Empire of Shadows

Before Lance transmigrated to this world, he got along relatively well with a friend in the place where he last comprehended the Dao.

The other party also had a lot of troubles and cases, and the most deadly thing was that the prosecutor's office got his notebook.

At that time, Lance was very curious, and the curious thing was the point that almost everyone would be curious about—

Since you know that what you are doing is a crime, why do you still record it and leave fatal evidence for yourself?

Many people have this idea, and Lance has had it too.

That person calmly told him, because "there was too much."

Too much means that the circle constantly expanding due to crime is too large, there are too many people, and there are too many things.

You really can't remember if you don't write it down!

So-and-so introduced by So-and-so in the morning asked So-and-so to send something over, you may be meeting this person for the first time, and this is also the last time you see this person.

Purely relying on memory?

I'm afraid it won't work, because maybe in a while, there will be a similar situation, so there must be a notebook.

Who introduced who, who arranged who to send how much money, and what things to do for them.

A good brain is not as good as a bad pen. If you miss just one of these things, it may cause unpredictable big trouble.

Just like what I said before, you think those old men are very honest and don't accept your gifts, not because they are really honest, but simply because you don't have the qualifications.

Then, to put it another way, those who can make him open the door with a smile and welcome people in, and accept things, already have the qualifications to "face him".

If you accept things from these people and miss their affairs, they probably won't look for you again, but will be watching you in the dark.

Those who are the first to suffer are often those who take the money and don't do anything, so this money is not easy to take, you have to remember who sent how much money for what, only in this way can you avoid problems.

In this field, credibility is very important.

The Koda family's criminal content does not involve duty-related crimes, but they have other criminal projects.

How to sell smuggled alcohol, how they extract commissions from those unlicensed underground casinos, and possibly interspersed with a few cases of people who didn't listen being silenced.

These things, plus Stone himself, formed the "most stubborn" accusation.

Lance walked to Stone's side and pressed his hand on his shoulder, "You haven't let anyone down."

"You've died for them twice, that's enough."

"Next, you should live for yourself!"

He paused for a moment, then asked people to withdraw, including himself, leaving only Stone in the room.

Lance stood outside the door and instructed, "Give him the best food and everything, if he wants a woman, give him that too."

"Try to meet his needs as much as possible, except for freedom and leaving."

As the sound of footsteps faded away, Stone sat on the chair, hugging his head, he hated his own cowardice.

But Lance's words reduced the guilt in his heart from another aspect.

The room was actually not big, but for some reason, it gave him a very empty feeling, making him very uneasy.

He didn't know what the future would be like, he just wanted to stay quiet now, even if it was just him alone.

The whole city was quiet for two days, and many people thought that these two days were just the last calm before the coming storm, but what people didn't expect was that the Keane family, who had fought to the death with Lance, was transferring assets abroad.

Are they preparing for a final battle, such as leaving a part of their strength as a way out in case they lose the war, so they still have a chance to turn over?

Or are they preparing to run away?

People don't know, so many people are inquiring about each other, where is this matter going.

Not only the bottom of society cares, the gang cares, the capitalists care, but the politicians also care very much.

Lance was once again invited to the Williams family's manor.

The weather in early May is getting better and better, and people have taken off their heavy coats. This is one of the federal people's favorite seasons and temperatures.

There is enough sunshine and sunlight, and it is not so hot that they doubt their lives, which is very good.

Senator Williams also changed into light clothes. This time they were on a golf course in the manor.

"The doctor said that I should maintain a certain amount of exercise every day."

He was wearing a complete set of golf equipment, he squinted slightly at the green more than a hundred meters away, then reached out and licked his finger and placed it flat in front of his eyes.

He was measuring the wind speed and direction. The younger generation has gradually lost many life skills, but for these old people, they will remember it for a lifetime.

He stood at the teeing ground and separated his legs, glanced at the green again, then swung the golf club around, and with a ding, the golf ball flew out instantly.

At the moment he hit the ball, he didn't look like an old man at all.

The caddie immediately brought the binoculars, and Senator Williams looked at the golf ball jumping onto the green through the binoculars. He made a satisfied gesture, "Not bad!"

Then he stood aside and waited for Lance to hit the ball.

Looking at the long fairway, Lance stood on the expensive turf, this is the happiness that the poor can't imagine.

There is a golf course in your own "backyard". As long as the weather is good enough, and the people who live here are willing to come, then they can take a few shots anytime, anywhere.

