Shadow Empire

Chapter 1148 Hunting
The ringing of the telephone drew Lance's attention from the newspaper in front of him to the phone.

He walked to the phone and answered it. Melo's voice came through, "Something very unexpected has happened, and I felt I needed to tell you."

Lance hummed in agreement, and the sound of the television in the room quickly decreased. Barbara stood next to the television and turned its volume down to the minimum.

"That's right, just now, our messenger, on his way to deliver goods tonight, killed his boss and then drove off with a sum of money..."

Messi and Ronaldo summarized what had happened in a concise manner, and at the end, they also talked about their arrangements and ideas.

“There must be some things we don’t know about here. I don’t know what they are, but I’ve already sent people to investigate and check his residence to see if there are any clues.”

After listening to his arrangements, Lance gave him some affirmation, saying, "Your arrangements are excellent, but I have a few things to add."

"This matter is very strange, there are several strange aspects."

"Firstly, since he's already made his move, why not take out that... Little Ka too?"

"Why did you make him call and tell you that someone betrayed the family, ran away with the family's money, and even killed a family member?"

“This is a very obvious illogical point. If I were that person, I would kill everyone who knew about it and then drive away.”

When does the casino settle its daytime earnings at night?

"9:30," Melo said.

“Yes, even if the money hasn’t arrived by 9:30, they’ll assume it was delayed by something on the way and won’t even realize that there’s still a sum of money that hasn’t arrived.”

“From now until 9:30, he has at least two hours to run, which is enough time for him to do a lot of things.”

"But by some strange twist of fate, he left behind someone alive who could call us immediately."

"Secondly, our family's benefits are arguably the best among all gangs. If he really needs money, I believe he can get it resolved well by talking to you and his superiors."

"By the way, does this person gamble?"

Melo immediately pulled Kawhi to his side and threw Lance's question at him. Kawhi then immediately spoke into the microphone, "Based on my experience of spending the last two months with him, he doesn't gamble or flirt with women. He only drinks occasionally. He's very disciplined, almost like a madman!"

Does he have family?

“No, I asked him, and he said he was an orphan, so I didn’t press him further at the time. But from my interactions with him, it seems he really doesn’t have any family.”

"He didn't correspond, and he rarely made phone calls. There wasn't even a phone in his apartment!"

Lance hummed in agreement. "Now it seems simple. This must have been planned. He wanted to get our attention."

"To be honest, Roland has been quiet lately. He's not chasing after me like he used to, so I've been wondering if he's shifted his attention to other things."

"It now appears to be a planned attack, and the goal may be to create a breakthrough from the Golden Harbor City side."

Lance paused here, "You just had people chase after him in the direction he fled?"

Melo seemed to realize something, and his speech quickened. "Yes, I've already sent people to chase after them. Should we call them back?"

Lance immediately gave him a negative answer, "No, there's no need. If Roland is behind this, then we can take this opportunity to give him a good beating."

"If this wasn't his doing, then we can see who's plotting against us on our turf in Golden Harbor City."

"Mobilize all the captains in Jin Gang City, bring some heavy weapons, and go check it out."

"If necessary... kill them all."

"If it's not necessary, find out who it is, detain them, and we'll make further plans when I get back."

After Lance finished speaking, he hung up the phone. Next, it was Melo's turn to make the arrangements.

Barbara had already walked up to Lance and leaned on his shoulder. "Are you in trouble?"

Lance hummed in agreement and put his arm around her waist. “I’ve run into a little trouble. An old friend of mine seems to think he’s found some vulnerabilities and is trying to exploit them to attack me.”

"Unfortunately, his plan is very likely to fail."

"You sit for a while, I'm going to make a few phone calls."

Lance told Barbara to sit back down on the sofa, while he went straight back to his study.

He first called Senior Detective Supervisor Ford, who was apparently unaware of what was happening in Golden Harbor City and was unable to provide any valuable information.

Then Lance called Derek. As the chief of the Goldenport branch, Derek must know something.

At least that undercover agent must have some connection with him. Without his cooperation as a local strongman, the outside agent would not have been able to integrate into the Lance family at all.

The call was answered quickly, ringing only once. Lance didn't speak, and neither did Derek on the other end; both remained silent.

