Shadow Empire

Chapter 274 Desire
It was already afternoon when Ennio returned to Jingang City. Without even taking a rest, he went to the company to find Lance.

After entering the door, Lance and several other people were there, and they all looked surprised when they saw him.

"Come and help!" A very special smile appeared on his face. Lance felt it was a little strange, but he followed him anyway.

He is not the kind of person who just sits behind a desk and gives orders. If anyone needs his help, he will do that.

Several people came to the yard and came to Ennio's car, and then he opened the trunk after a ritualistic "thump thump thump".

There were several big pockets, and although he didn't say what was in them, everyone had already guessed it.

Lance walked over and took out a purse, and took a look inside. It was mostly filled with five-dollar and ten-dollar bills, all stacked up and placed together.

According to his calculations, there is at least a hundred thousand or even more money here. "What's going on?"

Lance also had a look of surprise on his face. After all, money is something that no one would complain about having too little!

"Let's move the money in first..."

Hundreds of thousands of dollars may not sound like a lot, but it is quite substantial. Two people carried a bag full of it into the company, even though everyone is not as sensitive about money as they were a year ago.

However, the visual impact of hundreds of thousands of dollars piled together still makes many people lose their ability to speak.

Ennio sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette. "Where should I start?"

"Let me begin with my arrival at Fides..."

Arnio took over Lance's job and delivered 50,000 yuan worth of wine to Fides. Because the wine was now contraband, it certainly could not be transported by ordinary means.

Originally they were planning to transport it by train, but now the Dangerous Goods Administration is conducting very strict inspections and will frequently conduct random inspections of the carriages and open some boxes to see what is inside.

The people at the station were unwilling to take the risk, so Ennio and his friends decided to just drive over there themselves. It took them three days to enter the city of Fides.

The reason it took three days was because they were driving slowly on the road. The road conditions on the interstate highway were not very good and it was very bumpy. If they drove too fast, they were afraid the wine bottles would be broken.

During the trip, we also encountered interstate highway police, but those policemen were very easy to talk to. After realizing that this group of people were not easy to deal with, they gave up the idea of ​​checking the car after getting ten dollars.

In short, they arrived at Fides safely. Ennio contacted Galio immediately. Galio was very grateful for his timely arrival because they had been eyeing the wine business for a long time.

There are not many smugglers in the Federation who can ship goods now. This is a scarce commodity, and they never lack people to take over. Therefore, the imperial immigrant group, which is not a relatively strong group, is excluded from this list.

It was painful for Galio to see others making huge sums of money, but now the problem has been solved. Fifty thousand dollars' worth of wine is enough for him to sell this month.

At the same time, this also made Ennio discover one thing——

"The price of alcohol in Fides is much higher than here. I brought 50,000 yuan worth of alcohol, but when I got to his place, he offered me 80,000 yuan. And I think if I asked for more, he would agree."

Lance nodded slightly. "This is normal. Jingang City is a port city with ventilated coastlines everywhere. It's too easy for Yalan's smuggled liquor to come in."

"Fides is an inland city, and the smuggling channels are closed. The price of wine must be higher there."

"But you have 140,000 here. Where did the other 60,000 come from?"

Lance wasn't afraid that he would rob a bank or something, but he had to be prepared for the consequences if he really did do something like that.

In case the police come after them, or the robbed people come to seek revenge, they need to be prepared in advance.

"This money was squeezed from Snake's family." Ennio licked his lips. "I found his wife and children. They cooperated well and handed over their bank account numbers and passwords. They also helped us withdraw the money."

Lance picked up a stack of money and pressed his thumb along the edge of the bills. Then the bills popped up one by one, making a sound of fluttering paper.

It's actually not pleasant at all, and there's something hard to describe, because of the weird smell that remains after long-term use, but for some reason, it's so attractive.

"Where are his wife and children?"

Ennio was silent for a few seconds, tilted his head downward, and said, "I sent them down."

Lance threw the money back into the pile, walked over to him, put his arms around his neck, and ruffled his hair. "He was the one who wanted to kill us first!"

He could see that Ennio's mood changed a little as he said those words, and he also looked at the others.

"If we are killed by Snake, he will take our wealth, territory, and everything we own."

"He and his family would live in our house, spend our money, and hurt our friends."

"I'm not saying that people must be cruel, but I want you to understand a truth."

"You can hold back, you can show mercy, but your enemy may not!"

