Empire of Shadows

In the office on the top floor of the Empire Nightclub, Heller sat in his favorite chair.

But today, this chair, which usually enveloped him and gave him a sense of security like being back in his mother's womb, didn't bring him much comfort.

Even his preferred tinted glasses were taken off and placed on the table.

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The room was still full of smoke, and the executives were all looking at him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his face looking unwell.

The accountant was calculating some numbers on the side. After about two minutes, the accountant handed him a card with the final figures recorded on it.

He glanced at it, expressionless.

"How was this number calculated?" he asked the accountant, his eyes somewhat fierce. If the accountant couldn't give him a reason, he wouldn't mind letting the accountant bleed a little before the war started.

The accountant handed over a large sheet of paper. His fierce gaze lingered on the accountant for a while before shifting to the paper.

To launch a full-scale war, at least two hundred pistols and matching magazines and bullets would need to be prepared.

This would cost about ten thousand dollars.

The Federation wasn't some small area. Their gang fights weren't like the childish games in those places, still using cold weapons.

In another city, the big shots there were already fighting with armored vehicles. The fact that similar situations hadn't occurred in Goldport City yet could only be attributed to the great deterrent power of the Five Families!

Ordinary criminal groups wouldn't dare to easily start large-scale battles here. The Five Families wouldn't allow them to easily disrupt Goldport City's prosperity.

Then there were the submachine guns, twenty of which were needed, plus magazines, costing about thirteen thousand five hundred dollars.

That was already over twenty thousand.

The list also included some bulletproof vests. The fate of Will and Liam, riddled with bullets, made Heller somewhat fearful. He didn't want to end up like them, his belly full of "seeds."

Bulletproof vests were not only expensive in the Federation but also difficult to buy, so each one was priced very high. They were priced at two hundred dollars each, and every senior executive and Heller bought one.

The total price had already reached twenty-five thousand.

Then there were the mobilization costs. The Camilla Gang wasn't a united, family-oriented criminal organization like the Sumerians, where everyone was as close as family.

This was just a low-level criminal group engaged in the most depraved crimes for profit.

It wasn't realistic to talk to those people about fighting for ideals or the gang's glory.

Money was the nuclear power that could motivate them to move forward!

This would cost about seventy thousand dollars, with some extra funds distributed to the senior executives, who might need some money for unplanned things.

That was already ninety-five thousand dollars.

Then there was the money to deal with some big shots. A full-scale gang war would definitely involve continuous fighting, and even if it didn't last long, it would have a very negative impact on public security.

If they didn't spend money to appease those big shots, even if they won, they would eventually be dispersed by law enforcement and completely finished.

He hadn't listed detailed names here, but there was a list and an estimate of the fees to be paid.

Calculated, it would cost about sixty thousand, one hundred and fifty-five thousand.

Then, considering that some people would definitely die, even if he might not actually give it, he had to be prepared.

Prepare about thirty thousand dollars in compensation…

Then there were some other expenses and conservative estimates of losses. Looking at the number two hundred and twenty thousand, Heller felt his teeth ache.

Afterwards, the Five Families would definitely make trouble for him. He would have to take out a sum of money or give up some of the profits. A large-scale war was really not a good choice.

But now… He lit a cigarette and went to the window, looking down. Tonight, the Empire Nightclub was temporarily closed.

The street in front of the nightclub was full of cars and crowded with at least two hundred people. They were all waiting for Heller's order, a notice.

At this point, he couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

If the first time, Will was killed, he could say that it was a conflict between Will and the Lance Family because his brother Kent was killed, so they had a conflict and attacked each other, unrelated to the gang, which was still plausible.

Now that Liam was also dead, no matter why he died or how he died, if he, the big boss, didn't make any statement, what would these senior executives and gang members think of him?

Would they have any thoughts they shouldn't have?

The Camilla Gang, which used high pressure and fear as a means of control, was really quite fragile in some ways.

"This damn Lance Family, why can't they… be a little weaker?"

"Why do they have to resist?"

He muttered to himself, smoked for a while, and then returned to the table.

A senior executive stood up, "Heller, what are we going to do? Don't keep dragging us along. Everyone is watching you."

"Are we going to war with them, or are we going to forget it? You have to have a plan and a result…"

Another senior executive suddenly stood up, "We can't forget it!"

"If we don't go to war with them this time, what will those Imperials in the Empire District think of us?"

"They will struggle, they will resist, and they may even bite us back."

"We can't give them this opportunity. We must use the blood of that Lance Family to tell people that we still have the final say in the Empire District."

"Otherwise, more people will stand up and try to challenge us!"

This was one of the reasons why there was no turning back. You rule this area by fear, and when people realize that you yourself will also have feelings of fear, they will suddenly no longer be afraid!

