Shadow Empire

Chapter 1215 No retreat

Leonardo put down the phone, looking somewhat dejected, and returned to his recliner. He casually pulled a fine blanket over his lap, picked up his pipe, and took a puff.

The rich aroma of cigarettes, accompanied by the scent of spices, improved his mood slightly. He took a deep drag, and the thick smoke filled every part of his mouth like a solid.

It's like taking a big gulp of water and then inhaling it into your lungs.

No wonder people like the feeling of being filled; this feeling of being filled makes everyone feel comfortable, at ease, and safe.

The slight stimulation from nicotine was no longer so intense, but he still felt some of it.

He had a premonition, a terrible premonition, that everything was sliding into an uncontrollable abyss.

Christopher hung up the phone on the other end, muttering some curses. He didn't like Leonardo, and if it weren't for needing the old man's protection, he wouldn't have bothered with this greedy and stingy old man for even a day!

The gunmen he sent are no longer reliable. When Leonardo called him earlier, he told him that the gunmen he sent were top-notch and would definitely be able to solve Lance's problem.

He made a big boast, and it backfired spectacularly. Now Christopher is going to face Lance's wrath.

He knew this person all too well. As long as he didn't kill him, he would pounce on him like a starving beast and tear him apart!

He paced back and forth a few steps. To be honest, part of his fear of Lance stemmed from Alberto and Paul. In other words, his fear of Paul and his resentment towards Alberto ultimately converged on Lance because of their deaths.

In his eyes, Lance was an avenger, not his nominal cousin, Francisco.

That little thing posed no threat to him whatsoever; the only thing that truly made him feel danger and threat was Lance.

Now he just hopes that the idiot gunmen Leonard sent over don't know he's Christopher, since he claims to be "Camillo Bianchi," a member of the Bianchi family.

Of course, sitting idly by and waiting for his doom was not his habit. He pushed open the office door and snapped his fingers twice at his subordinates who were standing or sitting outside, or who were clearly not good people in the distance, signaling them to follow him into the office.

A dozen or so people quickly squeezed into the office. As the largest beverage supplier in Nan Ya An Prefecture, it was normal to have such a large staff.

He sat in the large chair, looking at the group of people. "We're in a bit of trouble now. The gunmen from our hometown made a lot of boasting. They didn't manage to take down Lance, and they might even have been caught."

"We can't rely on them keeping their employers a secret, so we need to be prepared to confront the Lance family's attack head-on."

He looked at the person he relied on most in the crowd. Like him, he was a "son-in-law" of the Bianchi family. If he had read a similar book from another world, he would definitely feel a deep sense of identification.

Unfortunately, he hadn't read it, so he couldn't find that sense of immersion, nor could he learn the bizarre and mindless problem-solving methods in the book.

"From now on, I need you to recruit more people to protect our safety."

“It’s not just me, it’s all of you too. Everyone needs to double the number of people around them, plus people patrolling at night. I’m not kidding you.”

"I know Lance, and I know the Lance family's style of doing things. Their revenge will definitely come, and it will come very fiercely and quickly!"

"Only by holding off the first wave can we engage in a protracted battle. If we can't hold off the first wave..."

He pursed his lips, not mentioning the unstoppable consequences, because everyone already knew.

If we can't stop them, we'll only face certain death.

"We need to send more people to our beverage delivery, our bars, our warehouses, and everything related to us."

"For some remote areas, the supply of alcohol will be temporarily suspended. If they ask you for alcohol, let them come and get it themselves. You can give them a discounted price."

"Please be careful during this period. If you notice anything unusual, please report it to me immediately."

He tapped his finger on the table. “Unlike others, they have a way out. If they lose everything here, they can go back to the island or go somewhere else.”

"We have no way out. If we lose everything here, we will lose our greatest value. Even if we can return to the island, our lives will not be easy!"

"Think about your life now, think about your life in the past. If you lose these, what are you?"

"Think it over carefully, and then get to work!"

"Tony, you stay."

When most of the people had left, Christopher lit a cigarette and walked to the French windows to look at the beautiful scenery outside.

His early life was almost entirely overshadowed by Paul; pain, jealousy, hatred, and all sorts of negative emotions tormented him.

It took him more than 30 years to find a life that truly belonged to him, and he would not allow such a hard-won life to slip away from his hands!

Tony, who was also a son-in-law of the Bianchi family, stood behind him. "I need you to do something for me!" He turned to look at Tony, who knew the seriousness of the matter and nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Christopher turned back to look at the beautiful scenery outside the window. "Prepare some money, put it in suitcases, 100,000 dollars per suitcase, prepare two million first."

