Empire of Shadows

"What do we do, Lance? What can we do for our dead brothers?"

Ethan was the first to stand up. He was a big guy, and he couldn't completely hide behind the car. He took a bullet in the butt and now walked with a limp, which looked a little comical.

Although comical, no one could laugh. The bodies of those brothers were still in the police morgue.

They had originally planned to take the bodies away, but the police indicated that they had to leave the bodies behind as part of their explanation to the public.

In fact, these police officers were also very surprised, because in their plan, many of Lance's people would die, even be wiped out, so from the beginning, they had not considered that they could hold on.

So much so that when they left, the police didn't even need them to leave any living people behind to account for things, and they showed some... awe towards these people.

In fact, this kind of vigorous infighting between social organizations is a battle of mental fortitude.

Even professional soldiers will collapse when the battle attrition reaches a certain level, let alone gang members who have not received professional military training or undergone relevant psychological preparation.

Some people die, and then the remaining people's mental resistance is disintegrated, either surrendering or trying to break through, mindlessly running outwards.

In a situation where the number of people is clearly at a huge disadvantage, whether surrendering or breaking through, the final result is death.

The kind of thing where three or five people can break through the encirclement and interception of more than a hundred gang members armed with hot weapons with just their two legs probably only happens in the currently popular Western movie scenes.

Such people don't exist in reality, but Lance and his gang stubbornly resisted in the back alley until the last second, everyone was desperately fighting, which made them feel incredible and incomprehensible.

Even there were two girls in there, and they seemed to have made enough effort.

Out of surprise and consideration, they didn't let Lance's side leave anyone behind; those corpses were enough.

After Ethan stood up with his butt swaying, the sense of oppression he gave was still very strong. Lance looked at these brothers and sat forward slightly, sitting on the edge of the sofa.

He pressed his arms on his thighs, leaning forward, "First of all, we need to 'disappear' for a while."

"If we are always under people's attention, then our every move will be watched. Now we don't have an advantage, we must build our own advantage."

"Maybe as soon as we get in the car, they will make some moves, such as suddenly increasing manpower or doing something else."

"When the strength of our two sides is not equal, and we are both in the light, we will obviously be at a disadvantage, so we must first 'disappear' from people's sight."

"If they can't see us, they will be nervous. Once they are nervous, we can find their loopholes. As long as there is this loophole..."

Lance straightened up and grabbed something firmly in the air!

Erwin asked, "What about the office?"

Lance looked at Sean, "Sean, you stay and continue to do the work there. You don't have to be afraid. They won't touch the office, because behind the office are the livelihoods of thousands of dockworkers."

"You are safe at the office, unless they plan to go to war with thousands of illegal immigrants on the docks."

"As for the others, move with me. Since we don't have an advantage in numbers, we must concentrate our strength. A punch should have the force of a punch!"

After Lance made this decision, he immediately began to arrange things. They didn't go out all day, and they didn't go out the next day either. The people responsible for watching them still didn't see anyone coming in or out on the third day, which immediately made some people, including Heller, feel that something was wrong.

That day, someone tried to check the house and found that the house was completely empty.

The bloody gauze left on the ground was already slightly moldy, which seemed to indicate that they had left in a hurry and quickly, without even having time to clean up.

How they left and when they left became a mystery.

Heller, who was originally actively preparing to deal with Lance's revenge, also became nervous.

He didn't even go to the Empire Nightclub anymore, hiding in his manor all day and gathering the hundred or so people under his command to protect him.

If Lance and his gang were still in the open, he wouldn't be so nervous, after all, there is such a thing as a telephone.

As soon as Lance went out, he would receive a call, and he could completely use Lance's departure to set up an ambush.

This time, there would be no house or back alley for him to use as cover, right?

But the problem is that now that the people are gone, you don't know where they are, what they plan to do, or what they are doing.

People's fear of the unknown ranks first among all kinds of fears—

People's fear of death is essentially also fear of the unknown afterlife, which is why various beliefs and religions were able to develop rapidly in the ignorant period.

They used unscientific methods to explain the world after death, turning the unknown into the known, which greatly soothed people's fear of death.

Because in their view, the world after death is no longer unknown.

Of course, in order to obtain benefits, they also set some conditions for the afterlife, which is faith.

Only people with faith have a known afterlife; people without faith have an unknown afterlife.

When the long rule of faith and religion turned these into a habit, even a custom, it achieved unprecedented success.

Now that Lance and his gang have disappeared, it has magnified the unease in Heller's heart, making him like a lost lamb without faith.

He didn't dare to go out, and often didn't even dare to appear in front of the window, afraid that Lance would snipe him from a distance.

