Empire of Shadows

Lance wasn't one to turn the other cheek. He wouldn't just retaliate; he'd retaliate fiercely.

This wasn't Roger's first day at the casino.

Arthur found a friend to take Roger to the casino, and he quickly got a membership card. He'd been going in and out for several days.

There were wins and losses, but overall, losses outweighed wins, and the table fees were considerable.

Although the wins and losses weren't huge, compared to ordinary people, it was still a substantial amount of money.

Plus, he seemed very generous, and in just a few days, he became familiar with the people at the counter.

"They do inventory once a month, at the end of the month, around the 28th to the 30th."

"Then they leave a certain amount of money behind, and the rest is sent to the bank to be deposited."

"Usually, there's about a million in cash at the counter, and the rest is in their vault. I heard a rumor that they also have gold bars and some things that can be quickly converted into cash."

As he spoke, he used a pen to sketch the specific layout of the first floor on a piece of paper.

"The counter is on the right side of the entrance. It's a separate room, without bars, but it has glass."

"The counter is about one and a half meters high, with only a small opening about a foot wide, and there are two doors inside."

"One goes to the main hall, and I'm not sure where the other one goes."

"Then inside is the public casino. It's not very crowded, mainly concentrated at a few tables."

"As for the people in the private rooms, I don't know, because I haven't been inside."

Many wealthy patrons who know each other well will arrange to participate in private card games in a certain private room. The casino is responsible for providing the venue and dealers, as well as various gambling games. They just need to bring money.

The casino takes a table fee of 2.5% from each round of the game. Because they don't need to bear any risk, the table fee seems to be very small.

But in reality, it's not small at all.

Because every forty rounds of games is equivalent to all the chips on the table being taken away by the casino on average.

Those who play big here might bet tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

These private gambling games are by invitation only. Roger had just joined the casino, and the people inside weren't familiar with him, so they wouldn't rashly invite him to participate.

It was normal that he didn't know.

Lance looked at the rough floor plan he drew and placed it on the map of the Bay Area.

How could the Kodar family, a semi-white, semi-black family, be made to feel pain?

Lance had considered this question.

The simplest way to deal with pure gangsters is to kill them, make the blood flow like a river, kill them until they are terrified, kill them all, and everything will be over.

To deal with those socialites and politicians in the Bay Area, he had ledgers in his hand that were enough to plunge these seemingly glamorous figures into a whirlwind of scandal and ruin their reputations.

But dealing with the Kodar family didn't quite require either.

If you kill their people, they can quickly gather more people to work for them as long as they have money.

Expose their scandals?

They don't care. Anyway, that's their nature. They don't care what others say, and no one will really risk their lives to discuss their dirty laundry.

So the best way is to take their money!

They have to send a large amount of profit to their superiors every once in a while. If they suddenly can't come up with the money, they have to find a way to make it up.

Not only that, but this will also make their superiors question their abilities.

The attention of the rulers is never on the grassroots insurgents who can kill the privileged class, but on the useless privileged class who are killed by the grassroots insurgents!

This was the first time Roger had joined such a "plan," and he was now completely excited.

Of course, there was a high probability that he wouldn't be needed... No, he could be.

"They will definitely be very vigilant these two days, so don't expose yourself."

"Arrange for two unfamiliar faces to go in with you tomorrow. Will they do a body search?" Lance asked.

Roger nodded. "No, but they will ask us to put dangerous items in the safe at the counter, otherwise unpleasant things might happen."

"I noticed that they observe the things we carry on our bodies. Someone will help us take off our jackets, and if we are carrying weapons or something, it will definitely show."

He even stood up, put one hand in his chest, pretended to be a weapon, and turned around.

Whether it's a pistol or other weapons, it's difficult to completely hide it. It will show in the chest and waist.

As long as you show it, the guard will ask you to leave the weapon behind, otherwise, for the safety of other guests, they will not let you in.

This approach has the support of all members. After all, they are here to pass the time, not to take risks.

Sometimes the casino even requires a body search, and everyone is very supportive.

"However, I noticed that they don't check my suitcase, but they open it, just take a look, flip through it casually, and then close it."

He provided a very important clue, and Lance pointed to him, "You've done a great job!"

Roger smiled modestly. "This is what I should do!"

Lance looked at Alvin, "Ask the gunsmith, isn't he good at making sheet metal?"

"Ask him if he can make a convenient suitcase. We can use it."

"Wait two days, when they relax, we'll hit them!"

The people around became excited. If this deal went through, they could earn at least a million!

The next morning, Stone, who had just come out of the Kodar Club, frowned as he looked at the crowd of onlookers on the road.

Yesterday's events made them all very nervous, and they were worried that Lance's people would retaliate.