"Also, see if there are any people back in our hometown who are willing to risk everything for money, and recruit some of them."

"If shooting can't kill him, then switch to bombs. I refuse to believe that bombs can't kill him!"

Tony swallowed hard when he heard Christopher's somewhat delusional words. "Dover, using explosives in the Federation will attract the attention of the federal government. Shouldn't we... be more discreet?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Christopher turned around abruptly and glared at him fiercely. "Keep it down?"

"Fuck, Tony!"

"Frank Q, Tony!"

"Do you even understand what you're talking about?"

"Keep it low-key?"

He walked over to Tony and nodded hard on his chest with the hand holding the cigarette. "We're facing the most fucking ruthless gang in the Federation, the Lance family. You want me to keep a low profile? How can I keep a low profile?"

"Look at how he dealt with the Perez family. If we keep a low profile and bury our heads in the sand, the next time we see the sky will be when we're lying on the execution platform!"

“We must get rid of Lance as soon as possible, so I said we should use suicide bombers, those who are willing to die with Lance while holding explosives. Even if they investigate, they won’t be able to find us.”

"After all, the first group of assassins targeting Lance was sent by Leonardo."

At that moment, Tony suddenly realized something. He looked at the somewhat unfamiliar man in front of him with disbelief and surprise.

“You…”, he was a little confused. When did Christopher become so smart?
Also, what did he mean by saying those things?
Perhaps sensing the question Tony wanted to ask, Christopher walked up to him and put his arm around his neck tightly. "Brother, when you were in Sumuli, did you think about how you were doing?"

Do you still want to go back to those days?

"I'm telling you, I don't believe it. Anyone who fucking wants me to go back to that kind of life, I'll kill them!"

"Even Leon won't do!" "Our lives are our own; we must be responsible for ourselves!"

He thought about his experiences over the years, especially the day he killed Paul. His fate had already ended before him; if nothing unexpected happened, he would have died in Paul's arms, taking responsibility for and repenting for what he had done.

But he defied fate, he rewrote his destiny, and everything changed after he mustered the courage to take that crucial step!
He believed that this time would be no different; as long as he could overturn fate once again and rewrite his destiny, the future would be better than the present!
Tony seemed to be infected by his tone and confidence, and a smile appeared on his face as well. "I will make all the preparations and make sure nothing goes wrong!"

Christopher slapped him hard on the shoulder twice. "The future belongs to us!"

He then told Tony to get to work immediately. He didn't know how much time he had left, so he had to act quickly and take care of Lance before Lance could make a move against them.

While Christopher was thinking about Lance, Lance was chatting with Francisco.

Francisco, who was in his twenties, looked very handsome and resembled Paulo by about 70%, but he lacked some of the charisma that Paulo had, the aura of a gangster tycoon.

This kind of temperament can only be forged through battle, bloodshed, and death, and Francisco is still lacking in that area.

"I heard that the person who attacked you might be from Dover." His eyes held a mixture of inquiry, excitement, and, beneath it all, hatred.

After considering for a moment, Lance nodded. "Yes, they are connected to Christopher, but apart from him, it was Leonardo who actually sent these people."

Francisco was very familiar with the name, because if it weren't for the Bianchi family's intervention, Alberto and his men would have brought Christopher back from Sumuli long ago.

It was because of the Bianchi family's interference that Alberto and his companions remained on Sumuli Island forever.

This is double the hatred!

"That son of a bitch..." he squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, then looked up at Lance, "Uncle Lance, is there anything I can do to help?"

"I desperately want to avenge my father, Paolo, and my uncle, Alberto, no matter the cost!"

Looking into his eyes, one could see the deep-seated hatred and furious flames burning within them.

After thinking for a moment, he slowly nodded. "You're from Sumuli. They obviously trust you more than they trust me. Perhaps you can find out what's going on with Christopher."

The Sumuri people are cliquish and xenophobic. They don't trust anyone other than Sumuri people, whether they are from the Federation or not. Even if they have good relationships with some Federation members, it is difficult for those Federation members to truly integrate into their group.

The Secret Society is a group that only trusts its own kind who share the same bloodline.

There are some things that Lance couldn't find out, but as a Sumurian and the head of the Pasreto family, which is doing quite well in the Federation, Francisco could easily find out.

This is tantamount to... telling Lance is tantamount to betraying their own people, that they are traitors.

