After returning from Lance’s office, many of the young men who were staying here asked Alan what Lance had asked him to do.
Alan’s interpersonal relationships were handled well among these young men, and he had saved Elvin. Everyone knew about this. Although he was not yet a captain, just an ordinary member, no one would look down on him.
As long as Elvin was alive for a day, as long as Lance and Elvin’s relationship remained good, then Alan would definitely be valued by these two.
But opportunities like being directly called to Lance’s office today were not common.
Sometimes it would be others who came to inform them what to do, or a captain would come and take some people away. Lance didn’t often give them instructions directly.
So they were curious as to why Lance had asked Alan to go.
A smile that couldn’t be hidden appeared on Alan’s face. He pursed his lips and didn’t tell the truth, “There’s something I need to do. The captains all have their own work now.”
“I need a few people to cooperate with me.” He looked at these people who had all stood up, pointed to two guys he was on good terms with, and finally, after his gaze had swept back and forth a few times, it landed on a newcomer named Beno.
This young man, Beno, had only been in the Lance Family for two months, but he had already become good friends with everyone and could talk to anyone.
He had a cheerful and outgoing personality, but not the very assertive kind.
Unlike some people who had to make themselves the “core” in people’s eyes and have everyone revolve around them.
Beno was a very easy-going guy, and also suitable as a friend. No one would refuse to be friends with him.
So he finally called Beno’s name.
Beno waved his fist, “I knew you wouldn’t forget me, Alan.”
He bumped fists with Alan. Both were young men and could chat. Their relationship had always been good.
“Are we leaving now?”
Having found three people, the manpower was already enough. This was just a small matter. Alan did not plan to find too many people. The Empire District was not very peaceful recently, and Lance could launch an attack on the Wolf Gang and the Port District at any time. Having three people to help him was already enough.
They went to the gunsmith’s place and received the weapons needed for this job—
Four alloy baseball bats from the Sailing Team, and a 1212 semi-automatic pistol.
The pistol was carried by Alan, and everyone had a baseball bat.
Before setting the family rules, Lance understood a principle very well: when a person is faced with an offense, as long as he has a weapon in his possession that can be used to kill the other party, then he will not choose to back down!
Especially young people, who can often do some drastic things under impulse.
Lance didn’t want the Lance Family to become “fear” itself, didn’t want people to show worry and tolerance when they talked about them, so when taking action, except for special operations where a firefight was certain to occur, for ordinary tasks, only the captain and the like would be armed, just in case.
After getting their weapons, the group went to Mello’s place to get the funds. $500 was already a very large sum for this era.
And a car.
The four of them drove towards the industrial area. Along the way, Alan told them about this work task.
“Find out the guy, or company, that is secretly causing trouble for the factory, and then wait for Lance’s instructions.”
Alan had allocated the process of this work clearly. Everyone naturally had no objections. It was a very simple job.
After getting off work in the evening, the workers in the factory all left their posts. These workers were clearly divided into two parts.
One part was a small group, but it was clear that this small group was more attractive because there were still people constantly joining them.
The other group seemed relatively loose, walking in groups of three or five.
Those who looked more united were composed of skilled workers and union workers, while in the loose part, many were people who had come from Lance’s firm.
They didn’t have their own work cards, were unwilling to pay the union’s membership fees, and at the same time, did not have the qualification to pay.
Not everyone could pay the membership fee to become a union member. First of all, you had to have your own work card, and this step had already blocked all illegal immigrants from the idea of joining a union.
In fact, this was a very wrong manifestation. The great unity of workers did not mean “union workers uniting together,” but should be “the working class uniting together.”
Obviously, the people who had originally shouted these slogans, as well as the later-established Federation of Labor and various industry unions, had gradually deviated from their original track.
A few workers separated at the intersection. They did not notice that a car had been following them.
One of the guys walked alone towards another road, and Alan decided it would be him.
The car accelerated and stopped a little ahead of him. This movement, although the worker didn’t say anything, he cursed a few times in his heart.
While he longed to become such a person, he also cursed these people. This was actually very common.
The three of them got out of the car and all looked at him. Although the worker didn’t know why they seemed to be looking for him, as a citizen of the Federation, a resident of Golden Port, his first thought was to run!
He turned around with almost no hesitation and ran back the way he came. Alan cursed. Before he could even start running, Beno had already rushed out, his speed extremely fast!
In just that moment of hesitation, Beno had almost caught up with him. Alan and the other person also chased after him.
Seeing that the man was about to run out of the corner of the street, at which point a single shout would definitely attract his workmates, Beno used all his strength and pushed forward with his hand.
The two of them lost their center of gravity at almost the same time and fell heavily to the ground, and it was not a light fall.
