Shadow Empire

Chapter 1090 Unease, the Desire to Escape, and the Inability to Escape

At that moment, Prosecutor Crown recalled everything he had learned in school.

He carefully searched all the rooms in the "activity room," and everything seemed messy, as if everyone had left in a hurry.

There was unfinished wine and food on the table, and half a piece of beef on a low table. Ants were diligently carrying away the bits of beef that had fallen to the ground, and mosquitoes were swarming all over the table.

They just left like that... without even the simplest tidying up.

After confirming that no one was in the activity room, he put away his weapon and carefully checked the rooms again, but he still had no clue.

If you can't find the person or the body, you won't know what happened.

He came out of the activity room and was about to leave when his gaze was suddenly drawn to the slogan on the door frame that read "Workers' Activity Room".

What attracted him was not the sign itself, but a dark red spot on it.

He took out a white handkerchief, held it up with his fingers, and vigorously wiped it.

This isn't paint; it's dried, but not completely dry, and has a sticky, asphalt-like feel.

The white handkerchief first showed a layer of black, broken bloodstains, then dark red—it was fresh blood.

He sniffed, but couldn't discern anything. He wasn't a dog; he envied those who could smell whether blood was human or animal, or even what kind of animal it was.

But undeniably, this is blood.

He searched the vicinity again and found some traces of treatment, as well as some bloodstains that had not been cleaned up.

His expression turned serious; clearly, the group was no longer there.

He stood at the scene, staring at the initial incident for a long time, then cursed "Fuck!", stomped his feet on the ground, paced back and forth in front of the car with his hands on his hips, then suddenly opened the car door, got in, and left.

He is feeling very unwell right now. His heart is beating very fast, and his blood pressure may also be rising. His emotions are starting to shift from discomfort to unease and then to fear.

Could this gang leader have already confessed to killing them and dealing with such a clean person? They must be a very experienced person and organization.

Small gangs are crude in their methods. He has handled many similar cases. They even hope that the police and other law enforcement agencies can find the crime scenes they committed, deduce that they were the ones who did it, and then announce it to the public.

This will make them fear them, and they will have a reputation boost whether they are doing criminal business or seizing territory.

Just like when a few ordinary gang members face a member of the Perez family, each of them is armed, even though they know that if they pull the trigger, the Perez family member will die anyway.

They still lacked the courage to pull the trigger first, and even when faced with death, they were hesitant to resist!
This is the role of reputation in the underworld; their primary concern is survival, not eliminating their enemies.

Small gangs that want to increase their prestige and influence in the underworld must constantly do things like honor kills and executions, all of which are created for these purposes.

They wanted people to know the consequences of offending them, which is why they used such blatant methods to kill someone and "exhibit" him to others.

There isn't one here, so these people are very experienced and don't need this kind of killing and execution to instill fear in people.

Then there is only one possibility: the Lance family.

Prosecutor Kron's hands were trembling slightly. He didn't know how Lance and the Lance family planned to retaliate against him, and the more he learned about these people, the more uneasy he felt.

Gangs are always a group that is "easily enraged." Because of the nature of this group, if they are not able to retaliate fiercely when faced with provocation or humiliation, they will soon be overwhelmed by the challenger.

Now he appears in this game as a new "challenger" of the Lance family. If Lance's brain isn't damaged, he will definitely take revenge on him!

Prosecutor Kron's car quickly returned to the prosecutor's office, and he hurried toward his office.

Seeing that he returned so quickly, the woman in the office immediately asked, "Prosecutor Clown, would you like a cup of coffee?"

The coffee beans in the prosecutor's office are very good, sponsored for free by capitalists. The beans, which cost tens of dollars a pound, may not be the top-of-the-line, but they are still very expensive.

The coffee ground from it will naturally taste much better and be superior in every way than those beans that cost a few cents or a dozen cents a pound.

Prosecutor Crown used to love these coffees; he needed at least three or four cups a day, and he would even have one whenever the lady asked.

But right now, he has no interest in that at all.

He curtly said, "Thank you, but I don't need it," and then rushed into his office.

This caused a look of surprise to appear on the face of the office lady. She looked at the closed office door, then at the other staff members, gave a helpless look, and continued to do her work.

Back in his office, Prosecutor Crown locked the door and then called the Attorney General.

"The plan failed."

