Chapter 577: When I opened my eyes, I was already at the dining table

Feeling the violent vibration of the door, Gao Li hurriedly pushed some things over to block it from behind.

He didn't use his own body to block it because he wasn't sure if the people outside would shoot.

The sound of him pushing things alarmed the people outside the room, and the rhythm and force of the door-bashing became stronger.

He couldn't help but turn his head to look at the sniper. "How much longer?"

The sniper didn't answer his question. He was waiting, waiting for the company's main door to be pulled open again.

His index finger, which had been trembling slightly, suddenly became stable and slowly pressed onto the trigger.

The banging sound of the door alarmed the other two young men, and all four of them joined in the door-bashing.

Although there were things blocking the door and security locks, under the combined force of four people, the door frame finally cracked.

Although the door didn't open, every impact caused it to open a small crack.

Discovering this, the four immediately changed the ramming into pushing and squeezing, pushing inward. The door looked like it was about to open bit by bit, and Gao Li blocked it with all his might.

Perhaps he was lucky; after many pieces of furniture were stacked together, the door could only open that small crack, at most allowing an arm to reach in.

At this time, the main door of the new company was pulled open again. Several of Lan Si's bodyguards walked out, dispersing on both sides of the motorcade, vigilantly watching the pedestrians on the road.

Those pedestrians were also very cooperative and didn't have the thought of "I'm going to pass through here right now, damn it." Many of them knew Lan Si, recognized Lan Si, and didn't have any ill will toward him.

You can dislike someone who isn't good to you, but it's very hard to hate someone who is good to you.

Since Lan Si arrived here, everything in the Imperial District had been undergoing huge changes. Even if some old-fashioned people didn't like Lan Si that much, they wouldn't hate him either.

They stood by the sidewalk waiting, or walked around from the side of the road; this was nothing.

For the Federation people, powerful and influential people were members of the privileged class. They exercised some insignificant privileges, which didn't count as a problem at all!

The sniper could already see those bodyguards starting to gather. He had already realized that Lan Si might only be a few steps away from the main door.

He slowly took a deep breath, held it, and his whole person entered a state of "emptiness."

His world was left with only that scope.

The moment a foot appeared from inside the door, time seemed to slow down in his perception.

He pressed his shoulder tightly against the stock, had already locked onto the shooting position, and the rest was just waiting for Lan Si to actively "bump" into his crosshairs, and then pull the trigger at that moment!

At this time, he completely ignored the people outside the room.

The few young men couldn't push the door open, but they heard the sound from inside. This was diagonally opposite the company; if something happened, they would have to bear huge responsibility.

One of the young men pulled out his handgun directly and pulled the trigger at the apartment door.

The moment the firing pin hit the primer hard, the gunpowder inside the bullet began to burn.

The pressure generated by the energy released during the combustion pushed the bullet head out violently, accompanied by a loud sound!

Bang, bang, bang-bang.

He pulled the trigger randomly, without rhythm. The bullets shot through the door panel and into the room, and the sound it made also spread out through the window.

Almost at the same time, or perhaps a moment later—a very short time that is hard for human perception of time to detect—the sound of a rifle's unique gunshot rang out in the room...

Bang!

It seemed the door that was being squeezed open by the room vibrated slightly because of this gunshot. The four people outside the room had a short "pause," but soon began to force the folding wooden door open along the bullet holes.

The moment Lan Si just walked out of the company, he vaguely heard a gunshot in his ear, followed immediately by another.

By the time he reacted, he had already been tackled to the ground by Ma Duoer!

Ma Duoer panted, shielding Lan Si and his own head. Only then did the people around react.

"Someone fired," Ma Duoer said.

Lan Si nodded. "I heard it."

While speaking, the other bodyguards also reacted. They helped Ma Duoer and Lan Si up and helped them enter the company.

People on the street suddenly began to scream. The successive gunshots seemed to indicate something. Federation people seemed to have an innate sensitivity to gunfights; in an instant, there were almost no pedestrians on the street.

The successive gunshots helped them find the approximate location of the shooting. A large number of Lan Si's men took weapons and rushed toward that apartment building. They wanted to see who had such great courage to assassinate Lan Si in the Imperial District!

Lan Si returned to the hall. He walked toward the room calmly and composedly, while also lighting a cigarette for himself.

Other than his complexion not looking good, there was no expression like gloom or fear on his face.

In these two-plus years, he had been assassinated more than once. Sometimes the muzzles of those people were only ten meters away from him, but he still survived.

He believed that this time, the next time, the time after that, and even any time in the future, he would survive as the victor.

He returned to his office, sat behind the desk, then glanced at the watch on his wrist, and then waited slowly.

The cigarette smoke rose in wisps, the traces unpredictable. No one could guess what he was thinking now.

