Empire of Shadows

Wolf looked at Blue Eyes lying on the ground. Even though it was part of his and the professor's plan, he was still enraged.

This wasn't just a provocation; it was like someone taking a dump on their heads. If they didn't retaliate, what would others think?

"Drag him inside!" Wolf ordered. Several subordinates came forward and dragged the lifeless Blue Eyes back in.

His once bright blue eyes had turned into a dull, dark blue-gray.

Bill felt like he had done something remarkable, proving at this moment that the Wolf Gang wasn't so fearsome after all!

But he didn't realize another thing: did he, and the Red Dog Gang, have the ability to withstand the Wolf Gang's furious revenge?

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This wasn't like half a year or a year ago, when everyone was being nice to each other. The rules set by the five major families were gradually collapsing under the impact of these outsiders.

Those tender shoots constantly emerging from the soil, though young, possessed the courage and魄力 to push aside the giant rocks above!

If it were in the past, perhaps someone from the five major families would come to mediate, or they would request a gang war, and regardless of the outcome, it would end there.

But now, none of that existed. Everything seemed to be returning to the most primitive state: tense, chaotic, and full of opportunities!

If Lance knew that the gift he gave to Bill was directly thrown in Wolf's face by Bill, he might laugh out loud.

But at this moment, he obviously wasn't aware. He was attending a wedding, Bolton's wedding.

Bolton stood before the priest, wearing a well-tailored礼服. Today, he seemed to possess a unique charm of a middle-aged man, and he even grew a small mustache, making that sense of maturity even stronger.

It emanated like a body odor.

As the music began, a middle-aged man, about the same age as him, with a face… one couldn't say it was ugly, but at least it didn't have a smile, led a girl by the hand, walking in from outside the church.

He certainly wasn't there to play the role of a best man or anything like that; he was there to hand his daughter over to Bolton.

He didn't even know if he or Bolton was older!

How could a father endure this?

But his daughter was willing, and deep down, he himself was willing too.

However, he couldn't show it. He couldn't laugh and say that his family had found support and that they would have a good life in the future.

That would make people think he was selling his daughter. He had to put on a helpless and angry look, only then would people not think he was that kind of person.

Last night, he had already begun to imagine a beautiful future. Now, the serious expression was just the last hurdle to a better life!

The girl was young and beautiful. Lance heard people say she was Nancy's classmate, meaning he was marrying his daughter's classmate.

It sounded a bit unbelievable, but everything was very logical. You couldn't possibly expect a successful middle-aged man in his prime to find a middle-aged woman about his age to marry, right?

How could that reflect his success in his career?

Only losers would find someone their own age.

He could only marry a younger girl for people to believe that he was truly successful, and not just talking about it.

You say you have money, people won't believe it, but you buy things that everyone believes only rich people would buy, then they will believe you really have money.

Most of the people who attended this wedding, especially the men, showed an envious expression.

Perhaps this was the unique romance of men. No matter how they change, their original intentions remain unchanged: they like young and beautiful girls.

Looking at the complex expressions in the eyes of those men, the smile on Bolton's face was already a little less restrained.

If he hadn't met Lance's gaze, his expression might have been even more exaggerated.

During this time, in addition to working diligently, he was also looking for a suitable marriage partner.

He needed to gain Lance's trust, and family was the best foundation for trust.

If even his wife and new child were under Lance's control, he believed Lance would definitely trust him.

The benefits of power were like poison. He had seen some operas before, at that time he wanted to make himself look closer to mainstream society.

Being able to chat about a few operas when chatting with clients to show his extraordinary knowledge, he didn't understand some of the outrageous plots in the opera.

Like a certain king killed the protagonist's entire family, leaving only the protagonist, the idea was to let the protagonist watch him become a great king, not a tyrant.

The king also gave the protagonist an official position. What made him feel incredible was that the protagonist really diligently worked as an official, working for the king, instead of running away to seek revenge.

Now, perhaps he understood something.

Power is the most poisonous poison in the world. Just a little bit will make people addicted and forget everything!

Rob's death did make him very sad, but it wasn't so unforgettable. He wasn't even that sad now—it's worth mentioning that he moved into a big house in the New Bay Area.

A detached house, not counting the yard, about 400 square meters, three and a half floors, and a swimming pool, but not considered a villa.

The house was bought with a loan. As long as he didn't go back to that cramped and dilapidated apartment, he wouldn't feel anything to be sad about.

