The Mafia Empire

"In addition to that, there's another murder victim, but their face was completely disfigured. We hav't be able to idtify them yet. According to witnesses, the victim was se hanging a with a group of vagrants, possibly gang-affiliated..."

It took a momt before Pronto finally looked up at the officer. "What did you just say?" The officer stiffed, about to respond, but Pronto waved him off. "Never mind, I get it. You've done well. Keep investigating this, now!"

After the young officer left, Pronto sighed. He hadn't paid atttion to what the officer said after learning that Jim was dead. His mind immediately wt to the gang wars. Rectly, he had heard that someone had violated the rules of the three major bootlegging factions in Ternell, secretly selling high proof illegal alcohol to bars without their const.

Since the day he heard about it, he'd had a feeling that if that fool kept breaking the rules, the three factions would join forces to crush him. Sure ough, within days, Wood had already lost three people st to gather information. It had to be the hot headed youngsters who had done it. Back th, Pronto still thought there was a chance to de-escalate the situation.

If those involved were willing to pay up, apologize, and follow the rules, maybe things wouldn't escalate further.

And now? Jim was dead!

Did this mean the two groups were about to go to war?

As the police chief of Ternell, Pronto hated—and feared—gang wars the most. Small time gang wars were easier to deal with due to the limited numbers and scope, but wh the big players wt to war, it was a disaster. They would mobilize more people, fight on a larger scale, brazly gaging in mutual vdettas and ev large scale slaughter!

This wasn't unheard of in Ternell. Every time a major gang war broke out, it meant big trouble for Pronto—from the public, from his superiors, and from taxpayers.

If things got too out of hand, the Imperial Bureau of Criminal Investigation would definitely step in, and if things wt wrong, he could find himself reassigned to some godforsak place to guard fish ponds.

This was indeed a big problem!

At that momt, the door swung op, and a guy strolled in, casual as ever, not ev wearing his uniform—Shaun. He wasn't a police officer; he belonged to the Imperial Bureau of Criminal Investigation, officially known as the Imperial Security and Defse Investigation Bureau.

While the local police handled regional security, the Bureau managed the security of the tire empire, including major criminal cases. They had more authority than the local police, with agts stationed in every city.

Shaun was Ternell's agt.

Rumor had it that Shaun had messed up somewhere and was st to Ternell as a form of punishmt. He was young and had a bit of a devil-may-care attitude. Since arriving in Ternell, he hadn't caused Pronto much trouble. In Pronto's eyes, Shaun resembled a gang member more than an investigator. He spt most of his time hanging a with shady individuals or frequting various bars.

Shaun had only be in Ternell for less than two years, but wh it came to understanding the local gangs, he knew more than Pronto himself.

"What's up?" Shaun rubbed his eyes. He'd spt the night partying with a woman, and if Pronto's secretary hadn't called him, he'd probably still be asleep. By the way, Shaun's office was on the second floor of the police station, in the southernmost corner.

He grabbed a glass from the bar, dropped in a few ice cubes, and pulled a bottle of thirty-five-dollar liquor from the shelf, pouring himself a drink.

Watching him move a as if it were his own home, Pronto's eyes wided. "Didn't you hear? Jim is dead!"

Shaun took a sip, nodded in satisfaction, and asked, "Where'd you get this? It's pretty good."

Pronto slammed his hand on the desk, his temper flaring. "Are you deaf or something?"

Shaun paused, th said, "Are you speaking in a non-human language?" He chuckled, taking advantage of Pronto's temporary silce to walk over and press him back into his chair. "I heard you, I heard you. Jim, right? He's dead. So what? Everyone dies, ev God messger is dead, Only God is eternal."

Pronto, who had be fuming, suddly felt there was no point in getting angry. No wonder Shaun had be st to Ternell—his attitude made him more suited for the countryside!

It might have be the alcohol, or maybe it was because Pronto had yelled at him, but Shaun was gradually sobering up. He shook the glass that now only had ice left in it and casually placed it on Pronto's desk. Pronto immediately removed the condsation-covered glass from his beloved desk and wiped the faint water stain with a handkerchief.

Wh it came to Shaun, Pronto felt utterly helpless. At first, he had be somewhat in awe of him—after all, Shaun was from the Imperial Bureau of Criminal Investigation, a figure not to be trifled with, especially for someone like Pronto, who had spt his whole life in the small city of Ternell. But it didn't take long for that initial awe to fade into indifferce.

Sometimes, Pronto ev questioned how Shaun had become an agt; he didn't have the demeanor or the awaress of one.

Shaun behaved like a street thug, always hanging out with lowlifes and never showing interest in the cases occurring in the city. Ev the telegrams from the capital were oft tossed directly into the trash by him. It was as if he had giv up completely and was now indulging himself. He didn't ev bother with the systematic corruption within the police departmt, where everyone received bribes.

In fact, he had ev asked Pronto to cut him in.

His reasoning was simple: as a member of the Ternell Police Departmt, he was titled to the extra "subsidies" that came with the job, and he demanded fifty a month.

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