Shadow Empire

Chapter 730 Wildfire
There were not many people praying or confessing in the church on Wednesday. After all, there are not so many things to confess in country life.
The town is also in the countryside, and people are busy with their lives. Apart from coming on Sundays, most of the time people don’t come to church unless they are in trouble.

The priest sat at the edge of a row in the middle of the aisle, and a beam of sunlight shone in from the window and onto him.

The flying dust surrounded him, like tiny elves, adding a sacred temperament to him.

He sat there with his eyes fixed on the crucifix, but his mind was thinking about other things.

Will the share of the alcohol and the amount that one can pocket be easily solved by the new supervisors and agents?

Being a priest is really stressful!

Not only do I have to run this church, but I also have to hold Sunday services and listen to some idiots confess!
There was a... he no longer knew how to describe that guy, a young man in his twenties, single, working on a nearby cattle ranch, not even a cowboy, just a farmer.

He often came to confession because he helped himself solve the problem with his hands.

According to the oracle, if you use your hands to solve your physiological problems, it is a sin!

Priests do need to help people solve some of their spiritual problems, but they don't have to listen to a strong guy in the confessional telling himself how he solved it, and what bullshit he had before, during, and after the solution, and who the object of his sexual fantasies was!
What's even more outrageous is that his fantasy even includes some sheep from the farm!

The priest's thoughts trembled at this moment. He took a deep breath and broke out of his quiet state. "Fuck it! Let that bastard die!"

He shook his head, and then he heard footsteps coming from outside the church door.

It's the sound of leather shoes.

There are many farmers and cowboys in town.

Farmers wear rubber shoes to prevent their feet from being wet for a long time.

The environment on the farm is actually much worse than people imagine, and not as good as those in the city imagine.

Animal excrement was everywhere, especially near the pastures, where it was piled up.

Farmers need to clean it up every day, then take it to the farm to make compost and use it as fertilizer. If you don’t wear rubber shoes, whether they are leather shoes or cloth shoes, the feces will eat through them and eventually your feet will rot.

So most farmers wear rubber shoes, the very high ones, to protect their feet.

The sound of rubber shoes stepping on the ground is not like this. This is not the sound of cowboys' leather boots stepping on the ground. Their leather boots have spurs and some other metal accessories, and the noise they make when they walk is louder than this.

The man who came was wearing leather shoes with nails on his feet. He slowly turned around, holding the back of the chair, and looked towards the door.

A tall man in formal attire walked in. He was putting his sunglasses away and into his pocket. He then sat down opposite the priest. "One of my colleagues said you have something to talk to me about?"

In fact, this senior agent had already been assigned a task before coming and had even received a standard answer. He was just going through a process.

The priest observed the senior agent for a moment and then asked, "Mr. Director, I'm curious about something."

He turned sideways with his hands clasped together and let them hang naturally between his legs.

He looked kind and gentle, not at all aggressive, which made people not be on guard.

With his gray hair, no one would think this old man was a threat, and since this was a church, he could make people relax.

The supervisor looked at him, observing the priest's demeanor and eyes, "What?"

"Have you ever done something in your life that you knew was wrong but still did it?"

The supervisor was stunned for a moment. He thought seriously for a while and nodded, "Yes."

The priest nodded slightly, "Everyone has had it."

"You, me, and him."

He smiled, then stood up and invited the supervisor to join him and walked to the door.

The church is located on a slightly high slope in the northwest of the town, overlooking the entire town.

Standing here, Tomato Town is right at their feet, and the warm breeze of summer blows slowly, rippling people's moods.

The priest took a deep breath, and his heart seemed to open up a lot. "It's a quiet town. Everything in the outside world has nothing to do with this place."

“Maybe there will be some quarrels and conflicts occasionally, but it is like a gem embedded in the land nearby.”

"I believe that no one would have the heart to disrupt its tranquility. What do you think?"

The supervisor nodded. He couldn't deny that. Looking at Tomato Town from a higher perspective, everything in Tomato Town seemed smaller. If it could remain quiet and peaceful forever, it would not be bad.

But the supervisor comes with a mission, and he needs to take a stand, "If we have to do a wrong thing, then after we are done, what can be done to atone for our wrongdoing, our sin."

The priest's expression stiffened slightly. He turned to look at the supervisor and asked, "Do you want to disrupt the peace here?"

The supervisor said nothing, and the priest was a little annoyed. Silence often speaks louder than words.

It's like asking someone whether they love you or not.

If this person tells you that he/she doesn't love you, you might think that he/she is lying and is angry with himself/herself, and you might even have other thoughts to deny this fact.

But if this person keeps his head down and remains silent after you ask him/her, then apart from trying to save the situation by saying “Speak up!”, you should also understand that he/she really does not love you.