By the time Alan ran over, Beno was already on top of the other person.
“You’re injured!” Alan was a little worried. Beno’s arms were severely scraped, his clothes were also torn, and there should be other injuries on his body.
But Beno looked indifferent, “Just a small injury.”
He was panting and punched the guy on the ground, “I f—king asked you something, why did you run?”
The fallen worker was also bruised and swollen from the fall, with large scrapes on his face and arms. He let out a wail, “I’ll say anything, don’t hurt me!”
Beno, panting heavily, stood up from him, grabbed him by the collar, pulled him up, and pushed him against the wall on the side of the road.
Having just fallen heavily, and now being pushed against the wall, he felt his whole body was about to fall apart!
“Don’t hurt me, I feel like I’m about to die!”
Just as Beno was about to swing his fist to give this guy a few blows and let him feel what it really meant to be about to die, Alan stopped him.
He walked in front of this person, “Listen, I have a question. If you tell me, I will not only let you go but also give you $10.”
“But if you lie, I will find you again.”
He also took out two five-dollar bills, holding them between his index and middle fingers. This made him feel that his action was very cool.
One of the things he liked to do most was to watch Lance, watch those captains spend money. He felt those actions were simply awesome!
He had always wanted to do this, but had never had the chance.
After all, no matter what he did, it couldn’t possibly be him in the spotlight. He could only be one of the background boards, even if it was an important background board.
But now, he enjoyed this moment.
Between being beaten up and taking $10 and leaving, the worker wisely chose to compromise, “What do you want to know?”
Alan asked the question he was concerned about, “After the 15th, which factory have you agreed to go to work for?”
The worker immediately realized what the problem was, “Are you Ryder’s men?”
He couldn’t believe this was real!
Usually, Ryder had never shown this side. Although some people said that the boss behind Ryder might know Debbie from the local Federation of Labor, it was just one Debbie.
As a front-line skilled worker, he really didn’t take Debbie seriously. She was just so-so.
The current Federation of Labor actually did not have a strong binding force on skilled workers. On the contrary, they relied more on the unity of skilled workers, because only with a large number of skilled workers united could the Federation of Labor have power and value.
On the contrary, if the skilled workers didn’t take them seriously, the skilled workers themselves would not lack job opportunities, but the Federation of Labor would lose its voice. So Debbie couldn’t stop them from leaving.
This is also why the Federation of Labor would send a state-level vice president to visit the dockworkers’ union skills competition!
They were looking for a way to try to control the skilled workers. They had thought of many ways before, but they had all failed.
And Lance had provided them with a remarkably effective method, which was the Lance White grading system!
They could propose to the capitalists to pay wages according to the skill level of the work type. This way, the Federation of Labor would have a way to control the workers.
What level of worker you are is decided by the Federation of Labor. If you don’t listen to the Federation of Labor, the Federation will directly lower your level, and the capitalists will definitely not pay you according to your original level.
Perhaps this would not have a huge impact on the top-level workers, but how many top-level workers are there in the entire Federation?
The grading system mentioned by Lance provided them with such an excellent solution. What’s wrong with giving it a name?
So no one objected to directly naming this grading system after Lance. It would be pioneering, revolutionary, and subversive!
Of course, none of this had anything to do with the present. This worker was shocked that someone like Ryder, who seemed so easy to get along with, also had these people behind him. This made him a little surprised, but he also felt it was within reason.
In Golden Port, if you want to do business well, how can you do it without a few reliable forces?
Either you know people from the gangs, or you know people from the police. You have to know a few!
He looked at these few people, his gaze finally falling on the person in front of him, “I don’t know. They said they would take us to the new factory on the morning of the 16th, with a monthly salary of $40.”
$40, even if it was just a small increase compared to before, for ordinary people, this was already a huge change.
“Tell me that name!”
The worker said the name of the team leader who had taught him how to sew clothes quickly, and at the same time felt a little guilty, “Can I go now?”
Alan stepped aside a few steps. He slowly walked a few steps. Seeing that they didn’t intend to deal with him, the scrapes from the fall suddenly started to hurt. He grimaced and was about to leave when he heard Alan’s shout from behind, “Wait a minute.”
He had a look of “I’m so f—king unlucky” on his face, which changed to one of resigned helplessness. He slowly turned around, sighed, and said with some flattery, “What else do you want to ask?”
“Your ten dollars.”
He pulled it off!
Alan, in a manner he had learned from Lance or Elvin, handed over the money held between two fingers, “I’m a man of my word.”
He didn’t care if the worker was happy or not; he himself was happy. That feeling of slightly raising his chin made him feel good from the top of his head to the tips of his toes!
