Chapter 493

The ringing of the phone made Fleming pause his conversation. He walked to the living room window and answered the phone.

“This is Fleming.”

Fleming had his own villa, his own garage, his own luxury cars, and even his own company.

Bandy was resolute in whitewashing himself, or rather, the family.

Perhaps it was precisely because Bandy saw that a gangster family had no future that the first thing he did after taking charge of the family was to find a way to clean it up.

So Fleming had lived almost his entire life in the spotlight, in focus.

He went to the best private schools, made friends with the richest and most powerful peers in Golden Port, attended an Elite Alliance university, and intended to try to make some breakthroughs in the political arena.

He was not Bandy’s remote-controlled toy; he had his own life and work, but all of this had to follow one principle—

He could not touch the family’s gangster business.

Perhaps in his lifetime, he would not be able to achieve the transformation from a gangster family to a political family, but as the next generation he produced through a political marriage began to get involved in family affairs…

Then the Kodak family would finally be able to realize Bandy’s lifelong dream.

“Fleming, it’s me.”

“Dad, is something wrong?”

He raised his glass to his friends sitting on the sofa.

These people were his future support.

“Is there a guy named Eugene by Stone’s side?”

“Yes, I know him. What’s wrong with him?”

The family’s gray-area businesses were all handled by Stone and his father, Gory. Gory was mainly responsible for everything in the casino, while the rest was handled by Stone.

He couldn’t handle all the businesses and operations in his hands by himself, so he also had a few think-tank-like people around him.

Eugene was one of them.

“He’s caused some trouble,” Bandy sighed softly.

Perhaps sensing Bandy’s gloom, Fleming took the initiative to ask, “Do you need my help?”

Fleming also had his own network of contacts and social circles. Everyone knew that he would be the next “Mr. Money” of the Kodak family.

Mr. Money was an informal title, mainly used to refer to those who held a large amount of capital and wealth.

Like the current Bandy, in many people’s eyes, he was “Mr. Money,” the one who controlled the wealth.

No one would complain about having too little money. The Kodak family were locals of Golden Port, and they were willing to be friends with him.

As the next-generation heir cultivated by the family, Fleming also wanted to do something for the family—

This was actually a very interesting phenomenon.

The children of poor families often yearned for an independent life, but the children of rich families, on the contrary, hoped to do something for their families.

So the gap between the poor and the rich was too great, so great that it had reached a point of mutual incomprehension.

His son’s initiative to share the problem made Bandy feel gratified. His years of effort had not been in vain. He said with a smile, “You should not get involved in these things, not before I ask you to.”

“Have a good day with your friends, and leave the other things to me and Gory, understand?”

“Alright!” Fleming was a little disappointed, but still decided to obey his father’s decision. “If you need anything, give me a call.”

He hung up the phone and returned to the living room. His friends were in a heated discussion. “I watched a very interesting movie these few days, The Secret Under the Water. You should really see it.”

“It will definitely sell for a high price at the spring exhibition. In my opinion, we should also set up a production company. The dividend period for movies has already arrived…”

See, Fleming, with his gangster family background, had successfully mixed into high society. These young people with prominent backgrounds were already considering investing and making money.

And some other young people of their same age had just gotten used to their jobs where they had to work eleven hours a day and had a very free forty dollars a month.

After Bandy hung up the phone, he made a call to Stone. This nephew was like half a son to him.

He hoped that the two brothers could support each other for the rest of their lives, just like him and Gory, and eventually let the family complete the transformation they wanted.

When people talked about the Kodak family, they would no longer say it was a “gangster family.” They would say it was a “financial conglomerate” or a “political family.” This was what he wanted.

And it was precisely because he was very good to the two brothers that he would not be so roundabout and polite when he spoke.

He got straight to the point, not giving Stone a chance to refuse.

“You have a subordinate named Eugene, has he caused some trouble?”

Stone didn’t react at first. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Lance just called me, asking me to hand Eugene over.”

Bandy stated the reason for his call, but he didn’t say the deeper things.

Eugene couldn’t make the decision. The one who could really make the decision was Stone. Now that Eugene had offended Lance, was this decision made by Stone?

Stone’s brow furrowed tightly. He hesitated for a moment, but still decided to tell the truth.

“Lance’s side has a boxer named Ethan. This guy is very talented and has been winning all his matches.”

Bandy hummed in affirmation, signaling him to continue.

“Now, for any of his matches, almost all the customers will bet on him to win. Our profit pressure is very great.”

“We lose two or three hundred thousand every time. After this one is all settled, we’ll have lost seven or eight hundred thousand.”

“So Eugene made a suggestion before. He said he knew a pretty good boxer who could snipe Ethan. I agreed.”

