In the garage, Alan sat in the front passenger seat. Although they all said the captain should sit in the back, he just liked sitting up front.
If he knew how to drive, he would insist on being the driver instead of just sitting here.
One person, one seat. He felt this was the most comfortable, especially when the weather was hot.
Opening the window and letting the strong wind blow fiercely on him alone—the feeling was just fantastic. However, there was a drawback: his cigarette burned too quickly. Before he could take more than a few puffs, the wind would burn it down to the filter.
Beno, while focusing on driving, asked, “What are we doing at the docks this late? Picking up a shipment?”
He was actually very nervous. He rarely passed information to Lukar because what he had access to so far was of little value.
Lance’s bars had started to operate on a “lightweight” model; each bar was adamant about not stocking too much liquor.
He would rather have people making deliveries all night than let any single bar’s inventory exceed a value of three hundred dollars.
This way, even if they were busted, it would just be a matter of bail money, with no significant loss on the liquor itself.
Furthermore, with many new faces in the Lance Family and the assistance of the lawyer Roben, even if they went to court, these people wouldn’t be sentenced for long. Not to mention, most of the time, it never even went to court.
So even if he gave these leads to Lukar, Lukar wouldn’t be interested, and it might instead increase his chances of being exposed.
He was waiting—waiting to get a crucial piece of information and make a big move. Only then could he stand out among the many undercover agents and satisfy Lukar’s appetite.
He never asked Alan if he knew where the main warehouse was. If he opened his mouth about such a thing, there was a high probability Lance would know what he had asked.
His relationship with Alan was very good, but he believed that when it came to a choice between himself and Lance and the Lance Family, Alan would not necessarily choose him.
The more he learned about Lance, the more he felt he had to be doubly careful.
That was a very smart, resourceful, and charismatic man. Many people were willing to die for him. If he made Lance suspicious of him, he was afraid he wouldn’t survive to the end.
So he never pried, but he was always paying attention.
Tonight, Alan suddenly found him, saying they were going out for a job. He didn’t ask any questions and just got in the car.
Now that Alan told him to drive to the docks, he suddenly felt a bit excited, and of course, a little nervous.
The docks were full of warehouses. Coming to the docks, other than picking up shipments, was likely related to a warehouse.
His seemingly casual question made Alan shake his head. “To help unload cargo.”
Beno took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart. “If they need to unload cargo, why not find workers? Why us?”
He let out a yawn. “I was planning to get some more sleep.”
Alan took out a cigarette and gave it to him. “This is an order from above. Don’t ask why.”
Beno was afraid he wasn’t acting normal. He stopped at a red light and lit his cigarette.
The four men in the car were silent. The car entered the docks unimpeded. They didn’t go to the warehouse district but to the interior of the docks.
There were also many warehouses here, along with a large amount of cargo. Following Alan’s directions, the car stopped outside one of the warehouses.
When the car came to a complete stop, a man holding a lamp walked over. The light shone on their faces, making Alan squint and raise a hand to block the light source. “It’s me.”
The light then moved away. “You’re early.”
The man walked to the side of the car. By the moonlight, Beno could see him clearly. It was Dracy , who was said to be in charge of all deliveries to the bars in the Empire District.
If there was anyone he had come into contact with who might know the warehouse location, besides Lance and Elvin, the next person down the line would be Dracy.
Alan and Dracy’s relationship was average, but because Alan had saved Elvin’s life, everyone was very polite to him.
He offered a cigarette to Dracy, then asked the question Beno most wanted to know. “Is this a warehouse?”
Beno’s heart pounded. He desperately wanted to look at Dracy’s eyes to tell if he was lying, but he didn’t dare, afraid of startling the man.
“There’s a lot of stock stored here. Two truckloads of goods are coming to be unloaded later. You guys keep an eye on the surroundings then.”
“I heard you guys took care of a lot of people in the Wolf Gang’s bar. Good job!”
Alan smiled. What he loved most now was when people brought up his rampage in the Wolf Gang bar, even though he hadn’t actually killed that many people.
But he liked it when people talked about it.
“Don’t worry, leave this to me!”
Dracy smiled and chatted about other things.
Sending Alan, the most prominent captain recently, was actually part of making the performance more realistic.
If they arranged for a high-level cadre, like Elvin , Morris , or Hiram, to watch over an unloading, it would be a bit unrealistic.
For such an ordinary job to attract people of that level, the Bureau of Hazardous Materials might think something was up, leading to worry or even suspicion.
But using Alan was much more reasonable. He was just a captain, but his stock had been rising recently, and he was in the limelight.
Having him come both showed that Lance valued this unloading and didn’t appear too exaggerated.
After waiting for about ten minutes, two trucks drove over, followed by two cars.
Alan and his men all got out of the car and split into pairs, flanking the door.