"When you let an enemy go, he may not necessarily feel grateful. He may just think that you are lucky this time, but you may not be so lucky next time!"

"We can't keep our good luck forever, so anything that threatens us should be resolved."

"Life is very fragile, like a glass. It only needs a little external force to break into pieces."

"My philosophy has always been the same: don't do things that you will regret!"

He patted Ennio's head, released him, and stood in front of the coffee table.

The coffee table was filled with neatly laid out banknotes. He casually drew a line and said, "80,000 yuan will be paid according to the company's regulations. As for the remaining 60,000 yuan, Ennio will take 10,000 yuan, I will take 10,000 yuan, you will share 20,000 yuan, and the remaining 20,000 yuan will go into the company's account."

In an instant, the excitement brought by quick wealth washed away the little guilt he had left. He needed to rest now!
He hadn't seen his father for a long time, and he encountered a lot of things after going out this time, much more than what he told Lance.

At the moment before Snake's death, his wife and his children were still asking about Snake's situation. Even though they had a premonition, they still wanted to know the final truth from Ennio!

Ennio told them that Snake was dead, and the two stopped struggling and quietly accepted the result and their own fate.

At that moment, a very special feeling filled his whole body, and he had an urge to return to Jingang City immediately to see his father and mother!

Now, he is back, but a little timid, and he doesn't know what he is afraid of.

After saying goodbye to Lance, he returned home with some money. Now only his father lived here alone. There was no woman, and without him to clean, everything looked very messy.

The sink was filled with used plates and cutlery that had not been cleaned in time.

The trash can was also filled with spoiled food scraps.

Seeing this, he frowned, rolled up his sleeves and started to clean up.

It took him a long time to clean up this seemingly dilapidated home.

While he was sitting in the chair to rest, he heard the sound of a key being inserted into the lock outside the door, and then the door opened.

The tired man stood at the door and looked at Ennio who also stood up. There was a flash of joy in his eyes, but it soon became a little dim.

He didn't know how to start the conversation, so he just closed the door, hung his coat on the hanger, and put his bag on the closet.

The father and son looked at each other in silence, and neither of them knew what to say.

It was a long time before Ennio's father said "I'm sorry".

This caused Ennio's expression to change slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Ennio's father walked over to the chair and sat down. "I've been thinking about a lot of things since you left that day, Ennio."

"I'm so useless. As a father or a husband, I can't provide you with a good life. Instead, I make everything a mess..."

He held his head and seemed to be truly regretful. "I have changed my job now. Although it is still a sales job, it is different from before."

Ennio sat down and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over.

"Wow, this is a good cigarette!" The man took out a cigarette, lit it happily, took a deep breath, and praised sincerely, "It's not choking and it's very good to smoke." He paused and began to talk about the changes in him in recent times.

He changed jobs, gave up those unrealistic dreams, and saw through the nature of those companies.

They used dreams as bait to make a group of crazy people who wanted to realize the federal dream become their slaves.

The moment he came to his senses, he realized how stupid he was in the past, which made him feel a lot of guilt.

But fortunately, everything seems to be in time.

He can now earn about thirty dollars a month, and he also rents out his legal immigration status, which gives him an extra income of more than ten dollars a month.

Forty dollars a month couldn't make him rich, but at least his life became more comfortable.

"When I came back..." Ennio was a little unsure if the man was hiding the bad and only saying good things.

The man was a little embarrassed to hear, "You all are gone, and I feel uneasy living here alone."

Ennio found that his father had really changed a lot. The father who used to... never admit that he was wrong and was weak, actually said such words. He did not feel happy about it, only sad.

He is old and his edges have been smoothed out by society. This is what he really thinks!
He would feel fear because of an empty house. This was almost impossible a year ago, not to mention in the past!

But now, it just happened, and Ennio felt a little caught off guard!

"Tell me about yourself, how are you doing now?" The middle-aged man changed the subject, "I heard that the Lance family is expanding rapidly, is it dangerous?"

Ennio scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. This situation was not what he expected. "It's okay. Although there is danger, it's not as scary as I imagined."

"And Lance is very kind to us and cares about our safety. We usually live together..."

Ennio still felt a little uncomfortable talking about this with his father, who once had a federal dream and whose mind was full of obeying the law and striving to become a superior person.

But he said a lot of things, and finally hesitantly took out the money from his pocket and put it on the table.

