Shadow Empire

Chapter 503 Operation Broken Blade
Lance is not a person who would not fight back after being beaten. Not only would he fight back, but he would fight back hard.

This wasn't Roger's first day at the casino.

Arthur found a friend to take Roger to the casino, and then he happily applied for a membership card and has been going in and out for several days in a row.

There are wins and losses, but overall the losses are greater than the wins, and the platform fees collected are also quite a lot.

Although the winnings and losses are not too big, compared to ordinary people, this is still a huge amount of money.

Plus, he seemed very generous, so he became familiar with the people at the counter in just a few days.

"They take inventory once a month, at the end of the month, around the 28th to the 30th."

"Then a sum of money will be kept and the rest will be sent to the bank for deposit."

"Normally they have about one million in cash on the counter, and the rest is in their safe. I heard that they also have gold bars and some other things that can be quickly converted into cash."

As he spoke, he used a pen to describe the details of the first floor on a piece of paper.

"The counter is on the right hand side when you enter the door. There is a separate room with no grille but glass."

"The counter is about 1.5 meters high, with only one hole about one foot long, and two doors inside."

"One is going to the hall, and the other is going somewhere I'm not sure."

"Then inside is the open casino, where there aren't a lot of people, mainly concentrated at a few gaming tables."

"As for the people in the box, I don't know because I haven't been in there yet."

Many high rollers who are familiar with each other will make an appointment to go to a private card game in a box. The casino is responsible for providing the venue, dealers, and various gambling games. They only need to bring money.

Casinos take a 2.5 percent table fee from each round of the game, and since they don't have to take any risk, the table fee may seem like a small amount.

But actually, quite a lot.

Because there are forty rounds of the game, it means that on average all the chips on the table are taken away by the casino in one round.

For those who play big here, the stakes may be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

This kind of private gambling game is by invitation only. Roger had just joined the casino and the people inside were not familiar with him, so they would not rashly invite him to join the gambling game.

It's normal that he doesn't know.

Lance looked at the rough floor plan he had drawn and placed it on the map of the Bay Area.

What can we do to make a half-white and half-black family like the Kodak family feel the pain?
Lance thought about this.

When dealing with pure gangsters, the easiest way is to kill them, let the blood flow like a river, kill them until they are scared, and when you kill everyone, everything will be over.

When it comes to dealing with the celebrities and politicians in the Bay Area, he has the account books in his hands, which are enough to make these seemingly glamorous bigwigs fall into the vortex of scandal and ruin their reputation.

But for the Kodak family, none of them are very useful.

If you kill his people, they can quickly recruit more people to work for them as long as they have money.

To prevent their scandal from being exposed?
They don't care. That's their foundation anyway. They don't care what others say, and no one would risk their lives to talk about their negative materials.

So the best way is to take their money!
They have to transfer a large amount of benefits to the upper levels every once in a while, and if they suddenly can't come up with the money, they have to find a way to make up for it.

Not only that, this will also make their superiors question their abilities.

The rulers' attention is never on the lower-level rebels who can kill the privileged class, but on the useless privileged class who are killed by the lower-level rebels!

This is the first time that Roger has joined such a "plan" and he is now completely excited.

Of course, there is a high probability that he won’t be able to use it... No, he can be used.

"They will definitely be very alert in the next two days, so don't expose yourself yet."

"Arrange two strangers to go in with you tomorrow. Will they search you?" Lance asked.

Roger nodded. "No, but we will be asked to put the dangerous items in the safe at the counter, otherwise something unpleasant might happen."

"I noticed they would look at what we were carrying, someone would help us take off our coats, and if we were carrying weapons or something, it would definitely show."

He even stood up, put one hand in his arms to pretend it was a weapon, and then turned around.

Whether it is a pistol or other weapon, it is difficult to hide it completely. It will be exposed in the arms or on the waist.

As long as you show it, the doorman will ask you to leave your weapon behind, otherwise they will not let you in for the safety of other guests.

This approach has been supported by all members. After all, they are here to kill time, not to take risks.

Sometimes casinos even require body searches, and everyone supports this.

"But I noticed that they would not check my suitcase, but would open it, just take a look, flip through it, and then close it."

He provided a very important clue. Lance pointed at him and said, "You've done a great job!"

Roger showed a humble smile on his face, "This is what I should do!"

Lance looked at Erwin, "Ask the gunsmith. Isn't he good at forging iron sheets?"

"Ask him if he can make a handy suitcase that we can use."

"Wait two days, when they relax, we'll take them down!"

The people around were getting excited. If they could make this deal, they could earn at least a million!
The next morning, Stone, who had just come out of the Kodak Club, frowned as he looked at the crowd watching on the street.

