The immense force sent Beno flying. After tumbling a few times on the ground, despite the severe pain all over his body, he still struggled
The immense force sent Beno flying. After tumbling a few times on the ground, despite the severe pain all over his body, he still struggled to get up and try to escape.
He knew all too well what kind of punishment a “traitor” would receive in a gang.
Whether it was simply out of disgust and hatred for traitors, or to warn those who were walking on the edge of danger, the gang would use the cruelest and most brutal methods to warn people.
Some mistakes cannot be made, because once you touch them, what follows is a living hell.
He regretted it now, regretted why he had taken on Lukar’s job, regretted listening to his cousin’s words, being so foolishly deceived into wanting to use this opportunity to enter the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.
He regretted that he had held on even though he knew it was very dangerous, regretted that He clearly had a chance to explain everything, but always hoped he could get away with it by luck.
He regretted many things.
He didn’t even have time to say sorry to his family, nor did he have time to apologize to himself for his short life.
He struggled to run forward. His whole body was in pain, and he wasn’t running fast, but he was still trying.
Until…
Suddenly, a sharp, tearing pain came from his head. His whole body was restrained by this force, and he fell backwards onto the ground.
Hiram grabbed him by the hair and had someone tie him up. Alan also caught up. Looking at Beno, who was looking up at him, his eyes were a bit empty.
“Me, or you?”
Hiram flicked his hair and lit a cigarette.
Something more appeared in Alan’s eyes. His gaze fell on Hiram, then on Beno, who had been stuffed into the car. He gritted his teeth, “Me.”
Hiram patted his shoulder, “You’re a good man. Get in the car!”
The car quickly disappeared into the street. No one was foolish enough to call the police. They could tell from the clothes of these people that they were from the Lance Family.
Now, both the Empire District and the Port District had a great deal of “tolerance” for the people of the Lance Family, because they were indeed different from traditional gangs. They did not rely on exploiting the poor as their main source of income.
Although some said that their selling of beverages containing intoxicating alcohol to the public was also making money from the public, those alcoholics could choose not to buy.
No one forced them to consume in Lance’s bars. The only ones forcing them were always themselves.
The car soon arrived in the suburbs. Now they liked to work in the suburbs. It was not as particular to handle things here, and it was relatively easier to deal with.
The door of the small wooden house by the lake was opened, and Beno was thrown onto a chair.
He actually had multiple fractures on his body. Now, being thrown heavily onto a chair, he was in so much pain that his whole body was about to curl up.
Everyone else left, including Hiram.
Before leaving, Hiram gave Alan an affirmative look, “Don’t let us down!”
He also left here as he spoke. This was his respect for Alan.
Alan lit a cigarette, his hand trembling a little. He looked at Beno. His emotions had actually calmed down quite a bit.
“Why did you betray us?” he asked.
Beno was silent for a moment, then said, “Because they promised me that they would let me join the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.”
This answer made Alan unable to believe his ears.
“Do you think life in the family is bad?”
“The money you get from the company every month is probably several times what you would get for doing those jobs.”
“Everyone in the whole district respects you, even fears you. Isn’t that glamorous enough?”
“I really don’t understand why you would betray us for such a role, a role that is against us!”
Seeing that Alan’s emotions were starting to get out of control again, Beno stopped talking.
He hung his head, looking as if his spine had been removed.
After taking two puffs of his cigarette, Alan asked softly, “Do you regret it?”
Beno slowly raised his head to look at him and nodded slightly.
Alan cursed a few times, then pulled out a dagger from behind him and walked towards him.
A desire for life arose in Beno’s eyes. He knew that Alan’s family was also very unhappy. He had come to the docks to find a living at a young age.
His desire for family affection was stronger than others, which was why Beno had become his good friend.
Just as he thought Alan might be about to untie his ropes, Alan whispered in his ear, “I’ve always treated you as a brother. As a brother, the only thing I can do for you now is to give you a quick end.”
The next second, the sharp dagger pierced into his chest. Beno looked down at the wound left after Alan pulled out the dagger, which began to bleed quickly.
He suddenly began to gasp for breath uncontrollably, like a drowning person about to be submerged.
He stared at Alan with wide eyes, but Alan reached out and covered his eyes. “You are my brother, but Lance and the others are also my brothers.”
“You did something to let us down, don’t blame me.”
The moment the heart stops, it will produce a feeling of “I’m going to die.” This feeling is issued by biological instinct, and is also called a “near-death experience” in medicine.
Once a near-death experience occurs, it means that a person’s life is under extremely strong threat, representing that they could die at any time.
If ordinary people have a near-death experience and still have hope of survival, then in his situation, there was no possibility of survival.
His eyes were full of a desire to live, but this desire was being quickly extinguished.
He thought of his previous life, he thought of his cousin finding him and mentioning the matter of being an undercover agent.
