Empire of Shadows

Bandy was very satisfied listening to Fleming's arrangements. This was the demeanor of an heir to the Coda family, far better than he had imagined.

Even Bandy himself might not have come up with a better decision.

Sending him to an elite league institution was definitely worth it, even if it cost a lot of money.

Stone asked in a muffled voice, "What about the money we lost?"

"And Lance is so cunning, the Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau might not be able to crush him completely."

Everyone's attention was focused on Fleming, wanting to see how he would recover the losses.

Fleming was very confident, "The police, the mafia, the Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau, the three strongest forces in King's Gold City have all begun to deal with him. He won't be able to handle it!"

"Hunter's assistant was killed by Lance's men. There is no basis for a truce between them. Once Lance's biggest source of income is cut off, I will have Hunter constantly arresting Lance's men."

"Whether they can be sentenced or not, arrest them first. This will further weaken the power in Lance's hands."

"As he weakens, as long as we remain unchanged, we will become stronger in the balance of power. Moreover, we have many allies."

"He is still very strong now, and we may not gain an advantage if we fight him. But when he is weakened to the limit, we will have a clear advantage."

"When that time comes, we can give him a choice: take out the money, and we'll let him go."

"Or take his money to hell!"

"Lance is a very ambitious person. I have never seen anyone like him at his age."

"Ambitious, with the ability to execute, but that's all."

Fleming spread out his hands, "Even if we don't get the money, after eliminating Lance, at least we'll have the final say on mafia matters."

"We'll make money faster than before. This small loss is nothing to us!"

Liquor, usury, and casinos are indeed the most profitable businesses right now!

"I heard that Lance ships at least several million worth of liquor to other places every month. Now that we know his liquor is brewed himself, you can imagine how much profit there is in it."

Everyone else had no objections after hearing this. Although Stone felt... it would be better to just take people and kill them, he ultimately chose to listen to Fleming's plan because he thought the plan was good.

Now that the family had reached a consensus, the next step was to make arrangements.

Bandy decided to let Fleming, as the next heir to the family and the planner of the scheme, contact the Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau.

He could use this opportunity to build a good relationship with the Hazardous Materials Administration, and maybe even have deeper contact.

That senior agent, Weber, was parachuted in by the State Liquor Control Board. Bandy's connections could reach this State Liquor Control Board, which, in other words, provided them with some more convenient communication channels.

The fact that the other party could be parachuted in directly meant that he was not a rigid, inflexible person.

As long as they don't have moral purity, they will eventually fall under the sway of desire!

Bandy first contacted his friend, who then contacted Weber's uncle. Weber's uncle then called Weber, and then Weber contacted Fleming.

In this way, the initiative was in Fleming's hands, not in Weber's.

The results are different when you are begging someone to do something and when someone wants to get some information from you.

The two sides quickly met. Weber was very interested in Fleming, who was a very influential figure among the younger generation in King's Gold City. Both were young people in their thirties, in their prime for doing things.

In addition, they both had good backgrounds. Fleming was also a graduate of an elite league institution, with a lot of knowledge and a network of relationships, which made Weber feel that he was very easy to talk to.

After talking about some things that had nothing to do with the farm, Weber took the initiative to bring up the topic, "I heard from my uncle that you know where the Lance family brews liquor?"

Fleming looked as surprised as if he had been shocked by what he said, with an expression of disbelief on his face, "I haven't told anyone else about this!"

He meant "How did you know?" This was a small communication trick to make the other party mistakenly believe that they were very clever and had taken the initiative, thereby losing their ability to think about some things.

Weber smiled, "I can't say, but I can tell you that the source of the information is very reliable!"

Fleming lowered his head and pursed his lips, "I do know."

Weber's eyes were about to light up. If he could catch a big fish, it would be of great help to his subsequent promotion path.

If he could squeeze out Director Dale, then he would really be in power!

"Fleming, we get along very well, and look, we are both graduates of elite league institutions. Although we didn't go to the same school, we can be considered... alumni?"

"Moreover, my uncle and your father also have some acquaintances and contacts. Now we get along very well. Aren't you going to let our friendship go a step further?"

"And I heard that you've been having some unpleasantness with the Lance family recently. Why not take this opportunity to give them a hard blow?"

Every sentence seemed to be saying "I'm doing this for your own good." Although Weber was a parachuted senior agent, he was not a complete idiot.

Fleming shook his head, "You don't think we can't deal with a small Lance family, do you?"

This sentence would have been useful a year ago, but now...

However, Weber also believed that even if they couldn't deal with the Lance family, the Lance family couldn't do anything to them.

He wouldn't tell the truth. He needed Fleming now. He needed this information, so he said very sincerely, "We are friends. If they deal with you, they are dealing with me."

"You'll know after we spend more time together that the thing I hate the most is when my friends are bullied!"

Fleming wanted to laugh in his heart, but he still showed some moved expression. He hesitated for a moment, "There is a previously abandoned farm outside the city. I heard that they renovated the farm and used it to brew liquor."

Weber clenched his fist, "Cunning little bastard!"

This sentence was very abrupt, making it a little unclear whether he was talking about Lance or Fleming, but it also made Fleming realize that this person was like a dog.

When you have a bone in your hand, he will wag his tail and circle around you. When he has eaten the bone and you have nothing, he may bark at you.

The corner of his eye twitched slightly, and he said nothing.

After Weber remembered this information, he showed a sincere smile on his face again, "I'll go vent your anger now. After I've dealt with this matter, let's have a drink together."

"You can bring some friends, and I'll bring my friends. Let's all get to know each other."

