Empire of Shadows

Lance gathered some people and headed towards the Preesia District. On the way, Lance suddenly laughed inexplicably, which made Elvin couldn't help but look at him.

"What's so funny?"

"Mind sharing?"

Lance lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then chuckled again. "I find it very interesting. Back then, we were helping others collect debts."

"Now, it's our turn to help people evade debts. Don't you think it's interesting?"

Elvin was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then he also smiled, "It is quite interesting. Actually, when I suddenly think about it, it hasn't been that long, but it gives me the feeling that a long time has passed."

He thought of something and started laughing, "It's all Ethan's fault, that idiot. If it weren't for him, there wouldn't have been so many things."

Laughing, Lance sighed again, "If it weren't for this incident, I don't know what we would be doing now."

"Maybe we would still be trying to find a path to success, but that path is not easy to walk. Every road looks pretty good, but in fact, they are all blocked."

"To some extent, Ethan contributed the most to this change, although he may not even know it himself."

Elvin thought of something, "Ethan told me something these past few days. I guess he hasn't told you yet."

"What?" Lance crossed his legs, resting his elbow on his knee and taking a puff of his cigarette. The smoke he just exhaled was blown away by the wind entering the car, and then swirled away.

Elvin said with a smile, "He wants to take up boxing."

"Boxing?" Lance wondered if he had heard wrong, "Has he ever learned boxing?"

Elvin shook his head, "No, he has never been exposed to boxing. These past few days, the newspaper reported a story about a boxing champion. He was very touched after reading it, and he wants to try it."

Lance had also read that report, which had a very Federation flavor.

The boxing champion was weak and sickly as a child. In order to keep him alive, his father began to ask him to exercise and made him a punching bag himself.

He never thought he was an excellent boxer. He didn't even understand boxing until the newspaper reported a boxing match.

The winning boxer could get a hundred dollars in prize money, which sparked his desire to explore. Then he signed up for a local amateur boxing match with a prize of ten dollars.

Only a dozen people participated in the entire competition. Surprisingly, he actually won the championship. Every boxer said his punches were unexpectedly heavy, making them irresistible.

In this way, a boxing coach discovered his talent and signed him. After several years of training, he finally became a qualified boxer. After many challenges and attempts, he defeated the heavyweight boxing champion this month and won the boxing champion's gold belt.

His story inspired many people, once again making countless Federation people believe that as long as you work hard and sweat, you will definitely have a successful day.

This scene was so familiar to Lance, like… that salesman who didn't know his name, but he became the president of a listed company through sales, just like that real estate enjoyer who eventually became a real estate tycoon by promoting real estate.

Even more like the successful businessman who never told others that he had a governor's father, and started from scratch with a hundred dollars and already had a huge net worth.

Each of them had once illuminated the night sky of the Federation, leaving indelible marks and becoming the goals that countless people crazily yearned for and pursued!

But no one has ever really explored the reasons why these people can succeed, but simply believes that hard work will definitely pay off.

And got a lesson—you didn’t succeed because you didn’t work hard enough!

"If he likes it, let him try it. If he can defeat all the enemies in the ring in front of the whole world and become a boxing champion, it would be a very glorious thing for us!"

Ethan's physique is very large and he has a lot of strength. Perhaps this is indeed his talent and opportunity.

"Let him try. Ask if there are any excellent boxing coaches in Goldport City and let him teach Ethan. Don't be afraid to spend money."

He took another puff of his cigarette and slowly exhaled, "Don't arrange any more family work for him later."

Elvin was stunned for a moment, "Is that necessary?"

"This is just boxing, and I believe if he knew, he would definitely not choose to box."

Lance shook his head slightly, "This is a righteous path, and it is a righteous path paved with gold, Elvin."

"If you have the opportunity to take the righteous path and be like you are now, with money and status, I hope you can all walk on the righteous path!"

"The path we are on now does look good, but have you ever thought about how many people we have said goodbye to?"

"I don't want to have to say goodbye to you one day, or one day I'll be lying in a coffin waiting for you to offer me white flowers."

"So don't take this path. If you have a chance to change your way of life, don't give up."

Elvin was deeply moved after hearing this. He thought of Gerald.

Gerald's movie is being released, and some newspapers have already reported his news, saying that he is the most handsome young man in the Federation, and many people hope to see more of his performances.

It can be said that Gerald directly entered another track and had another kind of life.

There are no bullets and rain, no interception halfway, and no one holding a submachine gun to shoot at him, of course, the performances in the movie don't count.

He can stand in front of people openly and accept people's love and worship. He can proudly tell anyone his identity and work without feeling embarrassed.

Elvin nodded, "I will tell him," he paused, "I will be with you to the end, Lance."

Lance smiled and reached out to push his head, "Go and say these words to those girls. Saying this to me will only make me feel sick!"

