Empire of Shadows

“… … I’ll call you back later.” After hanging up, Chief Dale sat for a while before pressing a button on the desk and saying, “Come in.”

The door opened, and a senior special agent from the Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau walked in, Dewinter.

Before becoming a senior special agent in the Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau, Dewinter was the deputy police chief of another city.

He performed very well in his original position, and the local chief recommended him to join this newly established department.

After training in Manton, he was assigned here.

Not everyone is assigned to the place they came from. The Congressional side had considered this, so when the state Alcohol Beverage Control office was arranging personnel, in addition to needing a local person to cooperate with the Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau, most of the others came from other cities, and none of them came from the same city.

This maximized the avoidance of corruption issues.

Think about it, if your colleagues around you are all from other places, and you don’t understand them at all, how would you dare to easily discuss money and power transactions with them?

The internal discipline of the Hazardous Materials Administration is also very strict, with corresponding office rules and regulations. This approach is indeed very useful, but only in the initial stages.

Once they become familiar with each other, what is meant to come, will still come.

“Chief, I want to talk to you,” he said.

Chief Dale didn't object, signaling him to close the door and then had him sit opposite him, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

After closing the door, Dewinter scratched his chin, his skin feeling a little itchy. In reality, this was a psychosomatic reaction, and his chin wasn't actually itchy.

“I don’t know… have I mentioned to you that there have been some changes in the city recently?”

His wording was very careful and cautious. Chief Dale frowned, “I don’t know what you're referring to.”

“Dewinter, I'm sorry, buddy, I’m very busy. As you can see, I have things to do at every moment. If you don’t have anything important, I have several phone calls to handle here.”

He was contacting people from the state Alcohol Beverage Control committee. Lance had given him a sum of money and asked him to spend it.

Initially, he was still somewhat resistant in his heart, feeling that he was being coerced by Lance, but as he began to actually operate this matter, his mentality changed.

Spending other people's money to pave the way for himself, what was there for him to resist?

If possible, he just wanted to say to Lance, give me some more!

Now, those people from the state Alcohol Beverage Control committee had smelled the scent of money from him and had begun to actively communicate with him.

The work on the state Alcohol Beverage Control committee side was actually not complicated, and the structure was also very simple.

An administrative department, and a small-scale action department.

The main task was to arrange the general direction of work for the Hazardous Materials Administration in various regions. If the Congressional bigwigs had some ideas, they would send the action department to the local areas to preside over certain actions.

Overall, it was a relaxed and prestigious job, and as long as he didn't set his sights on the position of executive committee member, then they wouldn't have much of an opinion.

The title of committee member was really a dime a dozen. These committee members were all nominal positions, only the executive committee member was a real position.

He was busy dealing with this matter, rising to the state Alcohol Beverage Control committee, seemingly shrinking his power, but at least it was safe.

Moreover, there might be opportunities to cooperate with Lance in the future. What if Lance wanted him to rise even higher?

Plus, him occupying this position would make Lance dissatisfied, posing a danger to him, so after not-so-long consideration, he made a decision.

He had been busy with this matter recently.

Dewinter didn't know about the matters within. He just felt that Chief Dale's emotions might have undergone some different changes during this period.

He didn't dare to continue playing the “I say, you guess” game now, and quickly explained, “An informant told me that the entire industry related to alcohol in Goldport City is about to usher in a huge change.”

“I think this is an important opportunity. If we can catch some big players, we will definitely be able to present a beautiful report card.”

Chief Dale frowned. He really hadn't heard of this, “Tell me more about it.”

“It’s like this, I have an informant who says that the Lance family has decided to change industries and no longer operate the bar business, but they have re-established the rules of the gang game in this city.”

“They have determined how many bars there are in the cooperative city, and require all the bars to obtain their alcoholic beverages from them.”

“Chief, think about it, if a gang wants to supply the city's alcohol business, there must be a huge alcohol factory behind it, or perhaps a smuggling route that we don't know about.”

“The Lance family must have a huge stock of alcohol. If we can find their warehouse and take it down in one fell swoop, this would definitely be a major case that would shock the whole country!”

A slightly excited flush appeared on Dewinter's face. This was no longer just a matter of fame. The massive amount of merit might allow him to be directly promoted to deputy chief.

At the same time, according to the reward principle, this could be hundreds of thousands or millions in bounty!

The only way to obtain huge wealth in a short period of time and still be legal seemed to be this, and the opportunity was rare.

Chief Dale was stunned for a moment after listening. He then frowned, “Is your informant… reliable?”

Dewinter nodded, “Reliable.”

