As night fell, Lance, half-awake, scrambled to the window and peered in the direction of the port, where a burst of gunfire had come from.
The yellow lights on the dark street didn't illuminate much, and scattered rats occasionally poked their heads out of the sewers.
The gunfire lasted about seven or eight minutes, followed by the sirens of many police cars, all heading towards the port.
It seemed that something big must have happened at the port, and the gunfight that broke out in the middle of the night made him feel a little uneasy.
This made him fall asleep in a daze late into the night.
At 7 o'clock in the morning, the alarm woke him up, and he couldn't help but marvel at the benefits of a young body.
He hadn't slept at all for most of the night, but after only three hours of sleep, he still felt full of energy.
After getting up, he tidied up the blanket on the floor and then walked to the sink outside the bakery.
The apprentice was also there after the night had passed. He took a cup and filled it with water from the boiler, and then he took his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth.
The Federal was conflicted.
Everyone knew the importance of protecting their teeth, but not everyone was really committed to the task.
He gave it a few random swipes, and no toothpaste foam came out, so he rinsed his mouth and considered his teeth clean.
There are even mouthwashes on the market for people who are concerned about their dental health on the surface, but don't actually want to brush their teeth.
They say that taking a mouthful and rinsing it out is more effective than brushing your teeth.
Whether this is true or not is a matter of opinion.
The customers at the bakery in the morning were discussing the fierce gunfire last night. The newspaper "Gold Harbor Today" published what happened last night on the front page
"Fierce gunfire between the smuggling boat and the coast guard resulted in multiple casualties among the officers."
on the front page, in bold and black.
The photo shows a smuggler's boat that has been towed ashore, riddled with bullet holes. Because it's a black-and-white newspaper, some of the spots may be blood, or they may not be.
It looks like the boat has been hit by a storm of bullets.
"...After receiving information that a smuggler's boat from the East Ocean intended to approach the harbor in the middle of the night, the Coast Guard immediately organized an arrest operation."
"During the arrest, the stowaways and the stowaway boat operator were unwilling to be arrested and fiercely resisted with hot weapons, resulting in the injury and death of a number of police officers..."
The other customers in the bakery let out a gasp, and even the fat boss and his daughter let out an exclamation like "Oh my God".
The guy reading the newspaper had a delighted smile on his face, just like a show-off, who doesn't care if someone dies as long as they don't get in the way of him showing off.
He continued reading, "After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, the combined city police forces finally managed to eliminate the gang of evil stowaways."
"However, this has resulted in the tragic deaths of four police officers so far, and many more are still in critical condition."
When the newspaper reader finished reading, he flicked the newspaper with his finger, "Their firepower must have been fierce. I hope those police officers in critical condition will be blessed by God."
"These smuggling boats are really evil. They not only bring us rats, fleas, cockroaches, but also a large group of illegal immigrants."
"In my opinion, Congress should legislate that the death penalty should be used against these people."
These remarks were supported by many people, all of whom were locals.
While enjoying the help these illegal immigrants brought to the city's construction, the locals laid on the economic wonders built on the backs of the dead and lashed out at the people who contributed to them.
This is very similar to the middle and upper classes' evaluation of the lower classes—a group of maggots who are unwilling to work and prefer to rot in the mud!
Some of the illegal immigrants in the bakery soon left, not really liking the atmosphere.
The fat boss also cursed a few words, and when he cursed, he stared at Lance, as if he were cursing him.
In the afternoon, some rumors spread. It was said that a total of eleven police officers had died this time, nine of whom were from the coast guard and the remaining two were local police officers.
The people on the stowaway ship were not ordinary stowaways. They came from the empire and were heavily armed, probably belonging to a small armed force.
There was no doubt that these dangerous people would do nothing good after arriving in the Federation. Becoming gangs or becoming outlaws were the few options they had.
Fortunately, the city's patron saint had destroyed these infiltrators, safeguarding the peace of the city and the safety of people's property and lives.
But Lance felt that this matter might not end there.
In the afternoon, he went to see Erwin. He actually didn't care at all about the fat boss docking another dollar from him.
"You guys should be careful for a while, and it's best to stick together."
