Shadow Empire

Chapter 1228 Death and Gifts
The Pasreto family also had its own family "rules," and the rules for dealing with traitors could also be considered a kind of "family code."

Christopher clearly knew this, and he knelt on the ground begging, feeling more terrified of being punished than of dying directly!
As Lance said, Christopher felt no remorse for the bastards he had done, only fear of death.

He clasped his hands together and pleaded with Francisco, "For the sake of us being brothers..."

Francisco turned around and unbuttoned his jacket. "If you really considered me your brother, you wouldn't have done that."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Hang him up."

Two burly men came over and tried to help Christopher up. He knew very well that once he was hung up, it meant that everything was beyond saving.

He struggled frantically, kicking and cursing, trying to provoke Francisco.

But nothing he did was of any use.

It is difficult for people who have never been tortured to understand the changes in the mind of a prisoner during the torture process.

Before they are tortured, they may think about many things: how to fabricate lies, how to resist, how to fight back, and how to get through the ordeal.

The victims will also make ample psychological preparations, telling themselves through various forms of self-suggestion that it is just... certain punishments, and that they can endure it.

But when they actually begin to be tortured, the feeling of constantly getting closer to death makes it impossible for them to control their emotions. They panic, break down, and start begging for mercy.

Almost no one can survive it. Even those who have received anti-torture training often find it difficult to endure and tend to seek quick death through various means to avoid this continuous suffering.

Christopher felt he could do some things he wanted to do, but he shut up when two punches landed on his stomach.

The intense pain and diaphragmatic spasms rendered him completely incapable of resistance, and he allowed the two men to hang him on a crucifix-like instrument of torture.

The room temperature had risen due to the fire in the stoves, and Francisco was only wearing a white shirt; he had taken off his coat.

There was a special sense of ritual in the room; Lance had already moved his seat to the corner.

They brought in a crucifix, a very small one, about a foot tall, with a silver pedestal, and pushed it in on a small cart.

Francisco knelt directly in front of the crucifix, his eyes closed, muttering something under his breath.

The people of Sumuli are mostly religious and devout believers. Sumuli Island itself has a strong family and religious atmosphere, so many families, whether executing or being executed, will repent to God and ask God to forgive them for the sins they have committed or are about to commit.

This is a ritual, a tradition. The value of a ritual lies in making tradition a culture that is passed down through generations.

Christopher's body was already trembling, and as Francisco's prayer was about to end, he actually wet his pants.

As the final prayer ended, Francisco opened his eyes.

The butler pushed over another small cart with a row of gleaming torture instruments on it. These instruments were specially brought from Golden Harbor City, specifically for the purpose of executing Christopher!
“If… I can bring it.” The butler looked at Francisco with some concern. He had never done these things before. There was a professional “executioner” in the family, and his uncle used to play this role as well.

But with Paul's death, the family was divided and reorganized, his uncle had been killed, and a new executioner had not yet been appointed.

The butler understood that Francisco intended to personally execute Christopher, but this was not an easy task. He worried that Francisco, who had spent most of his life in school and had only been involved in family affairs for a few years, was not capable of doing it.

Francisco shook his head. "No, I want to execute him myself. Only in this way can I appease Paul's spirit in heaven!"

They believed Paul would go to heaven because he was a good father, a good head of household, and a gang leader.

He might not have been so merciful to his enemies, and they wouldn't have praised him so highly.

In short, from Francisco's perspective, Paulo is definitely going to heaven.

He pushed the cart up to Christopher, glanced at his trousers with some disgust, and said, "Strip him naked."

The burly man next to Christopher immediately slashed open his clothes with a knife. There was a stove in the room, which raised the temperature considerably, but being stripped naked still made him feel noticeably cold and uncomfortable.

Francisco's hand holding the dagger trembled slightly, whether from excitement or from the discomfort he felt about what he was about to do, it was hard to tell.

He took a deep breath and, amidst Christopher's screams, slashed from his left shoulder to his right.

Fresh blood immediately seeped out.

Christopher was not an old man; his skin was not yet sagging. He was in his early thirties, the prime of his physical life.

Having lived a life of luxury for so many years, his skin was very elastic, which meant that at this moment, his wound was slightly everted.

The pulling force generated by the muscles and skin on both sides caused the wound to completely reopen.

Seeing so much blood gushing out at once, Francisco couldn't help but feel nauseous. Although he had killed people and seen dead bodies, he had never done anything like this.

"Leonardo will come after you!"

"Let me go, and this will end here. Otherwise, he will definitely kill you all!"

Christopher screamed hysterically, but the pain wasn't the real reason for his outburst. What truly made him lose control of his emotions was, in the end, his fear of death.

He tried to struggle, but he was already firmly strapped to the torture device with some straps, and apart from slight shaking, he could do almost nothing.

Francisco glanced back at Lance, who shook his head. "Ignore him. If Leonardo dares to come, I'll send him to meet his maker!"

“Even if he doesn’t come, I will arrange for someone to send his regards.”

Lance still remembers Leonardo's attempt to assassinate him. He has sent men to keep an eye on the old man Leonardo, and they will make their move when the opportunity arises.

Upon hearing this, Christopher probably knew that he couldn't escape this ordeal. He stopped begging for mercy and began to curse.

He cursed Francisco, he cursed Paulo, he cursed everyone connected to him.

His curses were extremely vicious, like the kind that deliberately rubs open someone's wounds, making the pain even worse. These curses were indeed unbearable for Francisco, and his expression became somewhat cruel. "Pry his mouth open."

