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Where can one get liquor?
The old men looked at each other. One of them shook his head, “I’m not too sure about that. The prohibition is being enforced so strictly now, who knows?”
Not only did he know, but he had also been there. If it weren’t for the lack of money in his pocket, he would go often.
There were more girls in Lance’s bar. These young girls radiated a fiery, youthful energy. You just had to buy them a drink… and you think they’ll go with you?
No, they’ll flirt with you.
But even just flirting, for these old men, was one of the reasons they were reluctant to leave this world!
So, they knew where the bar was, but the reason they didn’t say was because this middle-aged man spoke with a very standard Federation accent.
Just hearing this accent, one could imagine his whole life—
Living in a low-class Federation family, his father was probably working class. They would have some special ways of speaking, which would affect the family.
He probably went to an ordinary school and received a very ordinary Federation education. The way he expressed himself was all like this.
He didn’t have an Empire accent, not the kind of accent a real immigrant should have, and his eyes didn’t look like those of a real immigrant.
Most importantly, no one had ever seen this person.
The middle-aged man shrugged, “Alright, I’ll go check other places, but no matter what…” He took a deep breath, “I feel much better after chatting with you all. I’ll come back tomorrow. I find that talking with you is more effective than a psychiatrist.”
The old men naturally agreed with a smile, while the middle-aged man thought that perhaps he should first get familiar with this group of people, and then propose the idea of buying them a drink.
Given the poverty of these poor old men, they certainly couldn’t refuse this. Then he would know where the nearby bar was.
He glanced at the remaining bread, “I have to go look for a job. I’ll leave the rest of the bread for you.”
He ate by tearing off pieces with his hand. The people here all ate bread this way, so it was relatively clean.
The old men all thanked him. They certainly had no objection to free bread.
After watching the guy leave, the three old men looked at me, and I looked at you.
One of them, who was bald with white hair and large age spots on his face, stood up leaning on a cane, “It’s my turn this time.”
The other two old men had looks of envy and jealousy. The three of them were good friends and had agreed to take turns reporting any discoveries.
This way, it was fair to everyone. If your intelligence wasn’t as good as others’, then it could only be said that God didn’t want you to get too much without working for it, that’s all!
The old man gleefully boarded a bus with his cane. About ten minutes later, he arrived at the central area of the Empire District.
This place had become a little more prosperous in the past two years.
Just as he got off the bus, he saw Bolton sitting in an outdoor coffee shop at the corner of the street and quickly walked over.
“Good morning, Mr. Bolton.” The old man took off his fisherman’s hat, held it in his palm, and pressed it against his chest.
Bolton nodded, “Good morning, sir. Do you have something you want to say?”
The old man said without hesitation the intelligence he had obtained, “There’s a person asking if there are any bars nearby.”
As he spoke, he described the middle-aged man’s situation, then bent over slightly, showing a fawning smile.
After listening, Bolton took out a wad of cash from his pocket. The old man’s eyes were about to pop out!
He had already thought about how to spend this money. He could go have a drink with that young girl who always said she liked his maturity. Maybe the other party was truly in love with him and would be willing to leave the bar with him.
This way, he could also get a room at a hotel. Although he didn’t know if his thing could still handle the battlefield, he felt it was no problem.
The remaining money could be saved. He could eat well this month, and occasionally have a slice of smoked ham or something.
Bolton found a five-dollar bill from the wad of cash and handed it over. The old man took it with a smile and continued to look at the wad of money.
But he couldn’t wait for a second one, because Bolton had put the money back in his pocket.
He looked at the old man’s astonished expression and explained, “You are the fourth person to tell me this. By rights, I don’t have to give you money. We said that only the first three pieces of intelligence are valuable.”
“But seeing as you ran so far, I still gave you five dollars.”
“Next time, you’d better be a little faster, otherwise…” He pursed his lips and took a sip of coffee, “Would you like a cup?”
The old man looked at Bolton, then at the coffee, and finally shook his head, “No, no trouble, Mr. Bolton. Although it’s only five dollars, it’s very good for me.”
“May I ask how much the first person who got this intelligence took from you?”
Bolton put down his coffee cup, pursed his lips, letting the remaining coffee on his lips roll into his mouth, “Fifty dollars.”
“F—k!” the old man cursed in a low voice. That fifty dollars was supposed to be his!
He took a deep breath, “That guy said he’ll be back tomorrow…”
Mr. Bolton looked at him, crossed his legs, and placed his hands on his abdomen, “Then you’ll have to run faster tomorrow.”
In the end, the old man still left. For him, the current Lance Family was much better than the gangs of the past. Not only would they not make things difficult for them or ask them for money, but they would also give them money, although not much.
But this was indeed much better than before. He had no interest in making things difficult for anyone, nor did he dare to do so.
Watching the old man’s retreating back, Bolton combined it with some recent events. He could actually already guess that it was probably the Viper Gang’s people planning to make a move on Lance’s bar.
