Shadow Empire

Chapter 400 Who am I to you?

At around 1:00 p.m., Alberto drove over to pick up Lance personally, and the two hugged each other after they met.

"You look... much more stable."

The clothes Alberto wore before were more casual and fashionable. You could see a colorful pocket handkerchief in his chest pocket.

He can also be seen wearing a tie with multiple colored polka dots, which he accessorized with a less serious tie clip.

He is not young, in his thirties, but he still lacks the stability of a young man.

This is actually one of his charms. He always keeps a young heart. This mentality is very good and it is something many people want but cannot get.

But now, he was wearing serious clothes, the common sword collar was replaced with a flat collar, and a dark brown tie and a dark blue sapphire tie clip made him look very calm.

He even wore a pocket watch!
You know, only old-timers wear pocket watches, and real young people like to wear wristwatches.

If they can't afford a wristwatch, they would rather not wear one than wear a pocket watch.

But Alberto was wearing a pocket watch at this time, and the watch chain appeared inside his open collar.

He knew that his outfit would definitely make Lance feel something different, so he smiled helplessly.

These helpless smiles actually made him more similar to the image of Alberto in Lance's memory.

"It's troublesome, Lance."

"If I want to take good care of Cisco, I must stop being as irrelevant as a child. This is the price of this!"

He opened his arms. "Looks like a fucking old man about to be buried!"

Lance was a little confused, "Actually, I think you could restore some of your personality."

Alberto shook his head. "That way they'll have a reason for me to stay away from Cisco!"

He paused and said, "Thank goodness for you, otherwise I might have run away with Cisco."

"Is it that serious?"

Lance got in the car and Alberto got in from the other side. "Yes, Paul left without leaving any last words."

"None of us believed it, nor did we think that he would leave us like this in his prime, so as long as Sisko gave up inheriting the family."

"Then almost everyone in the family has the opportunity to become the next head of the family. Do you know how tempting this is for them?"

"Sisko is too young. If he were ten years older, the problem wouldn't be so difficult!"

The convoy started slowly, and Lance's men followed behind in their cars.

"Our main opponents now are Paolo's cousin, Zacaro, and his uncle Vittorio..."

"Excuse me!" Lance asked, "Are this Zacaro and this Vittorio a family?"

Alberto shook his head. "No, they are not a family, but competitors. If Cisco can't handle it."

"The Pasrettos are a not-too-small family, and it's normal that they have a lot of people."

"The attitudes of these two people have clearly shown that they intend to compete for the position of the head of the family. The others are actually our competitors as well, but their attitudes are slightly milder, just 'slightly'."

Lance had a headache when he heard this. "It sounds difficult to deal with them. How about we find a way to kill them?"

Alberto had obviously considered this possibility, "Now everyone is very low-key and careful, and once they do this, they will have a reason to refuse Sisko from inheriting the family."

"Unless we kill all the opponents, but if we do that, we might as well just get rid of them and build a new gang!"

Lance decided not to ask any more questions, "Well, I haven't been through this, I'll listen to you."

The convoy arrived at Sumuli District unimpeded along the way and came to the Pasreto family estate.

Part of the house that was destroyed by the explosion has been cleared, and some workers are repairing and rebuilding it as much as possible.

Some things that were damaged in the previous battle were replaced with new ones, including gardening and land.

If you don't look at the collapsed houses, you can hardly tell that there had been fierce gunfire here.

Along the way, many people's eyes were focused on Alberto and Lance. Alberto did not have the last name of Pasreto. He was only a distant relative of the Pasreto family, but now he began to interfere in the internal affairs of the Pasreto family. Not everyone liked him, especially for those who might become the next head of the family.

So these people, including their men, looked at Alberto with very unfriendly eyes, as if they were looking at a piece of shit.

Of course, there are two now.

"Your relatives don't seem to welcome you," Lance teased.

He didn't care at all about these malicious scrutiny. If the looks could influence him, he would have surrendered to the law long ago.

Alberto was in a heavy and serious mood, but Lance's words ruined it.

"That's because my appearance made them feel that things were beyond their expectations. You will never be grateful to someone who ruined your plan!"

Lance thought about it, "What you said makes damn sense!"

The two smiled at each other and came to the house further back.

