Chapter 281

“If you haven’t seen the city at five in the morning, you don’t have the right to have dreams…”

A sanitation worker rubbed his eyes. The light inside the vehicle wasn’t strong and couldn’t fully illuminate every word in the book. He seemed to be struggling.

He was an immigrant who had just arrived in the Federation and had only recently obtained legal immigrant status. He had found a job sweeping the streets.

The cleaning work in Golden Port was contracted out to several different companies. City Hall paid them at a rate of $42.50 per person to handle the work in different areas. This did not include the cost of garbage trucks and the like.

But they only gave these workers $22, on the grounds that they only needed to work for two or three hours a day and could find other jobs, so this was a reasonable number.

Reasonable or not, no one knew, but many people were willing to do it, especially immigrants who had just arrived in the Federation.

They had spent a lot of money to come to this country, and they urgently needed a job to prevent themselves from starving to death first.

Although $22 was not much, it was enough to fill their stomachs.

The bus slowly came to a stop. The driver slapped the side of the bus and shouted, “Number seventeen, get off quickly…”

Each section of the road was the responsibility of one sanitation worker. This was section seventeen. The sanitation worker with the “seventeen” tag hanging on his chest stood up from his seat. He put the inspirational book “How to Realize Self-Worth” into his pocket.

This was the motivation that had kept him going during this period. He firmly believed that all his efforts would eventually be rewarded.

He believed that having seen Golden Port at five in the morning gave him the qualification to realize his dreams. When he stood at the peak one day, he would be grateful for the self who had actively put in the effort.

He took his broom and began to sweep the street.

He had not thought about this question, what direct relationship there was between starting to sweep the streets at five in the morning and realizing his dreams. At the same time, he couldn’t think about it, because once he thought about it, some things would change.

Number seventeen was the road in front of City Hall. The bus not far away stopped, and more people were kicked out of the bus.

The two looked at each other in the dim morning light and continued to silently sweep the ground.

Until, he found a long, strip-shaped object lying on the ground.

“A waterproof cloth?”

He bent down and touched it. This thing was actually quite common in Golden Port, because it often had thunderstorms here in the summer. The purpose of the waterproof cloth was to protect things from getting wet from the rain.

“Who would throw such a large roll of waterproof cloth here?” He stood up and looked around. There wasn’t a single car on the street. He bent down again and tried to pick up the waterproof cloth.

This was a considerable income, at least two or three dollars!

But for some reason, this waterproof cloth was so heavy. Was there something else inside?

Driven by curiosity, he pushed the rolled-up waterproof cloth forward until he let out a “f—k” that startled the whole street, and then he stopped!

At 5:20-something, a large number of police cars arrived here. John’s eyes were red. He had only slept at one-something last night.

Just after taking office, Young Master Eric was kidnapped. If the mayor had nowhere to vent his anger, then he was the best choice.

He didn’t dare to be negligent and had persisted until late at night, napping in his office wrapped in his clothes.

As a result, early in the morning, the phone rang.

There was good news and bad news.

The good news was that Eric had been found.

The bad news was that he was already dead!

At this time, John stood not far away looking at the whole street, his mind a complete mess!

Three detectives from the homicide division came. Hunter had recently taken leave.

They had been investigating the scene until six-something and had not found any more evidence.

“A car passed by here in the middle of the night, and then he was thrown out. This is just our speculation.”

“What car, we don’t know. Who was in it, we also don’t know.”

“The traffic flow here is too heavy. Even if there were eyewitnesses, they wouldn’t know which car it was.”

“No valuable items were found on the waterproof cloth used to wrap the body, nor were any fingerprints found, no bloodstains.”

“Eric’s pants were wet, but there were no urine stains in the waterproof cloth. This means they had dealt with any possible remaining traces before wrapping him up…”

John’s head was spinning from listening, “Just tell me directly, can you find the murderer or not!”

The three detectives from the homicide division all shook their heads. This was obviously impossible to do.

In this era of relatively backward criminal investigation methods, people would even still use “reasoning” to solve major cases.

It sounds like reasoning has a very romantic color, but in fact, this is also a helpless choice due to the backwardness of technical means.

At the same time, reasoning has also caused many miscarriages of justice, but they also need to give the public an explanation, so sometimes it’s better to say it’s weaving a story that the public can be satisfied with than reasoning!

One of the newly promoted detectives from the homicide division said, “Chief, we should still focus on the hotel. It’s impossible for them to have left no clues at all. And that girl, finding her can also solve the problem.”

John had a big headache. He didn’t want to hear these things, “Go do your thing.”

Then he walked to the side of a public phone booth, a little hesitant, but the mayor would know about this matter sooner or later. He knew how to make himself look like a dog that pleased its master.

He finally dialed the number, at 6:30.

At this time, the mayor had already woken up. He was doing some simple exercises. His recent string of victories had filled him with energy. In order to deal with the various challenges ahead, he had to ensure that he had a qualified body.

