Shadow Empire

Chapter 1123 Attack and Escalation

"The world is not safe, Bruni."

Lance shared one of his cigarettes with Major General Bruni, saying, “We face new challenges anytime, anywhere. Soldiers can retire, but they cannot lay down their weapons.”

Major General Bruni paused for a moment, "I don't quite understand what you mean."

Lance explained, "Although the war is over, the friction between countries has not ended. Armed friction caused by conflicts of interest between two or more countries or regions will continue to exist."

"Interest is the eternal essence between countries. As long as there is profit, someone will make sacrifices. Everyone wants to gain more rather than give more, which means that there can never be true peace in the world."

"The probability of a full-scale war in the future will decrease, but the possibility of local wars will increase."

"When the contradictions and differences between countries are irreconcilable, local wars and proxy wars become the best way out."

"If they have conflicts among themselves, will they have the same conflicts with us?"

“The attitude of the three northern countries towards us has changed dramatically, and maintaining social order in the Alan region will be a new challenge.”

“The soldiers can go home temporarily, but they cannot lay down their weapons. The security company is a very good cooperative project.”

“We can let the soldiers continue to maintain their military style and training, and when needed, they can simply change into some uniforms and transform from security guards into soldiers.”

Major General Bruni was so engrossed in listening that he forgot to smoke. He looked at Lance as if he had found a treasure, his eyes shining.

"You're absolutely right!" He made some gestures to emphasize his point, and the movement caused ash to fall from his cigarette. Only then did he realize that he still had a cigarette in his hand.

He took a drag and became more interested. "This is a great idea. It saves on military spending while ensuring that our combat effectiveness doesn't decline too much."

"You're a true genius, Lance!"

He seemed quite excited, and in reality, there were some vested interests involved; he had already connected these things to many other things.

"You just said that your company intends to use the Slade area to protect the safety and interests of federal businesses and workers?"

"Can I understand this to be a mercenary company?"

Lance nodded, not denying it. "It's just one way of putting it. You can give us more names, but the essence won't change."

“We use the money to solve the employment problems of veterans, while protecting the safety of federal businesses and workers overseas.”

Major General Bruni had many thoughts running through his mind. He continued, following Lance's words, "Furthermore, you have the identity of a company, not a country or the military, so you are not so politically sensitive, and people from other countries will not be so sensitive to you."

"You've pioneered a new project and a new track, Lance!"

Lance chuckled but didn't say anything; he knew perfectly well what he was saying and doing.

More ideas sparked in Major General Bruni's mind, and he had already drafted a report, which he would submit to the Department of Defense and Congress. This might be the key to his promotion to lieutenant general.

The war ended, and the military generals were all promoted, but only a few were promoted in the Ministry of National Defense, since they were civilian military personnel, more like politicians in military uniform.

If they were to be promoted in large numbers, the military would have a lot of complaints. The military and the Ministry of National Defense are both military systems, but there are still some minor conflicts between them.

Major General Bruni also wanted to upgrade his rank from "Major General" to "Lieutenant General," which would give him more power and more opportunities and benefits.

He was thinking about how to write the report and how to persuade those people to accept his ideas.

Meanwhile, several vehicles had caught up with Lance's convoy. Madol glanced back at Lance, his movement so subtle that Major General Bruni couldn't notice.

He conveyed a message to Lance through his eyes: those people had caught up.

Major General Bruni had been discussing ideas about "contractors" with Lance. He suggested that if the Department of Defense contracted out some defense work to companies like Lance, the Department of Defense could not only receive kickbacks but also save a lot of money.

For example, they might fabricate a military operation, claiming it costs ten million federal soles. They would then contract out the operation for eight million, with the contractor returning several hundred thousand to them. This way, they could legitimately retain twenty to thirty percent of the military expenditure.

At the same time, they can complete the military operation well. If they fail, they don't have to bear any serious consequences themselves; they can simply switch to another military contractor.

There are so many ways to make a profit here, and he believes that the generals in the Ministry of Defense will be interested in his idea.

While these issues were being discussed, a car suddenly darted out from the side of the convoy, making a loud noise and nearly hitting Lance's car.

The car swayed slightly as it made a slight maneuver to avoid a collision, nearly causing Major General Bruni to crash into the door. "Bullet!"

"what happened?"

Before he could finish speaking, two people leaned out of the right window of the car that sped away and threw something they were holding onto the window.

The car windows were instantly covered, making it impossible to see anything in front of them, and the vehicle had to stop.

