Shadow Empire

Chapter 1227 Confession
"Who's there?" The woman looked back towards the dining room as she walked to the door. Then she opened the door a crack and peered out through it.

There were many people standing outside the door. They were wearing long black woolen trench coats, fedoras, and each of them was even wearing black gloves, with their left hand holding their right wrist in front of them.

These people were dressed uniformly and looked very intimidating. At just one glance, the woman sensed a dangerous aura emanating from them.

Standing at the front was a man in his thirties. He took off his hat and put it in front of his chest. "Madam, we're here to find the gentleman who just entered the room."

"We need to talk to him about something. This has nothing to do with you or your family, so please open the door, okay?"

The hostess glanced back in the direction of the dining room. Her husband seemed to realize something was wrong. He looked at Christopher, then stood up, wiping his hands with a napkin while glancing at the two children. "Go back to your room and lock the door."

The two children didn't know what had happened, but after looking at their father's serious expression for a few seconds, they put down their knives and forks and ran upstairs.

Throughout the entire process, the male homeowner observed Christopher, and would pounce on him if Christopher made the slightest unusual move.

At that moment, he deeply regretted agreeing to Christopher's request for help; he knew trouble might be brewing.

Christopher was also extremely nervous. His palms were sweaty as he gripped the pistol. The position outside the door filled him with fear. He swallowed hard but did nothing.

The man looked at him, and he looked at the man. In fact, Christopher was not a courageous person. Only in desperate situations could fear force out the little courage he had.

However, most of the time, his courage cannot be demonstrated.

After hearing the loud slam of the door closing from the upstairs room, the male protagonist turned his gaze away and walked towards the door.

The moment he turned around, Christopher immediately stood up and walked toward the back door.

He walked quickly, even jogging after a few steps, and knocked over a wooden shelf in the corner used to display decorations. He staggered and pushed open the door, running outside with a blank mind. He saw the people outside the door, and they saw him too.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not draw his pistol. He knew very well the consequences of drawing it; these people might not give him a way out and would kill him outright.

He ran as hard as he could, just like he did when he was a child at school. He didn't like running and thought it was stupid, but the teacher made him run.

He ran and cursed, but after only a few steps he was panting heavily, unable to catch his breath, and his speed could not be increased.

At this moment, he felt as if he were overlapping with his elementary school self. Even though he had only been running for a short time, maybe twenty or thirty seconds, his breathing became rapid.

"Fuck, stop, or I'll shoot!"

His body trembled slightly, but he didn't stop. Instead, he tried to increase his speed as much as possible. He wanted to run away!

The man in the room glanced at the opened back door before looking away and continuing toward the main entrance. "Darling, what happened?"

"There are several gentlemen who... are looking for your friend."

The man walked over to the woman and glanced at the people outside the door. He paused for two seconds, then unlocked the door. Just then, someone behind the door suddenly shouted, "He's here!"

The shout drew everyone's attention at the doorway, and soon most of them ran to the back, while a few went inside.

At this moment, the male protagonist noticed that the person who was truly in charge among this group was actually a young man who looked to be only around twenty years old and didn't seem particularly remarkable.

He walked into the room, glanced at the cozy decor, and tapped his finger on the back of the sofa. "Are you friends of Dover?"

The sudden gunshot outside the door made the couple shudder. They looked at the young man in front of them in horror and quickly denied it, saying, "No, we are not his friends. Once when I went to Sumuli on a business trip, I lost my purse, and he helped me find it. To express my gratitude, I invited him to visit us. I didn't expect... he actually came."

Francisco sat down on the sofa. It felt soft and comfortable, and the sofa was well-maintained, unlike the sofas found in poor people's homes.

The kids would jump around on the sofa like crazy, and those 200-pound fat guys would throw themselves onto the sofa like a ball.

Their sofa had lost its elasticity and was just a frame, but the sofa itself was in good condition, like new.

"Sit down, sit down and talk. I'm not a man-eating monster. As long as you don't have any direct contact, I guarantee that nothing bad will happen."

The woman said nervously, "You fired your guns, the police will be here soon."

What she wanted to express was a subtle suggestion that these people should leave. They had fired shots, and someone in the community would definitely call the police. If they didn't want to cause trouble, they would better leave before the police arrived.

Federal police are paying close attention to predominantly light-skinned, middle-class communities; police cars will be arriving soon.