This is where Francisco lives, along with Paul's wife.

When Francisco saw Alberto come in, he immediately stood up and smiled relaxedly, and his mother also visibly relaxed.

It can be imagined that when the husband died, those family members who were once gentle and smiling suddenly revealed their true appearance that had never been exposed before.

Regardless of whether it is disgusting or not, just the fact that it is scary is already very disturbing!
Because it’s not the enemy who wants to hurt them!
If it is an enemy, then this is a battle of honor!
But those people are their relatives!

In this way, Francisco had no one to rely on.

His uncles and aunts did not treat him as well as they did their own brothers and sisters, so Francisco did not have a good time.

The most important thing is that Mueller is also dead. If the family’s butler had not died, perhaps the situation would not have developed to this point.

Although Muller was only a butler, he had a high status and prestige in the family, and also had a high status among his brothers and sisters.

Sadly, both of them died.

"Uncle Alberto!" The little guy's tone was full of kindness. He looked at Lance again and called out "Uncle Lance" very quickly.

In fact, Lance is only four years older than him, but judging from the power comparison between the two sides, Lance can indeed be said to be his uncle, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is his grandfather.

Francisco's mother also noticed Lance. She came over to greet Lance. She knew that whether she and her son could live a healthy, happy and safe life in the future depended on these two people.

"It's nice to see you again, Cisco, can I call you that?"

Francisco nodded repeatedly, "Of course, Uncle Lance."

Lance pulled out a pack of cigarettes, "Would you like one?"

Francisco glanced at his mother, then lowered his voice and said, "You can give it to me when she can't see."

Lance gave him a direct answer, "You are already a man!" He paused, "It looks like you have come out of your sadness."

He took out a match, struck it, lit one for himself, and then let Francisco light his too.

The lady saw this scene and wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing.

Alberto came over and walked beside her, "Sisko is too young. He needs to behave in a mature way, including drinking."

"Smoking, drinking, and even the way he dresses, the more mature he looks, the better it will be for him to regain control of the family power. There is no need to restrict his needs in these areas."

Paul's wife nodded, "I see."

"What about this afternoon's meeting?"

Alberto also lit a cigarette. "Lance and I will handle it. Maybe I alone can't be a big deal for them, but with Lance, they have to consider whether they can face the two of us." Paul's wife was a little worried. "I don't know how to thank him. He has given so much. If we do nothing, people will think we are uneducated!"

Lance glanced at Lance who was communicating with Francisco again, and he smiled, "You don't need to think about these issues for now, and he won't be greedy for anything, because he is my good brother!"

Good brother Lance is talking to Francisco about some current family matters.

"...They are all waiting to see me make a fool of myself, I know that."

"But I won't give up unless they can knock me down!"

He flicked the ash of his cigarette unskillfully. "Can I ask you a more personal question?"

Lance nodded, "Of course."

He asked with some curiosity and a desire to explore, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Lance nodded, "Yes."

Francisco's tone was slightly throbbing, "Can you tell me what it feels like to kill someone?"

“They don’t talk to me about it.”

The "they" here, of course, refers to his mother and Alberto.

This is actually a form of protection, but Lance feels that in this situation, protection will only bring about effects that people do not want to see.

He thought for a while and described the feeling of killing in his own words.

“You can be scared, but also excited.”

"Because you will find that human life is very fragile."

"A dagger, a pistol, some poison, or even a tie!"

"They can easily take a person's life. At the same time, we are also human beings. We can also get hurt and die."

"When you kill someone, you become afraid that someone else will take your life in a similar or other way."

"But you will also feel a very special feeling. Taking away other people's lives was originally God's job, but now, you are taking God's place!"

"You can decide whether others live or die. This kind of power will make you excited, because at that moment, you will feel that you can be on par with gods!"

These words made Francisco's face flush with excitement. He glanced at his mother secretly and lowered his voice, "But she thinks I shouldn't get involved in this when some people want to kill me!"

Lansdo glanced at him. He could understand that someone wanted to kill him now, which meant he was not stupid.

"Do you have your own pistol?", Lance asked.

Francisco shook his head. "No, she wouldn't let me play with it. She said she was afraid it might go off or I might accidentally hurt myself."

