Empire of Shadows

Actually… if Lance were given another chance to choose, knowing the outcome of this moment, and allowed to choose again, he would still choose to stand against the mayor.

To paraphrase a saying he'd read somewhere, his knees were too stiff to kneel.

He wasn't Charlie, or anyone else who would become a dog for wealth, power, or status.

He'd rather be a poor man than a rich dog. Poor, yes, but at least a man.

This irreconcilable conflict stood between him and the mayor.

“Should we make some backup plans?” Alvin asked, a little worried. Bad things always seemed to surround them.

They finally had a little something to eat, and then the Camilla gang came to make trouble.

They'd dealt with the Camilla gang, but hadn't even had time to rest before a new challenge arrived.

They thought everything was over, but the mayor had started a new round of torment.

He was getting annoyed, annoyed with these people who held power but never seemed to settle down.

Lance didn't refuse. “We can set up one or two safe houses in Creek Valley City and Venus City. Guns, some cash, some fake IDs, anything that ensures if someone needs to leave and hide for a while, including ourselves, we have a place to go.”

“Alvin, don't worry, this is much simpler than you think…”

After having Alvin get to work, Lance called Hunter.

About twenty minutes later, Lance drove to their agreed meeting place: Charlie's villa in the Bay Area.

Before he even got out of the car, Hunter saw Lance.

After Lance came in, Hunter couldn't help but tease him, “You're more afraid of death than I thought.”

Four cars in a row, all filled with gang members who looked like they weren't to be trifled with.

Even from a distance, Hunter could tell that these people could draw their guns and shoot at any moment.

Some rumors about the Lance family were becoming part of the underground world order of Goldport City.

For example, if someone didn't know who killed him, but there was more than a pound of bullets in his body, then without a doubt, the Lance family was the one to look for!

The Lance family's gunmen might not be as skilled as Sumeri's, but no one would underestimate them. At least they dared to shoot, dared to kill, which was already quite something.

You should know that not all gang members dare to shoot and kill people!

Lance didn't mind Hunter's teasing, which wasn't malicious.

He bumped fists with Hunter. “Being alive is always better than being dead.”

He paused and looked at Charlie, who was standing in the hall.

Former Chief Charlie, out of his police uniform, looked like a successful capitalist.

He had a slicked-back hairstyle, with a lot of hair wax, making his whole head look oily.

Dressed in sophisticated clothes, wearing a gold watch, his gemstone tie clip and cufflinks showed off his style and wealth.

There wasn't a trace of anything related to the police on him.

After a brief handshake, the two went into the living room together.

“I plan to kill John.”

Charlie, who had just picked up his coffee cup and taken a small sip, suddenly turned his head to the side.

He covered his mouth, stretching his neck, coffee flowing from between his palm and chin.

Hunter quickly gave him a napkin.

He said thank you, then cleaned himself up, looking at Lance with a bit of helplessness.

Who the hell would come right out and say something so explosive?

But it had to be said, he liked what Lance said very much.

After resigning, he originally thought that the mayor wouldn't appoint a new police chief, at least not until his struggle with the Bay Area was over.

Because whoever was promoted would be sidelined. A police chief whose orders couldn't leave the office, even if he was put in place, would just be a joke to the whole city!

So even though he had resigned, he could still control the police department through Hunter and other confidants.

But no one expected that there would be traitors within the police, leading to a very bad situation. Those frustrated, marginalized police officers had a new choice!

Where there are people, there is competition. Charlie also had people he hated, and Hunter also had people he hated.

When they were in power, they could send these officers to the most remote places to do the hardest work.

But now, the situation was different. The addition of these locals allowed John to quickly gather a local police force.

He broke Charlie's and the Bay Area's plans. They couldn't sideline John, and even allowed John to control the Harbor District Branch.

This was beyond Charlie's comprehension.

It was like… Mr. Chuboff, this banker who was once marginalized, when the mayor extended an olive branch, it was like a drowning man seeing a life-saving straw.

Even if it was just a straw, he would grab it with all his might.

The losers had the qualifications to challenge the winners again. Anyway, they had nothing to lose, so why not take a gamble?

After cleaning up the coffee, Charlie exhaled, “Just pretend I didn't hear you say any of that.”

He was, after all, a police chief, a former one. If anyone knew that Lance had discussed it with him before killing John,

regardless of whether the idea was Lance's own, he would have to take the blame, because there was no one better to take the blame than him!

People would rather believe it was a conspiracy than believe it was Lance's own decision.

Then Lance stood up, which made Charlie and Hunter a little confused again.

They also stood up, looking at Lance a little nervously, wondering what he meant.

“Charlie, I thought you were a very smart man, but it seems you're not that smart.”