What happened yesterday made them very nervous, and they were worried whether Lance’s people would retaliate.

Judging from the results, Lance got the upper hand, but this kind of thing is not judged by the results.

It's like when you hit someone but you didn't hit him but got beaten up by him instead. You can't say that he hit you, you can only say that you were unlucky.

It is understandable if the other party asks you for compensation or wants to retaliate against you.

Today, Shi Dong took his men to move between several casinos, and at the same time, the gambling in some villas also stopped.

The gentlemen in the Bay Area could understand his worries. If Lance targeted him, it would not be good for anyone.

There were seven or eight people following him. If you looked closely, you could see obvious uneven marks on the shoulders of their windbreakers. Those were shoulder straps. They were all carrying weapons.

"What's going on?" he asked the security guard at the door.

There was a large group of people gathered on the side of the road in the distance, and he could vaguely hear someone shouting and yelling. The current situation was special, and the slightest movement would make him nervous.

The security guard didn't know this and answered casually, "Mr. Stone, two cars collided over there and they started arguing."

The security guard also imitated the two drivers in how they escalated a verbal greeting into a heated argument and verbal abuse.

"Scatter them."

The security guard was a little embarrassed, "They just called the police..."

"Call the police?" Shi Dong was stunned for a moment, but soon he stopped paying attention to this matter.

The security guard continued to nod, "Someone called the police."

Shi Dong walked towards the crowd and looked at it for a while.

Two fashionably dressed young men in the crowd stood by the car and cursed at each other, showing no manners at all.

He took a look at the two cars and saw that the collision was indeed very bad.

It is human nature to watch the excitement. Whether it was here or somewhere else, he did not leave, but waited until the police car arrived before taking his people away.

After the police arrived at the scene, they simply made a decision, assigning half the responsibility to each of them, and then drove them away.

The two seemingly unconvinced young men drove away, and the crowd watching the excitement gradually dispersed. The security guard at the door no longer wanted to watch the excitement, so he returned to his post.

"It took nine minutes from the time the police were called to the time they arrived here."

In a coffee shop not far away, Lance glanced at the watch in his hand and wrote down the time in a notebook.

He picked up the coffee and took a sip. It tasted good.

Compared to those coffees that cost one or two cents, the cheapest coffee here is ten cents, which is obviously a level higher. After all, this is the Starlight District, which is very famous throughout the Federation.

About the consumption here, about the prosperity and fashion here! "Can we complete the whole plan in nine minutes?" He put down the cup, licked his lips, and asked.

It sounded like he was asking someone else, but actually he was asking himself.

If the entire Lance family wants to let them go in and shoot without thinking, that’s no problem.

But when it comes to planning a precise robbery, they may be a little lacking.

Erwin sat opposite without saying anything. He knew that this was definitely not a question for him.

If he could answer or even handle this matter, he would not have ended up working as a dock worker.

Lance was eating some cakes while writing and drawing.

"We need bombs. If the glass is bulletproof and cannot be broken in a short time, their safe will be closed!"

……

In Valley City, the director put down the phone, thought for a while, and found a local prop provider.

As the Valley City Hall began to regard film shooting as an important direction of urban development, more and more crews flocked in from all directions, and supporting industries were also actively following up.

For example, a prop company.

These prop companies specialize in providing a variety of props for movies that require "big scenes".

From making armor and iron cars to providing blood bags that burst and even explosives, they will provide everything as long as you pay!

The director contacted the prop company that the company was working with and asked about the explosives.

Explosives are needed to shoot some films. It is very troublesome to buy explosives directly. You need to provide corresponding certificates to the Dangerous Goods Administration.

The "dangerous goods" of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Hazardous Substances include explosives, so in other words, the so-called "Bureau of Prohibition" actually has the power to regulate these companies that film explosions.

In order to facilitate filming and reduce the troubles during filming as much as possible, many prop companies will help solve these problems. They can provide corresponding "props" for production companies.

As long as they inform the prop company when using it, the use of explosives will be supervised by the prop company's safety supervisor.

Wanli Production is a large-scale company, and the new film it released this year has been highly recommended by the media and film critics. The prop company also hopes to establish a deep cooperative relationship with such a production company that is clearly ahead of other companies in development.

So after they signed an agreement, the prop company delivered the explosives to the place designated by the director.

Not long after, a young man knocked on the director's door and took away two bombs.

As for why not look for Alberto?
Lance was worried that there was a "traitor" in the Pasletto family. After all, the five major families were united before, and they might leak some information to the Kodak family, even if it was not intentional, but just inadvertently.

……

"Once we succeed in the robbery, they will soon be chasing us. We are facing a highway chase. We need a sturdy and fast car..."

