Empire of Shadows

In the restroom, Eric, who was sitting on the toilet, suddenly relaxed his tense body.

His hands fell naturally to his sides, and the syringe in his hand also dropped to the ground, but he didn't care at all.

It didn't hurt anymore.

Those quack doctors, a fracture had caused him pain until now. Even though he realized that the current pain had nothing to do with the fracture, he would still tell himself that it was all the fault of those stupid doctors!

If they hadn't failed to cure his problem, would he still need to endure this pain now?

It's just... he had been a little irritable these past few days. It had been a while since he'd experienced hallucinations. At first, he would be startled by the hallucinations, but later he gradually came to enjoy the feeling of those hallucinations.

He felt he should find a doctor and ask what he could do to make himself more comfortable.

Just as he was in a daze, he suddenly heard a rhythmic sound like someone hitting a baseball.

Eric also liked to watch baseball games, but he didn't like playing baseball because he had no athletic talent.

The moment the alloy hollow bat hit the baseball, you could hear a "thud" sound.

It was very crisp, not dull. The vibration and sound would give people a feeling of briefly transmitting and echoing within the bat's internal space. This sound was very pleasant to those who liked it!

Someone was playing baseball?

He couldn't help but lean back on the toilet and chuckle. After laughing twice, he decided it probably wasn't a hallucination, and then he stood up, holding onto the door of the toilet stall.

He had to go out and find some fun. He wanted to see the scene of Lance begging him in a low voice to let him go. Just thinking about it made him feel like he was in heaven!

He rubbed his balls. He almost... damn it, painkillers were good, but they also had some side effects.

The sound of hitting a baseball continued to come from his ears. He was a little confused. Could it be an auditory hallucination?

When he walked out of the corridor and saw the scene in the restaurant, his legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground.

Lance stood next to Brinton, one hand pressing on Brinton's neck, the other hand holding up a blood-stained glass ashtray, and then smashing it down hard.

Each time it landed on Brinton's head, it would make a "thud" sound, and Brinton's body would twitch violently, causing the entire table to tremble.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere. Lance's expressionless, even somewhat grim and cold appearance almost scared him shitless!

Just as he was a little at a loss, Lance's eyes moved, and he glanced sideways at Eric. Eric quickly shrank his head back and turned away, not daring to look at him.

He was a little at a loss, took two steps towards the corridor where the restroom was located, and then suddenly stopped, only daring to face Lance sideways.

Although he knew about and had seen murder scenes, no live scene had ever given him such a direct shock!

He wished he was just a passerby on the side of the road, even hated himself for not really taking a shit and being constipated, so he wouldn't have to face this kind of choice.

"Thud!"

Louder than any sound before!

Red blood was dripping from directly below where Brinton was sleeping, dripping onto the ground little by little, accumulating into a pool of blood that was constantly expanding.

His body no longer twitched, as if he had suddenly entered a deep sleep.

Lance casually threw the ashtray on the table, without messing up the dishes and plates, although they looked a little unsightly.

The blood splattered on the plates would obviously affect people's appetite, but fortunately, the meal was already over.

He picked up an unused napkin from the table and wiped the blood stains splashed on his face, while asking, "Why don't you dare to look at me?"

Without a doubt, this sentence was definitely not asking Brinton.

Eric's bladder was already a little out of control, and urine was seeping out little by little. He slowly turned around, not daring to look at Brinton on the table.

His expression changed several times in a short period of time, and finally he squeezed out a very ugly, crying-like smile, "I didn't, Lance..."

Lance looked down at the napkin in his hand, wiped his hands, "Brinton is a little sleepy, he's going to sleep first, are you sleepy?"

Eric's heart skipped a beat!

He quickly widened his eyes and looked at Lance, "No, I'm very energetic!" To prove this, he even jumped on the spot, patted his cheeks, "I'm not sleepy at all, I can run around King's Harbor City right now, you can let me run to show you if you don't believe me."

Lance looked at him with a smile that was not a smile, saw that he was a little guilty, saw that he was starting to feel uneasy, his expression also became like he was begging for mercy, "This has nothing to do with me, Lance."

"I swear!"

Lance threw the napkin he had used to wipe his hands next to Brinton's face. He straightened his clothes, his tie was a little crooked.

Although his clothes were also stained with a lot of splashed blood, the clothes were dark, so it was not very noticeable.

"Eric, let me give you a piece of advice."

He took out a cigarette, picked up Brinton's lighter on the table, lit his cigarette, and then returned it to "him."

He tapped the table twice with the hand holding the cigarette, "This is the Imperial District, not a place where you have the final say!"

After he finished speaking, it took two or three seconds before he turned and walked out of the restaurant. Hiram, who had already returned to the door, opened the restaurant door for Lance.