“You have to understand, you want John killed more than I do, but now you're saying something like that to me.

You don't make me feel like my IQ is being challenged. You should ask yourself if you feel like you're insulting yourself!”

“If you insist on talking to me with that politician's mindset, I'll go back now and take people somewhere else.”

“The Federation doesn't just have one city. We can live well anywhere.”

“But you, Hunter, you guys, can you go somewhere else and live as well as we do? Can you guess?”

Charlie was a little embarrassed.

Hunter quickly came over and grabbed Lance's arm, “Charlie doesn't mean that, he's just not used to your bluntness…”

Hunter gave Charlie a look, and the latter apologized for his performance just now, a little awkwardly, “I was being stupid, sorry.”

Lance then sat back down. He wanted to take the initiative. He wanted to kill John as soon as he opened his mouth, just to keep taking the initiative.

He wanted to make these two understand this principle: it wasn't that he wanted to kill John for them, but that they needed him to kill John!

“The purpose of my coming here is to ask you, if John dies, can you quickly regain control of Goldport City's police system?”

Charlie glanced at Hunter, and after the two looked at each other for a moment, they discussed in a low voice for a while, without avoiding Lance.

Lance could hear what they were saying.

It was roughly about who to put in what position, who to move from their original position, and so on.

After the two discussed for about five minutes, they both looked a little embarrassed, “We can try to control it, but the final decision is still in the mayor's hands!”

“After this incident, we're not sure how many people are still on our side. You know, no matter who becomes the chief, who becomes the mayor, they will rely on the police department.”

Hunter's face was dark when he said this.

What he wanted to express was that the mayor would only rely on the police system more. The benefits those police officers could get from the mayor were much higher than what they got from them!

That's where the difficulty lies!

“We can't convince everyone to stand on our side. Although John has only been in power for a short time, he ultimately has the mayor standing behind him.”

“If it's just choosing between us and John, I believe more of them will choose us, but if it's choosing between us and the mayor, our chances are not good.”

Lance looked at these two wastes, with a bit of sarcasm on his face, “I thought you had a firm grip on Goldport City's police system!”

Charlie explained with a wry smile, “It's not as simple as you think, Lance.”

“No matter how much I say, I'm just the former chief, and Hunter is just a detective in the criminal investigation team. How can we compare to the mayor and the current chief?”

“And you've seen it too, in a sense, we're already losers.”

“Then it seems understandable that they stand on the mayor's side.”

Lance didn't deny it. He frowned and thought for a while, “I have an idea, but not now. The problem we need to solve now is to get rid of John first.”

“After he's done for, see if you can control those police officers, at least keep them neutral, and then we'll find a way to pull them into our camp.”

The two discussed for a while and felt that this was okay.

“If it's just convincing them to remain neutral, I can do it!”

After all, he was an old police officer of several decades, he still had this much face, “But I can't guarantee how long it will last, maybe a week or two, maybe a month or two, but it might be shorter.”

“That's enough!”

“Then next, you have to be prepared.”

Charlie and Hunter also showed some smiles on their faces.

If they could get rid of John, they would indeed be happier than anyone else.

Hunter had taken a long vacation after John came to power.

He didn't want to see John, let alone listen to his orders to do things.

Now, it seemed that everything was getting better.

Whether Hunter had recovered or not, John didn't know, but he knew he had recovered.

He had just come out of the mayor's office, and the mayor affirmed his work during this period and also soothed his emotions—

Eric's death had no direct relationship with him; he didn't kill the person, so he didn't have to worry that the mayor would blame him.

As for whether the murderer could be found, that had little to do with him; that was the work of the Criminal Investigation Team.

What he had to do was stabilize his position in the police system as soon as possible and gain more support from the police community.

No matter what district or branch bureau, he had to take control of them as soon as possible.

The mayor also hinted that if he could do well, he would continue to value him.

This made John feel like a blossoming flower, his whole being felt…elevated!

His steps were light!

Now, many people in the police system are still watching, and their attitude is no longer as resistant as it was at the beginning. He made some adjustments after taking office.

For example, expressing respect for the branch bureaus' independent law enforcement power to a certain extent, and supporting them in setting up funds and collecting reasonable regulatory fees, etc.

He promised to increase the income of the police, improve their welfare and benefits, which made it easy for some low-level police officers to change camps.

It is the "chiefs" who are truly difficult to choose; for the low-level police officers, they don't care who is in power.

Now, what he has to do is first win over the Brook Branch Bureau Chief. Once he gets this person settled, some who are still watching may lean towards him.

When a favorable situation is formed, more branch bureaus will join in, eventually allowing him to achieve unification.

He just doesn't know how long it will take for the Brook Branch Bureau Chief to figure it out.

Maybe give him a little more pressure?

