Shadow Empire

Chapter 824 Termination and Cooperation

Matthew's heart was pounding.

This is caused by the adrenaline starting to be secreted.

When people are in crisis, they will always trigger some small switches in their bodies, allowing them to use their fragile bodies to fight against disasters that ordinary people cannot resist!

He knew that these people were from the Lance family!

In fact, he had already thought of such a day, but he didn't expect that these people... were so impatient.

He thought they might get into trouble in prison, and he even fantasized that if someone from the Lance family were to attack them in prison, they might still have a chance to survive.

But now he understood that there had been no such possibility from the beginning.

The surrounding cars stopped, and people with weapons got out of the cars and surrounded the escort vehicle.

The driver of the escort vehicle and the bailiff in charge of road safety had disappeared somewhere completely, leaving behind only an empty cab.

Some people woke up again, affected by the sound of car doors opening and closing outside. They woke up from their drowsy sleep and looked around in confusion.

With a click, the door of the escort vehicle opened.

This door separates freedom from imprisonment. Obviously, as long as you leave here, you will be free, but no one moves at this moment.

They were all sitting or standing far away.

A more luxurious car slowly drove over from a distance and stopped not far from the escort vehicle. The window slowly rolled down, revealing Lance's upper body.

He saw Matthew inside through the steel-reinforced car window, and Matthew saw him too.

After the two looked at each other for a moment, Matthew slowly walked out of the escort vehicle. His steps were unsteady, and the shackles caused him a lot of trouble during his movement, making him look very embarrassed.

He jumped off the car holding the handrail, put his feet firmly on the ground, sank his bent body slightly, and stood up again.

He looked at Lance in the car window and asked, "Where's my oldest son?"

Lance looked at him with a very regretful expression, "He resisted too fiercely. You know, we have no choice."

This sentence seems to say nothing, but it also seems to say everything.

In fact, although Matthew was mentally prepared, he still found it a little bit hard to bear when he heard the answer.

He had the best relationship with his eldest son. Although he held a low position and was poor at that time, he had plenty of time to accompany the child as he grew up.

They played baseball together outside their home, went to baseball games together, and sang team songs together when their team won.

They did a lot of things together, sports, fishing, reading...

He made up for what he lacked in his childhood through his own actions on his eldest son. It was not just his child, but also a compensation for his childhood self!
He had placed too much affection on this child, but now, he was dead.

Matthew's eyes were red with sadness. He didn't want to show his vulnerable side at first, but soon he couldn't help but cover his face and sob.

"Is he... in pain?" He looked at Lance with hope. Even if his child died, he hoped that he died cleanly instead of suffering.

In fact, he no longer has many illusions about being able to survive, so he hopes to know these things before he dies, which will make him less confused on the road to hell.

Lance nodded. "Yeah, neat and tidy. You know, my boys are good at this."

He raised his chin slightly and touched his neck. "He was stabbed several times here, and then stabbed in the heart several times. He didn't even have time to feel the pain."

Matthew fell to the ground against the escort vehicle, almost crying with his head in his hands.

The atmosphere at the scene was really bad. The people in the escort vehicle did not get off. They had not given up their fantasies.

Matthew cried for a while and wiped his tears, revealing his red and swollen eyes, "My wife and two other children..."

Lance looked at him for a moment before saying, "They will survive."

Matthew breathed a sigh of relief, "You are a man who keeps his promises."

Lance smiled, "This is a deal. You pay with your life, and I pay with the safety of your family."

"As long as they don't think about dealing with me, they can live safely."

He paused and said, "Do you have anything else you want to ask?"

Matthew thought for a moment, "Can I have a cigarette?"

Lance nodded, and a young man next to him handed the weapon to his companion, then came to Matthew with a cigarette and a lighter.

He gave Matthew a cigarette. Matthew lit it and took a deep breath. This was the last cigarette he would smoke in his life!

He said thank you and then indulged in the satisfaction brought by the cigarette.

When he had almost finished smoking his cigarette, he stood up holding onto the car door, "Can I... I'm not saying how great I am, but everything happened because of me, can I take full responsibility?"

There was some hope in his eyes. If he was the only one to die, it would be considered as an explanation to his subordinates.

But Lance shook his head, and with a disappointed look in his eyes he said, "Time is up."

The car window was rolled up, and the car slowly turned around and left. When Lance's car was about twenty meters away from here, fierce gunshots resounded throughout the wilderness.

Matthew lay down on the ground immediately. He looked at the cigarette butt right in front of him, with the last puff left.

He was shot at least twenty or thirty times, probably.

He didn't think about saving himself. Instead, he used all his strength to pick up the cigarette, put it in his mouth, squinted his eyes slightly, and took another puff.

There will be no future.

The gunfire had not yet ended, and the young men were shooting wildly at the people in the carriage with their guns. The bullets attacked the escort vehicle like a rainstorm.

After about twenty seconds, the gunfire stopped.

The body of the car was full of holes, and no one could stand inside.

The two young men replaced the magazines, came to the car, and shot the bodies lying on the ground again.

Then the group left quickly in a car, leaving only Matthew outside, the body inside, and a car that could be scrapped.

Matthew's death did not alarm any ordinary people, but some people at a higher level who should know about it knew about it.

What a disgrace for the Lieutenant Governor!

No matter what Lance's background was, in Indenno State, he compromised with a gang leader, and even if he had a thousand reasons, people would look down on him.

