The head of the Tita family sat in his chair with a slightly gloomy expression, his legs crossed, his gaze constantly shifting between Bandy and Figal.
Just last night, they had been reminiscing together.
Well, they were men, and they had all known each other before. Their relationships were decent. Being known to the outside world as the “Five Families,” it was natural that they would be somewhat familiar with each other.
After a few drinks, under the influence of alcohol, he might have said some inappropriate, impulsive things, but he was really just talking.
The Lance Family hadn’t provoked them. Why should he go with them to deal with Lance?
Was it just because… they were all old-timers?
This world was constantly rolling forward. When his cousin, the previous family head, died in battle, he realized this.
The era of the Five Families had been thoroughly smashed to the ground, shattered by the Cassia family, by those who pretended to be outsiders, by the mayor.
A new era was faintly revealing a glimmer of light, about to tear through the entire darkness and re-illuminate the world.
Before the Five Families, there were three major gangs. When the Five Families rose, the three major gangs had also tried to stop them, but in the end, no one even knows who the three major gangs are now.
Just like at this moment, any gear that obstructs the development of the times will eventually be caught in the gear and crushed to pieces.
It’s just that sometimes, people knowing is one thing, and doing is another.
He couldn’t afford to lose face. Just last night, they had been drinking together, saying things nicer than anything else. Today, something happened, and you didn’t come when they called.
He felt a bit kidnapped and could only sit here, not so willingly.
Bandy, on the other hand, had arrived very early. Gorry also came today. Everyone knew each other and greeted each other.
After waiting for a while, Gorry even said a few words about Figal. It was clearly he who had called everyone together, yet he himself was the last to arrive.
He had just been talking for less than two minutes when Figal pushed the door and entered.
He looked at the three people sitting at the table, and the grim expression on his face finally softened a little.
“Sorry, I was held up on the way.”
He walked to the table and sat down, put some ice cubes in his wine glass, then poured some wine and drank it all in one gulp.
The temperature of the liquor was lowered as it flowed over the surface of the ice cubes. At the same time, the melted ice water mixed with the whiskey, making it less spicy and also cooler.
He took a large gulp of wine, put the glass down heavily on the table, and began to talk about what had happened last night.
After he had said enough, Bandy finally nodded and said, “This is too much! This young man is too much!”
“This is the problem I was talking to you about last time. The young people have lost their awe for us. They even dare to make a move on us.”
“If we don’t curb this trend, just you wait and see.”
Bandy’s tone became a little gloomy. “New buildings can only be rebuilt on ruins!”
This was a somewhat famous saying. It was no longer possible to verify who had said it first, but many dignitaries and celebrities had quoted it.
It had many meanings, but the main one was still—
“New life is born after death; reconstruction is built on destruction!”
This was a relatively simple truth. Just like the current Golden Port City, if someone wanted to build those tall skyscrapers in the city center, it would not be an easy task, because every inch of land here already had its owner.
If you wanted to build skyscrapers, you could only go to the suburbs. But if someone insisted on building in the city center, then the only way was to demolish the previous buildings.
The gangs of Golden Port City were the same. When the Five Families still held the dominant position, no gang could truly “rise.”
Only when this gang stepped on the corpses and ruins of the Five Families could they truly rise and establish their own “dynasty.”
Bandy used this sentence here to tell them the seriousness of this matter.
If they didn’t respond, they would all eventually be destroyed!
Figal poured himself some more wine. “If you had said this to me before yesterday, I would have thought you were too timid.”
“But now, I understand. you’re absolutely right!”
“We need to unite.”
The gazes of the three people all fell on the head of the Tita family at the same time. The latter thought for a long time, two or three minutes, before nodding and saying, “I agree.”
Bandy was not wrong. If he watched the Keane family be eliminated, then who would be next?
Who would be next after next?
The wheels of the new era would roll over his face one day. The only thing he could do now was to resist as much as possible when there was still a possibility of resistance.
Although he felt that they would be left stranded on the beach.
Gorry glanced at Bandy. The corner of Bandy’s eye noticed his expression, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly, then quickly flattened and retracted.
Let Figal and Lance fight, and they would assist from the side. This was Bandy’s plan.
Figal’s territory was connected to Lance’s territory, and the threat and importance were greater. The Kodak family’s territory, including the casino, would not be the primary target of attack.
If this was a war, then there was no doubt that he had succeeded in at least not having the battlefield on the territory of his own country.
Even Figal had to thank them, because they would help Figal fight against Lance.
If the three families joined forces and were still no match for Lance…
Perhaps when that moment really came, besides facing failure and death directly, they had no other good solutions.
The world of gangs has never been gentle or inclusive. Even the political world is not so merciful, let alone the even bloodier underworld.
So, they must win!
