Shadow Empire

Chapter 54 Small Problem

A sandwich with ham, tomato and egg is just better than dry bread.

In the afternoon, a group of young people were walking on the street, holding ham and egg sandwiches freshly made from the bakery. Everyone's face showed a smile called "happiness".

They are poor people, and poor people would not eat a ham and egg sandwich even if they could afford it, because they are more likely to spend a nickel on something that is filling than a quarter on something that is not filling.

Life is not a romantic thing.

Especially when you are poor.

If someone tells you that even a poor life can be romantic, then you have to think about what you have that the other person could covet.

It is a trail full of infinite possibilities and vitality, and a valley that can be developed for multiple functions.

The test we face in life is not only the determination to move on in a difficult life, but also our thoughts and even our bottom line.

This group of young people, who were in their twenties and whose best food in their lives was probably beef at one dollar a pound, ate ham for the first time. Although there were only a few thin slices, it was enough to fill them with new expectations for the future.

"It's delicious." Ennio, with his cheeks puffed up, couldn't help but exclaim, "I've never eaten food that tastes like this. It's much better than I thought!"

He looked down at the sandwich. "I can't really tell what the taste is. It's a little smoky, and there's a very special aroma. It's constantly coming out of my mouth."

"All the breath I exhale now tastes like ham!" He drank some of the breath, smelled it, and almost got sick.

The bad breath mixed with the smell of ham instantly made him lose his appetite.

Compared to Ennio's desire to show off, Maurice didn't say a word. He ate very carefully, and although his mother was good at making money, he had never eaten a ham sandwich.

This smell gave him... an unreal feeling, and a certain desire grew in his heart.

If he had more money, he and his family would definitely be as happy as he is now, right?

The other friends also agreed. This breakfast cost them more than one yuan, but they did not feel it was a luxury because they now earned more than ten yuan a day.

On average per person, it's about two dollars.

With an income of more than two dollars a day, it is not a big problem to spend fifteen cents on a delicious meal.

After eating the sandwiches, the young people stood at the entrance of the alley. Ennio took out a cigarette from his pocket and gave one to each of them. Then everyone leaned together and started smoking.

Arriving at this alley that was destined to be full of "money prospects", Ennio knocked on the wooden door. With a click, the small iron sheet was pulled open, and a pair of eyes appeared behind the door.

"We came here to play. We were here yesterday, so you should have seen us." Ennio looked at his friends around him and chatted with them in a very familiar tone.

The guard closed the lookout and opened the wooden door, revealing a person he had never seen before.

He looked a little serious, and glanced at each of them unceremoniously, then slowly made way for half of his position to give them room to enter.

Ennio's gaze stayed on him for a moment, then he led his friends into the casino.

The sturdy man did not close the door immediately, but walked outside the door and looked around, then returned to the wooden door and locked it.

As the group walked down the stairs, they did not notice that it was exceptionally quiet here.

Yesterday when I was halfway there I could already hear the noisy commotion below, but now it was so quiet that only the echo of footsteps could be heard.

When they arrived at the casino, Ennio looked at the empty casino at a loss. There was not a single gambler here.

Several thugs were sitting or standing beside the gambling tables, and the dealers were clearing out various gambling games.

On a sofa in the middle of the casino, a guy was sitting leaning forward, playing with a pistol in his hand.

Ennio already felt something was wrong and he planned to leave, but the burly man guarding the door had blocked the steps and they could not leave.

The casino owner looked these young men up and down. He knew Morris and often saw him in the casino.

Some of the others he might have seen somewhere else looked vaguely familiar, but not much.

He leaned back into the couch, "Yesterday you provided loan services to my guests in my casino."

This is an affirmative statement, with a tone that leaves no room for doubt. “You didn’t follow the rules. You crossed the line.”

The thugs all stood up, some holding baseball bats, and some even holding daggers. These young people were all scared!

Ennio's body trembled slightly. Although he had helped his friends fight in school before, this was probably the most violent thing he had ever done.

Maybe in their eyes this is a terrible thing, but if you really put it in front of these lawbreakers, it is just a fight between children.

"I... didn't know there were any rules. This is my first time doing this.", Ennio tried to explain.

The casino owner took out a half-smoked cigar from his pocket and relit it. He raised his chin and said, "Teach our little friends a lesson..."

……

In the afternoon, Lance just came back from the Commercial Services Bureau. He registered a labor agency company, "Wanli Labor Agency Company". The scope of its business is to recruit workers and rent and sell labor. Of course, it would not be written so directly in writing.

There are many such companies in Jingang City, some of which are doing well and have grown to a large scale.

Judging from the city’s supporting services and the development of the city itself, it may be a little late to do this now, as the biggest piece of cake has already been taken onto someone else’s plate.

