Shadow Empire

Chapter 426: Fighting Together, Horror Movies, and Boxing Matches
It’s almost October and the temperature has really dropped.

On the shore of Angel Lake, gusts of wind blew over from the sea, and the sea breeze that created huge waves rushed for dozens of kilometers and only wrinkled the surface of Angel Lake.

The sparkling lake is hidden in the dense woods, like a gem that fell from heaven to earth.

The smell of the wilderness blew in my face, and the afterglow of the sunset shone through the thin clouds. It was not dazzling or hot at all, just like a natural filter.

It's quiet here.

Many outsiders have heard of Angel Lake. At first, there were many tourists here. Such beautiful scenery always attracts some visitors.

Whether you come to take a boat and float on the lake, or sit by the lake and fish or have a picnic, it is all very fun.

But as the "secret of Angel Lake" was used by some media and began to leak out, fewer and fewer people came here to travel.

Although Jingangcheng clarified more than once that it was just a rumor, people still chose to believe it.

The thought that there are countless gasoline barrels under the lake, which may contain all kinds of corpses, makes the tourists feel cold.

Gradually, there were fewer and fewer tourists, and this place became more and more deserted.

Whether locals or outsiders, few come here, and this place has become a paradise for gangs.

But in fact, if you don’t consider those weird things, the scenery here is really nice!

Lance was leaning on the front of the car, and the others were standing scattered around. Two cars were slowly approaching from a distance. Fords and Irvin greeted them, and soon Alberto got out of the car.

He walked over to Lance, leaned on the front of the car like him, and asked Lance for a cigarette.

"What do you think?"

After he passed on Bandy's idea to Lance, Lance asked him to meet with him because there were some things he needed to discuss.

Alberto took a puff of his cigarette. He looked a little tired. "There are some disagreements in the family now. Those people think that stopping now is a very good choice."

"After all, we have suffered a lot of losses, and we also need to recruit some people and then earn some money quietly."

"Also, Cisco's uncles and grandfathers don't really want him to continue his revenge." Alberto tilted his head. "You know, they are worried about me and Cisco building up more family prestige."

The reason why a gang leader can become the leader is most likely because they have enough prestige to intimidate other people in the family.

For example, Big Polly was crazy and cruel enough that he dared to shoot at a fleeing gunman when the street was full of pedestrians.

He doesn't care whether he shoots ordinary people or not, because he is a madman, and he keeps emphasizing his madness.

Lance was able to become a leader because he helped everyone solve many problems and made everyone's life better, so he was able to become a leader.

No matter how they build their personal prestige, every gang leader must have this, and enough of it.

Rick died, and some people in the family changed their views on Alberto and Francisco. Now some young people have come closer and are willing to follow Francisco.

This is the concrete manifestation of prestige. His resolute determination for revenge moved these people and they were willing to stand behind Francisco.

But this made the others somewhat unhappy, as they were still thinking about inheriting the family!

"If we continue to go to war with the Cassia family, there is indeed a great possibility that it will be destroyed. Then Francisco's prestige will at least allow him to hold on to his current position."

"If we have a chance to get rid of Dover, then this position will be unshakable."

"So they are now objecting again, arguing that we also need to adjust and recuperate."

Lance glanced at Francisco who was arm wrestling with Fordis in the distance, then turned and asked, "Why don't you just kill those guys?"

Alberto didn't react at first, "Who are you talking about?", but he soon realized that Lance was not talking about the Cassia family, but Francisco's uncles and grandfather.

He laughed and said, "His father just died, and then we planned to kill off his uncles, aunts, and grandfathers?"

He thought Lance was joking, but Lance was serious, "They have already affected some things. You know they will make you uncomfortable, but you still want to keep them. I think you should think about it seriously."

They have clearly shown their malicious intent, so why not just kill them?

He glanced at Francisco again, who had a smile on his face. Fordis was indeed a man who knew how to make people happy.

"He wants to be a gang leader in the future, not a patriarch."

"Loss, gain, the eternal choice."

Alberto fell into deep thought.

After a while, his butt left the front of Lance's car and shouted to Francisco in the distance, "Francisco, come here!"

There seemed to be some faint echo coming from the distance, very slight, but it existed.

"come over……"

"come over……"

Lance subconsciously glanced at the lake, hoping that Jason wouldn't suddenly jump out wearing a hockey mask and holding a bloody hockey stick and hit him?

Francisco ran over on the hillside, a little out of breath, "What's wrong?"