……

Several fast cars were sent to the garage, and the people in charge of modification took tools and began to modify these luxury cars that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Although time is a bit tight, it has to be said that the current car structure is relatively less complicated. Within a few days, these cars will meet Lance's requirements.

The steel plates placed in the corners could provide them with the most reliable defense, and he also designed some "shooting holes".

If he didn't want to be too conspicuous, he would even consider making an armored vehicle by hand!

To him, armored vehicles did not involve any technical content; they were nothing more than a shell and a powerful engine.

Now he has the engine, all he needs is a metal shell!
The sounds of cutting and welding in the garage continued until late at night...

……

"We need to conduct several drills as soon as possible to ensure that there will be no problems with our operations..."

……

Melo found an abandoned factory near the suburbs, and then had someone make a simple layout based on the sketch drawn by Rogerv, so that it could restore the real situation to a large extent.

Lance led his men to begin the drill. He knew that behind any successful robbery there was hard work and sweat.

Those situations where robbery is successful on the first try without any calculation, planning or rehearsal can only occur in the series of morality and rule of law, not in reality.

To make the situation more realistic, Lance also shortened the time and set the time from calling the police to their arrival to seven minutes.

After all, "traffic accidents" and "armed robbery" are not cases of the same level, and the police's attitudes will also be different.

"Faster!" Lance panted slightly and asked people to push the stacks of paper and gold bricks back.

This time it took eight minutes, which should have been enough, but he needed it to be shorter and faster!
There is no essential difference between robbery and fighting. It is not instinctive. At the beginning you simply don't know how to fight to your heart's content.

Only through repeated attempts can you finally find a method of gluing that suits you, allowing you to cover every point and every detail, and release it only after everything is stretched.

They arrived outside the factory. Lance checked the time. When the second hand pointed to sixty, he pulled the car door open.

Everyone in the car got out immediately. Lance took the lead and rushed to the lobby, shooting and killing two "wooden security guards"...

With a series of actions, everyone has become familiar with what they are going to do and where they are going to stand!

In Hiram's words, he now knew what he was going to do with his eyes closed!
And this is the effect that Lance needs, so that everyone knows what they should do, instead of wandering around in confusion!
As they tossed the bags of money on board and pushed the gold bars inside and everyone climbed in, Lance pulled out the winder of his watch.

The moment the winding was pulled out, the watch stopped.

"Seven minutes!"

The faces of the young people around were full of excitement. Lance pressed the string back and said, "Take a break. We'll do it two more times. We have to stabilize it."

"I hope you know that I'm not trying to make things difficult for anyone by doing this. After all, this operation is very risky, and I must be responsible for your safety!"

Others expressed their understanding and willingness to cooperate.

In fact, Lance has some other backup plans, such as creating traffic accidents to slightly hinder the police car from arriving at the scene.

But these are just small tricks after all. If the road is blocked, they can take a detour. The most critical issue is speed!

Lance also asked several drivers to drive on actual road conditions and increase their speed as much as possible!

In the evening, a group of people sat in the yard around the stove.

Although it was still a bit cold, it was not to the point where people could not stand it.

Because of the stove, no one felt cold, and there was some food on the stove. They ate barbecue and chatted.

"Lance, let's come up with a name for this operation," someone suggested.

The others immediately agreed. Lance smiled and thought for a moment, "Let's call it... Operation Broken Blade."

On Saturday night, the Kodak family had been on guard against Lance's people coming to cause trouble for several days, but they never saw anyone from the Lance family, which gradually made them relax their vigilance a little.

Weekend nights are the busiest time for the Kodak Club, and Stone arrived here early in the morning.

He sat in the manager's office, looking down at the entire casino hall through the window. Although there were not many gambling tables and it was not as crowded as the Jingang Casino, the family attached great importance to this place.

Not only is the turnover here very high, but more importantly, the guests who gamble here are either rich or noble.

In this way they divided the guests into two groups, the poor and the rich.

Better serve the rich, expand their network of contacts, and contribute to the development of their families. It has to be said that this method has indeed brought them a lot of help.

He held the wine glass and frowned as he thought about what had happened in the past few days.

Bandy contacted Fergal of the Keane family, and Fergal agreed to act as the middleman in this matter, and arranged a meeting between Lance and Bandy to help them stop and make peace.

Bandy didn't tell Fergal the truth. As long as Lance is willing to come, it will be the day of Lance's death!
But will Lance come?
Stone didn't know. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he had to admit that Lance was definitely a powerful character.

There is a high probability that he will not come back, but who knows?

Just as he was thinking about these things, the clock pointed to eight thirty in the evening, the nightlife began, and more and more people came into the casino.

A strange-looking convoy is approaching quickly...

(End of this chapter)