Shadow Empire

Chapter 512 A surprise

In the office, Lance was handling a call from Ponda.

He did feel a little surprised by the information provided by Ponda, but it was not unreasonable.

What he was curious about now was Ponda's attitude. He had been trying to win over Ponda, but Ponda's performance was not so good. He was always out of Lance's control, and he didn't want to be controlled by Lance.

The most important thing in making friends is to be able to open your heart.

Lance turned and looked at the blue sky outside the window. He lit a cigarette and asked, "Do you just want to inform me of the news, or do you want me to help you?"

Ponda did not answer him immediately. He was not a fool. He was able to be selected and stand out from the elite from various law enforcement departments. His IQ was at least within the normal range.

He knew what Lance meant if he said it, he just wanted to tell Lance the news.

Then there is a high possibility that they will come up empty-handed that night, and Weber will be furious and attribute this terrible result to someone leaking the information.

Ponda has handled many cases related to smuggled liquor and moonshine, in those underground brewing workshops, including those in private homes.

The moment you walk in, you can smell the very special aroma of fermented crops.

Very fragrant and rich.

Some people will close their doors and windows to avoid being discovered, but the more they do this, the more the fermented aroma will slowly spread around.

Some people simply open the doors and windows to keep the brewing place in a ventilated environment. Although this is effective, more people can smell the odor.

Even if Lance's men evacuated and moved away all possible evidence and traces, they still knew that someone seemed to have been brewing wine there for at least the past week.

So the first answer is not a good option.

The basis of Weber's settlement with him (Ponda) was that Weber would be able to win this big case, thereby allowing his uncle to operate in the State Prohibition Committee and giving Weber the opportunity to become director.

But if he can't get this big case, he won't be qualified to compete with Director Dale, and the settlement between him and Ponda will be invalidated.

Well, it seems that there is only one correct answer, after eliminating one wrong answer.

This is what Lance wanted, he knew.

Once he made such a request, it was equivalent to leaving a handle in Lance's hand. This handle did not require any paper documents, recordings or photos, it only required him to say it.

More than ten seconds passed quickly, and Ponda thought of many things in his mind, including what happened during this period, what happened to Lisa, and Weber's difficulties and reconciliation with him.

He had never had such a strong desire to obtain a higher status and more power!
"help me."

"How can I help you?" Lance continued to ask.

Ponda's rough voice came from the receiver, "Help me get rid of Weber."

Before he said this, this sentence seemed to have a special magic that made it difficult for Ponda to say it.

In fact, he didn't know that what prevented him from saying it was his bottom line. His bottom line was preventing him from doing so, but it was obvious that his bottom line was not hard, at least not as hard as his desire.

The bottom line was easily exposed, and after breaking through the bottom line, everything seemed to become easy.

The bottom line is like that layer of membrane. It is extremely difficult before it is punctured, but after it is punctured, everything becomes moist.

"After Weber's death, I will be the most qualified agent to be promoted. When the time comes, I will catch some suspects and send them to prison. No one will be able to find fault with my promotion to the next level, and this matter will end there."

"I've been thinking about this for the past few days, Lance, you're right, we are friends."

"Friends should help each other!"

Lance couldn't help laughing after hearing this. "I'm glad you figured this out, Ponda. Not only is there no hatred or hostility between us, but we should be the most complementary parties!"

"Don't rush too far forward at night to avoid accidental injuries."

After hanging up the phone, Pang Da calmed down and became sober. He turned his head and looked at the blue sky outside the window. Countless images flashed through his mind and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

An afternoon is enough time for Lance to prepare for various situations.

The abandoned farm was actually on the verge of being abandoned. Lance’s own winery had been moved to a valley farther away, which was more hidden than the farm.

And the strong winds in the valley help to blow away the smells emitted during fermentation and distillation, and make it easier to hide.

Many tools on the farm are not convenient to dismantle and relocate, so they are still in temporary use. If they are really abandoned, it will not affect subsequent production and sales.

In particular, Lawrence Farm has also begun to provide wine for Lans' wine system. He now has sufficient supply and does not have to worry about not having enough wine if one farm's winery is missing.

The two large groups of the entire Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau were preparing for the raid at night, but they didn't know who the target of the mission was or where the location would be.

Weber had secretly been there once. He saw traces of a truck passing by on the ground and a faint aroma of fermentation and distillation in the air.

This is indeed a brewery.

Weber was excited all afternoon. He had already talked to his uncle on the phone to confirm the news and the existence of the winery. They talked about the issue of Director Dale.

His uncle told him that Dell was now in Congress and his influence in New Gold had been weakened to the extreme.

