Shadow Empire

Chapter 1213 Lock
In the cramped room, four men sat with grim expressions, with the newspapers delivered that morning lying between them.

Lance was attacked and injured, but the injury was not serious; it could be described as a scrape.

Although the others didn't say it, the gray-haired man could sense that they were somewhat resentful of him.

He didn't feel anything after being shot and having the bullet removed, but since the middle of last night, the pain from the gunshot wound has been tormenting him and keeping him awake.

Fortunately, the brother they found had some painkillers at home. Although they couldn't completely stop the pain, they could at least make him feel a little better.

They had been eagerly awaiting the newspapers and bad news from the hospital since early morning, but now it seemed that they would not receive any bad news about Lance; instead, they received bad news about themselves.

“I…” The gray-haired man wanted to say something, but he looked at his three comrades and explained, “At that time, the bodyguard in front of Lance almost blocked my entire attack route, and he was very sensitive. He kept staring at me and locked onto me.”

The team's strategist frowned and asked, "You've been exposed?"

The gray-haired man shook his head. "I told you, he's a soldier. He probably sensed that kind of aura about me. After all, we're not professional assassins, and some habits left over from the military are hard to change."

"I have to shoot."

“If I hadn’t fired this time, we might not have had another chance. I tried my best to hit him.”

"And as you've seen, I did hit him, but his bodyguards were too professional."

"They didn't even give me a chance to fire a second shot."

The thought of those people pinning Lance down completely made the gray-haired man want to curse.

This was the first time he had ever seen a bodyguard so fearless.

He had previously been in charge of some assassination missions in Sumuli. When some people gained significant promotions and increased power, they inevitably had to purge other groups who were not on their side.

In the assassinations he was involved in, the bodyguards of the assassinated men behaved very unprofessionally.

The moment the gunshot rang out, their bodyguards' first instinct was to find cover and fight back, rather than protect their target.

This allowed them to easily eliminate their targets in assassinations, leaving them standing naked in empty spaces and being riddled with bullets.

But this time, Lance's bodyguards didn't care about their own safety at all; they protected Lance so well that he couldn't do anything about it.

Everyone stared at him, and after a while their expressions softened considerably.

"So what do we do now?" one of the drivers in the group couldn't help but ask.

The guy driving was also a gunman, and he had decent shooting skills, but he wasn't the one primarily responsible for firing the gun. His greatest strength was his driving ability.

Some people are like that; they seem to have a natural, magical ability to control cars, as if they can make the car a part of their body.

In a sense, this driver was a member of the team, but not a core member.

He was only responsible for driving.

The gray-haired man glanced at the wound on his shoulder. Yesterday, to prevent infection, they had the doctor administer an excessive dose of antibiotics, and it seemed that this was the right thing to do, as the wound had not worsened.

What they will face next is retaliation and investigation from the Lance family.

The group looked at each other, all feeling helpless.

They now live in the attic of an apartment in Sumuli District, which has been uninhabited and vacant for a very long time.

The friend they contacted was the apartment manager, who had all the keys to the attic and secretly arranged for them to move in.

Every now and then, their friends would bring them some food and water. Their initial plan was to get through this most stressful period and then leave.

When the situation outside calmed down, seeing waves of Lance family members and their cars appearing on the street below, the gray-haired man and the team's strategist felt that things were getting a bit tricky.

They didn't know if other areas were also being searched with the same intensity, so they could only assume the worst.

Lance may already know something about their identities, which is why there are the most people here.

The attic had windows overlooking the entire street, and they had just been watching the Lance family members below.

They would ask each pedestrian to take off their hat, observe them for a moment, and then let them leave.

The team's strategist deduced that the guy who made eye contact with the gray-haired man had already had his portrait drawn.

Having a portrait makes finding people easier, which also makes them more passive, as it's difficult for them to leave this place.

Moreover, they don't know whether these people have portraits of other people.

After all, they had parked their car on the edge of the square beforehand, so someone might have noticed them and taken a picture or something.

The driver's questions from before still haven't been answered. What should we do now?
Nobody knows what to do now.

Everyone remained silent, no one had a good solution.

"Let's leave it at that for now." After a while, the team's leader sighed. "Let's focus on healing the injuries first. As we planned before, once we're less stressed, we'll try to sneak out at night when we can't see anything."

