Chapter 289

Alberto subconsciously lit a cigarette. On one hand, the cigarette could help him concentrate and think.

On the other hand, the cigarette and the smoke, these things could cover up some of his true emotional expressions.

His hand, holding the cigarette, covered half of his face.

Lance’s words made him fall into deep thought. He licked his lips, “Is it possible that the problem is on your side?”

“Is there such a possibility?” he looked at Lance with expectation.

Lance also seriously went over the people he knew in his mind, then shook his head, “The people who knew about this matter were basically all in the car. It’s impossible for them to sell my information at the risk of being killed.”

“And what I give them is something others can’t give them.”

Alberto’s scalp itched. He scratched it hard. In fact, he already had some guesses in his heart, but was just unwilling to admit it.

“I don’t know, Lance. I don’t want the problem to be from our side, but it seems you are very sure that the problem happened on my side.”

He was silent for a moment, his expression becoming serious, “I need time to verify this matter.”

He acted very sincerely, “I have to apologize to you for this, Lance. I hope this won’t affect our relationship.”

After Lance’s gaze lingered on his face for a while, he slowly nodded, “I want to know the truth!”

“You tell Paul, the bar will be closed for now. After we solve this matter, I will go over again!”

After he finished speaking, he stood up and left directly, regardless of Alberto’s attempts to make him stay.

After sending Lance out the door and watching his car leave, Alberto returned to his office.

Fordis pushed the door open with a belly full of doubts and walked in. He even thoughtfully found a reason for coming in to inquire about the news; he was holding a cup of coffee.

“Lance thinks his being attacked has something to do with us?” Fordis was a little curious. Lance’s coming over today clearly carried a questioning attitude. If there was anything that could make him so angry, it must be related to his being attacked!

Alberto picked up his coffee cup and took a small sip. It was already a bit cold. He glanced at the tray; there was clearly another cup just now.

This bastard had wanted to come in and eavesdrop for a long time, but before he could come in, Lance had already left.

As for the other cup of coffee, no need to guess, he must have drunk it.

Alberto put the coffee cup back, “It’s cold.”

Fordis touched the coffee cup, “I can heat it up for you.”

Alberto rolled his eyes, “Just leave it there!” He paused, “Lance thinks someone in the family sold out his whereabouts.”

Fordis’s expression also became serious.

In fact, what these gang leaders least want to see is that where they are going tomorrow, which road they are taking, is leaked out.

In fact, it wasn’t just gang leaders who didn’t want this to happen. The presidents of some companies, big capitalists, politicians, they would also hide their itineraries and routes.

This was not a safe era. Things that seemed a bit cumbersome were actually what could guarantee their safety!

Whether it was Lance, the late Heller, or Paul himself, or the leaders of other gangs, they would do their best not to let their whereabouts be known to others in advance.

Previously, Bill had been ambushed and almost killed on his way to buy breakfast because his habits had been completely figured out!

But if the people from the Wolf Gang didn’t know that Bill would often go to a certain place for breakfast and didn’t arrange for people to ambush him in advance, he couldn’t have broken into the docks, and there wouldn’t have been the series of events that followed.

He had leaked his own intelligence, so he died.

This time, it was the same. To be able to ambush at a precise location meant that these people must have known that Lance was going to pass by here.

Only those who knew where he was going would know which road he would take, so someone must have sold out his information.

Fordis watched as Alberto smoked, and he couldn’t help but take a few cigarettes from the cigarette case and put them in his own cigarette case, “So Lance suspects that we have leaked the news.”

Alberto nodded, “There are many people who know that the bar is being transferred to Lance. This matter definitely can’t be hidden from people.”

When a bar that was doing booming business suddenly announced that it was going to be transferred, even if it was a family decision, it would still make the group responsible for this bar feel dissatisfied.

If they were older people, with the traditions of the Summurian people still ingrained in their bones, they might be dissatisfied with the family’s decision, but they would still obey.

But if they were young people who didn’t respect tradition, they wouldn’t be so honest and would be very difficult to handle.

They would question the family’s decision. After all, they were the new generation with independent selves.

These young people of the new generation no longer considered themselves Summurians, but rather Federation citizens of Summurian descent.

It seemed like… there was no difference, but in fact, there was a huge difference.

The former represented their identification with Summuri Island and the entire Summurian culture, identifying with their race, culture, and everything.

And the latter represented that they had already been assimilated by the Federation in the process of growing up. Their values were the values of the Federation.

Under the impact of the Federation’s spirit of freedom, they had not learned to respect tradition and authority, but rather to question tradition and authority.

Some schools would even praise and encourage students who questioned their teachers, believing that this spirit of questioning authority was a concrete manifestation of the spirit of freedom!