Chief Dale didn't immediately express his position, “I need to think about it. Don't tell anyone about this matter for now. I'll give you news in the next two days.”

Dewinter nodded, “No problem,” he said, and then got up to leave.

After watching him leave, Chief Dale hesitated and dialed Lance's number. Coincidentally, Lance was also by the phone.

“This is Dale.”

“Dale?”

“It's not easy to wait for your call. What brings you to call me proactively?”

Lance's tone had some teasing in it, but Chief Dale didn't find it annoying or hateful. He talked about the matter just now, and then asked, “What exactly are you planning to do?”

He didn't understand a bit. Why was Lance playing some tricks again when things were going so well?

Lance explained his thoughts, and Chief Dale had to admit that Lance was indeed like an experienced veteran when doing certain things.

The deterrent power of a gang is never how many criminal businesses they engage in, but how many people they have and how many guns they have.

Ending the relatively direct criminal business of bars would not bring them much negative change, while the gains would be more guaranteed.

As long as the transportation is done more secretly, and the people transporting are more tight-lipped, the risks they face are actually much smaller than running their own bars!

Even if the convoy and people they use to transport alcohol are caught, as long as he can hire a good lawyer—which is inevitable, he has money, he can completely hire the best lawyer or law firm to defend him, the probability of him losing the case is very small.

He can say that all the alcohol is his own, and the transportation is just moving the alcohol to a different place for storage.

Transporting from warehouse A to warehouse B for storage is not selling or publicly drinking.

This way, even if someone reports him and obtains enough evidence, they can only accuse them of the lightest crime, transporting alcoholic beverages.

As long as he can convince the judge to believe this statement, then at most it's just a fine of two or three thousand dollars, and those people don't even need to go to jail!

As for why the alcohol they confessed in court that they intended to store in a different place ended up in the bars?

It's very simple, they were stolen!

Someone discovered the alcohol in the warehouse, and then it was stolen, it's that simple.

As for whether the Lance family will sue these thieves, that is a matter between him and the thieves, not with the court.

The Lance family will avoid the biggest troubles while still making more money. He really is a genius!

There have already been such cases in some places. This is obviously exploiting loopholes in the justice system, and the justice system must continue to let him exploit them.

This is an unsolvable problem.

“Capital is pursuing firewalls and unified management. I think gangs should also keep pace with the times. Between us and the judiciary, there also needs to be some firewalls. We also need to develop and progress along with the times.”

“Dale, those old-fashioned gang rules can no longer work in this constantly progressing era. I don’t deny that some gangs are still so rigid and unable to be flexible.”

“Nor do I deny that some of them are still very powerful and have a voice.”

“But that is definitely not me, not the future of the Lance family.”

“We are not the front wave, nor will we be the front wave. We will always be the middle wave. When the power disappears, we will retreat back into the sea to re-accumulate power, rather than die on the beach.”

When Lance talked about these things, the pride in his tone was completely unconcealable.

If the person on the other side was someone else, Elvin, Ethan, or someone else, Lance would only say it simply.

Because they simply couldn't understand the meaning and value of Lance doing this, just like Melo and the others still believed that the family should continue to expand and inflate, they still wanted to create a scale of thousands or tens of thousands of people, becoming the “largest gang in the Federation with the most people”. This is no different from seeking death!

Their level of education and understanding of the world limited their ability to correctly recognize this world.

But Dale wouldn't. He graduated from an elite institution and was considered a marginal little figure in the Gold State political circle. His understanding of this world had already stood among the foremost group.

So, when Lance said these words, the little pride in his tone was completely undisguised.

He used a way of thinking that surpassed this era to run his "business", and he needed someone to understand him, to read him.

It's like… he puts on a beautiful suit, and he needs someone who can appreciate the suit to admire it, whether it's a friend or an enemy.

Listening to Lance's words, Chief Dale felt a slight tingling in his scalp. A constantly improving, evolving gang was frightening to even think about.

More cunning, more treacherous, more vicious, all the places where the sun doesn't shine will eventually become their hunting grounds!

Chief Dale was silent for a while, then sighed. He was now increasingly unwilling to be an enemy of Lance.

There is no pressure in being an opponent with a fool, even if he is a thousand times, ten thousand times stronger than you!

You only need to watch him make mistakes today, make mistakes tomorrow, slowly wear down his strength, and then be defeated by you.

But being an opponent with someone like Lance is very scary.

While you are becoming stronger and expanding yourself, he is expanding himself faster than you, and his methods are more savage and crude, and the consequences he bears are smaller.

If he wants to gain more power, he may need to do many things, and he only needs to defeat all competitors under reasonable and legal rules.

But Lance, he only needs to get rid of the competitors.