He said "have a drink" without any concealment, seemingly forgetting that his job was to prevent people from having a drink.

But for Fleming, this kind of law enforcement officer without principles was exactly what he liked the most.

Not just him, all gangsters liked this kind of law enforcement officer without principles.

As for whether he had a bottom line, it remained to be seen.

After Weber got this information, he couldn't wait to go straight back to the bureau. He rudely pushed open Director Dale's office.

Director Dale was on the phone. He glanced at Weber, and not only did he not have an expression of disgust or dissatisfaction, but he smiled and pointed to the phone in his hand.

After waiting for more than twenty seconds, Director Dale hung up the phone and then asked, "Is there anything urgent?"

His face was full of a warm smile.

He no longer had any influence or presence in Congress. Repeated mistakes had gradually led him to be abandoned by the core of power.

Federal politics is so realistic. If you have value, you are a good friend in the eyes of the congressman.

If you have no value, then you should stay in the trash heap and stop floating around like a used tissue!

On the contrary, Weber's uncle was now more important to him. He was his immediate boss, and it was important to maintain a good relationship.

Weber told some of his "gains," "I got a message through some means that there is an underground brewery outside the city, and it's quite large."

Lance supplying liquor to gangs in other cities was not a secret. They had already investigated it.

During the New Year, those people also came to King's Gold City, and Lance vaguely had the posture of the number one figure in the Rica Lai State Empire's underworld.

Although everyone knew he was shipping goods, they couldn't figure out where the liquor came from or how it got out.

Some people guessed that Lance had his own brewery, but they couldn't find any clues.

Some people also said that Lance's liquor was smuggled in, but they also couldn't find any clues on the coast guard or the customs anti-smuggling team.

Weber suddenly said that he knew where it was, and Dale also attached great importance to it.

His dissatisfaction with Weber was immediately covered up by this news, and his expression became serious, "Where is it?"

Weber didn't say, just looked at Director Dale. Director Dale was slightly stunned, and dissatisfaction with him surged in his heart again, "How do I need to cooperate with you?"

Weber then smiled, "I need command..."

More than ten minutes later, Weber came out of the director's office, followed by another senior agent with a puzzled expression going to the director's office.

This guy had a good relationship with Weber. He considered that he might be the director in the future, so he would definitely need his own people, so he tried to win him over in advance.

When that fellow came out of the director's office, he also had an expression of surprise and shock on his face. He went to Weber's office on his own initiative, and the two talked for a good while.

Then their subordinates all received notifications that there would be a mission that night.

Such things should not be delayed, lest the news leak out and Lance and his people prepare themselves, in which case they would get nothing.

In fact, some people within the Hazardous Materials Administration also suspected that these gangsters had arranged some undercover agents in their bureau, but for a time they didn't know who was undercover and who wasn't.

So it was very troublesome.

Panda was also notified. Although Weber didn't like Panda, he had read Panda's personal file and knew that this guy was very good at solving cases.

Moreover, he had personally seized five or six of Lance's bars and two warehouses, racking up a case value of more than a hundred thousand for Lance.

Everyone might be related to Lance, but Panda was the only one who wouldn't be.

At this time, Weber was standing at a higher level thinking about the problem. He even talked to Panda alone.

Once he was promoted to director, then he could completely promote Panda, so that the conflict between them would no longer exist, and at the same time he would gain a subordinate who was proficient in solving cases.

Panda also accepted Weber's inexplicable and sudden show of goodwill. It looked as if… they had buried the hatchet.

At the end of the conversation, in order to win Panda over, Weber took the initiative to talk about the matter, "There is an operation tonight. You are a veteran detective and we need your help."

Panda nodded and said, "I understand, I will definitely lead everyone well."

Weber asked, "Aren't you curious about what the operation is?"

Panda, who was thinking about how to kill him or get him transferred, was stunned for a moment. His current cooperation was based on not wanting Weber to intensify the conflict with him too early, and also not wanting to arouse suspicion from others afterwards.

But Weber's current performance made him a little curious. He then smiled and said, "Curious, but I believe that when I should know, I will definitely know. When I don't need to know, I shouldn't ask."

With just these few words, Weber felt two points more comfortable with him. Considering that the two had just resolved their conflict, Weber didn't mind revealing some information to him, to make him feel that they were now on the same side.

"Don't tell anyone about this. I got a message that the Lance family has a winery in an abandoned farm in the suburbs. Tonight we will raid this winery. This is definitely a big case…"

When Panda came out of the office, he felt a little dizzy. He was originally thinking about how to reasonably remove Weber from this position.

He didn't even have any good ideas himself, but Weber took the initiative to give him this opportunity.

When he returned to his desk, his neighbor couldn't help but ask, "Is he giving you trouble again?"

Panda smiled, his eyes a little deep, "No, he asked me to participate in this mission as well."

The colleague at the next desk curled his lips, "Be careful, be careful that he's up to something."

Panda nodded, tidied up his desk, and said, "I'm going to tell my wife that I might be late returning tonight or even not go back."

His colleague at the next desk nodded, "Of course, if anything happens, I'll cover for you."

Panda quickly left the Hazardous Materials Administration. After returning home, he went directly into the study and made a phone call to Lance.

"This is Panda."

Panda's initiative to call made Lance feel a little surprised, "What's the matter?"

"Do you have a winery in an abandoned farm in the suburbs?"

Lance raised his eyebrows, "How did you know?"

Panda didn't tell him how he knew, but continued, "We plan to raid this winery tonight, Weber is leading the team…"