Heller finally made up his mind and glanced at his confidant, "Go get two hundred thousand over here."

"Cash?"

Heller glared at him, "What, do you think I'm going to write you a check?"

The confidant grinned and left.

Heller had made a lot of money over the years. He laundered a large portion of this money through underground banks and then used another identity to purchase real estate and bonds. This was his way out.

If one day he couldn't continue in this industry, if he couldn't do it anymore, then he would retire.

The identity he left behind would allow him to live well here without worrying about any other problems.

But not all the money was laundered. The handling fees of those underground banks were painfully expensive, so a lot of money was still kept in the safe.

And this was why many criminal group leaders were arrested and large amounts of cash were found in their residences!

Some of the banknotes were even moldy and rotten, but they didn't care, because other than keeping them at home, they didn't know where else to put them.

He returned to the table, sat down, and put on his tinted glasses again. The two senior executives who had been arguing just now also closed their mouths.

At this moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door. A gang member stood at the door, looking at these big shots in the gang. He had a somewhat fearful expression on his face, "Several police cars are here. The leader wants to see you, Boss."

Heller frowned, then stood up, "Go see what they want to do with me."

The senior executives all stood up and followed him downstairs.

At this time, the atmosphere downstairs was already somewhat tense. Those low-level members were confronting a small number of police officers. When Heller came to the front, he found that the Assistant Chief of the Empire District Branch was here.

"What do you want to do, Heller?"

"The emergency calls have already flooded the police station. Everyone is complaining that you have a large number of gang members gathered here. Are you planning to break our rules?"

Heller didn't back down at all when facing this Assistant Chief. With so many people watching, he had to show his tough side.

Gang members admired the stronger people, not the submissive ones. As the leader of the Camilla Gang, he had to appear strong enough.

He walked up to the Assistant Chief, the distance between them less than fifty centimeters, "You're asking me what I'm doing?"

"Another member of my family is gone today. Liam was killed in front of his club, but what are you doing?"

"You're actually ignoring the murderer and running to my territory to ask me what I'm going to do?"

"What am I going to do?"

"I'm going to avenge my own family!"

These words seemed to ignite some kind of emotion on the scene. The gang members all waved their arms and shouted "Revenge!"

The Assistant Chief couldn't say such a concise phrase as "lawless." He just looked at Heller seriously, "I'll be watching you here. If you dare to mess around, I'll send you all in."

Heller looked at him for a moment, shook his head, and took a few steps back. Seeing that the other party was about to leave, the Assistant Chief took two steps to try to catch up, but was blocked by the gang members…

Back in the office, two hundred thousand in cash was already placed on the table. Even he himself felt his heart beat faster when he saw so much cash piled together.

"Now I'll distribute the money…"

Someone asked, "What about the police outside?"

Heller didn't even lift his head, "Find something to distract them. The Empire District Branch only has so many police officers. It's impossible for everyone to come and watch us…"

He stacked several bundles of money together and looked at one of them, "This is yours…"

On the other side, Lance was also being questioned by the police, such as "Where were you today?", "Have you seen anyone?", "Who can prove these things for you?"

Because Lance had done more homework, the police didn't find out anything of value.

They initially wanted to search Lance's company, but because they didn't have a search warrant, they could only question him at the entrance. Moreover, this was only happening because Lance actively cooperated.

Otherwise, he could have simply refused to answer and returned to his room.

Today, eyewitnesses could prove he was here and hadn't gone anywhere. The police questioning, in reality, was just a warning, a form of deterrence.

Without concrete evidence—even if they found evidence to accuse Hiram, whether Hiram would 'confess' that Lance was the mastermind was another matter.

So, from the beginning, these policemen knew this matter would lead to nothing and had no practical significance in the case.

What they were doing was merely a warning, a deterrence, from law enforcement.

In the evening, more and more men in blue shirts arrived. They had heard something and, seeing the growing crowd, the police were also getting a headache and called for backup.

The situation on both sides was immediately reported to the city police department. This was a rare occasion for Chief Charlie to work overtime.

Since he had gotten older, he rarely stayed up late working, mainly because his body couldn't handle it.

One night of staying up would take several days or even two weeks to recover from. He wasn't young anymore and planned to live a few more years.

But what happened today was so serious that he had to work overtime.

"…Continue to keep an eye on them, don't let them take any further action, and report any problems to me at any time."

He hung up the phone and rubbed his temples. He had just taken some blood pressure medication, but it wasn't working very well.

His temples were still swollen and throbbing, and he had a faint headache.

Hunter had told him about some of his findings in the afternoon. Liam's death was likely caused by Lance, but he wasn't sure why; it might have been an escalation of conflict.