He did some good things, but he also did a lot of stupid things, and the mayor's affairs also implicated him.

For the gentlemen in Congress, there is never a shortage of tools to use.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of young people graduate from elite alliance universities. Regardless of their family background, connections, or personal abilities, they are all outstanding and are waiting to be called. The higher the level, the less shortage of talent there is.

There is nothing irreplaceable about Dell. His relationship with the mayor is too close. Even if they are not as closely connected as they were in the past, his value in the eyes of the congressmen is basically zero.

During his time in Golden Harbor City, Senator Cleveland did not meet with the mayor, let alone make a phone call, while his status in Congress was constantly improving.

Even if some people have some connection with Director Dell, they will not offend Senator Cleveland for a toolbox full of tools.

There is no reason or logic in politics, especially when it comes to taking sides.

I don't like this person, but you talked to him, so I don't like you either!
There's no need to reason, and I don't care why you talked to him, but you talked to him, that's all!

So now Director Dale is in a bit of an awkward position, as someone is already eyeing the position right under his butt.

If Weber could solve a big case that could alert the Congressional Prohibition Committee, then Weber's uncle could help him work it out and see if he could move to the next level.

Chief Dale had made enough mistakes before, and those mistakes were harmless when no one gave him trouble.

But when someone wants to make trouble for him, those mistakes are fatal!

This news was very exciting for Weber, and he became more and more looking forward to the action in the evening.

Six o'clock was supposed to be the time to get off work, but at Weber's request, the two large groups stayed.

He ordered some food for everyone, and a large number of fast food boxes were sent to the Hazardous Materials Management Bureau. The money must have been paid from the operation funds, not his personal expenses.

The food was of a good standard, custom made for one dollar per person, with bread, vegetable salad, half a terribly sour fruit, some beef cubes and chips.

This might be the first time that everyone had dinner in advance with other colleagues in the office. Panda sat in his seat, eating the food absent-mindedly.

Everyone else thought it was delicious - the fast food restaurant owner actually knows better than the ordinary housewife how to make people give strong compliments to the food!
It doesn’t have to be healthy, but it has to be delicious!
"Do you know something?" his colleague asked. "Weber asked you to go to his office. Do you know something?"

"Can you satisfy my curiosity before we leave?" Ponda glanced at her and said, "No comment!"

"Don't make me beg you!", his deskmate asked again in a slightly naughty tone.

If it was anything else, Ponda would have just said it, but in this matter, he couldn't let his suspicion increase.

If he told these colleagues, some of them might betray him, or tell others without thinking it was betrayal. He leaked information about the mission, so he would not say anything.

If anything happened to Weber, the Prohibition Committee and his uncle would definitely take action against the local hazardous materials administration, and he couldn't become a victim.

He shook his head again, "No comment, you will find out soon enough."

Seeing that he really didn't want to talk, his colleagues didn't ask any more questions, and at 6:30, everyone started preparing for the task.

As the leaders of each action team entered the conference room, the atmosphere in the hall became slightly more serious.

About ten minutes later, the leaders of each group came out of the office and asked all the agents to check their weapons, prepare ammunition, and then get ready for action.

No one is allowed to make phone calls or leave people's sight. Even to go to the toilet, two people are required to go together!

At the same time, they also knew their destination, an abandoned farm in the suburbs.

The nights in mid-to-late March came as early as in autumn and winter. It was already dark before seven o'clock, and police cars drove out of the Hazardous Materials Administration without sounding the sirens.

Suddenly, all the bars in the city became frightened. Who knows if they found the location of some bar and planned to launch a surprise attack.

They do this kind of thing so often that it's hard to guard against.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that people relaxed a little when they heard that the cars had left the city.

They didn't know what was outside the city, but as long as no one was there to cause trouble for them, they would be satisfied.

At 7:25, the convoy arrived at the outskirts of the abandoned farm and brought with them two police dogs that specialized in searching for alcohol.

The two police dogs have become agitated and are now unable to make any sound because they are muzzled.

But from their constantly shaking bodies and restless expressions, it could be seen that there was something Weber wanted to find nearby.

In the darkness in the distance, some farm building areas can be vaguely seen under the moonlight, and there are two warehouses with faint lights on!
Weber considered coming during the day, but with so many of them, they would be too conspicuous and might be discovered by the people at the winery before they even got close.

These people will definitely set up some mobile outposts outside to guard against the investigation and discovery of the Hazardous Materials Administration.

Although there are many inconveniences at night, the night also provides them with protection.

