Empire of Shadows

In fact… if Lance were really given another chance to choose, knowing the outcome of this moment, and asked to choose again.
He would still choose to stand on the opposite side of the mayor. To describe it with a phrase he had seen somewhere, his knees were too stiff to kneel.
He was not Charlie, not others, who could be a dog for wealth, power, and status.
Compared to being a rich dog, he would rather be a poor person. Although a bit poor, at least he was a person.
This was an irreconcilable contradiction that lay between him and the mayor.
“Should we prepare some backup plans?” Elvin was a little worried. Bad things always seem to revolve around them.
They had just managed to get a bite to eat, and then the Camille gang came to trouble them.
After dealing with the Camille gang, before they could rest for long, a new challenge arrived.
They thought everything was over, but they didn’t expect the mayor to start a new round of torment.
Lance did not refuse, “We can set up one or two safe houses in Valley City and Goldstar City. Firearms, some cash, some fake IDs, are all fine. Make sure that if anyone needs to leave and hide for a while, including ourselves, there is a place to go.”
“Elvin, don’t worry, this matter is much simpler than you imagine…”
After telling him to do his work, Lance gave Hunter a call. About twenty-something minutes later, Lance drove to their appointed location, which was Charlie’s villa in the Bay Area.
Before he got out of the car, Hunter saw Lance. After Lance came in, he couldn’t help but tease, “You’re much more afraid of death than I imagined.”
A line of four cars, all filled with tough-looking gang members. Even from a distance, Hunter knew that these people could draw their guns and shoot at any time.
Some of the rumors about the Lance Family were becoming a part of the underworld order of Golden Port. For example, if someone didn’t know who killed them, but as long as there was more than a pound of bullet heads in their body, then without a doubt, looking for the Lance Family was the right thing to do!
The quality of the Lance Family’s gunmen might not be as good as the Summurian gunmen, but no one would underestimate them. At least they dared to shoot, dared to kill. This was actually quite impressive.
You know, not all gang members dare to open fire and kill people!
Lance didn’t care at all about Hunter’s not-malicious teasing. He bumped fists with Hunter, “Being alive is always better than being dead.”
He paused as he spoke, standing in the main hall with Charlie.
Charlie, who had taken off his police uniform, looked like a successful capitalist. He had his hair slicked back, with a lot of pomade, making his whole head look oily.
He was wearing well-tailored clothes, a gold watch, and a tie clip and cufflinks with gemstones, showing off his style and wealth.
There was not a single thing on him that was related to the police.
After the two shook hands simply, they entered the living room together.
“I plan to get rid of John.”
Charlie, who had just taken a small sip from his coffee cup, turned his head to the side. He covered his mouth, craned his neck, and coffee flowed out from between his palm and chin.
Hunter quickly gave him a napkin. He said a thank you, then tidied himself up, and looked at him with some helplessness.
Who the hell would say such explosive news right from the start?
But it had to be said, he liked what Lance said.
Originally, after he resigned to take responsibility, he thought the mayor would not appoint a new police chief, at least not before the struggle between him and the Bay Area was over.
Because no matter who was promoted, they would be sidelined. A police chief whose orders couldn’t leave his office, even if he was put up, would just be a joke for the entire city!
So even though he had resigned, he could still continue to control the police department through trusted aides like Hunter.
But no one had expected that a traitor would appear within the police, which led to a very bad situation. Those who were unsuccessful and marginalized police officers now had a new choice!
Where there are people, there is competition. Charlie also had people he hated, and Hunter also had people he hated. When they were in power, they could send these police officers to the most remote places to do the most tiring work.
But now, the situation was different. The addition of these locals allowed John to quickly gather a force of local police.
He had broken Charlie’s, and the Bay Area’s, plan. They couldn’t sideline John, and even let John control the Port District precinct.
These were beyond Charlie’s understanding.
It’s like… Mr. Jobav, this once-marginalized Empire banker, when the mayor extended an olive branch, for him it was like a drowning man seeing a life-saving straw.
Even if it was just a straw, he would grab it with all his might.
The losers had gained the qualification to challenge the winners again. Anyway, they had nothing left to lose, why not give it a shot?
After Charlie cleaned up the coffee, he let out a breath, “Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear you say these things.”
He was a police chief, after all, a former one. If someone found out that Lance had consulted with him before getting rid of John.
Regardless of whether this idea was Lance’s own, he had to take the blame, because there was no better person to take the blame than him!
People would rather believe it was a conspiracy than believe it was Lance’s own decision.
Then Lance stood up, which made Charlie and Hunter a little baffled again. They also stood up and looked at Lance a little nervously, not knowing what he meant.
“Charlie, I thought you were a very smart person, but it seems you are not that smart.”
