Shadow Empire

Chapter 1261 What must be repaid in the end
Around nine o'clock in the morning, Leonardo got out of his lover's bed, pushed away the long, white legs that were pressing down on him, and got out of bed.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside table and cursed.

It's already past nine o'clock, and no one has woken him up yet. Does he still need to eat breakfast?

If we can't eat until after 10 o'clock, will we still have lunch?

If he doesn't eat, he won't be able to concentrate on reading today's newspaper at all.

Habit is a very powerful force that can cause physiological changes in people.

Willpower, the power of the spirit, ultimately changes matter itself, which is one of the mysteries that many scientists most want to unravel.

It's like some people only feel the urge to poop when they have a newspaper in their hand.

Without this newspaper, they might not defecate for two or three days.

Even when they finally couldn't hold it in and needed to defecate, they had to find a newspaper to successfully do so.

That's just how Leonardo is; he can only concentrate on reading the newspaper while eating breakfast.

Old-school mafia godfathers like him did not receive any higher education.

When he was only a teenager, while others were preparing for high school and college, he was already carrying a gun and fighting for his family.

Okay, maybe he'll stand in a safe spot further back and fire a few shots, and that would be fighting for his family, but at least he'll be in the fight, instead of hiding somewhere else.

This prevented him from receiving higher education, so he was very impatient with reading books or newspapers, except during breakfast time.

While eating, he would think about what he needed to eat, and he could eat and read at the same time, thus passing his breakfast time.

Eating breakfast while reading the newspaper has become a habit for him every morning.

He turned and glanced at the girl lying on the other side of the bed, who was about the same age as his eldest granddaughter. He pushed her hard and said, "Go get something to eat."

The girl was woken up by him shaking her, and she was a little unhappy. She raised her hands and complained, "There's ham and bread in the fridge, you can easily make some yourself!"

Leonard glared at him. "Get out of that fucking bed and go to that fucking kitchen and make me a fucking breakfast. Don't make me repeat myself!"

The girl turned and stared at him for a moment, then raised her hands in a somewhat agitated manner, but quickly lowered them again. "You should fucking be in a nursing home, not lying here!"

In the end, she obediently went to make breakfast. After all, Leonardo would pay for everything she needed, whether it was money or anything else. As long as it was something she wanted and not excessive, Leonardo would pay for it.

As for sleeping with an old man, she didn't feel there was anything shameful about it.

After all, this is Sumuli, and the entire country is shrouded in the shadow of political families and the four major families. Even if she doesn't sleep with Leonardo, there's a high probability that she will sleep with other old men.

Since she's going to sleep with men anyway, why not choose the most powerful and influential one? At least outside of sleeping together, she can get everything she wants.

Wealth, status, anything.

Moreover, sleeping with Leonardo DiCaprio isn't a particularly painful experience.

This old man may be quite ruthless in his "work," being the boss of a family, but when it comes to sex, he's rather... mild-mannered.

For the sake of the money, she tolerated it.

She was shirtless, wearing only a very short pair of briefs, and got up to pull back the curtains.

The sunlight streaming in through the window, combined with the breeze and sunlight, gave her goosebumps.

Leonardo frowned as he watched her, as if she were melting into the sunlight, until he too began to adjust to the intense sunlight, and everything returned to normal.

"It's a nice day!" the girl said to him, then walked downstairs barefoot.

The floors are covered with expensive carpets, so even in winter you won't feel cold walking barefoot on them. That's one of the benefits of being rich—you can enjoy life in every way.

Leonardo squinted as he looked at the girl's shorts, which were so tight you had to spread her buttocks to find them.

His youthful body always gave him a brief resurgence of energy. This girl wasn't special; what he was captivated by was the youthful allure she exuded.

Not long after, Leonardo heard the girl calling him from downstairs, "I've prepared the food. Should I bring it up to you, or will you come down?"

Leonardo, already dressed in casual home clothes, called from upstairs, "Put your things on the dining table, and my newspaper too, I'll be right down."

Not long after, he arrived at the restaurant, where the girl was already in the living room, dancing along with the aerobics program on TV.

She never misses this aerobics session, as long as Leonardo isn't here.

