Empire of Shadows

All the way, Arthur was very listless.

Actually, when Mayor Williams whipped him with the belt, it looked scary, giving people the illusion that he was really going to beat him to death, but Lance knew that it was just for show.

Taiwan Novel Network → 𝗍 𝗐 𝗄 𝖺 𝗇 . 𝖼 𝗈 𝗆

Because of Arthur's own stupidity—

Mayor Williams had told him not to run around, because things were chaotic recently, and since he had dumped Corinna, someone might be looking for trouble.

Young girls are never short of suitors, and Corinna, being in the Lance family and holding a high position, was bound to have many admirers.

Maybe some young man would get hot-headed and do something impulsive.

At best, he would get beaten up.

At worst, he might get stabbed a few times to vent his anger.

He never believed that his son was an "honest man." During their relationship, they must have had relations more than once.

The so-called breakup was just because his novelty had worn off. With the understanding that "the two of them could never get married," novelty equaled "love."

Without novelty, love couldn't last, and they had to break up.

Being attracted by personality, tempted by the flesh, and finally breaking free from temptation to reach the other shore, this is the beginning and end of a relationship.

He didn't want anything to happen to Arthur, so he kept telling him not to run around, but he still ran out while Mayor Williams and James were not at home, causing such a huge problem.

Along the way, Arthur gradually learned what had happened, so he was very listless, partly to pretend to be pitiful to avoid a beating when he got back, and partly because he really hadn't slept well these past few days.

Mayor Williams glanced at this useless son and sighed silently.

They didn't go to the scene of the incident. Those who should be arrested had been arrested, and those who should be sent to the morgue had been sent to the morgue.

They went directly to the city hall to face the terrible situation that followed.

The moment Mayor Williams entered the city hall, the fatigue and helplessness on his body disappeared the moment his foot stepped on the steps.

His eyes became sharp again, and his slightly bent spine straightened again. The twilight of old age could no longer be seen on him, only the vigor of middle age, walking with a gust of wind.

Some civil servants on the road took the initiative to give way when they heard the footsteps or saw him. The Williams family still had a high degree of authority in this city.

The moment he pushed open the door and entered his office, the first thing he saw was James sitting in his seat.

James also saw Mayor Williams, and even more so Arthur behind him. He quickly stood up, and a few smiles appeared on his haggard face. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "You're finally back!"

Mayor Williams only glanced at him, then walked straight to his seat and sat down. He glanced at some simple written documents on the desk.

He picked up the phone, pressed a speed dial button, and called his secretary, "Have Chief Blue come over."

He said, looking at James again, "Tell me what happened this afternoon, starting from when I left."

Arthur consciously stood in the corner. He didn't have the right to sit down now, at least not yet.

James told everything that happened in detail, and Mayor Williams listened very carefully until James finished.

"You did a pretty good job. You could have been more decisive."

"When facing such a sudden mass incident, the first thing you need to do is not to figure out who is right and who is wrong, and then treat them differently according to their right and wrong."

"The only thing you need to do is to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible."

James had a somewhat annoyed expression on his face, "But many people died, Father."

"Will the death of so many people affect your work and term of office?"

Mayor Williams nodded. He didn't deny it. "It definitely will. This is a trap. They dug a pit and watched us jump into it. There will definitely be not only mud and bait below, but also hunting clips or spikes."

He paused, "Summon the reporters. We…"

He raised his wrist and glanced at the time, "Hold a press conference at 7:45."

James immediately went to work. As a city councilor, he usually had more contact with these news media.

Although he wasn't sure what his father was going to do, he knew that the current situation was indeed tricky.

When leaving the room, he also sized up Arthur. Apart from the stench of feces emanating from his body and looking a little listless, he didn't seem to have suffered any external injuries.

He squeezed out a few smiles at Arthur, then pulled the door and left.

During this time, Lance had arrived at the police station. There were actually more than eighty corpses parked in the police station. He wanted to come and see these corpses in person.

He was a little uneasy. This time, his attitude towards those refugees was very tough, partly due to James's request and influence, and partly because he felt that a gentle approach should not and could not be used on this issue.

The forensic doctor cleverly kept his distance from them. In the corridor, there were only the sounds of their three pairs of shoes and Lance's bodyguard's leather shoes tapping on the ground.

Lance didn't immediately express his opinion, which made Chief Blue a little uneasy now.

After entering the morgue, the two stopped talking about these things. The forensic doctor pulled out the corpses from the freezer one by one.

