Shadow Empire

Chapter 533: Escape Part First
With a bang, the office door was pushed open heavily. Director Blue put down the work in his hands behind the desk, looked up at Charlie who walked in from outside.

His secretary stood by the door with a helpless and aggrieved look on his face, "I told him..."

Director Blue waved his hand before she could finish, "Bring me a cup of coffee, and close the door."

The secretary bowed slightly and closed the door. Director Blue motioned Charlie to sit down, "You should call me first and come over when I'm free."

Charlie looked at the man sitting behind the desk in front of him, the flames of anger almost burned him up!

But, it was just "almost", the flames of anger did not really do it, Charlie stood staring at him for five or six seconds, then sat down in the chair opposite Director Blue.

The two looked at each other, neither of them spoke first, neither of them avoided the other's eyes, and they looked at each other for about ten seconds. Charlie said, "You are very different now than you were before."

Chief Blue was still staring at him. "Yes, it's a big difference. I feel that too."

"You know, I used to be..." He curled his lips, "Even in our group, I was a marginal person."

He placed his hands on the table, playing with a pen in his hands, "The Imperial District Bureau is not a good place. Everyone dislikes it there."

"Chaotic and poor streets, endless troubles, and almost no benefits."

There was a flash of dislike for the Imperial District Bureau in Director Blue's eyes. He didn't hate or dislike it, he just simply disliked it.

After all, he had worked there for quite a while, and apart from not liking it, everything else was actually fine.

He looked at Charlie, "I am a marginal figure, no one cares about me, you are always in the spotlight."

"Everybody's all about you, Charlie."

When Charlie was still the director, he was the "god" of the Jingang City Police Force, and everything he said was an oracle that the police had to obey.

If anyone dares to disobey his decision, that person will face terrible "revenge".

Being excluded, marginalized, sent to guard in remote places, or even to the forest police station.

Once you are kicked out of this circle in the police force, you will be worse than an ordinary police officer and there is no better choice than to resign.

At that time, Blue was indeed just a small figure.

"Now, I'm here and sitting in this position, so you will feel that I am different from before!" He put down the gun in his hand, leaned back in the chair, and patted the armrest of the chair with one hand.

"Charlie, it's not me who has changed. I am no different from before. What makes you think I have changed is that we are in different offices and have different conversations. That's why you think I have changed. That's all!"

"You can't speak to me in a commanding tone like you did in the past. You also have to respect me and try to understand my thoughts."

"I used to be just a small character on the edge of the crowd who wanted to talk to you but had to look at your face."

"And now, if you want to see me, you have to break into my office and pretend to talk to me calmly."

“That’s the difference.”

The secretary knocked on the door and walked in with a cup of coffee. She put the coffee on the table and left.

Charlie looked at the steam rising from the coffee cup in front of him. He suddenly smiled, with a mocking smile, "I never knew you were so good at talking."

“Who did you learn this from?”

"Or is it hereditary?"

Chief Blue shook his head, "It's not important."

"You see me differently than you did in the past. Actually, I see you differently now than I did in the past."

He put his right hand back on the table and continued to play with the pen with both hands.

"When I looked at you in the past, it was like looking at a towering mountain."

"It's huge. It stretches so far that I can't see the end, and it's still spreading outwards."

"To me at that time, you were the mountain that I could only look up to forever."

"But now!" He stretched out his hand towards Charlie, "see, you are actually nothing special!"

Charlie was a little annoyed by his tone. He looked at Director Blue with an unpleasant expression, "What kind of confidence did Lance give you to have the courage to talk to me like this?"

Director Blue knew something about Lance's next move. As long as he succeeded, he didn't have to care about Charlie's attitude at all.

But people have different experiences, different feelings, and different psychological changes at different times.

He looked at Charlie with a sense of superiority and an indescribable arrogance in his eyes.

"Mr. Lance didn't give me any confidence. He just gave me a chance to have an equal conversation with you. That's it."

Charlie felt his blood pressure rising significantly. He reached out and grasped the edge of the coffee cup with his fingers, constantly adjusting and turning the rim of the coffee cup. "So, this is what you rely on?"

There were some things that Chief Blue really wanted to say. He had such a strong desire to talk that it was as if he had seen Charlie's future and knew his outcome, and he wanted to "show his divine power".

But he held back, he knew now was not the time, he just smiled and shook his head without saying anything.

His attitude made Charlie very unhappy, and he would find a way to make Chief Blue pay the price.