“If we won, we could have made about seven or eight hundred thousand, but in fact, we failed.”

“I don’t understand. What’s there for him to cause trouble about? It’s not like they lost.”

Bandy was silent for a moment. “I understand. I’ll talk to him.”

He hung up the phone and then re-dialed Lance’s number. “I just talked to Stone. Your man won the match and also took the profit. I don’t understand the meaning of your request.”

Lance laughed a few times after hearing this, very heartily, but the laughter and the things hidden in it made Bandy a little annoyed. “What are you laughing at?”

Lance replied, “What else can I laugh at? Of course I’m laughing at you.”

“Fuck!”

“Lance, watch your words.”

Last time, in the face of Lance’s firmness, Bandy had chosen to back down. This had made Gory complain about him for a long time, and even suspected if he had turned into a coward.

He was not a coward.

He had also walked out of a bloodbath. It was just that the family’s direction had changed now. He could no longer, as in the past, speak with his fists for everything.

However, this did not mean that he would not get angry, did not mean that in the face of this young man Lance, he had to always maintain “weakness.”

Lance didn’t care at all about his sudden outburst of temper. “The city has its rules. This was a regular boxing match. Your man made a move. Whether we won or not, whether we took away the money that belonged to us, your man still made a move.”

“You cheated, Bandy, and you were caught.”

“My request is not high. Hand over the person, and this matter ends here.”

As he was speaking, Gory walked in from outside the door.

After Bandy had finished talking with Stone, Stone had called his father and told him about this matter.

Although Bandy was indeed very good to him and really treated him as his own son, he was, after all, not Bandy’s biological son.

Bandy wanted to whitewash, but he couldn’t use his own family as a bargaining chip. Stone didn’t know what this matter would eventually turn into, but he had called Gory and briefly and quickly recounted the time.

So Gory walked directly from another office and pushed the door in.

He walked to Bandy’s side, pressed the speakerphone button on the phone, and then sat down opposite Bandy.

Bandy looked at Gory with some surprise. After the two brothers had looked at each other for a moment, Bandy continued, “We can’t possibly hand him over. You have no losses.”

Lance still didn’t budge. “You wouldn’t forgive a thief just because he didn’t take anything when he left after breaking into your house.”

“I believe you would make the thief die a horrible death after you found him.”

“Bandy, I’ll say it again. You cheated, and you were caught. You have to pay the price for it.”

“You can refuse to give him to me, but I will definitely find him.”

Gory was a little impatient. “You can try.”

A new voice suddenly appeared on the phone, which made Lance pause for a moment. He then realized who this person was. “Gory?”

“To be honest, you are far inferior to Bandy. At least Bandy is more like a ruler than you. You are just a ruffian.”

“I don’t care if you agree or not. My words have been delivered.”

“The rules were set by you. Now the one who is breaking the rules is also you. Remember your every choice, and don’t regret such a choice.”

“I will give you one day, but only one day.”

Lance hung up the phone as he spoke, which made Gory’s lungs almost explode with anger.

As a person who had been managing gray-area businesses and gang affairs, he would definitely not be a good-tempered person.

Even the best of tempers would be worn away in the things he had to do every day. However, he did not flare up immediately, but put his gaze on Bandy. “What do you plan to do?”

Bandy was thinking with his chin resting on his hands. He was thinking about how to make this matter end without any negative impact.

Gory saw that he was not speaking and frowned. “You’re not really planning to hand Eugene over, are you?”

“If you really do that, what will they think of us, what will the people in the city think of us?”

“They did the work when we asked them to, and we just threw them away after they were used up. Who would dare to do things for the family in the future?”

Bandy was a little displeased. “I didn’t say I would hand Eugene over.”

“But you were fucking thinking about it just now,” Gory didn’t give Bandy any face at all, choking him so much that he widened his eyes and couldn’t speak.

“Last time we already made some people laugh at us. If you back down again, it will only make us a complete joke.”

“Bandy, what has allowed us to gain a firm foothold in Golden Port are the guns in our hands and the money in our pockets. As long as we always hold onto these two things, we will always be the respected Kodak family.”

You couldn’t say that what Gory said was a problem, but it did not completely conform to Bandy’s requirements.

A gang is ultimately just a gang. The ceiling for a gang is too low. If he didn’t want the family to eventually be destroyed in some political struggle, then the best way for him was to make a change.

“I’m doing it all for the family,” he emphasized, as if he were holding on to his last bottom line, but Gory didn’t listen at all.

Gory looked at him. “Did your backing down last time bring you respect and authority?”

“Listen to the arrogant voice of that kid on the phone. He doesn’t respect you at all.”

“Before you beat him until it hurts, he will only think you are trash.”