In his heart, in a very short time, he weighed the pros and cons. Should he tell Lance this news truthfully?
He asked himself, if he didn’t say, would Lance know.
The answer was obvious. Lance definitely had other channels to know this news.
And if Lance fell, his days would not necessarily be better.
The Viper Gang would not necessarily value him so much, nor would they necessarily give him the kind of treatment he had now.
On the contrary, Lance still “respected” him so much, letting him continue to do work for the family, which not only gave him status and respect from others, but also more income.
Rob’s death caused him great pain, but he didn’t dare to take revenge. He was afraid of pain, and also afraid of death.
He had said to himself in the bathroom mirror, “You are a coward!” But in the end, he could only accept this title.
Although he also hated, hated that Lance showed no mercy at all, hated that idiot Rob for not doing something better than betraying Lance.
But in the end, all of this was put down, at least for now.
He needed a better life, a better future, a higher status, and more power!
Power was the fundamental determinant of everything!
He took out a cigarette and lit it. The originally clear sky suddenly became overcast. With a clap of spring thunder, a thunderstorm began within a few minutes.
Thunderstorms are very common in the spring and summer by the sea. Perhaps a gust of wind blows a large amount of rain clouds over from the sea, and a downpour can form immediately.
But this kind of rain doesn’t last long. The heavy rain, as if God were pouring a basin from the sky, cleanses not only the dust in the air, but also the dust on people’s spirits, on their souls.
A dozen minutes later, the sun showed its smile again, and sunlight once again graced the world. Bolton stood up.
The shiny brown leather shoes stepped on the not-so-much accumulated water on the side of the road. The water was splashed to the sides. The slightly damp trouser cuffs did not become an obstacle to stop him from continuing to walk out.
He walked to a public phone booth, inserted a two-cent coin, and dialed Lance’s number.
“Lance, a lot of people are asking about the location of our bar. It might be Brinton’s men…”
“I know…”
Lance put down the phone, not feeling surprised.
As the dog that the mayor had brought over from another place, Brinton certainly had to bite someone to show his value.
A dog must have the awareness of being a dog. Whether he was willing or not, he had to show his devotion to his duty.
“Get Morris…”
Morris wasn’t there; he had gone out. Now, besides Bolton, Lance also had Morris monitoring the situation in the entire Empire District.
On the street, you could often see two or three young men with red armbands patrolling. They were called the “patrol team” by the people. This part was all managed by Morris.
These people not only had to maintain order on the street but also gather some intelligence.
Because Lance indeed did not collect protection fees, nor did he force people to join the Empire Merchants Association, so now all the merchants in the Empire District maintained a good relationship with the Lance Family.
They, more than others, were willing for the Lance Family to continue for a long time, because as long as no protection fees were collected, it meant they could get more profit every month!
Who would complain about making too much money?
Some intelligence they got, they would also take the initiative to tell Morris’s people.
One overt and one covert line, firmly controlling the big and small matters in the Empire District.
Even if someone had an argument, as long as Lance wanted to know why they were arguing and what the result was, someone would deliver the detailed intelligence to him.
“Go ask, see if anyone knows about Fides. It would be even better if they know the Viper Gang.”
Elvin stood up from the sofa, “Are we going to war with them?”
Lance leaned back, “Of course. He’s already planning to make a move on us. We can’t wait until the bullet hits us before we fight back.”
“Besides, Elvin, the rules are already broken. In the escalating conflict between the locals and the outsiders, there are many rules we no longer need to abide by. Everything has returned to the initial stage, where only profit matters!”
After Elvin left, Lance left the company and went to the racetrack. Today was race day.
In Golden Port, horse racing was also a very popular sport because it could not only bring more wealth to the rich but also provide some diversion for the common people.
The racetrack sold horse racing tickets. If you could guess correctly, you could win prize money.
Coupled with a variety of ways to play, there were always people who dreamed of getting rich overnight and participated in this sport they actually knew nothing about.
More than half of the people at the racetrack had never ridden a horse, and ninety-nine percent of them had never owned a horse of their own.
Their love for horse racing and horses was merely because these things could bring them economic income.
After Lance parked the car, Ethan opened the car door for him. In such a tense moment, he would most likely not come out alone. Not only did Ethan come, but Mador also followed him with three veterans.
The reason for coming here was because Lance had arranged to meet Jack here. By the time he arrived at the racetrack, it was already crowded with people.
As far as the eye could see, it was almost all people. They were holding “Racing Guides” or “Racing News” and were discussing their views in groups of three or five. There was still more than an hour before the race started.
They had to make a decision before the race started. This was not an easy thing for anyone, because for those dream-chasers, as long as they were not betting on a single race, there was almost no room for error!
Lance soon saw Jack at the place they had agreed to meet.