There are two greens on the fairway, just to play back and forth, and maybe the position of the green and the shape of the fairway will be adjusted anytime and anywhere—

For the rich, as long as they want to do it, there will be professionals to help them complete it.

And doing this is actually not difficult, you only need to replace the turf, and then let it stand for a while.

Although this is very laborious and costly, for Senator Williams and his family, these expenses will not be taken seriously by them at all.

After Lance adjusted his position, he swung the club hard. When all the power of the club was transmitted to the golf ball, and it flew out with a xiu sound, Senator Williams applauded from the side, as well as James and Arthur.

"Nice shot, have you practiced it?"

Lance shook his head, "Although I haven't practiced it, I know how to play it. Just send it to the place closest to the hole, and then let it roll in."

Such a simple and straightforward description naturally can't find any fault, Senator Williams nodded and said, "You see it more clearly than others."

The two walked towards the green, chatting as they walked.

"What's going on with Figal?"

"I heard that he is transferring assets abroad, does he have any plans that we don't know about?"

Senator Williams used this method as both a question and a reminder. Although Lance was unlikely not to know about this, what if?

So he reminded him and wanted to know what exactly happened.

Lance did not hide the truth from him, "The Keane family is about to leave King's Landing City."

Senator Williams' footsteps stopped, and he stood there, his face full of unbelievable smiles, and Lance also stopped after taking two steps, turned around and looked at him, "Strange?"

Senator Williams didn't say anything. He stood there and thought for a while, and after a few minutes, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "You shocked me, Lance!"

"What method did you use to convince him?"

He followed Lance's position, and the two continued to move forward.

In fact, he already knew what method Lance used, but he still wanted to know the standard answer.

"The police."

"They are a gang, with a large number of criminal records and evidence. As long as you collect them patiently, you can definitely collect a lot."

"And they actually understand very well that even if I can't find it, it doesn't matter if I fabricate some."

"If you tell the teacher that the student in the class who has always gotten A+ cheated on the last exam, the teacher will think that you are just making a prank because you are jealous of him."

"But if you tell the teacher that the student in the class who doesn't have good grades occasionally got an A+ by cheating, then the teacher will definitely seriously investigate this matter."

"Gangs, in everyone's eyes, are not clean."

"Even if I fabricate some, I can make people believe that this is the truth."

Senator Williams nodded in praise, "The method is not clever, but it is very smart!"

"We all thought you would continue to fight them, but what we didn't expect was that you had already solved them, how did you... do it?"

"A method found outside of using violent means?"

Lance said with a smile, "Because Bandi gave me a big gift, Stone."

"Stone is in your hands?"

This news has not yet spread. Since Lance said it, he would not deny it, "He was caught by me, and he is also willing to cooperate with me."

Senator Williams was already very surprised, and had been surprised many times, but at this time he couldn't help but be surprised again.

"You have created one impossible miracle after another, can you tell me how you did it?"

James was also curious about how Lance persuaded Stone to cooperate with him. Stone's impression has always been very... hard.

He represents an image of a "hardline gangster", speaking with weapons, fists, knives, and bullets. Problems that can be solved by execution do not need to be solved by mouth.

Many people say that he is a very fierce and ruthless person, and some people even think that he is "the fiercest wolf in King's Landing City."

But it was such a person who actually "defected", which made Senator Williams and James feel incredible.

Lance casually explained how he had convinced Stone, which surprised the two men once again!

James couldn't help himself and asked, "What if you hadn't been able to save him?"

Lance spread his hands, "God took him, that's not my problem."

"The Coda family doesn't just have those two pairs of brothers and two pairs of fathers and sons; there are others."

"He has faith, he is noble, he is not afraid of death, but someone is always afraid."

"What we need is to find a fulcrum on the Coda family's barrier that will allow us to pry it open. As for whether this fulcrum is big or small, it doesn't really matter, as long as it exists."

Councilman Williams thought for a moment, "We have a small gathering on the weekend evening; remember to come then."

Lance nodded, "I'll keep an eye on the time."

The two walked onto the green, and with a few simple putts, the ball went into the hole.

I must say, enjoying the gentle breeze of late spring and early summer under the warm sunshine, while appreciating the beauty of nature and swinging a club while walking, is indeed a pleasure.

After playing two holes, they went back. Exercise is necessary for the elderly, but it shouldn't be overdone.

After Councilman Williams knew what he wanted, he had James and Arthur send Lance away.

Originally, he didn't plan to invite Lance to the small gathering on the weekend evening because the people at the gathering were basically from the Bay Area.