The trucks were loaded with boxes. Just getting a little closer, one could smell a strong aroma of alcohol. You knew what was inside without even looking.
After the trucks parked, the unloading began. Beno, pretending to light a cigarette, turned to look inside. More than half the warehouse was filled with boxes of liquor.
His heart began to beat uncontrollably fast.
There were two others just like him. They were the real targets of this plan. Lance needed them to pass the intelligence about this place, so the Bureau of Hazardous Materials would come and seize this batch of liquor.
In fact, most of this batch of liquor was empty bottles, but some of it was real. As long as the Bureau of Hazardous Materials seized it, he would spread the rumor that the dock management company had reported it—
He had an undercover agent in the Bureau of Hazardous Materials and a way to get some of the Bureau’s blank documents and other items. These could be forged into evidence of the tip-off.
Right now, the dockworkers and the management company were already at loggerheads. Now that they had also gotten the club shut down, for the dockworkers who were used to drinking cheap liquor, this would definitely hit a sore spot. One could imagine that even with Vaughn “back,” and even with him presiding, these negotiations would end in failure.
Three undercover agents. Two had been discovered by Lance and his crew, but no one had expected that there was a third one here.
The unloading continued for thirty minutes before the work was finally complete. The two large trucks quickly departed.
The gang members responsible for unloading also came out of the warehouse. Beno, sitting in the driver’s seat, firmly memorized the number on the warehouse, repeating it over and over, engraving it in his heart.
“Should we go out and get something to eat?”
As they were about to leave the docks, Beno suddenly asked, “There are a lot of night markets around the docks. It’s very lively, and they have some food.”
The docks’ night market was famous throughout Golden Port , standing in “opposition” to the “Sleepless City” of the Starlight District.
The Sleepless City actually referred to a neighborhood where all the shops were open 24/7. Many were entertainment venues related to sex or contraband. The darker it got, the brighter the sky here became, like a small, independent city within the city, hence the name “Sleepless City.”
However, the Sleepless City was a place for the rich to spend their money, a world of debauchery, while the port’s night market was a paradise for the poor.
If you didn’t consider the safety issues, the resources at the night market here were very rich. Not only were there legitimate businesses, but also many robbers and thieves fencing their goods.
It had become even more lively recently, as the entire city had fallen into turmoil.
There were robbers everywhere, people looting shops, and burglars breaking into homes at night. Besides the items that were easy to convert to cash, everything else these people obtained was traded here.
For instance, more than one person on the roadside was selling various wallets that were obviously stolen. Some were indeed very nice brand-name goods, now piled together. What would cost dozens in a store was sold here for three to five dollars each.
There were also clothes, handbags, small home appliances, and the like everywhere.
These fences also contributed to the prosperity of the night market. From sex to stoves, there was almost nothing you couldn’t buy here, as long as you had the money. So naturally, food was also everywhere.
The roadside barbecue stalls were the most frequented spots. All kinds of cheap meat, sourced from God knows where, were grilled together. Five cents a plate. The seller didn’t care if it would kill someone, and the buyer didn’t care either.
The whole street was bustling. Alan thought about it. Their team had no other work for the rest of the night, so he agreed.
“Good timing, I have a bottle of liquor in my trunk.”
The four of them chose a stall in an open area and sat down.
Halfway through the meal, Beno suddenly said he needed to go to the toilet. The other three didn’t think anything of it, plus they had been drinking.
After glancing at the three of them, Beno seemingly strolled slowly into an alley. But as soon as they were out of his sight, he broke into a run. It was an alley about thirty meters long, open at both ends. The other side led to a road where there was a public phone booth.
He shot out like an arrow, rushed into the phone booth, quickly inserted a coin, and dialed Lukar’s number.
“I’ve found their warehouse. I can’t talk long. The warehouse is at Pier Three, Warehouse Seventy-Four.”
“I couldn’t get inside, but it’s full of boxes. We just unloaded two truckloads of liquor!”
“You’d better act fast. I’ve been feeling like the atmosphere is a bit off lately!”
After speaking, he hung up without waiting for Lukar to react and rushed back into the alley.
He found a spot to crouch down, calming his heavy breathing.
But he hadn’t had long to recover when sounds of cursing and fighting suddenly came from outside the alley. He quickly ran out and saw Alan and the others fighting with someone.
A group of people had seen the liquor on Alan’s table and wanted to buy it, but they offered very little money, only one dollar.
There was about a third of a 750ml bottle left, which was about 250ml.
This amount of liquor would sell for at least six dollars in a bar. Plus, Alan had no intention of selling the rest of the bottle, so he refused.
Seeing Alan refuse, the other party didn’t say anything and turned to leave. Just when they thought the matter was over, a dozen more people from the other group suddenly ran over, and a fight broke out instantly. When Beno rushed out of the alley and saw Alan and the others surrounded and being beaten, he hesitated for a split second, then ran towards the car.
