Charlie sat in his chair, leaning forward, his head in his hands, rubbing his cheeks.
Since when had he… become like this?
Scenes of past memories flashed through his mind. In his memories, he was full of longing to be a guardian of justice, and he became a police officer, a profession that people were not particularly enthusiastic about and was very dangerous.
When he first joined the police force, he believed that being a police officer was a very glorious job. His job should be to fight crime and maintain justice and peace.
But soon he discovered that a real police officer and the ideal police officer in his mind were two completely different professions.
That was an era when monopoly capital was still rampant, and the power of capital was even superior to that of the government.
The struggle of the capitalists against the “Antitrust Act” was at its most intense. Every day, the newspapers would report that a certain well-known or unknown person had died in an alley.
In order to fight against the “Antitrust Act,” the capitalists had exhausted all their strength. They bribed politicians, murdered witnesses, and even threatened the police…
This caused a violent shock to many people’s worldview and values.
Although in the end, “fairness and justice” won the final victory, society did not change in any way.
The monopoly groups continued to monopolize in another form and method, but people seemed to think that they had defeated evil.
When Charlie got married, he couldn’t even afford to get married in a cathedral. He could only get married in a small church in the countryside.
At that time, he still maintained his sense of justice.
It wasn’t until his first child was born and some things happened that he began to change.
The first bribe he received was only five dollars.
Of course, at that time, five dollars was about equivalent to forty dollars now, which was a person’s monthly salary. After all, he was just a patrolman at that time.
The first time he received a bribe, his heart beat fast, his mouth was dry, and he didn’t even dare to look his partner in the eye.
But the next day, he was exposed by his partner. That guy said with great certainty that he had taken the money, and then told Charlie that he also took bribes, and could receive more than ten dollars in bribes every month.
He also learned from his partner that taking bribes itself was a manifestation of “loyalty.” If you took money from the Bay Area, they would trust you, and you would be very safe.
If you were not willing to take money, then they would only send you to a remote place and leave your position to those who were willing to take bribes.
Just like that, he began to become another version of himself. He began to constantly take money, big money, and constantly schemed and climbed up, eventually becoming who he is now.
Look at his life now!
Living in a large villa in the Bay Area that ordinary people might not be able to afford even with the savings of several generations, wearing a gold watch worth thousands of dollars, wearing clothes that cost hundreds of dollars a set, with a family fortune of millions…
What he possessed, not to mention a few lifetimes, even dozens of lifetimes, hundreds of lifetimes, could not be obtained through his own efforts.
When you think about it carefully, life is really quite meaningless sometimes.
You have struggled hard for a lifetime without daring to rest, but in the eyes of others, it is just one night’s consumption, or even just a joke.
We are all human!
The imbalance in his mentality, coupled with some experiences, had made him what he is today.
He looked at the watch on his wrist again. If those people were really here to investigate the corruption of the police force, and had also colluded with Lance, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
Everything he possessed was the most direct, most naked evidence!
Although he had made some arrangements, it was of little significance.
He didn’t know how long those people could hold on, nor did he know how much they had confessed. At this moment, the only thing he knew was that he could not sit here and wait for them to come to his door with handcuffs.
He had to save himself!
Countless faces flashed through his mind, their identities, statuses, and abilities all appearing in his heart.
But he had been searching for a long time, yet he couldn’t find anyone who could help him.
His power and status in Golden Port were all bestowed by the wealthy of the Bay Area, but the people investigating him were from the State Prosecutor’s Office.
Some of these people in the Bay Area could indeed reach the people in the State Prosecutor’s Office, but whether they would stand up for him, and whether they could influence their decisions, Charlie was not sure.
Once the news of his great trouble was revealed, then the gentlemen of the Bay Area would soon consider whether to save him or abandon him.
The scenes from many years ago all appeared before him. One by one, the discarded fellows knelt on the ground, talking about how much they had done for the Bay Area, and in the end, their loyalty only earned them a bullet.
Charlie was not willing to become such a person. His fate should be in his own hands!
He had to save himself!
His life, Charlie’s life, will absolutely not end here!
With Lance’s help, Prosecutor Dean’s interrogation of these police officers was progressing very quickly. After all, in the face of Lance, who could make their whole family disappear, it was absolutely impossible for these dirty cops to say they weren’t afraid.
Yes, they had been defined as “dirty cops.” Accepting bribes, extortion, helping criminals escape punishment, fabricating evidence to frame innocent people…
Prosecutor Dean and his working group were shocked and angry at what these people confessed—
Actually, it was fake, because the things they had done were definitely more excessive than these people!