Francisco laughed and took off his hat. "Relax, don't be so tense."

"If the police come, they will understand our predicament."

Before he arrived, Lance had already spoken with the local police chief on the phone, exchanging a few words. The chief was very willing to cooperate with Francisco's operation.

As long as ordinary people aren't accidentally injured, firing a few shots is no big deal.

Just then, heavy footsteps and muttered curses came from the back door. Several men dragged Christopher in and threw him in front of Francisco.

Francisco stood up, walked up to his former cousin, and looked down at him.

After watching for a while, he looked at Christopher's men, who explained, "He was running very fast, and I shot him in the leg."

Francisco glanced at Dover's leg. There was indeed a wound on his trousers, but because it was late winter, his thick trousers had absorbed a lot of blood, so from the outside, the trousers only looked like a tear.

But in reality, he was losing blood.

Francisco nudged Christopher's chin with his toe. "I've been thinking about this, about how we'll be together again. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time and I've prepared a lot of gifts."

"But when you actually appeared in front of me, I seemed to have lost the strong desire I had at the beginning."

"Your father was so good to you, yet you killed him."

Christopher tried to say something, but Christopher stepped on his cheek.

Francisco gritted his teeth; he wasn't as indifferent as he claimed. He clenched his teeth so tightly they were almost breaking, and he stomped on them so hard that Christopher began to cry out in pain.

For a fleeting moment, he was dazed, and when he came to his senses, Christopher let out an even louder scream.

He released his leg, and the screams stopped abruptly. Several marks from the shoe soles digging into Christopher's flesh were left on his face.

Seeing the several cuts on his face, Francisco felt not only no relief from his emotions, but also an even stronger urge to destroy!

He glanced at the couple sitting on the sofa, then put on his hat and walked outside, saying, "Take him back with me."

Christopher was dragged like a dead dog into a car outside. The police arrived at this time, but they just watched from a distance and had no intention of intervening, even though Christopher shouted for help and even said that he wanted to turn himself in.

The police officers just watched from a distance, with no intention of coming over.

The convoy sped away quickly, and Lance learned of the news immediately.

"Are you going to come back and be with me?"

Lance considered for a moment, then glanced at the governor's secretary in the distance, who had noticed his gaze. The secretary immediately gave a humble smile and avoided Lance's gaze.

"I still have some things to do, probably until three or four in the afternoon."

Francisco's voice trembled slightly, "It's alright, I'll wait for you!"

"Okay, I'll be back." After hanging up the phone, he went to the governor's secretary. The governor was away today due to an event, but he had his secretary meet with Lance to continue discussing more detailed cooperation details.

In recent days, news has spread that Lance may invest hundreds of millions of dollars in South Yaan State, and many mayors are contacting the state government, hoping to bring this investment to their jurisdictions.

This could absolutely be one of the most outstanding achievements of their political careers, something that would be worth mentioning even on a higher level.

They didn't care whether Lance was a gang leader or whether the money was dirty; all they wanted was to put all the economic benefits and political influence that the money would bring into their own pockets.

Lance is currently discussing with the governor's secretary which city to develop this integrated film and entertainment "new town".

Such a city is unlikely to be built directly; it relies on the environment of a mature, contrasting city. Therefore, both Lance and the governor have treated this project as a "satellite city."

Now, all Lance needs to do is choose a suitable location and start preparing for the project.

"...Mr. White, based on your requirements, I have initially selected these cities."

The governor's secretary circled several cities on the large map, some relatively inland and others on the coastline. He drew two extra circles around one coastal city.

"The governor's idea is to build this new project in a coastal area, where sea transport is more developed and cheaper than land transport, and it can also attract some tourists from overseas."

“They can reach the new city by simply taking a short car ride after disembarking, but if it were inland, they might need to transfer, which is not convenient for tourists.”

The secretary talked a lot. Coastal cities will definitely develop faster than inland cities. Transportation is the biggest advantage. Lance really hopes to settle this project by the sea. The next step is to select from several coastal cities.

This matter cannot be decided in a short time. He still needs to speak with the mayors of these candidate cities individually to see what kind of preferential policies they can offer.

The state government's preferential policies are state government policies. In cities with a mayoral system, the mayor still has considerable power. They can give Lance more preferential policies within their permitted scope.

