After returning home, Mr. Hoff sat in his chair. He casually opened his cigarette case, which contained cigarettes, cigars, and a few boxes of pipe tobacco.
It was all fine tobacco. Just this one cigarette case, and the value of its contents might be equivalent to the combined income of an ordinary family for several years without eating or drinking.
Perhaps even more.
Usually, when he was alone, he liked to pair whiskey with a cigar. The aroma and alcohol of the whiskey could wash away some of the lingering taste of the cigar on his oral mucosa, making each smoke a new experience.
At the same time, a part of the cigar’s taste and the whiskey’s flavor would merge and intertwine, creating a new experience. For those who like cigars and whiskey, this was absolutely an unparalleled experience!
Not to mention, under the dual effects of alcohol and nicotine, the wonderful feeling of being slightly tipsy was intoxicating.
Even if God extended his hand to him from the sky, he would probably refuse!
But now, he was in no mood to enjoy that kind of pleasure.
He felt that he had been a little reckless today.
Generally, at his status, he rarely did such reckless things. It could only be said that… Lance made him hate him very much, not just because of the issue of interests being affected now.
More importantly, Lance had embarrassed him twice.
The first time was when Lisa was snatched away by him halfway. Although he had gone to find trouble with the Red High Heels for this matter and had vented his anger, which could be considered as regaining a little dignity, everyone actually knew very well that in the end, it was Lance who had not given him face. Finding trouble with the Red High Heels could not really solve this embarrassment.
The second time, it was still Lance.
He had no choice but to hand Lisa over.
In the past, he had never been so infatuated with Lisa’s body. Perhaps it is the things that people suddenly cannot get that will arouse people’s greed.
At that time, when he could enjoy her at will, he was not so enthusiastic about her body, but more just wanted to vent his own desires.
But after losing her and finding her again, he felt that a certain feeling of his had been sublimated.
Unfortunately, Lance had made him very embarrassed again.
So now, his interests on the Golden Port City side had been affected a little. This was the third time.
That’s why he had, in front of many people, mentioned a notorious extreme conservative radical organization like the Holy Bell Party, and their “Saint” Joshua.
Joshua was the current actual ruler of the Holy Bell Party. He called himself a saint, sent by God to come to the world to cleanse the ugly and the dark.
This person seemed a bit crazy, but it was a calm kind of crazy. He was not the kind of crazy who would grab a piece of shit and eat it without realizing it. He would have someone grab the shit and eat it, and then tell that person, “This is a fucking pile of shit.”
If possible, in fact, not many people would want to greet Joshua. The people of the Holy Bell Party could not be seen as an ordinary gang either.
In an environment of organizational discipline and religious nature, the minds of these people were more or less a little problematic.
Originally, Mr. Hoff’s intention was to provide Mr. Charles with an idea—look, we are not without a solution at all. We still have a way. You can try to give it a try from here.
His original intention was to have Mr. Charles contact the Holy Bell Party. He couldn’t do it. Mr. Charles’s business was so big, and he knew so many people. How could he not know the people of the Holy Bell Party!
But he had really not expected that Mr. Charles would actually pretend not to know and let him make the contact.
He had been a little careless.
But now the matter was pressed on him. If he said he couldn’t handle it, it might not be okay.
After smoking a cigarette, he picked up the phone and dialed the number he didn’t really want to dial.
“This is Joshua. Who’s calling?”
Joshua’s voice was very magnetic and also very gentle. Through the phone, you could feel that he was a very charming middle-aged man.
In fact, that was indeed the case.
He looked to be in his late forties, but he didn’t look old. He usually wore a white cloak with a golden cross on his chest, and on his back, a bell was outlined with golden thread.
He usually wore a pair of glasses, with short, three-seven parted hair that was slightly graying.
His hair had started to gray a little since he was a teenager, but it had always just been graying.
His features were also very soft and good-looking. He was a very handsome young man when he was young.
If he wasn’t acting up, or if his emotions hadn’t become agitated, then he was a very kind and easy-going person.
“It’s me, Hoff,” Mr. Hoff said hesitantly, announcing his name.
“I remember you, Mr. Hoff, the regional opinion leader!”
Joshua’s voice carried a trace of pleasant surprise after a long separation of friends, which really made it impossible to associate him with a notorious image.
“Yes, Mr. Joshua…”
“Call me Joshua. We are friends, I remember that.”
“I will also call you Hoff.”
“So… Hoff, is there anything I can help you with?”
