Shadow Empire

Chapter 498 I Want Power and to Be Discovered
Lance was talking to everyone about some things that needed attention when the phone suddenly rang.

The attention of everyone in the room was immediately focused on the phone.

They could sense that the atmosphere was very serious recently, and they could vaguely guess that there would be a bad phone call that would unveil the next "big era".

Is this the call?

Many people's heartbeats began to accelerate, and the phone kept ringing in the room.

After it rang several times, Lance picked up the phone, "This is Lance."

He had prepared himself for some not-so-good news, but certainly not bad news, and he had taken some precautions.

He only has so many industries under his control, and trying to deal with him by attacking his industries is not a good option, so to some extent he actually has no "fatal weakness".

This is a good thing.

He thought a bar or someone would say that they were under attack or investigation, but he didn't expect that the person who called was Ponda.

"I want to see you," he said.

After serious consideration during this period, he finally decided to fully side with Lance.

He also heard what was happening outside, and even heard some additional rumors that the Bay Area's dissatisfaction with Lance was because of Lisa.

Of course, the rumor was not spread directly like this, but he guessed that it had something to do with Lisa.

He felt that he should do something.

Lance agreed to his request and then hung up the phone, "Ponda wants to meet me, I don't know what he wants to do, you guys do it first."

Someone reminded, "Be careful!"

Lance nodded and asked people to prepare, and soon several cars left from the back alley.

More than ten minutes later, the convoy entered the dock.

The dock is now Lance's territory. Almost 70% of the workers here work for Lance, so it is very safe and reliable.

These workers actually know very well that if someone else takes over, they may not be able to be as stable and comfortable as they are now.

Apart from a small fee, Lance never charges them any extra money and also provides them with free work clothes, gloves, and labor protection items.

What they gave to Lance was actually much more than what Lance took away!

We agreed to meet at the pier for safety reasons.

In a remote corner with few people, Lance waited for Ponda.

Ponda got out of the car, he looked a little haggard.

Lisa was in a bad mood during this period, and Ponda's mood was also very bad.

On the one hand...he instinctively couldn't accept the thought that Lisa had slept with so many people, but Lisa met him after all that was over!
The most crucial point is that it was not Lisa's original intention to respond, she was forced!
After meeting him and getting married, I have been loyal to him, and I am pregnant and due to give birth in a few months.

He was feeling very conflicted right now. On the one hand, he felt...uncomfortable about what had happened to Lisa before.

After all, the secret garden that originally belonged to him alone had traces left by not only him, and he felt uncomfortable when he thought about it.

He is a little afraid to go to the Bay Area now, because he has a psychological shadow that he doesn’t know how to tell others!
He always felt that those well-dressed men he met on the street might have visited Lisa before and might have entered Lisa's secret garden!

This makes him so painful!

But he didn't want to lose Lisa, even though she had worked as a high-end call girl, and even though he might meet many of Lisa's former clients in Jingang City.

This is not her fault, nor is it his fault. It is the fault of those who once persecuted Lisa and those people in the Bay Area!
He was in great pain and thought during this period, and finally he made the decision that he would maintain the marriage and continue working on it.

At the same time he also wants more power!
When he has higher power, no one will laugh at anyone for these things, and no one will bring up these things to hurt him or Lisa.

Power is the biggest solution to his current predicament, no doubt about it.

"I'm sorry!" Ponda's words made Lance feel a little surprised.

"Excuse me?", he repeated, and handed a cigarette to Ponda.

Ponda took it and took out a lighter, lighting Lance's cigarette, and then his own.

"That incident with Lisa...has implicated you."

He looked at Lance with a sincere expression, "I heard that the Bay Area is dissatisfied with you because of that old dog Hof. He has a wide range of interpersonal relationships, and our affairs have implicated you."

Lance waved his hand, "No one would watch her fall into something like this. I don't regret it, and you don't have to apologize to me for it."

Ponda pursed his lips and said, "Has anyone ever told you that sometimes you are more of a gentleman than those gentlemen?"

He took a puff of the cigarette and exhaled slowly. The cold sea breeze blew away the smoke in an instant. For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether it was cigarette smoke or the hot air exhaled from his mouth.

"I've been thinking about this a lot, Lance."

"The best way to avoid being hurt is to hold the weapon in my own hands, rather than putting it in someone else's hands, and then ask for help when I'm hurt."

"Of course I'm not talking about this. I still want to thank you and apologize to you for this matter. I'm just talking about... the rest of my life."

"I want to be a senior agent, I want to be the director, I need help, and I can help you!"

