Empire of Shadows

The rewards for September were 1680.59. I saved 56.7 last month, adding 5 chapters for the reward bonus, leaving 72.29 to be saved for next month.

In September, a guide was launched, and the effect was okay. It finally passed the premium line.

I've been writing too fast lately, encountering some minor issues. Actually, I encounter them with every update, but after a burst of updates, I can't quite grasp the tone and focus, and there's not much time to think.

I'm definitely not making excuses for fewer updates. I think this is one of my weaknesses, and I should plan the plot better in the future.

In the August summary, there weren't too many problems, mostly revolving around personal issues like depression.

I recently summarized that the onset of depression actually follows a line. The first thing that appears is anxiety. You feel uneasy about everything, even if it's just your family leaving your sight. Some things captured from the complex external information will make you uneasy.

For example, when my child goes out to play, I worry about whether he will be hit by a car, whether he will fight with other children of the same age, whether he will fall, and whether he will hurt himself.

For example, when my partner is cooking in the kitchen, I worry about whether she will cut her hand. Every time I sharpen the knife, I try not to sharpen it too much, so even if she cuts herself, it won't be too deep, after all, the knife is dull.

I also worry about myself, my health, my income, all kinds of situations, worry about the health of my family, worry about the age of my grandparents and the problems they are facing.

Anxiety is terrible.

Anxiety brings serious physical symptoms. To put it simply, it means you're not sick, but you feel like you are, because you feel uncomfortable all over.

The most common ones are back pain, a feeling of something stuck in the throat, chest tightness, palpitations, difficulty breathing, and body pain.

Going to the hospital for examination, everything is fine, but these pains and torments have been bothering me, which makes me even more anxious.

Am I sick?

Also, in the process of anxiety and physical symptoms constantly increasing, I began to develop depression.

Because every moment, I am in a state of serious illness, even if I look normal, but in fact, I need to endure severe back pain, chest tightness, and stinging pains in various parts of my body.

This kind of pain makes people feel desperate. I used to think, how could illness torment people to the point of wanting to die?

But I understand now, because sometimes I really can't bear it.

I try not to use medication, because the side effects of medication are great, affecting my writing.

Some people say, you should pay attention to your health, instead of ignoring these problems for the sake of writing.

But life has to go on. I am in a very awkward period of time. My parents are losing their ability to work, and there are young children to support below, and ourselves in the middle.

It's easy to stop, but life won't stop, the bills won't stop, so I can only continue.

Fortunately, I also have some ways to reduce physical symptoms and depression, playing cards, a certain degree of socializing, and playing games.

When I am immersed in these activities, I can't feel the pain caused by physical symptoms, the depression disappears, and the anxiety is gone!

But I can't find someone to play cards with every day, and I can't drag others to socialize every day. Everyone has their own life and work.

So, playing games has become the only way for me to solve these problems.

Of course, I'm not making excuses. I sincerely advise everyone to maintain their mental health, because it is really painful.

==

Let's talk about a problem that readers have reflected on a lot.

Are the police too weak, and why are the federal governments at all levels involved with the mafia?

Many people think that my description of this era is not very realistic. In fact, I can give many examples, but you may not know the source of some examples, so I thought about it and thought of a person who was very famous a few years ago and even now, Al Capone.

During Al Capone's peak, the mayoral election needed to consult his opinion first. Only when he thought you could elect the mayor could the election proceed normally.

The police worked for him. If someone reported him, the police would tell him the reporter's information.

In just a few years, he amassed wealth through criminal means, which can be statistically counted to be about sixty to eighty million.

This does not include the uncounted benefits and transfers.

Sometimes when I discuss that period of history with people, I encounter some people who think that Al Capone is the peak of the mafia.

But in reality, he may only be at the 60-point level, calculated out of 100 points.

Because behind this, some families are constantly breaking records with criminal income of several hundred million, several billion, or even forty billion a year!

They control the entire underworld and constantly radiate to the aboveground world. There is quite a lot of literature introducing these.

So it's not that I'm writing exaggeratedly, but that this world is so magical!

The so-called five major families, the federal five major families, they are still active now.

Think about it, why are they still active?

Think about why so many people were fine some time ago, but a few people drowned.

In fact, they have always been there, and there are still many people who still need them!

Of course, in terms of the content of the story, they have not yet reached their peak, but they will also experience troughs.

The story takes place in 1023-1024. It is still developing. This story has a long way to go. Everyone will experience a lot and usher in the final ending.

Actually, I don't even know what the ending is. Lance, Durin, and Lynch, like brainwaves possessing someone, they are using my body to write their stories.

=

Another problem is the price issue. In fact, in the capitalist camp, prices are linked to metaphysics.

When the per capita income is only a few dollars, they have billionaires.

When the per capita income is only a dozen dollars, earning several hundred million or several tens of millions a year is like playing for some people.

In the book, we must correctly view the comparison of prices, which is the income and living expenses of the poor, not the rich.

Just like now, ordinary people earn four or five thousand a month, but rich people own cars worth tens of millions.

Fifteen cents can buy a pound of bread. A family of three only needs a pound of bread plus some other food a day, and the cost price is about fifty to sixty cents.

Eating better costs a dollar, but no one eats a dollar's worth of food every day, just occasionally improving.

Five cents or even two cents for cigarettes, fifteen cents for a large glass of beer before the price increase…

Of course, I will try to control it and not make it seem outrageous.

=

That's basically it.

Leave a message if you have any questions, or directly Q me, and I will reply to them all in next month's monthly summary.

That's it.