Empire of Shadows

If you were to rank the smartest people in a bar, the bartender would definitely be number one.

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The bartender looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, dressed in a white shirt and black vest. He glanced at the two dollars on the table, then sized up Lance. Under Lance's gaze, he picked up the two dollars and put them in his pocket.

He looked towards the stage, "The guy wearing blue jeans and a dark green cowboy hat is Hammer."

The bartender turned back to Lance, "Don't cause trouble in the bar."

Lance nodded slightly and walked to the edge of the stage.

Hammer was in a bad mood today. This was his second drink.

After reporting the illegal immigrants to the union, the union people ignored his report. He was very angry. His daily work exhausted him, but he still couldn't earn much money. He believed that all of this was caused by the illegal immigrants and immigration.

Although the anti-immigration movement didn't last long, it provided an outlet for many federal people who couldn't find a reason for their failure.

They believed that their failures were caused by immigrants.

But in reality, even without immigrants, they still wouldn't succeed. But now they could comfortably convince themselves and find a common target to hate.

He should have left after finishing the first drink, but perhaps the kid he beat up at the dock entrance caused some unknown change in his mood, so he ordered another one.

There was nothing he could do. His friend also ordered one with him.

Beer and whiskey. The alcohol content didn't seem high, but water would enter the bladder, while alcohol entered the blood vessels. It might not be strong, but it wasn't weak either.

At this time, the two were already a little tipsy, cursing and telling the dancers on the stage to face them.

The dancers were used to this kind of freeloading and just continued to work hard to show their talents to the customers who put in change.

"These bitches are too snobbish! Anyway, they're showing it to people, why not show it to us a little longer!" Hammer continued to use his specialty, complaining and grumbling.

"F*ck!"

He took another big gulp. The ice-cold beer, combined with the right amount of alcohol, made him feel relaxed.

He wiped the foam from his mouth and suddenly laughed, laughing inexplicably.

Just then, a few people came up behind him. One of them even put his arm around his shoulder from his left side, "Hammer?"

Hammer looked back at the people around him. They were all young people he didn't recognize.

Almost instinctively, or subconsciously, he raised his left arm and turned around, forcing the other party to remove his arm from his shoulder, "Who the hell are you?"

His colleague also stood up. Both of them were guys who did physical labor at the dock. They were strong and imposing.

Deresi (Hiram's friend), who had been pushed away by him, felt a little embarrassed, "We have something we want to talk to you about. Come out with us."

Hammer blinked and pushed him in the chest, "You think I'll just go out if you say so..."

Lance, who was standing next to him, grabbed the large beer glass he had put on the table and smashed it hard on his head!

The blood flowing from the crack on his forehead instantly stained half of his face red.

Broken glass and half-finished beer turned into foam and flew in all directions. The dancers quickly retreated, but didn't scream.

Hammer's head was severely hit, and he lost his balance all at once. He grabbed the stage, but still fell to the ground.

His colleague wanted to help, but a gun was pointed at his head, so he could only retreat and stand aside.

Deresi and the others immediately raised their leather shoes and kicked him in the head. The alcohol and the heavy blow to the head made it impossible for Hammer to stand up.

He tried, but he fell heavily to the ground again halfway, and as a result, he would be kicked a few more times on his head and face.

Fights between drunks were common in the port bars. These workers had not received much higher education, and after drinking too much, they could start fighting over a word or two.

The people around didn't feel scared, but instead became excited, and some even shouted, "Beat him to death!"

They were all a bunch of people who enjoyed watching the excitement!

The bartender asked someone to help watch the bar and took the initiative to walk over, standing next to Lance, "You said you wouldn't cause trouble," he said with a grimace.

Lance glanced at him, then grabbed the shoulder of the person next to him and jumped onto the stage, "I'm buying everyone a drink!"

Those who were still watching the excitement or planning to leave looked at Lance with surprise. They all raised their glasses, whistling or shouting, and waving their arms to show their enthusiasm at this moment.

Lance jumped down from the stage, took out a wad of money, didn't count it, but there were at least seventy or eighty dollars, and stuffed it into his pocket, "If it's not enough, I'll have someone come over to make up for it tomorrow. If it's enough, I'll treat you and your colleagues to a drink with the rest."

The bartender was also stunned for a moment and gave Lance a meaningful look, "Get him out of here as soon as possible," then returned to the bar, where a large group of people had already begun waiting to receive their drinks.

As for Hammer?

Who the hell cares? It would be better to beat him to death, that son of a bitch!

