Chapter 258

At nine-something in the evening, the mayor was reading the “International News.” He was also very interested in the recent events happening internationally.

The sudden ringing of the phone did not make him feel any displeasure. Anyone who would call him at this time was definitely not just for a simple bedtime story.

He put down the newspaper, took off his reading glasses, rubbed his eye sockets, and then picked up the phone, “This is Sidney.”

“It’s me, Mike.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Just now… a senator gave me a call. The liquor you seized today belongs to the Kodak family.”

The mayor had actually already heard about this matter. He had been waiting for this call, “So…”

“So this batch of liquor cannot be destroyed.”

Even though the mayor was mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion when he heard this sentence, “What you said makes me feel uncomfortable, Mike.”

“If it’s because that’s the Kodak family’s liquor and it can’t be touched, then I might as well just resign to take responsibility!”

“This city is terrible. I thought the enemy was from the outside, but now it seems the inside is also full of enemies.”

“I’m no match for them. Is it too late for me to admit defeat now?”

Hearing the dissatisfaction and anger in the mayor’s tone, Mike could only do his best to appease him, “You’ve been in Golden Port for so many years. You should know how much money the Kodak family sends to Congress every year.”

“I don’t want to admit it, but I can’t not admit it, Sidney. Our political party is being corroded by capital faster and more.”

“They actually discussed it for a while and gave me a relatively… suitable choice.”

“The liquor, you still destroy it, but not this batch!”

The mayor actually had his own guesses, and this result was consistent with his guesses, but even so, he was still very angry, “They want me to do something on one hand, and on the other hand, they don’t let me do it. I really don’t know what to do.”

Mike could only continue to appease him. In fact, the current situation was just that delicate!

The implementation of Prohibition had encountered many troubles. The difficulty was definitely not something people could imagine, and some of it even came from the upper echelons.

This had actually always been a problem in the Federation. When the people who made the rules were making these rules, they never thought about putting themselves into this framework of rules.

They were like gods by a sand table, thinking about problems, looking at the undulating ground and the ant-like little people, to make “my rules,” while ignoring the fact that the rules should actually include everyone.

No one should be excluded from the rules. Only in this way can there be true fairness.

But they couldn’t do it, so from the beginning, there were loopholes and problems in the rules.

Now, with some occasional incidents, the problems have been magnified, which ultimately led to the inability to completely enforce Prohibition.

Some things were not easy to say over the phone. Mike could only do his best to appease him, “I think this method is not bad. You got what you wanted, and the Kodak family didn’t suffer any losses.”

“Besides, Sidney, I have another piece of news here. As an exchange, there will be a higher-level figure who will support your nomination for the Speaker of the State House of Representatives.”

The mayor, who was originally quite angry, was actually not so angry all of a sudden.

A smile even appeared on his face!

With a senator supporting him, his success rate increased by a lot.

However, he had to show that he was not giving up the fight because of this. Even if he really ate sh—t, he had to wipe his mouth clean.

“It’s not because you said so that I agreed to compromise, Mike. You have to be clear about this.”

“I just don’t want the situation to continue to escalate!”

How could Mike not know what kind of person the mayor was? He didn’t expose him either, “Of course, of course. I am very grateful that you can take the overall situation into account. I will tell those figures about your performance.”

The mayor got what he wanted and then said, “The Kodak family might need to cooperate with us a little.”

Mike quickly said, “No problem, I will communicate with them.”

The mayor emphasized a few sentences, “Only a very few of us know about this matter. If they all know that we have reached a compromise, they will become even tougher.”

“You should understand what I mean. When they find that there are other ways out of a dead end, they won’t care about what we are doing now!”

The mayor nagged a few more sentences and hung up the phone.

He clasped his hands together, resting them on his lap, his eyes looking at the dark night outside the window.

This result was obviously the best. They destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of liquor, and the Kodak family lost tens of thousands of bottles.

Everyone got the result they wanted. Although the process was a bit “bumpy,” the result was perfect.

As long as the Kodak family didn’t talk nonsense.

As for Chief Dale?

The mayor felt that Chief Dale understood the big picture!

And what Chief Dale wanted was actually the same as what he wanted!

Mike had Bandy’s phone number. Everyone who was someone in Likalai State had Bandy’s phone number. In the eyes of many people, Bandy was a charitable and generous person. He could give you a sum of money anytime, anywhere, without asking for anything in return.

So he had good relations with various political parties and Congress. Who could refuse a generous friend?

The easy-going Bandy didn’t seem so easy-going this time.

“Mike, I’m not targeting you. I just want to say, on what grounds are they making an example of us?”

Bandy’s attitude was very tough, seemingly not intending to compromise on this issue, “I can agree to your proposal on other issues, but not this time.”