This silence led Lance to conclude that the matter was related to Derek, Director Roland, and the FBI.

After about ten seconds, Derek's voice came through the receiver, "This is Derek, who's over there?"

“I am Lance, Lance White.”

There was another silence. Perhaps even Derek himself didn't expect that Lance would make this call to him at this moment.

He was at a loss for words when Lance called, and stood there frozen for about ten seconds. "Yes... uh, I mean, is there some important instruction you need for calling so late?"

His laughter was a bit dry; he tried to ease the atmosphere with jokes, but it didn't work very well.

"Was it done by your people?"

Lance didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Did you arrange for your men to kill my men, and then did they set a trap, waiting for my men to walk right into it?"

Hearing Lance say that, Derek broke out in a cold sweat. In just those two sentences, which probably only took a few seconds, his forehead was already covered in sweat!
The weather has cooled down a bit; it's no longer so hot, and there's even a sense of autumnal chill lurking in the wind at night.

When it blows on a person, it sends a chill down their spine!
But now, he was sweating profusely.

"I do not know what you're talking about……"

“You know!” Lance interrupted him before he could finish speaking. “The people you arranged, the things you arranged.”

"Derek, do you know?"

“I’ve always thought you were a smart person, someone who could see the future, because you didn’t cause any trouble in Golden Harbor City. That saved me, you, your department, and even the entire FBI a lot of trouble.”

"But now it seems you're not as smart as I thought!"

"My man is dead. I don't know his name, what he looked like, what he did, or whether he had any friends or family."

“But I know he’s dead, my man is dead, on my turf, do you know how bad that is?”

Lance's tone wasn't particularly excited, just a little fast, but even that voice, neither as loud as a raging storm nor a tsunami, put immense pressure on Derek.

His breathing became heavy, and he knew exactly what this meant: it meant they had detonated a barrel of explosives on a volcano.

“I… have always been against doing this, but you know, that’s Director Roland. I’ve protested his request, but in the end I have to agree.”

“He’s my boss, and I can’t change those things. He can have someone else take over my job anytime!”

After hearing what he said, Lance's tone softened a bit. Although it sounded no different from before, you could still sense the difference.

“Tell me your plan…” After thinking it over, Derek quickly explained Director Roland’s plan to Lance.

It wasn't that he betrayed Director Roland, but rather that he needed to consider other things.

The death of a member of the Lance family is not just a matter of losing a minor character; it is a matter of challenging the dignity of the Lance family from the very core of the family!
They must not only retaliate, but also retaliate cruelly and brutally, only in this way can they deter everyone, including those who are eager to cause trouble.

This is similar to the conflict between the Perez family and Lance, which originated from a small matter. They cannot tolerate anyone who has provoked them and is still alive and kicking, as this would subject them to more questioning and challenges.

Even for a powerful family, many things change when people lose their reverence for you.

This is why gangs are "violent organizations." They maintain their authority and status not through benevolence, but through violence, and they must use violence!

If Derek doesn't explain this clearly, soon the entire Golden Harbor City, and even the entire FBI agents in Lycalley, will be implicated.

They might have been investigating a very ordinary case when suddenly a crazed suspect killed everyone, and then the suspect shot himself.

For example, their agents might be driving away from the Bureau of Investigation when they are hit head-on by a large truck and sent back to God's embrace.

Once Lance gets angry, the entire FBI of Likale cannot withstand his wrath!

Derek wasn't thinking of himself; he was thinking of the young people who still had dreams. They shouldn't die at this age; they deserve a brighter future!

But he couldn't say these things to Director Roland; this was the core issue and conflict between them.

Director Roland only wanted to find something on Lance and put him on trial, but Derek wanted stable development. One was very aggressive, the other very conservative. The clash of different ideas ultimately led to this situation.

As a friend personally promoted by Director Roland, he chose to betray Director Roland.

“Very good, you did the right thing. We can meet when I get back.”

"Now, make sure your men stay where they're supposed to be, instead of going off to join the crowd, or I can't guarantee they'll see the sun tomorrow."

Lance slammed down the phone, then dialed the number Melo had given him and explained what had happened.

Lance also explained some of his subsequent arrangements.