“I have an idea. We’ll take the back road and have him drive along the main road. There’s a motel about 40 or 50 kilometers west of here, outside the city. We saw it when we came here.”

“We’ll meet up there and then leave Indenor State quickly.”

The other three looked at each other, without any objection.

They are not good at thinking, and the plan sounds perfectly fine.

“Then let’s do it this way. Just wait patiently for the next few days.” He paused for a moment, then added, “I noticed that the attic at the other end of the corridor is also empty.”

“We can’t completely trust this person. We’ll be here when he brings things up in the future.”

"After he leaves, we'll go to the room over there."

The gray-haired man's eyes held a dangerous glint. "You mean, he might betray us?"

The team's leader shook his head and said, "I can't be sure, but our safety is the most important thing."

The gray-haired man finally confirmed, "Then let's do as you say."

The apartment manager downstairs was unaware that he too had become a distrusted person, despite the many dangerous things he had done.

He never expected that things would be exposed so quickly!

At this moment, Erwin personally led the team to the apartment building the old doctor had mentioned. This was not where the manager worked; it was where he lived.

He lives in this apartment building, but works in other apartments; this is quite common.

The moment the convoy stopped, the apartment building's caretaker nervously turned off his radio and stood up.

A large group of Lance family members walked in from outside. Erwin walked at the front, and he reached the administrator's workbench, placing one hand on the table. "I'm looking for someone. His name is..."

He said a name, and the administrator immediately pictured the guy in his mind.

He glanced at the people around him and said softly, "He lives in room seven on the ninth floor."

"Do you live alone?" Erwin asked.

The administrator shook his head. "He lives with his family."

Upon hearing this, Erwin knew there was a high probability the gunmen weren't hiding here, since no one would keep gunmen with their families. Nevertheless, he still went up to check. "Is the person I'm talking about at home right now?"

The administrator shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't seen him come back or leave since I started working here."

Erwin took two two-dollar bills out of his pocket and placed them on the table. "One last question, do you know where he works?"

"Or rather, where does he usually go?"

The administrator is very familiar with this issue, after all, they are in the same industry, just from different companies.

“He works as a caretaker in an apartment building on another street. Turn right ahead and go to the third intersection…” He explained in detail how to get there. Erwin glanced at the person next to him, who nodded to indicate that he had memorized it.

The group then entered the elevator.

The elevators in these old apartment buildings are the kind of old-fashioned industrial elevators that look a bit unsettling, with two doors.

Sometimes when riding it, you might worry that the elevator might fall or go up when the doors open, and such things have happened before.

In busier parts of the city, automatic doors have been installed, but here, you still need to open the door manually.

However, this type of elevator also has an advantage: it is large enough to carry a lot of heavy objects.

It can carry not only people, but also goods.

The elevator was crammed with more than ten people. As the elevator doors were pulled shut, the gears overhead began to turn, and the already taut steel cables emitted an uncomfortable groan under the pull of the force.

A dull and dimly lit space can indeed make people feel insecure and fearful.

The swaying elevator slowly ascended, and after about a minute or two, a huge "Ninth Floor" sign appeared directly opposite the elevator doors, indicating that they had arrived at their destination.

It's obvious at a glance that the two sliding folding doors are quite worrying.

The person at the front opened two doors, and the people in the elevator exited much faster.

Erwin exhaled a breath of stale air. He had actually felt uncomfortable inside as well; the old elevator was practically torturing his nerves.

Only by coming out of that state can he feel that security has returned to him.

He glanced at the house numbers around him and quickly found the guy's house, then knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" came a woman's voice from inside the room. Then the door opened a crack, and Erwin could see a chain about the thickness of a little finger between the door and the frame. She hadn't released the safety lock.

The old woman looked at the people outside with a confused expression. "I don't know you."

Irwin smiled slightly. "I have some questions I'd like to discuss with your son."

The old woman's gaze fell on those who didn't look like they were easy to deal with, and her expression became tense. "My son doesn't know you either, and he has nothing to talk to you about."

As she was about to close the door, someone immediately blocked it, and a man's voice rang out from inside the room, "Who's there?"

As footsteps approached, another elderly man appeared through the crack in the door.

He peered through the crack in the door and saw the distinctive markings on the sleeves of those people; his heart sank.