It was like a child with a needle, at most he could poke a person until it hurt. But an adult with a knife could kill a person.
These dirty cops entrenched in the Golden Port police force could actually do very limited bad things. At most, they were just accomplices of some capital forces.
But what about the State Prosecutor’s Office?
If they were to do bad things, it would be much more frightening.
But Lance wouldn’t expose it either. After all, they were on the same side now!
The interrogation work was proceeding in an orderly manner, and there was no need for Lance to continue to show his face, so he was freed from the interrogation work.
In the evening, everyone gathered together. Charlie seemed to have become honest these past two days.
Lance believed that he had smelled something unusual and was probably seeking self-preservation, or asking his dog masters for help, and had not come out to make trouble for the time being.
So tonight, everyone gathered together to discuss some issues about the Kodak Family.
“Bandy and Gorry are either not coming out of their manor, or not coming out of the Golden Port Casino.”
“The defense of the Bandy family manor is very strong. If we want to attack it by force, the losses will be huge.”
Morris stood by a blackboard. On it were some photos and rough hand-drawn sketches. One of the photos was of the Kodak family manor, taken from a distance.
It had a “回” character structure, with a building in the very center. That building was where Bandy and other core family members lived.
There was also a garden-like isolation belt between the two buildings. The entire manor could accommodate thousands of people.
During this period, they had felt a sense of crisis, and the defense of the manor had clearly been strengthened a lot. In the photo, you could see gunmen with weapons patrolling and guarding on the roofs of some buildings.
In the garden on the ground, there were also many patrolling security guards.
Just a rough glance at one photo showed twenty or thirty gunmen. If you counted the places further inside that couldn’t be seen, the manor’s guard force would be very strong.
In this kind of environment with a clear offensive and defensive relationship, the price the attacking side has to pay is several times that of the defending side!
You never know if someone will suddenly shoot you from a certain window. This is the advantage of the defense.
Looking at these photos, everyone fell into thought.
After a while, Morris continued to introduce, “The Golden Port Casino has also recently strengthened its defense, and not just this one. All of their casinos have strengthened their defense. It’s preliminarily estimated to have been doubled, and there are more gunmen.”
He also showed some photos. The photos included content taken from a distance and content taken inside the casino. The ubiquitous security guards and gunmen also made the safety factor of the casino much higher.
Hiram at the side was a little frustrated. “We can’t attack their manor, and we can’t attack their casino. Are we just going to be in a stalemate like this?”
Lance shook his head. “We definitely can’t be in a stalemate with them. We don’t have that much time.”
He thought for a moment and looked at Morris. “Continue to collect information on the other members of the Kodak Family. It’s impossible for all of them to hide in the manor and not go out.”
“The Kodak Family has existed in Golden Port for a long time. They have always had a high status. They might be able to tolerate hiding for a while.”
“But to have them hide forever, it’s impossible for them to do that.”
“If they don’t come out, then force them out. Mark out all their businesses. After we’ve dealt with Charlie, we’ll act immediately.”
“Before that, we can use the power of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials to make them not so happy first.”
Morris nodded. He was still doing the work of collecting “external” information.
This was not to say that Bolton couldn’t do this job. In fact, as the power in Bolton’s hands grew larger and larger, he was also trying to do external intelligence gathering.
Lance knew, but he didn’t stop him. This kind of positive competition was beneficial to the family. As long as it wasn’t the kind of vicious competition of mutual assassination, he would support it.
After he had assigned everyone’s tasks, he kept Morris behind.
“I hear that you and your little nurse have been developing very quickly recently?”
Lance had heard this from Ennio. He said that Morris might be planning to marry his nurse, which surprised everyone a little.
Of course, this was understandable.
When he was injured and had difficulty moving, it was that nurse who had been taking care of him, including when he was unable to move.
Perhaps for the nurse… this was just a job. She respected, loved, and was loyal to her job.
Then, in fact, there is also a shortcut to a man’s heart.
For a big boy like Morris, his shortcut was passed by someone every day. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if it was dependence, gratitude, or love. It was also possible that it was everything.
If Morris was just an ordinary person, there might be more dependence and gratitude. Girls often mature earlier than men.
Whether it’s psychologically or physiologically, she would control her emotions well.
But when bread and love might coexist, then the possibility of love is greater.
The nurse had already resigned from her job at the hospital and was living with Morris. The two of them had a very good relationship, and had even reached the point of getting married.
