Empire of Shadows

Hatred is a peculiar emotion, capable of driving a person to commit terrifying acts they never imagined possible.

Moreover, hatred is impervious to any form of resolution. Instead of diminishing with the passage of time, it festers and ferments within the heart's guilt and remorse!

Those who glibly claim to dissolve hatred with time and love are often driven by ulterior motives rather than a genuine desire to quell animosity.

It's merely their sanctimonious excuse; they need it.

Time hadn't dulled the edge of the memory; the nephew's agonizing screams still echoed in his ears, causing the assistant's emotions to surge.

He lowered his head, his hands pressed firmly against his thighs, trembling slightly. Hatred gnawed at his insides like a venomous snake, turning each day into an agonizing ordeal!

Only by personally executing that bastard could he liberate himself from the prison of regret and embrace life anew.

Lance sat there, apprehending a Jimmy was as simple as child's play to him, not difficult at all, but…

"Twenty thousand is a lot of money, but it's not the motivation that drives me to do this," Lance didn't directly refuse, but gave him a response he didn't quite understand.

The assistant looked up at Lance, puzzled by the statement's meaning, searching Lance's face for any hidden clues.

He sought expressions like, "I'm not satisfied with your offer," or "Did you forget to add a little extra?" but found none. Lance simply regarded him calmly, his placid gaze devoid of any emotional tremor.

He knew something crucial was missing, but what was it?

His mind, conditioned by prolonged work under Jophbah, had fallen into a cognitive trap. "I can give you more money, my savings…"

Lance raised a hand, waving it dismissively. "That's not the reason I'd do this for you. Anyone can offer me money, but I won't necessarily do anything for them."

The assistant was bewildered and distressed, clutching his head in his hands. "I don't know!"

Lance said softly, "No, you do know. Find it, say it…"

After what felt like an eternity, the assistant's mind, dulled by monotonous work, finally stirred. From snippets of rumors, he gleaned what he thought Lance wanted.

Instinctively, he found it absurd, but soon, the absurdity faded, replaced by an indescribable sensation, akin to…

He couldn't articulate it, perhaps akin to the feelings of God's devotees, that sacred sense of being enveloped and illuminated by warmth and light.

He rose from the sofa, approached Lance, and lowered his head. "Mr. Lance, please help me seek justice. I beg you."

In that instant, the assistant's previously restless, agitated, anxious, hateful, and remorseful heart, besieged by negative emotions, suddenly calmed. He had done everything within his power for his nephew.

A hint of a smile touched Lance's lips. "I will seek justice for you!"

He paused, then added, "He will appear before you in the next few days. Now, go back and rest well. Everything will be alright!"

The assistant departed, his steps lighter than they had been since his nephew's tragedy. A smile even graced his face.

As he emerged from the house, a ray of sunlight bathed him perfectly, filling him with warmth!

He drove back to the office at the bank, where Mr. Jophbah immediately inquired, "Did Lance agree?"

The assistant's expression was slightly strange. He couldn't help but compare Mr. Jophbah and Lance, and the more he compared, the greater the disparity seemed.

He shouldn't have thought that way, but he… just couldn't help but think that way.

He nodded. "Mr. Lance has agreed to our request. Jimmy will appear before us soon."

Mr. Jophbah pumped his fist. "Excellent!" He, too, harbored animosity towards Jimmy, who frequently extorted him, and he longed for revenge!

He immediately signed a check for twenty thousand, handing it to him. "Have it sent over. I've covered your share, I owe it to you."

The assistant paused, nodding. He understood Mr. Jophbah's meaning. Had it not been for his compromise, his nephew might still have died, but at least not because of their betrayal.

Being killed by an opponent like Jimmy, and being betrayed and murdered by one's own kin, were two entirely different concepts.

But neither ten thousand nor twenty thousand could fill the void in his heart.

The assistant returned home first. Although Mr. Jophbah had covered his share, he still wanted to give Lance something.

He opened the safe, carefully retrieving a box from within.

The box contained numerous pieces of jewelry, the most striking of which was a ruby ring.

Half of it was ruby, the other half gold. The clear, bright ruby meant it could fetch at least fifty thousand, or even more.

For the assistant and his family, the ring held extraordinary significance, as it was a gift from nobility.

It had originally been a nobleman's ring, bestowed upon his ancestor for his exceptional performance as a deer hunter in the hunting grounds.

Passed down through generations, it had evolved from a valuable ring into a symbol of family heritage.

But today, he felt, it was time to give it away, to someone more deserving!

Lance was somewhat surprised when he received the ring, but he gladly accepted the gift.