John had already immersed himself in the role of acting director. His mind was full of images of his official promotion.

When the security of the entire Golden Port City is under his control, those gangs will have to pay him if they want their business to be undisturbed!

How much money is that?!

He had just returned to the police station, intending to urge those people to investigate Eric's disappearance properly, when his assistant told him that the Brook Branch Bureau Chief had called him.

This made him overjoyed. He temporarily abandoned the idea of inquiring about the progress of the case investigation with the Criminal Investigation Team and went straight back to his office.

He put his hat down, picked up the phone, and dialed the number for the Empire District Branch Bureau Chief's office.

"They just said you called me," John's tone was somewhat aggressively tough. He understood Brook, so the tougher he acted, the easier it would be to persuade Brook.

The Brook Branch Bureau Chief said, "Hmm," "I've been considering your previous proposal for a few days. In principle, there's no need for me to object, but there are some things I want to talk to you about in person."

"No problem, come to my office!" John smiled, "It's best to drive your official car so everyone knows you've come to my office, understand?"

If he could make it known to the whole city that another branch bureau had accepted the management of the headquarters, it would be even greater pressure on those who were still hesitant!

However, the Brook Branch Bureau Chief did not agree to him, "I can do that, but not this time. I want to talk to you…about some things that are not convenient to talk about over the phone."

"You know, besides work, we have some other issues to resolve."

John simply pondered for a moment, "About what?"

"Money, and my position."

John had no other questions, "Name a place."

"I know a small restaurant; there aren't many people, but their food tastes good!"

John readily agreed, "I'm very interested in this kind of food!"

"I have to say, John, you made one of the most correct choices in your life. I'll be there soon!"

He tidied up a bit, hesitated for a moment, and then changed into a set of casual clothes because they were going to talk about topics that weren't so public, so he didn't need to dress so formally.

A dozen minutes later, he arrived outside the small restaurant that the Brook Branch Bureau Chief had mentioned. He parked his car and looked at the "Delicious Grilled Sausage" sign, and a smile appeared on his face.

He also liked to eat grilled sausage, not because he particularly liked to eat grilled sausage, but because he felt that something good was happening, so he smiled.

He pushed the door open and entered. The small restaurant was about sixty or seventy square meters, with seven or eight tables. The Brook Branch Bureau Chief was sitting in the seat behind the window facing the street.

Seeing John arrive, the Brook Branch Bureau Chief quickly stood up and waved, "Over here."

John smiled and pointed at him with both hands, slightly bending his knees, with a dynamic sense of "I found you."

He walked over and shook hands with the Brook Branch Bureau Chief, "Did you order food?"

"I just came out of the mayor's office and I'm a little hungry."

He seemed to be just stating that he was hungry, but he was actually telling the Brook Branch Bureau Chief how close he was to the mayor!

You know, Charlie had only been to the mayor's office a few times in his six years in office, but he went there often, recently!

The Brook Branch Bureau Chief immediately put on a smiling face and nodded, "Ordered, signature grilled sausage, grilled ribs, grilled beef and lamb chops, and grilled fish…"

"Wow, we can't eat that much," he chose to sit down in the seat with his back to the window, "You're being a bit wasteful."

The Brook Branch Bureau Chief seemed to be all smiles, "It's okay, you can pack it up and take it back if you can't finish it."

John smiled slightly; this was just a warm-up before communication. They hadn't spoken for a while, and he had previously asked the Brook Branch Bureau Chief to make a choice in a very blunt tone.

Now, saying some normal things helps to ease the atmosphere.

Soon the food came up, and everything exuded an enticing aroma. There was only this table in the restaurant, and it wasn't mealtime yet.

Originally, John wasn't very hungry, but seeing such a rich meal, he suddenly wanted to eat something.

He got himself a small piece of grilled sausage, and while eating, he asked, "What do you want to say to me?"

The Brook Branch Bureau Chief said very seriously, "I can…you know, that's what I mean."

John put down his knife and fork. He wiped his mouth, "Is it difficult for you to say 'pledge allegiance to me'?"

"Brook, I know, maybe I used to work under you, and you have some misunderstandings about me, which makes you feel that pledging allegiance to me is a very uncomfortable or shameful thing now."

"But in fact, I don't think it's necessary to let yourself be so disliked because of some small vanity."

"It makes me feel like you're not sincerely pledging allegiance to me."

"Come on, I'll give you another chance."

He wasn't joking; he looked at Brook very seriously. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and suddenly a few more smiles appeared on Brook's face, "I am willing to pledge allegiance to you, John."

John couldn't help but laugh. He stood up, bent over, and put a piece of steak on Brook's plate, "Just kidding with you, why are you so serious?"

"Come on, try this steak, the taste here is indeed good!"