Shadow Empire

Chapter 201: Get Moving and Meet

Twenty seconds ago, right below Director Dell's office, an agent was holding up a heavy box in his hand and asking loudly.

"If anyone ordered this double pineapple pie, please let me know, or I'm going to open it soon!"

The young male agent looked at his colleagues around him. Everyone was shaking their heads. It seemed that no one had clicked on this.

A little smile appeared on his face, he liked pineapple pie, his mother often made it for him when he was a child.

Compared to the weird-tasting apple pie, the texture and taste of pineapple pie is obviously more pleasing, at least that's what he thinks.

He rubbed his hands together impatiently and opened the box.

It seemed a little difficult to open during the process, and he used a little force.

When the lid was opened, he clearly saw a line hanging from the edge of the lid and a thin wire about four centimeters long at the end of the line.

There was no double pineapple pie in the box, no orange-yellow pineapple pie filling cooked with syrup and jam, only a bomb and a lot of steel nails.

He said "Fuck", which Director Dell would say three seconds later, and then raised his head blankly.

The next second, the sudden explosion, light, and shock wave knocked him away. The flying iron nails became deadly weapons. They flew everywhere, including in the walls, on the ground, and on people's heads and bodies!

Because the unfortunate agent's body was blocking the way for the people behind him, not many people were fatally injured behind him.

But the shock wave and the huge noise also made them fall to the ground, covering their ears in pain. The whole world was filled with only a buzzing sound...

Soon people from other offices rushed in. They looked in disbelief at the house which looked like it had been through a war. There were iron nails eaten into the walls and broken wall paint everywhere.

Some agents were lying in a pool of blood, wailing, while others were already silent.

Especially the few agents sitting around the center of the explosion, some of them had seven or eight nails stuck in their bodies, and all of them were in vital parts.

Some agents fell to the ground and twitched. Although they had no obvious wounds on their bodies, they were still spitting out blood.

This tragic scene made people scream, and some people immediately called the ambulance, the fire department, and even... the police!
The mayor called immediately to ask what happened here, but the director's phone was busy. Now many people want to figure out what exactly happened here.

A few minutes later, everyone in Jingang City knew that the Tobacco, Alcohol and Hazardous Materials Administration had been bombed again.

If the first explosion was just a "small scene", then this time it was a big scene.

One mortuary was not enough, so they had to bring in two mortuaries before they could carry away all the bodies.

A total of six agents were killed and nine were injured, two of them seriously.

Director Dell sat in his chair, looking at the floating clouds in the sky outside the window, his mind was in a mess.

Although the first explosion was not good news for him, there were actually some opportunities hidden in that explosion.

As long as he seizes these opportunities, he will definitely get the attention of Congress and quickly climb up through the new department and reach the core.

In times of crisis, a leader not only withstood the pressure, but also turned the situation around beautifully and consolidated the results of prohibition and the fruits of victory.

He has both the inside and the outside world under his belt, and the senior officials in Congress will be very satisfied with his performance. His future is bright.

But the second explosion, which was this one, made him lose face, and his path to promotion was completely closed.

Explosions happened again and again, and this time so many people died, he couldn't explain it.

Even if he solved the case quickly, it would be useless.

People don't care how long there was between the two bombings, or whether he did anything to respond. All they know is that he failed to catch the person who caused the tragedy after the first bombing.

They allowed them to detonate a second explosion, and more people died. Aren't they complete idiots?

How could such a person be appreciated by senators in Congress and enter the central government directly based on his achievements?
This fall hurt so damn much.

It hurt so much that the phone kept ringing for a while. He didn't react until the deputy director came in and told him that the phone had been ringing.

It's the mayor's.

The mayor was very concerned about the situation here and wanted to know some more details, but he was absent-minded at the moment. After answering two irrelevant questions, the mayor told him to have a good rest and not to be too sad, and then hung up the phone.

Overly sad?

It's really sad.

He wanted to laugh even when he was sad.

As soon as he hung up the phone, it rang again. He thought it was the mayor again and he had something to say, so after picking up the phone he just used a questioning word like "Sir?"

But this time, the person opposite was not the mayor.

"We should talk." The voice was unfamiliar. Director Dale frowned and racked his brains. From his memory of coming here, he could not find any memory related to this voice.

He frowned, lowered his head, and rubbed his eyebrows. "Who are you?"

"Haven't you been looking for me?" The slightly frivolous and arrogant voice made Director Dell immediately know who was on the other end of the phone!
After pressing the recording button, he stood up suddenly, walked to the door, waved to the deputy director who was arranging work not far away, and then returned to his desk.

