Chapter 499

“Gasp…”

“Gasp…”

Eugene instinctively protected both sides of his head with his hands. The whole world seemed to be spinning with his breath.

He felt like he was about to die.

Every one of Ethan’s punches was like being hit directly in the face by a car.

After just a few punches, he had already realized that he would not survive tonight.

Blood kept flowing from the wounds on his face. In his ears, there was only the suppressed crying of his wife and the pleading voice of his son.

He glanced slightly towards his wife and child, and a “buzz” faintly sounded in his ear. The next second, a huge force erupted from the base of his ear, and he was sent flying sideways.

The whole world was dim, gloomy. The swaying lights stretched the shadows of the people on the ground very long, like demons in hell, constantly swaying, twisting, and approaching him.

He was panting heavily, his hands supporting his body, wanting to get up. But this punch had been too heavy. His balance system had been at least temporarily destroyed. He couldn’t get up at all.

Lance stood not far from him, looking at him, with no other expression on his face, no pity, no sympathy, only indifference.

He held a cigarette in his hand, smoking it casually.

This kind of person was not worthy of sympathy.

If it weren’t for Ethan’s good physical condition, perhaps his professional career would have been affected.

Since you’ve decided to do something out of line, don’t refuse to be treated in an out-of-line way.

“Come on, get up!” Ethan stood behind him.

Eugene lay on the ground and looked at Lance and his crew for a while, then at his own son and wife. He managed to support himself up.

As soon as he stood up, he suddenly tilted to one side and staggered several steps before regaining his footing.

He slowly, unsteadily, moved in front of Ethan, raised his arm, and punched him in the face with a fist that had almost no strength.

The blood from his own fist was transferred to Ethan’s face, as if he had injured the other party.

He gave Ethan two more punches, like a child playing with an adult.

He even tried to move a little, adding some footwork.

Lance frowned slightly. “Give him some dignity.”

Eugene, whose consciousness was already a bit blurry, seemed to relax completely when he heard this sentence. He looked back at his wife and child again, as if he wanted to firmly remember their appearance in his heart.

“I’m sorry…” his lips moved, but he had no chance to say it out loud.

Ethan’s hook hit him in the abdomen. He felt his whole body “clench up,” as if a large tendon had been suddenly stirred, stirred randomly, and he subconsciously wanted to curl up his body.

Then his hair was grabbed by Ethan and lifted up. Through the gap in his swollen face that had been squeezed into a slit, he looked at Ethan with somewhat dim eyes, watching Ethan pull his fist back “to the max.”

Perhaps it was just a moment of daze, an iron-like fist hit him on the cheek…

He could feel the bones in his face moaning, shattering.

A hot stream shot out from his nasal cavity, but… it wasn’t blood, it was pink, slightly transparent.

What is this?

He thought, his thoughts gradually solidifying, as if they had been frozen, and finally fell into darkness.

He was dead.

Ethan did not throw him away like a rag doll, but placed him on the ground.

At least, in an absolutely desperate situation, he still dared to attack Ethan, at least letting people know he was not a coward.

Lance scratched his eyebrows. He glanced at Eugene’s son. A trace of hatred was hidden in the young man’s evasive gaze.

He sighed softly, took a drag of his cigarette, and drew the thumb of the hand holding the cigarette across his cheek, then turned and walked outside.

Eugene’s son and wife looked at these people with terror and unease. Hiram stood out from the crowd. He held his right wrist with his left hand, and in his right hand, he held a pistol.

“The Lord will forgive me.”

Bang, bang bang!

The next morning, Eugene’s body was dumped by a car at the entrance of the Golden Port Casino. The news was immediately reported to the two generations of leaders of the Kodak family.

Bandy looked at Eugene’s body lying in the middle of the warehouse, his face unusually grim. Gory, on the contrary, became calm.

“I told you long ago, the tricks you use on others are of no use to them,” Gory’s calmness was because he had already “seen” the result.

Bandy’s methods were very useful against the other families in Golden Port, including the small gangs and small families.

They had been in Golden Port for too long, so long that their interests and the interests of Golden Port had become highly unified.

It was like… a parasite. When it was very small at the beginning, it would not be too picky about the big tree it wanted to parasitize, because its needs were very few.

Big trees, small trees, crooked-necked trees, and even those short shrubs could become its host. It could completely obtain the nutrients for growth from these plants.

