In a club in the city center, a man in a white suit and a floral shirt was leaning back on a large red sofa.
Tufts of chest hair stuck out from his open collar, looking somewhat disgusting, like an uncivilized barbarian.
On the low coffee table in front of him were some empty wine bottles, as well as cigarettes, cigars, and even some dried Maple Iris Grass.
Beside him sat a few other people, their faces still showing an unhealthy flush left over from their excitement.
He smacked his lips. “You guys had better be careful these next few days. The Boss said when he came back last night that we might go to war with the Lance Family.”
He was a high-level cadre of the Keane family. He didn’t belong to the Keane family before, but was the leader of a small gang.
At first, he had some conflicts with the Keane family, and the two sides even fought twice. Of course, he was crushed both times.
Figal appreciated him quite a lot, so he annexed this small gang and also made him one of the high-level cadres.
Joining the Keane family also gave his talents a place to shine. Now the bars, flesh trade, and even the Maple Iris Grass business he ran were among the best in the family.
Every month, he could hand over at least 150,000 in profits to the family!
In other words, besides the profits he had to obtain for himself, he had to give 5,000 to Figal every day.
Even so, his life was still very stylish. He was ruthless enough, and at the same time generous enough, and not too stupid.
With these three qualities, it was very easy to get along in the gangster world.
The people around him had been following him for a long time. Last night, Figal had gathered the high-level cadres together and briefly talked about the recent situation and the future development.
Some high-level cadres felt that Figal was a bit too impulsive and that there was no need to rush into war.
It wasn’t that they thought they would lose, but they felt… like they were being taken advantage of.
The reason they didn’t object was that the Empire District was right next to them. The friction between the two sides had always existed, it was just not so obvious and intense.
They were not unaware of the matter of many drunks from the city center going to the Empire District to drink. They had actually secretly tried to obstruct it, but it was of no use.
They had even made anonymous calls to the Bureau of Hazardous Materials and had one of the Lance Family’s bars shut down.
But even so, it still couldn’t stop people from going to the Empire District to buy alcoholic beverages, because it was so damn cheap.
There was dissatisfaction between the two sides, and friction and conflict could break out at any time. Now that it was mentioned that they were going to war, they would not refuse.
Like Figal, they didn’t think they would lose. And they also had the support of the Kodak family and the Tita family. You can’t say that Lance, a rising force, would have to face three big families head-on, right?
So they were not nervous at all. In fact, this high-level cadre in the floral shirt, after getting the news last night, was still in the mood to gather his brothers and party all night long!
The air was filled not only with the smell of cigarettes and alcohol, but also the special fragrance of Maple Iris Grass, and the strange smell of residual genetic fragments.
On the sofa, in the corners, on the table, there were those strange smells everywhere.
“Go completely crazy when you can” was the motto of this floral shirt. He himself had indeed abided by this motto. Last night, he had led the partying!
At this moment, he lit a cigarette. The “ding” of the pure silver lighter and its spring made the captains around him a little more sober.
Some people rubbed their faces, some directly picked up a glass and poured water on their faces, and some changed their posture and continued to close their eyes.
The floral shirt stood up with a cigarette in his mouth, woke them all up one by one, and after they were sobered up, he continued, “I’m not fucking kidding you.”
“These few days, all of you be honest with me. The Lance Family’s people don’t know when they will come over.”
“Guard your own territory well. If I suffer any losses because of your messing around, I guarantee that as good as I am to you now, I will be as bad to you then!”
The captains nodded one after another, promising that they would be obedient. But how many were telling the truth, and how many were lying without a care, no one knew.
Looking at his subordinates like this, the floral shirt also knew that there was no good solution. The name of the Five Families was too famous.
So famous that since they had joined the Keane family, they seemed to be afraid of nothing, because no one dared to offend them!
“We know, Boss. We’ll be careful.”
It was his closest subordinate who took the initiative to say a word. In fact, at this moment, in his eyes, the floral shirt was still constantly changing. The kick from the Maple Iris Grass and alcohol was too strong!
Damn it, I can’t add so much next time!
The floral shirt cursed a couple of times. He could see that these people’s spirits were not right. In fact, he was usually like this too, and would only gradually sober up in the evening.
He shook his head, kicked the people around him a few times, turned around, and walked out of the club.
He was too indulgent with these subordinates. They would sooner or later suffer a loss for not being vigilant enough.
Coming out of the room, the club’s staff bowed and greeted him all the way. After all, he was a high-level cadre of the Five Families. Coming to the club to spend money was considered giving them face.
And the floral shirt would not say that he was short of money, or that he wouldn’t pay. His ability to make money was much stronger than his ability to spend money.
For such a person with a background and who was willing to spend money, how could the club offend him?
Those young girls, as soon as they saw him, would sweetly call out, “Good morning, boss.” The floral shirt’s mood was extremely delighted.