She is very generous to herself, whether it's spending money on herself or "torturing" herself. She knows very well that these are things that can increase her value and make Leonardo DiCaprio always remember her.

Watching the girl perform rhythmic aerobics, Leonardo curled his lip; he had always thought that anything from the Federation was a scam.

If aerobics could make someone slim, there would be no fat women in the world.

He sat down at the table and cut the sandwiches he had made with a knife.

It was a very ordinary breakfast: two slices of slightly toasted bread, spread with butter, seven or eight slices of raw ham, some leafy greens, and a slice of tomato. Put them together, and that was his breakfast.

He used a knife to cut the sandwich into several pieces, then picked up one piece and put it in his mouth, which was also his habit.

At the same time, he looked at the morning newspaper, the Morning News, which was the largest, most official, and most authoritative newspaper in Sumuli, equivalent to the Federal Daily and the Federal Post of the Federal Republic.

The headline on the front page of the newspaper made Leonardo frown: internal strife had broken out in the east of Sumuli.

Ironically, the entire Victorious Alliance prospered because of the war, and even though Slad's side was ravaged, they still gained tremendous benefits from the war.

A large surplus of population was consumed, war reparations were paid, there was no friction on the border for at least two or three decades, and there was some capital and economic plunder resulting from opening the market to Dantra.

Whoever stands on the side of the victors gains enormous benefits.

Sumuli did indeed reap huge war benefits, but most of these benefits were directly divided up by the ruling class, with only a very small portion ending up in the hands of ordinary people.

Coupled with the deaths and injuries in the war and the failure to reach a compromise on a series of subsequent issues, the war was won, but people died, and people became increasingly poor, to the point that they could hardly make ends meet.

A group of veterans who had never resisted or even considered resisting put what they had learned on the battlefield into practice.

The first area to become chaotic was the east, which is very close to the westernmost part of Slade. It is only about two or three hundred kilometers across the strait to enter Slade territory.

Many people are planning to cross the border to Slade with their families to find a living, as life in Sumuli is no longer sustainable.

Prior to this, the Sumuli government encouraged people to emigrate to find a place to live elsewhere, and often provided policy support to families who were willing to emigrate, such as engaging in diplomatic communication with the governments of the places they planned to emigrate to.

However, the Sumuli government does not strongly support illegal departures, and a large number of young men have been depleted on Sumuli Island during the war, leaving a shortage of male labor for the ruling class and capitalists.

Among those who were preparing to illegally immigrate to other countries, there were quite a few men. Therefore, the Sumuli government rejected their request to leave Sumuli and demanded that they return to their jobs on the island and continue to serve the ruling class.

This obviously did not align with the thoughts of those who were already considering leaving Sumuli Island, leading to a fierce conflict that resulted in deaths.

Originally, there was still room for remediation at this point. If the ruling class had appeased these people's emotions and allowed some of them to leave, the matter might have been resolved.

However, some officials viewed these people's actions as a provocation against the ruling class, so they sent soldiers to suppress the rioters. The situation gradually escalated, and more regions and people were drawn into the conflict.

The easternmost part has now entered a state of anarchy. The mobs have killed some of the local big capitalists and some of the local ruling class, and obtained a lot of wealth and weapons from them.

These people, who had no way back, became aggressive and began to try to expand outwards.

It is still in the early to middle stages of the uprising. These people do not yet have the power to overthrow the regime. Of course, the Sumuli government and the four major families do not believe that they have such means.

Today's front page headlines are about how the riots have spread westward once again, with another city descending into chaos. The news writer believes that if the Sumuli government cannot end this farce quickly, it could very well trigger an unprecedented massive riot.

Sumuli will also become an international joke—although it already is.

All the victorious nations have achieved tremendous development, except for Sumuli, which has actually fallen into internal strife and has become the latest international hot topic!

"A corrupt bureaucratic system!" Leonardo commented after reading the report, even though he himself could be considered part of this bureaucratic system.

He had no interest in suppressing the unrest, and the four major families shared the same thought.

The ruling families, on the other hand, were somewhat reluctant to give up their gains. They had benefited the most from the war, and now they were unwilling to relinquish even half of it.