In order to gain Lance's trust as soon as possible, he chose such a girl, an easy-to-control girl.

A materialistic girl, she didn't mind Bolton being as old as her father, she only cared about what kind of comfortable life she could live.

Some people's thoughts are particularly realistic. She wanted to live a comfortable life, didn't want to work, wanted maids at home, she wanted that "modern life", but she was unwilling to put in the labor or hard work for it.

Then, her body was her only bargaining chip to exchange for a better life.

Being beautiful, having a good figure, not caring who ends up on top of her, this is a perfect choice.

Even if one day, he really had to abandon her, Bolton wouldn't feel sad, because from the beginning, this was a transaction!

Using money to exchange for sex and children, and she gets the life she wants, it's that simple!

The girl was led to Bolton by her father, she seemed a little shy, but not embarrassed, just purely because this moment should be sacred, thus having a sense of shyness.

The priest began to say that set of words that he didn't know how many times he had said. The two "loving" people finally kissed, and the people watching stood up, applauded, and blessed them.

The girl's father, standing at the very back, also had a little smile on his face, as if he was really blessing his child!

"Later, we will also have a buffet. If you don't have anything else to do, you can stay, and we can have a simple drink."

He glanced at Lance, "This is my treasured wine, everyone, it's not illegal, you can drink it with confidence, but only one glass."

People let out some cheers. Not everyone can find a bar, and not everyone can brew wine.

People happily left the church, Lance walking at the very end.

Bolton knew that Lance had something to say to him. He patted the bride's butt, signaling her to entertain the guests, leaving only himself and Lance in the church.

"You did something that I didn't expect, but it was very correct, Bolton."

Bolton showed a very well-behaved and docile look, "I don't blame you, Lance, it was indeed Rob's fault."

"As you said, anyone who makes a mistake must accept punishment."

"Some mistakes don't have serious consequences; they allow us to learn lessons with little cost."

"But some mistakes have costs that we cannot bear, so we must use heavier punishment methods."

"I believe that regardless of whether it was Rob or someone else who did something to betray the gang, you would do the same."

Lance was quite satisfied with his awareness, "I'm very happy that you can realize this, at least we won't become enemies."

"Today is your wedding, you can rest for a few days…"

Bolton immediately rejected the proposal, "I can work all the time, Mr. Lance, I love this job more than my life!"

Lance couldn't help but laugh. He liked this little man's honesty, "Very good, very good."

"Starting next month, I will give you five thousand dollars. The rules are still the same as before. I don't care how much money you spend or how much money you have left."

"I only want that when I need to know something, you don't tell me you don't know."

"Arrange some people to go to the port area, figure out the distribution of power in the port area, how many gangs they have, where their headquarters are, and whether they run any illegal businesses."

"Figure out all these things and record them."

Bolton obviously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He looked around, "Mr. Lance, are you going to… enter the port area?"

Lance just smiled slightly and didn't answer, but it was this very meaningful smile that made Bolton realize that his power would increase once again!

Controlling the street-level informants in two districts, he would be an even more powerful "Mr. Bolton"!

"I will definitely do this job well, Mr. Lance!"

Lance patted him on the arm, "I will be watching you."

After the two came out of the church, they separated. Basically everyone who came today was an Empire immigrant. Many of them knew Lance, so naturally they hoped to talk to Lance.

Chatting with celebrities was a favorite pastime of the Federation citizens, so Lance was always surrounded by many people.

Lance's presence also led many to believe that Bolton was a core member of the Lance family, which greatly boosted Bolton's ego.

It seemed that no one was a victim.

Bro was one.

Nancy was also one.

After all, she certainly couldn't accept her former classmate becoming her stepmother.

Apart from these two, everyone was happy.

"…Recently, I've indeed had some new ideas. I don't know if you guys have any understanding of movies."

"A few days ago, I went to see two movies, and the current movies gave me a completely different viewing experience from the past."

"The capture and playback of live sound allows me to be more immersed in the movie's performance, instead of racking my brains to deal with those ornate fonts that I may not even understand!"

The people around Lance couldn't help but laugh, and everyone seemed amused by his words.

Many filmmakers, in order to reflect the "elegance" of their film art, often use ornate fonts to describe the dialogue when playing the subtitles.

The quality of filmmaking varies, and it's not always clear, coupled with ornate fonts, which leaves most Federation citizens who enter the cinema without a complete education confused!