“The car is already parked at the door…”
He hadn’t even reached the door yet when the manager proactively came up to him, holding the key to his new convertible in his hand.
The floral shirt nodded. He took the key and twisted his neck. “How much?”
The manager turned around and brought the bill. “A total of 713. You can just give 700!”
“You’re looking down on me!” the floral shirt glanced at him sideways. The manager quickly said, “I wouldn’t dare.”
Then he took out two stacks of money tied with a rubber band. Each stack was twenty-five bills. He took out ten bills and then slapped the remaining money into the manager’s hand. “Share the extra.”
The manager’s face was also full of joy. He turned around, and with a glare, the young girls all sweetly called out, “Thank you for the tip, sir.”
This made the floral shirt burst out laughing!
This was the most proud and stylish moment in life!
Money, power, are really fucking good things!
He swaggered out of the club’s main door. His attention was all on the new dark blue sports car on the side of the road.
This made him ignore the fact that about thirty or forty meters away from him, a car parked at an angle on the side of the road had started up.
The moment he opened the car door and got in, just as he inserted the key, that car had already stopped beside him with the sound of screeching brakes.
He subconsciously looked over at that car, only to see several dark gun muzzles.
The bullets rained down like a downpour yesterday. The cracking sound of gunshots silenced the entire street for three seconds, and then there were sharp screams!
The whole process probably took only seven or eight seconds. That car stepped on the gas and rushed out.
After a while, the manager finally ran out of the club in a panic. The floral shirt was now slumped in the driver’s seat of the convertible, his body stained red with blood.
The blood from his mouth was like a small fountain, constantly gurgling out with bloody foam. Occasionally, he would twitch a little, like he was retching, and then spit out a large mouthful of blood.
His consciousness was already scattered. Even though he had raised his arm to protect his head in the shortest possible time, there was still no chance of rescue.
Half a minute later, he stopped moving.
On another street, a high-level cadre of the Keane family was resting in a room of a high-end hotel.
He had played cards until late last night. Like the floral shirt, he was not worried about going to war with the Lance Family.
Arrogant people are often like this. Just like those nobles who looked at the rioting farmers with their noses in the air. Even when their heads were already on the guillotine, they would still say, “You lowly peasants like maggots in the mud!”
Arrogance is a poison. Once you’re poisoned, it’s very difficult to be cured.
The ringing of the doorbell woke him up from his sleep. He glanced at the unknown girl on the bed, got out of the room shirtless. The doorbell was still fucking ringing!
He had won a lot of money last night, and a few times it was because of this girl’s help. She seemed to have passed her good luck to him, allowing him to win in rounds where it was almost impossible to win.
As a gambling addict, he was unusually superstitious about luck.
In fact, many gambling addicts are like this. They are superstitious that a certain small object can bring them good luck, that a certain action or a certain song can change the result of the deal, or they are superstitious about the order of the seats, the order of the deal.
In short, anything that can make them think “I can win” will be favored by them.
And this time, he favored the girl on the bed.
So he brought her here, went crazy for a night, and promised to give her a sum of money, then drank some wine and fell asleep.
“Damn it, didn’t I say I don’t need morning room service?”
He was in a bad mood now. After middle age, his body was not as good as when he was young.
Far from it, but he was not willing to admit it.
When he was young, he could stay up all night, and the next day, after sleeping for two or three hours, he would be full of energy again.
But now, every time he stayed up late, it was like someone had beaten him hard all night.
It was fine if he didn’t stay up late. If he did, he had to sleep until noon in the morning, otherwise he would feel uncomfortable all over.
He was like this now. His heart was beating fast, his head hurt, and his neck seemed to be uncomfortable. He cursed as he opened the door. “If you fucking press it one more time, I promise…”
When his gaze met the eyes of the three people outside the door, his words were cut off by himself.
Outside the door stood three gentlemen in suits. They were all wearing soft-brimmed hats. It was worth mentioning that they had a conspicuous red armband on their left arm.
They were wearing lambskin gloves—cowhide gloves are very hard and not suitable for actions that require a certain degree of control, such as shooting.
The leather of lambskin can be tanned to be very soft and thin, especially the custom-made ones, which fit every finger and make every finger feel comfortable.
In their gloved hands, they were all holding a handgun, exuding the smell of death.
The atmosphere was a bit solidified. He subconsciously wanted to run, but the people outside did not give him a chance to run at all.
In the last minute of his life, he didn’t know what to say. His mind cleared in an instant. He thought of Figal’s phone call.
But he no longer knew what to say. In the end, a curse was squeezed out of his throat.
“Son of a bitch…”
Unfortunately, he didn’t finish cursing. This time, he was interrupted by gunshots.
The sound of the small-caliber bullets was not strong. The “piu piu piu” sound made him constantly retreat.
He tried to hold on to the table by the door to stand, but after he was shot in the head, he completely lost control of his body.
