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Sitting in the car, Fleming did not show a ferocious or terrifying expression. The Kodak family had long since shed the form of a bottom-tier gangster family.
Fleming had received a very orthodox elite education from a young age; he was even a university graduate.
If it weren’t for his surname causing him a bit of trouble, he might not have been unable to attend an Alliance university and get his ticket to the Federation’s high society.
From the current “official” point of view, he was the deputy manager of the “Golden Port Baida Gaming Company,” responsible for some of the company’s daily work.
This work was all legal, including the company itself, which was also legal. They paid taxes normally, hired employees according to regional regulations, and had not the slightest connection with criminals and crime.
In the past ten or twenty years, criminal organizations had developed rapidly. They had already mastered the correct way to deal with the Federation government.
When the law was not yet sound, these organizations, families, and gangs had many means to circumvent judicial risks.
You clearly know he is a member of a criminal organization, even an important figure, but you just can’t make him plead guilty.
As for whether it was truly impossible, or falsely impossible, that was another matter.
“Have you found out who threw the wine bottle?” he lit a cigarette. His nose had been hit hard, but the doctor said the bridge of his nose was not broken.
Although Eric’s punch was heavy, it wasn’t forceful, but it still made him very uncomfortable. The burning pain continued, and it might take a few days to subside.
The swelling in his nasal cavity changed his voice somewhat, making him sound like a patient with a cold, speaking with a post-nasal drip the whole time.
The loss of control of the situation today was entirely because of that wine bottle. If this wine bottle hadn’t flown out and smashed Eric’s head, he wouldn’t have lost control and started fighting.
As long as no one fought, the situation would not have evolved like this. So the core of this conflict was not him or Eric, but that wine bottle, and the person who threw it.
The person beside him shook his head. “Haven’t found out, but it was definitely thrown from our side. I looked at the bottle, it was Gold Label Whiskey.”
Fleming frowned. Currently, there was only one place in all of Golden Port selling Gold Label Whiskey, and that was the Pasoretto family.
But he didn’t believe this was done by the Pasoretto family. The Five Families, while opposing each other, were more often allied with each other.
If they couldn’t huddle together, then the likes of Senator Williams and Councilor Wade would devour them bit by bit.
The greed of these old local political forces was never a small thing. If it weren’t for the fact that swallowing the Five Families would break their teeth, they might have already made a move against the Five Families.
So at this time, Fleming’s first thought was that this might have been done by the people of these councilors.
“Before the wine bottle flew out, what was Arthur doing?”
The person beside him shook his head. “Arthur was at the very back. I didn’t notice what he was doing.” He seemed to realize something. “You mean, it could have been Arthur who did it?”
He found it very amusing as he said it, and even laughed. “I don’t think it’s likely him. We all know he’s very timid…”
But as he laughed, he stopped laughing, because Fleming wasn’t laughing, just looking at him calmly.
He didn’t like Fleming’s calm expression and calm eyes; it gave him a very oppressive feeling. He finally gave a dry laugh and shut his mouth.
“Tell my father about this and let him judge for himself. I need you to do one thing: investigate where Eric’s money came from.”
He still didn’t believe that the mayor would give Eric so much money and support him in spending it on a woman who was clearly not so easy to get.
The person beside him nodded and said, “I’ll find out.”
Fleming leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. “Let’s go back first. What a terrible day…”
He had plenty of time to get back the face he had lost. Before the dust settled, no one would really think he had lost face.
On the other side, after Eric had his stitches, he returned to the manor and saw his uncle.
“I heard you were seriously injured?” Mr. Mayor sat behind the desk, looking at Eric. The slightly concerned look in his eyes made Eric feel a deep fatherly love.
His nose tingled, and his eyes reddened slightly. “Not too serious, just a dozen or so stitches.” But soon, he lowered his head. “Did I do something wrong?”
Mr. Mayor was thinking and was interrupted by this sentence. He didn’t react immediately. “What did you do wrong?”
Eric continued to maintain his attitude of admitting fault. “I shouldn’t have fought with Fleming and the others.”
After hearing this, Mr. Mayor laughed heartily. He even stood up, walked around the desk to Eric’s side, and gave him a hug. “No, on the contrary, you did very well.”
