Shadow Empire

Chapter 251 True Feelings

When Ponda knew that the place this "kind-hearted person" asked him to go was the Imperial District, he roughly knew who he was going to meet next.

It was a very ordinary house on the roadside with a sign that read "Wanli Office". He knocked on the door.

Soon the door opened and the person inside looked him over, "Mr. Ponda?"

Ponda nodded, "It's me."

He was wearing a somewhat casual-looking outfit today and a fisherman's hat that covered his body and face as much as possible.

He put his hands in his pockets, looking nervous.

As a law enforcement officer, this was the first time he had done something like this.

The person inside the door invited him in. The slightly dim light bulb could illuminate the corridor, but it was not as bright as daytime.

"Mr. Lance is on the phone, you need to wait a moment, but before that, do you mind if I search you?" He had a very young face, and even looked a little immature.

However, when the two looked at each other, the young man did not retreat at all. Instead, he seemed to want to provoke!

Ponda felt a little uneasy. This was actually his first time to come into contact with such a gang member who was not too low-level. He did not see the slightest reverence for law enforcers in the other party's eyes, which made him feel uncomfortable and frightened.

As a law enforcer, everything he has comes from this identity, including security.

When he loses the security that this identity brings him, it means he becomes dangerous, just like his colleagues who were blown to pieces.

He looked at the young man, slowly took out his hands and stretched them out, "What's your name?"

The young man began to carefully check whether he had brought anything dangerous, and casually replied, "Alan."

"Alan, are you the captain?"

Alan laughed twice, "Why do you think so?" He looked at Ponda's face again, "You see, I am just a gatekeeper guarding the gate. I am not a captain, although I aspire to be a captain."

As he spoke, he continued to perform his work, including touching Ponda's testicles. On the one hand, it was to ensure Lance's safety, and on the other hand, he was actually planning to give Ponda a demonstration.

In this way, Lance wanted to make a deep impression on Ponda.

The people of the Lance family are not afraid of his identity as a law enforcer.

And obviously, Lance achieved his goal.

"You can go in now. There are no secret rooms here. You can look around freely. When Lance's call is over, someone will take you there."

Ponda seems to be very interested in the Lance family now. This is not the cold, emotionless text in the information. They can be contacted, talked to, and understood more deeply.

"Why don't you call him 'Boss' or 'Chief'? Is your relationship with him different?"

Alan walked towards a room next to him, shaking his head as he walked. "Because we are a family, we are brothers, you wouldn't call your brother Mr. So-and-so, so we all just call him 'Lance' and nothing else."

"Of course you can do that if you want. No one will force you to do something you don't want to do."

Alan invited him, "We are playing cards, do you want to come in and play for a while?"

Pang Da looked through the crack in the door at several people who were looking at him at the same time. He instinctively didn't want to go in because of their cold and eerie eyes.

But he seemed to notice the indescribable smile on the corner of the mouth of this guy named Allen, and he nodded, "I can watch for a while."

When they entered the room, there was a gambling table that could seat about ten people. There were twelve or thirteen people sitting at the table. It was very crowded, but they didn't care.

This is not a commercial gambling table, it's just for everyone to have fun together.

They were playing a popular game in which each person was initially dealt only two cards...

Everyone was playing for real money, which resulted in a large pile of cash on the table, which looked like at least several hundred dollars.

Someone cursed, put his cards down, and stood up. Although everyone was a brother, they would still be angry and uncomfortable when they lost money.

"Want to play two rounds?"

"Mr. Ponda?"

Someone invited him, but he declined, "I can't play this."

Everyone else smiled, whether it was a normal, kind, understanding smile or a sarcastic laugh, I don’t know.

After about ten minutes, someone came over and said, "Lance's call is over. Who is Ponda?"

Pang Da stood up, and the person who came motioned for him to follow, "Follow me."

The two men walked through the corridor. There were people in almost every room here. He even saw a group of people sitting at the table counting money through a half-open door!
People kept piling boxes of change onto the table, and the money on the table was already piling up like a mountain!

When he arrived at the door of the last office, he felt inexplicably nervous. The person who led him knocked on the door and then opened it. "Mr. Lance is waiting for you inside. I remind you, don't do anything stupid."

As he said this, he made way for Ponda to enter the room.

This is an office with a large bookcase filled with all kinds of books, which suddenly made Ponda's impression of Lance a little better.

Compared to those gangsters who like to collect all kinds of exotic props or weapons, people like Lance who would set up bookcases in their offices are still a minority after all.

If he knew that Lance had never read any of the books here, he might not have thought so.

"Sit down!" Lance gestured for him to sit opposite him. "Want to smoke?"