“You have to understand, you, more than me, want John to be gotten rid of, but now you are saying such things to me. You didn’t make me feel that my intelligence was challenged. You should ask yourself, have you felt that you have humiliated yourself!”
“If you insist on talking to me in the way of a politician, I’ll go back now, and then take my men to other places.”
“The Federation doesn’t just have one city. We can live well anywhere.”
“But you, Hunter, and you people, can you go to other places and live as well as we do? Can you guess that for yourselves?”
Charlie was a little embarrassed. Hunter quickly walked over and grabbed Lance’s arm, “Charlie didn’t mean that. He’s just a little unaccustomed to your directness…”
Hunter gave Charlie a look. The latter apologized for his performance just now with some embarrassment, “I was stupid, sorry.”
Only then did Lance sit back down. He wanted to take the initiative. He opened his mouth and said he wanted to get rid of John, just to always hold the initiative.
He wanted these two people to understand this principle: it wasn’t him who wanted to get rid of John for them, but they who needed him to get rid of John!
“The purpose of my coming here is to ask you, if John dies, can you quickly regain control of the Golden Port police system?”
Charlie glanced at Hunter. The two looked at each other for a moment and then discussed in a low voice for a while, not avoiding Lance. Lance could hear what they were saying.
It was roughly about who to put in what position, who to move from their original position, and the like.
The two discussed for about five minutes, both looking a bit troubled, “We can try to control it, but the final decision is still in the hands of the mayor!”
“After this time, we are also not sure how many people are still on our side. You know, no matter who is the chief, who is the mayor, they will rely on the police department.”
Hunter’s face was dark when he said this.
What he meant to express was that the mayor would only rely more on the police system. The benefits that those police officers could get from the mayor were far greater than the benefits they got!
The difficulty lies here!
“We can’t persuade everyone to stand on our side. Although John’s time in office has been short, he is ultimately backed by the mayor.”
“If it’s just a choice between us and John, I believe they would more likely choose us, but if it’s a choice between us and the mayor, our chances of winning are not great.”
Lance looked at these two failures, a sneer on his face, “I thought you had the Golden Port police system firmly in your hands!”
Charlie explained with a bitter smile, “This matter is not as simple as you think, Lance.”
“To put it grandly, I’m just a former chief, and Hunter is just one of the homicide division officers. How can we compare with the mayor and the current chief?”
“And as you can see, in a sense, we are already losers.”
“So it seems understandable that they would stand on the mayor’s side.”
Lance did not deny it. He frowned and thought for a moment, “I have an idea, but not now. The problem we need to solve now is to get rid of John first.”
“When he’s finished, you guys can see if you can control those police officers, at least let them remain neutral, and then we’ll find a way to pull them into our camp.”
The two discussed for a while longer and felt that this was no problem.
“If it’s just persuading them to remain neutral, I can do it!”
After all, he was a veteran police officer of several decades. He still had this much face, “But I can’t guarantee how long it can be maintained, maybe a week or two, maybe a month or two, but it could also be shorter.”
“That’s enough!”
“Then next, you guys have to be prepared.”
A smile also appeared on the faces of Charlie and Hunter. If they could get rid of John, they would indeed be happier than anyone else.
After John came to power, Hunter had taken a long leave. He didn’t want to see John, let alone follow his orders to do things.
Now, it seemed everything was getting better.
Hunter didn’t know if he was getting better, but he knew he was already getting better.
He had just come out of the mayor’s office. The mayor had affirmed his work during this period and at the same time appeased his emotions—
Eric’s death was not directly related to him. He was not the one who killed him, so he didn’t have to worry about the mayor taking it out on him.
As for whether they could find the murderer, that also didn’t have much to do with him. That was the work of the homicide division.
What he had to do was to stabilize his position in the police system as soon as possible and gain the support of more police groups.
No matter which district, which precinct, it had to be brought under control as soon as possible.
The mayor also hinted to him that if he could do a good job, he would continue to be given important positions.
This made John’s whole person feel as if it were a blooming flower, his whole person felt… sublimated!
His steps were all light!
Now many people in the police system were still watching. Their attitude was not as resistant as it was at the beginning. He had made some adjustments after taking office.
For example, expressing respect for the precinct’s independent law enforcement power to a certain extent, for example, supporting them in setting up funds, supporting them in collecting reasonable protection fees, etc.
He promised to increase the income of the police officers, improve their welfare and treatment, which made some low-level police officers easily change their camp.
What was truly difficult to choose were those “officers.” For the low-level police officers, they didn’t care who was in power.
Now, what he had to do was to first handle Precinct Chief Bruce. After handling this person, some of those who were still watching might turn to his side.
At that time, once an advantageous situation was formed, more precincts would join in, and eventually, he would achieve unification.