“No matter what, Figal, I will support you. If you need men, I’ll give you men. If you need money, I’ll give you money.” Bandy was very serious. He also knew that this was a critical moment. If they could get through it, they would have everything. If they couldn’t, everything would be over.
Figal looked at Bandy gratefully. “We will always be the best of friends. We are all family!”
“In the future, wherever you need me, give me a call. I will never refuse.”
Then his gaze fell on the man from the Tita family. The head of the Tita family cursed a few times in his heart, but still reluctantly agreed.
“I will help you.”
He was a little depressed, but he had no choice.
Hearing that his two good friends were both going to help him, a lot of smiles appeared on Figal’s face, a very sincere smile.
He raised his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. “Then, let’s discuss how to make this young man, Lance, understand what it means to respect his elders!”
On the other side of the city, Lance also convened a meeting of all his cadres and captains. Except for some who were outside and couldn’t come back, or who had other tasks and couldn’t come, basically everyone who could come came.
They gathered together, and the room already seemed a bit crowded.
After this period of time, Lance would move to the bank, where there would be a more spacious environment.
“Last night, we attacked a bar belonging to the Keane family and burned it.”
Alan stood up and raised his hand slightly. “And killed more than a dozen people.”
Someone whistled, someone laughed, and of course, someone frowned.
Lance was also smiling. “How is our investigation of the Bandy family going these days, Morris?”
Morris was sitting in a seat next to him, a little further back than his previous position.
“Bandy and Gorry are at the casino all day. Even when they go in and out, they are followed by many people. It would be quite difficult to make a move.”
“And sometimes I’m not sure if they have left. We don’t have the manpower to keep an eye on every car that enters and leaves their manor or casino.”
“The manor might be a little better. We can’t keep an eye on all the cars at the casino at all. We can only keep an eye on their two cars.”
At this point, he stopped. In fact, the others could also understand his meaning. It was not easy to keep an eye on the whereabouts of these two people.
The casino was a good place to make a move, but he couldn’t be sure if Bandy or Gorry were in a certain car.
The manor could be confirmed, but there were too many gunmen in the manor. A direct assault would only result in leaving a pile of corpses and leaving, without any achievements.
Lance nodded slightly. “What about Stone and Fleming?”
“Stone has been in the casino and hasn’t gone out. Fleming’s situation is relatively simple. He has been active in the Bay Area, but he is also followed by many people.”
Speaking of which, there was a very interesting thing. From the appearance of Golden Port City to the present day, the Bay Area has always been a very quiet place.
Gangs would not easily fight in the Bay Area, and the Bay Area was full of patrolmen, especially under Charlie’s promotion, you could see a police car parked on the side of the road almost every other intersection.
Those patrolmen might eat doughnuts, might drink milk with coffee, but they would also really do their job!
As long as they felt that you didn’t belong to the Bay Area and were sneaky, they would make you put your hands on the wall…
So the Bay Area has always been very quiet. Everyone has been abiding by an unwritten rule, which is that fighting is not allowed in the Bay Area.
There are too many celebrities and dignitaries there. If you disturb the gentlemen, or even accidentally injure the gentlemen, even if it’s just a dog in the gentleman’s house, it will cause a shock to the entire Bay Area!
They control too many resources. Even at the peak of the Five Families, they would not easily touch this clause that was not written in the city’s rules.
This was a red line for the gangs.
So Fleming was not very afraid that he would be attacked. As long as he brought enough people and did not leave the Bay Area, no one could attack him.
Lance laughed twice. He would pay the price for his arrogance and conceit, but now was not the time to move on him.
“The Kodak family is no longer like… a gang organization like ours. They don’t have clear captains, cadres.”
“Their security company has replaced the gang. The gunmen are basically in charge of Gorry and Stone.”
“The Kodak family’s biggest bar is their casino. The amount of alcohol they provide in the casino is much more than what they sell in their bars.”
The casino would not easily let them get drunk. That was not conducive to the casino putting their money into its own pockets, so it was basically mainly low-alcohol liquor.
Champagne and other fruit-flavored sparkling wines.
After a gambling addict gets carried away, they will definitely drink one glass after another, and in that situation, they themselves actually can’t tell whether they are drinking wine or water.
The casino not only earns a lot of money from their table fees, but also makes a lot of money from their liquor.
As for the other bars, they had temporarily closed the ones they could.
The ones that couldn’t be closed were also heavily guarded.
The Kodak family had the qualifications and the ability to turn themselves into a turtle and then hide in its shell and not come out.
The news that Morris introduced made some of the people in the room seem particularly gloomy. For example, the Kodak family’s manor had at least about two to three hundred gunmen, and there were also reinforcements at any time.
To break through a manor that occupied a favorable position and had so many people to support it, the price that had to be paid to take it down was simply unimaginable!