After receiving the call, he was silent for a moment, had someone prepare for his trip, but there was no sadness on his face, only solemnity.

At seven o’clock, a large number of reporters gathered at City Hall. At this time, the mayor looked much more “normal”: haggard, sad, all kinds of emotions piled up on his face.

He choked up several times and was unable to speak, but everyone also knew what had happened.

Eric was dead, and he was going to declare war on evil!

This seemed to… have become something he had to do. If before Eric’s death was announced, he still had the choice to resign, then just a day later, less than twenty-four hours, Eric’s death had made it impossible for him to resign anymore. On the contrary, it had strengthened his idea of eradicating evil!

Many citizens who were still looking forward to the subsequent plot development were dumbfounded, because many people believed that in the end, Eric would return safely, and they would definitely make some under-the-table deals.

But now, Eric was dead!

Those poor people who earned $20 or $30 a month, lived in cheap apartments full of the smell of mold and urine, and couldn’t even afford a whole steak, began to empathize.

They actually began to sympathize with the mayor’s plight. Perhaps this was the most fantastic scene in this world!

The food sympathizes with the diner!

What was even more interesting was that it should have been the mayor who showed extreme anger, but at this time, the ones who were truly angry were the Five Families.

They felt it. Someone was forcing them to go to war with the mayor, because now that Eric was dead, they had no basis for negotiation, and at the same time, it gave the mayor an excuse to wipe them out.

Now it was no longer a question of whether to go to war or not, but how to protect themselves and then drive the mayor away!

At nine o’clock in the morning, another piece of news came. Congress had passed the final vote to fully strengthen the armed forces of the coast guards in various places.

A portion of the navy’s warships would be retired and given to the coast guards in various places, and a large number of new warship production and construction plans had been approved.

It was announced to the public that this was a normal process of military equipment retirement and replacement, but in fact, some bad judgments about the future international situation were being confirmed. Congress had also felt the clouds of war coming, and they had begun to rearm.

Some people were worried about this, while others felt… this was not something people should be concerned about because the war was very far away from them!

What ordinary people paid attention to was different from what the smuggled liquor industry did. It ushered in the first real earthquake!

Smuggling by sea will become more dangerous, the price of liquor has started to rise again, and the drunkards are sighing. It seems that everything is moving in the direction expected by the masters in Congress.

In the afternoon, Precinct Chief Bruce came to the company to see Lance.

As soon as he entered the office, he sat down on the sofa, took off his wide-brimmed hat, lit a cigarette, and said sullenly, “John came to see me.”

Lance sat behind his desk, a little surprised, “Shouldn’t he be chasing Eric’s case and looking for the murderer now?”

“What did he want with you?”

Precinct Chief Bruce looked very depressed, “He wants me to stand on his side.”

He looked up at Lance, “Now many police officers in Golden Port have gone over to his side. Lance, I’m very worried that John can really control the entire police circle of Golden Port.”

John was his old subordinate. The fact that his old subordinate had transformed into the precinct chief of the Port precinct had already made him a little depressed.

His relationship with John was not good. John had taken a large sum of money when he left and had not left a single bit for the precinct.

The attitude he had when he came to find him now was also with some threat. John gave him two paths.

Either be obedient and join the new police system with him at its core.

Or, become a thing of the past with Charlie and those old diehards!

He and the mayor were going to reorganize the police system. All disobedient people would be kicked out.

“I don’t question whether he has this power, because behind him is the mayor.”

“No matter who it is, the Five Families, the Bay Area, or Councilman Wade or Councilman Williams, they don’t have the power to directly appoint the police chief or precinct chiefs, but the mayor does.”

Precinct Chief Bruce rubbed his face, “He gave me three days to consider…”

Lance frowned after listening, “So you also gave me three days.”

Precinct Chief Bruce immediately said, “I didn’t mean that, but I really have no good way. I can’t resist them!”

“Now we are not of one mind ourselves. If I don’t do it, there are plenty of people willing to take my place!”

“You, you all, have to do something!”

It could be seen that although the precinct chief really didn’t want to mix with John, he also didn’t want to lose his current job.

Everyone said being a police officer was not good, but no one said being a police precinct chief was not good.

Lance nodded slightly as he spoke, “What you said also has some truth. I’ll make a phone call.”

He picked up the receiver and dialed Paul’s number.

“This is the Pasoretto Manor…”

“I would like to speak with Mr. Paul. I’m Lance.”

“Please wait a moment.”

After about four or five minutes, the phone was picked up again, “This is Paul.”

“Mr. Paul, my friend Bruce, who is also the precinct chief of the Empire precinct, is right here with me. He told me that John is forcing them to make a choice.”