They were also passing the buck, since the unrest was only in the far east, and only a small area was in chaos, so it wouldn't affect the overall situation of the country.

Everyone believes that they can resolve the riot simply by taking action themselves. The reason they haven't acted yet is simply because they don't want to give up the benefits they've already gained.

Everyone is waiting to see who can't resist first.

Whoever loses their temper first is destined to lose the most.

Leonardo shared the same thought; he felt the news writer had exaggerated the threat posed by these troublemakers. He quickly turned to the second page and picked up another sandwich to eat.

I ate a breakfast of a sandwich in about twenty minutes.

During those twenty minutes or so, I mainly read the newspaper; eating became secondary.

As he reached the last page, he swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. Then, he drank a cup of local coffee, the rich, oily aroma rising after the bitterness, bringing a perfect end to his breakfast!

He stood up, went into the dressing room, and began to change his clothes.

The girl who was doing aerobics glanced back at him and asked, "Are you coming back tonight?"

While changing his clothes, Leonardo shook his head and said, "No, I'll let you off this time. I'll come back next month. I have other things to do in the meantime."

The girl stopped, turned around, put her hands on her hips, and went to the outside of the dressing room. "I've run out of money."

Leonardo paused in his dressing, "Didn't I just give you two thousand dollars?"

The girl shrugged, hands on her hips. "Please, even though you gave me two thousand yuan, I have many expenses, like three bodybuilding classes every week..."

She immediately started calculating Leonardo's costs.

The magic of bookkeeping lies in the fact that regardless of whether the person doing the bookkeeping has the corresponding accounting knowledge, they can skillfully make the accounts look the way they want.

Let alone two thousand yuan, even three thousand or five thousand yuan, the girl could organize it very reasonably at this moment.

These expenses were all small and fragmented, and Leonardo didn't like to hear about them; they gave him a headache. He shook his head and said, "Okay, stop talking..." As he spoke, he took out a wad of cash from his wallet, and just as he was about to count some out, the girl snatched it all away.

"Thanks!"

Looking at the smile on the girl's face, Leonardo sighed.

He was very rich, but recently he has become very poor because his supply of alcohol from the Federation has been cut off.

Once that path was cut off, it was hard to have that feeling of carrying gold home in baskets every day. Besides, he had also made some investments during this time. The beverage business wasn't impossible, but it required re-exploring the market and competing again.

Christopher, that son of a bitch, may have many flaws, but he is very familiar with the Federation and can easily deal with Federation people to open up markets.

The group he sent to another state is still operating on a small scale, failing to fully expand the market, and frequently clashing with local gangs and liquor smuggling teams. It's not making as much money as he imagined.

You can only make money with alcohol if you sell a lot of it.

If sales don't go up, even if you can make 100 yuan per bottle, selling 100 bottles a year won't make much difference!
This has made him quite frugal lately, and he doesn't even play his favorite card games much anymore.

"Spend it sparingly," he advised, then put his wallet back in its place.

"I'm leaving soon. Call me if you need anything. If you can't reach me, call the company!"

Since the girl took his money, she naturally had to provide some emotional support.

She wrapped her arms around Leonardo's neck, looking very attached to him, and said, "I don't want you to leave."

Even though Leonardo knew she was talking nonsense at the summer festival, her reluctant tone softened his heart a little.

Who can resist a young, beautiful girl with a great figure acting cute and affectionate towards them?
He patted the girl's bottom. "I'll be back soon, as long as I finish what I'm doing, I promise!"

He paused for a moment, then took the initiative to untie the girl's arms from around his neck and walked towards the door.

The girl followed behind him. Because her clothes were somewhat revealing, she didn't go out but just stood outside the door watching.

This is the middle-class residential area on Sumuli Island, and it retains the style of Sumuli's old town.

It's not quite like the community-based residential areas like federal neighborhoods; here, it's all about the streets.

Because the Federation was a country that developed later, and its homeland had little historical foundation, it was impossible for them to expel the natives and then crawl into tents themselves.

Therefore, while the federal city planning is very innovative in some respects, it lacks a sense of historical depth.

In Sumuli, wealthy people live in a particular neighborhood of the city, and several streets are inhabited by wealthy people; they have little concept of community.

