Shadow Empire

Chapter 1116 Choice and Perseverance

Helam lay on an examination bed, watching Lance and the doctor talking beside her, but she couldn't understand what they were saying at all.

After returning from the explosion site, he went straight back to New Gold City, where the best medical technology is available.

After a period of automatic recovery, his condition improved somewhat. Although he could hear some sounds, he couldn't make them out clearly.

In his world, all sounds are buzzing, just like Lance talking to the doctor right now.

"Buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz".

"Buzzing, buzzing..."

Lance glanced back at the bewildered Hylam, then refocused his attention on the doctor. "So now surgery is the only option?"

The doctor nodded. "His eardrums are perforated quite severely on both sides. It's basically impossible to guarantee that he will be able to hear again on his own."

"Even with some training later on, it is still difficult for us to fully understand people's conversations, and the inconvenience brought by such a life is not just the inability to communicate normally."

"The phone rings, the doorbell rings, the alarms—you know, there are many sounds in our lives that tell us what we should and shouldn't do, including the honking of cars on the road."

“If we lose the ability to judge these voices, we will encounter many problems in life.”

"Perhaps we can find someone to help him in the short term, but it's impossible for someone to do that all the time."

The doctor seemed to have thought of something, pursed his lips, and thought, "Others certainly can't do it, but these people definitely can."

Because they have money.

Having money is really good. If Hailam were an ordinary person, unwilling to have surgery or unable to afford the surgery, the sounds in his world would be like a drumhead covered, making everything unclear and his life a mess.

But he's rich, so even if he doesn't have the surgery, he can find someone to become his ear and help him make a living.

Lance considered for a moment, then asked, "What is the success rate of the surgery?"

The doctor had a relaxed smile on his face. "You must have been told about our advantages by someone that you were able to find us here."

"I dare not speak ill of other surgeries, but we are professionals in eardrum repair."

He didn't mention the success rate, but kept telling Lance that the hospital was an authority in this field, which was also a way to avoid risks.

After all, any surgery, even a simple circumcision, carries certain risks. No one can say for sure when God might suddenly decide to take someone to heaven to be with Him.

Therefore, he doesn't talk about success rates. Once things are digitized, people will always focus on the success side and ignore the risks.

If we encounter a failure rate of one percent, one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand, then it will be difficult to explain the situation.

Lance glanced back at Hylam, then finally reached out and shook hands with the doctor. "Make arrangements as soon as possible, whether it's funding or anything else, just let me know."

"I have only one request: that the most authoritative expert perform the surgery, and that only one side be repaired first."

Once it's fixed, the other side will naturally be repaired as well.

If it can't be repaired properly, at least there's still a chance to save money.

The doctor grasped Lance's hand. "I understand your concerns. I will arrange things for you as soon as possible. He should be able to start surgery in three days at the latest."

Then Helam got off the examination table. "This damn light is hurting my eyes. How did your talk go?"

He just spoke those words subconsciously, not knowing if Lance could understand them, because he found that he couldn't fully understand what he was saying either.

Everything was buzzing.

Lance took a whiteboard from a nearby table and wrote down what he wanted to say.

"We'll perform the surgery in three days. We'll do it on one side first, then the other, to make sure you have a chance to hear again."

Hailam slowly read through the sentences, then sighed, "I hope everything goes well."

Lance had heard more detailed versions of what happened that night from other people; in fact, it wasn't just Helam who had a problem with his eardrums, but several other people's eardrums also had problems.

However, they were a little far from that location at the time. Although their eardrums were ruptured by the vibration, the perforations were not large, unlike Hailam, who was standing too close.

This kind of thing... can only be described as his bad luck. Even if Lance had been there, he couldn't have avoided it. Who would have thought that Hylam would set fire to the basement, and who would have thought that the basement would suddenly explode?

However, Lance was still quite satisfied with their results.

If you steal my liquor, I'll destroy your goods. The war between gangs perfectly exemplifies the principle of "mutual harm"!

Helam needs treatment and is unable to take charge of the work, so after thinking it over, Lance transferred Enio to the position.

He may not be an expert in combat, but he is smooth and cautious enough. The real fighting can be left to the captains. He only needs to take care of the situation and call Lance when necessary.

The brothers in the family were quite surprised by Helam's injury, and Maurice even made a separate phone call to Lance about it.