Regardless of its value, it wasn't money. The value of a gift lay not in its monetary worth, but in the sentiment it conveyed.

Having accepted the assistant's gift, Lance naturally had to work. Soon, Burton received Lance's instructions, and people began to circulate the streets.

Burton himself even ventured near the harbor district to gather information.

He had recently gained some notoriety in the Goldport City underworld, always proactively seeking out information and then relaying it to Maurice.

Maurice was now essentially the "intelligence chief" of the Lance family, with many familiar faces in the Imperial District. People were willing to chat with this young man who had grown up on the streets.

Therefore, he was more likely to obtain information, and Lance entrusted him with this responsibility.

With Polly's death in a "gunfight" and the Brotherhood's core members scattered, the once arrogant and domineering Brotherhood in the harbor district seemed to have ended their reign overnight.

Instead, the Red Dog Gang began to rapidly expand its territory.

But the harbor district was too large, and before the Red Dog Gang could occupy even half of it, several new street family clans emerged, staking out their own spheres of influence.

The once relatively simple harbor district suddenly became complex, with five or six forces emerging alongside the Red Dog Gang.

However, none of this mattered to Jimmy, as he was preparing to flee.

If Polly's death had the greatest impact on anyone, it was undoubtedly the Brotherhood's senior cadres.

Polly was the foundation of their foothold in Goldport City. Without Polly, the Brotherhood would not have grown to its present strength.

Jimmy and some other senior cadres knew that Polly had a powerful figure supporting him, but they didn't know who it was.

A gang with a powerful backer and a gang without one were two entirely different concepts.

But regardless, it was all over now!

Jimmy planned to escape to Creek Valley City first, then continue north…

He just didn't know if the Dangerous Goods Administration was still chasing them like mad dogs?

As he peered through the gap between the curtains and the window, observing the situation on the street, the sudden sound of keys made him tense. He grabbed his gun and stood behind the door.

As the door opened, a woman entered.

He yanked the woman into the house, nearly causing her to fall. Jimmy quickly poked his head out, looking left and right in the corridor, before finally relaxing and disengaging the safety.

He closed the door, looking at his angry girlfriend, without any intention of apologizing. "Is anyone following you?"

His girlfriend, hands on her hips, questioned him, "Shouldn't you apologize first?"

"You not only hurt me, but also nearly made me fall. You must apologize."

Jimmy was impatient. "Alright, I apologize, okay?"

"Now tell me, was anyone following you when you came back?"

His girlfriend was still angry, feeling that Jimmy's apology was insincere, and an insincere apology was the same as no apology.

But she knew a little about Jimmy's terrible personality. While picking up the scattered food on the ground, she said angrily, "Yes, many people were following me."

"Fuck!" Jimmy immediately pushed his girlfriend away and rushed to the window, looking outside. The seemingly normal street now seemed like everyone was abnormal!

His girlfriend, seeing the food she had just picked up knocked to the ground again, was furious. "Are you fucking out of your mind?"

"This is our food for today and tomorrow!"

Food?

Jimmy didn't care about that!

He strode over to his girlfriend, grabbed her arm, and dragged her to the window, pointing to the few people on the street. "Come here, tell me who followed you back..."

"Is that the one going into the phone booth?"

"And that one reading the newspaper by the side of the road, who the hell reads a newspaper on the side of the road, did he follow you back?"

His girlfriend raised her arm and broke free from his grip. "Are you crazy?"

Jimmy was still very nervous. "You just said a lot of people were following you!"

His girlfriend looked as if it was only natural. "When do I ever go out without someone following me?"

"They just want to fuck me, isn't that normal?"

"Fuck!" Jimmy cursed loudly. "You're sick!"

His girlfriend wasn't polite either. "I don't know which one of us is really sick!"

"I'm so fed up with you!" She threw the things in her hand away, turned around, and pulled the door open, leaving Jimmy alone in the empty room, with potatoes rolling around on the floor.

Looking at the closed door of the room, Jimmy cursed a few more times before slowly squatting down and picking up the food.

He had to leave.

He told himself that if things continued like this, he would be driven crazy even if he wasn't already.

The fear of death kept him in a constant state of tension, and any slight change in the environment made him feel that Director Dale's men had appeared around him.

He saw Polly in the newspaper, that broken face that had been pieced together again by the forensic doctor for more than an hour, with a part of it missing, giving him nightmares every night.

He didn't want to become like that one day; the shadow of death lingered over him.

He went to the kitchen, washed the potatoes and other food, then chopped them up casually and poured them all into the pot...

