Empire of Shadows

Martin quickly left with Griggs and Abel, as he still had to go to other places to conduct this "fundraising" ceremony.

It was unknown whether they had gone to find Mr. Chobaff, who, in the eyes of many, was still a reputable Imperial immigrant in Goldport City.

"I don't quite understand, Lance,"

Erwin in the room was a little puzzled, "What's the point of us giving them money?"

"I mean... how can we be sure that this money will bring us returns?"

"And what good is it for us to do this?"

This book is first published on the entire network by 𝕥 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

Lance briefly explained, "This... what was it again?" He looked at Mador, having suddenly forgotten the surname.

Mador reminded him, "Griffiths."

"Yes, Griffiths. If this guy can succeed in his revenge, then great! Our investment will yield many times the return!"

"The more intense the war, the more they need the outside world, and we can get more exclusive rights from them."

"If their revenge journey isn't so smooth, then we can see the results in a year or two."

"Either be wiped out, or have to leave the Empire."

"This is just a political speculation. The only risk we take is the potential loss of money."

"But once it succeeds, then we will get something that cannot be measured by money!"

"The funds we invest today will return to us many times over."

"If he succeeds but doesn't intend to fulfill these promises to us, it doesn't matter, as long as those documents are there, I believe there will always be someone in the Senate interested in such a large amount of profit!"

He paused, "Okay, this is just a simple little thing. In short, we still have to continue recruiting people, but Mador..." He looked at the latter, "Don't recruit people like this anymore. The situation in the country is a bit complicated, and I don't like them very much."

"Just recruit locally, and then you guys continue to be responsible for the training, turning them all into good lads!"

He didn't delve too deeply into this issue, partly because they might not understand if he went too deep, and partly because Lance had some other ideas.

If Griffiths could succeed, then that would be best, and he would get countless rewards.

Even if he failed, it wouldn't matter. When the time came, he could directly sell some of his information to the royal family.

Presumably, the royal family would be very willing to use a sum of money, as well as some other things, to exchange for news of this rebel who had caused them a lot of trouble.

This investment would definitely not be a loss, just like those special medicines in the warehouse, their prices are still constantly rising.

"This topic ends here..." He paused, "Recruiting people, training, and distributing weapons must be taken to heart."

"Soon we will face more challenges and opportunities, and I don't want us to be unprepared to seize it when the opportunity appears before us!"

In mid-August, the fierce gang war seemed to have temporarily slowed down due to the "fall" of the mayor.

The scorching sun turned the entire city into a huge furnace. During the two hours when the afternoon sun was at its fiercest, there were hardly any people on the streets.

Most people were either hiding in the shadows or soaking in the sea.

A large truck swayed and stopped at the material station in the industrial area. The driver looked at the young man sitting in the passenger seat, took out two coins from his pocket, and handed them over, "I hope it can help you."

The apprentice, who had been silent all the way, was stunned for a moment. He looked at the two coins handed over by the driver in disbelief, and for a moment, his mind was a bit... unable to think!

He was released the day before yesterday. The police kicked him in the butt and kicked him out of prison.

He thought he would have to stay for a while, but the prison said he had performed well, so he could go out early.

He was even a little confused about it!

Life in prison was not too good. The management of the state prison was relatively strict, but it was very fulfilling!

Once people are fulfilled, they will forget the pain, forget the past. Now, suddenly wanting to release him from that environment, he was suddenly a little uncomfortable.

Then he carried his simple luggage and was thrown on the road leading to the interstate highway.

He wanted to go back and ask him how he should go back, but the prison guard standing on the wall pointed his gun at him, and he finally closed his mouth.

He came to the interstate highway, distinguished the direction, and walked along the highway towards Goldport City, while trying to see if he could hitch a ride.

In this era of frequent highway killers, those enthusiastic drivers who were willing to help others had almost all died.

The remaining ones were all indifferent and unsympathetic.

It wasn't that they wanted to do this, it was the current terrible situation that forced them to do so.

Every year, at least thousands of cases of interstate highway crimes are constantly occurring and breaking records.

Every hour, someone might die on the road because they stopped the car. Even the federal government has warned those drivers not to randomly pick up strangers.

There was nothing in the barren wilderness. When he felt like he was about to die, a large truck stopped next to him.

"Where are you going?"

The apprentice looked at the driver, looked for a long time, and then opened his chapped lips and said, "I want to go to Goldport City."

His throat was very hoarse, so hoarse that the sound of his voice was almost inaudible, but the driver heard it.

The driver sitting in the cab made a "come up" gesture to him, signaling him to sit in the passenger seat.

He even thought he was hallucinating, until he really got into the car.