“Either stand with John and the mayor, or pack up and get lost. I feel it’s necessary to reveal this matter to you…”

Paul let out an “uh-huh” after listening, “Thank you for the information, Lance…” He was probably about to end the topic, but then he thought of something, “Since you’ve discovered this problem, are you interested in helping us solve it?”

“You mean… what?”

Paul let out some laughter, “Of course I mean John.”

Lance was silent for a moment, “Are you asking me to solve the police chief?”

Paul heard his reluctance in his words, “It’s an ‘acting’ chief, and an ‘acting chief’ that we don’t recognize. No one will look too deeply into this issue.”

Lance said nothing. For about ten seconds, Paul probably sensed Lance’s resistance.

Now he was in a bit of trouble. The Five Families had just finished a meeting, and some problems had also arisen among them.

Eric was dead, the mayor was “crazy,” plus they might have gotten some news from other places. The Kodak family was the first to propose backing out.

As the most profitable family in Golden Port, their connections spread throughout Likalai State and Congress. A large amount of funds was sent to the state government, the state legislature, and Congress through various means every year.

As long as they guaranteed to continue sending benefits, someone in Congress would stand up for them.

Bandy knew very well that the Kodak family was not irreplaceable. If you just replaced them with someone else, as long as they had so many licenses, even if they had no foundation, they could build up the casino industry in a very short time.

On the contrary, if the Kodak family lost these, they would become nothing.

Someone in the state government supported the mayor in dismantling the stubborn local forces of Golden Port. Bandy was a little hesitant, and it was also possible that he had reached some kind of deal with the state government.

With one of the Five Families gone, the remaining four families seemed to be able to fight against the mayor.

Then, Rick, the representative of the Cassia family, also proposed a similar idea. He wanted to take a step back. He felt that Eric was not killed by them, and they had no reason at all to wipe someone else’s ass.

And the core business of the Cassia family was human trafficking and vicious criminal cases. Without the support of the police, or rather, them turning a blind eye, then their family business would shrink across the board!

Especially since Congress had just announced that it was going to strengthen the Coast Guard, which dealt a double blow to their business.

Two of the Five Families were gone at once. The remaining three, although they still wanted to hold on, were obviously a little unable to.

They felt that the Cassia family and the Kodak family must have known something, or that someone had promised them something, which was why they suddenly withdrew.

This anger of being betrayed made the remaining three major families feel angry!

At the same time, they also felt a little uneasy, because now they not only had to fight against the mayor’s group, but also against possible backstabbing from former friends!

Who knows if the Cassia family and the Kodak family, in order to cater to the instructions of some big shots, would give them a blow when they were not paying attention?

Paul’s side had many people guarding their core industries, so the number of people who could be spared became not so many.

Plus, getting rid of John itself was a dangerous and politically risky job. Paul suddenly thought of Lance, who had already unified the Empire District. He might be a good candidate.

“I’ll give you a bar in the Starlight District. Also, if you need it, I will publicly support you in a public occasion.”

After a moment of silence, Lance said softly, “Deal!”

He hung up the phone and looked at Precinct Chief Bruce. The latter quickly straightened his spine, “I won’t say anything, don’t worry, Lance, my lips are sealed!”

Seeing that Lance didn’t seem to have any desire to talk to him, he picked up the wide-brimmed hat on the table and stood up, “I still have some things to do…”

Lance motioned for him to get lost. He quickly left!

So f—king scary. In front of a police precinct chief, talking about how to get rid of the police chief. These people really don’t treat the precinct chief as a police officer!

But Precinct Chief Bruce was not angry. If Lance could really get rid of John, he would cheer instead!

So… can he do it?

Lance called the others over. In the office, “Paul said to let me get rid of John, and I agreed.”

They didn’t ask why, only asked one question, “When do we make a move?”

Lance shook his head slightly, “There are still a few days. We must maximize the benefits of this matter.”

“Morris, do a few things. Keep an eye on John and some of the people he’s close to.”

“Hiram, prepare our weapons and magazines. I don’t want the operation to be hindered.”

“Mello, prepare the vehicles. Our opponent this time is not easy to mess with. Ask them if they can install some steel plates in the car door panels…”

Lance gave instructions in an orderly manner. He let everyone know what they had to do and how to do it.

After some of them received the instructions, Lance let them all leave to make preparations.

Elvin stayed behind, “Is it necessary to do this?”

“If we don’t make a move, the Five Families will definitely make a move!”

Lance shook his head, “They’ve already fallen out among themselves.”

If Lance’s conflict with the mayor’s people hadn’t reached an irreparable point, if he hadn’t refused the mayor’s recruitment, then he could completely ignore these matters now.

Anyway, no matter how much they purged, he would survive in the end.

But the problem was that he not only refused the mayor’s recruitment but also killed the members of the Viper Gang, giving the mayor a huge slap in the face!

Once the mayor completely controlled Golden Port, then it would be his doomsday!

Between his own bad luck and someone else’s, Lance chose someone else’s.