The Attorney General didn't immediately understand. "What plan failed?"

"For the plan to lure the Lance family, I found a minor character and used him to set a trap, intending to expose the Lance family's smuggling and selling of alcohol."

“Such a big case cannot be covered up. There will definitely be accountability. This gives us some excuse to investigate the case in depth and find out more about the specific situation of their family.”

The Attorney General remembered that he had been instructed to do this by someone on the President's side, and he had found a prosecutor who was close to him and whom he could trust.

He only just found out that the plan had failed, but he didn't seem too panicked. "It's a failure, it's a failure, it's not a big deal!"

In his view, failure was not an abnormal outcome. The Lance family members were very vigilant and cunning; otherwise, Lance would not have reached his current position.

They sensed the danger, or were very vigilant, and saw through the plan, but they simply didn't get any leverage over it. There was no real loss for the Attorney General or Prosecutor Crown.

But he soon realized that it was unusual for Prosecutor Crohn to make this call specifically and to speak to him in such a mood.

His tone rose, and he asked in a manner that suggested, "Are you fucking kidding me?", "Don't tell me they already know you were behind it!"

The awkward silence on the other end of the line was like a resounding answer. A few seconds later, the Attorney General swore twice, "How did you make that judgment?"

Prosecutor Crown briefly explained his reasoning process, and finally added, "I can't guarantee that the gang leader will keep my name. I know the methods of the Lance family; those who offend them have always disappeared."

“I heard from my colleagues over there that the Lance family’s case files are several meters high, but so far no body or even a limb of any of the victims has been found.”

Federal law stipulates that if someone is victimized, a body must be found before a case can be formally filed as a "homicide".

If the body is not found, the case can only be filed as a "missing person case".

Although they all appear to be cases that have been filed, the differences are actually quite significant.

The investigation mechanism for homicide cases is much stronger than that for missing persons cases. They will deploy more police resources to solve the case, and the time span may be as long as several years. Once it is confirmed to be a homicide, they will have someone follow up on the case.

Even if they can't find any clues a few years later and the case is shelved, they will still review it every now and then to see if there are any new discoveries.

The missing persons cases were handled very perfunctorily; at most, they would just ask people around the area where the missing person disappeared if they had seen them.

Then they would publish an official missing persons notice in the newspaper, in a very small place, perhaps only the size of a thumb, where you couldn't even see the faces of these people clearly.

As for whether or not to print missing person notices, that's the job of the missing person's family, not theirs. They don't really care whether the person is found or not, and they certainly won't waste police resources on that.

The Lance family handled these matters very professionally. Without a body, a murder case could not be filed. Those who had offended the Lance family, except for figures like Heller, had all vanished without a trace.

According to their official records, they are still missing; perhaps they have long since turned to dust or even excrement.

Pet food stores are always a good place to dispose of a body; they can cover up the stench and it doesn't matter if there's blood everywhere.

They would grind those people into mincemeat, then package it into pet sausages and sell them to pet owners.

Even if a brilliant detective came, he wouldn't be able to piece together a person from countless dog poops.

Therefore, these cases are basically unsolvable at the federal level.

The Lance family's "craftsmanship" is exceptionally high, and their ruthlessness towards these people is unsettling.

Even just thinking about it, Prosecutor Crown felt he had been a bit rash.

He shouldn't have taken the job. Although he hadn't had a chance for promotion at work for several years, he shouldn't have been so reckless.

He forgot the ironclad rule that the greater the reward, the greater the risk.

Now he needs to pay the price for his recklessness!

Sensing Mr. Crohn's nervousness through the receiver, the Attorney General pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll transfer you to work here first. As for when you'll return, or if you're not going back at all, we'll discuss that later."

"That way you can avoid contact with the Lance family for now, what do you say?"

Upon hearing this somewhat unexpected answer, Prosecutor Crown felt a sense of relief, as if the situation had taken a dramatic turn for the better. "When do I go there?"

"Now, go and pack your things. I'll send an official letter to your prosecutor's office. There's a case that needs your assistance. Remember to bring your family over. We have several vacant safe houses here."

At this moment, the joy deep in Prosecutor Crown's heart had somewhat suppressed his fear. If he could work at the state attorney general's office, if he could stay there, wouldn't that be the result he had been dreaming of?
He immediately agreed, "I'll get on it right away, see you later."

"Well, see you later."