The worker took the money and left, thanking him. When he left, the injuries on his body didn’t seem to hurt so much anymore.
Alan only knew this name but didn’t know this person clearly. He first called Lance, and then Lance had him make another call.
Before long, the person on the other end of the phone gave them an address.
It was someone from the police department. Although the other party didn’t introduce their identity, Alan could guess.
“Only the police can find out an address so quickly, so I say, following the Boss is the most correct choice!”
“You guys take a look at the entire Golden Port. Who can be like us?”
“The police not only don’t cause us trouble but will even be friends with us!”
He glanced at Beno, “I’ll tell you a secret, don’t tell anyone else.”
While driving, he couldn’t help but say this exciting result.
Some words are hard to keep hidden. Alan was still very young. He had a strong desire to express himself. After he had shown off once, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“What?”
The other three asked.
Alan said in a tone of “I’m telling you not to tell anyone, but you absolutely have to,” “I might be promoted to captain!”
His two good buddies were genuinely happy for him. Beno also quickly became full of smiles and even said that he would follow Alan in the future.
From the compliments of the three, Alan once again felt great satisfaction, and his whole person was enlightened!
It was like a stuffy nose for several days that suddenly cleared up, as if with one breath, the air could be inhaled into his brain!
The car soon stopped outside an apartment building in the Empire District. Most of the people working in the industrial area lived in the Empire District and the Port District. This place was very close to the industrial area, and the housing prices and rent were also very cheap. It was the most suitable place for the poor to live.
They easily knocked on the door and found the skilled worker. From his mouth, they forced out the name of a factory.
At this time, it was not early, after eight o’clock. Alan and the three of them bought something to eat on the roadside and then went back to their dormitory.
The Lance Family supplied liquor to its members, but it also required money, but only a cost price was charged, and each person was limited in supply.
It wasn’t because they were afraid they would take it out to resell or anything. A small amount of resale by one person would not affect the family’s entire liquor business. Lance was afraid they would become alcoholics!
In this environment where ordinary people had no access to any high-level, serious addictions, alcohol became an addictive substance that was relatively easy for them to access and very harmful.
He didn’t want his subordinates to all be drunkards, not only ugly, with a bad smell on their bodies, but also easy to mess up work.
The four of them ate for a while, drank a little wine, and then went back to their respective rooms.
The next day, Beno got up early. He went out for a trip, found a safe place, and called Lukar.
“You haven’t called me for a long time. I was starting to suspect you had really joined them!”
“But you still have to be careful. If they find out you are an undercover agent, you already know how they deal with undercover agents!”
This sentence seemed to be reminding him to be careful, but it also seemed to be warning him, warning him that if he did not provide information as agreed, then Lukar had a way to expose his identity.
Beno frowned slightly. He didn’t like Lukar’s way of speaking, but for the sake of him being able to help him eventually become an agent of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, he temporarily endured it.
“I’ve been busy patrolling the streets these past few days, Lukar. You don’t think a new character like me can participate in their core meetings, do you?”
This sentence left Lukar speechless. He could only hum twice, “You’d better not have forgotten!”
He paused for a while, “What’s the matter with calling this time?”
Beno lit a cigarette. He thought that betrayal would not be a big burden, but in fact, there was still some.
“There’s a factory in the factory district that is related to Lance and his men. They’ve run into some competitors. I’m dealing with this matter today. I don’t know if it’s of any use to you.”
“In addition, the person I’m following, named Alan, he’s about to be promoted to captain. Do you understand what I mean?”
Of course Lukar understood, “Do you need me to help you?”
Beno did not deny it, “If I can perform better on Alan’s side and let him get more appreciation from Lance, he will be able to participate in the core meetings.”
“He saved Elvin and is considered a core-fringe character. He’s just a little bit away from scoring!”
“Our relationship is very good. If he can join the core meetings, then I can get more core intelligence about the Lance Family from him.”
Lukar thought seriously for a moment and then asked, “How do you want me to help you?”
Beno looked around. There was no one on the street, “I heard they are planning to go to war with the Wolf Gang. They shot up a bar they opened here.”
“I believe that if I can provide the specific location of one or two of the Wolf Gang’s bars, it will be of great help for Alan to be promoted to captain and enter the core meetings!”
Lukar quickly refused, “How can I know something you don’t know?”
“Come on, Lukar, you know, we all know that you and the Wolf Gang are actually in it together!”
This sentence made Lukar a little red-faced and also a little annoyed, “That’s them, not me!”
He paused as he spoke, then gave him an address, “I heard there’s a bar here. I’m not sure about the specific situation inside. You’ll have to figure it out yourself!”
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