"I heard that Hailam's eardrums were damaged, which is why he can't hear now?"

"Yes, the explosion perforated his eardrum, and he needs surgery to recover. What happened?"

Morris chuckled twice, then sighed. "I've been thinking about something ever since I got married, Lance."

Time flies.

“It feels like just yesterday that Enio and I were running around the streets. I feel like I was only a teenager. But now, I’m almost thirty.”

"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, I've even become a father."

Maurice's wife has given birth to a child for him, a girl, and is now pregnant again.

There are only a few ways for a woman who isn't particularly clever to keep a man, and having a child is a good option.

Family life gave Maurice some different insights into life and himself than before. It seemed that he had grown up overnight and was no longer the person he used to be.

Life is divided into many stages, and each stage has its own unique thoughts and psychological changes, which is normal.

"I don't know how to put it, but I've found that I, we, and most of us seem to be stuck in the past, in how we judge our own age."

“Enio is not married either. Very few people get married, let alone have children.”

"I think it would be good to remind everyone?"

"And in case something happens, at least... do you understand what I mean?"

Lance hummed in agreement. "There's at least one heir, isn't there?"

“I understand what you mean, I will consider it. What you said is indeed valuable to us.”

"But you know, it's hard for me to force them to do these things. They have to figure it out themselves before they can do it. I can't change anything."

After the short phone call ended, Lance felt that Morris was probably enjoying "family bliss" after getting married and having children, and his thinking was changing.

You can't say this is bad; it means a person is more fully integrated into society.

They have families, responsibilities, and worries.

But for gangs, it's not necessarily a good thing; it's a double-edged sword. It can give people a goal to strive for, but it can also make people hesitate more.

People often say that when people in their forties or fifties have families, children, and careers, and they say they want to kill you, they're basically just spouting nonsense.

But if a teenager says he's going to kill you, then that guy might actually do something to you.

Because of burdens, because of responsibilities, because of ties. This also tells Lance from another angle that everyone is growing up, and they may also have to walk the same path as other families.

Like the Perez family now, or their friends or enemies in the past, these gangs are becoming indecisive, burdened, and weighed down.

After smoking a cigarette by the window, he returned to his chair and sat down. "Did the girl's family call the police?"

Allen nodded; he was the one overseeing this matter. "The police have been notified, and they've started their investigation."

Lance nodded slightly. "Try to give them some ideas. Also, it would be best to let the girl's family know about this. Don't let them know what happened to their daughter, but let them know who this is related to. Do you understand what I mean?"

Allen nodded. "I understand what you mean. Let them guess that it was Porter Jr. who did it, but there's no evidence."

Lance pointed at him. “Absolutely right. It would be best if they could put some pressure on the police.”

Allen nodded again. "I know what to do."

The operation in the old city will have to wait for Enio to arrive, which will take a few more days. For now, Lance's instructions there are to defend and await further orders.

Meanwhile, Lance had them plant explosives in some nightclubs, and once they launched a fierce attack, they were to abandon their posts and send the properties flying.

Although using explosives in the city was a bit excessive, he believed the Perez family could suppress these matters.

Moreover, dealing with Porter is more important right now than the work here.

Lance turned to look at the television in the office, on which Mr. Porter was campaigning as the Liberal Party's presidential candidate.

He stood on a platform, waving his arms and speaking loudly.

This is a pre-recorded video of Mr. Porter's first speech, which took place yesterday as part of his presidential campaign.

He stood on the podium and laid out all the campaign strategies the Liberal Party had given him. Among the more noteworthy points were de-gangsterization and another point that Lance had never heard of before: efficient and clean government.

This was his first speech, which attracted a lot of attention. Shortly after he delivered the speech, the entire federal telephone line experienced a surge in usage.

If the de-gangsterization was something some people had anticipated or already knew, then efficiency and integrity were something unexpected.

"...Our current federal government faces a great many problems. In some of the environments I've been to, corruption and bureaucratic inertia are very serious issues."

“In some areas, officials even treat this as part of their job. They accept bribes and provide preferential treatment in policy or work to those who provide them with bribes.”

"Or I see some lower-level officials who go to work on time every day and leave on time every day. They stay in their offices and spend the whole day reading a few newspapers."

"This situation has always existed and is widespread, and it has affected the role that our government can play in today's rapidly developing society."

