Empire of Shadows

Figal's eyes were bloodshot.

Lance's slap shattered his dignity, and he knew it wasn't a good time to attack.

Maybe Lance's people were ready for their attack, waiting to riddle them with bullets.

But he had to say something, he had to make a statement. Several cadres had died early in the morning, and if he didn't show any reaction, what would the other cadres think?

The Keane Family was different from gangs like the Pasreito Family and the Coda Family. It wasn't a gang connected by blood ties.

The cadres in the Pasreito Family were basically relatives of the family head, cousins, and uncles.

The Coda Family was the same. The core members of their family were all blood relatives.

When they encountered trouble, they would often stand together and think about the problem.

However, gangs like the Cassia Family, the Tita Family, and the Keane Family, which were not connected by blood ties, had more problems.

For example, after encountering setbacks, if the leader of the gang family did not stand up and make a statement, it would lead to some unpredictable consequences.

Blood-related families didn't have this problem. No matter what the conflict, it would only make them unite against outsiders.

But non-blood-related gangs sometimes had external problems that evolved into internal problems.

If he didn't make a statement, the cadres who had a good relationship with the dead cadres would feel dissatisfied.

Damn it, the brothers usually do so many things for the family, but now they're killed, and you (Figal) don't say a word.

Then, the next time they need to charge, they will consider whether or not to take the lead.

They might even consider how to preserve their strength when the family faces a crisis, instead of uniting to overcome the difficulties together.

As long as their strength doesn't decrease, they can just switch to another gang in the future.

So Figal had to make a statement, just like when he slapped the map at this moment. Even if some people knew he was acting, they could only remain silent.

At this time, another "sober person" was needed to stop him from doing so.

And this person was also Figal's confidant.

"I don't think we can rush in recklessly, Boss!"

Figal's gaze moved to the speaker, and the others were also looking at him.

However, some people's gazes were so plain that they couldn't see anything, while others always maintained a playful expression on their faces.

This kind of scene has actually been performed many times.

But you can't say it's useless, not necessarily.

Because even if you know this is a performance, a discussion, at least when Figal says he will immediately avenge the dead cadres, the emotions in your heart will be stirred up by his words.

He achieved the result he wanted—the Boss didn't forget to avenge the dead brothers.

As for how he would be stopped and persuaded next, that was another matter.

The speaker was very frank, "First of all, we must determine that the people who did it were Lance's people. If someone knows that we have friction, and then uses this method to create conflict."

"If we take action now, we will fall into their trap and fall for their conspiracy."

Figal frowned and looked at the speaker, seemingly dissatisfied, while others frowned or nodded slightly, thinking that what he said made sense.

This straightforward guy who was not afraid of offending the Boss continued, "Secondly, how can we be sure that this is not him luring us over?"

"Maybe Lance's people have already set up an ambush, waiting for us to rush in and completely devour our people. We can't give them such an opportunity."

"Remember our battle with the Bear Gang?"

"We suffered a big loss right from the start!"

That was a past that people were reluctant to recall, including Figal, who couldn't help but frown when he heard it.

Although this was a script, a good script could also resonate with people's emotions.

Their first large-scale firefight with the Bear Gang was like this. The Bear Gang ambushed two of their operating industries.

Figal didn't treat them as an equal opponent, and directly arranged for people to kill them, and almost no one who went there came back intact.

And from that time on, they fell into a fierce battle with the Bear Gang.

Now, mentioning this already eliminated opponent and the losses they suffered again, although it was a bit unpleasant, it was actually a suitable example from the side.

Although they were stunned in the early stage, the Bear Gang has now disappeared from King's Port City.

The others nodded one after another, and Figal's expression softened, the script worked.

He sat down, lit a cigarette, and asked, "Anything else?"

The speaker nodded and said, "Thirdly, regardless of whether it was done by the Lance Family or not, this is a serious provocation to us and to the Five Families. This is a bad signal."

"This is no longer just our own problem, but also the problem of the Five Families."

"If they dare to provoke us this time, then what about next time?"

"Will they try to provoke other families, and will we eventually fall into endless tests by these small gangs, and be gradually worn down?"

Everyone's expressions changed a little. A word flashed in their minds at this time: Authority!

Yes, the authority of the Five Families was being threatened as never before. If they couldn't handle this matter well, even if they solved this trouble, there would be more trouble in the future.

Figal took a deep breath as if he had been persuaded, "Let everyone stabilize first, don't mess around, I'll contact the other families."