The laughter in the car was carried far away in the evening breeze through the windows. Perhaps it has disappeared in the world of many people, but for the people in the car, they have always been there and will always be there!

The car became smoother after entering the Preesia District. The ground here is maintained very timely. After all, this is where the middle class lives, so they have to take good care of it.

Otherwise, these tax-paying backbones will really call to complain.

As he approached the community where Barbara lived, Lance saw William standing by the road. The convoy slowly stopped, "Why didn't you go in?"

William showed a slightly embarrassed smile, "I feel safer going in with you!"

Lance laughed and opened the car door, "Patricia will be sad when she hears that, because every father is a child's hero!"

William rolled his eyes as he got into the car, "To hell with heroes, I think it's better to be alive, and where are there so many heroes in this world?"

Lance introduced Elvin to him, "My brother, if you encounter any trouble and I'm not around, you can find him."

"I'll introduce a few more people to you later, but there's one guy you shouldn't look for if you run into trouble, named Hiram, a guy who looks a bit like the stupid son of a farmer."

William asked curiously, "Why?"

Elvin continued, "Because he only speaks with bullets!" He also greeted William, "Nice to meet you, Mr. William. Lance often talks about you."

"Talking about my unheroic deeds?" He teased himself, a grown man who had worked in City Hall for more than ten years and knew how to adjust the atmosphere.

The convoy quickly entered the community, and the community security guard automatically let go when he saw the 20,000-dollar luxury car.

People who can afford such luxury cars must not be bad people, because God said that bad people do not deserve to have wealth!

The convoy quickly arrived outside Barbara's house. Two cars were parked haphazardly in the parking space at the door. Judging from the license plates and the way they were parked, they should belong to those people.

"They look like they're still there."

Lance got out of the car. All the lights in the villa were turned on. Light sometimes can not only dispel darkness, but also dispel fear!

He briefly introduced these people to William, and then walked towards the villa side by side with William.

At this time, in the room, several people were evaluating some valuable things. Barbara sat on the sofa with tears in her eyes. She was frightened. Her parents were communicating with a guy in his thirties.

"Our house is still worth more than 20,000 yuan now. Adding those bonds, we can raise 100,000 yuan…"

The man had a buzz cut, with a sharp point on his forehead, like the tail of some animal. He had a thin, long face with a greenish chin.

He was observing Barbara. It must be said that Barbara was indeed very beautiful.

Her beauty is different from Patricia's beauty.

Patricia's beauty is a pure beauty, like a small white flower blooming in a patch of tender green grass in late winter and early spring.

Seeing her reminds you of sweet and sour love, not anything else.

Barbara's beauty is pure charm. Seeing her gives people the feeling of the most primitive impulse, wanting to grab her hair and press her down on the bed, hitting her from behind so hard that she turns over!

"These things are not enough for 50,000."

The man came back to his senses, glanced at the things on the table, and showed a smile, "That's a pity, Mr. Lawrence, you heard that."

Lawrence's face was a little red, "These things clearly add up to more than 50,000…"

The man had an indifferent expression, leaned on the sofa, "What you think is your business. My people said it's not enough for 50,000."

Barbara's father took a deep breath, "I know..."

The guy, who seemed to be a small boss, raised his hand, stopping him from continuing, "You want to say you know a lot of people, right?"

He couldn't help but laugh, "Mr. Lawrence, we are the mafia. Do you understand what the word 'mafia' represents?"

"It means we are not bound by ordinary laws, or what you consider rules, because we are the mafia."

"You can find people to drive us away once, twice, but the people you find can't possibly be here every time you need them."

"And are you sure you can summon them an infinite number of times?"

"You can't do that, but we can come every day!"

"Either pay the money, or let your daughter spend three months with me. Honestly, a girl like her will definitely become a legend in Goldport City!"

What the small boss was thinking about were those high-end social venues in the Bay Area and Starlight District. Dressing Barbara up a bit would easily bring in hundreds or thousands each time.

If he got lucky, it could be even more!

Moreover, to him, Barbara was not only a tool to make money, but also an important means for him to win over some people.

Some people have never worried about money and power from the moment they were born. The money you can give them might not even be as much as their pocket money, and power is something the mafia can't touch.

To deal with these people, you can only work hard in other directions, such as sex, a special "currency" that has existed since ancient times, or other novelties.

People always have hobbies. For these rich and powerful people, besides money and power, their main hobby is still sex.

When Barbara offered to borrow money, he agreed almost without thinking. What he wanted was for Barbara not to be able to repay the money!

Because the benefits Barbara herself could bring him far exceeded the interest on those tens of thousands of dollars.

He just didn't expect things to happen so quickly. He still had to thank those people at Balz Investment Bank, and also thank those people for being so stupid.