They even turned these things into little stories and spread them everywhere, as if if you didn’t question authority, you weren’t a normal person!

The consequence of questioning authority and tradition is the loss of reverence and becoming more self-centered.

When their interests are harmed, what they might think of first is not how the family is, but how their personal interests are!

They would also doubt whether Paul’s decision was correct, whether he had some other purpose in doing so.

In fact, this situation was not uncommon in the Pasoretto family. They were a large criminal organization, running many criminal businesses.

Smuggling, arms, flesh trade, drugs, gambling tables, and now liquor!

It was impossible for everyone to get the same profit from the business they handled. It was inevitable that there would be some disagreements and dissatisfaction.

In the past, they wouldn’t show it, because whether it was Paul or the Five Families, they were strong enough. They didn’t make a sound because they didn’t dare to challenge Paul, not because of respect.

Paul still held absolute authority in the family!

But recently, especially this month, there was discord within the Five Families, and the pressure from the mayor was great. There were also some different voices within the family from Paul’s.

Some of the younger people believed they should attack more aggressively. Paul and the other old-timers felt they should use some quasi-political means to keep everything within a controllable range.

If disagreements are not resolved, the final result will be conflict!

Alberto would not take the initiative to talk about such internal family conflicts. He had deep feelings for the family. After all, it was Paul who had brought him out of Summuri Island. For him, he was not just a relative, but also a benefactor.

He rubbed his head, “There are too many possibilities. I don’t know who is more likely.”

As he spoke, he picked up the phone and dialed Paul’s number.

During this period, the situation both inside and outside the Five Families was relatively tense. Paul had been staying at the manor and had not left.

Even for his favorite facial cleansing, he would have someone pick up the barber at irregular times and perform the facial cleansing at the manor.

This was actually the most appropriate approach.

But it would also make some people think that he was very timid. When a person begins to “despise” authority, things will become very difficult to control!

So the call was connected quickly.

“Boss, it’s me, Alberto. Lance just came over.”

“Hmm?”

“Lance was attacked in Priliccia. He said it was our people who leaked the news.”

“Okay, I know.”

“Boss…”

“Alright, I know. I’ll check it out. I’ll let you know if there’s any news.”

Paul hung up before Alberto could finish his sentence, which made Alberto vaguely realize that the problem might really come from within the Pasoretto family!

This gave him a headache. Fordis, sitting opposite him, was very calm.

“Actually, the conflict has always been there, it just wasn’t apparent before!” he said something he had always wanted to say.

This made Alberto roll his eyes at him, “No one will think you’re a mute if you don’t talk!”

Although he said so, he also knew that what Fordis said was correct.

A bar, with a monthly income of hundreds of thousands. Now it was being given away to someone else. Of course, some people would have some opinions.

From the doorman to the bartender, to the security guard, to the manager, to every employee of the bar, they could all get a commission from it.

Now this commission was suddenly gone. With so much resentment, anyone could be the one who sold out Lance’s information!

Besides, for them, Lance was not a member of the family. Selling him out was just selling him out, with no psychological burden.

If Lance died, then the bar could continue to be run by them. Isn’t this a very good decision?

Alberto slumped in his chair, tilted his head back, and looked at the ceiling. He suddenly seemed to have thought of something and asked, “Who was in charge of that bar before?”

“Dover.”

Christopher Pasoretto, or “Dover” was Paul’s nephew.

When his father was young, he had taken a bullet for Paul to protect him and died in an attack.

Then Paul took on the responsibility of raising Dover and also treated him as his own child, giving him many good opportunities and conditions.

Dover’s performance could only be said to be mediocre. He had neither any eye-catching performance nor any disappointing aspects. He could only be said to be very ordinary.

He had no particularly outstanding performance. Some people actually had some opinions about him being able to run a bar in the Starlight District on his own.

They had truly risked their lives for the family, yet they were still guarding an ordinary business, the kind that couldn’t fill their stomachs but wouldn’t let them starve either.

On the contrary, Christopher, a kid who had not experienced any major battles, was guarding a business that made big money. They would definitely be dissatisfied.

Alberto had also looked down on this young man a little before. The strange words in the family really could anger people to death, but he acted as if he hadn’t heard them.

If it were someone else, they would definitely have to prove themselves, but he was content with the status quo.

Perhaps for him, money was indeed very important.

If it was Dover who did it…

Alberto started to get a headache. Paul was a person who valued relationships and abided by the rules. To have him hand over Dover would probably be very difficult!

He now couldn’t help but start scratching his scalp again. He hoped this matter had nothing to do with Dover; he didn’t want to make things difficult for Paul.

…

After Lance’s convoy returned to the Empire District, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The people all had gloomy faces, only the passersby showed smiles.