Meanwhile, the young man, completely unaware that he had revealed his identity, drove his vehicle directly along the intercontinental highway to a motel, where he parked under a streetlamp in the motel's parking lot.

Seemingly afraid that others wouldn't see the car and its license plate, it deliberately allowed the entire streetlight's light to fall on it.

He then went to the designated room, the location they had agreed upon beforehand.

The moment he pushed open the door, a gun was pressed against his back.

He slowly raised his hand, and then the lights in the room came on.

Some people in plainclothes were looking at him. He recognized one of them; he was an FBI agent from New Gold City, from the same cohort as him.

"They're one of us," his colleague said, and the guy behind the young man put down his weapon.

"Do they know you're here?" a middle-aged man asked.

His colleague introduced him, saying, "This is the head of FBI Operations Section 3, who is in charge of this operation plan. You can answer his questions."

The young man shook hands with the supervisor in a friendly manner, then nodded and said, "I can assure you they have caught up. I deliberately walked past their informants and parked the car under a streetlight."

“They will definitely chase after me, and once they see this car, they will know I am here.”

"The receptionist knows my room number, so they should be able to catch up within an hour at most!"

The supervisor nodded in satisfaction. "We'll be spreading them out to the surrounding rooms shortly. We've made some modifications to this room; there are two cameras operating here."

"Once they come in, don't resist them, but provoke them so that they say something that can accuse them."

"Then we'll surround them, arrest them, and your job will be done."

“Once we send them back to New Gold City, we have plenty of ways to get what we want out of him.”

"If the Lance family is ever destroyed because of this, you will be a great hero!"

The young man felt his blood boil after hearing this. He pursed his lips and said, "I did this not for glory or anything else. I just want to avenge my family!"

"Whatever your reasons, you have made outstanding contributions to the fight against crime!"

“If you have no other questions, we should leave now to prevent them from arriving early and discovering something.”

The young people naturally didn't refuse, and then the supervisor explained some more details before the group left the room.

Lying on the spring mattress, the young man stared at the ceiling, a multitude of images flashing through his mind.

The story includes his learning of his parents' tragic deaths during his university years, and his joining the FBI on the recommendation of his father's colleague, the New Gold City Police Chief, in order to seek revenge.

There were some tough days during his training, after all, it's understandable that a student would find it hard to cope with suddenly having to participate in military-style training.

But what he wrote most about was his life experiences during this period, his time as an undercover agent in the underworld.

For some reason, at this moment, a feeling of guilt arose deep within him; he had killed the "boss" who had been kind to him.

This feeling of guilt is like a wildfire that has been ignited; it cannot be extinguished at all, and the more you try to put it out, the more fiercely it burns.

He came up with many reasons for taking action, such as this guy being a gang member, involved in crime, disrupting social stability, or even possibly being part of the murder of his parents.

For example, this guy might do more bad things in the future. After all, he is a gang member. When he is needed to do something, he will not hesitate to pick up a weapon and deal with innocent people.

Just like they had treated his parents.

He came up with many reasons, but he still found it hard to convince himself.

He went from lying on his back to finally curling up, as if only in this way could he feel a little more comfortable.

Thirty-four minutes later, when he was starting to feel a little drowsy, the sound of a car engine coming from outside the window jolted him awake and made him fully alert.

He walked to the window and looked out at the parking lot through the curtains.

Four cars were parked on the side of the road. Someone got out of a car, walked to the parking lot, stood behind his car for a while, and even looked into the car for a moment. Then all four cars went into the motel.

Here they come!

At this moment, the young man, who had always thought he would never feel fear, actually felt a tiny bit of fear.

His breathing and heartbeat quickened, thumping loudly.

He had heard many stories about executions and honor killings within the family; the methods used to deal with traitors seemed to be a process that every family member had to go through upon joining the family.

Just like when joining a federal law enforcement agency, you need to declare that you will work hard to fight crime for the sake of order and social stability.

When joining a gang, one must also "take an oath," an unconventional oath.

He watched them until they disappeared into the hotel, then returned to his bedside, took his pistol from under his pillow, checked it again, and sat quietly.

In the darkness, everything in the room seemed indistinct, except for a pair of bright eyes that shone with life in the darkness...

(End of this chapter)