It was just that he didn’t know how long it would take for Precinct Chief Bruce to figure it out.
Maybe give him a little more pressure?
John had already very much brought himself into the role of this acting chief. His mind was full of the image of him being officially appointed.
At that time, the public security of the entire Golden Port would be under his control. If those gangs wanted their business not to be disturbed, they would have to pay him money!
How much money is that?!
He had just returned to the police station and was about to urge those people to investigate Eric’s disappearance properly when his assistant told him that Precinct Chief Bruce had called him.
This made him overjoyed. He temporarily gave up the idea of asking the homicide division about the progress of the case and went straight back to his office.
He put his hat away, picked up the phone, and dialed the number for the Empire District precinct chief’s office.
“They just said you called me.” John’s tone was somewhat aggressive and tough. He understood Bruce, so the tougher he acted, the easier it was to persuade Bruce.
Precinct Chief Bruce let out an “uh-huh,” “I’ve considered your previous proposal for a few days. In principle, I have no reason to object, but there are also some things I want to talk to you about in person.”
“No problem, come to my office!” A smile appeared on John’s face, “It’s best to come in your official car. I want everyone to know you came to my office, understand?”
If he could make it known throughout the city that another precinct had accepted the management of the general bureau, it would be even greater pressure on those who were still hesitating!
However, Precinct Chief Bruce did not agree with him, “I can do this, but not this time. I want to talk to you… about some things that are not convenient to talk about on the phone.”
“You know, besides work, we have other problems to solve.”
John just thought for a moment, “About what?”
“Money, and my position.”
John had no other questions, “You name a place.”
“I know a small restaurant. There aren’t many people, but their food tastes good!”
John readily accepted the appointment, “I’m very interested in this kind of food!”
“I have to say, John, you’ve made the most correct choice of your life. I’ll be there soon!”
He tidied up a bit, hesitated for a moment, then changed into a set of casual clothes. Because they were going to talk about not-so-public topics, he didn’t need to dress so formally.
A dozen minutes later, he arrived outside the small restaurant Precinct Chief Bruce had mentioned, parked the car, and looked at the “Delicious Sausages” sign, a smile appearing on his face.
He also liked to eat sausages. It wasn’t because he liked to eat sausages that he smiled, but because he felt something good was about to happen, so he smiled.
He pushed the door and entered. The small restaurant was about sixty or seventy square meters in size, with seven or eight tables. Precinct Chief Bruce was sitting at the seat behind the window facing the street.
Seeing John arrive, Precinct Chief Bruce quickly stood up and waved his hand, “Over here.”
John smiled and pointed at him with both fingers, his knees slightly bent, giving a dynamic sense of “I found you.”
He walked over and shook hands with Precinct Chief Bruce, “Did you order food?”
“I just came from the mayor’s office, I’m a little hungry.”
He seemed to just be stating that he was hungry, but he was actually telling Precinct Chief Bruce how close he was to the mayor!
You know, in the six years Charlie was in office, he hadn’t been to the mayor’s office more than a few times, but he went often, recently!
Precinct Chief Bruce immediately nodded with a smile, “I’ve ordered. The signature grilled sausages, grilled ribs, grilled beef and lamb chops, and grilled fish…”
“Wow, we can’t eat so much.” He chose to sit with his back to the window, “You’re being a little wasteful.”
Precinct Chief Bruce seemed to be trying to please him, “It’s okay, we can take the leftovers home.”
John smiled slightly. This was just a warm-up before their conversation. They hadn’t spoken for a while, and his tone when he had asked Precinct Chief Bruce to make a choice was also very harsh.
Now saying some normal things would help to ease the atmosphere.
Soon the food arrived. No matter what it was, it exuded a tempting aroma. There was only this one table in the restaurant. It was not yet mealtime.
Originally, John was not very hungry, but seeing such a sumptuous meal, he suddenly wanted to eat something.
He got himself a small piece of sausage, and while eating, he asked, “What do you want to talk to me about?”
Precinct Chief Bruce said very seriously, “I can… you know, that’s what I mean.”
John put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth, “Is it so difficult for you to say ‘I’ll follow you’?”
“Bruce, I know, maybe I used to work under you, and you have some misunderstanding about me, which makes you feel that following me now is a very uncomfortable or shameful thing.”
“But actually, I think there is no need to act so unpleasantly because of some small vanity.”
“It makes me feel that you are not sincerely following me.”
“Come, I’ll give you another chance.”
He wasn’t joking, but looked at Bruce very seriously. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and a smile suddenly appeared on Bruce’s face, “I am willing to follow you, John.”
John couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He stood up, bent over, took a piece of steak, and placed it on Bruce’s plate, “I was just joking with you. Why are you being so serious?”
“Come, try this steak. The taste here is really good!”