This directly affected the normal operation of the Camilla gang. The big boss had been hiding at home and not coming out, which also made some lower-level members a little disappointed in him.

Heller also knew that the current situation was very bad, but as long as Lance didn't show up for a day, he wouldn't be at ease for a day.

Someone from the city police station had already told him that his subordinates' arson in the Triangle District had made some big shots very unhappy, and he had to be low-key recently.

This also made it impossible for him to send a large number of people to search for the whereabouts of Lance and his gang, and he could only protect himself for the time being.

What made him even more angry was that bad things didn't just stop there!

His expenses were very high this week. In order to completely deal with Lance in one go, he spent 180,000, but the result was that he was laughed at by the whole city like a clown.

He now has about 100,000 left in funds, which is all he has left—

He originally had about 500,000 in cash, which was more than enough to maintain the operation of a gang, but the problem was that 200,000 of it was used to pay for the private wine, and had already been paid out.

The 180,000 spent this week, as well as some subsequent expenses that need to be included, such as medical expenses, means that he can only have a few tens of thousands left at most.

Even if they are looking for black market doctors or underground doctors, these doctors' fees are cheaper than medical groups, but it is impossible to save all of it.

It is possible that only 20,000 to 30,000 or 30,000 to 50,000 will be left, which is the limit.

He even sometimes felt that those who were seriously injured might as well just die on the spot, at least the compensation would be much less than the treatment cost!

Since he doesn't have much money left, he has to find a way to get money.

He has two paths to choose from. The first is to transfer his laundered money back into his account, but he won't do that.

He spent a huge price to launder the money, and he would never use this fund unless it was the last resort.

So he chose another method, asking Big Bolly for money.

"Hi, Big Bolly, I heard that there is a batch of wine on the market recently that is selling well. You should have made a lot of money, right?"

He first opened the topic with these words. No matter what Bolly said, he would mention the 100,000 he owed him.

But the development of the matter exceeded his expectations, "What wine?"

Heller already vaguely felt something bad, "The wine you took from me, wine worth 100,000!"

Bolly's lazy but arrogant voice on the other end of the phone rang in the receiver, "When the hell did I take your wine?"

"Heller, don't think that you are the leader of the Ca... whatever gang, you can talk to me like this. If you anger me, I will immediately take people to kill you!"

"Also, don't fucking call me if you have nothing to do, and don't tell others that you called me. How could I know a piece of trash like you?"

With that, he hung up the phone, not giving Heller a chance to react.

Heller looked at the receiver in his hand in disbelief, clutching his chest somewhat uncomfortably, that son of a bitch!

My... 550,000!

He quickly took a pill and hated Will and Lance into a hole.

Will was in front, and Lance was behind. He had already told Will that he was going to pick up the goods the next day, but this bitch still had to do it, forcing him to transfer the goods out.

If it weren't for her, those things wouldn't have happened later, and he wouldn't have lost... 550,000.

His math wasn't very good. The principal of 200,000 and the wine that could be sold for 350,000 was exactly 550,000.

Several subordinates standing guard at the door vaguely heard curses coming from Heller's room.

Sometimes he scolded Will, sometimes he scolded Lance, and sometimes he scolded Big Bolly, as if these three people had done something to his family!

Heller could hide in his manor and have a hundred or so people surround him and protect him, but those senior cadres couldn't.

The money they earned had to be handed over to the gang, and then they had many underlings to support.

Many people think… starting a gang is easy, but you have to understand that just paying thirty people a salary costs at least two thousand dollars a month.

You can't just pay them thirty-five dollars. These people join the gang, risking danger, not only because they hope not to be bullied but also because their main goal is to make money.

The income of gang members is definitely higher than the wages of ordinary people.

In addition to that, you have to cover their food, clothing, and expenses, and even buy them weapons and cars.

They don't pay when they consume in their own bars, restaurants, or entertainment venues, and all of this has to be factored in.

A high-ranking cadre supporting thirty subordinates, all added together, requires at least four thousand dollars a month, which is a constraint!

Heller used to have seven high-ranking cadres supporting him, so of course he had money, but for the high-ranking cadres, they weren't so rich.

At night, on a corner of Thirteenth Street near the port area in the Imperial District, there was an underground bar, a business run by a high-ranking member of the Camilla Gang.

In the Imperial District, the Camilla Gang was the most ferocious existence. No one caused trouble here, and no one dared to cause trouble here, so the business was actually quite good.

People like stable entertainment venues, especially in complex places like this.

In the originally bustling bar, suddenly, with a glass half-full of beer shattering on the ground, people screamed, and the bar became completely 'lively'.

The security guards rushed over immediately. This wasn't a dispute between a customer and the bar, but a dispute between customers.