The supervisor's silence made the priest feel some uncontrolled threat. His eyes sharpened, "I hope this time, it's not the wrong choice."

He presented his problem back to his supervisor in a different way.

The supervisor just looked at him, shook his head, took out his glasses from his pocket, put them on again, and left with his men.

Looking at the supervisor's departing back, the priest's expression turned very ugly.

Ever since he became the priest here, even the mayor had to give him face, but this bastard in front of him didn't give him any face at all!
He took a deep breath, and a look of determination appeared in his eyes.

It is no longer news that Prohibition Bureau supervisors and agents have died in the line of duty. It can happen anywhere else and it can happen here as well.

In order to maintain the town's long-term peace, these people have to be sacrificed.

In the departing car, the supervisor looked through the rearview mirror at his sweaty subordinate who was driving the car, and said, "Put your work aside for a while when you get home, think about it, and then tell me if there is anything you want to tell me."

The man who was driving breathed out, "I know."

The rest of the time was dull. After they arrived at the office, the guy simply handed over his work and went back.

When he got back, he called the priest and said, “I have been suspended from work.”

There was some complaint in his tone, but in fact he knew that the priest gave him extra salary every month not because he was so outstanding.

It was simply because he was an agent of the Prohibition Bureau and he was required to turn a blind eye.

If he lost this job, no matter who it was for, it would be difficult for the priest to continue to pay him this salary, and he would even have difficulty finding a new job.

Whether in internal or external propaganda, the Federation always places "inclusion" in a very prominent position.

But in reality, there is no tolerance here at all. Even if those who have been in prison want to reform and start a new life, they will still be discriminated against and treated specially.

So much so that they end up having to return to gangs or do some menial heavy manual labor.

But people do have a tolerant side - only to those who are powerful!
Shen Tu could also hear the dissatisfaction and complaints in the agent's tone, but he did not show any emotion. He said in his usual magnetic and gentle voice, "It will be over soon, and everything will go back to the way it was before."

After the priest hung up the phone, he called another agent and asked, "Are you on patrol these days?"

"Well, I've been patrolling with two newbies these days, what's up?"

The priest licked his lips and said, "You will see someone trading wine privately at the fruit camp tonight, and then you will report this to your new supervisor. Got it?"

The agent immediately realized the priest's plan and did not respond immediately.

The first group of people who became Prohibition Bureau agents were all very outstanding talents, drawn from all over the state and even from surrounding areas.

They are gathered here, trained, and then dispersed to various places.

He is not a fool, he knows the consequences of doing this.

The new supervisor will definitely bring people to hunt down those bootleggers.

How many people are there in total?
But they may be facing dozens of people!
It's a simple trap, but it works.

He could even imagine the supervisor and new colleagues being killed, but that was all. They would continue to maintain stability and peace here while waiting for the next batch of new colleagues to arrive. "I saw him this afternoon. He planned to destroy our peaceful life."

The priest was hinting to him that those in charge were unwilling to join in and wanted to arrest him.

Once the priest and those people in the bar are caught, none of their protectors will be able to escape.

The agent, realizing he was standing on the edge of a cliff, made a decision immediately, "What are the details?"

The priest was very satisfied with his change and immediately told him the follow-up arrangements.

The agent spent the entire afternoon patrolling the streets with the two new guys, driving a car.

He introduced the streets and specific conditions here to the two men.

There are no gangs in town, but there are biker gangs, which are the most common in federal towns.

He also needs to tell them about the situation of these people.

In the evening, the three of them had hamburgers at a fast food restaurant in the town center and then left.

The agent drove alone to the road that he had to take to return to his residence. He held a cigarette in his mouth, smoked most of the cigarette, then entered a phone booth and dialed the office number.

Soon the call was connected. "It's me. I found someone trading bootleg liquor at ... Street and ... Street."

"Yeah, well, I was following them, and I saw them go into a warehouse in the alley."

"Okay, I'll stay here."

He put the phone down, walked out of the phone booth, looked at the dark alley, and returned to the car.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, the two cars finally arrived.

When the supervisor got out of the car, he explained, "I'm not familiar with the city and I got the wrong direction."

He paused, "Where are the people?"

The agent said towards the dark area in the alley, "There's a door there. They went in and never came out."

In the dark night, the supervisor stared into the agent's eyes, making the agent feel a burning sensation on his face.

He just met the other person's gaze for a short while, and couldn't help but turn his head to look elsewhere. He felt guilty.

He knew what was in it.

There were at least a dozen people inside with weapons waiting for them to open the door.

The moment the door is opened, bullets will rain down and shoot the person at the door into a sieve.

