Shadow Empire

Chapter 614 Everyone is essentially the same

Senior Agent Derwent slowly raised his hands, and then he felt a hand searching his body, and soon found his pistol and the dagger on his waist.

After all these things were searched, a voice came from behind, "You can put your hands down."

And the person behind him pushed him, and he appeared outside the living room. He looked at his wife sitting on the sofa in the living room and the young man who was chatting with him, and a person's information suddenly appeared in his mind.

Lance White.

Lance turned around and saw him, and his wife also turned around and saw him. He didn't see too much panic on his wife's face, and there was even a hint of smile on her face.

They both stood up at the same time. She took the initiative to walk to De Winter and said with a smile, "You never told me that you have such an interesting colleague!"

Devin was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lance who was facing him and realized that he had used a special identity to enter the room.

He felt fortunate that Lance did not do anything to his wife.

He forced a smile, "Yeah, I don't really want to talk about work."

His wife didn't take it too seriously. She had never been interested in matters at the Hazardous Materials Administration, and it wasn't something about his work that made her smile now.

But the handsome young man and what he said.

Who can resist a handsome and talkative young man?

"I'll go get some snacks, you guys sit and talk."

It was after dinner when Lance came. De Winter often came back after dinner and he would eat outside.

It’s not that he doesn’t like the food at home, but seven or eight o’clock is when the bar opens and is the busiest. If they have any arrest operations or need to investigate some clues, they are often arranged at this time.

No one would be stupid enough to look for a bar on the street at eight o'clock in the morning. There would be no one in the bar at that time and it would be impossible to find it.

Only at this time, when they began to "swallow" the flow of people, could they discover some clues.

So often, these agents would come back after dinner time, and their families had become accustomed to them not being at the dinner table.

"Let's talk.", Lance said, "Go to your study."

De Winter couldn't refuse, so he said hello to his wife and went to the study.

When designing the houses in this type of middle-class community, a place for the male owner to work at home is reserved.

You can call it a study or a "home office", call it whatever you want, but it is the male owner's secret space.

Lance was accompanied by two other people who entered the study along with Devin, and they stood in the corner while Lance sat in the guest seat.

He motioned for de Winter to sit down, and the latter obeyed.

"Someone said you were going to cause trouble for me." Lance shook out his collar and opened his clothes to make sure he looked decent.

He is more like a gentleman than a villain.

People are visual animals. If it were someone else, Lance might not even be able to enter the room, but when he stood at the door and showed his police badge.

The righteous light emanating from the police badge shone on his handsome face, and the hostess opened the door without any precautions.

He interpreted those who looked more like bodyguards as his "subordinates".

The woman didn't quite understand the systems and hierarchies within the Hazardous Materials Administration, and she wasn't interested in those things. As long as she didn't think Lance was a bad person, any explanation from Lance was reasonable.

She accepted that view, even now.

After hearing what Lance said, Devin felt a chill all over his body!

He had just told Director Dale about this matter this morning, and now Lance had come to his house. It was impossible not to let his imagination run wild.

He licked his lips and said, "I..." He wanted to say that he hadn't thought about it that way.

But then he realized that since Lance was here, there must be evidence, or he must have full confidence that this thing existed.

Lying, quibbling, and denying are meaningless.

He had studied Lance, just like many of Lance's enemies or partners, but he had not studied him as deeply as they had, but he knew one thing.

That is the evidence, which is not as important to this person as one might imagine.

He is like a gentleman at times, but at times, he is worse than an asshole.

The thoughts in my mind were spinning like crazy like lightning. My brain cells were activated by waves of bioelectricity and began to exchange information and think.

The human brain is an amazing organ that processes all information in ways that are beyond our comprehension.

Devin gave a bitter smile. He didn't even know who betrayed him!

"Sorry..." He finally said this.

Lance laughed, "Don't be sorry. At that moment, you were the good guy and I was the bad guy in your eyes. I don't think it was wrong for you to arrest me."

"You're just doing your job!"

Unexpectedly, Lance was so understanding. De Winter's mood also became much calmer. He pursed his lips and said, "Thank you."

It is indeed not an easy thing to say thank you to the leader of a criminal group who was originally regarded as a target by him.

Lance nodded, "How do you feel about your job?"

The question was so abrupt that De Winter didn't know how to answer it for a moment.