Several people grabbed Hammer by the hair and dragged his bloodied face out of the basement. In just less than ten minutes, everyone felt sweat all over their bodies.

His colleague was also brought out. Lance glanced at him, counted out five two-dollar bills, pinched them with his index and middle fingers, and stuffed them into his pocket, "Go back and take a shower, get a good night's sleep, nothing happened."

"You haven't seen Hammer, and you don't know what happened."

"I can find him, so I can find you, right?"

After all, he was just an ordinary worker. Even if he was good at fighting, he could only back down when he encountered this group of people who were obviously not like them.

Moreover, there were ten dollars.

"I... uh, my relationship with him isn't that good," he said helplessly, but it was also true.

Lance patted him on the shoulder, "Don't do stupid things, go."

The man took a few steps and looked back, took a few steps and looked back, and when he reached the entrance of the alley, he ran away!

The security guard and the gatekeeper looked at Hammer being dragged out by his hair, and just looking at it made them feel pain!

At this time, most people's soles were inlaid with iron nails, mainly to protect the soles of leather shoes.

It sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth.

The first thing most people did after buying leather shoes was to inlay iron nails on the heels, in order to reduce the wear and tear of the leather shoes.

Because people now are not so rich that they can buy a pair of shoes for no reason. In order to make a pair of shoes last longer, they would put nails in them.

Of course, this also allowed them to make a crisp sound when walking. Some people liked this sound, and this situation often occurred between the lower and bottom classes.

Lance's buddies were all from the bottom of society. The first thing they did when they got new leather shoes was to put nails in them.

It's conceivable that although the shoe nails are basically flat and slightly concave and convex, it would still be terrible to kick them in the face!

Hammer's face and head were covered in wounds, like a blood gourd.

Lance had someone drive the car over. At the same time, he took out the two captured pistols, unloaded the magazines, and returned them to the security guard who had a blister on his face.

"We can be strangers, we can be friends, or we can be enemies. The decision is yours."

"Remember my name, Lance."

He patted the gatekeeper on the chest to express his gratitude for his calmness, and then, after the car came, threw Hammer into the car and left.

The gatekeeper looked at the security guard, "Lance?"

The security guard also had a headache. Although Lance took away the magazines, the magazines were worthless. In other words, they didn't actually lose anything.

"I'll go down and take a look."

The security guard came to the bar. There was no panic on people's faces, but it was even more lively than usual.

He squeezed to the bartender's side, watching him and two apprentices working hard and sweating, a little inexplicably, "What happened just now?"

"He bought everyone a drink, including us."

The bartender certainly wouldn't give everyone a glass of whiskey. It was still forty percent "bomb," a large glass of beer, plus an ounce of inferior whiskey.

Adding it all up, it wouldn't cost fifty dollars. The rest, of course, was theirs.

The bartender took out a bottle of copper-labeled Napo whiskey. In a low-end bar, this was already considered a mid-range wine.

He poured a large glass and handed it to the security guard.

The security guard scratched his head. This matter was not easy to handle.

Even if he went to tell the gang cadre above, the bar didn't lose anything, but instead made a lot of money. The bar owner certainly wouldn't have any objections, and the people who came to play wouldn't have any objections either.

The only person injured in the whole incident was his face, but was he going to start a gang war for a small injury on his face that might not even leave a scar?

Maybe the big boss would throw him in the trash. Gang wars also cost money.

How should this matter be handled?

He couldn't figure it out!

On the other side, Hammer, who was sitting in the car and woke up from the alcohol after being blown by the slightly cold evening wind, was already starting to get scared. He groaned, clutching his head, "You've got the wrong person."

No one paid attention to him. He quickly changed his words, "If I did something wrong, I apologize. Sometimes I do things without thinking..."

Ethan, who was sitting next to him, raised his fist and started punching him. Lance, who was driving behind, knew that Ethan was definitely beating him up when he saw the car in front of him bumping up and down.

The car finally stopped in an alley next to the hospital. Lance went to the ward, while Allen and another young man stayed at the door chatting.

They immediately stood up when they saw Lance coming and briefly explained the situation.

Lance took four packs of cigarettes and twenty dollars and gave them to them, "Thank you for your hard work tonight."

With that, he entered the room.

Erwin had already woken up, but his expression was not good.

"The person has been found. Do you want to deal with it yourself, or should I do it?"

Erwin's spirits immediately lifted when he heard this.

"I want to do it myself!"

Lance walked to the door and said to Allen, "Go get a wheelchair."

Soon, Lance wheeled Erwin outside. When the now docile Hammer saw Erwin, he knew where the problem lay!