Looking at Morris’s silly smile, Lance said with some blame, “If Ennio hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known you had this idea.”
“Our relationship is not completely settled yet. Whether to get married or not, she and I both have our own concerns.”
“You know, marriage is not just our business. It also has something to do with her family. If her parents don’t agree to us being together, it will be very difficult.”
“I hope to give her a wedding that is blessed by her family, so we are still considering how to face her family,” Morris explained. “But if it’s really settled, I will definitely tell you guys.”
Lance nodded. “You have to tell everyone yourself, so they don’t say you’re trying to hide it from them.”
He paused for a moment. “Do you have a good relationship with the operators of those private casinos in the Empire District?”
Morris nodded, a little hurt. “Thanks to the old guy, I’ve been hanging around in different casinos since I was a kid. I’m very familiar with them. What’s up?”
Lance nodded and said, “If I say, let them hand over 30% of their profits to us, and we will ensure that their casinos will not be attacked by other gangs, especially the Kodak Family’s suppression, do you think they will agree?”
Morris blurted out without thinking, “Of course they will agree!”
“If they can operate their casinos openly, it means that even if they give us 30% of their profits, their income will be much higher than it is now.”
“As long as they make more money, it’s impossible for them not to agree!”
Now these private casinos are all very small in scale, with two or three gambling tables in one casino, twenty or thirty gambling addicts, and at most forty or fifty.
But in fact, the Empire District has hundreds of thousands of residents, and there are definitely not just a few thousand gambling addicts, only more!
There is also the Port District, which is also a place where gambling addicts gather.
There is a truth—
The poorer the place, the more ferocious the gambling atmosphere. The poorer you are, the more you gamble, that’s what they say about these people.
Don’t look down on these gambling addicts who only earn thirty or forty a month. As long as they get carried away, they can not only throw in all their salary for the month, but also borrow a sum of money from the casino to continue gambling!
So never underestimate the potential value of these people.
“Contact them. Say I invite them over for a chat, about expanding their business on my turf.”
Only Morris could do this. He was very familiar with these casino owners, and they also trusted each other.
If it were someone else, it might not be possible to make this happen.
Morris, while agreeing, was also a little confused. “Didn’t you say before that after we’ve dealt with the Kodak Family, we’ll also run a casino?”
“Why are you…”
In his view, these casinos were actually stealing the profits of the Kodak Family. The Kodak Family’s demand was a 50-50 split, and some casinos even demanded 70% of the profits.
If Lance only wanted 30%, would there be any losses when they ran a casino in the future?
Lance shook his head and said, “Even without these casinos, those people are unlikely to go to places like the Golden Port Casino to gamble. On the one hand, they would feel intimidated by that kind of environment. On the other hand, it’s too inconvenient.”
“So in fact, the groups of people these two operate on do not overlap. The Kodak Family doesn’t want to see these private casinos, but it’s just because they’re used to doing monopoly business.”
“So you don’t have to worry about this. you just need to contact them, and I’ll have a chat with them…”
After the two talked for a few more sentences, Morris left. A little later, Roben the lawyer called Lance and soon appeared in his office.
“I’ve troubled you to run around these past two days. I have other things to do and can’t take care of this side. Thank you very much for everything you’ve done for us. This is a small token of my appreciation.”
Lance placed an envelope on the desk and pushed it over.
Inside was a check. Roben certainly wouldn’t think that there was only a twenty-dollar bill inside. He picked it up generously, but did not open it, and put it directly into his pocket.
The more he cooperated with Lance, the more he understood that Lance was a very generous person. As long as you were useful to him and could help him, then he was not at all stingy about sharing a portion of his wealth with you!
Lance had already become Roben the lawyer’s most important client, bar none.
He smiled and said a few modest words, then talked about the results he had handled at the Bureau of Hazardous Materials these past few days.
“I’ve communicated with them. They will definitely sue our people, and the sentences will not be short.”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard that they had a senior agent named Webber who died in some accident. Some people outside are saying…”
Lance nodded. “I’ve heard. So?”
“I investigated this Senior Agent Webber. The person behind him is a member of the State Prohibition Committee.”
“Director Dale is eager to get rid of his incompetent image, so there is a high probability that he will handle these cases strictly and severely. The judge will carefully consider the sentencing recommendations they propose.”
“Ordinary participants will get at least three to five years, bartenders, managers, are all over ten years. They are not willing to coordinate on this point.”
“So you have to be mentally prepared.”
“The case transfer should be very soon. The trial will probably be held before June, and the sentence will be announced and executed in June…”
(End of a Chapter)