Lance was very patient and had been waiting for him. After several minutes, he said, "My job... is to eliminate..." He looked up at Lance and felt a little nervous, "...evil."

He finally spoke his mind, and to his surprise, Lance nodded in agreement with him again. "Yes, eliminate evil, eliminate crime, and eliminate criminals."

"You are able to perform your job well and you are a conscientious person."

"But, De Winter, can I call you that?"

De Winter nodded repeatedly, "Of course, no problem."

"De Winter, what is sinful and what is not sinful, how do you understand it?"

Lance's question was quite profound, which made him think, but thinking could not give him an immediate answer, and Lance was still waiting for him.

He hesitated for a moment and then said, "Law is the criterion for defining sin."

Lance didn't agree with him this time. "That's a problem, Derwent."

“Is drinking alcohol a crime?”

De Winter subconsciously wanted to answer "yes", but before he could answer, Lance continued, "Before the prohibition, the federal people had a two hundred years of drinking history. Even before the first generation of immigrants came to this continent, the local indigenous people had a tradition of brewing wine."

"Alcoholic beverages bring courage to people and give them the power to conquer nature. It is not evil. At least drinking alcohol should not be a sin."

"But why do we now consider drinking alcohol a crime when only a few years ago people could drink openly but now they can't? Why?"

Lance tapped his fingers on the table twice. "Because of legislation."

"Congress passed legislation to prohibit alcohol, believing that drinking would delay production. I don't know how they came to this conclusion, but everything related to alcohol went from legal to illegal because of legislation."

“Are laws that are implemented through legislation necessarily correct?”

Derwent fell into deep thought. Lance shook his head. "Some local laws tell you that you are not allowed to pee standing up after 8 o'clock in the evening. Do you think this law is correct?"

"Do you think that people who pee standing up after 8pm are necessarily evil criminals?"

"Also, in some places, the law prohibits singing while bathing. So does that mean people who sing while bathing are criminals?"

“Who did they hurt, or whose property did they steal?”

"No, they didn't."

"The law is a yardstick used by Congress and capitalists to constrain the behavior of the people. It cannot explain what is justice and what is evil." "If one day, Prohibition is lifted again, and some people even admit that Prohibition was a wrong law, then how would you view what you did during Prohibition?"

"Let the factories that produce alcohol go bankrupt, let the workers lose their livelihood, let those who just want to have a drink be imprisoned..."

Lance shook his head. "Now, tell me, what is wrong with selling alcohol and drinking alcohol?"

There was a knock on the door, Lance said "Come in", and De Winter's wife came in with a plate.

"I…heated up some cookies, and some freshly brewed coffee."

Lance picked up a piece with a smile and took a bite. It was rich in milk flavor and very delicious.

"It's delicious. You are really clever, ma'am."

"Can I take some with me when I go?"

“My family will probably like it.”

De Winter's wife smiled so hard that she couldn't stop. "Of course, of course, it's really great that you like them. I'll bake some more for you right away, and you can chat for a while!"

She said this and left happily. The door was closed again and Lance signaled that Devonte could have a taste as well.

As they ate, Lance waited for his answer.

While eating cookies and thinking about Lance's question, his mind was a little stuck because he really couldn't answer this question.

After waiting for two or three minutes and eating two cookies, Lance still couldn't answer the question. He clapped his hands and said, "You can't answer this question, not because you don't know the answer, but because once you answer it, you will question whether everything you do is right."

“It’s actually not that difficult.”

"None of us have committed a crime, we just don't want to follow the ideas of some people in Congress who are manipulating our lives and turning them into laws to prevent us from resisting."

"This is a crime, De Winter, we are not the criminals, they are!"

Lance said these words easily, but to him, it was like a heavy punch to the cheek, making him dizzy.

Lance picked up the coffee and poured himself some. "You don't know, I went to Golden State some time ago. Some people know that I actually have someone in Congress. You can think of me as a superior."

"I've attended quite a few parties, those of big shots, and they also drink, drinking in groups."

"The people who enacted this law took the lead in trampling on the law, so it has never been a law that explains right and wrong. It is just a whip to whip ordinary people who are unwilling to obey."

"And you are the one holding the whip, using that whip to whip those who are unwilling to be manipulated."

"De Winter, life is hard enough for people. It's rare that something can help them alleviate some of their suffering. But you consider this a crime and deprive them of the opportunity."

"To the people, you are the criminal, and your actions are the crime."

