Empire of Shadows

His heart pounded in his ears, each throb like a drum. Stone lowered his head and drew his pistol from its holster, his eyes darting around. It felt like people were everywhere, gunfire erupting from all directions.

From the alleyways along the road, from the windows of the second floor, constant flashes of gunfire left him completely disoriented, unsure of where to return fire.

His reason told him that if he stayed in the car, the outcome would be disastrous.

What he needed to do now was to get out of the car, find a direction to break through, and rendezvous with the others to escape.

But the instant he pushed open the car door, sparks erupted on the door with a clatter.

Those were sparks from bullets hitting the metal.

Ever since everyone discovered that Lance's car doors were reinforced with steel plates, not only were the mob's car doors reinforced, but even police cars were now being fitted with steel.

Rumor had it that the Licale State government was planning to install "steel doors" on all law enforcement vehicles to prevent heavy casualties among law enforcement personnel due to a lack of cover when facing high-risk targets.

So Stone's car also had steel plates. He felt the force of the bullets hitting the car door reverberate in his arm, and he heard the 'xiuxiu' sound of bullets whizzing past the car. In that moment, he hesitated.

He looked down at his legs, even his body, all trembling slightly.

Trembling with fear!

"Fack!" he slammed the butt of his gun against the car seat, now too afraid to get out.

Outside the car, the gunmen who had gotten out of their vehicles to find cover were being riddled with bullets in a matter of seconds.

They had set a trap, waiting for them to blunder right into it!

This was not an evenly matched battle; they were at an absolute disadvantage!

Stone was born after the Five Families already had their "status in the underworld." He hadn't participated in many real firefights.

In the mob activities he had participated in, many people would simply surrender when they heard they were from the Coda Family.

Perhaps people's impression of him, their evaluation of him, was that he was an outstanding mobster, but he had never really experienced the bloody厮杀 like the older generation.

At this moment, his legs went weak.

While he was in a daze, two cars rushed to his side, about two meters away. The opposite car door suddenly opened, and one of his trusted men reached out his hand to him, "Come over, hurry, let's get out of here!"

Bullets kept appearing around them, hitting the glass, windows, doors, car body...

He was stunned for a moment. His trusted subordinate, seeing him in a daze, was anxious to death. "They have gunmen up there, we can't fight back at all. Everything is a trap, we have to get out of here!"

"Come over, open the door, rush over, they can't hit you!"

He was right.

Unless Stone had a frame around him, the gunmen couldn't hit him at all.

Aiming at the short gap between the two car doors?

By the time Stone rushed over, they might only then react and pull the trigger.

So now Stone had a good chance of making it over.

His subordinate's car had good tires and could leave at any time. As long as he rushed over and got into the car, he would be half safe.

Looking at the narrow gap, looking at the firm gaze of his subordinate, he gritted his teeth.

His legs were still shaking; he needed to overcome it!

"Fack, what the hell are you waiting for?"

"Come here, come to me!"

"We have to leave!"

He looked at Stone in confusion, not understanding what Stone was waiting for.

On the rooftop of a five-story building nearby, Mador's men saw the two cars parked side by side next to Stone's car, and they saw someone actually waving.

He was stunned at first, then an expression of excitement appeared on his face. Was this an important target?

In fact, they didn't know if any big shots would be passing by tonight. Their mission was to stop these people, but judging by the current situation, they seemed to have caught a big fish!

He told the other "snipers" around him, and then they focused their attention on the rescue car.

He pulled the bolt, held his breath, aimed at the roof of the car, and made a rough perspective drawing in his mind, guessing where the driver was.

Then, he pulled the trigger.

With a 'bang,' completely different from the 'pa pa' or 'pu pu' sounds of pistols and submachine guns, at that moment, the sound of the rifle suppressed the sounds of all other weapons.

At the instant the gunshot rang out, the driver's body jolted violently. "Fack, I've been hit!"

He looked down, searching for the wound on his body, and finally found that his pants were wet.

The bullet had pierced through the roof of the car, shot through his thigh, and penetrated the entire thigh before hitting the floor.

With adrenaline rushing, he couldn't feel the pain at all, but he knew it wouldn't last long. He had experience with being shot.

