Empire of Shadows

"Okay... okay, I understand. Don't worry, I'll take them to the countryside for a while longer."

The woman held the phone tightly, her face filled with worry. "You need to be careful over there too. If anything happens... your life is the most important thing."

"Yeah... I understand, okay, I've noted it down."

The woman was Eugene's wife. Eugene was already married.

This seemed somewhat uncommon among gang members, getting married so early.

In the underworld, only two types of people manage to get married and start a family: those who have become mid-to-high-level members of the gang and don't need to be on the front lines of firefights, making them relatively safer.

The other type are those who quit halfway, or are cowardly and afraid of death, always shrinking back when things get tough.

Gangs in the Federation, and indeed most gangs around the world, are the same: the lower ranks not only have low incomes but are also very dangerous.

When a firefight breaks out, they face a large group of people with firearms, and no one can guarantee their survival, not even the leaders.

The more barbaric the society and the more imperfect the system, the more terrible the gang warfare becomes, with more casualties.

A significant portion of gang members die in a firefight before they can even think about starting a family.

Moreover, most gang members are well aware of this problem. Compared to the heavy responsibility of starting a family, they seem to prefer drifting between different girls every day, living a life of drunken dreams.

Eugene got married so early because he was with Stone. He didn't need to be on the front lines; he was already considered a mid-level member of the Coda family.

When Gory retires and Stone takes his place as the number two figure in the Coda family, then Eugene, who is by his side, will become a senior cadre.

So he got married, had his own family, and his own children.

Before, he didn't have much of a feeling about it. Some people said that family was a burden for people like them, and he treated it as a "joke for the lazy."

Like... you complain that your monthly income is not high, but you don't think about improving yourself, only blaming everyone else.

The Coda family provided him with a safe environment, and he didn't think it was a problem.

Until this moment!

He was instructing his wife on some things, telling her to take the money he had prepared and go to the countryside. He said a lot, all about protecting herself.

He was a little uneasy and reluctant. People become weak when they have a family.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door from the receiver. His wife also stopped talking. "Someone's knocking, I'll go see."

At this moment, a strong sense of unease surged in Eugene's heart. His heart was pounding in his chest. He licked his lips, wanting to say something.

But after searching his brain, he couldn't find any words suitable for this moment. He couldn't change anything!

He could only say, "Be careful, don't hang up the phone..."

His wife agreed and placed the receiver on the desk next to the phone base.

From the moment she married Eugene, she vaguely understood what kind of life she might face.

It was just that the comfortable life of these years made her a little unaccustomed to the current situation. Her body was trembling slightly.

"Who's there?" she asked from behind the door, without opening the latch or the safety lock.

"Community service company, someone said your car isn't in the parking space."

The woman rubbed her forehead and cursed a couple of times, but still opened the door.

First of all, she was very familiar with the voice outside the door; it was indeed someone from the community service company. Besides that, she wasn't sure if her car was parked in the parking space.

People in the Federation are assholes.

They don't feel it when they're being assholes to others, but they feel uncomfortable when others are being assholes to them.

"Someone reported that your lawn is turning yellow..."

"Someone reported that you didn't hang up colored lights for the holidays this year..."

"Someone reported that your dog isn't wearing a collar..."

"Someone reported that you were singing while peeing at night..."

For the assholes in the Federation, there's nothing they can't report.

Including things like "the car isn't parked in the parking space." And the community service company will definitely manage it; they have to provide the necessary services to other owners, such as maintaining order within the community.

The Federation is one of the countries with the strongest community culture. Here, they can even draft things like "community laws."

Of course, you don't have to obey them, but that means you can't move in.

And if you want to move in, you must abide by those community laws, and if you violate them, they will sue you.

Including things like "must keep the lawn in front of the door from turning yellow" or "your car must be parked neatly in your parking space."

The better the middle-class community, the stricter these community laws are, because only the middle class knows that the saying 'understanding life' isn't just empty talk!

The woman opened the door and saw two people outside who were obviously not from the community service company. In the next second, she suddenly wanted to close the door!

But she underestimated the reaction speed of the two strangers outside. One of them slammed into the wooden door.

The huge force slammed the door into the woman with a "bang", knocking her to the ground.

She struggled to get up, but the other man grabbed her hair, dragged her up from the ground, and punched her in the stomach, and she immediately quieted down.

"Hello?"

"What happened?"

"Honey, are you still there?"

The voice coming from the receiver attracted the attention of one of the young men. He walked towards the phone.

The sound of his hobnailed leather shoes on the floor was different from the sound of the woman's shoes. Eugene on the other end of the phone went silent.

He heard someone pick up the receiver, and he also heard the faint sound of breathing in the receiver.

Neither of them spoke, they just remained silent.