"So if I win the election, I will establish a clean and efficient department to address these issues..."

The television was noisy, and there were too many audience members in the venue who kept exclaiming or applauding. To be honest, the television broadcast was terrible.

However, preliminary opinion polls conducted by some consulting firms have shown that Mr. Porter's approval rating has already shown a clear lead.

Some random passersby interviewed said they supported Mr. Porter because he seemed more pragmatic than the Socialist presidential candidates.

He doesn't mind exposing his worst side and then showing his courage to correct his mistakes, which has earned him good support among voters.

Watching Mr. Potter's performance on television, Lance felt that he was playing with fire.

Why does the federal government never talk about corruption, or rather, never discuss corruption openly?
Because this problem exists throughout the entire federal government, from top to bottom, if someone stands up to fight corruption and job-related crimes, then he is anti-federal!

From a single bullet in an army warehouse to a coffee machine in the presidential palace, this involves the interests of far too many people.

In Lance's view, you can fight corruption and job-related crimes, but you can't make them public.

He's making a fool of himself.

After watching for a while, Lance turned off the TV. He didn't want to watch anymore because it was meaningless and unnecessary.

Meanwhile, the missing girl's parents had just come out of the police station. They had filed a police report, but the police told them to go home and wait for news.

Two to three hundred thousand people go missing every year in the federal government, and with just another girl missing, the police already had some basic suspicions, especially when they saw the girl's high school graduation photo.

Young, beautiful, with blonde hair and a great figure, she was reportedly a former cheerleader.

Such girls are often the favorite toys of some people in high society, and many of the missing persons cases they encounter each year are similar.

The case involves a sudden disappearance that is never heard from again until someone with knowledge of the situation comes to light due to another case, which then leads to the investigation of such a disappearance.

Otherwise, there's a high probability that these disappearances will remain unsolved cases for the rest of their lives.

On the way back, the girl's mother asked the girl's father, "I saw a police officer pull you into the stairwell just now. What did he say to you?"

The girl's father had a bitter look on his face, as if he had eaten something extremely bitter, and his eyes showed fatigue and helplessness.

“He… told me that these kinds of cases happen a lot every year, and that I should be prepared for no follow-up. He also asked if we had any other children.”

Upon hearing her husband's words, the girl's mother couldn't help but ask loudly, "What does he mean by that?"

Her husband sighed, "He was trying to tell us that if we don't have any other children, we should have another one."

"Because it can't be found."

The girl's mother was silent for a moment, then hugged her husband. "So, they actually knew what happened, right?"

The man suppressed his grief and said, "I don't know. Maybe it's because these kinds of things happen so often, and the results are mostly the same, that's why he came to this conclusion."

The girl's mother's voice was already trembling with tears, "But I've never seen it in the newspaper!"

This might just be the most fantastical scene in the Federation's history!
Two to three hundred thousand people go missing every year, sometimes even three to four hundred thousand, but newspapers, magazines, and any official media never report on these cases, as if they never existed.

When every channel that should have a voice remains silent, it sometimes speaks volumes about the problem and its seriousness.

Perhaps the owners of these channels that allow voices to be heard are themselves part of this whole process, and an important part at that, which is why they are unwilling to let the public know about this matter.

After the couple hugged each other to calm each other down for a moment, the girl's mother asked, "Should we still go look for her?"

The girl's father nodded firmly, "Yes, we will. She is our angel, and no matter where she goes, we will find her!"

His eyes shone with a light, a bright light, "No matter what!"

After returning home and calming themselves down, the couple spontaneously embarked on a search for their missing daughter the next day.

They printed many missing person notices, but although they were of little use, they still held onto a sliver of hope.

What if someone has seen their daughter?

It was only at this moment that they realized they had absolutely no understanding or knowledge of their daughter's usual social circle.

They don't know who their daughter usually hangs out with or what she does, so as parents, they may also be neglecting their duties.

Like the parents of the hundreds of thousands or millions of missing persons in the past, they may give up after a period of torment, when they are physically and mentally exhausted. But at least for now, they have not given up.

For two or three days in a row, the police had no news, or rather, no one of them investigated at all.

Just when the couple felt hopeless, they had the courage to face everything but didn't know how to exert their strength, someone called them.

They said they had seen the girl in the missing person poster.

(End of this chapter)