Meanwhile, Jimmy's girlfriend left her rented apartment after getting angry.

As Jimmy's girlfriend, she didn't really have a formal job, because Jimmy could get money and give her a little, which was enough for her to live on for a long time.

At the same time, as a girl who had come into contact with Jimmy's social circle and environment, it was difficult for her to be like ordinary girls, going to the library or concert hall to pass the time.

The place where she spent her time was on the street.

She came to a street nearby where she knew some acquaintances. Some young people were gathering here. When they saw the girl, they waved. The girl trotted across the road to meet them.

"Have a puff!" A young man handed over the cigarette he was holding in his mouth. The girl said, "Thank you," and took a deep drag.

She leaned against the roadside railing, stretching her body backward. Although the weather was not too hot yet, people were not dressed as heavily as in winter.

Young people were an individualistic group, and the Federation was now encouraging distinct personalities, so most young people didn't wear too much.

She stretched her body, showing off her curves, and soon two young men squeezed her in the middle.

These young people belonged to the "neighborhood family" in its early stages. They knew each other and gathered and moved around in a fixed place for a long time, but so far they had not been involved in criminal activities.

When one of them used "I have a good idea to make money" as an opening line one day, a low-level neighborhood family would appear.

But for now, it still needed some time to brew.

"Why haven't we seen you out lately?" A young man in his twenties reached out and put his arm around her waist.

The girl glanced at him sideways. She knew that this buddy really wanted to sleep with her. He had begged her several times, but she had never agreed.

"You better take your hand off me. If Jimmy sees it, he'll chop off your claws."

It wasn't that she was loyal to Jimmy, but she had just had a fight and was in a bad mood, and she didn't want to flirt with anyone else.

The young man was very thick-skinned and hugged her tighter instead. "He might not be able to beat me."

"But he has a gun!" the girl added.

The young man's movements froze, and then the girl broke free from his arm and stood with the other girls.

The two young men were a little annoyed. Guns were indeed too terrible for them!

If they didn't deal with Jimmy, they wouldn't be able to have a relationship with this girl, which they didn't want to see.

"I heard that the Lance family is looking for Jimmy."

A big boy said softly, seemingly to make up his mind for his companion. He added, "They promised to give us a thousand dollars after finding him."

The other person hesitated a little. "Can you be sure that Jimmy is with her?"

The two young men didn't speak. They looked at each other and saw something in each other's eyes, and then exchanged opinions by nodding.

"Let's go buy a pack of cigarettes," one of them said.

The others didn't refuse, because if they bought cigarettes, the others could smoke too.

The two young men quickly left here, running wildly in another direction.

This was the place where the port area and the imperial area intersected. They sometimes went to the imperial area to see the power of the Lance family, so they knew where to find these people!

Less than two days after the news that Lance was looking for Jimmy was released, someone said they knew where Jimmy was.

Borton sat on a chair in an outdoor cafe by the side of the road. He was stirring a cup of coffee, which was the fifth cup he had refilled.

If he hadn't given the money for two cups and was also a member of the Lance family, the boss might have told him to get out.

Two subordinates brought two panting young men here. "They said they know where Jimmy is."

Borton already had a faint aura of a gang cadre. Without even raising his head, he put three more cubes of sugar into his coffee cup, stirring it constantly, ignoring the cafe owner's dissatisfied gaze.

The sound of the coffee spoon colliding with the coffee cup was continuous. "Do you know the price of lying?"

Only then did he raise his head. The two young men nodded repeatedly. "We know, we didn't lie. Jimmy's girlfriend is our friend."

"She usually stays with us, but she hasn't come out much in the past few days, and she even took the initiative to talk about Jimmy, saying he has a gun."

Borton stopped stirring for a moment, then picked up the coffee cup and drank it all in one gulp. He took out five cents and put it on the table. "I'm going to make a call."

"If you didn't lie, and we find Jimmy..." He patted the cheeks of the two young men. "Then you're rich!"

The news quickly followed a clear "route" from Morris to Elvin, and then to Lance's ears.

He immediately asked someone to bring Jimmy over. Hiram took on this job, mainly because he liked to train newbies and instill his theory that "a submachine gun is more useful than a pistol, no matter how accurate it is."

He had told Lance before that he hoped to form a submachine gun team, which would be really cool!

A dozen minutes later, three cars stopped in the back alley of the apartment where Jimmy lived. They came in from the alley behind the building to avoid being discovered by Jimmy.

Hiram pushed in the drum magazine, pulled the bolt, waved his clothes, and the windbreaker covered the submachine gun hanging at his side. "Action!"