They were people who genuinely liked Lance and really didn’t want anything to happen to him. Fortunately, God blessed him, and Lance returned!

The convoy went directly to the firm. Mador got out of the car first. He and the veterans checked the surrounding environment with their guns, and only then did they let Lance get out of the car.

They drove the cars back. Although from the outside, these few cars had long been riddled with bullets, they had saved Lance and their lives.

And even if they were attacked again, they could still provide good protection.

After entering the firm, Lance’s whole person also relaxed. He took off his coat and threw it to Corinda (one of the two girls), then went into the office and took out a bottle of wine from the bookshelf.

He needed to relax.

Alcohol is a very magical thing. Just a little can make a person relax. After the others came in one after another, Bolton also came.

Bolton was very panicked!

For him, Lance was more important than anyone else!

His recent married life had made him think more clearly.

If he had no son, he could have another one. If his wife ran away, he could marry a younger one. But all of this had a premise: he had to have money and status!

He had worked in the Federation for more than twenty years, and in the end, he only owned an apartment bought with a loan, an old shabby car, and a large pile of bills and two children.

He had nothing, in fact!

He was not an indispensable key character. The company was also constantly exploiting and oppressing him. Although he was always trying hard to integrate into a higher circle, because of his congenital deficiencies, he simply couldn’t integrate!

At the Saturday gathering, those middle-class Empire immigrants also didn’t like him and would avoid him.

Could he not know these things?

He also knew that he was like a clown, but what could he do?

During this period, he had only felt that he was truly alive!

He had money, status, and a girl of his daughter’s age spread her legs for him so that he could find a more comfortable position.

His former wife didn’t even want to look at him more than once, but now, his little wife treated him like an old treasure. No matter what he requested, she was willing to agree.

There were also great changes when he went out. People would stop, stand in a place that didn’t block him, take off their hats, and shout “Mr. Bolton.”

Those who had once treated him like dog sh—t would also take the initiative to greet him enthusiastically, chatting with him about finance and politics, which he actually didn’t understand at all.

People wouldn’t laugh at his shallow knowledge, but would instead listen seriously and think that what he said had a lot of substance.

It wasn’t because he was so outstanding that they accepted him.

It was simply because he was a member of the Lance Family, and considered a small leader.

He knew very well that once he lost these, he would return to the past overnight, and might even be worse off than in the past!

Those newly rising gangs would find trouble with him, those ordinary people would also find trouble with him, and even those subordinates he had now would also find trouble with him.

Only in this way could they draw a clear line with him.

So he might also be one of the people who least wanted anything to happen to Lance.

Seeing Lance sitting on the sofa, safe and sound, the heart he had been holding finally let go, and he also let out a heavy sigh of relief!

“Thank God, it’s good that you’re okay!”

Lance nodded slightly and motioned for him to stand to the side.

“Brothers have died. According to our rules, take good care of their families.”

Mello nodded, “I know what to do.” He had always been in charge of this part of the compensation.

The families of these deceased people could receive a monthly pension from Mello’s side according to the Federation’s standard average wage, until decades later!

Their children could get better opportunities for cultivation. Whether it was joining the family or studying, Lance would cover all their expenses during their growth.

In addition, the dividends and income they received in the gang would also be given to their families in one lump sum.

Even for ordinary gang members, they could also enjoy similar treatment. Their families could receive at least twenty years of average income, which for many families, was a complete solution to their worries for the future.

“Find a professional undertaker, clean them up nicely, and let them leave with dignity.”

“And then!” Lance’s tone changed. He leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs, like an arrow ready to be shot at any time, “Find those people!”

He looked at Morris and Bolton, “Today we also got rid of a lot of people. Go to Bruce, have him get the identity information of these people. I want to know who they are, what their names are, and who they work for!”

“I don’t care who attacked me. What I care about is whether they are prepared to pay a heavy price for it!”

“Tell the brothers to be careful. Distribute the weapons. The atmosphere in the city is very bad recently. I suspect it will soon become chaotic.”

“I still say the same thing. We brothers have had a hard time coming to the Federation, a hard time finding a place to settle down here, a hard time getting enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, to be able to see the most prosperous side of this world.”

“I don’t want to be left with only a few people in the end. I hope every one of you can accompany me!”

“If someone accidentally… I don’t really want to say this, then be sure to prioritize saving your life. Don’t fight hard, and then wait for me to save you!”

He reached out and patted Elvin on the shoulder, “Go to work!”

This sentence was for Elvin, and also for the others. The people quickly dispersed, leaving only Lance alone in the room.

He lay back on the sofa, closed his eyes slightly, rubbed his cheeks, and his whole person gradually relaxed…