Once you step outside, you'll find yourself on a busy street with cars coming and going, and houses lining the street. Some streets even have cobblestone pavement with gaps the size of a finger in the ground.

Living here has a very old historical feel, like living in Sumuli many years ago, when this place was just built.

There are also new urban planning areas in Sumuli, which are like federal communities with high housing prices.

However, it is mostly young people who are willing to live there. The wealthy elderly prefer this place, as they have become accustomed to life here.

The two bodyguards guarding the door were smoking and chatting when they heard footsteps behind them and immediately dropped their cigarettes.

One of them jogged to the car at the bottom of the steps and opened the door, while the other followed Leonardo.

He only brought two bodyguards because this was Sumuli Island, the territory of the ruling class and the four major families. Anyone could get into trouble here, but they would not.

Besides, he came to his mistress's house this time, and it wouldn't be good to attract too much attention.

Leonardo walked to the car, turned back and waved to the girl by the door on the steps, then got in.

Two bodyguards sat in the driver's seat and the passenger seat of the car, and the car started moving.

As the car was about to drive away onto the road outside the yard, the girl prepared to go back and finish the aerobics routine she hadn't completed.

Sitting in his car, Leonardo was thinking about some business matters. He wasn't short of money, but he desperately needed a way to make quick money.

The environment on the island is getting worse and worse, and people are getting poorer and poorer. It's becoming increasingly difficult to squeeze money out of these poor people.

Although they had done the same thing before, Christopher had grown to love the highly profitable business.

People who are used to making quick money can no longer go back to making money slowly; they will try their best to find ways to continue making quick money.

Just as he was pondering these things, a tremendous force threw him uncontrollably into the air, and his head slammed hard against the roof of the car with a thud.

Then he landed heavily on the seat, feeling as if his whole body was about to fall apart.

He was a little dizzy, and while leaning on the back of the seat in front of him, he cursed several times, "What the hell are you guys doing?"

Unfortunately, both the driver and the bodyguard in the front passenger seat had already lost consciousness due to the violent impact. At this time, seat belts were not yet widely used in civilian vehicles.

Due to the immense impact, the driver and the bodyguard in the front passenger seat were also severely injured, and their fate is unknown.

He grumbled and moved toward the car door, wanting to leave and find out what had happened.

Just then, a shadow appeared from the outside, blocking the light from shining into the back seat.

He looked up and saw two men wearing fedoras staring into each other's eyes.

They stared at each other for about two or three seconds, then the man outside the car door raised his submachine gun, cursed, and raised his hands to cover his groin.

All of this happened in a very short time, probably only ten or twenty seconds in total.

Before Leonardo's mistress even returned to the room, she suddenly heard the screeching of brakes and the sound of a car crashing.

She turned sharply to look in the direction the car had gone. Leonardo's car had been rammed and was now stuck against the wall of another building across the street, its front wheels dangling in the air and spinning rapidly.

She froze for a moment, then screamed. Just as she was about to put on her shoes and go check on Leonardo, she saw two people get out of the car that had hit him.

They wore fedoras that obscured their faces; the black hats with red hatbands gave them a very distinctive look.

It was somewhat solemn, yet within that solemnity lay a vibrant liveliness; she couldn't quite describe the feeling.

She watched as the two men walked up to Leonardo's car, raised their submachine guns, and pulled the trigger while she stared in disbelief!

The sound of gunfire quickly became continuous. When the shooting stopped, another vehicle appeared beside them in time. They and the driver quickly got into the other vehicle and left.

Only then did the girl remember to scream. She screamed and ran back to her room, where she dialed the police.

The streets were full of people, who looked somewhat surprised but not afraid.

This kind of thing happens frequently in Sumuli, both in the past and now.

Before the war began, this is how they purged the anti-war elements and quickly reached a consensus.

After the war, they did the same thing, eliminating those who questioned the war.

What happened here is not surprising to the people living here. Their only curiosity now is who died this time.

Some daring people approached the wrecked car, where blood was splattered everywhere inside and on the shattered windows.

Several people glanced inside, then shook their heads, unable to make out the faces.