He had been messing around on the streets before and never thought it was difficult. And he had the support of law enforcement behind him.
But he never thought that this would be the end of his life.
His whole body began to relax. The light in his eyes was as weak as a flame about to be extinguished.
When all the light in his eyes disappeared, he died by Alan’s side.
Alan looked at him, feeling very sad in his heart. He turned and walked outside.
Hiram was chatting with others. When they saw Alan walk out with blood on his body and hands, they all looked at him.
“I finished him, but the subsequent… I’m a little… not used to it.”
Hiram walked over, patted his shoulder, and gave him a hug. “I’ll take care of it. You go back first.”
An honor killing must be ceremonial. It wasn’t that giving Beno a stab was considered completing the honor killing.
Each gang had its own characteristics. For example, the Brotherhood, which was completely finished, used to tie the upper body of the person to be executed into a cross.
They would have the executed person kneel on the ground in this special way to confess their sins. Many people said they were very arrogant, and this could be seen from here.
Hiram walked into the room with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He looked at the dead Beno and pursed his lips. “You have a good brother.”
Otherwise, everything he was about to endure should have been done while he was still alive.
The next morning, the Bureau of Hazardous Materials once again made the headlines of major newspapers. Another guy, hung on a lamppost outside the Bureau’s gate, became the city’s front-page news.
Like everyone who had been hung here or had died here before, his ears, eyes, and tongue were all clutched in his hand, which represented that he was an informer.
But today he was different, because he had a big hole in his chest. The most important thing for a living being was gone.
On his back were carved the words “Liar”…
When he heard his subordinates report these things, Director Dale directly took a day off, on the grounds that his blood pressure was high and he couldn’t go to work.
However, he was not idle at home. He went to the hospital, to the Mayor’s side.
The Mayor had a copy of Golden Port Today by his side, and it was open to the first page.
Beno, suspended in mid-air, once again made Golden Port Today one of the most horrifying newspapers of this period.
The matter of rating was still a long way off for the current Federation, and people had not considered whether these highly impactful images could cause huge psychological damage to some people.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons why there were so many perverts in the Federation during this period. They sensed each other through the newspapers, and then used the newspapers to show off their skills to each other and even declare war.
In other states, such things were still happening. Two serial killers were constantly challenging the authority of law enforcement.
They would leave puzzles on the bodies as a way to interact.
The federal government had already sent a large number of elite detectives and so-called “divine detectives” from the private sector to offer a reward for the capture of these two bastards, but so far there had been no good results.
Someone suggested not letting the newspapers report these things, but this would instead anger the two serial killers. They were setting riddles or puzzles for each other. Only after they solved the other’s riddle or puzzle would they proceed to the next “interaction.”
Otherwise, they would commit crimes frequently.
In this era when various investigation equipment and techniques were very backward, and there was no systematic investigation experience, it was indeed very difficult to deal with such unreasonable serial killers.
Fortunately, Golden Port had not had such a pervert so far.
The Mayor’s gaze fell on the suspended body in the newspaper again. This didn’t count.
“Are you planning to do nothing?” Director Dale did not look as dejected as imagined. The one who died was not his man anyway, and he had no face to lose now.
The Mayor leaned back on his pillow. “The lieutenant governor and the secretary of state both came to Golden Port, but they didn’t even call me, let alone come to see me.”
“I have been abandoned.”
Director Dale appeared somewhat… suspicious. “But you don’t look like you’ve been abandoned.”
The Mayor shrugged. “I have accepted my fate. I accept this result. I lost this gamble, that’s it.”
“The loser has no right to do this or that.”
He was silent for a moment. “In fact, it was very difficult for us to control Golden Port in the first place. Now we’ve tried, failed, and then lost all our capital. That’s all.”
He even began to comfort Director Dale. “You see, I have lost everything, but you haven’t.”
“Your job is Prohibition. The more criminals you catch, the more Congress will value you. You actually… don’t have to be so panicked and uneasy.”
“You are not like me. My value must be reflected in my control over this city, but your value is reflected in your enforcement of the Prohibition.”
He sighed lightly. “Dale, just be yourself, and you won’t lose.”
Although what he said was true, but… with the Mayor’s support and without it, the extent of what he could do was also different.
He felt that the Mayor had completely admitted defeat and given up. He still couldn’t help but ask, “Is that it?”
The Mayor seemed to be in a good mood now. “There must be a first spark to ignite the entire prairie.”
He glanced at the secretary standing by the window, with a meaningful look.
Although he had no hope, he had also left enough political legacy for the secretary. He would definitely be able to go faster and higher than himself.
Director Dale also looked at the secretary. He and the Mayor were not actually very long-time friends. He didn’t know why the Mayor would rather cultivate his own secretary and disdain his own illegitimate son, so much so that he was finished early.
Perhaps this was the extraordinary thing about an extraordinary person.