The chief of the state police was soon implicated, and the judge approved his arrest. He was then charged with malfeasance, which was actually a very minor crime, and the judge sentenced him to twelve months, or one year. At the same time, he only had to serve six months before he could apply for parole, so he didn't actually serve that long.

Does this seem to be the end of the matter?
No, in fact every participant knows that the game has just begun!
Lance visited Mayor Wade, and this was the first time Mayor Wade had close contact with Lance.

He sincerely admired Lance's handsomeness and youth.

"Has anyone ever told you that you could be a movie star?"

At first, they wouldn't talk about such in-depth topics. Lance sat opposite Mayor Wade in his mayor's office.

He crossed his legs, put his hands on the armrests naturally, and nodded slightly. "When I was filming "The Raid on Golden Harbor", I was often in Valley City. Many scouts contacted me and wanted me to film a movie."

“This incident gave me a great sense of security.”

Mayor Wade felt that his thinking could not keep up with Lance's words. Is there any direct relationship between being handsome and feeling safe?
But since he was the one who started the topic, he could only look at Lance with curiosity, as if asking "What the hell do you mean?"

Lance smiled and explained, "If one day I can't run the business anymore, at least I can still make movies and be a movie star."

Mayor Wade was stunned for a moment, then laughed twice, "It's not enough to make a movie, but your current business won't make as much money."

Lance just smiled back and didn't respond to the question.

The two chatted for a while after Mayor Wade left. The things Lance did, including the demise of the five major families, were still very shocking to Mayor Wade, who was born and raised in Jingang City.

The five major families, which are mutually opposed yet supportive, are not so easy to collapse.

If they would fall so easily, the five major families would not have existed when Mayor Wade was still there.

However, he did not think that the demise of the five major families was entirely due to Lance. There were many coincidences involved, and it was more like a masterpiece of God.

If Christopher hadn't killed Paul, if the Cassia family hadn't been turned against, if the Kodak family hadn't wanted to stay out of it, if...

If they could put their greed aside and think more about the bad developments, perhaps this wouldn't happen.

Lance played a role in fueling the situation.

After chatting about some news about their hometown, the atmosphere became much more heated. Mayor Wade opened the cigarette box and pushed it towards Lance.

Lance picked up one and the two of them started smoking.

"What are your plans next?" Mayor Wade asked the question proactively.

Lance didn't hide anything, "Get on with business."

"Mayor Wade, in some ways, I am more like a businessman."

"I will continue to smuggle alcohol here. The overall consumption capacity of Indeno State is not worse than that of Likalai State. There is a strong market here. I believe my alcohol will become a best-selling product here."

Facing a mayor and government officials, Lance spoke bluntly about the illegal activity of smuggling liquor.

Mayor Wade did not show any dissatisfaction or disgust. When a person's status reaches a certain level, the boundary between crime and non-crime has long been blurred by power and cannot be distinguished!

Just like the chief of the state police, like Sheriff Matthew, if ordinary people did the things they did, they would be electrocuted into charcoal in the electric chair.

But they are a privileged class and possess some authority granted by their masters, so the laws, common sense, and rules that apply to ordinary people do not apply to them.

The reason they ended up like this is not because they broke the law, but simply because they lost the last bad fight, that's all!

The law cannot judge power.

Mayor Wade knew this very well, so he didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, he was willing to talk about these things with Lance.

He nodded. "That's a good idea, but it also means that you will be in frequent conflict with the local gangs."

Lance looked nonchalant, "That's normal, isn't it?"

"There is business competition in business, and I've also heard a saying -"

“Shopping malls are like battlefields!”

"Smuggling business is also business. I expect some friction and even 'war'."

Mayor Wade nodded and said, "We can continue to strengthen our cooperation in this regard."

"The deputy governor has been severely humiliated this time. He will definitely hate you very much. The governor doesn't have a very good impression of you either, so you will encounter a lot of trouble in sales."

"I can help you solve some of your problems, and I hope you can help me solve some of my problems!"

Lance didn't agree immediately, "What trouble do you have that you need me to solve?"

Mayor Wade put it very bluntly, "I'm short of money."

"Lack of money?" Lance was a little unconvinced. "Everyone says that the Wade family has accumulated a lot of wealth over the generations. I never thought you would be short of money. This sounds like a joke."

Mayor Wade shook his head, his expression serious. "If I don't consider running for governor, my money is enough for me and my family."

"Although you are exaggerating a bit, it is also a fact."

"But if I choose to run for governor, I will have a huge funding gap. I'm an outsider, Lance!"

"If I want to gain a firm foothold here, I don't just have to be better than others. I also have to offer more practical benefits. Only in this way can I convince them to stand on my side."

"Spending money here is like flowing water. Sometimes I feel like I am a... ATM machine!"

"They can all come to me to get their money, and spend it so quickly!"

Mayor Wade feels deeply about this.

He never thought that the money would not last long.

But on the other hand, this also made him see the greatness of money. Now the number of people supporting him is almost the same as that supporting the lieutenant governor. As long as he continues to increase financial investment and bribes, everyone from voters to party representatives will become his close friends.

"We can do this business together, the wine business!"

"In my city, I can guarantee that in the city where I have influence, the police will never make things difficult for you."

"It can also ensure that when you are fighting with those gangs, the police will always show up at the end!"

It was a very sincere cooperation proposal. Lance thought about it for a while and agreed. "I have no reason to refuse."

He stood up, stretched out his hand, and shook hands with Mayor Wade. "It's a pleasure to work with you."

"Happy cooperation!"

(End of this chapter)