With two thousand yuan, he could pick up the gun and kill the enemy outside, but here, just taking out the two thousand yuan, he felt that he could barely carry this small stack of money.

He can still remember everything that happened in the hospital that day, and his father actually remembers it too.

The man reached out and picked them up. They were both ten-dollar bills, two thick stacks, emitting the unique smell of money.

During the use process, fingers will leave oil on the surface of banknotes, and these oils will be absorbed into the coins. Finally, after a series of complex cycles such as fermentation, drying, and fermentation again, they will finally take on their current appearance.

He had never made so much money in his life, and he was still so confused, "I...can't have it, Ennio."

"The money I earn is enough to support myself, and you can use this money to do whatever you want."

Ennio looked at him and shook his head slightly. "I have money. Lance gave me 10,000 yuan for this trip. In addition, I have tens of thousands of yuan in dividends that I can withdraw at any time."

This dirty money couldn't be deposited in the bank, so Lance asked Melo to make a statement, recording who had how much money.

They can take all the money away, but they can also keep it with the company, which is actually safer.

Most people will keep their money in the company, and some for their own use is enough.

Hearing that his son had fulfilled his "federal dream", he suddenly felt that his first half of life was not only a failure, but also boring.

After coming to the Federation and struggling for so long, he lost his wife and his children never came back, but he still has not achieved success, and is no more a failure than when he first arrived.

A long sigh seemed to express all the pain in his heart.

"You came back this time..."

There was some hope in his eyes, hoping that Ennio would say he could come back to live with him, but Ennio did not say the words he longed for.

"I just came back to see you. I'll go see mom later."

In fact, both the father and the son knew about the woman’s current situation, but they never mentioned it. Should they go find her?

She never thought that it would only put her in a dilemma.

Ennio stood up and said, "Bolton got married today. Although I didn't attend, I heard that his wife is only twenty-one years old."

The man had heard of Burton and knew something about how he had become rich. When he heard that Burton, who was about the same age as him, had married a 21-year-old girl, he couldn't help but fall into the envy and jealousy that all men would have.

"This lucky bastard!", he cursed with a laugh, then stood up.

Ennio looked at him and straightened his collar, just like when he was a child, he would straighten Ennio's collar before going out.

"You can find another woman, forty, thirty, twenty, it's all good."

The man reached out as if wanting to touch Ennio, but he didn't know how to express it.

Ennio took the initiative to greet him and hugged the man he loved and hated at the same time, "Take care, Dad."

"If you have anything, call me. Although I may still be that jerk in your eyes, I am already a character in the eyes of others."

"There are still some things that Lance can't solve for me. There is nothing that Lance can't solve here. Of course, you can also come and play. We will all welcome you."

After saying this, Ennio left. If he didn't leave, he might not be able to help but stay that night.

Looking at the two stacks of money on the table, the man suddenly smiled, although he felt a little disappointed, but...

"This bastard!" He put the money away. Tonight, the empty house no longer seemed scary.

He also started doing housework, cleaning up some places that Ennio had not noticed. Looking at the brand new home, he suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment.

This also makes this house feel like home again.

Ennio then went to see his mother. The woman had actually been living in the Imperial District all these years, but she didn't live on the same street as them and tried to avoid places where they might meet.

He knocked on the door nervously, and a strange man's voice came from the other side, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Ennio, I'm..."

Before he could finish his words, the door opened and a burly man stood behind the door. His mother stood beside the man. A little boy, who was only eight or nine years old, hid behind the two of them and looked at him.

Looking at the cozy family of three, the warm and gentle atmosphere in the room made him lose all desire to speak for a moment.

He was like a discordant note suddenly inserted into the magnificent music, making everything seem so inharmonious and abrupt, and making him feel that he was not suitable here.

"Sorry, I found the wrong place."

He was about to leave, but the man stopped him, "Come in and sit down. You must want to talk to your mother."

Sitting in the room, he felt a little restrained, and the man seemed very enthusiastic about him.

This is only natural. After all... he is Lance's man, and everyone in the Empire District knows this.

He simply wanted to see his mother. After sitting here for a while, the last bit of guilt he felt towards the mother and son slowly dissipated.

They chatted for a while about Ennio himself. It seemed that the woman was living a happy life now. Ennio left a thousand dollars and got up to say goodbye. He didn't want to disturb this harmonious happiness.

He didn't know where he had heard that when people have something they want to protect, they will become extremely powerful!

Friendship and family affection are what he wants to protect!

(End of this chapter)