The blood and the deformed faces from being hit by bullets made them unrecognizable; they could only continue to wait.

A few minutes later, a dozen police cars arrived, along with a large number of Bianchi family vehicles, which made people realize that a big shot had died in the car.

The crowd dispersed immediately. Instead of starting an investigation as people expected, the police cordoned off the area, seemingly doing peripheral work.

Several core members of the Bianchi family came to the car, opened the door, and dragged the body out of the back seat.

One of the middle-aged men looked extremely unwell; his face was distorted, but one could still vaguely discern his origins.

“It’s Leon.” He turned and left. The familiar face, pierced by bullets and somewhat shattered, made him feel nauseous at that moment. He didn’t want to see that face.

Everyone else confirmed the deceased's identity, and at that moment, Leonardo's mistress was also dragged out of the house by her arm.

"Let me go, let me go..." she struggled, but the person next to her had such a strong grip that it felt like a vise, almost breaking her wrist!

She was certain that her wrist hadn't been pinched too hard!
The middle-aged man walked over and slapped her across the face. Her face quickly turned red and swelled up, plunging her into a state of terror.

The middle-aged man grabbed her hair and dragged her to Leonardo's corpse. He pushed her forward, almost causing the girl to fall on Leonardo's body!

She screamed and quickly dodged, the effects of her aerobics training seeming to have some effect, as she staggered to avoid colliding with Leonardo.

"Tell me what you saw. I want everything, including the details!"

The girl quickly recounted everything she had seen, and the middle-aged man didn't continue to harass her, telling her to "get out of my sight."

He then turned to the people around him and asked, "Who do you think did it?"

The people around him were also core members of the Bianchi family. Leonardo's mistress called the police station and said that after Leonardo's accident, the police station immediately called the Bianchi family.

So they arrived here together.

Leonardo, as the head of one of the four major families, enjoys a very high reputation and status on Sumuli Island.

People like them are almost impossible to assassinate because no one can afford the consequences of assassinating them, whether successful or not.

Of course, some assassins might do that, but even if they succeeded, it wouldn't be a crippling blow to the Anqi family; it would just mean the death of a leader.

Their family prestige may decline in the short term, but their true strength will not be affected in any way, so they are safe on the island.

The people behind the middle-aged man couldn't imagine who would make a move against Leonardo at this time, and do it so decisively!

"It's unlikely to be someone from another family; maybe it's someone from the government?" someone suggested uncertainly.

The middle-aged man neither agreed nor disagreed. He walked to Leonardo's body, looking at the distorted face still bearing traces of fear, his eyes filled with a complex light.

Leonardo DiCaprio is dead, assassinated, without any prior preparation, he didn't even leave a will!
This means that many of his children had a chance to compete for the position of family head, and perhaps the enemy saw this as an opportunity, which is why they killed him so recklessly.

This will plunge the entire Bianchi family into an internal power struggle.

He shook his head and turned to the people beside him, "Whoever did it, we're in trouble!"

News of Leonardo's assassination quickly spread throughout Sumuli, and even the prime minister called the Bianchi family to inquire about the specifics of the incident.

Three of the other four major families also contacted the Bianchi family. This event was like a bomb going off for the ruling class of Sumuli Island!

It's not just about Leonardo DiCaprio's assassination; it's about the existing order being challenged, which could trigger a series of avalanche-like events!
It's like... people always say that the most powerful people are invincible, and everyone believes that these people cannot be defeated by human power.

So even if they are exploited and oppressed, they will only run away, not resist or fight back.

But if one day, someone suddenly punches those "invincible people," not only making their noses bleed but also knocking them down, then things will get bad.

The "invincible" have become the ones who can be defeated. Will those who have been exploited and oppressed for so long, those who are now rioting, continue to silently endure all of this?

This is all so unfair?
It's like Pandora's box has been opened, releasing the most terrifying demon, a demon capable of destroying the existing order on Sumuli Island!
The ruling class on the island, including the four major families, quickly reached a consensus: to find the person who assassinated Leonardo and make them pay the price, while also preparing to suppress the riot!
In the most cruel and bloody way, awaken people's memories of the past that have been forgotten!
(End of this chapter)