Empire of Shadows

In a state of extreme fear, one can hear their own heartbeat.

A powerful heartbeat.

It is encouraging its owner, telling him that he can!

The powerful pumping of blood brings more oxygen, making strength greater, endurance better, and explosive power even stronger, all in order to overcome fear!

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Many, many years ago, when the world was still in a primitive state, this was indeed useful.

In the 'overclocked' state of adrenaline rushing, people could run faster and be stronger; they could chase down prey and kill it, or escape the clutches of predators.

But now, it's fucking modern society. The advent of thermal weapons has completely broken the meaning of the food chain. Humans wielding thermal weapons stand at the top of the food chain.

Whether it's lions, wolf packs, or even larger animals, all are equal in the face of humans with weapons.

Although humans no longer need this state to cope with crises in nature, this phenomenon still occurs when people encounter danger and great fear.

It's like an inverted foreskin; it became less useful when humans began to walk upright, but it still exists, and sometimes it can cause a little trouble due to individual differences.

Just like now, a senior member of the Gregg family is hiding behind a table with a gun, listening to his heartbeat, feeling like there is a lion in his chest, and praying not to be discovered.

But he will obviously be disappointed. Today, these attackers have more time, and they are searching more carefully.

He can hear the footsteps outside, and he can also hear the sound of the door of the house being pushed open. The sudden bright light forces him to make a choice.

Fight back and be riddled with bullets.

Surrender and possibly survive.

The instinct of living beings is to live longer. He raised his hands and slowly stood up.

Perhaps his body felt disappointed with his act of surrender, and the heartbeat that could shake his chest suddenly weakened, and he could no longer hear his own heartbeat.

He was taken downstairs. He tried his best to make himself look less不堪, but the fear of death still showed a kind of fear in his eyes.

He was pushed, pushed in front of several people who should be senior members of the Lance family, but before he had time to speak, and before those people had spoken, he suddenly felt something hit the back of his leg hard.

His legs bent forward uncontrollably, and the unbalanced center of gravity made him lose his balance all at once, and he knelt on the ground with a thud.

The collision between his knees and the hard ground made him feel a piercing pain. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and didn't say a word.

The bar was very depressing, and those guests had not been released yet. They were all asked to shrink into the corners.

There was a brief burst of gunfire upstairs again, and the body of one of his companions was thrown down from above, crashing heavily on the ground.

He was looking at himself, with a bullet hole in his forehead, and a very small amount of translucent blood was overflowing from his wound, but only a little.

On the contrary, his hair was already wet.

He was staring at himself with wide eyes, which made him feel scared again, but because of his cowardly behavior, his heartbeat did not become strong again.

At the same time, he also felt a sense of luck, because if he had resisted just now, he should have been thrown down from above like this now.

Before long, another, then an injured companion.

That person looked at him, and he may have also felt the other person's gaze. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then moved their eyes away from each other.

Maurice walked up to them and asked, "We only need one person alive, but there are two here!"

Before the other person could react, he suddenly raised his head, "I am willing to cooperate with you!"

His companion looked at him with disbelief, and then in his sight, his companion was kicked to the ground, a foot stepped on his head, followed by a gunshot!

The eyes of the man on the ground gradually涣散, and blood quickly晕开 under his head.

Until death, those eyes were staring at him... He shivered and turned his head away, not daring to look again. His heartbeat sounded in his ears again. It was clear that his body was full of strength now, but he just didn't do anything, and couldn't do anything.

Maurice looked at him, "You must know how many strongholds the Gregg family has."

He looked up at Maurice, his tone filled with some indescribable despair, "Why?"

Hiram walked over and kicked him in the shoulder, "Because you messed with the wrong people!"

Soon a truck stopped outside the bar. The corpses were quickly loaded onto the truck, and the cash and some high-end alcohol in the bar were taken away by them.

When the customers in the bar had confirmed that the thugs had left, some people ran out, but others went upstairs, into the warehouse.

In an instant, those people suddenly woke up and began to join the looting team.

The entire scene was destroyed. At the same time, these people did not think about calling the police. They also gained more or less benefits from it. Calling the police would not only bring trouble to themselves, but also take away the alcohol they had taken, or even something else.

In one night, three bars and one dormitory were uprooted, and the Gregg family officially became a thing of the past...

When the sun rose, everything seemed to be no different from yesterday, but it also seemed to be a little different!

After Lance arrived at the office, Jonathan (Vice President of B\u0026H Bank) called him. Jonathan's voice revealed a happy emotion, "Are you free lately?"

"We can go play golf together, and we can also have dinner together in the evening. I know a club that is particularly enjoyable!"