Lance's non-intense and non-forceful conversation made Devin begin to feel confused, because he suddenly felt that what Lance said seemed to make some sense.

He shook his head, trying to shake the confusion out of his mind.

But the more you think about this thing, the harder it is to forget, "I don't know."

His expression told Lance that this man was struggling and confused inside, and he began to question himself, which was a good thing.

Lance pulled out a cigarette, "Want one?"

He nodded hesitantly, and they each lit up their cigarettes. Lance crossed his legs and looked at him. "From a more basic perspective, you are the executioner who destroyed their happiness."

"Prohibition not only failed to solve the drinking problem, but actually exacerbated it."

"I don't want to discuss the question of who is right between the people and the minority, which is too complicated. I just want to tell you that after discarding these factors, there is actually no right or wrong between us, you and me."

"We are all doing things that are good for ourselves, so don't deceive yourself about how noble we are and how despicable we are."

"I tell you so much because I think you have a happy family and a wife who loves you, and I don't want to ruin it all."

"I can tell you that it was Dell who called me and told me that you had some ideas..."

Devin's eyes widened in an instant, and he looked at Lance in disbelief, as if he was looking at a monster!

Lance seemed relaxed, "You think it's impossible?"

He shook his head. "Nothing is impossible. Like I said, everything we do is for our own benefit."

"When his and my interests and goals are the same, we are 'one of us', and you are not one of them."

De Winter's expression became complicated. "You told me this. Does it mean that I have no choice?"

He knew that when he knew this huge secret, he would either have to join Lance or be killed by Lance. He suddenly felt a little regretful. Why bother to rush into this matter when he knew it was not easy to handle?

He thought about it seriously and decided that Ponda was to blame.

Ponda has been provoking Lance but has not received any "punishment", which makes him feel that this matter is nothing big.

At the same time, he also had another idea, "Ponda... is he one of yours?"

Lance nodded, "Yes."

Devin suddenly laughed, as if he couldn't help laughing, he laughed helplessly and at a loss, his body trembling with laughter.

He just couldn't understand why the director of the Hazardous Materials Administration and the "Anti-Lance Vanguard" were both Lance's men. Was there anything more exaggerated than this?

Now even if Lance said that the entire Hazardous Materials Administration was his, Devin would not think it was an exaggeration.

After laughing for a while, his laughter stopped.

Lance looked at him, and when he calmed down completely, he said, "The entire police force is my people. If nothing unexpected happens, Councilman Williams will become the new mayor."

"All the gangs in the city are under my control. I also control the docks and casinos. This city can leave anyone behind."

“But it can’t leave me.”

"De Winter..." Lance raised his left palm with the palm slightly upward, "Do something for me...", and then raised his right palm again, "Or become an accident."

"You have to make a choice."

Ten minutes later, Lance and his men emerged from Derwent's study just as his wife was taking some cookies out of the oven.

The rich fragrance fills the whole room!
Lance saw the meal packages in the trash can. Life was very convenient for people in the Federation.

Supermarkets sell ready-made "cookie ingredients", which are dough with butter, cream, sugar and various seasonings added.

The prices of these doughs vary depending on their intended use.

After buying them, just put them on a countertop, flatten them with a rolling pin, and then use your favorite mold to press them into the shape of the cookies.

Repeat this step until all the dough is used up, then put the pressed cookies into a baking tray and bake for fifteen to twenty-five minutes according to the instructions on the instructions, and the cookies are ready.

It does not require any technical operation from the housewife, and its uniform taste and basically consistent effects make it the choice of every federal housewife.

They never think that this is unhealthy, but are only grateful to the companies for solving many of their problems so that their cooking skills can always be maintained stably.

"Are you done talking?" The woman placed the cookies on a hollow rack specially used for cooling, then took off her heat-insulating gloves and went to get a brown paper bag.

"It will fit in soon, just wait a moment."

Lance said, "No hurry," and walked over to the side and chatted with Devin for a while.

Soon, the woman came with two brown paper bags in her hands, "I hope you and your family like them."

Lance finished his conversation with Derwent and nodded with a smile, "Thank you for the gift, they will definitely like it very much."

"I'm done talking to De Winter. I have to go back. Thank you for your hospitality, ma'am."

The woman smiled and nodded. The couple sent Lance to the door and watched him leave before returning home.

(End of this chapter)