“So…”
Lance’s fingers tapped on the table, attracting people’s attention. “This time, we’ll play a different way.”
“Hit the Keane family, and let them come to the rescue.”
Elvin hung a map on the movable board behind Lance. On it were several locations circled in red pen.
“These places are the locations of the Keane family’s bars. Without them, we will contribute a share to the cause of Prohibition in the Federation!”
Morris briefly introduced the specific operating conditions of these bars for everyone, for example, its location, where the door was, and about how many people there were.
These details might not be all correct. They were all written down by some old drunks when they went to drink.
After they drank too much, it was inevitable that they would remember wrongly. It was only after combining the oral accounts of multiple people that they had such a result.
After Morris finished his introduction, Lance pointed to one of the red circles and looked at Alan. “Alan.”
Alan stood up. “Boss.”
“It’s up to you!” Lance took a cigar from the cigar box and threw it over.
Alan caught the cigar with both hands, his face full of excitement. He clenched the cigar and waved his fist. “No problem, just watch me!”
“Devon?”
“Right here!”
Lance pointed to another red circle. “Any problem?”
“No!”
Lance threw another cigar over.
He then pointed to the next red circle…
The number of captains of the younger generation in the family had been increasing. This was also an opportunity for them to make a name for themselves.
Seven red circles, seven captains, seven gunfights.
Lance smiled and pointed to one of the larger blue circles. “After we’ve taken down their seven bars, Figal’s forces will definitely shrink, and he will definitely ask for help from others.”
“And we have to release the information that we’re going to have a big fight with them, to make them think that we’re going to fight them at the Keane family’s manor.”
“I don’t know much about the Tita family’s situation. I’m not sure if they will step up.”
“But the Kodak family’s people will definitely join them.”
Hiram, sitting in the corner, wiped his fingers on the bottom of the chair. He raised his hand and stood up. “Why would the Bandy family make a move?”
Lance pursed his lips. “Because of last night’s conflict, it’s highly likely that it was caused by the Bandy family.”
“They need a scapegoat on the front lines, they need allies. Otherwise, do you think Figal’s brain is not working, that he suddenly wants to make a move on us, and even leaves a survivor?”
“If it was him who made the move, there’s a high probability that we wouldn’t be able to burn his bar, and at the same time, after the bar was burned, he would also immediately counterattack.”
“But we waited all night, and he didn’t do so. That’s because he didn’t know what kind of madness we were up to. He was hesitating.”
“It wasn’t him who did it, but for me, for Bandy, we both know this. But at the same time, it must also be him who did it!”
Some people understood, and some did not, but it didn’t matter.
“As long as they gather their forces to fight us hard, the Kodak family will definitely participate in the battle!”
He looked at these people and slowly stood up. Everyone in the room also stood up. “After this, when people talk about Golden Port City again, they will no longer say the Five Families, but will only have our name on their lips.”
“Go and prepare. We’ll make a move tomorrow!”
The mobilization of so many people also required time for Lance. The bars, the streets, many people had to be drawn out, and then some people had to be arranged to fill their gaps.
A gang is like a scientific research company. When there are no projects, all the researchers are arranged in different positions according to their abilities and preferences.
Once there is a project and they have to be transferred, they must first find people who can replace them. Otherwise, many ongoing tasks will have to be stopped.
Completing the preparation for battle and the mobilization of personnel in one day was already a very high efficiency.
With Lance’s order, the captains all left, while the others, the senior cadres of the family, stayed behind. Lance seemed to have other things to say to them.
The slowly closing door isolated the outside world’s prying eyes, and it was also impossible to hear what the people inside were saying.
But it must be a very important matter.
In the afternoon, the originally clear sky suddenly became gloomy, and the calm sea also became turbulent. This was one of the important signs that Golden Port City was entering the turn of spring and summer.
The weather was unpredictable. No one knew when a sudden downpour would come, and then it would be cloudless.
Thick dark clouds that had drifted from nowhere covered the entire sky, and the world became dark.
The low and thick dark clouds seemed to be within reach, and they also pressed down on people’s hearts, making people feel stuffy, oppressed, and breathless.
After more than half an hour, the sky was completely dark as if it were night, but not long after, with a flash of lightning, the dark clouds over the entire city were torn apart by a golden lightning.
Faint golden light came through from behind the lightning, but it was soon blocked by the closing dark clouds.
With a delayed “boom,” a pitter-patter of bean-sized raindrops immediately attacked the entire city.
The pitter-patter sound could be heard everywhere. The car lights on the road were all turned on high, and pedestrians hurried to take shelter from the rain. It was clearly afternoon, but it felt like deep night.
The rain lasted for a whole night, as if it wanted to vent itself. The city was refreshed after the rain, but the sky was too dark for people to see.
But everyone knew that tomorrow would definitely be a good day!
(End of a Chapter)