Immediately afterwards, a fierce battle broke out around them, and all the car windows were covered up, so they had no idea what was happening outside.

Lance remained seated, pulled a submachine gun from under his chair, and asked the somewhat flustered Major General Bruni, "Do you know how to use it?"

Major General Bruni glanced at the submachine gun in his hand, swallowed hard, and said, "I can."

He had practiced shooting, and could hit two or three out of ten shots on a 20-meter target. He was a major general, not a soldier, and did not need to go to the battlefield or the front lines. He did not need any superb shooting skills.

He was just a politician in military uniform.

At that moment, he felt fear.

Fortunately, Lance's composure kept him from panicking too much.

“What happened?” he asked.

His voice trembled slightly.

Lance, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, pulled back the bolt of his gun. "Maybe someone doesn't want me to live."

He looked at Lance with disbelief, even speechlessness, as he casually uttered these words. "You... don't you think this is shocking?"

Lance smiled. "You'll get used to it after you've been assassinated a few more times."

"Fuck, I don't want to get used to it!"

The entire vehicle seemed to be getting scorching hot, and thick smoke was billowing from the ventilation vents. Mador told the driver to immediately shut off the air ducts. "Boss, they've set it on fire."

At that time, armored vehicles were a problem that could not be solved without explosives or large-caliber weapons.

In New Gold City, a city that is not the capital but is more important than the capital, would large-caliber weapons and explosives be used?
Bob wasn't so crazy as to do something like that, so they chose to burn the car, hoping the people inside would succumb to the intense heat and come out on their own.

In this way, the thick armor of the bulletproof car becomes completely ineffective.

However, since Lance already knew about their plan, how could he not pay attention to these things?

In fact, not far away, there were some members of the Lance family following them. They were there to ensure that the problem was resolved as soon as possible after the attack on Lance.

The gunfire outside erupted quickly and intensely, but it subsided just as quickly. In just two or three minutes, the temperature inside the car had risen to a level that made it almost unbearable to stay inside.

Lance glanced at Major General Bruni. "I'll open the door in a bit, and then we'll rush out together."

Major General Bruni gripped his weapon tightly, wiped the sweat from his brow, and nodded.

After Lance finished the countdown, he kicked open the unlocked car door. The flames had actually been extinguished quite a bit, and the fighting on the street was coming to an end. After Major General Bruni crawled out, he saw Lance carrying a submachine gun and firing wildly at some people. He gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger at those who might be the attackers.

For some reason, the vibration of the gun transmitted to his hand at the moment he pulled the trigger actually dispelled the unease and fear in his heart.

His body, which had been hunched over with fear, straightened up, and he even started swearing.

If the magazine hadn't run out of bullets so quickly, perhaps his emotional outburst would have been even more intense.

Fortunately, Madol kindly refilled his ammunition, which made Major General Bruni very happy. Not every soldier has the opportunity to fire at a real, living target.

Watching those men retreat and fall as they were shot at, Major General Bruni seemed to have been completely...smoothed out at that moment.

His soul was ironed out!

Lance walked up to a wounded man lying on the ground, fired all his bullets into the man's head, and then handed his submachine gun to the family's combat captain.

In that very short time, sirens suddenly blared all around. The federal police performed as consistently as ever, always appearing after the shootout.

Lance had Major General Bruni give his weapons to the others as well, and the two stood together.

Major General Bruni also noticed something unusual; he felt his thinking ability was stronger than ever before.

"The police came too fast," he said, watching the approaching officers who had already formed ranks and pointed their weapons at them, as he lit another cigarette.

He squinted at the police officers, whether from the smoke of cigarettes or because he had something else on his mind and didn't want anyone to see his eyes.

As a typical "native" of New Gold City, he has lived here for over twenty years and knows very well the police response time.

It would take them at least ten minutes to get from the nearest police station, but these people arrived with so many police officers in less than five minutes, which can only mean one thing.

These police officers were actually not far away; they probably knew all along that these things would happen, so they had been waiting.

Wait for things to happen, then rush out.

Major General Bruni glanced at Lance. "You've offended someone."

Lance smiled and spread his hands. "I've offended more than one person."

It was as if it answered something, yet it was also as if it didn't answer anything.

A deputy director at the scene shouted through a megaphone, "Put down your weapons immediately and lie on the ground."

"I'll repeat myself: drop your weapons immediately and lie down on the ground, or we're going to shoot."

The police chief was actually there too, but he didn't show himself. He was sitting in an ordinary police car, watching everything that was happening.