Alberto glanced at Lance, who pretended not to feel his gaze, so he had to speak for himself.

"We were just discussing something about your uncles."

The smile on Francisco's face quickly disappeared and turned calm.

When Paul was alive, these uncles, aunts, and grandfathers were very kind to him and they often brought him some things.

Whether it was food, drink, play, books, or anything else, everyone seemed nice and everyone seemed to like him, and he couldn't feel anything bad about these people.

But after Paul's sudden death, things became a little...uncomfortable.

They always said that he was very young and didn't understand the family operations at all, so they told him to go to school with peace of mind and they would take care of the family affairs.

He is just young, that doesn't mean he is stupid.

In fact, he knew clearly in his heart that once power really fell into the hands of these people, these relatives, he and his mother would most likely have no future.

After all, it’s impossible for these people to give back the food they’ve already eaten!

If you want to monopolize these forever, then the best way is to make them disappear by accident.

Family ties suddenly became so fragile. If it weren't for Alberto, he thought he might have had an accident.

So he had special trust in Alberto.

When Alberto talked about this issue, he was in a bad mood and could no longer smile. He just nodded and said, "About what?"

"We were just chatting and talked about these people and these things."

"They are your relatives after all. My idea is to wait until you grow up and control the entire family, and then decide whether they want to stay."

"But you have seen what has happened in the past two days. They will continue to prevent you from gaining more prestige and support in the family."

"Lance just made a suggestion, or rather, he reiterated his previous idea."

He paused here, and while he was thinking about how to phrase it, Francisco asked, "Are you going to kill them?"

Alberto was stunned for a moment, but quickly nodded and said, "Yes."

"After all, this is your family affair, so we have to refer to your advice."

Lance interjected, "It's not that we don't have a way to deal with these people. When they first showed their ill will towards you, you should have given them an end."

"Whether you kill them yourself or we kill them, the result is actually the same."

"If you are concerned about your relatives, we can consider arresting them and imprisoning them, but there may be some variables."

"We'll support you no matter what."

Francisco's eyes kept moving between Alberto and Lance, and he thought about what his mother had said to him.

Regardless of whether Alberto did this to really repay Paul or had other ideas, at least for now, Alberto was the best choice for him, no doubt about it.

It seems like he still has a choice, but in fact he has no choice.

Lance and the others did not rush Francisco. These things were indeed cruel for a child, but he had to experience them personally.

After a long while, about seven or eight minutes, he smoked a cigarette and finally made up his mind. Only a few people were purged, not everyone. In fact, he could still have some uncles and aunts alive.

It is impossible for Alberto and Lance to really kill all his family members. That is impossible and unrealistic.

He nodded. "I think this proposal is good. They don't treat me as their nephew or grandson, so..."

The young man pursed his lips, a bit of fortitude showing on his tender face, "...I don't need to treat them as my relatives anymore."

Alberto didn't know what to say when he saw this scene, but he was still somewhat relieved because it not only meant that he had made a decision that was not so easy.

For many people, no matter how bad their relatives are, they are still relatives, and as long as they are relatives, it is not so difficult to let go.

On the other hand, this also shows Francesco's trust in him.

He walked over and hugged the young man, "I promise that anyone who hurt your father will pay the price!"

Lance watched him express his thoughts and thought he might fall over it.

I just hope it doesn’t fall too hard!
"Okay, let's talk about my ideas."

"I will arrange for someone to attack the Tita family, using some gunmen from Yalan."

"And you..."

Alberto immediately understood what Lance meant, "We were also attacked by Yalan's gunmen and lost some key members."

If only one family was attacked, it could be said that it was a frame-up, and someone wanted to use these things to intensify their conflicts and make them continue to fight.

But two families were attacked and people died, so the meaning behind this is worth thinking about.

Even though Bandy knew that this was a frame-up, he had to think about whether the Cassia family was worth him continuing to protect.

This is actually something that can be seen at a glance. At least two families would rather hurt themselves a thousand times than not kill the Cassia family. If he goes to stop them, he is actually making a bad choice and standing on the opposite side of them!
The two agreed on a time to start and then began to prepare.

After finishing the business, Francisco smiled again, but this time, the smile on his face was less worried than before.

Angel Lake is still as beautiful as ever. As the sun sets, the lake reflects the bright red light, like a gorgeous ruby!
Lance suddenly thought of something, so he took a piece of paper and a pen and started writing it down.

Erwin on the side was a little curious, "What are you doing?"

Because Lance had been recording for a while, while continuing to record, Lance said, "I thought of a story and I'm going to film it."