“In the past, we had to make appropriate concessions when facing these locals. But now, as long as they dare to provoke us, we will give them the strongest counterattack!”
After discussing many things at night, Mr. Mayor and Director Dale had reached a consensus on their action plan.
Two years didn’t seem like a long time, but in fact, a lot could be done.
At the very least, carving out a space for “outsiders” in Golden Port was absolutely no problem.
And this space would be passed down with the continuous appointment of outsider mayors and officials.
This living space would even be more helpful to him politically than the New Port Docks!
It was precisely because time was short that their counterattacks had to be fast, fierce, and convey a message to those arrogant locals.
Even if this was Golden Port, it was not a place where they, the locals, could call all the shots!
Eric, who was praised, seemed a bit excited. This was a rare occasion for his mayor uncle to praise him. He couldn’t remember the last time he was praised. This made him feel great, and even his headache eased a lot.
Looking at Eric’s foolish appearance, the mayor showed a gratified expression. “Get some good rest. I’ve already sent people to cause them trouble.”
“But it’s highly likely they are no longer at the police station.”
“If they try to attack you, as long as you don’t take their lives, I allow you to fight back.”
“Also, take more people with you when you go out during this period…”
He patted Eric’s shoulder as encouragement. “Alright, go and rest. Your mother must be very worried about you.”
Logically speaking, as a rumored illegitimate son, a negative character in the version where he was born after his mother was taken by force, he should feel ashamed and angry when his mother was mentioned.
But he didn’t have any such emotions at all. He even wanted his mayor uncle to occasionally visit his mother.
However, in the end, he didn’t say these words. He knew that regardless of whether the story was true or false, the mayor could not and would not visit his mother.
“I know…”, he nodded, “You should also rest early. I’m going back.”
“Go on…”
The trilling of the telephone suddenly rang. The mayor didn’t say anything more and walked directly to the desk to answer the phone.
Eric looked back a couple of times, quickly left, and carefully closed the door.
“Charlie said he was in a car accident on the way and can’t come for now…”, the secretary said something that was unexpected for the mayor, yet also expected.
That old dog Chief Charlie wouldn’t really just walk into a trap. He had crashed his own car into a public phone booth on the roadside, saying he was even slightly injured.
This way, he both solved the problem of the mayor demanding he come over immediately to be reprimanded, and also gave the locals a signal.
He would rather injure himself than go to see the mayor. He was still the loyal Hound of the Bay Area!
The mayor felt that it was a real pity that this old dog didn’t go into politics.
He said “I know,” and just as he hung up, the phone rang again. “What else is there?”
“Mr. Mayor, it’s Bandy.”
Bandy was the name of the current head of the Kodak family, Fleming’s father, an old man who looked very kind and peaceful, and was keen on doing good deeds.
Someone had once satirized him, saying that the number of people he had killed was far more than the number of people he had helped!
You have to know, he was a famous great philanthropist in the Federation. Many people had received his help.
And the bloody fact behind this sentence was that this kind-looking old man was actually more terrifying than anyone imagined!
The person who said this, although he had revealed the truth, also drowned in Angel Lake in an accident not long after.
Witnesses said he was trying to swim across Angel Lake, while some people who knew him said he couldn’t swim at all.
“I didn’t expect it to be you, Mr. Bandy. Is there anything I can do for you?”
The mayor still maintained that very humble attitude, but his tone was far less gentle than the words he spoke.
Mr. Bandy could also feel the subtle change. He said with a smile, “I heard from Fleming what happened tonight. I am extremely sorry about that.”
“He told me that someone was trying to stir up conflict between the children. I believe this disgusting little trick will not affect our friendship.”
Mr. Bandy still couldn’t figure out the situation. The mayor, who had always had no presence in high society, had suddenly become tough. He had to figure out what had happened first to have a better countermeasure.
However, he also faintly had some speculations. This might be related to Director Dale’s successive setbacks.
He had an unreal sense of unease about the future, as if Golden Port, which had been stable for decades, had a trace of strange fluctuation again.
The mayor answered very briskly, “Of course I won’t let a conflict between children affect our relationship. This is just a matter between children.”
“You can rest completely assured, everything will not be any different…”
(End of this chapter)