Roland told him that the Perez family would be attacking Lance's men here today, and a fierce gunfight was bound to break out.

Then have the police chief arrest them all. A shootout in New Gold City is a very serious matter. Even if Lance has a powerful background, he will have to go through a lot to leave unscathed.

And his actions will make him a target of public criticism.

Even if this matter can't be resolved with Lance, and of course Director Roland never considered that he could resolve it with Lance, it can at least cause Lance to lose a lot of intangible things.

The way to deal with these guys with connections is to peel away their protective shell bit by bit until you expose their vulnerable core, and then cut it off with one stroke.

The police chief fully cooperated with Roland's decision, since Lance and the local police department had never had a good relationship and there were still considerable conflicts between them.

Seeing that the plan had succeeded, the police chief smiled. These guys standing on the street with guns were clearly typical "bandits".

These were all he could think of, but in reality, there was much more to it than that; there were many more things at work behind the scenes.

For example, Mr. Porter was also paying attention to this matter at the time, and he planned to use this firefight in the New Gold City district as a case study in his campaign propaganda.

He will tell the public that he will prevent these things from happening again, to show his attitude towards degangsterization.

Naturally, Lance, who was pushed to the forefront of public opinion, would be abandoned by some people.

Even if he isn't abandoned, he won't be as important as before, and incidentally, it will also dampen the arrogance of Senator Cleveland's side.

Anything, even a small one, becomes significant once it becomes politically connected.

What they didn't know was that Lance wasn't the only one attacked; Major General Bruni was also among those targeted.

A prominent major general in the Ministry of National Defense was riding in the same car as a gang leader?
And Lance just gave Major General Bruni a good idea?

With just one more person and one more "key clue," some of their prepared backup plans might not be able to be activated.

As more and more police officers appeared, Major General Bruni's expression grew increasingly grim. If he were to give in now, his future within the Ministry of Defense would be completely ruined!
Even if he has powerful backers, those people wouldn't allow someone who has lost face and become a laughingstock to rise to a higher position.

He just stood there, looking at the police officers, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Of course, he noticed that Lance's expression was somewhat off, and he felt that he might have been used, but he needed more information to figure out what was going on.

He walked toward the police officers, who were still a little nervous despite him not having a weapon.

So he didn't get too close, just enough to talk. "Are you in charge here?"

He looked at the deputy director who had spoken earlier. The deputy director felt a slight chill run down his spine as he listened to Major General Bruni's question and sensed his attitude.

He was all too familiar with that tone!
That's the kind of tone only a big shot would use. He forced a nod, resisting the urge to turn around and glance at the vehicle where the bureau chief was.

"Yes, I am the person in charge on site."

Major General Bruni's gaze pierced his face like a knife. "I am Major General Bruni of the Ministry of National Defense. Now I will produce my identification."

As he spoke, he slowly pulled an ID card from his jacket pocket and gestured for a police officer to come over. "I need an explanation."

The deputy director suddenly felt the urge to urinate, but he knew he couldn't leave right now, so he had a police officer fetch his identification.

Seeing that the document wasn't particularly well-made, and even looked a bit hastily produced, he knew it was genuine.

Because fake certificates are more elaborate than real ones.

He swallowed hard. "I need to call and verify this."

Major General Bruni nodded, then left and went to the phone booth.

The Ministry of Defense quickly gave him a clear answer: Major General Bruni was indeed present and in service, and all the descriptions were correct.

His heart sank. Although he didn't know why the chief knew Lance would be attacked here, he knew this was a big deal.

At this point, the director realized something was wrong. Gang fights were one thing, but gang attacks on federal officials, especially a major general in the Department of Defense, were another.

He couldn't sit still any longer. He told someone to tell the deputy director how to handle it, then immediately left the car, ran to the nearby phone booth, and dialed Roland's number.

"The person has already been arrested?" Roland's voice was relaxed; this was the only outcome he could have imagined.

But the police chief's next words silenced him.

"You fucking didn't tell me there was a Major General from the Ministry of Defense in Lance's car!"

"Fuck, this is a serious problem now, you know?"

Roland also felt a chill run down his spine. "Major General of the Ministry of National Defense?"

"I fucking don't know!"

He stood up abruptly and paced back and forth a few steps. "First... first, handle it according to the normal procedure. This is a regular police response. Do you understand what I mean?"

The police chief swore and hung up the phone. "If they don't follow the proper procedures, how dare they take action against a major general in the Ministry of National Defense?"

He's a fucking menace!
The news spread quickly, and almost all the important figures knew about it.

(End of this chapter)