Jack was wearing a flat-top hat today and was dressed very formally because horse racing is a gentleman’s sport. Although what these people would be doing later was waving their betting slips and shouting the names of the horses.
But they still considered themselves gentlemen. Some high-end racetracks even refused entry to people who were not dressed in formal attire.
So here, almost everyone was wearing very formal clothes.
Lance walked over and greeted them from a distance. When Jack turned around and saw him, he even waved his hand.
After the two met and shook hands, he introduced Lance to the others, “This is my cousin Patricia’s boyfriend. Maybe you’ve heard his name, Lance White.”
The surrounding people immediately showed a look of understanding and became a little more enthusiastic, all shaking hands with Lance.
Jack took the initiative to say, “We have some things to talk about, please excuse us for a moment…”
The others naturally would not stop them. The two walked to the side, and Jack gave Lance a cigarette.
The two had met last time, so they were not too unfamiliar. With cigarettes, this male social lubricant, they entered a social state with almost no awkwardness.
Jack was a bit older than Lance. He started with a topic they were both familiar with, “William has been actively participating in various family gatherings recently, and he always mentions you. He says you have provided an irreplaceable role in his career!”
“I’m honored that he would say so. At least it makes me feel that helping him is worthwhile.” Lance wasn’t modest either; modesty depends on the occasion.
Jack continued, “I heard about some of your matters. I was a little surprised when William told me you wanted to talk to me.”
“You see, I’m neither a gang member nor a police chief. The work at customs doesn’t seem to be of much use to you guys. After all, the liquor you smuggle doesn’t come through customs.”
As he said this, he couldn’t help but laugh. The current Coast Guard was f—king like a fake. Of course, you couldn’t blame them for this.
The current large-scale smuggling teams are all equipped with heavy weapons. If the Coast Guard encounters them, it’s basically a result of holding their breath at the bottom of the sea.
So don’t expect the Coast Guard to be very responsible. Sometimes when they really see it, they will just pretend they didn’t.
And for the smuggling by those large financial groups, a small customs officer wouldn’t dare to investigate. Just like there are many contraband and smuggled goods in the warehouses at the Golden Port docks, everyone knows about this, but who dares to investigate?
This is a minefield. Go in one, die one; go in two, die a pair.
So the current customs is just that awkward. Relatively speaking, smuggling that is not measured in hundreds of tons is not their business.
And for the smuggling that is their business, they don’t dare to manage it. He didn’t know what Lance could possibly need to contact him for.
“The Federation will sooner or later pay attention to the customs issue. At that time, your work intensity and responsibilities will both be increased.”
Jack smiled. He believed that this day would indeed come, but in the short term, it was hard to say if he would even have the chance to see it. “Let’s hope so.”
Lance then explained his reason for coming, “I previously signed a contract with the Liji Group. I bought ten thousand tons of their grapes at a very low price.”
Jack whistled, emphasizing the quantifier, “Ten thousand tons!”
“Yes, ten thousand tons.” Lance continued, “You should have some understanding of the current price of grapes. It’s rising fast. They don’t plan to fulfill the contract, unilaterally tore it up, and even plan to sue to prevent me from fulfilling the contract.”
“I’ve now transferred this contract to a bank through some connections.”
“A smart move, although you will lose a lot of money!” Jack knew more about these things than Patricia, so he could see Lance’s decisiveness at a glance.
In the situation where this contract had not yet fallen into a legal dispute, he directly transferred it to the bank. Then as long as Lance defaulted, the bank, in order not to suffer major losses, would have to assert its own contract dispute with the Liji Group.
The two sides of the conflict changed from Lance and the Liji Group to the bank and the Liji Group.
Even if the Liji Group was a monopoly group, when facing a bank, they still had to consider the consequences.
This matter had to be done early and not late, because once the contract dispute arose, the bank’s risk department would not agree to accept this huge contract, so Jack thought Lance was a very decisive person.
After all, it might sound like a very simple thing, but in reality, it represented a loss of hundreds of thousands or even millions.
Not everyone has such great awareness to make the most correct decision in the shortest amount of time.
At the same time, he was also a little curious, “This might be a bit forward, but I still want to know, how much did you lose?”
Lance was silent for a moment, about five or six seconds, “A conservative estimate of a million, maybe one and a half million or even more.”
Jack sucked in a cold breath. He subconsciously glanced at the betting slip in his hand. Even if he won everything, he would only get a profit of a hundred thousand or so.
And this was if his luck was extremely good!
He suddenly understood a little why William was acting all cocky again at the family gatherings. No one could stay low-key with a big backer behind them.
This also made Jack a little tempted. After all, Lance was dating Patricia and supporting William’s campaign, so they would most likely become family, right?
Since they are family…
Can I also get some help from this?
We are a family, after all!
He showed a sad expression, but couldn’t hide the indescribable light in his eyes, “I’m very sorry to hear this news. So what can I do for you?”