Before Heller gathered his men, Chief Charlie felt everything was still under control.

But as darkness began to fall and the Camilla gang began to gather, he realized that the situation was ultimately heading in the direction he least wanted.

The whole country was focused on the prohibition issue. As an important port city and an economic bellwether, Goldport City's complex social situation also drew a lot of attention.

If a large-scale gang war broke out at this time, the mayor would certainly be fine, but his position as police chief would definitely be over.

Therefore, it had to be controlled!

Bang, bang, bang. The knocking on the door distracted him a bit. His temples weren't as swollen anymore. "Come in."

The assistant chief walked in, closed the door behind him, and sat down opposite him.

He glanced at the glass bottle containing the pills on the table and said, not surprised, "High blood pressure again?"

Charlie nodded, took out two cigarettes from the cigarette case, lit one, and passed it over. "It's impossible not to be high. These people are too troublesome."

The assistant chief took a puff after lighting his cigarette. "It's indeed very troublesome. I just received some news from informants that Heller and his men are indeed going to make trouble for the Lance family."

Chief Charlie didn't speak. It wasn't like he didn't have informants. He knew too, which was why he was having a headache now.

"Dragging it on isn't a solution either," the assistant chief added.

This sentence was peculiar, giving people a special feeling. Chief Charlie looked up at him. Just as he was about to flick the ashes, he noticed that the ashtray was full.

He dumped the cigarette butts and ashes from the ashtray into the trash can, walked back, and sat down. "What do you mean?"

The assistant chief raised his eyebrows. "The number of emergency calls in the Empire District has surged. Some people reported that their doors were being broken down, some reported arson…"

"They're stretching the police force. I'll transfer some from the Prussia precinct," Chief Charlie said, picking up the phone.

The Prussia precinct was located east of the Empire District and west of the Bay Area, with a boundary point between the three districts.

It was faster to transfer police force from there.

As for why not transfer from the city center, it was because no one wanted anything to happen in the city center.

If something happened in the city center due to the transfer of police force, Chief Charlie would have to take responsibility.

Just as he was about to finish dialing the Prussia precinct's phone number, the assistant chief said, "Can you keep stopping them forever?"

Chief Charlie, who was turning the dial, suddenly stopped, repeating the same question as before, "What do you mean?"

The assistant chief didn't answer immediately but took a big puff of his cigarette. "I heard that Lance's core members are only thirty or so people, but Camilla's side has three hundred people."

"Even if you transfer two or three hundred police officers, according to the standard dispatch rules, one armed intrusion can trap at least six police officers and three police cars."

"If you add some false alarms, it won't matter how many people you transfer over. Moreover, you can't transfer that many people at all!"

The number of police officers on duty at the federal police station at night wasn't large. There were probably less than sixty police officers still working at the Empire District police station.

Even if you transfer from other districts, you can only transfer about a hundred people at most, which won't solve the specific situation.

Chief Charlie put the receiver back. "So, what exactly do you mean?"

The assistant chief hesitated for a long time before whispering, "Let's block off the streets and let them have a controlled gang fight. No matter what the outcome, this matter ends here."

"It's already dark, there won't be too many witnesses, and no ordinary people will be hurt."

"After the gang fight is over, we'll arrest some people, so there will be an explanation to the public and the media, and this matter will pass."

"If anyone tries to make a move after this, they will be the enemy of all the police in Goldport City."

"But it's unlikely there will be a next time!"

Chief Charlie didn't show the anger or displeasure one might expect. "How much money did Camilla's people give you?"

Without a doubt, three hundred against thirty. The person who came up with this idea must have taken dirty money to be so black-hearted.

The assistant chief gestured a "one" and then a "five." Fifteen thousand dollars was indeed enough to persuade him to do something.

Chief Charlie knew that the two assistant chiefs of the city bureau sometimes took money, but as long as they didn't make mistakes on matters of principle, he often turned a blind eye.

Even he himself took money, so how could he ask his subordinates not to take money?

But that's how society was. The Federation had long been rotten to the core from top to bottom.

To collect money legally, reasonably, and confidently, senior politicians even drafted laws related to politicians collecting money and circumvented all moral and legal risks for their money-collecting behavior.

From the president to the city councilors, they were all doing the same thing.

Although the police chief wasn't a politician, why couldn't he… take money?

"Charlie, like I said, you can't keep stopping them from having a gang fight forever."

"Can you stop them for one day, three days, a week, or a month or a year?"

"It's better to completely end them before the conflict continues to spread. That's the most appropriate approach. What do you say?"

"And they promised that after this matter is over…" the assistant chief tapped his finger on the table three times.

The sound of *tap, tap, tap* suddenly lowered Charlie's high blood pressure…