A girl brought by a customer said that the other party had touched her butt, so first there was an argument, then it escalated, and with both sides drunk, it escalated directly to physical violence.

There were quite a few people on both sides, adding up to about twenty, and for the other customers in the bar, a free brawl was definitely the most exciting show.

The bar's security guards tried to separate them, but a few security guards couldn't separate a battle group of twenty people.

Not only could they not do it, but a security guard was also beaten and lost his gun.

The bartender notified the boss immediately, and the bar's boss, that unnamed high-ranking cadre, although he already felt that something was wrong, considering that the bar was one of his main sources of income, he couldn't easily give it up, so he arranged for a few subordinates to go over.

This left him with only about ten people around him.

He felt uneasy, as if some monster was lurking in the dark night outside the house, spying on him in the darkness.

He ordered his men to turn on all the lights in the house, but he still had a feeling of unease, as if countless eyes were staring at him.

He was restless, constantly grabbing his weapon and standing at the door, peering outside, and then quickly returning to the house, driving everyone crazy!

The sudden ringing of the phone made him shudder. He almost pulled the trigger on the phone, but luckily he controlled himself.

He walked to the phone and picked it up. He heard the familiar voice of his subordinate, "Boss, someone used a gun in the bar. You have to come over…"

Although they had suppressed the situation at the scene, it had caused a huge impact. If he didn't go, no one at the scene would know what to do.

Perhaps the surrounding night made him feel oppressed, and the lively atmosphere of the bar could make him feel safe, so he didn't hesitate for long and agreed.

"I'll be there soon. Keep an eye on them and send them to the attic."

After saying this, he beckoned his men, "Get ready, we're going to the bar right away."

Hiding for a few days had already made these people restless. The departure of their companions had already made them jealous, and now hearing that they could leave for the bar, everyone sincerely supported their boss.

Two cars, one in front and one behind, left the villa and headed towards Thirteenth Street.

In fact, it wasn't far from here to Thirteenth Street, about a ten-minute drive. At first, he was a little nervous when he first came out, but as time went on, nothing unusual happened around him, and his heart finally settled down.

At the same time, he was also complaining in his heart that Heller was really useless, letting everything go to such an uncontrollable and irreversible step.

In fact, he hadn't figured out what exactly had led them to this point, but as a high-ranking cadre, he didn't think it was his fault.

Just as the thought of whether to leave the Camilla Gang popped into his mind, when passing through an intersection, suddenly a bright and somewhat dazzling light shone from the side.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the light, and the front of a truck directly crashed into the side door of the car he was in.

The huge impact directly deformed the carriage, and it pushed the entire car sideways across the intersection!

Just as he frantically took out his gun from his arms, but didn't know who to shoot at, accompanied by a violent vibration, everything stopped!

The car was pushed to the corner of the building on the side of the road, and the ninety-degree corner was deeply embedded in the car body. The doors on both sides couldn't be opened, and the windows couldn't be escaped from.

He lowered his body and hid in the back compartment. The sound of submachine guns and pistols came from outside the car, as well as the sound of tires slipping on the ground.

The firefight seemed very intense, but everything happened very quickly. Soon, the gunfire stopped.

He was covered in sweat. Perhaps thinking that the driver was still here and could fight against these people with him, he pushed the driver hard, but when the driver slowly turned his head, he was taken aback!

The twisted and deformed car body allowed the steering wheel to invade the driver's room, and the steering wheel pressed against the driver's chest.

The strong light shone in from the other side, illuminating his flushed face, as if blood could drip from it.

His eyeballs were also bulging out, and his mouth slowly opened, but he couldn't make a single syllable.

The unnamed cadre was so frightened that he shivered. For the first time, he was so terrified.

Now he just wanted to stay away from this… person. He hid behind the passenger seat, and the bright truck headlights made him almost unable to open his eyes. Perhaps the small space wrapped around him gave him a sense of… security.

Suddenly, the sound of hobnailed boots on the ground made him nervous. He quietly raised his head and looked in the direction of the sound.

In the dark night, three guys holding submachine guns, wearing windbreakers and hats, with the shadows cast by the brims of their hats obscuring their faces, were walking towards him in the light of the truck headlights!

He suddenly shrank back, trying to lie on the bottom of the car as much as possible, and prayed to the Federal God or the Imperial God to make it all pass.

The truck slowly left, but he wasn't happy at all. When a person appeared outside the car window and saw him, he said in a voice that almost only he could hear—

“Please…”

Just like the countless people who had said this to him before, but were still torn apart by him, so fearful and desperate!

“God bless you, my friend!”

The three muzzles instantly spat out sparks, and a few seconds later, four cars and the truck left at the same time, leaving only two cars and the corpses inside.

=

Law Firm Front

Back Alley