He turned to his wife and said, "I'll handle them. You go do your thing."

His wife was somewhat worried, but she chose to obey.

When facing certain problems, it is the man who is the most reliable member of a family.

The old man didn't speak to them from the other side of the room; he simply unlocked the door and came out of the room. "She's very timid, let's go talk to her from the side."

Erwin nodded and came over to him.

Men are always more interested in news, especially serious news. The old man also read the newspaper every day, and he learned some things about the Lance family from the newspaper.

After all, last year, Roland's main opponent was Lance, who used some of the Liberal Party's resources to reveal some "secrets" about the Lance family in the media.

Later, the Federal Daily published a feature on the largest gang in the Federation, which included an introduction to the Lance family and their attire.

For example, his idea for how to distinguish them was to put them in a dangerous situation based on their uniform attire.

Regardless of whether he achieved his goal, he was at least successful in popularizing knowledge about gangsters.

The old man recognized these people as members of the Lance family at a glance. Combining this with the morning newspaper report that Lance had been assassinated, and now that these people had come to his door, he could already imagine what had happened.

With trembling hands, he pulled a pack of cigarettes worth five cents from his pocket and took one out.

Perhaps the lighter shared his feelings at that moment, because it wasn't in the mood to light a fire, and he tried several times without success.

It wasn't until Erwin took out his lighter, lit it, and handed it over that the matter was resolved.

"Thank you!" the old man said, lighting a cigarette and handing the lighter back to Erwin. "You're a good man."

Erwin smiled and put the lighter away. "You should know why we're here."

The old man nodded. "The newspapers have already reported it. I just never imagined that something that happened in the news would happen to me."

He paused for a moment, then said, “He’s a good kid, unlike those young people who join gangs on the streets early in the morning. He’s even happy to do the job of an apartment manager.”

Being an apartment manager might not be a big deal for middle-aged and elderly people, but it's not a good job for young people, especially those who are young and impetuous.

This is, after all, a service industry, which means they have to serve the residents with a very humble attitude. The middle-aged and elderly have become more obedient after being slapped in the face by society, but the young are different; their edges have not been smoothed out yet.

Therefore, most apartment building managers are middle-aged or elderly people, and very few are young people.

It's quite admirable that a young person can set aside their pride to "serve" others.

Erwin didn't respond. He looked at Erwin, somewhat nervously, "I...can I ask, what are your plans to do with him?"

Irwin thought for a moment, "If he can cooperate with us and find those people, this matter will end here."

"If he tries to deceive us, help those people escape our capture, or even resist."

He didn't continue speaking; the conversation ended there, but everyone knew what the outcome would be.

The old man took two deep drags on his cigarette, then threw it on the ground. "I'll go with you."

Would you like to see my house?

Erwin tilted his head slightly, and the men took out their pistols, but tucked them into their coats to conceal them, and went into the house with the old man.

The old woman had been watching the commotion outside. When she saw her husband return, she immediately went to greet him and grabbed his hand with some concern.

"It's nothing, they just need to talk to me about something, don't worry!"

"I'm going out for a bit. If I make it back in time, I'll have lunch. If I don't come back, it means I'm busy."

He picked up a coat from the hanger by the door and put it on, saying before his wife could ask anything else, "Take care of the house and yourself."

Then, without looking back, he left with Erwin and the others.

More than ten minutes later, the convoy appeared outside another apartment building.

"Fuck!" the driver, who was idly watching the street scene, suddenly shouted, "A lot of people have come downstairs, they've spotted us!"

The team's leader ran to his side and looked down. Many people were getting out of their cars, and they seemed to have surrounded the apartment building. The gray-haired guy also squeezed in.

Panic crossed everyone's face. "What do we do now?"

The driver continued to play his role well, a guy who only asked, "What do we do now?"

The team's strategist kept racking his brains trying to figure out where things had gone wrong, and finally the old doctor came to mind.

He pursed his lips tightly. He had underestimated the Lance family's methods, but overestimated their abilities.

"Hide! Let's split up and hide. Before they come up, go to any other room, find one that's occupied, and they might not find us!"

He drew his pistol as he spoke, "Go now!"

"If... we should try our best to live. We've survived on the battlefield, we shouldn't die here!"

The other three people, who were initially a bit tense, seemed to have relaxed considerably.

(End of this chapter)