After a brief exchange, he got some water and food, and then silently accompanied the driver, riding the truck all the way east on the road.

Until this moment, the city's noise could not be controlled and drilled into his ears, and the decaying smell behind the city's prosperity floated in the air, did he realize that he had really returned.

"I..." He looked at the driver, a little choked up. The car had stopped at this time and was waiting in line for the workers to come and unload the goods.

The driver shook his fingers, "Don't make me hold it all the time."

"Thank you!" The apprentice finally left the two coins, because he really needed them!

"I will return it to you, sir, how can I find you?"

The driver gave him a business card, "I work in these two states. If you need anything, or just want to chat with me, call this number."

"I may not be able to answer, but I will definitely know that you have called me. Just tell them how I can contact you."

He looked directly at the apprentice, "Before parting, I want to share a story with you, I hope you won't嫌 me for being啰嗦."

The apprentice nodded vigorously, "Of course, I am happy to share your story!"

The driver lit a cigarette, "When I was nineteen, I had a girlfriend, not my current wife."

"She wanted to buy a ring, but you know, I didn't have any money, so I chose to steal."

"I was clumsy and was discovered. In order not to be caught, I did something stupid. I hit the shop owner's head with the stick I was carrying, several times."

"Thank God for not abandoning me. He was seriously injured, but he didn't die, and I was sent to prison."

He smiled and exhaled a puff of smoke, and coughed twice, "The days inside are memorable, but it is indeed not a place for anyone to stay."

"After coming out, my girlfriend had already married someone else, and my parents had disappeared. My relatives were unwilling to contact me, and no place was willing to take a thief and robber who had been released. The whole world seemed to have abandoned me!"

"When I was most confused, a person appeared. He helped me out of the predicament. He made me realize that there was still a ray of sunshine in this world that could shine on me!"

"He is the most important person in my life besides my parents, child!"

"He opened a new chapter in my life and gave me a new life!"

He seemed quite sentimental and sighed with emotion, "Actually, when I saw you, I knew you should have just come out of the state prison."

"The moment I saw you, I suddenly thought of myself in the past."

"Someone gave me a chance to re-embrace this world, why don't I do the same thing and give you a chance to re-embrace the world and be embraced by this world?"

"I want you to know, don't care about those who don't love you, go and protect those who care about you, and love yourself!"

He took out two more packs of cigarettes from the toolbox, "Adjust your mentality, and then re-embrace this world and your new life, there will always be a way out in life!"

The apprentice was so moved that he could hardly speak. He pursed his lips, "I will, sir, I will!"

The driver grinned and bumped his fist with him, "If you really don't know what to do, give me a call, we can run long distances together!"

"Cheer up, kid, don't be looked down upon by those people!"

"I will, sir, after I finish some things, I will go to you."

The driver laughed and said, "No, I'm just the last retreat in your life. You should have your own life!"

"Only when you feel that there is no other way to go, come to me again. This is a road that you can see the end of at a glance, and you are still young!"

The apprentice who left the station was still immersed in emotion. He quickly cheered up. He decided to live like a human being.

Prison is a place where people can grow, and he had grown a lot.

But looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar city, he was still in a brief daze.

He didn't know where to go. His mother and her new boyfriend had left the city, and he had been completely abandoned.

For some reason, he now especially wanted to take a look at Johnny's bakery, the place that had changed his life and destiny.

When he arrived here by public transport, he looked at the storefront in disbelief. Not only had the name of the shop changed, but also the operators inside.

"Johnny?" The salesperson who was packing bread shook his head. "I don't know Johnny, but I know of him. People say the bread he makes is a little worse than ours!"

The clerk showed some smiles, "You should try it, a classic sandwich only costs two cents, would you like one?"

The apprentice nodded, ordered one, and asked, "Johnny... where did he go?"

The clerk shook his head, "I don't know, but I heard that after he lost this house, he disappeared in the Imperial District."

"If you want to find him, ask some of the old people over there, they have very good information!"

In the corner of the room, there were several old men wearing peaked caps sitting in the corner, with some chopped toast on the table in front of them—

It was the ordinary kind of bread, cut into bread cubes about one centimeter in size, and then put back into the oven to bake again, so that all four sides were焦脆, crunchy and crispy, fragrant and crispy to eat.

It can be spread with butter, or sprinkled with a little salt, there are many ways to eat it.

After thanking the clerk, he came to the old men's side.

Several old men immediately stopped talking when they saw someone approaching.

The apprentice looked at one of the old men, who was obviously of a higher status, and asked, "Do you know Johnny?"

The old man frowned and looked at him, "You look familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen you."

"What do you want from Johnny?"