At this time, behind the window over a hundred meters away, the sniper glanced at the large number of people on the opposite street holding handguns, submachine guns, and even rifles gathering toward this side. He turned and pulled a handgun from his chest.

He already had a premonition that today might be the last day of his life.

He hadn't originally thought about truly selling his life to Gao Li, although Gao Li had indeed given him enough money to buy his life.

After he and Gao Li looked at each other, they both fired at the door.

Gao Li took the opportunity to move some furniture away, giving them space to retreat.

The intense exchange of fire made the speed of those people downstairs even faster. They didn't know if it was their own people exchanging fire with the gunman; they could only speed up.

If someone were not afraid of death and looked out the window from upstairs at this time, they could see those people on the road taking out their weapons and closing in on that apartment building from all directions—it was full of people!

The two finally rushed out of the room. When they saw the elevator constantly going up and the noisy footsteps coming from the stairwell, the two could only bite the bullet and continue upward.

Hiding in the room had no meaning; it would only lead to a worse death. Perhaps after reaching the rooftop, there would still be a glimmer of a chance to live.

But when they truly rushed onto the rooftop, they discovered there was still no way to live.

This was a ten-story apartment. There were no other buildings of the same height or lower on either side of the apartment; they were either much lower or much higher.

There was indeed a fire escape behind the apartment, but in the alley below the fire escape, someone was already trying to climb it.

They were trapped, trapped on the roof of this apartment.

Even though they were on the ground, it gave them the feeling of living on a deserted island.

The sniper, who had always been steady, couldn't help but curse twice at this time.

He looked at Gao Li with some resentment. Gao Li suddenly laughed twice. He took out a cigarette case from his pocket, took one for himself, and then threw one to the sniper.

The sniper hesitated for a moment, then also lit one.

Before Gao Li took a drag, he exhaled the smoke from his mouth and nose in a sigh-like manner. "Sorry."

The sniper shook his head. "You gave me so much money; this is a risk I need to bear myself."

"Can only say this time is not very lucky."

At this time, a group of people also rushed out of the stairwell. When they saw Gao Li and the sniper, they stood not far from them.

The two sides confronted each other. Gao Li held a cigarette in one hand and a handgun in the other.

The wind on the roof was a bit strong, blowing his clothes so they snapped, and his hair was also blown a bit messy.

He knew that if he put down the handgun and told them who he was, he would very likely be able to live.

But what would he face after living?

Facing Lan Si's interrogation.

Actually, there was one thing he hadn't told Bandi, and that was that he believed in Shi Dong.

Shi Dong was a "good kid." Although he hadn't experienced any big scenes in the true sense, nor had he experienced the thrill of life-and-death escapes and gunfights, he was ultimately the most outstanding one among the younger generation.

He betrayed Lan Si; there must have been a special reason. It must have been after he had suffered all kinds of torture that he bowed his head.

In his memory, something had happened. Perhaps Fleming, Bandi, they all couldn't remember clearly. At that time, they were only twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years old. When the two guys were playing together, when they were playing in the courtyard, Fleming wanted to climb the gardener's ladder.

It was midsummer at the time. The gardener had to prune those horticultural displays every once in a while to ensure they could grow decently and become the family's face, rather than becoming a laughingstock.

He was temporarily sent away by other things. The two half-grown teenagers were full of interest in those beautiful horticultural displays. They wanted to go up and see how it had become like this.

But they didn't know that sometimes those horticultural displays that looked beautiful and harmless weren't safe.

To make them look more stylized and not become scattered, gardeners sometimes used some extra means.

Things like wire, iron rods—these were relatively normal tools. After all, who the hell would be bored enough to want to know what was inside a beautiful horticultural display?

On that guy's ladder, these tools were placed, along with a knife used for pruning branches.

Fleming knocked over the ladder, and the things on it fell down. Shi Dong protected Fleming at the first moment, getting himself covered in injuries.

Bandi and he ran over from afar because of Fleming's screams. They saw Shi Dong, who was constantly bleeding.

A wound about seven or eight centimeters long had been opened on his arm.

The child's skin was tight, and the wound flipped open, revealing the flesh inside.

They were terrified and immediately found the family doctor. At that time, there were no special anesthetics, and Shi Dong believed he could do it.

(Content omitted for brevity)

So, without any anesthesia, the doctor cleaned his wound with hydrogen peroxide, and even... used disinfected gauze to gently stick out some stains that couldn't be washed out from inside.

Shi Dong was a very tough person. He wouldn't yield because of simple pain or injury.

He must have been subjected to unimaginable fear for him to betray the family.

Honestly, from a father's perspective, Gao Li might not necessarily be able to do these things.

He didn't think he could endure the torture that Shi Dong couldn't endure.

He would very likely also compromise, also surrender, but he didn't want to compromise, nor did he want to surrender.