But they told Francisco that this was an internal conflict, not betrayal, just taking sides.

Francisco nodded vigorously, a smile appearing on his face. "I'll get to the bottom of this."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I have another unreasonable request, Uncle Lance. I hope that if we can capture Christopher, you will allow me to cut off his head with my own hands and use it to pay tribute to my father."

“If one day we can take down Leonardo, then I hope that I can personally cut off his head and place it in front of Uncle Alberto’s grave.”

Lance didn't refuse. "I promise you, they owe you this!"

With Francisco's involvement, things did indeed move much faster. The Sumuli people were connected, just like the old doctor calling his old friend in Jin Gang City.

The Sumuli people of Likale state also have relatives and friends living in South Yaan state on the west coast, and they can learn about the current state of alcohol sales there with just a phone call.

Christopher did a good job. Firstly, South Yaan's economic development is not as good as that of the East Coast, and the scale and ruthlessness of the local gangs are certainly not as good as those on the East Coast. There is a gap.

The most important thing for maintaining the size and fighting power of a gang is money. Before the implementation of Prohibition, the biggest sources of income for local gangs were sex work, extortion, and human trafficking.

After the Prohibition was implemented, everyone knew that selling alcohol was extremely profitable, but they lacked a source of supply. Under these circumstances, Christopher, who brought a large amount of alcohol from Sumuli, overwhelmed them.

Therefore, in Nanyaan Prefecture, the name "Camillo Bianchi" is quite well-known, and many people know that a great figure has emerged from the Sumuli people.

As news about this "Mr. Camilo" accumulated in Francisco's hands, he became even more motivated!

He had waited too long for this day. The hatred for his father and Alberto had tormented his heart constantly. Now that he finally had the chance to take revenge himself, he would not miss this opportunity!
Of course, life isn't just about revenge; there are other things too.

The assassination of Lance was not directly related to those within Indenor who opposed him, but what was strange was that those who clearly resisted and opposed Lance suddenly chose to silently compromise.

Perhaps they were worried that Lance would pin the blame on them. Faced with someone who might flip the table at any time and refuse to reason with you, and you have no way to deal with him, compromise is probably the choice that normal people would make.

Things progressed quickly, and the desired effect was soon achieved throughout the entire state of Indenor.

Either cooperate with Lance and create a win-win situation for everyone.

Either shut up and watch others take the money that should rightfully belong to them.

Everything in the state is back on track, and cooperation between each link is going very smoothly.

Sometimes Lance even thought that the gray-haired guy had shot a great shot, getting rid of a lot of trouble and saving him a lot of time.

In April, the president officially began to take full charge of federal affairs, and immediately after taking office, he announced a pardon for some Liberal Party members.

This kind of thing is actually quite normal; the Socialist Party president would do the same if they won the election next time.

Sometimes the role of "president" is not like that of a politician with normal emotions and a high IQ, but more like a willful child who does whatever he wants.

He pardoned some Liberals, which led to some negative public opinion of him. Perhaps in order to maintain his respectable image, he submitted a proposal to the federal Congress to create a new federal internal security department.

The FBI is out of options. Not only is the Socialist Party firmly opposed to this issue, but the Federal Party has also sided with the Socialists. It is difficult for them to obtain a majority vote to remove the new FBI director and replace him with someone from the Liberal Party.

If all the authorities and law enforcement agencies are under the control of the Liberal Party, then no one can guarantee what the future will look like.

Federal politicians, including some voters, are very committed to the separation of powers, believing that only through this separation can the long-term governance, fairness, equality, and freedom of the federal government be guaranteed.

When Senator Cleveland called to inquire about Lance's injury, they discussed the matter briefly. It's highly likely that the Socialists won't be able to refuse the president's request; they can offer some bargaining chips and are willing to retain the new FBI director.

In exchange, the Socialist Party would allow them to establish a new law enforcement agency, but on one condition: they could not overstep their authority.

Senator Cleveland told Lance that there was a high probability that the new department would operate in parallel with the FBI, and would be in competition with it.

The two sides will have a high degree of overlap in many aspects, and whoever does better will gain more power. The means of political struggle have been extended again and manifested in another form.

No one knew whether Lance would be their first target after the new department was established, and Senator Cleveland asked him to cut off as many unnecessary criminal businesses as possible.

Of course, the liquor business cannot be abandoned, after all, it is the most profitable business, and the Socialist Party also benefits the most from it!

(End of this chapter)