After about ten seconds, Eugene asked, "Who are you?"

"Suburbs... I'll give you forty minutes."

"If you don't come in forty minutes, go pick out a burial plot for your family!"

With that, the person hung up the phone, and a strong sense of fear arose in Eugene's heart!

He quickly dialed the phone back, but besides the lonely phone ringing stubbornly in the house, there was nothing else in the house that could make a sound.

Neither appliances nor people.

"Fack."

"Fack!"

He lifted the phone, enraged as if he had been strongly stimulated, and slammed it hard on the ground!

The shattered phone parts flew everywhere, and you could imagine how much strength he had used!

Stone, who heard the movement from afar, quickly walked over. He pushed open the door and only saw Eugene sitting on the sofa, grabbing his hair hard, with a painful expression on his face!

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Eugene looked up at Stone, "They kidnapped my wife and children!"

Hearing this, some anger also appeared on Stone's face, "I'll call Lance!"

He said, taking Eugene back to his office, and then dialed Lance's phone.

Lance was at the company and also received this call.

"You kidnapped Eugene's family?"

"You violated the rules, Lance!"

"You better release them..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Lance interrupted him directly, "You are the ones who violated the rules. You are the ones who want me to abide by the rules, Stone. When you yourselves don't abide by the rules, you shouldn't expect me to abide by the rules!"

"Bring Eugene over, and I'll let his family go."

"Or you can continue to hide Eugene. Besides that, you have no other choice!"

Stone's good temper was all used up. He glanced at Eugene beside him, who had a pleading look on his face, and said again the words he had once said to Lance—

"We have a third choice, you bastard!"

"And that is to put a few holes in your head, you son of a bitch!"

"Fuck you!"

After hanging up the phone, Stone looked at Eugene with a solemn expression. "You heard it. Are you willing to trade your life for the lives of your family?"

Eugene hesitated. He didn't answer immediately. Although he also loved his family very much, he hoped that he could survive more than anything else.

"Even if you really go, they may not release your family. There are not many good people in this group. What you need to do most now is to be mentally prepared that your family is dead, and then avenge them!"

"They hurt your family, and you retaliate twice as much. That's what we should do."

"Instead of crying here!"

He slapped Eugene hard on the back of the neck and grabbed a circle of skin behind his neck. "Avenge your wife and children!"

Eugene calmed down a bit, "What do we do now?"

"Do we want to kill them?"

A touch of ruthlessness also appeared on Eugene's face. After all, he was a gang member, and he had killed people many times.

Stone sat in his chair and thought for a while, then shook his head. "They're already prepared over there. If we rush over now, we not only won't be able to save them, but we might also leave our people there."

The reasoning was sound, and Eugene wasn't a fool, but now that it concerned his family, how could he not be anxious?

Without jeopardizing his own safety, he still hoped to be able to rescue his family.

"Then what do we do?" he asked.

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“I’ll make a call.” Sometimes, when he couldn't handle things, he would chat with Fleming.

Fleming attended an elite school and was smarter than him. In certain areas, when he couldn't figure things out, he would talk to Fleming.

Fleming was often able to provide him with very useful advice and help, solving many problems for him.

The two talked for about three or four minutes, and Eugene was so anxious that he didn't know whether to stand or sit.

After three or four minutes, Stone hung up the phone and brought up the subject again, "Call the police."

"Call the police?" Eugene repeated, as if he couldn't understand what he was saying, with a face full of confusion and shock!

Hunter was just as confused as he was. He looked at the receiver in his hand to make sure it wasn't something else that was causing him to hallucinate.

Stone actually called the police, saying that the family of one of his men had been kidnapped by Lance's people, so he was asking the police to help them find the person!

Hunter didn't know whether to laugh out loud. He put the receiver back to his ear, "Are you saying you want to call the police?"

Stone's words came through clearly in the receiver, "What, can't I call the police?"

"Isn't the Goldport City Police established to protect the safety of the people?"

"Now we are being harmed by evil forces, you have to help me!"

That's what he said, but the fact that one of the biggest gang leaders in Goldport City actually called the police to say he was being harmed was not only ridiculous, but also absurd!

"Who, when, and how did they hurt you?" Hunter could sense Stone's attitude, so he could only follow the procedure.

"One of my young men is called Eugene. Lance wanted to catch him, but couldn't find him, so he caught his family."

"Chief, regardless of whether Eugene did something wrong, his family is innocent, right?"

"He said he hid Eugene's family in the suburbs… this place, and hopes you can bring them back."

"This is a request from a citizen, and I hope you won't let our citizens down!"

With that, Stone hung up the phone, regardless of whether Hunter would handle the case or not.

If it were someone else, Hunter would curse a few times and ignore the case, but it was Stone who called the police.