The moment he got into the car, intense and continuous gunshots rang out outside the door!

Then those people quickly got into the car and disappeared into the night.

Eric looked at Brinton, who was already asleep, suddenly turned his head and began to vomit. His stomach suddenly had very strong discomfort symptoms, and everything he had eaten before was vomited out.

The burning sensation in his mouth and esophagus made him always have the desire to swallow, and at the same time, these actions also brought more intense discomfort to his stomach.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, while cursing words like "madman", he quickly walked out of the restaurant, and then he saw a truck on the side of the road, some people were carrying bodies onto the truck.

He vomited violently again, but this time, it seemed that there was nothing to vomit, it was all some turbid liquid, and a stronger burning pain spread throughout his mouth and entire esophagus.

He couldn't stand everything here anymore, got into the car and floored the accelerator. He just wanted to go home and hide in the quilt and pray for God to help him!

Although Eric had returned home, Lance's work was not finished.

"Give the restaurant owner some money, we made a mess of his place."

Lance didn't forget to remind him. He had also done small business many, many years ago, and he also knew the helplessness of encountering this kind of thing.

Elvin nodded, and then stepped on the accelerator to the end.

At 9:50, the Imperial Nightclub was still half open. The reason it was half open was because they didn't have any alcohol.

For nightclubs like this, without alcohol, they would lose a large portion of their customers.

Now it was just a mid-range flesh market. The Viper Gang had its own resources, and their main source of income in Fides included the flesh trade.

Workers, tired after a day's work, would especially want to vent after resting. As long as the price was right, business would be very good.

However, in King's Harbor City, their resources were not very popular. The people here had seen too much. Girls from all over the world were competing with each other here, so the Imperial Night's business, although reopened, was still half-dead.

Brinton had previously hoped that after killing Lance, they would take over Lance's industry, as well as his smuggling route for alcohol, mainly selling smuggled alcohol.

But now, all of this was just wishful thinking.

Several gang members stood outside the door on the first floor, chatting casually. They were not nervous at all, because Brinton said that after tonight, the Imperial District would no longer have Lance and the Lance family!

This made them feel excited, and the feeling of the Viper Gang fighting in all directions in previous years had returned.

But after only being excited for a while, everyone became lazy again.

They gathered together, smoking cigarettes, chatting about the interesting and wonderful things in King's Harbor City.

Just then, two buses and several cars suddenly stopped under the steps of the Imperial Nightclub. The few people just glanced at them, and smiles appeared on their faces.

They were too familiar with those two buses!

No wonder Brinton was so confident today, it turned out that Snake had come!

The few people smiled and walked down the steps. They were even preparing to greet the brothers who came from Fides when they saw one black muzzle after another.

After a brief exchange of gunfire, a large number of family members wearing dark suits and soft felt hats got out of the car. Lance sat in the car, pointed to the Imperial Nightclub, and these people immediately rushed towards the nightclub.

The staff member who was working as a sweeper and security guard on the first floor saw the dense crowd on the steps, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. He turned around and ran inside, "Lance's people are attacking again!"

In an instant, the Viper Gang members left behind here suddenly became chaotic. On the contrary, those guests quietly sat in place.

Everyone knew that Lance would never harm innocent people. If someone was hurt, then he must not be innocent!

For these people, it was more like a... interesting performance!

Some of them even showed a kind of excitement. Without the stimulation of alcohol, how could vulgar dancing and the girls around them be as exciting as a gang fight?

The gunshots did not last too long. Lance's people rushed into the nightclub while shouting "Snake and Brinton are dead" and "Kneel down, raise your hands, and surrender to avoid being hurt."

Except for a very few stubborn enemies who resisted to the end, the majority of people ultimately chose to kneel and surrender.

With Blinton gone, and if Sneak was truly gone as well, they really had no reason to risk their lives for two dead men.

The nightclub, which should have been difficult to attack, was completely taken over in less than ten minutes.

When Lance arrived in the performance hall, many people had already stood up to greet him.

Some of these people were from the middle class in the Imperial District, and some came from other districts. After all, the Imperial Nightclub had a bit of a reputation before—Imperial Flair!

But after Blinton took over, it lost its Imperial Flair and didn't have any alcohol, so business definitely declined day by day.

However, they could already foresee that it would get better again because Lance was back!

Lance stood on the stage, and the audience was filled with applause, whistles, and shouts of his name. He smiled and raised both hands in a slightly humble gesture, "Soon, the supply of alcohol will be restored here, and there will be more girls and shows."

"Some of the little unpleasantries just now may have startled you, so as a token of apology, all consumption today is free…"

Amid the enthusiastic support of the people, it took Lance more than ten minutes to return to his office on the fourth floor.