Mr. Hoff took a deep breath. “You know that since last year, the situation here in Golden Port City has been a bit beyond all of our expectations.”
“The rapid rise of the Lance Family has given us no time or measures to deal with it. By the time we started to consider how to limit it, it had already developed to a degree that we could not control.”
“Joshua, we want to ask you for a favor.”
Joshua certainly knew about the changes in the underworld situation in Golden Port City, but he just didn’t know it so clearly.
He listened to this Mr. Hoff, who he couldn’t really say he had a good relationship with, and did not choose to believe him at the first opportunity. At the same time, he caught a keyword.
“You’re saying, ‘we’?”
“Who else?”
Mr. Hoff confessed a portion of the representative figures of the Bay Area interest group. These figures might not have much of a reputation in the world of gangs, but in the upper-class society of this state, they were still very famous.
Like Mr. Charles, he was a major shareholder of the Golden Port Docks. A considerable portion of the profits generated by the Golden Port Docks each year went into his pocket.
In fact, profit was still a small problem. His influence on the docks could be transformed into political influence. Otherwise, why would people like Mr. Hoff respect his opinion so much?
Not just gangs, religious organizations, or any other organization, as long as they want to expand, they cannot do without three elements.
First, money.
Second, people.
Third, connections.
The Holy Bell Party itself was a very bad gang. If they wanted to continue to expand and increase their influence, they would always need the help of some upper-level forces.
They needed some political influence.
In the past, whether it was to quickly take root in the hearts of those extreme conservative and radical farmers, or whether they were originally so crazy, their past development had allowed them to expand very quickly. But as their scale grew larger and larger, they also gradually felt the stronger power that was entrenched over Likalai State.
Politics, military, others.
If Joshua wanted the Holy Bell Party to go out of Likalai State and become a national gang or even… a religion, then he must have politicians and big capitalists supporting him from behind.
He knew Mr. Charles. He was indeed a famous celebrity and had many connections in the state government. He would be helpful to the “going out” plan.
He did not think much and agreed. He had heard about this from David, and had also heard about the 200 million liquor market in Golden Port City.
If it were the era of the Five Families before, he would not have cared so much about this market. After all, although the scale of this market was very large, it was very scattered.
But now it was different. Lance had already integrated this aspect. He just needed to swallow the Lance Family and then accept their set of gameplay.
Wealth, political influence, connections. He had no reason to refuse.
Although he knew what Hoff was calling him for, the process that should be followed still had to be followed.
When someone asks you for a favor, and when you take the initiative to do something for someone, the value generated is different.
So he clearly knew the purpose of this phone call, but still asked, “I know Mr. Charles and the others. So what do you want me to help you with?”
Mr. Hoff lowered his voice slightly, as if he were afraid of being overheard. “Get rid of the Lance Family!”
“Hoff, we are friends. Logically, I should help you solve this problem.”
“However, I hear that the Lance Family has a very strong control over Golden Port City. Even if our car has just entered the city, he can know it at the first opportunity.”
“And the police chief seems to be his man?”
“It’s very difficult for us to have a direct confrontation with them in Golden Port City. He just needs to have the police arrest us, and it will be very difficult for us to deal with it.”
“If I can do it, I can do it. If I can’t, I can’t. I will tell you, not just promise you first.”
The fact that it was not easy to invade Golden Port City was well known to all the gangs in Likalai State. The reason why Joshua had not made a move on that side for so long was also because of this.
Mr. Hoff frowned after listening. “Then what should we do?”
Emphasizing the difficulty of helping is also a good way to measure one’s own value.
“My idea is, we’ll kill Lance first. Once Lance is dead, the Lance Family will definitely be in chaos. Then our men will rush in and kill their cadres.”
“Even if his men, his friends, can react, it will be too late.”
“To do this is not easy. You also need to contribute a little.”
Mr. Hoff felt a little uneasy, but Joshua’s idea was undoubtedly very attractive to him. He could only bite the bullet and ask, “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to bring our men in, with your car, or your friend’s car.”
“Then you, or your friend, will go and make an appointment with Lance. We will make a move when you are meeting.”
When Mr. Hoff heard this, his scalp tingled slightly. If he really did this, then there was no doubt that everyone would think that he was involved with the Holy Bell Party.
Maybe at the next party congress, he would lose his power. After all, it was impossible for the Socialist Party to continue to place a person who was involved with a religious and extremely conservative and radical gang in an important position.
However, he did not refuse immediately, but said, “I’ll think about it…”
(End of a Chapter)