Almost all of the freezers on both walls were pulled out, and dozens of corpses were piled together like goods, inexplicably giving people an unspeakable feeling.

Perhaps it was a feeling of the fragility of life, or perhaps it was becoming more willing to enjoy life.

Chief Blue explained to Lance, "We have initially screened them. Those who died from gunshots are all these rioters."

"Those who didn't die from gunshots are basically people from the demolition company."

He lifted the white sheets one by one, revealing the cold corpses below.

Some had already undergone autopsies and looked cleaner. To figure out their specific cause of death, the forensic doctor would dissect them, drain their blood, and clean their bodies.

As long as their wounds weren't on their heads, they looked like they were just sleeping with a bad complexion.

Others looked no different from when they were transported here, bloody and with blood all over their bodies or faces. Their clothes hadn't even had time to be removed before they were put into the freezer. These were the ones that would be autopsied later.

An autopsy wasn't an easy task. It required determining the cause of death, draining the blood, doing some pre-processing, and finally writing the report.

It might take twenty or thirty minutes to process a corpse. The city police station had five forensic doctors, which simply wasn't enough.

Looking at these corpses, Lance raised his hand and casually drew a circle, "framing" them all.

"I need photos of those non-refugee dead, preferably those that haven't been autopsied and look very bad."

"And their matching personal files, preferably with them, even if there are only two or three, three or five."

"Take pictures of them all and quickly enlarge them. We need these."

Chief Blue nodded, "No problem…"

He glanced at the forensic doctor behind him, and the forensic doctor made a "good" gesture.

Seeing that Lance didn't seem to have anything else to say, he hesitated and glanced at Lance. The two looked at each other, and Lance walked towards the door. He immediately followed.

The two came to the outside of the morgue, which was the quietest place in the police station. Usually, only forensic doctors and family members who came to claim corpses would come here.

If there were no family members claiming corpses, then no one would appear here all day long.

Some people said that there were ghosts here, and it was a heavily affected area, but the forensic doctors who worked here and the police officers who occasionally came here had never found them.

"I heard that this matter may be a little difficult to handle!"

Chief Blue took out a cigarette and handed it to Lance, then took out a lighter and lit it for Lance.

The smell of the cigarette dispelled some of the smell of preservatives in the morgue.

Some criminal case scenes are very clean, without any extra traces or clues. Solving the case often starts with finding the source of the body.

But in this era, there is no technology for machine comparison. If you want to compare the photos on those files one by one to find the source of the body, it may take several years to find it.

So they need to ensure that the body will not decay or deform for a long time, but they cannot soak it in antiseptic solution.

The forensic doctor at the police station will use a relatively simple method to deal with it, which is to inject antiseptic solution into these corpses and then push them into the cold storage.

So even though this is a cold storage, there is still the smell of preservatives.

Lance took a puff of his cigarette and nodded noncommittally, "Who did you hear that from?"

Chief Blue was a little embarrassed, "Some old policemen said that, I don't know where it came from. Do you want to investigate?"

Lance shook his head, "They are not entirely right, but it is indeed not easy to handle."

"There will be a press conference at City Hall later. You will most likely be called over."

"The mayor will ask you to speak to the reporters and media. Before you meet the reporters, he will definitely tell you how to present the whole process to the reporters."

"You have to remember one thing."

"You only say what you know. After you received the alarm, you took the police to go there. You saw many refugees indiscriminately attacking the Feds, knocking them down and then looting them of their money."

"You said someone robbed the store and injured the owner?"

Chief Blue nodded, "Yes, I personally stopped them."

"Very good. Find the shop owner and his family. If he is not dead, he should be in the hospital now."

"If he can move, take him to City Hall and let him tell people what happened truthfully."

"After you arrived at the scene, you saw the refugees continuing to commit violence. They burned the expensive equipment used for demolition and killed federal citizens for fun."

"You asked them to lay down their weapons and accept management, but they refused and provoked and attacked you."

"In order to protect the lives and property of federal citizens, and to protect yourselves, you had to open fire."

"After the shooting, you immediately rescued them, but unfortunately, most of them died."

"There will definitely be reporters who will make trouble for you, such as asking you stupid questions like 'Why did you shoot them in vital parts?' You can answer what you can answer."

"If you can't answer, just answer them with 'You were highly nervous at the time and didn't have time to think about it.'"

"Or turn around and question them why they asked that question, and why the reporters turned a blind eye to the fact that those people were harming the lives and property of federal citizens."