While investigating a case of smuggling and selling illegal liquor, the head of the Prohibition Bureau and his agents engaged in a fierce firefight with the smugglers and died heroically!
What a gimmick?
Then we'll find two unlucky guys to take the blame - the unlucky guys, knowing that they would be sent to the electric chair if they were caught, put up a fierce armed resistance and were eventually shot dead in an alley by the heroic agents.

Okay, it’s complete!
They are commended, the criminals are brought to justice, and except for the sacrifice of the supervisor and several agents, the town will soon return to peace and everything will go back to normal.

Now, I am only... a few dozen steps away from a stable and comfortable life.

"Why can't you look at me?" the supervisor asked.

The agent was stunned for a moment, "Uh... I didn't, I just..." He still didn't dare to look at the supervisor, afraid that he would reveal some flaws.

In fact, he didn't know that he had been a flaw from the very beginning.

"There are some things you didn't explain clearly on the phone just now. How many people did you see?"

Seeing that the supervisor changed the subject, the agent breathed a sigh of relief, "Two, I saw two people, they ran into the alley..."

"You've already said it once, there's no need to repeat it again."

"Are you sure it's two, not seven or eight, or even a dozen?"

The agent shuddered, his hands already starting to tremble slightly, "No, I'm sure, there are only two."

"Did you see them run in, open the door, walk in, and never come out?"

This was obviously a flaw, but at this point the agent could do nothing but continue to maintain this narrative.

He nodded and said, "I have been here and never left."

He didn't look up, so he didn't notice that the supervisor's eyes were full of naked ridicule when he looked at him. "Is there anything else you want to add?"

"No, no, no!"

The supervisor nodded slightly, walked to the side of the car and picked up a microphone, "Action."

The voice was very loud, and just when the agent had no idea who the supervisor was talking to, seven or eight police cars and even an armored vehicle suddenly rushed over.

The fully armed agents got out of the car, and the supervisor pointed to the door in the alley, "They may be hiding inside the door, be careful that they shoot first."

The action team began to move, and some people around were attracted and watched from afar.

The people in this town are very simple and honest, not at all like those in big cities.

If there was someone who was making fun of the big city here at this moment, he would definitely tell those who were watching the fun to run the fuck away!

Because once the exchange of fire begins, no matter whether it is gangsters or law enforcement officers, as long as they are bloodthirsty, they will immediately shoot if an unfamiliar person walks in front of them.

The agent's legs began to shake. He watched these fully armed agents enter the alley and engage in a fierce gunfight. He could no longer stand.

He was holding the car, half leaning and half sitting on the door, his face pale and bloodless in the night.

The sound of gunfire filled the whole town with an uneasy atmosphere, and soon the sheriff came over with some temporary workers. Fortunately, the presence of these law enforcement vehicles on the scene made him feel relieved.

But he was a little annoyed. He asked two people and came to the supervisor, "You should have told me first that this is my territory!"

The supervisor just glanced at him and said, "You are a sheriff, not a gangster. Think carefully about the words you use!"

He paused and said, "I suspected that you and your people had close ties with the smuggling group, so I did not inform you."

The prosecutor was furious, "I'm going to complain to your superiors about you!"

He felt that his face and dignity had been challenged. Tomorrow, the news in this town would spread that he was a "useless" sheriff. He was the last one to arrive at the scene of such a big incident.

The supervisor shrugged nonchalantly, saying that these things were arranged by the State Prohibition Committee, and there were even more powerful people supporting them behind the scenes.

It doesn’t matter whether you complain or not.

"Whatever. If you don't know the complaint number, come to my office later and I'll give you a copy."

The gunfight was almost over at this time. With the voices of "Don't shoot" and "I surrender" heard in the room, everyone knew that it was over.

The agent could no longer stand, so he held onto the door and got into the car, but he didn't dare to run, and he couldn't escape.

First, some corpses were sent out, and then some bootleggers were sent out.

Some of the higher-level agents were also injured, but even though they were well prepared, no one's life was in danger.

Looking at the seven or eight people still alive, the supervisor laughed twice, "There are many more than I thought. We have one night to figure out everything."

He turned around and looked at the agent who was smoking in the passenger seat, and said with a smile, "Are you right?"

The priest soon learned about the gunfight and its aftermath. After hearing it, his face turned very ugly. He also realized at this time that this personnel transfer was aimed at himself, or at the Holy Bell Party.

But he realized it too late!

He picked up the phone to tell Joshua about this, but there was no sound on the phone and the line was cut off.

He turned around suddenly, and at that moment the door of the church was pushed open. The director strode in from outside and walked in front of the priest.

"You should pay the price for what you did wrong!"

(End of this chapter)