Everyone knows this is a good project, and everyone wants to get their hands on it, so Lance isn't in a hurry at all.

When he drove back to the estate he had temporarily bought in the suburbs, Francisco, who was sitting on the sofa, suddenly stood up.

His emotions were relatively stable at first, but after seeing Lance, he became somewhat choked up.

Lance walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go see him."

Francisco nodded, rubbed his eyes, and walked with Lance toward the makeshift "dungeon".

Many estates in the Federation have such "basements," which are advertised as basements but are actually dungeons used for vigilante justice.

The federal government banned lynching long ago, but it had little practical use. The wealthy, especially those from the upper echelons of society who had transitioned from large landowners and capitalists, were accustomed to using lynching to punish disobedient slaves during the era of slavery.

They have continued this custom, and if a family's estate doesn't have those many single-room basements, then that family must be a nouveau riche.

The manor also has a basement like this, but it hasn't been used for a long time. After Lance and his team bought it, they did some simple renovations, and it's almost done.

Each room is paved with glass bricks for easy cleaning.

When the two arrived at the first private room, they could hear footsteps coming from inside.

As the iron gate creaked open with a somewhat stiff hinge, Lance saw Christopher.

Christopher also saw Lance.

He was very nervous, constantly swallowing, and standing as close to the wall as possible, trying to get as far away from Lance as possible.

Irwin had two chairs brought in and placed in the room. Lance sat down, but Francisco did not. He stood behind Lance, staring at Christopher with a hateful gaze.

Perhaps sensing that his life was about to end, Christopher, overwhelmed by fear, couldn't withstand the pressure and collapsed to his knees.

The glass brick floor was very hard, and you could hear the crisp sound of his bones hitting the bricks through just a thin layer of skin.

Christopher's face also showed pain and remorse. He slapped himself and said, "I'm sorry."

The slap was very hard; his cheek visibly swelled up, and a handprint appeared on his cheek, very red, with broken capillaries.

Francisco continued to stare intently at him, and the atmosphere in the room was somewhat oppressive.

Christopher's gaze fell on Francisco. "I...I'm sorry, but I can explain. I was terrified. Paul was going to kill me..."

"Shut up!" Francisco suddenly snapped, which, to be honest, startled Lance.

He had a loud voice and shouted urgently, so I wasn't prepared at all.

"You are not worthy to utter that name, Dover!"

"I'm so angry I can't sleep when I think about all the things you scum did!"

Francisco walked up to Christopher. The fact that these former cousins ​​were now facing each other in this way was truly a testament to the strangeness of fate!
Francisco didn't hit him or kick him; he simply approached and looked down at him.

"He gave you everything he could: better treatment and a higher status in the family."

Sometimes I'm even jealous of you, you know?

"He always takes you with him, taking you to various events and to meet other people."

"And I, his own son, was thrown into school by him. He told me to become a cultured person, but to me it was more like an exile."

“I even suspect that you are his real son.”

"But in the end, it was you, Dover!"

He clenched his fists tightly, his emotions running high, and he revealed some things that even Lance didn't know.

Paulo hoped that Francisco would not follow in his footsteps, or rather, even if Francisco were to inherit the Pasreto family in the future, he should be a highly educated gangster with a college degree.

Instead of those uneducated, low-level leaders who never went to school and hung out on the streets.

Society is developing too fast. Paul can see some fragments of the future, but he can't see the whole picture.

He probably didn't expect that his actions would evoke such emotions in Francisco, nor did he understand that his actions would embolden Christopher to eventually turn against him.

Paul may have been very clever in some ways, but he was not so clever in others. No one can be clever in all aspects, not even God. Although people say that he is omniscient and omnipotent, that is not actually the case.

Christopher knelt on the ground and kept slapping himself in the face. He cried and wailed, tears and snot streaming down his face. He didn't make people feel sorry for him; he just made them feel disgusted.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry Paul, I swear I really didn’t mean to hurt him.”

"During the struggle for the weapon, it accidentally went off. I didn't mean to. I was terrified, and I had no choice but to run away..."

Lance took out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with a lighter.

He took a drag of his cigarette, and his mood seemed to relax more. "I once heard a saying that I think is very fitting here."

"You didn't realize you were wrong until this moment. Your apologies, your repentance, your fear were only because you knew that if you didn't do it, you might not live much longer."

(End of this chapter)