"Are you Polly?" He looked at the deputy director who came in, put his shoulder against the receiver, and quickly wrote a line on the paper.

The voice in the receiver was just as the rumors said, "I like people to call me Big Polly, you can call me that too."

"How about it, are you satisfied with my gift?"

Director Dell's pessimistic mood seemed to be eased a little. This idiot actually called to provoke him, which suddenly made him feel less pessimistic.

"If you are talking about the explosion that just happened, then Polly, you deserve to die!" Director Dale expressed his attitude, "We will not give up on arresting you because of your atrocities. On the contrary, it makes us more eager to arrest you as soon as possible!"

"We are a law enforcement agency that represents justice and law. We will not bow to evil. Even if you threaten to hurt me, my family, and all of us, we will not compromise."

"Justice will prevail, Polly. We are on the side of justice, and you are evil."

Polly looked at the microphone in his hand. What the hell are you talking about?
He coughed and interrupted, "Listen, Dale."

"I'll arrange for someone to turn himself in. He'll admit that he was the one who did the bombing, and that's the end of it."

"He will become your new merit under the badge of justice, and then you continue to be the director, and I will continue to do my job. You don't bother me, and I won't bother you. Let's both do our own things. How about that?"

Chief Dell's attitude was very firm. "Not good. You'd better go to the nearest police station and turn yourself in now..."

"You don't understand what I'm saying?" Polly's temper flared up again. "Do you know what you're saying?"

Director Dell became very calm and his emotions were greatly relieved. "When I sit in this position, the interests of the country and the people are above everything else."

"You can do it again, twice, more times."

"But, Polly, you're not fighting me or ATA, you're fighting this country and justice."

"Either turn yourself in and stand trial."

"Or I'll catch you and put you in the electric...chair."

When the word "electric chair" was mentioned, Polly hung up the phone forcefully, but at this time, Director Dell had a smile on his face.

Perhaps, this is the gift God gave him because he didn't want to see him perish?
He believed that this perfect dialogue should appear on all radios and a small number of televisions, and newspapers and magazines should turn it into dialogue text and print it in every corner of the world!

Polly dealt him a heavy blow, but also gave him an opportunity and he was saved!

The smile on his face was completely genuine, but he quickly suppressed it and became sad again.

He also took a deep breath, stood up, and began to take the initiative to deal with some things after the explosion.

A large number of agents came back from outside. Director Dell looked at them with a sad and serious face. "This is the second time they have used a bomb attack to force us to give in." "Soon after the explosion, Polly, the leader of the Brotherhood, called me and told me to give up the investigation."

"He tried to force me to accept his conditions by threatening me with more explosions, so that he could find someone to take the blame and let him go unpunished!"

"I refused!"

"He is very tough, but I feel the weakness behind his toughness. He is afraid, so he has lost his reason and humanity to retaliate against us."

"This shows that all the actions we have taken since the establishment of this department until today have been correct!"

"The decision of Congress and the Presidential Palace is correct!"

“I believe that the light will shine brighter and brighter, like the sun at noon, and the shadows will become fewer and fewer, like melting ice and snow.”

"Justice will prevail, and we will never compromise with evil..."

Reporters took photos and recorded frantically, and an image that might not be so glorious but at least a tough one was stabilized.

After he finished this short press conference for reporters and the public, he immediately began to assign tasks.

"According to our previous plan, tell them that whoever can help us find Polly can guarantee that he will not go to jail and will be completely free of crime!"

"Also, let's put some pressure on other gangs and ask them to join our action. If we don't find Polly and send him to the electric chair, I won't be able to do business for even a day!"

Police cars were running all over the streets, and the mayor learned about the whole process through other people's narration in the evening.

He thought for a long time and then shook his head. Director Dale was a typical politician. He was more like a politician than a law enforcer. Of course, this was also the current situation in the federation.

Originally his position was very passive, but a phone call from Polly made Director Dell go from a passive position to an active one.

He turned his incompetence into difficulties and obstacles in implementing the resolutions of Congress and the Presidential Office, and at the same time praised the policies of the upper echelons and established his own image.

The image of a "tough chief" has been established. Even if Chief Dell cannot be promoted to the center, he will not easily fall in Jingang City.

Politicians always look at issues differently from other people, and the mayor quickly shifted his attention from Chief Dell to Polly.

He thought about it, picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Have you watched the news?" he asked.

A very steady voice came from the other end of the phone, "I've seen it."