The gun was in the car!
His heart suddenly started pounding. He pulled open the passenger side glove box and took out a pistol and two magazines.
He took a deep breath, switched off the safety, and pulled the trigger on those people…
To gain more of their trust, he had to do things that fit his identity!
Killing was not hard. Elvin handled incidents like a brief shootout at night over half a bottle of liquor himself, without even needing to tell Lance.
Alan had several bruises, but he wasn’t crying about it. Instead, he had a smile on his face.
Several of them gathered around Beno, ruffling his hair. Beno had shot down several people, and then the group had scattered in a panic, not even bothering with their buddies who were lying on the ground, nearly asleep.
The liquor had worn off for Alan and the others. After getting back in the car, they immediately returned to the Empire District.
A smile also appeared on Beno’s face. He actually quite liked being with these people. Part of the reason he had opened fire was to gain more respect, but another part was that he genuinely didn’t want to see his friends get bullied.
Sometimes he felt very conflicted, because he felt very comfortable here.
Lance never wronged them when it came to income, and the Lance Family wasn’t one of those rotten-to-the-core families. Everyone got along well, like friends or brothers.
It was like a “family” in the truest sense, where everyone was “family”! He was enjoying all of this at the moment, but constantly having his hair ruffled wasn’t his style. He started to fight back, and for a while, the room was filled with nothing but the carefree laughter of the four men.
They were having fun, but Lukar could no longer sleep. He got dressed, left his house, and floored the accelerator all the way back to the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.
At the entrance, he unexpectedly ran into another colleague. He had once talked to this person about undercover work, and this person had also arranged for an agent to infiltrate the Lance Family.
At this moment, only one thought was in his mind, “What is he doing here?”
In fact, the other person had the same thought: what was Lukar doing here?
But right now, neither had time to think too much. They both hurried towards the director’s office. Gradually, they both realized that their business might be the same.
The director summoned them both at the same time. Director Dale had seemed much more energetic recently. A series of successes had made him a frequent topic of conversation among the congressmen, though not all of it was praise.
His burning of the Kodak Family’s liquor had also cost some of the gentlemen a loss of income. But regardless, as long as he was mentioned, people wouldn’t forget him, which meant he still had a chance to return to the capital.
Director Dale rubbed his temples. “What’s so important this late at night? Can’t it wait until morning?”
Lukar spoke first. “It’s about the Lance Family’s warehouse.”
His colleague beside him looked at him with some surprise, but not too much.
In that moment, he knew: Lukar had also planted an undercover agent.
Director Dale looked at him, and he also spoke, “My business is the same as Lukar’s. My informant told me he discovered one of the Lance Family’s warehouses.”
He used the word “one of,” a small tactic to improve his image in Director Dale’s mind.
This implied that he actually had clues or intelligence on other warehouses, and his results in this area were better than Lukar’s.
Director Dale couldn’t be bothered with their petty games. He thought for a moment. “Do you want to act immediately?”
The two looked at each other and said nothing.
Director Dale then said, “If we act now, won’t it put your informants in danger?”
“They should still be there, or have just left. If you go right over, even if Lance is a fool, he’ll know there’s a problem among these people.”
Lukar’s colleague was still hesitating, but Lukar stepped forward first. “I don’t think it’s a problem, Director!”
“Every one of us is prepared to sacrifice for justice at any time. Lance is a very cunning person. Perhaps this is just one of his transit warehouses.”
“Perhaps if we miss today, then tomorrow, or the day after, when we go, it will have already been emptied!”
“And so many people participated in the unloading. As long as our informants can hold out, I believe they are safe.”
“Unless the hypocrite Lance kills everyone involved, but that’s clearly impossible. He cares a lot about his reputation!”
Director Dale frowned after listening. What Lukar said wasn’t without reason, and he did indeed want a greater political achievement.
Thinking of what the mayor had said—to do whatever he wanted—he nodded. “Then go and prepare.”
He glanced at the other man. “You two go together.”
Lukar was taken aback for a moment. He understood what Director Dale meant, and felt a little uncomfortable. He didn’t care about sharing the credit, but he did care about having the lead.
“I understand, Director.”
“Yes, Director.”
The two left the director’s office, glanced at each other outside the door, and then left in opposite directions.
Seven minutes later, Ponda (Lisa’s new boyfriend) made a phone call to Lance. “There’s a sudden operation in the middle of the night. The target should be the docks. Be careful.”
Lance answered the phone himself. “I know. I’ll have someone send the stuff over tomorrow.”
“See? It’s actually not that difficult.”
After hanging up, Lance leaned back against the headboard, looking out the window at the deep night, his thoughts unknown.
(End of chapter)
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