“We are not afraid of anyone, no matter who he is, other families, or Lance and his crew.”

“Last time we listened to you, and as a result, we lost face.”

“This time, listen to me. Let me get back the face we lost, with interest.”

Bandy sat in his chair and considered for a long time before slowly nodding. “Recently, some people in the Bay Area have also had some opinions about Lance. Unite their strength.”

“Either we don’t do it, but if we do, we must crush him.”

Only at this moment did Bandy rarely show the ruthlessness he had hidden.

A smile appeared on Gory’s face. “I understand.”

Eugene knew in the first instance that Lance was looking for him. He was also very flustered now.

From a practical point of view, he had indeed come up with the idea for the company’s sake, and then contacted the fighter, and then mentioned the matter of cheating.

He had never considered his own interests at all. He had not bought any fighter’s betting tickets, nor had he received any benefits from this matter.

If the company decided to hand him over, besides being helpless, he might only be left with a deep despair for the company.

At this moment, for him, every second was a torment.

Stone looked at Eugene, who was sitting on the sofa and constantly wiping his sweat, and said with some impatience, “If you’re so hot, why don’t you take off a couple of layers?”

Eugene squeezed out a smile and took off his coat.

The phone suddenly rang. At this moment, both of their gazes were focused on the phone bell.

Stone answered the phone. After a while, a smile appeared on his face.

He looked at Eugene. “You’re in luck. The family has decided to protect you.”

Eugene let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank you, thank you, Mr. Bandy, thank you, Mr. Gory, and thank you, Stone.”

Stone lit a cigarette. He waved his hand. “You work for me. If I hand you over when you’re in trouble, who will sincerely do things for us in the future?”

“Although we will protect you, don’t give Lance and his crew a chance yourself. It’s best to stay in the company for this period of time and not go anywhere.”

Eugene nodded. “I know.”

A day passed quickly. Some people had also called Lance, for example, Alberto.

During this period, Francisco’s control over the Pasoretto family had become stronger and stronger—

Mainly, his uncles, aunts, and grandparents had discovered that their idea of gaining control of the family by restraining Francisco could not be realized. The young people in the family identified more with the equally young Francisco, so they had given up the idea of fighting for power.

After all, two of their peers had already gone to see God. The facts had proven that Francisco was not such an obedient child, plus he had an Alberto by his side who was like a vicious dog.

So Alberto’s work had become much easier.

“Are you planning to go to war with the Kodak family?” Alberto asked as soon as he came up.

Lance denied his statement with a smile. “If they hand Eugene over, I am willing to follow the rules of this city.”

Making a mistake, being caught, you have to admit your mistake. The rules are actually very simple.

Lance would arrange for Eugene and Ethan to have a fight. Either he knocked out Ethan, or Ethan killed him. Someone had to go down.

This was very much in line with the rules of this city, but it did not conform to the interests of a certain person who made the rules.

“If you need anything, tell me. We will be on your side.”

In fact, Lance didn’t need Alberto’s help, but he still expressed his gratitude for his initiative to call and ask.

Sometimes these inquiries, this attitude, were more comfortable than what he could do.

The next morning, Lance made a phone call to Bandy, but it didn’t go through. Then he made another call to Gory, which also didn’t go through.

He had someone get Fleming’s phone number. Fleming said he was not involved in family matters and had Lance call Stone directly. He even gave him a number.

When the call went through, as soon as Lance said who he was, an arrogant voice came from the other end of the receiver, “Fuck you.”

Then the phone was hung up. Lance looked at the receiver in his hand for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The people in the office all looked at him, all looking at him seriously. Only he was laughing there.

After laughing for a good while, he finally said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard someone talk to me like that.”

The smile on his face gradually disappeared. “It seems our friends didn’t take our words to heart.”

He pondered for a moment. “Eugene must be being protected by them now. Go and find his family, and arrest his family.”

Lance looked at Alan. The latter stood up. “I’ll go now.”

Lance nodded, and then looked at Hiram. “Distribute the weapons to the brothers and prepare for battle.”

Then he looked at Elvin. “I remember we still have a few people who are about to expire in our hands?”

Expiring often refers to food, commodities, not people.

The “expiring” here actually referred to those who were terminally ill. They had all registered with the Lance Family and were ready to take the blame at any time, or even to give their lives.

The people who had done this before had pointed the way for them. After they died, Lance had given their families a large sum of money and had also had people take care of their families’ lives.

Their wives had jobs, and their children would not be discriminated against or bullied by people. This made them have no worries.

Anyway, they were about to die. Why not exchange their soon-to-end lives for a beautiful future for their families before they died?

Some people might not be willing to do so, but there were more who were.

(End of chapter)