This is a very profound understanding, and one can only have such a profound understanding after being severely hurt.

Life has always been so cruel in the way it teaches people, just like running. Without falling hard a few times, people will never learn to run correctly!
"How can I help you?"

Pangda touched his thin cheek, and his stubble pricked his hand.

His immediate boss was always looking for trouble with him, and he actually knew why - because his immediate boss had taken up his original promotion opportunity, so there was a natural incompatibility between them.

Even if Ponda did nothing and thought nothing, his boss would still suspect that this guy would have some bad ideas for him.

So Ponda directly targeted this guy.

"I want to replace him, help me!"

Lance didn't answer immediately. He took several puffs of his cigarette, and when it was finished, he nodded and said, "I will."

The two hugged each other, and Ponda quickly drove away. The work of the Hazardous Materials Administration has always been dangerous, so it is normal for some accidents to happen at work, right?

Although senior agents don't go to the front line in person most of the time, they will not let it go once they encounter a big case.

The merits you can gain from sitting in an office and commanding on the front line are completely different!
You know, every major case requires a complete report from multiple people, and it will also be reviewed by superiors. If the report states that the senior agent did not go to the front line, then he can basically only get a little bit of credit from this achievement.

Want to eat meat?
There are no doors!

After returning to the car, Lance was thinking about helping Ponda. Strictly speaking, now is not a good time because of the great external pressure.

But it’s a good time, because Ponda’s joining can stir up more waters for him!

The Kodak family’s casino cannot do without alcohol, so there must be people from the Kodak family in the Hazardous Materials Administration.

All they have to do is investigate the Kodak family's casino and the alcohol will be confiscated.

Once they leave, the drinks will be brought out again, of course this refers to the private rooms and private gambling tables.

Having the Hazardous Materials Administration closely investigate the Kodak family can play an important role and draw the attention of the Kodak family.

Then the only people Lance has to deal with are Charlie, Hunter, and those people in the Bay Area.

In an apartment in the Starlight District, Eugene came out of the bedroom. He had been hiding here all this time, and Lance's men were still outside looking for him everywhere.

Stone talked to him about it, telling him that he would be safe soon, but until then, he had to stay in hiding for a while.

They chose an apartment in the Starlight District, which was also Stone's, or Fleming's, decision.

The Kodak family has strong control over the Starlight District. At the same time, they don’t think Lance would have thought that at this time, Eugene’s family not only did not leave Jingang City, but hid in the most prosperous place.

Stone had thought about sending Eugene's family away, such as to other cities or other states, but he quickly gave up the idea.

Because the whereabouts of him, or Eugene's family, also represents the reputation of the Kodak family. If people knew that they were forced by the Lans family to send their people away, how would they view them?

At the same time, Stone believes that it won't take long for the Lance family to perish, and soon everything will be over, and the city will return to its former state.

Hiding in this apartment, Eugene was in a daze. There were no rich family entertainment activities at that time, and all he did was sleep.

Sometimes he couldn't tell the difference between day and night. Apart from reading books, newspapers and magazines, he was also sleeping.

After waking up, I continued to read books, newspapers and magazines. I read until I was groggy and fell asleep.

If he didn't look at the light outside the window, he would no longer be able to tell the difference between day and night.

"Where is my son?" He picked up the cigarettes on the table, took out one and lit it, then sat down at the table in the restaurant.

There was some food on the table, but he actually couldn't feel whether he was hungry or full. He just instinctively picked up the fork on the plate, picked up some food and put it into his mouth.

These are delivered by gang members every few days. They are all excellent ingredients, and sometimes they are already prepared.

He lacks nothing in this regard.

He ate several mouthfuls in a row when he suddenly noticed his wife standing in the corner of the kitchen. She seemed a little uneasy and did not answer his simple question.

He frowned immediately. As Shi Dong's confidant, he was definitely not a fool. He had realized that something was wrong!

He immediately rushed into another room, his son's room, and did not see his son.

Then he checked the bathroom, but the young man was nowhere to be seen.

An angry look appeared on his face. "Where did he go?"

His wife replied tremblingly, "He...he said he was bored and wanted to go out for a walk, but he didn't tell me where to go!"

"Fake!"

"Don't you know what fucking time it is?"

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

His wife lowered her head and whispered, "He won't let me..."

He wouldn't let.

Eugene himself was in a daze, let alone his son.

How could the young man stay in such an environment? He had wanted to go out for a long time, but he might have been a little worried before. However, the safety during this period made him start to ignore the danger and become more irritable.