The three entered the room, emptied all their bullets into his head, and then quickly left.
Even if it was a small-caliber bullet, there was still a little noise.
The girl in the room stretched her beautiful body and woke up from her sleep. She put on a nightgown, ran her fingers through her long hair, and walked into the living room. Then, with her particularly pretentious voice, she let out a sharp scream!
At a little after eight o’clock, Figal was woken up by his brother.
“For the sake of us being brothers, for God’s sake, let me sleep a little longer!” he opened his eyes and looked at his brother, his face haggard.
He had also stayed up late. These past two nights, his mind was full of things, and he couldn’t sleep well at all.
He had only fallen into a daze at a little after four o’clock, and now it was only a little after eight. He couldn’t get up at all!
His eyes were bloodshot, he spoke weakly, and his eyes hurt especially badly.
“… (floral shirt) and … (gambling addict) are dead. … and … are still unreachable, and another one was shot, but survived and is now in the emergency room.”
Figal was completely stunned. He sat up abruptly and turned on the bedside lamp. “What the fuck did you say?”
His brother repeated it again, his expression serious and solemn. “The Lance Family has already started to move.”
“Fuck!”
“How dare they move so fast?”
“And how did he find these people?”
His brother said, “I heard that Lance has a young man under him named Morris. He’s been helping Lance develop and investigate other gangs.”
“You know what our high-level cadres are like. They never hide their whereabouts. The possibility of them being targeted is very high.”
If you have to hide after joining the Five Families, then the Five Families are too useless!
Whether it was the internal members of the Keane family or the gang members who had joined the family through annexation, after defeating the Bear Gang, they had actually become very arrogant!
In addition, many high-level cadres and captains in the family had died in the war with the Bear Gang. Now the family’s power was relatively concentrated in the hands of the few Figal and the few high-level cadres.
With power, influence, and pride, how could they not be arrogant?
It was just that they didn’t know that when Lance was not yet qualified to challenge the Five Families, he had already had people keep an eye on the situation of the Five Families.
And there was also some help from Alberto in this.
Although the Five Families were a single entity now, they were also wary and controlled each other.
It didn’t take much effort to find these people.
Figal just felt his temples throbbing. He couldn’t lie down anymore. He lifted the quilt and stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, and then changed his clothes and went straight to the study.
“Notify everyone immediately. From now on, fucking be careful 24/7!”
“We are one of the Five Families. Don’t fucking act like you’re worse than those third-rate small gangs!”
“If I find out that anyone is still messing around, I’ll kill him myself!”
As he spoke, he picked up the phone and began to call the important members and high-level cadres of the family one by one.
Of course, some high-level cadres didn’t take what he said seriously, but some were very cautious.
They were obedient and stayed in their own territory, so nothing happened this morning.
He had these people come over. He was going to have a meeting.
He knew a truth very well, and that was that in a gang war, the more time a side spends on the defensive, the greater the probability that they will lose in the end!
They must attack!
Even if it’s blood for blood, they have to fight with all their might!
At a little after nine o’clock, more than ten high-level cadres had gathered here, and a few others were on their way.
Figal had already changed his clothes. His eyes were a bit fierce. “I fucking said yesterday, be careful, be careful, be careful!”
“But these sons of bitches took my words as farts. Well, now they’re not only dead, but they’ve also made us so passive!”
“Fuck!”
Looking at Figal getting angry, and even with a hint of… a warning, the expressions on the faces of every high-level cadre were not very good.
“For just a small matter, Lance’s men moved so fast?” one of the high-level cadres couldn’t help but ask.
“Is there something we don’t know?”
The others looked at each other, and also felt that the situation was not right.
If the firefight the night before last was because of stealing business—they were also investigating this matter, and had also found the few customers who had gone from the city center to the Empire District to drink, and got their description of what had happened.
Then what was the firefight now for?
And the scale was so large from the very beginning?
The guy who questioned that there might be other things involved felt that Figal was hiding something from them.
But Figal didn’t feel that he was hiding anything from them. “I promise, I haven’t hidden anything.”
“He’s like a mad dog now, biting the Kodak family, and now coming to bite us. He’s too arrogant!”
Figal’s hand tapped on the table. “Youth and his recent success have made him not take us seriously, gentlemen. We have to teach him how to be a man!”
The cadres all nodded in agreement. One of them asked, “So what do we do now?”
Figal took out a map. Yes, he also had a map. On it were some scattered locations of Lance’s bars.
These locations were all bought by Bandy from the mouths of drunks at a high price.
As long as he offered a high enough price, there would always be people who had no direct interest relationship with Lance who would be willing to sell the locations of these bars for money.
And this kind of thing would continue to happen, and it was impossible to prevent it!
His hand slammed down on this map. “He can come and hit us, and we can go and hit them!”
(End of a Chapter)