But for Lance, it was not too late, because he had his own resources. As soon as he returned to the company, he saw Morris squatting at the door, and Melo was comforting him.

"What's wrong?" Lance walked over and the two of them stood up immediately. Only then did Lance notice that his face was bruised and swollen. It seemed that he had been beaten up badly?
"Who hit you?" he asked.

Morris gritted his teeth and said, "The casino owner said we shouldn't do business in his casino. He beat us up and took away all our money. Others were also detained. He asked me to come to you and said you must intervene in this matter, otherwise they will kill Ennio and the others!"

When he said this, his body trembled slightly, perhaps because he recalled the terrible things, or perhaps because of anger.

Lance's eyebrows raised when he heard this. Going into someone else's casino to do business... this was indeed not a good thing, but if he had to beat them up and take away all their money, and even threatened to kill these young people, it didn't seem appropriate either. It should just be a form of intimidation.

He handed the materials in his hand to Mello, "I'll go take a look."

Mello took the materials and was a little worried, "Will it be dangerous?"

Lance shook his head, "Don't worry."

He let Morris get in the car and drove off.

Along the way, he asked Morris to tell him in detail what had happened in the past two days, including what happened after they were caught.

“…My father would lose money every time he gambled, and every time I went there I would see many people losing all their money and borrowing money from others, so I thought we could build something there.”

"…We were beaten up. They didn't want to listen to our explanation, and then they asked us in detail which company we were from, but we didn't tell them."

Mosley glanced at Lance secretly, "Enio didn't say anything at first, but then his arm was broken, and he couldn't help but say it."

Lance drove with an expressionless face. He listened and nodded, and soon the car stopped outside Lezhu's door.

"Wait for me in the car for a few minutes, I'll be right back."

He didn't think it was excessive that Ennio "betrayed" him. In a sense, he and Ennio were just partners, and the other party had no obligation to sacrifice himself to protect him.

So when he heard that Ennio told his story after his arm was broken, he was not angry at all. Instead, he thought the young man was a little stupid.

It's something you're going to have to say sooner or later anyway, so why wait until you've been tortured before saying it?
But perhaps this is also a kind of belief and persistence of young people.

"Hi." The beautiful girl at the front desk saw that it was Lance, raised her hand and gave a perfunctory greeting, then lowered her head to fill in the crossword puzzle in the newspaper.

Lance came to the lounge. Fordyce was playing pinball. When he saw him coming, he immediately put down the game in his hand, walked over quickly and hugged him. "I didn't hear you were coming?"

"You guys were a bit rough in your last order, not as detailed as you, but fortunately the matter was resolved perfectly."

Lance nodded twice. He wasn't here to talk about this. "Can you lend me a gun?"

Fordis's expression froze for a moment, then turned serious. "The weapon is fine. Do you need my help?"

Lance shook his head. "It's a little troublesome. Some of my friends were detained by an underground casino while doing business. I plan to go over and take a look."

Fordis was a little surprised to hear this, "If that casino is not authorized by the Kodak family, you can actually report it to them."

"They'll give you some money and take care of the problem for you."

That was a great idea, Lance asked, "How long will this process take?"

"For about two or three days, they sometimes acted more like a government agency than an organization. In terms of efficiency, they were not like a gang at all!"

"I can't wait that long. I'll get the person out first, and then consider other things."

"By the way, it would be better if you could give me another dagger."

Fordis thought for a while and said, "If you need our help, please let me know. I believe even the boss will be happy to help you!"

He turned and walked towards the yard, "Come with me..."

They crossed the yard and came to the second floor, which he had never been to before. A fat man with a beard and wearing overalls was working at a hand-cranked lathe.

"Is there a safe pistol?" asked Fordyce.

The bearded man glanced at him and asked, "You use it?"

Fordyce tilted his head, took out a revolver from the cabinet next to him, walked to the "counter" and put the revolver on it.

He placed his hands on the counter and tilted his head slightly. "McGray's Police Defense Revolver. All police officers use this thing. It can be fatal if it hits a vital part. There's no gun number. I've re-rifled it. I guarantee that no other case will involve you."

"Of course I hope that when you are caught, we won't be involved."

When a stranger comes with a gun, he must be going to "work", and he must make some things clear in advance.

Lance nodded and checked the pistol, "Can you fire two shots?"

The bearded man pointed to the target hanging on the far wall and said, "Of course."

After paying one hundred and fifty dollars, Lance left with the gun, a box of bullets, and a magazine.

Fordis gave him a very ordinary dagger, which was ordinary but very sharp.

Morris watched Lance come back with the pistol, and suddenly the panic disappeared.

In his heart, the gun represents absolute power!
(End of this chapter)