Empire of Shadows

Chapter 681: Damage from Comparison [666+22]

Compared to Bonnie's plummeting quality of life after leaving the company, Karl's quality of life was steadily improving.

Since Lance had increased their commission, Karl was making about five to six hundred dollars a day. In just a few days, he had over two thousand dollars in his hands, not counting what he had before.

How good is money? People may not usually have a concept of it, but at this moment, it is on full display.

While people outside were racking their brains about where to get dinner, Karl's people were already drinking juice and eating meat.

To be able to eat their fill, to be able to feed their families, and still have money to spend, that was paradise!

Wasn't the free and relaxed environment of the Federation exactly what they had been dreaming of?

Bonnie couldn't give them that, but Karl could, so they were willing to pledge their loyalty to Karl!

As soon as the little brother from Bonnie's side approached the door, two companions who had been chatting idly blocked his path, "You have nothing to do here anymore. You shouldn't be here."

The little brother looked at the new clothes on the two men, and also noticed the red and white armbands on their left arms.

Brand new soft woolen hats, woolen coats, handsome and upright suits, and shiny leather shoes.

They were clearly the same mud dogs not long ago, but after this short period of time, the gap between them seemed to have widened even further.

The little brother felt some regret, but even more so, he felt dissatisfaction and resentment towards Bonnie.

They could clearly live so well, so how could Bonnie have made them unable to distinguish even the simplest and most basic things back then?

Two former companions looked down at him with condescending eyes, causing a faint sting in his heart, but also making him even more eager to rejoin this group!

"I have something I want to say to Karl."

"Karl?", the guy on the left frowned, "Is Karl's name something you can just casually call out?"

"For the sake of our acquaintance, if I ever hear you call him that again, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

"Remember, kid, you have to call him 'Mr. Karl'!"

"Got it?"

A look of shock appeared on the little brother's face. Although he cursed a few times in his heart, he was more shocked!

They were "formalizing", not just messing around like in the "Bonnie era".

This also meant that they would live better and become more powerful in the future!

He hadn't seen any of the things Bonnie had talked about, the great ideals, the things for more people, he hadn't seen any actual results at all.

People who couldn't afford to eat still couldn't afford to eat, relying on the Federation's relief to avoid starvation.

He said in a slightly humble tone, "I remember, Mr. Karl!"

"I have something I want to say to Mr. Karl, it's about Bonnie, and it has something to do with Mr. Hope."

The two men looked at each other. The one on the left told him to wait here, and the other one entered the house.

Soon the man came back, "Mr. Karl told you to go in, remember, be smart, it's not the past anymore!"

The little brother nodded repeatedly. He pushed open the familiar door, but what he saw was a different scene.

This house was not originally bought by them, it was vacant and occupied by them, so the things in the house before, including the furniture, were very old.

But what did he see now?

He saw someone pasting wallpaper, a large carpet had been placed in the living room, and there were beautiful sofas. The young people wearing clothes roughly the same as the two at the door were gathered together smoking, eating, or chatting and laughing with the girls in their arms.

The moment he walked in, he felt the softness of the carpet under his feet, and suddenly a sense of inferiority arose.

Then the dissatisfaction with Bonnie became even stronger!

It's all his fault!

They were originally the same!

He squeezed out some smiles. The eyes of those people were focused on him. The difference in their clothes made him feel like he was a humble clown, "I'm here to find Mr. Karl."

One of them, who used to have a good relationship with him, spoke up to break the deadlock, "Boss is in the study inside on the second floor."

Boss, a very formal title. The little brother nodded repeatedly, "Thank you, I know."

He walked faster, afraid of hearing the sound of laughter mocking him from those people's voices.

He trotted to the door, everything here was being renovated.

This would not be Karl's final office, just one of them, the first one, but he still wanted it to look more luxurious.

He was imitating Lance in every way, although it might just be a clumsy imitation, but he would try his best.

He knocked on the door, and it was quickly opened, not by Karl, but by another young man he had never seen before.

The other party opened the door, glanced at him, "Did you bring a weapon?"

The little brother shook his head, "I didn't bring anything."

But the other party still simply searched his body before letting him in.

There were several people in the room, sitting or standing. Karl was sitting in the chair behind the wide table, crossing his legs and holding a cigar in his hand. When he saw him come in, he just exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Haha, look who it is?"

"My brother, why did you think of coming back to see me? Are you here to laugh at me?"

Although he said that, the expression on his face was different, mocking and sarcastic.

The little brother felt even more sad, "I brought news about Bonnie and Hope."

Karl curled his lips, he raised his hand, and several young men whom the little brother had never seen stood up and left the room.

In a trance, it seemed that he was not in a refugee gathering place, but in the territory of a big shot in the legendary Bay Area.

Karl tilted his head slightly, looking very relaxed, "So what kind of news did you bring me?"

If he had had a trace of hesitation before, then after seeing everything here, he had no hesitation.

"Hope told Bonnie to continue to gather people. They plan to make trouble in a few days, probably the day before New Year's or on New Year's Day."

"And this time they want to gather thousands of people!"

Karl's expression changed slightly, he frowned, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Boss...", he learned to call out "Boss" like those people outside. Karl smiled and didn't correct his mistake.

"This news is indeed very important, but it's not important enough, because if they really plan to gather a lot of people, I will definitely be able to find out."

This sentence was not a lie, this was not gathering three or five people, or thirty or fifty people, there was still a chance to keep it secret.

Thousands of people, it was impossible to keep it secret.

However, the little brother also had his own opinion, "But you may not be able to change anything when you know it. Now they haven't gathered many people yet, and there is plenty of time to do something."

Karl's indifferent expression became serious. He glanced at the little brother a few more times and nodded, "You have a point."

"Wait outside, I'll make a call."

After the little brother left, he dialed Lance's number.

The arrogant man suddenly became humble, "Mr. Lance?"

"There's something I think it's necessary to inform you... A friend of mine, we used to be together, then he left with Bonnie... Yes, that's right."

"Now he's back and told me that Bonnie and Hope are planning to hold another gathering, and they want to raise thousands of people, around the first day of the New Year..."

"Yes... He's here... Okay, I see, okay, okay, goodbye!"

After he hung up the phone, he sat there thinking for a while, then asked someone to call the little brother back in.

"Your news is worth something.", he didn't hide it, "But what's more valuable is you yourself."

"I want you to go back to Bonnie's side, to find out more details, what time, what to do, who else is the organizer."

"If there is any special news, send it back as soon as possible, I know what you want."

"As long as you perform well enough, I will give you what you want."

As he said that, he opened the drawer, took out a few one-dollar bills from it, and placed them on the table, "Here are ten dollars, you can take it first, if you do well, there will be more."

"I'm different from Bonnie, he always talks about useless ideals and the future."

"I'm much more realistic."

"You work for me, I give you money!"

Looking at the money on the table, the little brother's heart was trembling!

He took the initiative to lower his head and bent over to walk over, picked up the banknotes on the table with both hands, and said gratefully, "Thank you, Boss, I am willing to work for you!"

After the little brother left, Karl gathered the group of people he had just seen again. These people were the ruthless people he had found among the refugees.

The purpose of recruiting these people was that he also needed a group of people who could fight and kill, instead of doing everything himself.

Bonnie was too idealistic. Although there were people who could fight among the people he recruited, there were no people who could kill.

Karl needed to make up for this shortcoming, because he wanted to become a big shot!

When the people gathered, he looked at them. On their once unruly faces, there was now only obedience to him.

The power of money was here, it could make people change everything about themselves!

"You always tell me how great you are, now there is a task that needs you to do, kill someone!"