He didn't know what shocking inside information he would confess if he compromised to himself and surrendered to Lan Si, but it would definitely be devastating.

He didn't want the Koda family to be completely destroyed because of him, so he couldn't fall into Lan Si's hands.

He took another drag of the cigarette. The feeling of smoke filling his lungs made him feel unprecedented comfort. He turned his head to look at the sniper and said softly, "Sorry."

The sniper froze for a moment. He didn't react. "You've already apologized."

Gao Li revealed his last smile, and then he suddenly raised his handgun at those people who had surrounded them, in the sniper's unbelievable and shocked eyes!

Intense gunfire rang out in an instant. He didn't even have time to pull the trigger before he and the sniper beside him, who had a complex expression, were shot into a sieve...

Seven or eight minutes later, the slightly panting Aierwen ran back. "It's Gao Li."

Lan Si nodded slightly. "Where are the people?"

Aierwen pursed his lips and recounted what happened on the rooftop. "We've already packed up the bodies. The other person should be the gunman; he has army tattoos on his body. I don't really understand what unit he came out of."

Lan Si pondered for a while. "Take a photo of him, see if we can find out some information about him."

"Store Gao Li's body first; it might come in handy."

"Did any of our people get hurt?"

Aierwen nodded. "Four young guys went to check the rooms as usual and found them. One person was hit by two shots; the situation isn't very good, and he has already been sent to the hospital."

"Another one was hit by one shot, but it's not serious."

Lan Si shook his head slightly. "What a terrible piece of news."

He paused for a while, picked up the phone, and after pondering for a moment, dialed the number of the villa where Shi Dong was.

The phone was answered quickly. "Let Shi Dong take the call."

Soon, footsteps came from far to near in the receiver, and it was picked up. "I am Shi Dong."

"Gao Li is dead," Lan Si said.

He could feel that the person on the other side froze in an instant!

This state lasted for more than twenty seconds. His emotions seemed to be collapsing. Lan Si could hear his voice trembling along with it. "How... how did he die?"

Lan Si recounted what happened here. "I didn't intend to kill him; it was he himself who actively sought death."

"I have already collected the body. If you need it, I can help you arrange it."

Shi Dong was silent for a while. "Help me bury him."

"If it weren't for me... saying these things now doesn't have much meaning, right?"

"Thank you for the news. Contact me if there's anything else. I need to be alone for a while now."

Lan Si had people watch him, then hung up the phone.

Gao Li's death could make Shi Dong and the Koda family even more divided.

Another person who was a bit autistic after knowing Gao Li died was Bandi. In fact, he really didn't want to use this matter to do anything; he just felt... letting Gao Li be responsible for the most critical matter was the only way he could feel at ease.

But he hadn't thought about letting Gao Li die, nor had he thought Gao Li would use this method to actively seek death.

After losing Shi Dong and Gao Li, although there were still many people in the family, these people might not necessarily be useful at this critical moment.

He didn't know how to say it. He didn't even have the desire to express his thoughts now, just after rubbing his cheeks for a while, he sat quietly alone.

He was also recalling the bits and pieces of his childhood with Gao Li, recalling how they followed their elders and emerged from one slaughter after another.

He thought his and Gao Li's life would become a legendary story of Jincheng. He had never thought that this day would come so suddenly.

Inexplicably, he thought of many people.

Paul, Rick, and those famous gang figures from earlier—each of them had once been a living legend, but in the end, not many could walk through a legendary life.

Maybe... those who are alive don't deserve to be called legends?

But since people are dead, what right do they have to become legends?

He didn't understand.

Fleming also returned in a hurry from the outside after knowing about this. He had brewed a lot of language along the way that he wanted to say to Bandi.

But the moment he saw Bandi's haggard face, he suddenly... didn't know what to say.

Father and son sat facing each other, sitting dryly, no one speaking, no one comforting the other, just sitting like this.

After I don't know how long, Bandi recovered some strength from the painful sorrow. "How is the asset transfer going? How are the children?"

Fleming hurriedly nodded and said, "The money and bearer bonds, stocks, have all been sent away, and the children have also been transferred almost completely."

Bandi nodded. "You go too."

This sentence made Fleming's eyes widen. He even stood up. "Why?"

Bandi shook his head, not explaining.

Comprehensive crushing.

These past few days, he had actually been thinking, but as he thought, he thought of themselves over these years.

Were they also like this, after possessing all the "power," able to easily crush everyone?

Then he associated it with the fall of the three great families. Did their fall also mean that they actually didn't perish in the hands of the five new great families, but perished in the fact that they were abandoned by higher-level forces?

Perhaps at the last moment of the three great families, they were as desperate as he was now.

He slowly turned his head to look at Fleming. "Because we have been served on the dining table."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 578 =====