He thought for a moment. The Mayor was his best ally. He didn’t want to fight alone, but he had to stimulate the Mayor’s “will to live.”
He thought about it and thought of something that would be a little useful later on.
“I’ve heard a little rumor recently. The Kodak Family is planning to act as a middleman to have the Cassia Family and the others sit down and talk, to restore the period of the Five Families’ rule.”
A sarcastic smile appeared on the Mayor’s face after hearing this. “The Five Families?”
“Have they considered Lance’s thoughts?”
“Will Lance agree to them as usual?”
Director Dale’s original intention was to ask if the Mayor could use this opportunity to do something.
Once Councilman Williams ran for mayor, the Five Families would definitely be in a weak position. Could he in turn unite the Five Families to fight against Councilman Williams?
But he didn’t expect the Mayor to give him such an answer.
Director Dale was a little confused. “Is the Lance Family that formidable?”
“Don’t they just run a bar business?”
The Mayor looked at him as if he were looking at a fool. “Do you think a gang that can control two districts is not formidable?”
“Golden Port is more complicated than you imagine, Dale. If they weren’t formidable, they would have been eaten up long ago.”
“I only recently figured this out myself.”
“Think about it carefully. Isn’t it that almost all forces have been harmed to varying degrees, but only they have made great progress?”
“Even if those are two relatively backward and poor places, that’s still two districts, hundreds of thousands of people.”
The Mayor glanced at Director Dale, the temperament of a former ruler flashing across his face. “Everyone has underestimated them. He will give everyone, this city, a huge surprise.”
Director Dale’s gaze fell on the newspaper again. He suddenly recalled that several times when the Bureau of Hazardous Materials had been embarrassed, it was related to Lance and his crew.
Were Lance and the Lance Family really that strong?
He suddenly also thought, could Lukar’s death be related to them?
Director Dale’s idea that the Kodak Family planned to re-promote the stability of the Five Families was not without basis.
This matter came from within the Kodak Family. Their relationship with the Kodak Family was much better than imagined.
On the one hand, it was because of the Mayor’s leadership, and on the other hand, there were also reasons on the part of Congress. A considerable part of the profits from the Kodak Family’s casinos ultimately went to the special district.
So when everyone had a good relationship with their backers, or even the same backer, the exchange of information became smooth.
Now that the Mayor was finished, his “uprising” was over, then everything should return to the starting point.
From the Kodak Family’s point of view, this was also very beneficial to them.
If the Cassia Family was really destroyed, then the strengthened Keane and Tita families might pose a threat to the Kodak Family.
So it was better to let them continue with their hatred. As long as they crossed the line, he would come to mediate. No matter how things changed, the Kodak Family’s interests would not be harmed.
The Cassia Family was also willing to talk. After all, their pressure was also great now. Once the Bear Gang was wiped out, the Keane and Tita families would stare at him. At that time, even if they could endlessly summon troops from Yalan, they probably wouldn’t last long.
In mid-August, the Bear Gang from Fides had already begun to show some signs of decline. The intensity of the gang war centered around the city center with the Keane Family had also dropped sharply.
According to some not-so-reliable social rumors, the Bear Gang was planning to leave.
The Mayor’s side could not give them strong support. Now the police were also causing them trouble, so they were very passive.
Of course, they also stated that if they were forced to stay in Golden Port, they definitely wouldn’t be able to leave. But if they couldn’t leave, no one would have a comfortable time.
So now the situation in the city center had suddenly eased, and the sound of gunfire had become sporadic, even inaudible.
Ennio’s father came to the company early in the morning. The company had promised him that if he could achieve outstanding performance before September, he would be promoted to business manager.
Then he would no longer need to run around as a frontline salesman, but could sit in an office, leading ten to twenty salesmen, letting them run around, and he would get a three percent commission from their sales performance.
For this, he had even spent a sum of his own money to buy a portion of the goods.
Over six hundred dollars.
From his perspective, once he became a business manager, he would be a middle-level manager. This investment could be quickly recovered.
There were not many days left until September, and he was one step closer to his dream.
In fact, his spending his own money to buy these things, wanting to become a manager, was actually to prove to his son that although this dream was a bit unrealistic, he was still persisting and getting closer to his dream.
What he wanted to prove was not just that he was one step closer to his dream, but also a certain dignity as a father.
He came to his desk and cleaned it carefully, because he would soon have his own office.
He had also prepared a paper box, which he would use to pack his things later.
He had a smile on his face and would take the initiative to greet everyone he saw.
At nine-thirty, the human resources supervisor asked him to go to the office.
He tidied his attire and entered the office.
Just as he was about to sit in the chair opposite the human resources supervisor, the supervisor stopped him. “No need to sit down, it’ll just be a couple of sentences.”
“You’re fired. You can go out and take your things and leave.”
(End of chapter)
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