Chief Dale thought for a while, "Then shall I pretend I don't know about this?"

"Why pretend you don't know?" Lance immediately asked, "Such a large-scale plan cannot be hidden from those who are interested. I know you have many informants in various gangs, collecting information for you everywhere."

"Today, there can be a what..."

Chief Dale prompted, "Dewent."

"Right, today there can be a Dewent senior agent discovering this 'secret', and tomorrow another senior agent can discover it. People will always find out."

Chief Dale suddenly felt a headache, "Then what are you going to do?"

"Find a scapegoat?"

This has always been Lance's approach. Every once in a while, Ponda can catch Lance running a bar, which always prevents people from raising their vigilance against Lance.

A gang that is often caught will not be considered a trouble by anyone, and they will also ignore the fact that they are constantly growing at an alarming rate.

Now Chief Dale understands, but it's too late.

He thought Lance was going to use that method to paralyze the people here, but this time he was wrong.

"Do you know about the police station?" Lance asked a seemingly unrelated question.

Chief Dale was a little puzzled, his mind racing, "What aspect are you referring to?"

Lance didn't hide it from him, "The extra subsidies they have every month, and there is also a foundation dedicated to serving the police force."

Chief Dale chuckled twice, "They are not so easily bought off.", but he quickly stopped laughing, because Lance and his family were the largest gang in Goldport City.

"Send me the personal information of Senior Agent Dewent. Do you have my fax number?"

Chief Dale was silent for a while, "Yes."

More than ten minutes later, Lance glanced at the faxed content and casually placed it on the table.

After seven o'clock in the evening, Goldport City began to enter its nightlife mode, and the entire Starlight District became radiant.

Speaking of which, it's a bit unbelievable that since the complete decline of the five major families, the治安 (zhì ān, public security) in the Starlight District, and even the entire Goldport City, has improved a lot.

Some people say that this is the credit of the police station, but some people know that this is entirely the credit of the Lance family.

Lance doesn't like chaotic cities. This is a fact that every gang member here knows. He even sends his own people to maintain order on the streets.

If anyone breaks his rules, then the consequences will definitely not be good!

In order not to offend Lance and the Lance family, in order not to become nourishment for the sea, or become a part of Angel Lake, people consciously reduce criminal behavior and criminal impulses at night.

The city has naturally become more stable.

At least in the Starlight District, even at ten, eleven, or twelve o'clock at night, there are very few vicious cases.

Dewent had just finished contacting the informant. He had obtained some new information from the informant. The people of the Lance family would set up about four hundred warehouses throughout Goldport City.

These warehouses will all use special combination locks, and a password is required to open the warehouses.

When a gang orders liquor, the liquor will be sent to these warehouses, and then the Lance family will give the leader of the gang that ordered the goods a password.

He only needs to take the combination lock to find the corresponding warehouse to take away the liquor inside.

No one will contact them throughout the entire process, and the password for each warehouse will change every time it is used.

Dewent was so shocked when he learned about these things that his mouth couldn't close!

What an efficient criminal network this is!

At first, he even asked the informant, what if someone stole the liquor inside?

At that time, the informant looked at him with an idiot's expression, and then he understood.

Anyone, as long as he steals the liquor inside, then he will face the encirclement and pursuit of the entire Goldport City's gangs. As long as he can't fly, he will definitely be caught and he will definitely die!

Today they can steal a certain gang's liquor, and tomorrow they can steal other people's. Whether it is the Lance family or all the gangs, they will find him and honorably kill him!

A terrible opponent!

While driving the vehicle, his mind was thinking about how he would carry out his work if Chief Dale supported him, and the possible threats he might encounter, while slowly parking the vehicle on the side of the road.

He was home. One of the many middle-class communities in Prussia. He has a detached house here, with front and back yards, but no swimming pool or anything. This is not a villa, he can't afford such a big house.

This is just an ordinary detached house, where he and his family live.

After the car stopped, he sat in the car and smoked a cigarette, because his wife didn't like the smell of smoke in the room, so he tried not to smoke at home.

When he finished smoking a cigarette and had no ideas in his head, he opened the door, took out the key, and twisted open the door.

"Hi, honey, I'm back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his brows furrowed. There was a smell of smoke in the house, and he could vaguely hear someone talking, a man's voice.

He never worried that his wife would betray him, or have an affair or anything. He has a decent job, an income higher than ordinary people, and his wife wouldn't be stupid enough not to love him.

Did a relative come?

Or is there a visitor?

His hand was on the holster, slowly walking to the edge of the living room.

A few more steps forward and he could see what was happening in the living room, a cold thing pressed against the back of his head…