He opened the lid of the cigarette box and pushed it over. There were cigarettes on one side and a cigar on the other. Ponda was indeed a little nervous. He took a cigarette and then sat down.

After he lit up the cigarette, Lance looked at him and said, "Mr. Ponda, I like making friends. I am friends with many people."

"I believe that this is also the reason why you came here today."

Lance said with a little smile, "I may have been too direct, I hope I didn't scare you."

"We didn't know each other before today, and I believe the reason why we are sitting here and chatting is not because I want to get to know you, or you want to get to know me."

"Perhaps we will get to know each other better as our cooperation deepens, but right now, we have only one goal."

"Let's be friends first!"

Ponda's brain couldn't keep up with Lance's speaking speed. After a long while, he said, "You don't look your age."

He felt that Lance had a very "old-fashioned" tone when he spoke, more like a man in his forties with rich experience and power. His words revealed a kind of insight and unquestionable attitude.

Lance smiled and said, "When you are beaten by this society until there is not a single piece of healthy skin left on your body, you will grow faster than others."

"No one wants to become more mature than their peers, Ponda, because only pain can make people grow."

Ponda felt that this statement was so profound and had such a deep truth that he could only agree with it, and then he stated the purpose of his visit, "I need some money, Mr. Lance."

Lance nodded slightly but didn't say anything. He continued, "Fifty thousand dollars, cash or bank transfer is fine. I can provide you with some information."

"Pass the message five times!" He thought for a moment and stated his bottom line.

The losses from the previous bust of Lans Bar were basically around 10,000 yuan, so he thought that it was worthwhile to exchange 50,000 yuan for five pieces of information.

Lance shook his head slowly, "You don't understand one thing, Ponda."

"You are not as smart and rational as your colleagues. With 50,000 yuan, I can hire at least five of your colleagues to pass on messages for me."

"But you are only willing to give me five pieces of information!"

"You can go out and see if there is anyone willing to spend the money for you."

The word "colleague" made Ponda begin to question some of his colleagues in the Hazardous Materials Administration, and he also expressed contempt for their "bidding" attitude.

More importantly, this competition made him realize that he was not "the only one" for Lance. In other words, it made no difference with or without him.

When a person is not so important, he will automatically lower many conditions.

Ten thousand yuan... Well, ten thousand yuan is indeed not a good amount of money. He has to work for seven or eight years even without eating or drinking. In an instant, he suddenly realized why there are corrupt police and corrupt agents.

Why would federal government officials, those people with power, accept corrupt money?

Because they gave too much.

Fifty thousand yuan was the income of forty years without eating or drinking. For a moment, he was a little overwhelmed and didn't know how to deal with the current situation.

Lance looked at him in a daze and said with a smile, "I'll give you a condition. Listen to it."

"I'll give you 10,000 yuan at once, and then an additional 300 yuan per month. For every useful piece of information you pass on, I'll give you 500 yuan."

"But I must remind you once that only the first person who told me the news has the five hundred dollars."

"If you work hard, it's easy to earn more than a thousand yuan a month."

"And for some intelligence I might give you more money, two or three thousand, three thousand, or even five thousand."

Lance also took a cigarette from the cigarette box, lit it up, and gestured with his hands on the table, "In addition to this, I will also provide you with some intelligence clues so that you can solve some cases and perform well."

"This is Jingang City, Ponda, it belongs to the locals!"

“No one knows everything here better than us!”

"I can help you get promoted faster. You can become a senior agent, a supervisor, or even a deputy director or director. There are opportunities for you!"

"Our relationship is confidential. No one will know about our relationship. You will become a star in the Hazardous Materials Administration, or even in this system!"

"You should regard this place as your starting point, not your end point!"

Lance stopped talking and gave the choice to Ponda, "Now, all you need to do is make a decision."

"Become my friend, or continue our relationship as strangers."

The Federation did not have a "resolute criminal hater" at this time, so Ponda's attitude towards Lance and the criminal group was not so resolute.

Including the Hazardous Materials Administration at this time, they are cracking down on the crime of smuggling alcohol, not for justice, but just for a job and to climb up the ladder.

At the end of the day, interests drive the occurrence and outcome of everything. It's just a job.

Pang Da put forward his idea with some embarrassment, "But I need 50,000 yuan now."

Lance also gave him a solution, "I can lend you another 40,000 yuan. You just need to sign a loan agreement."

Although Lance gave him a plan, he still seemed to be in a difficult situation.

After a while, he said hesitantly, "I can't pay back the money."

He thought Lance would refuse to lend him the money, but unexpectedly, Lance smiled and told him another truth - sometimes to pay back a debt, you don't have to give real money, other things will also do.