Chief Blue's mind was racing, and he firmly remembered these words in his mind. He nodded repeatedly, "I have written it down."

"You don't need to be too nervous. Most of the questions will be to embarrass Mayor Williams, not you. Just do your job."

Chief Blue was still a little nervous. He asked softly, "Will this… be very troublesome?"

Lance shook his head slightly, "It's a bit troublesome, but not that troublesome, and you have to understand one thing."

"No matter who becomes the mayor, even if it's someone from the Bay Area, I have the final say here!"

He paused, patted Chief Blue's arm, "Okay, don't be too nervous."

As he was speaking, a police officer trotted over, "Chief, the City Hall's phone…"

"Then I'll go over first?" Chief Blue's emotions stabilized a little. He believed what Lance said.

After Lance nodded, he left quickly.

After waiting for a while, Lance got the forensic doctor's negatives and left.

When he returned to the company, Carl was already there. He was sitting on the bench outside Lance's office, crossing his legs and chatting with the people around him. When he saw Lance coming over, he immediately stood up.

"Mr. Lance!"

Lance nodded, and Mador opened the door to the office. He walked in the front and entered the office.

Returning here, even Lance would feel a sense of security. He walked to the coat rack, took off his hat and put it on the coat rack. Carl stood behind him, waiting to help him take off his coat.

Lance was a little surprised, but he still cooperated and shrugged. Carl immediately helped Lance take off his windbreaker, patted it, and hung it on the coat rack.

He smiled and patted Carl's arm, carefully looking at him.

At this time, Carl had already put on a decent suit. His shiny hair and his leather shoes could reflect light. He also wore a watch on his wrist. He looked completely like… a successful person.

If he weren't too thin now and couldn't hold up this suit, the effect might be better.

"You look much better than the last time I saw you."

Lance praised him, then walked to the sofa and sat down, pointing to the sofa opposite and asking him to sit there.

"How is it, are you still adapting to your new job?"

Carl had a grateful smile on his face, "Thanks to you, Mr. Lance, I have never had it so good!"

He was not very rich when he was in his hometown, and he was also a poor man. The situation was even worse here.

But since he realized that he and Boni were not the same kind of people at all, and after realizing the cruel reality that he had always regarded other people's ideals as his own dreams, he rediscovered himself and also rediscovered the life he really wanted.

Lance just gave him the work that he used to give to Boni, and by the way, he was responsible for the soliciting and street standing outside the naval base.

It's only been more than half a month, and he has already made a fortune.

Those naval soldiers have money and are willing to relax. Hundreds of girls don't even have time to work every day.

Some young and beautiful girls are queuing outside. Their pricing is not expensive, two dollars at a time.

One dollar is given to those girls. Don't think it's low, that's the price now. There are still fifty cents in the port area, and one dollar here is already a high price.

Then one dollar is divided into three parts. About forty cents is Lance's "rebate" to General Miles.

Generally speaking, military bases are not allowed to let soldiers enter and exit at will, but if they just come out to vent and do not go far or drink alcohol, then it is not impossible.

Not impossible does not mean it is okay, but with these forty cents, this matter is okay.

Then there are forty cents, which belongs to Lance. After all, this business is not so easy to do. Without him watching, without his relationship, it may not be done well or continue.

The remaining twenty cents belong to Carl and the others.

Don't think they are the busiest, but they only get ten cents. It seems that they have put in the most effort but get the least reward, which is very unfair.

In fact, in this world, the more physical labor that has no technical content, the less valuable it is!

More than five hundred girls, with an average daily income of four to five thousand dollars, he can get five percent of it, which is about two hundred to three hundred dollars.

Those people under him can also take away dozens of dollars from him every month. Although it has only been half a month, he already has more than three thousand dollars in his hand.

It is still very easy for him to change a set of equipment for himself with his current income.

His gratitude to Lance is sincere and heartfelt.

After all, even his father and mother could not give him so much money every month!

In this world, fathers and mothers are not as close as money!

So when Lance called, he ran over happily.

Lance nodded, "There is something I need you to do. Do you know what happened this afternoon?"

Carl's expression changed immediately. His face was full of hatred, and he gritted his teeth, "I know, these people are too hateful!"

"Mr. Lance, you and the federal government gave us a place to live, and you also gave us food and supplies for the winter."

"These people don't even know how to be grateful to you, and they even do such terrible things!"

"They are like those wolves that can't be fed enough. They should be thrown into the wild to freeze to death!"

He paused, "I know the situation of some of them. Whatever you need, I will do it!"