From the result, Lance had taken advantage, but this kind of thing is not judged by the result.

It's like you hit someone, but you didn't hit them, but you were beaten up instead. You can't say that he hit you; you can only say that you were unlucky.

If the other party asks you for compensation or wants to retaliate against you, it is also reasonable.

Today, Stone took people to move between several casinos, and the gambling games in some villas also stopped.

The old men in the Bay Area could understand his worries. If Lance targeted them, it would be bad for everyone.

He was followed by seven or eight people. If you looked closely, you could see obvious uneven marks on the shoulders inside their windbreakers. Those were straps. They were all carrying weapons.

"What's going on?" he asked the guard at the door.

A large group of people gathered on the side of the road in the distance, and he could vaguely hear people arguing and cursing. The current situation was special, and even a slight disturbance made him nervous.

The guard didn't know these things and replied casually, "Mr. Stone, two cars had a collision over there, and they started arguing."

The guard also imitated how the two drivers upgraded their verbal greetings into fierce arguments and curses.

"Disperse them."

The guard was a little embarrassed. "They just called the police..."

"Called the police?" Stone was stunned for a moment, but quickly stopped paying attention to the matter.

The guard continued to nod, "Someone called the police."

Stone walked towards the crowd and watched for a while.

Two fashionable young people stood by the car and cursed loudly, with no manners at all.

He glanced at the two cars, and the collision area was indeed very bad.

It is human nature to watch the excitement, whether it is here or elsewhere. He did not leave, but waited until the police car came before taking people away by car.

After the police arrived at the scene, they simply made a settlement, with each of the two people taking half the responsibility, and then drove them away.

The two seemingly unconvinced young people drove away, and the crowd watching the excitement gradually dispersed. The guard at the door had no excitement to watch and returned to his post.

"It took a total of nine minutes from the time the police were called to the time they arrived here."

In a coffee shop not far away, Lance glanced at the watch in his hand and recorded the time in a notebook.

He picked up the coffee and took a sip. The taste was not bad.

Compared to those one- or two-cent coffees, the cheapest coffee here is ten cents, which is obviously more than one level higher. After all, this is the Star District, which is very famous throughout the Federation.

About the consumption here, about the prosperity and fashion here!

"Can we complete the entire plan in nine minutes?" he put down the cup, licked his lips, and asked.

It seemed like he was asking someone else, but in reality, he was asking himself.

For the entire Lance family, it would be no problem to let them rush in and shoot people without thinking.

But if they were asked to plan a precise robbery, then they might still be a little short of experience.

Alvin sat opposite him without speaking. He also knew that this was definitely not asking him.

If he could answer or even handle this matter, he wouldn't have ended up working as a worker at the pier.

Lance ate small pastries while writing and drawing.

"We need bombs. If those glasses are bulletproof glass, and we can't break them in a short time, their vault will close!"

......

Creek Valley City, the director put down the phone and thought for a while, and found a local prop supplier.

As the Creek Valley City City Hall began to regard film shooting as an important direction for urban development, more and more crews poured in from all directions, and the supporting industries were also actively following up.

For example, prop companies.

These prop companies specialize in providing various props for some movies that require "big scenes."

From making armor, making tin cars, to providing blood packs that will crack or even explosives, as long as you give money, they provide everything!

The director contacted the prop company that was cooperating with the company to inquire about the explosives.

Shooting some types of movies requires the use of explosives. Directly purchasing explosives would be very troublesome, requiring the provision of corresponding certificates to the Bureau of Dangerous Goods Management—

Explosives are included in the "dangerous goods" managed by the Tobacco, Alcohol, and Dangerous Goods Administration, so in other words, the "Prohibition Bureau" also has the power to supervise these companies that shoot explosions.

In order to facilitate shooting and minimize troubles during shooting, many prop companies will help solve these problems. They can provide the production company with corresponding "props."

As long as they notify the prop company when using them, the safety supervisor of the prop company can supervise the use of explosives.

Wanli Productions is a large-scale company, and its new film released this year has been strongly recommended by the media and film critics. The prop company also hopes to establish a deep cooperative relationship with such a production company that is clearly leading other enterprises in development.

So, after signing an agreement, the prop company sent the explosives to the location designated by the director.

Soon after, a young man knocked on the director's door and took away two bombs.

As for why not ask Alberto?

Lance was worried that there were "traitors" in the Pasreto family. After all, the five major families were once one, and they might reveal some information to the Coda family, even if not intentionally, but inadvertently.

… …

"Once we succeed in the robbery, they will quickly chase after us. We will face a road chase. We need a sturdy, fast car…"

… …

Several fast cars were sent into the garage, and the person in charge of the modification took tools and began to modify these luxury cars, which cost tens of thousands at every turn.