Even a loan shark like him knew that it was definitely a scam, but these people actually didn't believe it?

His words made Barbara's body tremble slightly. She was already a little desperate, and now her only hope was Lance.

Just when the family didn't know what to do, the door was pushed open.

"I just heard someone wants to come every day. Who wants to come every day?"

When Barbara and her parents saw Lance and William coming together, they were all relieved. She even said something like "Thank God!"

The small boss frowned and glanced at Lance, "Who are you?"

Lance ignored him, looking at the several mafia members in the living room. He walked to the side of the sofa, and the small boss subconsciously stood up.

His expression had already changed a bit. He smelled the scent of his own kind from these people!

"We are from the Doug family. You better not cause trouble!"

Lance was famous, but there were actually not many people who had actually seen Lance. It was normal that he didn't recognize Lance. He tried to use the name of the Doug family to scare Lance away, but obviously, this name didn't scare Lance.

"Doug?"

"Why would someone use a dog as a name?"

There was laughter in the room immediately, but the small boss's face was livid, "Do you know who you are insulting?"

Lance picked up the loan contract on the table and looked at it for a few glances, saying as he looked, "Just a dog, what, you still expect me to have awe for a dog and the dog's family?"

He finished reading it, casually tore up the contract, and then threw it on the small boss, "Now the debt is cleared."

The small boss's eyes were bulging out, and his subordinates all stood up, revealing a look of wanting to eat people.

Lance turned his head and looked around at them, and finally his gaze fell on the small boss's face, "Not convinced?"

"Weren't you very happy when you were treating them like this just now?"

"You like to bully people, coincidentally, I also like to bully people."

The small boss clenched his teeth, "Tell me your name."

He seemed to have used a lot of strength for every word, squeezing it out from his throat and between his teeth. Lance looked at him, "You want to take revenge on me."

The small boss didn't seem to be timid, "You insulted the Doug family, you will pay the price for this."

Lance took a step back. He tilted his head and saw a vase on the coffee table, a metal one. He picked it up and weighed it, looking at Barbara, "Is this thing expensive?"

Barbara didn't know what to say anymore, just nodded blankly, "More than two thousand dollars..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lance swung the vase and smashed it hard on the small boss's head. His whole body staggered to the side, and he leaned on the sofa to stand up straight again.

Two or three cuts opened on his forehead, and blood flowed down his cheeks.

His subordinates, after a brief shock, were about to attack, but were immediately held at gunpoint by Lance's men.

"Tell me your name!" the small boss continued to ask Lance's name, not caring at all about the wound on his forehead.

But Lance's answer was another hit!

With a 'duang' sound, he almost fell on the sofa, and then leaned on the sofa and swayed again, "You don't dare to tell me your name?"

"Are you also afraid of the Doug family's revenge?"

His left eye kept blinking, because the blood had soaked his eyelashes. He looked at Lance, "Is this your friend? Family?"

"It doesn't matter, I promise, all of you will die, and die miserably, this is the price!"

Lance shook his head, "You shouldn't have tried to anger me!" another hit came, with a 'duang' sound, his head was splashed with blood when it was hit by the vase, and the family of three beside the sofa were dumbfounded.

William was also particularly nervous at this time. He took out a cigarette with a slightly trembling hand, lit one, as if only this could relieve his nervous emotions.

But those young people who came with Lance were not afraid at all. Instead, everyone's face was filled with a playful expression.

The small boss didn't straighten up so quickly this time. Three consecutive hits on the head made his whole world spin. He leaned on the sofa and coffee table, gasping for breath.

Blood dripped down his cheeks onto the floor. He looked at Lance's shiny leather shoes, his brain seemed to be short-circuited.

After a dozen seconds, he straightened up again, just about to say something, there was another 'duang' sound.

This time he couldn't hold on anymore and fell directly to the ground!

He lay on the ground with his face sideways, looking at Lance with the corner of his eye, a look of hatred in his eyes.

Mafia people are like this, either they will become cowards at this moment, or they will become the embodiment of hatred.

"I don't like your eyes." Lance raised the vase in his hand and smashed it hard on the ground!

Barbara's body, sitting next to him, also trembled violently with the sound of the vase hitting the man's head!

Lance didn't stop, and raised the vase again, "A dog dares to threaten me?"

"Don't you want to know who I am?"

"Remember, tell God or Satan, my name is Lance!"

Again and again, again and again, until he had no breath!

Lance put the vase back on the coffee table, and the blood quickly spread into a circle along the bottom of the bottle.

He straightened his clothes, glanced at the blood-stained shirt, wiped it with his fingers, but it was useless.

"I just bought this shirt less than a week ago!" Then he smiled at Barbara and her family, "Don't worry, he won't have a future!"

Then he raised his hand and pointed to the ceiling, and gunshots rang out in the living room instantly...