These cadres naturally had no objections, including those who knew that this was Figal's intention, but they had performed a bit, and they didn't have any major objections either.

On the other side, Bandi and Gory, the two instigators, were also discussing Lance's behavior.

"Too explosive."

Gory shook his head, "He moved very quickly, I'm a little worried."

Bandi looked at him. The two were brothers and familiar enough with each other. Gory pursed his lips, "I'm worried that Figal and the others won't last that long."

These words made Bandi look puzzled, "Figal's side has indeed been affected a bit before, but do you think Lance is that strong?"

Gory rubbed his cheeks. This feeling allowed him to feel a little relaxed, just a little.

"Haven't I been investigating the strength of the Lance Family recently?"

Bandi nodded. It was very important to understand your opponent before a full-scale war.

They had put down their former arrogance and began to try to understand this gang entrenched in the two poorest areas, full of young people and without much background.

But the more he understood, the more uneasy Gory felt.

"They have too many people."

Bandi looked at him without making a statement. A word, a piece of information, could not allow Bandi to make the correct response. He was still waiting.

Gory lit a cigarette and casually threw the lighter on the table. He leaned back on the sofa, his body sinking into the sofa.

If some elderly people were here, they would think that Gory was a typical bad kid with no "sitting posture."

"There are already 250,000 Imperials in the Imperial District, not including illegal Imperial immigrants."

"He can pull a large group of people loyal to him from these people at any time, and you know the situation in the Imperial country."

Bandi also felt a bit addicted, and he also lit a cigarette, "Yes, I heard that their civil war hasn't ended yet."

The "International News" was still constantly smearing the image and ability of the Imperial Emperor. Of course, it wasn't completely nonsense, because there were still two or three rebel armies fighting against the royal family.

Several encirclements and suppressions have survived, and there is even the possibility of continuing to grow, and for a time His Majesty the Emperor was "furious again."

"So, many of those people in the past year have participated in the war."

"If these things only make me feel that it's not easy to handle, then the constantly increasing number of refugees in the New Port District makes things even more troublesome."

"Some are guys who are willing to sell their lives for a little money."

Bandi's face was indeed not so optimistic.

The war between gangs, in the final analysis, is to see who has more people, more guns, and more money!

He thought for a long time before barely saying, "More people... doesn't necessarily mean they're powerful."

Gory looked at Bandi in a bit of astonishment. The two looked at each other for a while and couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, I said it's not entirely right, but you can't say that what I said is completely wrong!"

Bandi finally succumbed to Gory's gaze.

He also knew that he was quibbling.

If you have ten people under your command, and he has one hundred people under his command, you are just not as good as him!

Now is not the cold weapon era of three or five hundred years ago, where there may still be the possibility of a small number of well-trained heavy cavalry slaughtering a large number of enemy light infantry.

Now is the era of hot weapons, everyone has a gun, and ten people shooting and one hundred people shooting are completely two different concepts.

"Can't we make up for this gap?"

He asked again.

Gory's expression was not relaxed, "We've already started the war, and it will cost a lot to recruit people again."

"And we're not sure if there will be sand in the recruits. A guy like Lance can do anything."

Bandi didn't deny this point, anyway, in his eyes, Lance had become synonymous with evil.

“Although I am unwilling to admit it, Bandi, in terms of strength, the gap between us and him has already reached a certain point.”

“Of course, I am only talking about pure strength.”

“Another thing that makes me feel troubled is the police station. Previously, the police station was controlled by Charlie, who was a lackey of the Bay Area.”

This book was recently updated at ##!!UPDATE!

“The Bay Area will not easily intervene in our infighting. To a certain extent, they are even on our side.”

“Even if the police don't help us, they won't deal with us.”

“But now, the police are on his side.”

Bandi frowned even more tightly. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. “You make a lot of sense. So, what should we do now?”

Gao Li curled his lips, “We can't let Feijia fight him too hard. If Feijia is wiped out, our chances of winning will be even smaller.”

“Also, I wanted to ask…”

The two brothers understood each other well enough. His behavior made Bandi vaguely aware of something. “Just say it. I won't mind.”

“Can we get some help from the Congress or Manteno?”

“Even if it can't directly harm Lance, at least it should prevent the police from completely standing on his side.”

Bandi fell into silence for a long time.

In the past, Bandi loved to tell him about those bigwigs in Congress, and how much they relied on them.

He had attended a banquet held by a bigwig in Manteno, or he had met and shook hands with a bigwig.