Before Christopher could react, two burly men shoved something into his mouth, making it impossible for him to even close it.

Immediately afterwards, his mouth was opened, and Francisco, with a fierce expression, clamped a pair of specially made pliers into it, pulling out his tongue... The entire execution process lasted for about thirty or forty minutes, during which Francisco vomited twice.

When Christopher finally died in despair and pain, he suddenly became calm.

It was like... a kind of sublimation, which brought him to a state of stability.

He stood somewhat dazed in front of Christopher's body, then slowly buried his head in his hands and squatted down on the ground.

Lance slowly got up and walked towards the door. Clearly, he needed some quiet time.

Paul's death was not just a simple matter of his father's passing; Paul's sudden departure without leaving any valuable will or anything else created a rift within the Pasreto family as they fought for power.

If Alberto hadn't helped Francisco stabilize the family situation in time and gradually eliminate those dissidents, Francisco might already be buried deep in the soil of some wilderness.

From a student, a high school student, to the head of a gangster family, some people may think this is the story of a "protagonist" who can make people feel cool, but only those who have actually experienced it know how terrible, desperate, and painful it is!
Fortunately, at this moment, it's all over.

After a while, Francisco came out of the room, and the smile on his face seemed much simpler than before. "Thank you, thank you, Uncle Lance."

Lance couldn't help but chuckle twice. He patted Francisco on the shoulder and said, "You're welcome. It's what I should do."

He paused for a moment. "Do you need me to handle the body?"

"Or do you mean you need to take those things back and place them at Paul's grave?"

This left Francisco a little confused. He looked at the butler beside him and asked, "Do we have this kind of tradition?"

After thinking seriously for a while, the butler shook his head and said, "We've never had such a tradition. As for whether others do, I'm not sure."

Francisco said politely, "I don't need to take them back, so I'd really appreciate it if you could help me with that."

Lance nodded. "Where do you plan to go next?"

"Should we stay here a little longer, or go back to Golden Harbor City?"

Francisco glanced eastward. "I think I'd better head back soon."

“I need to bring this good news to him, and to the rest of the family. I need to make them understand that I have made Christopher pay a heavy price!”

Ultimately, in violent organizations like gangs, the transfer of power is not necessarily a direct from father to son. Some successors lack the strength and skill to control them and become puppets.

Therefore, in the underworld, strength and power are the most basic symbols.

The Pasreto family has been unable to gain recognition in recent years, partly due to Christopher's prolonged lack of resolution.

Now he can go back and tell everyone that he has killed Christopher, which will greatly enhance his reputation and resolve some of the family's internal troubles.

Lance did not try to keep him, after all, it was more meaningful to completely control the entire family than to stay here for a few days.

Meanwhile, Leonardo also learned of Christopher's disappearance and vented his anger on his brother-in-law.

Although Leonardo DiCaprio treated Christopher poorly, clearly trying to take advantage of him, this also precisely demonstrates Christopher's value.

If he had no value, Leonardo wouldn't be in such a hurry now.

Christopher's disappearance, coupled with the Lance family's commencement of shipments throughout the state, has caused major problems for the Bianchi family's liquor business in the federal government!
Smuggling alcohol to the federal government has now become Leonardo's most profitable business. Since he got used to making quick money, he can no longer go back to running a slow-paced criminal business to earn "meager" income.

He needs to continuously expand his market in the federal government; he needs someone in the federal government to help him sell alcohol.

Christopher is the best choice for a simple reason: he has successful experience and has lived in the federal government for many years; he knows how to open up markets.

The others didn't seem to be up to par, and he found it hard to bet that the newcomers he was supporting would have Christopher's abilities.

Leonardo called his brother-in-law's entire family over the phone more than once, and gradually began to catch his breath instead of cursing. "Find out where Dover is as soon as possible, who arrested him, and whether he has confessed anything."

"Then bring him back to see me. I want to talk to him in person. As for the other businesses, continue with your previous decisions. If anyone wants a suitable discount, then give it to them."

"As long as we don't lose money, it's fine!"

The brother-in-law had no choice but to agree to them all. He already had a guess that Christopher might have been captured by Lance.

But he had no evidence of this, and he couldn't directly ask Lance whether they had captured Christopher, nor could he directly ask them whether Christopher was dead.

All he can do now is make himself look like he's really looking for Christopher.

Of course, he actually focused more on maintaining the business.

A few days later, Leonardo swore and slammed his cards onto the table.

The room was so warm that he was only wearing a shirt and a dark brown vest, with his sleeves rolled up, revealing the thick hair on his arms.

Some people in Sumuli have particularly thick body hair, and Leonardo DiCaprio is one of them.

"Fuck, they always give me cards like this, it's impossible to play!"

He picked up a cigarette and stood up. "I'm going to have a smoke. You guys continue."

The people at the card table exchanged glances, their eyes conveying a sense of understanding; they too had heard about the problems Leonardo was currently facing.

The best salesman has disappeared, and his brother-in-law is not as in control as Christopher in this regard. He is helpless in the face of the Lance family's invasion.

The shrinking business and constant losses were pushing Leonardo DiCaprio to the brink of a meltdown; he needed some fresh air and a chance to calm down.

Just as he stood on the terrace, holding a wine glass and deep in thought, the butler pushed a small cart over. "Master," he said, "someone has brought a box and says it needs to be opened by you personally..."

(End of this chapter)