Shadow Empire

Chapter 667 What Everyone Must Do
Mayor Williams picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip.

Milk makes it taste smoother, and a small piece of sugar makes it easier to swallow.

The quality of the coffee itself wasn't particularly good, and he hadn't had such cheap coffee in a long time.

I don’t know if it was because the raw materials were really not good or because of psychological factors, but he just took a small sip and put the cup down.

He turned his head and looked at the busy street outside the window. It was now past five in the afternoon, and people were coming and going. In winter, people would get off work an hour or half an hour earlier, but correspondingly, they might start work earlier or shorten their rest time.

He could understand what Lance meant.

Arthur is now in the hands of this group of people, and their purpose is only to delay him and not give him time to respond.

It's a despicable move, but I have to say, it's very effective.

If he was the kind of man who could be so cruel as to regard his political life as more important than Arthur's life, then there was no doubt that they would not be a threat to him.

A child died, but a riot was quelled. Perhaps some people would despise his ruthless behavior, but he was also able to gain the support of more people.

Putting the safety and stability of society over the safety and stability of one's own family, is there anything better than this gimmick to please the lower-class people who can only earn 40 yuan a month?
Although they can only earn forty dollars a month, some of them are important voters.

But Mayor Williams is not that kind of person. Based on his love for his wife, he also likes Arthur very much, so he knows very well what he is facing now.

That group of people has Arthur as their biggest bargaining chip. If they attack rashly, will they... use Arthur as a bargaining chip?
Or, would they realize that there was no hope of escape and just kill Arthur?

It is possible that when a person is forced into a dead end and sees no hope, they will make a desperate attempt.

The risk factor of the other option was much lower than the first one. What he could imagine was that Lance would find a way to provoke them and force them to leave there as soon as possible.

As soon as they show up, kill them and rescue Arthur.

If they want to hide Arthur, they must not let him show up. In this case, it will provide Arthur with a safe environment.

Even if he stuffed it in the trunk, he was safe at that moment.

However, there is also a disadvantage to doing this. If they fail to find the correct kidnappers, Arthur will be taken away by them. Next time they will be more careful and secretive.

"The first option is too risky, and the second option has a chance of failure." Mayor Williams sighed, "Life is always a dilemma, no matter when it is."

He picked up the cup of coffee again and took another sip. This time he felt a little better, but only a little, a tiny bit.

"Find them out!"

"If something really happened to Arthur... I want all of them to be buried with Arthur."

"Including the Bay Area!" He picked up the coffee and took a big sip. "The coffee is good."

Lance nodded slightly, then stood up, "Three dollars a pot, great coffee!"

"I paid for it."

After he said that, he picked up his hat and left the cafe while the owner looked at him as if he wanted to approach him but didn't dare.

Mayor Williams is not leaving, he will wait here.

Or wait for that idiot Arthur to come and tell him how miserable he has been these past few days.

Or, wait for the terrible news that will terrify everyone.

He tasted the three-dollar pot of coffee, and it seemed that there was not much difference between it and the coffee he brewed at home with coffee beans that cost hundreds of dollars a pound.

At this time, the guy came out of the delicatessen holding two large bags of cooked food, mainly pork elbows and cooked beef.

The Federals did not have the concept of "braising", but they had a method of cooking with the same purpose.

Marinate the beef with spices and then cook it in the oven.

The advantage of this non-open flame stewing method is that when the beef is cooked through, there will be no burnt brown areas like when it is roasted over an open flame, and the fat and meat are fully combined, causing the meat to be somewhat loose.

The beef cooked in this way will not have excessive fat rendered into oil and will remain relatively intact, but it will be softened.

It will have a complete "outer shell" and will be packed in a brown paper bag and placed on the counter after it is taken out.

Because the continuation of the appearance allows it to be preserved for a longer period of time in a relatively low temperature state, the taste will not become too bad.

If someone needs cooked beef, the clerk will take it out from the counter, cut a piece in front of the customer, and then divide it again or pack it directly.

Guests can simply heat it up after taking it home, or even eat it directly without heating.

Of course, you can also re-fry or re-bake it.

In short, this is a very commercial cooking method. It may not be very delicious, but in terms of the convenience of storage and sale, it is undoubtedly better than other methods.