It is really funny to hear these words. The son of a gang leader was taught "not to play with weapons so as not to hurt himself", and was asked by his mother not to talk about anything violent.

Do you plan to take the postgraduate entrance examination or go into politics in the future?

Lance lowered his voice a bit, "Next time I come I'll bring you some weapons. What kind of weapons do you like?"

The two were chatting when suddenly there was a knock on the door of the room, and someone outside the door said, "Everyone is here, we've been waiting for you."

Lance and Alberto both ended their conversation. Paul's wife was not suitable for such an occasion. She looked at Lance and Alberto with pleading eyes and said solemnly, "Please!"

As Paul's wife, she did not say anything stupid like "not fighting" at this time. In fact, they had no way out the moment Paul died!
Neither Francisco's uncles, grandfather, aunt, or other family members would allow Francisco to move freely in the outside world.

Either he would die in an accident or be placed under house arrest. There was no third option.

So she asked Alberto directly to help Francisco.

"We will do our best!" After Alberto buttoned his clothes again, he waved to Francisco. After the three of them opened the door, they walked towards the meeting room together.

There are several meeting rooms in the manor. Because there are many family members and many people living here, they often need to hold meetings to solve problems, so there are many meeting rooms.

When the three of them walked through the corridor and arrived at the conference room, the "relatives" sitting at the table were too lazy to even give the most basic courtesy. They were either pretending not to see it or doing their own thing.

Lance couldn't help but glance at Alberto. It was not easy for him to persist until now in such an environment.

"Hmph..." Someone snorted coldly, "You have to wait until all of us are here, Cisco. These are your uncles and grandfathers. Is this how Alberto taught you to respect your elders?"

"Oh, maybe they were delayed by something else?" Someone else started to smooth things over strangely, "After all, Psyker knows nothing about family affairs and has never been involved in them before. It's normal for him to worry that he can't handle it."

"I remember Cisco was still studying. I talked to Paul before, and he also believed that if the family wants to survive, it must have a leader with higher education."

"The most important thing for you to do now is to study hard. Let us handle the family affairs. After you graduate from college, we will put everything back in your hands."

……

They were all using various methods to influence Francisco, and although they should have been close relatives, no one really considered him.

Those who don't speak are actually not good people. If they really stand on Francisco's side, then they must take a clear stand against these people at this time.

But they did nothing, just sat there quietly, ignoring everything that was happening. This in itself is an attitude!

"Enough!" Alberto slammed the table hard, scaring Francisco.

The room suddenly became quiet, but only for a moment.

A middle-aged man who looked a bit like Paul said with an ambiguous smile, "Alberto, watch your attitude."

"Strictly speaking, you are just a servant of the family. Yet, you slam the table at your masters on such a sacred occasion?"

The person who was speaking was Cazzaro. His sideburns were very long and he used hair wax, which made him look a little weird.

After getting used to seeing Paul's face, I feel an inexplicable sense of disharmony when I see Zacharo's face again.

Francisco, who had been chatting and laughing with Lance in the room, became silent after coming here.

Maybe he was scared, maybe he didn't know what to say.

An old man who was already a little bald sitting on the other side looked at Lance and asked, "Who is this?"

"How does anything get to this table?"

Francisco turned around and looked at Lance, who put his hand on his shoulder. "My name is Lance, Lance White."

As he spoke, he dragged a chair over from the side, placed it next to Francisco, and sat down.

He crossed his legs, raised his hands and tapped the table twice, then pointed at the old man, "Not only can I be at the table, I can also be on an equal footing with you!"

Francisco's uncles, aunts, and grandfathers all started shouting, "This is an internal matter of the Pasretto family. You, an outsider, have no reason to interfere!"

Some people even shouted for someone to kick Lance out, saying he didn't belong here.

But they didn't shout for help, and Lance wasn't frightened by them.

"do you know?"

"Seeing you bullying a child makes me feel sick!"

"Paul helped me, Francisco called me uncle, he got into trouble, I had to help him!"

Cazzaro's face turned very ugly. The stronger the power on Francisco's side was, the further away they were from their dream.

"How come I didn't know Francisco had an uncle like you?"

Lance sneered and looked at Francisco, "Tell these idiots who I am to you!"

(End of this chapter)