He always talked about these things, but Gao Li didn't like them. At that time, he always felt that the power in his own hands was the most important thing.

All the other things were fake.

But now, he seemed to have a little realization that political support was also very important.

If a bigwig could speak up for them, maybe it would really be possible to mediate these conflicts.

Once the garrison stabilizes, Lance will no longer have a chance to change the city's landscape.

They also knew that the garrison was about to be stationed. Bandi had also inquired about some news.

Once the garrison is stationed, they will definitely not allow the city to be so chaotic. By then, they will definitely intervene.

After two or three minutes, Bandi came back to his senses, “I will contact them.”

When he said this, Gao Li vaguely sensed that something was wrong. He frowned and looked at Bandi, “Did something happen?”

Bandi didn't know what to say. Someone had contacted him privately, telling him to hold on and not to compromise.

That person was a representative of the interests of a bigwig in Congress. Bandi carefully inquired whether the other party had any help to offer him, but that guy hung up the phone without saying anything.

Later, he inquired about it. The political circle he relied on was being marginalized by Congress because of some of the President's actions.

This is actually quite normal. Politics is like this. It's either this wave is high, or that wave is high, and it's impossible for one wave to always be high. It's dynamic and constantly changing.

In the past few years, Senator Cleveland's situation was not very good. He was neither up nor down in Congress. If it weren't for his background and family support, he would have been kicked out of the Senate long ago.

His situation has improved in the past two years, and naturally other interest groups have begun to decline. This is normal.

But for the "ants" affected by these political interest groups, that is definitely huge bad news!

They don't have any risk resistance. Now that Congress can't help, naturally not many people in Manteno are willing to intervene.

Because political interests are inherited in the same vein. They are all in the same circle.

Now that the top of the circle is having a hard time, then these middle and lower levels will naturally not have a good time either.

Faced with Gao Li's question, Bandi had nothing to say, and that was precisely the best answer.

“I know!”, Gao Li said after a moment of silence.

But soon he cheered up again, “We didn't rely on them to gain a foothold in Goldport City, so without help… we can still do very well.”

“What we need to do first now is not to let Feijia be knocked down by Lance's quick punches.”

Bandi nodded, “You're right. You arrange this, and I'll fully support you.”

The two were discussing countermeasures when the phone suddenly rang. Bandi held his hand on the receiver, waiting for it to ring again before answering it.

“This is Bandi.”

After he said that, his brow furrowed, and then he hung up the phone.

Facing Gao Li's questioning gaze, he said, “Several of their bars have been attacked, and the losses are constantly expanding.”

Gao Li's eyes became a little strange, “Lance and the others… what exactly are they planning to do?”

“We have to contact Feijia.”

Gao Li nodded and said, “That's what I think too.”

Before he could pick up the phone, it rang again. After answering, it was a message from their informant.

After listening for a while, he hung up the phone with a solemn expression, “Feijia has sent people to retaliate.”

If the first time they could find someone to stop it and prevent the revenge, then this time they couldn't stop it.

If they were slapped in the face repeatedly and didn't fight back, perhaps they wouldn't even have to wait for Lance to kill them, and those senior executives might have other ideas.

Feijia must fight back, and this is also a test.

Gao Li sighed, “I hope the result of this time won't be too bad.”

Lance already knew the moment a large number of cars entered the Empire District.

Old men in the streets and alleys watched the movement of those obviously suspicious convoys while drinking coffee.

This information quickly gathered in Bolton's hands and was then told to Lance.

Their target is not some bar, but Lance himself!

The route of these convoys is also towards Lance's company, but Lance is not nervous at all. He is even talking and laughing after knowing this news.

“Have your people been arranged?”, sitting across from him was the newly appointed director of the Empire District Branch, also one of Director Blue's close confidants, who used to work in the Empire District Branch.

Now that Director Blue has left, he has taken over as the director of the branch, continuing to shine for the Empire District and Lance.

This is a middle-aged man in his forties, slightly bald, with a large, oval face.

When he smiles, his facial features will squeeze together, looking a little ridiculous.

So, most of the time, he tries not to smile for the sake of his image, but at this moment, his face is smiling like a chrysanthemum that is about to but has not yet bloomed!

“Mr. Lance, please rest assured, the people have been arranged!”,

The new branch director glanced at the people in the office carrying submachine guns, and felt that Lance might be saying the opposite.

But he still patted his chest and assured, “No criminals will be able to come before you, Mr. Lance!”