Although the time is a bit tight, it must be said that the current car structure is relatively simple. In a few days, these cars will meet Lance's requirements.

The steel plates placed in the corner can provide them with the most reliable defense capabilities, and he also designed some "shooting ports."

If it weren't for not being able to be too ostentatious, he even considered simply hand-crafting an armored vehicle!

Armored vehicles have no technical content for him, just a shell and a powerful engine.

Now he has the engine, only a tin shell is missing!

The sounds of cutting and welding in the garage continued until late at night without stopping…

… …

"We need to practice a few times as soon as possible to ensure that there will be no problems with our actions…"

… …

Melo found an abandoned factory near the suburbs, and then asked people to simply arrange it according to the sketches drawn by Roger, so that it largely restored the real situation.

Lance led people to start practicing. He knew that behind every successful robbery, there was hard work and sweat.

Those situations where robberies can be successful on the first try without calculation, planning, or practice can only appear in the Moral and Legal System series, not in reality.

In order to make the situation more realistic, Lance also shortened the time and set the time from the alarm to the arrival of the police to seven minutes.

After all, "traffic accident" and "armed robbery" are not the same level of cases, and the police's attitude will also be different.

"Faster!"

Lance said slightly panting, asking people to push the stacks of tied paper and gold bricks back.

This time it took eight minutes. In theory, it should be fine, but he needs it to be shorter and faster!

Robbery and masturbation are no different in essence. It's not an instinct. At first, you don't know how to masturbate heartily.

Only through repeated attempts can you finally find a masturbation method that suits you, so that you can get every point, every detail, and release it after all of them are stretched out.

They came to the outside of the factory. Lance checked the time. When the second hand pointed to sixty, he forcefully pulled open the car door.

The people sitting in the car immediately got out one after another. Lance took the lead and rushed to the hall, and also casually shot and solved two "wooden security guards"…

Along with a series of actions, everyone was so familiar with what they had to do and where they had to stand!

In Hailaam's words, he now knows what he has to do even with his eyes closed!

And what Lance needs is this effect, to let everyone know what they have to do, instead of blindly wandering around!

When they threw bags of money into the car, pushed the gold bricks into the car, and everyone got into the car, Lance pulled out the winding stem of the watch.

The moment the winding stem was pulled out, the watch stopped.

"Seven minutes!"

The young people around him had excitement and excitement on their faces. Lance pressed the winding stem back. "Rest for a while, let's do it two more times, we must stabilize."

"I hope you know that doing this is not deliberately making things difficult for anyone. After all, this operation is very risky, and I must be responsible for your safety!"

The others expressed their understanding and were willing to cooperate.

In fact, Lance still has some other tricks, such as creating traffic accidents to slightly delay the arrival of the police car.

But these are just small tricks after all. If the road is blocked, they can detour. The most important thing is the speed!

Lance also asked several drivers to run the actual road conditions and increase the speed as much as possible!

In the evening, a group of people sat in the yard, around the stove.

Although it was still a bit cold, it was not the kind of degree that people could not bear.

With the existence of the stove, everyone did not feel cold, and there was also some food on the stove. They ate barbecue and chatted.

"Lance, give this operation a name,"

someone suggested.

The others immediately echoed. Lance smiled and thought, "Let's call it… Broken Blade Operation."

On Saturday night, the Coda family had been on guard for several days, preventing Lance's people from coming to cause trouble, but they never saw anyone from the Lance family, which gradually made them relax their vigilance slightly.

Saturday night is the busiest time for the Coda Club. Stone came here early in the morning.

He sat in the manager's office, overlooking the entire casino hall through the window. Although there were not many gambling tables, and people were not as crowded as in the Golden Port Casino, the family attached great importance to this place.

Not only is the turnover here very high, but more importantly, the guests who gamble here are either rich or noble.

They use this method to split the guests into two groups, the poor and the rich.

Better service to the rich, in order to expand relationships and help the development of the family. It must be said that this method has indeed brought them a lot of help.

He held his wine glass, frowning and thinking about what had happened in the past few days.

Bandy contacted Figal of the Keene family. Figal agreed to be the middleman in this matter, inviting Lance and Bandy to meet and help them make peace.

Bandy did not tell Figal the truth. As long as Lance is willing to come, then it will be Lance's death date!

But will Lance come?

Stone doesn't know. Although he is unwilling to admit it, he has to admit that Lance is definitely a formidable character.

He most likely won't come, but who knows?

Just as he was thinking about these things, the time pointed to 8:30 in the evening. The nightlife began, and there were more and more people in the casino.

A strange-looking convoy is approaching quickly…

…