used cash.

Watching more than a hundred dollars appear on the table in no time, Ennio's breathing became rapid. So much money, it was the first time he had seen it in his life!

Maurice seemed very calm; he had seen it too many times.

Blackjack is a game of mathematics and probability. As long as the dealer's brain isn't too stupid, they can ensure a high probability of winning money without cheating.

This also allowed someone to win money in every game, and someone winning money was the nuclear power that induced gamblers to continue playing. There was no other!

Just standing there watching for ten minutes, the money flowing across the table had already exceeded seven or eight hundred. Enio swallowed hard several times. He even wanted to try his luck, but Maurice stopped him.

"It's addictive!"