After hanging up the phone, the Attorney General frowned as he suddenly realized a problem.

If even the prosecutors under his command can feel uneasy, then what about the others?
It seems we need to be more careful when selecting staff in the future. He was very disappointed in Prosecutor Crown, who couldn't even do a small thing right and exposed himself.

This also means that he, the Attorney General of Golden State, has been exposed.

Lance and his gang could use their connection with Prosecutor Crown to directly suspect them.

Suspicion doesn't require evidence; evidence is what matters in court. But people at their level aren't even subject to court trials, which means that some of their actions don't require evidence.

This idiot!

He shook his head, but he didn't take Lance and the Lance family too seriously. Judging from their respective roles, they were the cats, not the mice!

Prosecutor Crown hurriedly took some things from the office safe.

He kept the cash and some valuables, all gifts from others, in a safe in his office instead of at home.

Because it's safer here.

No stupid thief would be so foolish as to steal from the prosecutor's office, especially from a prosecutor, unless he wanted to die in prison!
This would be seen as a provocation against the entire prosecutor system, and who knows what shady things might be hidden in the safes of those prosecutors?

So anyone who dares to steal will be doomed if they get caught.

Ironically, the places where these prosecutors live are more likely to be burglarized.

They are always away from home, and whenever they are away, thieves may break in and ransack the place.

So he kept all these valuables in his office.

At this point, the handbag was already full, and there were still some things that couldn't be taken with them, which they would have to bring next time.

He carried his heavy briefcase, pushed open the door, and left quickly. The office lady watched him rush back and then rush away again. When no one was around, she muttered "crazy" under her breath before smiling and going off to serve others.

Prosecutor Kron returned home, where his wife, who was watching TV, looked at him with some surprise. "Aren't you going to work today?"

Prosecutor Kron shook his head. "No, I have something to do at the state attorney general's office. You'll come with me."

His expression was serious, which immediately made his wife realize something. Her expression turned to fear. "Has something happened?"

Prosecutor Crowne nodded. "There are some, and my job might be changing soon. I'll feel more at ease if we go together, and it'll also be a good opportunity to get used to the environment there."

His wife quickly brought the children along, and the family got into his car with their luggage. As the car drove out of the city, Prosecutor Crown finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He turned on the radio, and it was playing a recently popular road song – "The Scenery on the Road to Heaven"!
"In the end what happened?"

Noticing that her husband's mood had calmed down somewhat, Mrs. Crohn finally couldn't help but ask, her arms around their child.

The child was still quite young, and his face was full of smiles as he went out to play. He didn't even realize that his parents were acting strangely.

Prosecutor Kron hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm investigating a case that might lead to retaliation, so I'm going to take you to Oris (the capital of Golden State). There are safe places to live there, and we can stay for a while."

"After this case is over, I will most likely stay there to work, just to get used to the environment in advance."

His wife didn't seem to relax at all after his explanation; she remained tense. "How long will this take?"

Prosecutor Kron glanced at his wife in the rearview mirror. "About six months... Fuck!"

Before his wife could react and didn't know why her husband suddenly started swearing, she felt the car speed increase significantly.

She subconsciously turned around and saw several cars behind her, and began to accelerate as well.

She hugged her child tightly, her face filled with panic, and her voice trembling!

"...Is it them?"

Prosecutor Crown had lost all interest in speaking; he slammed on the gas pedal, hoping the car would go even faster.

But it's obvious that the car he bought for over four thousand yuan is definitely not as good as those costing ten or twenty thousand yuan.

He had already floored the accelerator, but the distance between him and the cars behind him was getting closer and closer, and he was becoming more and more desperate!
At that moment, he suddenly realized that he shouldn't have left!
He shouldn't have left the city. He's a prosecutor, and if he were shot dead on the street, it would definitely provoke outrage among some people!
He represents not only himself, but also federal law and federal fairness and justice!
He slammed his fist on the steering wheel; by then, it was too late to understand.

The cars behind him gradually caught up with him, and one of them, a beautiful pearl white piano-lacquered car, soon drove alongside him. The person in the passenger seat looked at him through the window and made a gesture to pull over.

Sensing that these cars could intercept him at any moment, he glanced at his pale-faced wife and his child who kept asking "What's wrong?" through the rearview mirror. Finally, he began to slow down and slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

(End of this chapter)