He couldn't stand staying in this apartment all day with nowhere to go, he wanted to go out!

His father works for the famous Stone, which means he has no shortage of money or social status. He wants to return to that kind of decadent life, drinking with girls and having sex with them!
He didn't want to face his father and mother every day in this room with only newspapers, magazines and books!

Even if he just goes out to play for a short while, he will feel like he is alive again!

This is the Starlight District, he is very familiar with it, he has lived here since he was a child, he will not be in danger!

Eugene looked at his wife with cold eyes, his temples were throbbing, he had a headache and was angry!
He picked up the phone and asked his men to find his son as soon as possible. This was the only thing he could do now.

He still held on to a glimmer of hope at this moment, just... if he went out for a while, nothing unexpected should happen!
At this moment, he was drinking with a few friends in a bar in the Starlight District.

The fragrance of the girl beside him and the smell of alcohol blended together, making him addicted to it and even forgetting the danger!
"Where have you been during this time?"

"We couldn't find you!"

There were several kinds of liquor on the table in front of several people, including beer, brandy, and whiskey.

There are also some food, fruits, and some candies.

This is not the Kodak family's bar. Bars are now a gray industry and are currently managed by Stone.

Eugene is Stone's confidant and often appears in various similar industries. As Eugene's son, he often appears in these places with Eugene or other gang members or their children.

After all, he was more or less a "young master", and these gang members were very familiar with him.

If he showed up at the Kodak family bar, it wouldn't take five minutes for his dad to know he'd snuck out.

He was tired of hiding in that small apartment. This was not what he wanted. He wanted alcohol, to drink with friends, and to vent his emotions!

So he ran out secretly, and after his father fell asleep, he sneaked back after he had played enough, and no one would notice it!
He and his friends picked a safe bar, and as they sat down, he took a big sip of wine.

The moment the alcohol entered his body, he seemed to relax completely.

He hugged the girl beside him and his hands roamed all over her body.

The soft touch made his whole body almost burn!
"Something happened at home, but it's no problem, everything will be back to normal soon!"

The girl held the wine glass and fed him a sip of wine. After he finished drinking it, he took a deep breath on the girl, with an intoxicated smile on his face.

These friends didn't know what he had done wrong. Only a very few people knew about the conflict between Eugene and the Lance family, so they stopped asking.

When young people are together, they naturally spend time with alcohol, tobacco and sex. He has been severely oppressed during this period, and it is already too late.

He unzipped his pants and motioned for the girl to sit on him.

The girl refused at first, but with the blessing of one banknote after another, she didn't care about much anymore!

She was like a knight, controlling Eugene's son. Everyone drank a lot of wine, and the atmosphere naturally became very lively.

In fact, the bar owner doesn’t like this kind of thing happening in public, so the bartender asked the security guard to remind them to be more restrained.

As a result, the security guard came back soon after he left, with a surprised expression on his face, "It seems to be the person the Lance family is looking for."

"Go keep an eye on them." The bartender asked someone to take his place and went to the manager's office at the back.

"I saw Eugene's son."

The manager didn't react at first, "Who is Eugene?"

"The son of the guy the Lance family is looking for!"

The manager then realized that Alberto and Francisco had told them about the incident and sent them photos.

Lance didn't ask Alberto for any help, but Alberto still took the initiative to help in finding someone.

He was not afraid of the Kodak family, nor was he afraid of offending them.

Although he couldn't spare the time to have people search the streets for these people right now, there would be no problem in asking the bars, strip clubs and other business places under his control to keep an eye out.

Unexpectedly, I actually gained something from it.

The manager quickly picked up the phone and dialed Alberto's number.

Alberto and Francisco are now handling most of the family's affairs. The phone call was quickly connected. "Boss, the person you asked us to keep an eye on is in our bar."

Five minutes later, Lance knew about it.

Twenty minutes later, several cars pulled up outside the bar.

About half an hour later, several young people came out of the bar drunk.

If Eugene's son wasn't still "hiding", he would have planned to spend the night here!

But today he was finally satisfied. He spent all his savings that he had stored for many days in one go. Coupled with the alcohol he consumed, he felt better.

As the few people walked out, they made an appointment for the next meeting. Just as they reached the side of the road and were about to leave by car, a van stopped in front of them.

Before they could react, a few more people came from behind. They carried the young man, who could barely stand steadily, and threw him directly into the car, then got in together.

The car accelerated rapidly and disappeared into the night. The whole process took about ten seconds. By the time these people reacted, the car had disappeared!

(End of this chapter)