"Don't worry about not being able to pay back the money, Ponda. As long as you are still in the Hazardous Materials Administration, you can pay it back."

"Trust me, I'm an expert at this!"

He paused, "If that's okay with you, we can sign an agreement, and I can give you the money now..."

When he came, Ponda came empty-handed, and when he left, he left with a box of money, all in cash.

He didn't dare ask for the check because it needed to be cashed, which would be a big trouble if the people at the bank knew him. Although Lance suggested that he could find someone to pay for him, he still refused.

Money only has real meaning when it is in your own hands!

He told himself that all this was for Lisa. He loved Lisa and was willing to do anything for her.

At the same time, Lance also gave him a task, to find out how many undercover agents the Hazardous Materials Administration had sent to him and who they were.

In fact, if Ponda had some doubts before whether Lance had really bribed other people, now he doesn’t have too many doubts, because this matter is very confidential and only people in their group know about it.

Someone really has joined Lance. The faces of his colleagues kept flashing before his eyes, and his eyes revealed a complex fluctuation of emotions that was both disgusting and somewhat friendly.

What’s annoying is that these people betrayed Director Dale, but what’s nice is that they are all undercover!
After sending Ponda away, Lance called Erwin over and said, "Someone from the Hazardous Materials Administration may have sneaked in."

Erwin found it hard to believe because he was the one who had been in charge of recruiting people.

He was the one who recruited people before, but now that he has more work to do, he still has to check the people he recruits personally, so he feels very unhappy.

His expression was also somewhat solemn, but he still confirmed it again and again, "Is the news reliable?"

Lance nodded. "I asked him to check which of their people were involved. His reaction was quite unexpected. It was as if he felt that I shouldn't know this."

"It's hard to fake a person's first reaction. He's not a politician or an actor. I don't believe he would specifically learn this."

This is like when someone suddenly calls your name. Your first reaction is definitely to see who the hell is so bored as to call your name on the street.

Looking back is instinctive and the first reaction.

Even if you tell yourself not to look back, you will still hesitate for a brief moment when someone calls your name.

Lance believed in his own judgment, "Even if what he said was false, if we check it out, nothing unexpected will happen."

Perhaps considering that Erwin didn't know how to check or where to start, he made a suggestion, "Divide them into three batches and send them to three different bars."

"We'll just have to arrange for someone to keep an eye on them and see if they behave in an unusual way..."

Ponda returned home. The moment he put the suitcase full of 50,000 yuan on the table, he felt like he was sublimated!

Lisa, who had already prepared food, threw herself into Ponda's arms again. After the fierce battle, Lisa held Ponda's face and kissed him, "I have never felt so happy!"

"You are everything in my world, Ponda. I cannot describe my love for you in words. Even if you ask me to die, I will not hesitate at all!"

"You are the only one who has walked into my heart, and you are the last one. I will never fall in love with anyone else except you!"

Listening to what Lisa said, Ponda felt that everything he had done was worth it!
After dinner, they regained their strength and fought for two more rounds.

Young people just have good bodies, unlike those middle-aged people who have money and status and spend most of their time using props and torturing others!

The two fell asleep in each other's arms. The next morning, they went to the bank together and deposited the money into Lisa's account.

Then Ponda took Lisa to the station, watched her get on the bus, and then returned to the Hazardous Materials Administration to start his new job.

What he didn't know was that Lisa didn't take this train, but got off at the nearest Valley City and quickly returned to Jingang City, and finally put the check for 50,000 yuan back in front of Lance.

Lance looked at the check, then looked at Lisa's beautiful face, and said with a smile, "He trusts you very much."

Lisa took a cigarette from the box very familiarly and lit it.

She crossed her legs, and her red lips, long skirt, and cigarette in her hand formed a very contemporary picture. She shrugged, "A kid with no emotional experience."

After all, it was 50,000 yuan, not a small amount, so she gave it to Lisa.

Lisa also found it a little unbelievable. This kind of man is simply a rare animal. She hesitated, "Lance, can you... not hurt him?"

Only then did Lance pick up the check for fifty thousand dollars and put it in the drawer, "I promise, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid, he can live to see the end."

"season finale?"

“The end of life!”

Lisa understood now, and she couldn't help but smile, "You have to say something we can understand."

Lance seemed to be quite interested in exploring, "Are you immersed in your role?"

Lisa suddenly showed some irritability. She took two puffs of her cigarette, and her hand holding the cigarette was shaking slightly. "I don't know. The moment he gave me the money, I felt that I might have screwed up!"

(End of this chapter)