The apprentice didn't really know why he wanted to see Johnny so much now. He moved his lips, "I... am his friend. I haven't been here for a long time, I just found that the people here have changed."

The old man nodded and said, "He owed Mr. Lance a sum of money, and this storefront was mortgaged to Mr. Lance."

"The merciful and tolerant Mr. Lance has waived all his debts. If you want to find him, go to 27 Phoenix Street, he should be nearby!"

After the old man finished speaking, he looked at him with an expression that said "If there are no other questions, you should leave." He said thank you, and turned to leave with his luggage on his back.

27 Phoenix Street was some distance away from here. He decided to go there in the afternoon. In the morning and noon, he needed to wander around here.

He wandered around the Imperial District and found that it was very different from the past, and most importantly, he heard too many people talking about Lance's name.

After inquiring, he learned what had happened here after he was sentenced.

Lance and his gang, who were often looked down upon by him and Johnny, illegal immigrants from the Empire, quickly rose and became a force that could not be ignored.

Now the Lance family not only controls the Imperial District, but also controls the Port District.

To be honest, it was very frustrating. Two people from the same bakery, one had just finished serving his sentence and didn't know where the future was, and the other had become a big shot he needed to look up to.

He was still a little uncomfortable, which was normal, because if someone he thought was inferior to him was now developing better than him, he would be uncomfortable and feel that fate was unfair.

After eating something casually at noon, he took a car to 27 Phoenix Street in the afternoon. He thought it would be a bakery or something.

But what he didn't expect was that it was actually a large pharmacy.

Why would Johnny, a baker, appear here?

Did he have other abilities?

Just when he was still a little confused as to why Johnny was here, the door of the store was suddenly pushed open, and a guy was pushed out by two people and thrown to the ground.

That guy looked a little scary, especially his legs, which had several bloody wounds.

It was as if the skin had fallen off, but strangely, it didn't bleed, it just remained bright red.

This person was disheveled, his hair was like being wrapped in a cream of cheese soup, stuck together, he crawled to one of them, hugged that person's leg, "Please, give me some more, give me some more!"

"Just one, I will get the money, I promise!"

But all he got in return was punches and kicks!

The people around seemed to be used to these scenes. The apprentice just stayed there, watching the homeless man begging for something.

The homeless man seemed to notice his gaze and suddenly looked at him.

The familiar or unfamiliar appearance could not change their familiarity with each other.

Johnny quickly turned his head and tried to cover his face with his tattered clothes, but soon he seemed to think of something, suddenly struggled to stand up, limped to the apprentice, looked at him with bright eyes, "Don't you want to learn my skills?"

"I'll teach you, I'll teach you everything, I won't hold back this time!"

"But you have to give me some money, five hundred... no, three hundred will do!"

Seeing the apprentice's indifferent look, he began to actively lower the price.

"Actually, two hundred will do."

"One hundred, no less, just one hundred!"

"Okay, I give up, fifty..."

In the end, he almost knelt at the apprentice's feet, hugging his legs, "Ten cents, just ten cents, for the sake of us knowing each other, please!"

The apprentice took out two five-cent coins from his pocket and threw them on the ground.

Johnny, who was once high above him, was now lying on the ground like a dog, carefully holding the two five-cent coins in his hands, and then limping into the pharmacy.

Two minutes later, he was pushed out, but he was smiling.

He held two pills in his hand, as if they were the most precious treasures in the world, carefully put them into his mouth, and then swallowed them.

At that moment, the apprentice felt that his whole person had relaxed.

He seemed to have returned to "normal."

In fact, the painkiller had not yet taken effect, but under the psychological comfort, he already felt much better.

"Consider it, twenty yuan, I will teach you all my skills!"

The apprentice looked at him and shook his head slightly, "I plan to drive a big truck. I have figured it out now. Actually, making bread is not suitable for me, and this is not the life I want."

There was suddenly no more to say between the two.

After a while, the apprentice said, "I came here to see you just to say goodbye to the past, but seeing you like this..."

He suddenly smiled, "I don't know why, but I'm suddenly very happy!"

"Johnny, you are now like a pile of mud, and I wish you will continue to rot!"

The motorcade passed by the side of the road, and Lance, sitting in the luxury car, glanced at the two somewhat strange people on the sidewalk.

It was just a casual glance, and then he withdrew his gaze. Two unimportant people, a little familiar, but he didn't continue to look for their thoughts in his mind.

He knew too many people, and it was not necessary to figure out who everyone who looked familiar to him was.

He picked up the expensive cigar on the ashtray next to him and took a puff, feeling the enjoyment brought by the expensive price.

Sometimes life is very simple, so simple that it is so simple and unpretentious.