He let out the kind of laughter that only men understand, "And the president, just the three of us, I guarantee you will have an unforgettable night!"

Lance knew what had happened as soon as he heard it, "Did you get the money?"

Lijie Group has been suing him, suing him for colluding with the appraiser to sign a contract that sells the company's interests. This kind of case is actually very difficult to win, for Lijie Group.

The federal judicial logic is also whoever claims, whoever provides evidence. Lijie Group reached a private agreement with the appraiser, asking him to bite that there was collusion between him and Lance.

But the evidence they provided was incomplete. With the help of a lawyer, Lance produced a lot of supplementary evidence that contradicted the evidence they provided. The court has never adopted their statement.

They have been demanding to continuously supplement evidence, wanting to drag the lawsuit on and on.

The main cost of fighting a lawsuit in the Federation comes from the cost of hiring a lawyer. If it is an ordinary person, they may bow their heads after dragging on and on.

Most ordinary farmers and small businesses cannot afford such a toss. This is also their most common method, hurting people with capital.

After Lance compromised, they would propose something like compensating him with one or two thousand dollars, and the case would be over.

They reneged on the contract and made millions more in profits. As for the others, they didn't care.

But what they didn't expect was that Lance was not afraid of the lawsuit being dragged on. After he fully entrusted it to the lawyer recommended by Lawyer Robben, he no longer inquired about the case.

After dragging on for two months, until it was almost due, the bank asked them to fulfill the contract. Only then did they suddenly realize that the right holder of this contract had changed from Lance to B\u0026H Bank.

Although Lijie Group has a strong background and strong financial resources, they are still far behind B\u0026H Bank.

Seeing that there was no advantage to be gained, Lijie Group quickly fulfilled the contract.

B\u0026H Bank didn't want so many grapes. They directly discounted them through the market. The profit of more than one million dollars made Jonathan and the bank president stand out!

This time they made a big profit. Jonathan showed his face at the quarterly meeting of the B\u0026H Bank headquarters, and the president was also mentioned a few times.

The two of them were not only able to overfulfill their performance, but also received a lot of rewards.

In fact, rewards are not very important to them. What is important is that at the board meeting, people began to be familiar with their names, no longer "the president and vice president of a certain region" and so on.

For both reason and emotion, the president and Jonathan felt that they should deepen their relationship with Lance, after all, this is indeed a favor, and a big favor.

If there are a few similar situations, the president will definitely be promoted, and Jonathan may be appointed as the president of the Jin Gang City B\u0026H Bank!

He is now full of enthusiasm for Lance!

"They didn't want to give it at first, but the director called their president, and then the money was transferred."

"Because of this case, I and the president were commended at the board of directors meeting. This is all thanks to you, Lance."

"I want to do something to express my gratitude. Without you, I couldn't have gotten to where I am today, and the president also wants to be friends with you!"

They are not afraid of gangsters like Lance, but are more interested, because gangsters have a lot of funds to deal with, and they happen to have certain innate talents in this area.

In addition to this reason, the president also hopes to get to know the up-and-coming Lance family and Lance. Maybe someday he will be able to ask Lance to help him solve some troubles.

People in the upper class like them always have things that are inconvenient to do themselves, but someone must do them.

Then it is very necessary to know a few outstanding figures who can solve all their troubles for them!

After considering Jonathan's invitation for a moment, Lance decided to accept, but not now. The current situation hadn't stabilized, and it wasn't convenient for him to appear in exposed situations for extended periods.

"If you watch the news, you'll know the recent situation is a bit unusual. Let's get together after things settle down, what do you think?"

As a member of high society, Jonathan certainly knew what was happening. After pondering for a moment, he agreed with Lance's idea, "No problem, but I want to send you a gift. I hope you won't refuse, and I hope you'll like it."

Lance was a little curious, "What is it?"

"You'll know soon…"

Jonathan's style of doing things was swift and decisive. He told Lance to wait half an hour. Half an hour later, a brand-new luxury car stopped in front of the office.

The youngsters' eyes lit up when they saw this car!

For them, cars and weapons were their passions; women had to take a backseat.

Jonathan's secretary, a young man in his thirties with a flattering smile, delivered the car. He handed over the relevant documents and keys to Lance.

"This car was obtained through auction. The Deputy Governor remembered that you were missing a good car, so he sent you this car!"

"The procedures have all been completed. Here are the keys. I wish you a pleasant driving experience…"

The secretary quickly left with two bottles of good wine, Lance's return gift. He casually flipped through the documents.

This luxury car was ordered by a wealthy man on the verge of bankruptcy. Before the car even reached him, he went bankrupt.