He sat back in the large red leather chair, patted the plump armrest, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The others also came to the room one after another. Lance looked at them, "So, what's mine will eventually be mine. They will not only return these to me, but also with interest!"

"Take stock of how much arms Sneak funded us. I heard there is also some cash."

"Who of you will take a trip to Fides? Get some wine from Nick for our friend Gario, and then ask Sneak's family if they know his bank account number and password."

Enio squeezed out of the crowd, "I'll go."

Lance nodded, "Then you go and do it. Tomorrow, you pick some people, bring money and weapons."

"I will communicate with Gario first. If something happens on the road, bring your life back; nothing else matters."

He emphasized, "Enio, remember, we, friends, and enemies!"

Enio nodded vigorously, "I won't be soft-hearted, Lance."

Lance looked at the others, "This is a war, and the victors of the war begin to reap the fruits that belong to the victors. No matter what decisions we make about the losers, it's not excessive."

"Just like if we lost, they should be holding a knife to our necks now, forcing us to tell them where the money is hidden and the bank account number and password."

"I believe that if you don't tell them, they won't loosen the ropes binding you and give you a hug, telling you that everything is over."

"They will only slit your throat and blood vessels, using your death to threaten others."

"Pity is for those who deserve our pity, but for the enemy, we must be as cold and ruthless as the winter wind."

"Now, you still have a job to do: take back those bars for me!"

Erwin asked from the side, "Should we get rid of those who surrendered?"

Perhaps Erwin would still feel a little uneasy the first time he killed someone, but now, it no longer bothered him so much.

This era, this country, shaped the two sides of everyone.

It's not anyone's fault; it's the fault of this era, the fault of this world.

Lance shook his head this time, "I said I wouldn't kill them, so we don't have to kill them. Let them roll back to Fides, so that we can spread our deeds to the neighboring state."

"This will greatly help us continue to expand our influence among the Imperial immigrants!"

Although Lance and the Lance family are not considered a mountain or a backer in the Imperial immigrant community in Goldport City, they have already gained a lot of influence.

Many families and gangs want this, but Lance is not satisfied with his influence only being in Goldport City. He wants Licale State, the East Coast, and even the entire Federation!

At a time when being humble is not necessarily a good choice, only being high-profile enough can be more valuable and safer!

Before half past eleven, everyone in Goldport City who should know knew that the Viper Gang, brought in by the mayor from Fides, had been eaten clean by Lance.

Some were laughing, some were thinking, and Lance and the Lance family officially entered the social topics of the upper circles of Goldport City.

It's not that they really recognized how strong or different Lance and the Lance family were; it's just that Lance slapped the mayor, an outsider, in the face, making them feel relieved.

This kind of thing is like a small character with no fame making the enemy's general suffer a loss, which is a morale-boosting thing.

Although some of them have not yet realized Lance's uniqueness, some people have already felt that the pattern of Goldport City may change in the near future.

The next day, the news that Viper Gang's Blinton was killed in a street restaurant quickly spread throughout the city.

However, the Goldport City police denied this statement. Whether it was the chief of the Blue District Branch or Chief Charlie, they both stated that they had not received any relevant alarm calls.

"Everything is normal!"

That was their original statement.

Of course, they also stated that if anyone could provide evidence or was willing to be a witness, the police would also initiate an investigation mechanism, but obviously no one did so.

Lucar also heard the news early in the morning, and he immediately realized that the opportunity had come!

In fact, he had also found a more suitable Imperial person to be an undercover agent during this time. When he was receiving training in the capital, he met a senior agent from the Hazardous Materials Administration in Seran City.

This senior agent was an Imperial immigrant, but he immigrated relatively early, belonging to the fourth generation of immigrants, with only one-eighth Imperial blood.

He grew up in the Federation, and apart from his bloodline, he was no different from the people of the Federation.

They call these people "localized immigrants," and some people even gave them a discriminatory name.

However… this does not work on these immigrants who have already been "spiritually assimilated" because they do not consider themselves immigrants; they firmly believe that they are people of the Federation.

When Lucar was chatting with this guy, the other party mentioned that someone in his family also wanted to work in the Hazardous Materials Administration but had no good way to do so.

So, Lucar talked to him about a job that might be a little dangerous, requiring a reliable immigrant with a clean background.

If things are successful, he can have Director Dale specially recruit this undercover agent into the Goldport City Hazardous Materials Administration.

Whether it is being transferred back to Seran City or staying in Goldport City, it is a good direction for development.

The other party agreed!

Someone asked me what I think about the gg and gg thing again. I said I looked at it with my eyes. Everyone performed very stably and demonstrated the corporate culture very well. Excellent performance!