If you were to make a table of the current forces in Goldport City, then among the local gang forces, the Coda Family is second to none, and they also have a lot of influence in the Bay Area and in politics!

Under such circumstances, Hunter had to respond to this police report.

He was silent for a while, then dialed Charlie's number.

"I'm busy with social engagements, so make it quick," Charlie's tone in the receiver was obviously impatient.

As the Bay Area's most loyal lackey, he has now made some achievements in politics. Several Bay Area tycoons are hosting several officials from the state government, and Charlie is accompanying them.

They want to give Charlie more value and help, so that Charlie can better serve them!

Although not many people know about Mr. Huff's matter, it's not like no one knows.

Some of them know that Lance slapped Mr. Huff in the face severely, and there is no good way to deal with it.

That's the bad thing about political figures. Once there is a scandal, they will soon be abandoned by the people.

This makes it inconvenient for them to take action personally on many things!

But it doesn't matter, they can indirectly let Charlie take action to help them solve the problem. Charlie and Hunter control most of the city's police force.

They inherently formed a force against Lance's gang. Using Charlie and Hunter to contain Lance is also some of the methods these people have come up with.

As for using gang forces?

The Five Families are almost useless, and Bandi is always keen on whitewashing, so they are no longer the best choice.

In other words, Lance's family has now stood in the first tier of gang forces in Goldport City.

It's not realistic to use gangs to contain gangs, so we can only rely on official forces.

Hunter recounted the incident of Stone's police report just now. Standing in the corner of the hall, Hunter glanced at the state government officials in the distance, and he quickly made a decision.

He understood a truth after joining the police force.

If you don't plan to give, then you can't have any gains.

If you want to get more, then you must give more than others!

Dignity, decency, or something else, in short, it's something you have that others also need.

Otherwise, how could an ordinary branch bureau chief quickly become the bureau chief and stay in that position for more than twenty years?

The name Bay Area Hound sounds ridiculous?

But he is now a city councilor, living in a luxurious mansion, driving a luxury car, and wearing gold watches worth tens of thousands of dollars!

"Since he has called the police, we, as police officers, need to take every police call seriously and arrange for someone to go and take a look."

"Notify me in time if there are any other matters."

Charlie hung up the phone, and his face was once again filled with smiles as he returned to the social circle.

A Bay Area tycoon walked up to him and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Charlie lowered his head slightly and explained very humbly. After the tycoon listened, he nodded, "You've done a good job. Entertain our guests well. I'll make a call."

Charlie quickly walked into the crowd with a wine glass. He is no longer that insignificant little character. He is now a city councilor, even if he is the lowest-level politician, he is still a politician!

Glamorous, beautiful!

Hunter is indeed not as experienced as Charlie in these matters, but he has one advantage, and that is obedience.

Soon, more than a dozen police cars carrying fully armed police officers drove towards the place they had agreed upon. Several police officers in the cars were very nervous, because before leaving, Hunter had spoken to them separately and told them.

If necessary, you can shoot.

This made them all very nervous, worried about their subordinates, worried about themselves, and also worried about the other party.

The wailing police cars roared through half the city and then drove towards the outskirts. Although many people were very curious about this, they didn't plan to follow.

In the suburbs, Allen, who was watching Shi Dong, was already getting a little impatient. Just then, the wailing siren outside made everyone stunned.

Allen stood by the window and looked outside. A large number of police officers got out of the police cars and found cover.

One of them held a loudspeaker and said, "This is the Goldport Police. The people inside immediately put down their weapons, raise their hands, and walk out of the gate in order, otherwise we will take all necessary measures."

"Repeat once…"

Allen encountered this situation for the first time, and his subordinates all looked at him. He turned around and made a call to Lance.

"Boss, the situation is a little wrong."

Lance asked, "Didn't they go to find you?"

Allen said truthfully, "No, they called the police. Now there are police everywhere outside."

Lance was also silent for a moment. After seven or eight seconds, he asked, "Are you saying that Shi Dong and the others called the police, and now the police are on your side?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

Lance was dazed for a while, but soon laughed. After all, it was the Coda Family, which was no longer a pure gang.

Then you can't completely use the same methods to deal with the Coda Family as you would to deal with a gang.

He knows that Charlie, Hunter, and the Bay Area, as well as the Coda Family, are actually wearing the same pants. The probability of them uniting is definitely not small!

After thinking for a while, he said, "Hide the weapons, and then hand over the people to them. If the police want to detain you, go with them."

"I will arrange for Lawyer Roeben to bail you out."

After he hung up the phone, he called Lawyer Roeben and briefly explained the situation.

Lawyer Roeben immediately said that he would bring people to handle the legal documents and bail them all out.

Lance leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, "It's getting more and more interesting!"