He would make this guy understand that even if he had Lance behind him, certain core interests of this city could not be touched by them at will.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, Charlie. What brings you here this time?" Director Blue changed the subject.

Charlie pursed his lips, picked up the coffee and took a sip, "I heard that you captured some of your old friends?"

"Old friend?"

Chief Blue asked back, then laughed softly, "Mr. Charlie, this is an internal matter of our police station, and you are not from the police station."

"You have no right to know the details of these matters, so I cannot comment."

Charlie was still a little unwilling, and with the uneasiness and fear in his heart about this matter, he asked again, "Are you sure you want to break up with me?"

Chief Blue shook his head. "This has nothing to do with you, Mr. Charlie."

"If you are interested in where they went, then you should pay more attention to our bulletin board. If there is any new information, we will post it on the bulletin board as soon as possible, and it may also be mentioned in the newspaper."

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Charlie stood up suddenly. He pointed at Director Blue, which was obviously a threatening move.

But Director Blue just looked at him calmly, without showing any panic.

“Can I understand it that way?”

"Are you threatening me?"

Charlie scoffed, "No, I didn't. I was just saying goodbye to you, Chief Blue!"

He emphasized the address of "Director Blue", but anyone could hear that he had no respect for the title at all, let alone awe.

He turned around, opened the door and walked out. Soon the secretary pushed the door open and walked in, "Director, I..."

Chief Blue shook his head and said, "Take the coffee down and pour it out. You won't have to stop Charlie next time he comes."

"You certainly can't stop it anyway."

The secretary tidied up the tea set on the table with some shame, and left quickly with the cup and tray.

Charlie still has a great influence on the Jingang Police Force. Until now, no one has taken the initiative to come and see if he, the chief, needs help.

But then again, his more than 30 years as chief has established a very special image for him in the minds of many middle and lower-level police officers.

On the contrary, Chief Blue's image was not so good in their eyes——

Some people say that he gained his current status by joining Lance, and this is seen by some police officers as a betrayal of the police system.

Once the situation stabilizes during this period, he will clean up the entire police force.

For example, those who are loyal to Charlie in their hearts, no one will be wanted anymore!
The palpable, intense uneasiness Charlie had felt since leaving Chief Blue's office began to become more palpable and intense.

It was like there was an invisible but deadly threat to him, constantly trying to break through his hard shell and touch him inside. He knew that the disappearance of these people must be related to Director Blue and Lance.

He drove directly to the local prosecutor's office, but did not find anything unusual.

He walked around the prosecutor's office on the pretext of checking archival documents, but did not find those police officers.

He also checked with the prosecutor with whom he had a good relationship, and was informed that no one had recently requested an investigation into the police force.

He then went to the Justice Bureau, where he received news that the police station had not obtained any legal document approval from the Bureau in the past few days.

In other words, the disappearance of his men is a big problem.

Where they went and how Lance and the others planned to deal with him became the things Charlie wanted to know most urgently.

He did not seek help from the bigwigs in the Bay Area. He had spent a lot of time with these bigwigs over the years and knew their styles.

Once they think Charlie is no longer valuable, they will abandon him immediately.

Charlie knew so many of their secrets and had handled so many dirty tasks for them. If they wanted to abandon Charlie, it would have to be a dead Charlie, not a living Charlie!
All this made him feel uneasy and difficult to breathe, as if he was drowning.

He slammed his foot on the brakes, and the car following him suddenly turned and crashed into a trash can on the side of the road. The driver got out of the driver's seat, yelling and cursing angrily.

He walked to Charlie's car and seemed to want to open his door and pull him out, but when he saw Charlie open the toolbox and reveal the weapons inside, he stepped back and shut his mouth.

This scene happening on the street quickly attracted a lot of onlookers. Charlie had made up his mind at this time. He suddenly changed direction and quickly chose another road. He wanted to go home.

Charlie has a villa in the Bay Area. Considering his job as police chief, he would not be able to afford a luxurious villa here even if he worked for 500 years.

But not only did he buy it, he also had five luxury cars in his garage, belonging to him and his family.

When he parked the car and walked into the living room, the maid immediately came up to him, took his hat from his hand, and helped him take off his windbreaker.

"Is the lady home?"

The maid used a duster to clean the dust off his pants and said, "Yes, Madam is resting."

Charlie strode upstairs while the maid put the hat and windbreaker into the cloakroom.

Charlie's wife is doing exercise. The higher up in the federal society, the stricter they are about managing their body shape.

Of course, it does not rule out that some people are very indulgent about their body shape, but that is only a part, and a minority at that.

Most people have a pretty standard body shape.