The ground on the farm was not easy to walk on, and the muddy, truck-trapped roads made it even more difficult for the police to pass, so Weber asked everyone to walk.

The distance of two or three hundred meters is not far, but the key is that one foot is deep and the other is shallow. After just a few steps, you can feel that the shoes have become noticeably heavier.

It's just that Weber followed suit, and no one had anything to say.

This case is obviously very big, and the director and senior agents are taking it very seriously. Even if they have some complaints, they won't say them out loud.

The case was solved, the credit was shared equally, and everyone also received a bonus.

The closer we got to the warehouse of the abandoned farm, the stronger the aroma of fermentation and distillation in the air became. Everything was fine. The only problem was why there were no guards here?
It would be fine if there was no sentry post, but why was there no one on duty? Was it because the weather was still cold?

No matter how cold the weather was in March, it was still above zero degrees. Weber stood in the wilderness with the wind blowing, and he felt an inexplicable chill.

The weeds around him, which were half a person's height or even a person's height, kept swaying in the wind, and touching him gave him a very eerie feeling.

Because there were so many of them, he wouldn't have this feeling when he wasn't paying attention, but now he noticed it, and he always felt as if something in his heart was spying on him!
He rubbed his arms and continued forward.

Two large groups of people have surrounded the two warehouses. Ponda showed a puzzled expression on the side. He didn't know how Lance was going to deal with Weber, but he decided to follow Lance's instructions and not get too forward.

As the action team finished their action plan, several people slammed open the door of the warehouse, and then all they heard were warnings such as "Hazardous Materials Investigation Bureau" and "Put Your Hands Up".

There was no one in the warehouse, which was unexpected, but there was a lot of wine!

Weber came to a wine barrel, found a blunt object nearby, and smashed it at the barrel. After hitting it several times, a hole was made in it.

Strong wine flowed out of it, he reached out and took some and put it in his mouth, his face suddenly turned slightly red.

"whisky!"

"Take a look and see how much wine is here!"

Soon they counted out 120 wine barrels, all of which were small bartenders with a specification of 250 liters, but in reality they were slightly less and would not be full.

When the wine barrel is full, it is easy to cause the barrel itself to break. Most wine barrels will leave about three to five liters of space to ensure that it will not be broken due to collision, vibration, or breakage during transportation.

"How much is this worth?" Weber became excited after listening to the reports from these people. "What about the warehouse on the other side?"

There are about seventy or eighty barrels of whiskey in another warehouse, a total of two hundred barrels!
"More than half a million bottles of liquor!" Weber's heartbeat has begun to accelerate. A case of half a million may not be able to alarm Congress, but if some people can be caught and made to confess to more smuggled liquor and money, some historical sales can be accumulated.

Then this case of illegal brewing of alcohol, which may be worth at least millions, will definitely alarm the Congressional Prohibition Committee.

If he tries to gain judicial support and get the main culprits sentenced to death as a "negative example" to warn society, then alarming Congress is inevitable!
Weber had already seen what he wanted, and it was waving at him not far away, and he became very excited!

"Search. There's no way so much wine is unattended. See if they're in the surrounding rooms..."

Soon the surrounding warehouses and houses were searched, and although signs of life were found, no living people were found.

Weber guessed that they might have alarmed these people when they came over, causing them to escape early and fail to catch anyone. This made Weber not as excited as before.

"We found something in a house..."

Soon some account books and a locked box were brought to Weber, and he first looked through the account book.

The account book contains some shipping records, including when and how much was shipped and to whom. Some key information is coded, but it can still be seen that this is a winery with a huge throughput!
Then his eyes fell on the locked iron box. It was about one foot square and felt heavy in his hand. It must contain a lot of things.

It was locked with an ordinary lock, which was easily pried open, and then it was placed in front of Weber.

As the initiator and commander of the entire operation, this kind of thing must be given to him and he should open it first.

"I hope what's inside can give me a surprise!", he said to the people around him, then placed his hands on both sides of the lid of the iron box and began to apply force.

As it was slowly opened, Weber thought of many things.

For example, there may be some code books, some contact information, and some more important things that will help them catch the owner of the winery.

The people around came over and stared at the iron box that was opening.

When the lid was lifted up a little, Weber obviously felt some resistance. He frowned slightly, lifted it up with force, and the resistance disappeared in an instant.

Then the lid was suddenly lifted up, revealing the true appearance of the contents inside.

Waver stared at the contents with his eyes wide open, countless emotions surging in his chest, and he finally condensed it into one sentence -

"Gift crab!"

Ponda, who was standing outside the building and smoking, looked back curiously, and then a gust of wind blew him away!

(End of this chapter)