Over time, silent films have gradually shifted from connotation to appearance. The actors' performances have become more exaggerated, incorporating more language into actions and movements rather than playing subtitles.

Although this does solve some problems, not all movies can do this. Good scripts, good action design, and good actors are still rare.

Previously, an organization conducted a survey, and the reason why nearly 40% of people were not interested in movies was that they couldn't understand the dialogue.

Of course, it's also possible that they simply didn't recognize the words.

But now it's different. They don't need to recognize the words. Even illiterate people can understand the complete movie content through dialogue, which is also why movie box office revenues are rising steadily.

"The film industry will enter a fast lane. Creek Valley City has good filming resources. If you are interested, you can consider investing in filming movies and cinemas."

"These are all profitable industries, especially cinemas. The way movies recoup their costs is through ticket sales. This demand relationship will increase the dependence of production companies on theater chains for a long time to come."

"Moreover, investing in theater chains doesn't require too much capital, and the management cost is not high, making it suitable as a medium to long-term investment plan."

Someone asked, "Mr. Lance, will the Imperial Chamber of Commerce recruit members in the future?"

Many people perked up their ears when they heard this question. Lance didn't recognize this person, but he understood the determination of these people to join the Imperial Chamber of Commerce.

In just three months, the investment doubled. This was more ruthless than lending at usurious rates, and it was also very stable!

Currently, the people in the Imperial Chamber of Commerce trust Lance very much, and their relatives and friends have also hitched a ride, waiting for the next investment.

But not everyone has such an opportunity. Lance told them that they could use their membership to make money, but they couldn't break the rules of the game.

Lance wouldn't stop those who were qualified from joining the feast of money.

But if anyone allowed those who were not qualified to share the money from the investment, Lance would strip them of their membership and recover their profits.

If someone else said this, some people might think he was just talking.

But when Lance said this, they wouldn't think he was just talking, so now many people want to join, but they have no clue.

You should know that the most anxious and worrying thing is seeing others make money so easily, while you can't do anything!

Lance didn't give him a definite answer, "If you can find three people to recommend you to join the Chamber of Commerce, you can obtain membership in the Chamber of Commerce."

"If you can't find them, then pay attention later, we will also have expansion plans, and we will absorb another group of people at that time."

People quickly began to ask when the next investment of the Chamber of Commerce would be. Making money is always the top priority for these people!

Many people showed disappointed expressions. Originally, they should have been among those who made money, but now, they were not only excluded for the first time, but they would likely be excluded later as well.

Some people began to complain and blame others, but who could have imagined that Lance was serious?

Cinemas are indeed starting to make money now, but besides this part, Lance also wants to earn the part of money laundering, which is the real "windfall", and it's also very safe.

He currently owns several pieces of land that are being used to build cinemas, and at the same time, he is also having Elvin and the others inquire about whether there are any cinemas for sale, and they can all be taken over.

He is not afraid of these people knowing, but hopes to give play to their subjective initiative and let them acquire more cinemas, eventually forming a monopoly.

Bolton's wedding ended after the buffet lunch, and Bolton was obviously eager to go home. Anyone who had just married a young girl as his wife would be eager to feel the joy.

This is human nature.

Lance and the others also drove back to the office. This was just an ordinary wedding, but it brought a different feeling to this small group.

Restlessness.

They might not have this feeling when they were hungry, but as life began to get better, they also began to feel restless.

This has nothing to do with morality and cognition, it is a biological instinct.

Before disbanding, Lance gathered them together.

"I noticed that some people were discussing those girls all the way, not even letting go of the girls on the roadside. I think this may be related to the recent weather."

A inexplicable speech left many people confused, and then Lance said, "The weather is hot, it's the mating season for animals, and humans are also animals, so they will also be restless."

"I don't care what your hobbies are, people, or animals, or even a tree, I don't care, but I only have one request."

"If the other party is a person, you can't force them against their will, this is the most basic requirement…"

Mero waved his hand, "Animals are also illegal, Lance."

"Okay, add animals!"

A originally serious topic suddenly became absurd, and the laughter of the young people traveled far.

After they had laughed enough, Lance did not forget to introduce them to some experience, "You can pursue those girls, your good figure, your wallets, are the most powerful weapons to pursue girls."

"But I don't want to hear that someone uses guns or daggers, which violates the regulations, and those who violate the regulations will be punished."

"Then, you can get out of here, I see that some people can't wait…"