A large bag of beef and a large bag of pork elbows were enough for them to eat for quite a long time. There was also bread in the delicatessen, and he bought some bread. Coming out of the delicatessen, the cold wind blew on his body, and the biting cold made him shrink his neck, and his attention was on the road.

He saw some cars that looked a little strange. There were people in these cars, but they neither got out of the cars nor started the cars to leave. They just stayed where they were.

Combined with the two cars he met when he came out of the alley, he had a vague illusion that they had been discovered!

The more this happened, the more he couldn't expose himself.

After just standing at the door of the delicatessen for a while, he immediately felt someone's eyes on him.

He immediately turned around and walked towards a grocery store on the side of the road and bought more than ten boxes of cigarettes. Whether he was going in or coming out, he did not look at the cars on the side of the road that were obviously abnormal.

He thought his...disguise was good, but in fact, he had been targeted.

"He bought two large bags of meat. People living here can't afford such expensive food."

A young man sitting in the passenger seat looked at the guy holding two large bags of cooked food and carrying a braided net bag as he walked towards the distance with a sharp look in his eyes.

They all come from poor backgrounds. If they were not from poor backgrounds, if they had an ordinary background, not a prominent one, and had a stable life and future, they might not necessarily risk great danger to join a gang.

So they look very young and indeed lack experience in many issues.

But when it comes to struggling to survive at the bottom, they have extensive experience!
The food cost at least several dollars, plus the cigarettes, more than ten dollars.

There are not many people in this area who can spend more than ten yuan on food in a month, let alone a week.

The guys who came out to buy things didn't realize that they were exposing themselves by buying too much food.

If he knew that a spy was caught because he couldn't help but secretly eat a piece of meat, he might become a little more vigilant and not let his behavior be so out of place with the people around him.

As he approached their hiding place, he saw some guys wearing woolen windbreakers and red armbands on their left arms entering an apartment building.

As the men moved, he saw that they all carried guns, even submachine guns.

This made him even more nervous and his pace quickened.

After he thought he had returned to their current residence very secretly, the closed door separated the inside and the outside, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong with you?" Richie was playing cards with others. He saw that his subordinate looked uneasy and couldn't help but ask.

The guy who was buying things came to the center of the room with his arms, "There are a lot of people from the Lance family outside. We may have been exposed."

The cigarette in Richie's mouth fell from his mouth, causing some sparks to fly. It was these sparks that made him quickly put down the poker in his hand. While patting the remaining sparks on his body, he asked in confusion, "How did we get exposed?"

"We didn't reveal any information, nor did we let Arthur talk to them. We didn't even give them a chance to exchange secret codes. How did they find us?"

Richie didn't understand. He recalled everything carefully. He didn't reveal any information at all. How did they find this place?

He hadn't thought that the sound of car horns outside would be the reason for locking down his location, even now.

He walked back and forth a few steps. "Are you seeing things?"

The man shook his head. "They all have the red armbands of the Lance family."

"Fuck!" Richie cursed and immediately picked up the phone. Not caring about being hungry, he dialed Mr. Charles' number directly.

The call was connected quickly. Mr. Charles was in a good mood because the demolition site was in complete chaos. It didn't matter whether Mayor Williams knew about it at this time.

It's like arson.

When the flame is still just a small flame, any disturbance can extinguish it, so the arsonist must protect this small flame.

But once a small flame starts to burn fiercely, becomes a hazard, and evolves into a disaster, then there is no need to worry too much. Even if you allow firefighters to put out the fire, they may not be able to put it out in a short time.

So he is in a good mood now, "You did a good job!"

Richie interrupted him directly, "Sir, the Lance family may have discovered us." He glanced at Arthur in the cage in the corner, "Do you still want to keep Arthur?"

Charles was stunned for a moment. He was originally very happy about something, but suddenly such a change occurred. The smile on his face also faded.

Because this is also a difficult choice for him!

If Arthur is killed, Mayor Williams will go crazy and fight to the death, and the final result may change.

By not killing Arthur, Mayor Williams can free up his hands to concentrate on dealing with the current situation. He won't be so radical, but that doesn't mean it will be easy to deal with.

Life is all about choices. Either you make the choice or he makes the choice!

(End of this chapter)