"We have to leave, hurry over, Stone!" The trusted subordinate in the back seat was still shouting at Stone, who had mustered his courage. He licked his lips and said blasphemous words, but just as he was about to rush over, several more gunshots rang out from the high ground around them.

All his movements stopped at that moment, his eyes widened as he looked at his subordinate, even forgetting to breathe!

Several bullets fired from above pierced the roof of the car and also pierced his body.

It was as if someone had pushed him hard, and then he looked down at his body.

Large patches of blood were slowly oozing out of his chest. He wanted to see if there were any other injuries when the gunfire outside rang out again.

The bullet directly shattered his head—

After passing through the sheet metal, the bullet began to tumble. Its penetrating power was no longer so strong, but its destructive power had reached its peak.

It was like... a watermelon or some other fruit dropped from a high altitude, cracking open with a 'splat' the moment it touched the ground.

All of Stone's courage, at this moment, was exhausted by the death of his trusted subordinate.

The driver's seat was again subjected to a round of gunfire, and the driver slumped on the steering wheel as if electrocuted. The car horn began to blare continuously, 'Di—'.

The surrounding gunfire continued incessantly, and their resistance became weaker and weaker. He even heard that some cars might have already left the scene.

Without rifles, the damage from using pistols or even submachine guns was actually not that great.

Under the cover of various obstacles, they still had a chance to resist.

But when they discovered that the people attacking them were even using bolt-action rifles, they gave up the idea of continuing to fight and retreated directly.

The gunfire gradually subsided, and the street was like a layer of fog, with the smell of gunpowder permeating the air.

Only the sound of water splashing from the gushing fire hydrant remained, as well as Stone's own heartbeat.

He looked at the driver's seat. The driver had died in the driver's seat at some point. He didn't know if he was the only survivor here. All he could do now was play dead.

Some scattered footsteps came from around him, as well as constantly swaying lights.

He looked outside through the crack in the car door. A group of guys walking in the darkness with flashlights in their hands were searching the bodies in the cars.

Some people might have been shot but not died, and they would add a few more shots, and then these bodies would be thrown onto the truck next to them.

Watching those people getting closer and closer, Stone knew that what he should do most now was to find a way to get out of the car, then rush into the nearby alley, use the terrain to his advantage to get rid of them, and escape.

But his legs just wouldn't listen to him now, and his courage was shattered in the face of that pile of bloody corpses that he couldn't face.

When a beam of light shone over, followed by a second and a third.

"...say there might be a big shot in this car."

The footsteps outside were getting closer and closer. Stone forced himself not to show a frightened expression. He took two deep breaths and passively faced his fate in the darkness.

The car door was pulled open, and many people were standing outside, with several beams of light shining on his face.

He squinted his eyes and twisted his head to prevent the people outside from seeing him clearly. This was his last stubbornness tonight!

"Ah ha, look who it is?!"

A long gun barrel poked in. Although the force on the gun barrel wasn't very strong, it still made Stone turn his head.

The people outside seemed to recognize him, stunned for a moment, and then shouted his name, "Stone!"

For some reason, when his name was called out, he suddenly felt a sense of relaxation in his heart.

"Throw the gun over."

Stone didn't hesitate too much and threw the weapon in his hand over. He observed these people. They didn't seem to have any intention of killing him immediately, and his courage seemed to have returned a little.

He slowly straightened up, looking at the people standing outside the car window, "I want to..."

The next second, a shoe sole kicked in from the outside, directly hitting his face!

Under the impact of the huge force, he was completely stunned!

"Shut your stinking mouth, take him back!"

He was twisted and dragged out of the car. He looked back at the street behind him, where more than a dozen cars were parked haphazardly, and some people were throwing corpses onto the truck. Everything seemed so quiet.

A large number of shell casings could still be seen on the ground. This was not a battlefield, but he felt the smell of gunpowder from the battlefield.

Just as his mind was wandering, someone suddenly punched him in the stomach, and his face immediately contorted in pain as he bent over.

"Move it, motherfucker."

He was dragged into another car and disappeared down the street with these men.

Lance received the news immediately. The gunmen sent by the Coda family had successfully stepped into the trap, but only a portion were left behind; the rest had all retreated.

"We also caught someone you wouldn't believe!"

"Who is it?"

"Stone!"