Boasted by Ethan and Erwin, as well as other young people from the empire, their small group and some things Lance had done to help Ethan had begun to spread in a small circle.
Some young people who also came from the empire, but not on the same trip or boat as them, were also eager to join.
With Lance's approval, they had already been accepted.
Seeing that there were already more than twenty people, Lance remembered the appearance of each of them.
Erwin had become the core of the small group and was standing on Lance's left hand side. "What does this have to do with us?"
Lance didn't know how to explain it to him for a while. "The general election is coming soon. The president intends to use the support of illegal immigrants to get votes, but the mainlanders of the federation are not very friendly to us."
"Now that more than ten police officers have died, it may be the worst case in recent years. It is inevitable that some people will use this incident to mobilize public opinion."
"Once a xenophobic trend is formed, we will become very dangerous."
"As you all know, even if someone attacks us first, we will only get beaten up. If we dare to fight back, even in self-defense, the police will get us into trouble."
"The situation on the docks is very complicated. You will be safer if you stick together."
Many people don't understand the horror of a "movement." It can suddenly make a closed society start to accept new things, and it can also distort the right things.
There have been many historical cases of manipulation of the situation through "movements". The result of each case can be left aside for now, but the process was definitely bloody.
The chess players sitting around the chessboard are always glamorous, and it is difficult for people to realize the bloody cruelty on the chessboard.
Erwin was a little puzzled, "Is this too sensitive?"
"I don't think this is sensitive. As long as it is related to our lives, anything is worth being vigilant about!"
After explaining all this, Lance left. As he left, he could already see quite a few people gathered around the wrecked ship, which had run aground and was full of bullet holes.
A few young men were waving their fists and shouting something.
By the next day, even the Federal Daily News had reported the incident, and the impact it had caused was by no means trivial.
As the economic engine of the Federation, anything that happened in Golden Harbor City would be reported across the country.
Such a vicious case has alarmed the presidential palace and the parliament. Although these bigwigs have not yet started to play around this matter, there is already some momentum.
What is even more incomprehensible is that the emperor of the empire also spoke out on this matter. While claiming that the murder of an imperial citizen by a Federation citizen is a provocation against the empire, he demanded that the Federation government hand over the murderer and bear all losses.
Otherwise, the emperor of the empire will have to declare war on the Federation.
When this news came out, most people took it as a joke.
The emperor had already been driven out of the imperial capital by the rebels, and if it weren't for the fact that he still had some troops under his command and a few nobles supporting him, he could have gone and formed a government-in-exile.
So how did he dare threaten the Federation with war in this situation?
Almost the vast majority of Federation citizens felt that the emperor was not quite right in the head, that he might be a bit crazy, and they also became very disliked of this person.
Lances was also a little shocked when he saw this, unable to laugh or cry. But he soon realized that this was the emperor's way of diverting the conflict.
Once he actually declared war on the Federation on behalf of the empire, the civil war within the empire would likely stop, due to external pressure.
If the rebels, who had originally gained the support of the people, did not stop, a little trick would be enough to turn them into "the Federation's lackeys" and thus be despised by the imperial people with a strong sense of nationality.
In an instant, they would go from being the righteous army to the army of thieves, losing their righteousness and the support of the people. The imperial family would soon be able to regain control of the situation.
If they stopped fighting, then as the current legitimate rulers of the empire, the imperial family could regain power through war.
Perhaps this seemed like a joke to the Federation, but to the imperial family, the emperor himself, and the world's senior politicians, it was a conspiracy!
Lances's original lack of urgency about settling down finally changed a bit.
In fact, he wasn't in a hurry at all. When he found the right opportunity, he wanted to leave. It was just a thought.
But now, it wasn't a matter of whether or not he would have the right opportunity, but rather that he had to change his identity as soon as possible.
What started out as a trivial matter was being driven by multiple parties and was heading in an unimaginable and unpredictable direction for the people at the bottom.
By the third day, there were already people marching in the harbor holding signs that said things like "Go back to the Empire," and outside the duty room of the Coast Patrol, there were nine empty coffins with black and white photos of the nine fallen Coast Patrol officers on display.
The area was surrounded by flowers and small gifts, and without much incitement, a public outcry had already begun.
This was a very dangerous sign!