Firstly, they didn't directly know Lance, and secondly, there might be some minor conflicts between them and Lance.

For them, one of the inducements to lean towards Councilman Williams was Charlie's demise.

Once Charlie was finished, many things would change. When Charlie was alive, they might not have noticed any problems and felt that Goldenport City should be like this.

But after Charlie died, and many problems were exposed, they realized that losing Charlie was like a wolf losing its sharp claws.

Unable to control the police station, they had too many things to deal with, and many things had to change because of this.

So, they could only respond, such as relying on Councilman Williams.

There were also some people, a large portion, who believed that as long as they continued to stick together, neither Lance nor Councilman Williams could do anything to the Bay Area.

Those at this gathering were those who stuck together and actively responded to the changes.

Lance had no contact with them, but that didn't prevent them from having a simple contact now.

His position in Councilman Williams's mind was constantly rising. As a qualified politician, Councilman Williams knew very well that when Lance's shortcomings were not enough to be used by others as a "fulcrum" to attack Senator Cleveland.

And when Lance's own value was clearly higher than others, he would be used by Senator Cleveland.

He was about to have good luck.

On the other side, Fleming also learned that his good brother had fallen into Lance's hands. He immediately found his father and asked him why he didn't rescue Stone.

"It's not that I'm unwilling to do it, it's that I can't do it," Bandi honestly said the reason, "The condition they want is that we leave Goldenport City forever."

"Fleming, if this was just a small business, if our stay or departure only affected ourselves, then I would definitely exchange everything for Stone."

"But what Lance wants is our license and for us to leave. After leaving here, we will have nothing!"

Countless people outside are eyeing the Coda family's property. If they really give up these, those who want their wealth and those who are eager to silence them will come knocking.

"I'm sorry for making such a decision, but I can assure you, this is the last resort."

Fleming sat blankly for a while.

His relationship with Stone was the best in the entire family. Stone had taken care of him since he was a child. At the same time, Bandi and Gauri were also brothers, which made their relationship even closer.

They were each other's most trustworthy people. Stone had indeed made some sacrifices.

Now that he was dead, Fleming found it a little difficult to accept this result.

"Could it be that we just don't do anything?"

Bandi shook his head, "It's not that we're not doing anything. We are accumulating strength, and I'm also putting pressure on the Manteno side. There will be good news."

Although Fleming was skeptical about this, he still nodded without speaking.

Then he hesitated, "I heard... Figal plans to leave Goldenport City, taking everyone with them."

Bandi was stunned for a moment. He almost instinctively shook his head, "That's impossible!"

The name of the five major families is only useful in Goldenport City. If it rises to the level of the federal five major families or ten major families, they are not good enough.

Behind those top federal crime groups, almost without exception, there are senators, and more than one senator is involved.

Like the assassination that once shocked the world, behind it were the shadows of Congress and these gangs.

In a sense, they are no longer just gangs; they are a symbol of the highly integrated power of gangs, politics, and capital.

Usually, they are ordinary gangs, each controlling a large territory.

When there is a need, they will become the ruthless killing machines in the hands of the masters, whether it is ruthlessly killing innocent people who try to shake the position of the senators or the people behind them, or standing on the podium and shouting for freedom, the president can be their target.

The outside world is very cruel. The Coda family did not continue to expand outward through the gang method because they knew very well that they might not be able to expand, and they might even be directly wiped off the face of the earth by a top gang.

Instead, it is more enjoyable to control huge profits and be superior in Goldenport City.

Figal should also understand the principles he can understand, but why would he still do this?

"Who did you hear that from?" Bandi asked. He opened the cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and his smoking volume had obviously increased a lot recently.

The crisp sound of the lighter made him feel a little refreshed. Then he tilted his head, took two puffs, and looked at Fleming.

"A friend told me that he has some connections with the Keane family."

Bandi was silent for a while, and his face turned ugly as he picked up the phone. If Keane was leaving, then he and the Tita family would be left to face Lance directly.

This time, a considerable part of their gunmen were taken down, and they were still elites. Simply comparing their combat power, they were no longer a match.

Gunmen and real bodyguards are ultimately not the same. Gunmen can follow his orders and ruthlessly kill someone.

And bodyguards, if you ask them to kill someone, they will only call the police.

The phone was quickly connected, and Bandi's voice rang out sharply, "I heard you're leaving Goldenport City?"

"Why don't I know about this?"

"Has your brain gone wrong?"

He had too many confusions and questions and didn't give Figal a chance to speak at all.