So, the car was put up for auction. The bank held an auction, and Jonathan ultimately bought it for a thousand dollars.

There were many other super-cheap items like this at the auction, such as houses for a few hundred dollars and yachts for a few thousand.

They had many ways to keep these items within the bank at extremely low prices, turning them into a kind of perk.

If it was an auction without a set number of participants, then everyone participating was an internal member, and the items were distributed before the auction even began.

Only one person would bid on each item; who bid on what was decided in advance.

If it was a publicly held auction with a set number of participants, then they could set a starting price and the amount of each subsequent bid.

For example, the starting price could be five percent of the value, but each subsequent bid had to exceed the item's price.

Who bids first?

Anyway, there would definitely be many people bidding at the same time, and the auctioneer decided who went first.

Undoubtedly, the auctioneer was also a bank employee.

Besides these, there were other methods, such as deliberately bidding but not paying, causing several failed auctions and creating the illusion that the item couldn't be sold. The bank would then remove the item from the auction catalog.

After re-evaluating at a shockingly low price, they would directly digest it internally.

Sometimes, when banks devour people, they are even more unseemly than capitalists!

However, most of the time, they would still try to cover it up a bit.

As soon as Jonathan's secretary left, a group of people swarmed in. Seeing their covetous looks, Lance knew their purpose.

He casually tossed the car keys over, and the young men immediately scrambled for them. Ultimately, the keys ended up in Ethan's hands, and he grinned from ear to ear, like a twenty-year-old fool…

After most of the people left, Elvin and Morris stayed behind.

Lance could sense that they had something to say. After simply gesturing for them to sit down, Elvin began to speak.

"The Wolf Gang's claws are probing towards us. They've already set up a bar on Ninth Street and the expressway, and it's opening in the next few days."

"If we don't respond, people might underestimate us."

Lance shook his head slightly, "No one will underestimate us." He thought for a moment, "What's the Wolf Gang leader's name again?"

"Wolf, and another whose real name is unclear. They call him 'Professor'."

Lance tossed them two cigarettes, "Can you figure out where they are?"

Morris didn't give Lance a definite answer, "Not sure, but we can try."

"They're very careful. I've already arranged for people to go, but there haven't been any results."

The fighting between Fides' gangs was also fierce. Being able to survive in the intense gang iteration meant they weren't simple.

Wolf and Professor almost never appeared in public. Every time they went out, it was with a large group of people, just like Lance's current situation.

It was almost impossible to catch them alone!

Unless someone betrayed them, but now the Wolf Gang was basically all people from Fides. It was impossible to plant someone inside; it could almost be said to be impossible!

Lance didn't force it, "Find them if you can, if not, forget it."

"When does their new bar open?"

Elvin glanced at the calendar on the table, "In two days."

"Then get ready. When they open, we'll send them a big gift!"

After ending this topic, Lance asked about another matter he was very concerned about, "How's the investigation into Basil Investment Bank going?"

This Basil Investment Bank was the financial company where Barbara worked. They offered financial products with returns as high as fifteen percent per month, which attracted many people.

To say that there were no outrageous financial transactions in this world was clearly wrong. All the crops that could be used to make wine would continue to rise in price in the coming period.

Grapes were already close to four hundred dollars a ton, but just six months ago, when they were sold by farmers, they were only seventy-odd dollars a ton.

Calculated in this way, the average monthly growth rate was several tens of percent, which was even more exaggerated than the return promised by this investment bank!

Perhaps it was because it existed, and there were still many such situations, that people didn't think it was a scam.

Lance had entrusted this matter to Elvin, who scratched his head, "I can only have people盯着 their whereabouts, but I don't know how to cut in. We don't understand these things very well!"

Lance then remembered that the people in front of him weren't top students from universities. They were just Imperials brought here from their hometowns by parents who wanted to escape the war or yearned for a Federal life.

They hadn't received a complete education, so naturally they didn't know how to do this. Lance thought for a moment, "I'll盯着 this matter. Don't move the people you've arranged."

He thought for a while, "This afternoon, we'll go and chat with them to see how big their scale is now."

This sentence made both of them excited, "How much money can we get from these people?"

Lance was also full of expectations, "I don't know, maybe a few million, or even tens of millions."

Both of them gasped, their eyes filled with shock when they looked at each other!

"Is making money in finance really this profitable?" For a moment, Elvin even felt like he should learn from Sean, relearn cultural knowledge, and go to college!

Even if he committed crimes, it wouldn't bring in money as quickly as this!

Lance smiled and explained, "Making money in finance is fast, but it's rare to be this fast."

"They can have such a speed because they are scamming!"