"Now that you locals have started breaking the rules, what are you guys going to do about it?"

After a few seconds, the other party said, "We will clean him up..."

The mayor said in a slightly sarcastic tone, "I hope you can do it. If this incident affects my going to the State House, I will stay here longer!"

After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone. He was telling the other party that if they didn't want him to stay and have a conflict of ideology with the "locals", it would be better to deal with the matter as soon as possible.

Sometimes, this kind of "hostile identity" is quite useful.

Lance also heard this urgent news broadcast on the radio and was worried about Polly's IQ.

He may regard Chief Dell as someone like Chief Charlie or other police chiefs. If he gives them some money, a way to explain to the public, and then adds some threats, he can suppress the situation.

When dealing with the local grassroots law enforcement system, this system is like Chief Bru, give him a thousand dollars and put a little pressure on him, and he will roll down on his own as long as he has the chance.

But it is obvious that Director Dell, who was transferred from above, came here with a mission. If he compromised so easily, the ones who would deal with him would not be the people of Jingang City, but the people of Congress or even the Presidential Palace.

He has no way out, so he will not accept the threat. This cannot be completely said that Polly is a fool. After all, he has not received any higher education and has never seen a bigger stage.

He simply mistook the wellhead he saw for the entire sky, that's all!

A little after one o'clock, about forty minutes after the explosion, a car with the words "Hazardous Materials Administration" printed on it squeaked to a halt outside the labor agency.

Senior Agent Lucard got out of the car, and his deputy tried to get out as well, but he refused.

He walked to the coffee shop next door, ordered two cups of fine coffee, and then walked into the agency carrying the coffee.

There were a lot of people here, and he squeezed through the crowd and came to the back.

He knocked on the manager's office door, waited for the "come in" sound from inside, and then pushed the door open.

Lance looked at him in surprise, and he smiled, "Is this a surprise?"

He put the coffee stand on the table, took out a cup and placed it next to Lance, and took one for himself, "I'll buy you a cup of coffee, now you owe me one."

Lance smiled more, he opened the lid and took a sip, "No problem."

Lucard took the opportunity to sit down. He looked at some of the decorations hanging on the walls around him and asked, "Do you know where Polly is?"

Lance shook his head. "I'm not interested in where Mad Dog escaped to."

Polly has destroyed the tranquility of the entire Jingang City, which also means that many people's business will be affected.

Lucard was satisfied with Lance's ability to understand. "Until we find him, we will continue to sweep your territory. If we find you selling alcoholic beverages, we will arrest you."

"Until Polly gets caught."

This is what Director Dell ordered, whether it was in poor places like the Empire District and the Port District, or in places like the Bay District and the Starlight District, where the streets were full of rich people.

A bar wants to sell alcohol?

Okay, find Polly.

During the conversation, the phone on the table in front of Lance suddenly rang, and Lucard made a gesture and expression as if to say "Why don't you pick it up and listen".

Lance picked up the phone, "Lance, this is..., there are people from the Hazardous Materials Administration blocking the door."

He glanced at Lukar, who was sitting opposite him with his legs crossed and smiling.

The latter felt his gaze and stretched out his hand, making some small movements, "Do you like it?"

This bar was not his own bar, but a bar under Eric's name. In other words, they started an indiscriminate attack in order to show their determination and means to catch criminals at all costs.

Lance thought for a moment and said, "Let the guests leave first, then close the door and accept their inspection."

"If they want to find the owner of the bar, have them call attorney Orson."

"As for you, don't worry."

“Because compared to them, we are also locals.”

Lance's last sentence was actually directed to Lucard. They were all locals, including those illegal immigrants.

There are many people in the management bureau who were transferred from other cities or other states. If these outsiders go too far in Jingang City, the five major families and those large and small gangs in Jingang City will tell them how to survive in this city.

And let them see the unique scenery of Angel Lake.

"I really don't like the way you threaten people, Lance." Lucard took a sip from his coffee cup. "You want to threaten me not to attack your people, but you can just say it out loud!"

Lance wasn't fooled at all, he hung up the phone, "Did I say anything?"

Lucard casually opened the cigarette box that Lance had placed on the table and took out a cigarette. He lit it with his lighter and said while puffing smoke, "Sometimes you are quite hypocritical. You should act like a gangster, not a politician."

"Just like the first time we met, you knew everything, but you still pretended to be innocent?"

Lance said with a smile, "There are too many bad guys around. If we are not careful, we will be taken advantage of by the bad guys. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)