“This is not a matter of money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, if it’s gone, it’s gone. What I care about is face.”

“If I agree to your proposal, tomorrow the whole of Golden Port will know that we have bowed our heads.”

“So what will they do next?”

“They will try to overthrow the order we have established and challenge our position!”

“This is not a matter of money, Mike.”

“I can give you a million. You let them put my liquor back. As long as they do as they say, this million is yours!”

Mike could understand what Bandy meant. Although on the surface, it seemed like… no one was at a loss, but the Kodak family’s face was actually thrown on the ground!

Sometimes, the more powerful and the higher the status of an organization, the more unacceptable this kind of solution is. What they care about is no longer actual interests.

But the rules and majesty they have established over many years, it’s face, it’s authority!

Without authority, they will not make people feel afraid.

Mike also had a headache, but who let him take this job?

He lowered his voice slightly. Although it was impossible for anyone to eavesdrop on their phone call, he still did it out of habit.

“Bandy, you have to understand, Prohibition is an important decree promoted by Congress. Your current thinking is very dangerous because you are clearly confronting Congress!”

“I’m not threatening you or intimidating you or anything. For you, a gang force in Golden Port, to fight against the entire Federation, isn’t that a bit unwise?”

“You are my friend. I don’t want anything to happen to you, but I won’t allow you to act so recklessly either.”

“I’m not afraid to tell you the truth. In fact… the state government has already approved the dispatch of the militia to Golden Port when necessary.”

“Although this is the last choice, you should know the special nature of this decision.”

“I know you are good to me and to the people above, but it is precisely because of this that we should better negotiate these issues.”

“As long as you have the support of the state government and the senators, I believe that at least within Golden Port, there can be no organization or individual capable of challenging your family.”

“I will lobby them. For at least the next twenty years, Golden Port will not approve any more casino licenses!”

While they were fiercely discussing these matters, several dark figures had already approached the warehouse of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.

This warehouse was not on the same side as the Bureau of Hazardous Materials’ office building; there was some distance between them. The land in the city center was very precious, and it was impossible to give it all to them.

And at the beginning, no one knew how far this new department could go, how much power it would have, or whether it would become a joke like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “helping the president find trouble with his political enemies.”

But with Congress’s emphasis on the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, and the cooperation between the mayor and Chief Dale, the mayor approved a specially selected building for them to use as the Bureau of Hazardous Materials’ warehouse.

And, it was also in the city center.

Most of the houses in the Federation were made of wood. Even for brick and stone houses, there would be many wooden structures.

At this time, several agents on duty were playing cards while guarding the main entrance.

The liquor was all piled up in the back room. The door on the other side was already locked. The only way in was through their side.

“Smells a bit like gasoline,” someone mentioned. He looked around; there was no gasoline in the room.

But the others’ attention was on the card game, and they didn’t notice what he was saying at all.

And he himself quickly re-invested himself in the card game, ignoring the faint smell of gasoline.

Several dark figures, taking advantage of the night, climbed into the courtyard. They quietly picked the lock on the back door of the building and slipped in.

The packed warehouse exuded a stronger and stronger smell of gasoline. The enclosed space was no longer ventilated. Gasoline, this volatile substance, evaporated from some not-completely-sealed wine bottles, becoming more and more intense.

The few of them quickly used the steel pipes with cotton cloth tied to them in their hands to continuously strike the boxes containing the wine bottles. Gasoline began to flow out.

After doing all this, the others quickly climbed back over the wall, leaving one person standing by the pried-open rolling gate.

He took out a match from his pocket, lit a cigarette, took a drag, and then casually threw the match into the rolling gate…

The match was extinguished before it hit the ground; it didn’t light. He tried another one. This time it lit.

Gasoline has strong fluidity and is flammable. Plus, the space in the warehouse was filled with gasoline that had evaporated into a vapor form. The moment the ground burst into flames, the warehouse exploded!

He was pushed back a distance by the explosion. Cursing, he got up from the ground, grabbed his companion’s arm, and they climbed over the wall together, disappearing into the night.

The news of the warehouse explosion immediately alerted everyone, including the mayor, who was on the phone discussing with Chief Dale what to do next.

The fire trucks from the entire city quickly began to take action, but facing the fiercely burning warehouse and the constantly expanding fire scene, there seemed to be no particularly good solution.

The high temperature and heat waves became a wall of death. Even if the firefighters worked hard to spray water, it had no real significance for the fire that was burning more and more intensely!

Once a fire has enough temperature and space, it cannot be extinguished by the water jets from a fire truck. They can only wait for the things inside to burn out.

Bandy, who was bargaining with Mike, also heard this news. He directly told Mike “no need to talk” and hung up the phone.

The expressions of the family members also became serious.