In addition to his wife, there was another female teacher in the exercise room. She was a little over 30 years old, but looked like she was in her twenties.

Charlie's wife is exercising herself under her guidance.

Seeing Charlie suddenly come back, his wife was a little surprised, "Why did you come back suddenly?"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't be having dinner at home tonight?"

Charlie shook his head slightly and looked at the coach, "I need to talk to my wife alone."

The female coach stopped immediately with a smile on her face, not showing any dissatisfaction with the interruption of the class.

At 20 yuan per class, which lasts 90 minutes, what she sells is not only content but also service.

"Of course, Mr. Charlie..."

The female coach left the training room and considerately closed the door.

Charlie's wife found a place to sit. "So, what happened?"

Charlie was a little hesitant, but the uneasiness in his heart urged him to make the final decision. "The situation is very bad now. I don't know how Lance plans to deal with me, but I believe that he is fully confident of his move this time."

His wife also realized the seriousness of the situation, stood up, walked over to him and grabbed his hand, "Are you in danger?"

Charlie didn't know what to say. He was silent for a while as he looked at his wife's face, which was now full of wrinkles, though she still had some of her youthful charm.

"Not only me, you will be in danger too."

"That's Lance!"

He clenched his fists. "Anyway, you must leave here immediately and activate our plan. Do you remember?"

His wife did not answer him, but asked very worriedly, "Is the situation so serious?"

Charlie was silent for a while. He didn't want to answer this question. "Anyway, take the children away first. Once you get there, immediately abandon your current identity."

"Do not communicate with anyone else. Use your new identity, including new account numbers and new checks."

"Everything is completely disconnected from the past..."

Charlie had thought before whether he would one day become a victim or a target that the Bay Area's wealthy people would want to get rid of.

He did similar things for the wealthy people in the Bay Area. Those gloves who knew too many of their secrets were no longer useful, so he eliminated them and buried them.

He was worried that he would face the same situation one day, so he used his position as police chief to forge a real identity for himself.

He and his family have some real work records, real social security bills, tax bills, and household accounts.

There is about 500,000 yuan in the account. It was not deposited all at once, but a little bit was deposited every year in the name of investment income, and it has continued to this day.

Then the family moved from Jingang City to other cities and experienced some relocations, and almost all the past clues were lost!
As long as they activate a new identity, they are brand new people!
This was the fallback Charlie left for himself, and he thought it would no longer be useful after all these years.

His wife looked reluctant, but she also knew that this was not the time to talk nonsense. "I will inform the children. When are we leaving?"

"The sooner the better."

His wife sighed and hugged Charlie, "I'll go now."

His wife did not chase him to ask anything. She knew that the most important thing to do at this time was not to make him more upset, but to make him have no worries.

Charlie finally breathed a sigh of relief after resolving a worrying situation.

He lifted his sleeve and glanced at the gold watch on his wrist, but his thoughts stopped at this moment!

The gold watch was very luxurious and not low-key at all. He suddenly remembered that the state government had been saying years ago that it would thoroughly investigate the corruption in the Jingang City police force, but there had been no follow-up.

He spent the New Year feeling a little uneasy. Now it is April, and he has not heard of any investigation team coming. Gradually, he began to think that this matter was just talk.

After all, people like Mr. Hof have a certain influence even in the state government and in Maintenon, so this matter should have been suppressed.

But at this moment he suddenly realized, could Lance have contacted the investigation team?
He quickly went to the study and called an important person in the Bay Area. After the short call, he paced back and forth in the study.

If Lance really wanted to punch him in this way, he really couldn't withstand it!
Time ticked by, and the sweat on his face and head became more and more. After waiting for about twenty or thirty minutes, the phone on the table suddenly rang shrilly.

He rushed over, grabbed the receiver and put it to his ear, "This is Charlie."

"Charlie, let me ask for you. Someone from the State Attorney's Office is indeed on a business trip, but we can't be sure whether they came to Jingang City."

"Are you in any trouble?"

Charlie was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied, “No, no, thank you, I just wanted to ask.”

"I heard they had a case on their hands, a gentleman who wanted to... you know."

The person on the other end of the phone laughed twice. "Your business is really extensive!" He paused and said, "Well, if there's nothing else to do, I'll go play basketball."

Charlie quickly stopped bothering the other party and said, "Goodbye."

"Let's play ball together sometime. See you later!"

He hung up the phone, held onto the table and walked to the chair, then sat down with weak legs. At this moment, all the strength in his body was drained away!

(End of this chapter)