Erwin suddenly became interested, "Is it for Gerald?"

He followed up with, "Can you tell me what it's about?"

"Of course!" Lance rubbed his wrist. He rarely wrote so much. "It has something to do with Angel Lake. It's a horror movie."

"A guy named Jason is cursed and lives in Angel Lake..."

Erwin interrupted, "Excuse me, does anyone live in the lake?"

"How does he live?"

Lance tilted his head, "Come on, there are tons of people living down there right now, this is normal!"

Erwin was a little speechless. He understood what Lance meant. "A water ghost, a ghost, that's what you mean!"

Lance pointed at him, "You have quick reflexes, you are a cursed demon."

Erwin suddenly realized, "You don't mean that Jason?"

"Yes, that's him. Even though he's dead, he can still contribute some value to us!"

"And don't interrupt me. Just listen to me."

"There are rumors in the city that there are demons in Angel Lake. Some young people from other places don't believe it. They come here to travel and explore."

Erwin was about to say something, but held back. He knew that this was the beginning of the drama.

"And then they did something stupid and let the demon in Angel Lake be unleashed."

"Then he killed most of the people, leaving only the protagonist."

Erwin added, "Jellal."

Lance didn't mind his interruption, which was actually a supplement, "Yeah, he survived in the end, and then sealed the demon back into the lake."

"What do you think of this story?"

"There are already many legends about Angel Lake, so why not make it a little more thrilling!"

Erwin thought seriously for a while and nodded, "If the filming is okay, I think I will watch it. I would like to know why so many people live down there."

"And... honestly, Lance, this story gives me a sense of involvement. After all, we created it!"

Lance laughed, "We didn't create him. He's still fine down there and he won't come out, but we need him!"

The legend of Jason of Angel Lake will become an important cultural symbol. Although it is a horror film, Lance believes that it will definitely be a classic, which will help Wanli Pictures to open up the market.

Horror films during this period were still in the exploratory stage, and people were not quite sure how horror films should be shot.

It shouldn't be a simple blood-surgery film, showing some execution scenes, or having some people wearing special clothes walking around the street like headless corpses.

Maybe I will have another title, “Father of Horror Movies” in the future?

However, when he thought that this title was mostly given to directors, Lance curled his lips helplessly.

Bandy's request was indeed a bit unreasonable, so he gave these people some buffer time, which also gave Lance and Alberto time to prepare.

On Friday night, Lance brought a large group of people to participate in Ethan's first ring match.

The match was held in a boxing gym. There were not many people at the scene because both Ethan and his opponent, who had lost once in two fights, were super newcomers in the entire boxing world.

It’s so new that people have never even heard of it!

The sports industry is very simple and realistic.

Whether you are strong or not can be seen at a glance.

A difference of 0.1 second in running is just a difference of 0.1 second. The number of wins and losses in boxing fights is clearly written and is difficult to fake.

They won't focus on a newcomer and a rookie, there will only be two teams of players on the scene.

And Lance and the others.

Ethan became excited when he saw so many people like Lance coming to watch his game, but also a little nervous. He was worried that he would perform badly.

The coach saw his current condition and while giving him a massage to relax him, he told him that he was the strongest.

Lance walked to the edge of the ring. The opponent's coach kept staring at Lance, afraid that he would hand Ethan a weapon or something.

This kind of thing has happened before, but fortunately Lance was just chatting with him.

"Want one?" Lance took out a cigarette.

Ethan's coach's face suddenly turned dark!
"Mr. Lance, stop kidding, Ethan is an athlete now, he can't do this!"

Of course Lance knew that he was just trying to joke, but he was also a little surprised, "You quit smoking?"

At this time, tobacco groups spend a lot of money every year to suppress all negative news related to cigarettes, including lung diseases, but in sports people will still find that smoking athletes are worse than non-smoking ones.

So after Ethan showed his talent, his coach immediately asked him to quit smoking.

Ethan nodded a little embarrassedly. To him, it seemed that quitting smoking was an embarrassing thing.

Lance dropped his lit cigarette to the ground and patted Ethan's calf - he was standing under the ring.

"Good job, I'll treat you to a delicious meal later!"

The opposing coach was a little unsure of what Lance was going to do. He walked over to the referee and said a few words. The referee nodded and raised his voice a little, "All irrelevant people, leave the ring. Our match is about to begin."

Apart from the referees and staff, Lance and his friends were the only spectators!
Lance waved his fist, "Beat him up!"

(End of this chapter)