At the scene, Chief Dale looked speechlessly at the fire department, which had already given up, and the fire that lit up the surroundings. He couldn’t help but look at the several agents on duty several times with eyes full of anger.

He really wanted to ask them what the hell they were doing!

A fire burned for almost a whole night.

When the flames gradually extinguished naturally in the early morning, there was nothing left in the fire scene.

Only some brick and stone structures stood there, blackened. Everything else had burned to ashes.

They came to the place where the liquor was stored. The glass had already re-melted into molten glass under the high temperature. At this time, it was stuck to other ashes, black on the ground, and the shape of the wine bottles could no longer be seen.

A large number of reporters rushed to the scene upon hearing the news. The photos were full of the numb faces of the firefighters and the helpless backs of some agents.

Many people from the city police department also came, including Officer Hunter. They had to evacuate the surrounding crowd and help put out the fire if necessary.

At this time, Officer Hunter, who was completely idle, walked around the scene a few times and happened to run into Lukar. The two had known each other before and had a decent relationship.

Hunter shared a cigarette with Lukar, and the two naturally started chatting, “What do you think?”

Lukar took the cigarette, lit it, and took two steps back, as if still having lingering fears of last night’s big fire, “It’s hard to say. I think this fire is very strange.”

“It burned too fast, too fiercely. It was useless even after the fire department came. This is not normal.”

Hunter did not express his stance, but seemed to be singing a different tune with him, “This is all strong liquor. Once it starts to burn, it’s hard to put out even by pouring water on it.”

Lukar did not deny this possibility, “But I still feel something is not right. It burned down right after it was brought back, as if… someone was manipulating these things.”

He glanced at Ponda standing next to Chief Dale. Hunter also turned to look at that person, “You suspect him?”

Lukar nodded and said, “He provided the clue, then we transported the liquor back, and then it burned, burned all night.”

“But I don’t know what his purpose is for doing this, so I can’t finally confirm if it’s him, but he is highly suspicious.”

“This person has not shown any advantageous side before, cannot be considered a complete local, can only be said to be a Federation person who moved here.”

“Then he suddenly got such an important clue. This is not normal.”

“You can’t get such important news in an unfamiliar environment, otherwise everyone would be a super detective!”

“In short, I think his suspicion is very high,” Lukar said and then stopped. He seemed not to want to continue discussing this issue, and instead turned to look at Hunter, “After Charlie resigned, I heard he nominated you to take over his job?”

A smile appeared on Officer Hunter’s face, “I am more familiar with the various tasks of the police department. If you hadn’t left at that time, maybe he would have nominated you.”

“We all know that he values you very much.”

Values?

Lukar laughed, “I’m doing pretty well now. This job allows me to do what I really want to do.”

“Being a police officer has its good points, being an agent has its good points. It seems I’ll have to call you Chief Hunter soon?”

Hunter also showed a smile. This was indeed a happy thing, “Just call me Hunter. I’m not used to those titles of yours.”

The two chatted for a while longer, then separated.

In the morning, the news had already spread everywhere. Along with the reports in the big and small newspapers, there were also some “insiders” who were also passing on news to the outside.

These people claimed that the liquor was burned by the Kodak family.

They would rather destroy their own liquor than have it publicly destroyed. These news were passed on with such detail that it was hard to tell if it was true or false, but many people also believed this statement.

It was more reasonable!

The source of this news came from the mayor and Chief Dale. They could only deal with it in this way for now.

Mike had spoken with the mayor again last night. The Kodak family had a lot of opinions, and he told him to be careful.

It could be heard that there was also some annoyance in Mike’s voice. Although he was not the one who initiated this matter, he was involved almost throughout the whole process and played an important role.

Now he was not pleasing any side. Not only did he not get the result he wanted, but he also made everyone unhappy, so naturally, he was not very polite to the mayor.

At eight-something in the morning, just as Chief Dale was driving out of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, a truck suddenly crashed towards him.

At the critical moment, he turned the steering wheel and was hit sideways.

This scared him into a cold sweat, and then his scalp tingled!

Without a doubt, this truck was coming for his life!

These son-of-a-b—tch locals!

He cursed out loud and got out of the car, quickly running back into the Bureau of Hazardous Materials. For a short time, he wasn’t going anywhere!

The truck lost power after crashing into a section of the wall of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, and the driver fell into a coma.

The city police department also sent people over. They took the driver away, but in the afternoon, the judgment came out that “this was just an ordinary traffic accident”!

This kind of blatant method not only made Chief Dale feel terrified and angry, but even the mayor felt enraged!

He directly called Bandy.

“What on earth do you want to do?”

“Are you going to murder a national government agency staff member in broad daylight?”

“Bandy, you are too bold!”