But as it continued to grow, strengthen, and reproduce, its size and number became larger and larger. The small plants could no longer support it, and it could only go to find big trees.

At this time, it would be more afraid of the big tree dying than other plants, because the death of the big tree meant that it could not get nutrients, which meant that it would enter a state of decline, and even die with the big tree.

Gangs are the same. In the beginning, they might be able to survive by extorting some shops.

But as their territory continues to expand, and their manpower continues to increase, their expenses become larger and larger, and they, more than others, hope to seize interests from this city.

The interests of this city are basically numbered. 90% of the wealth, before it is even born, has already had its ownership decided.

No one wants an accident, because an accident represents a risk.

Before, Bandy had used his influence in various aspects, as well as the fact that the Five Families were “of one breath and one branch,” and had always managed this city well.

But now it was not possible, because an “outsider” had joined the game, and he did not play according to Bandy’s ideas.

He didn’t care about order, didn’t care if everyone could continue to make money stably. He only wanted his own.

A spoiler!

Bandy glanced sideways at Gory. “What do you want to do?”

Gory shook his neck. “We are a gang. Of course, we’ll solve it in a gang’s way.”

What other way can a gang use? It’s nothing more than firefights, battles, and death.

Bandy couldn’t help but show a wry smile. “We’ve been whitewashing for over twenty years…”

“But now it’s possible that our efforts will be in vain.”

Whitewashing had always been what Bandy desired most. He didn’t want the Kodak family to always be the “Kodak brand of useful tools” in the eyes of the upper-class gentlemen.

Not only did he want to get off the dinner table, but he also wanted to squeeze into the side of the dinner table, in the capacity of a diner, to find a place of his own.

Eating others is always better than being eaten by others. This is beyond doubt.

Gory did not immediately refute him, but asked, “This time we can also back down, and let everyone find out that we are actually not as strong as they imagined.”

“Then those small gangs will also start to try to provoke us. They will open casinos and compete with us for business. What should we do?”

“Call the police?”

“Use the law to deal with them?”

“Come on, Bandy. We are a gang, not law-abiding citizens.”

“I don’t object to you whitewashing, but you can’t, for the sake of whitewashing, forget how we survived.”

He looked at Fleming. “Your father might have some misunderstandings about your situation outside. Why don’t you tell him?”

Fleming didn’t expect the fire to spread to him. He scratched his head. “Ah… um, I don’t know how to say this.”

“They’re a little afraid of me, because of our gang identity. Besides the Five Families, I actually don’t have too many close friends from high society.”

Bandy actually also knew this situation, but he was just a little unwilling to face it.

Gory’s hand tapped on the table twice. “The gang is already in our blood. Even if you wash it so clean that you can’t see a single bit of black…”

“As long as they decide to put us on the dinner table, then we are black.”

“You make the decision. But I hope that before you make a decision, you can think clearly about what we will get, what we will lose, and what we will face by doing so.”

The death of Eugene and his body being dumped at the entrance of the Golden Port Casino caused a huge commotion throughout Golden Port.

Golden Port had been particularly… terrible these past two years. The internal and external wars, the split of the Five Families, all kinds of bad things had been staged one after another. And now it was the turn of the battle between the new forces and the old forces.

Someone had immediately spread some of the details and reasons of this matter to the outside world, as well as the two sides of the conflict.

Undoubtedly, under the seemingly calm surface of Golden Port’s waters, it was not as calm as it appeared.

Some were looking forward to their firefight, looking forward to getting benefits from it. Order is always rebuilt after complete destruction, with no exceptions.

When Councilman Williams learned of this news, he gave Lance a call and asked him for a meeting.

Before long, Lance appeared in Councilman Williams’s study. Besides him, there were also James and Arthur.

“Sit, what would you like to drink?” Councilman Williams greeted him at the study door. Before that, it was Arthur who had greeted him from the very outside, and then he had met James in the living room, and then they had come up together.

To be able to greet Lance at the study door was already the greatest respect Councilman Williams could show now.

After all, you can’t have a person who is about to become mayor go outside to greet a gang leader when the weather is not yet warm.

Lance sat down in the chair opposite Councilman Williams’s desk. “Tea, no sugar.”

Federation people like to add sugar to their tea, and some also like to add milk, and some like to add fruit juice. Only they don’t like pure tea.

Soon the butler brought in a pot of brewed black tea. Besides the black tea, there were also some flower petals inside. This was probably the biggest compromise they could make.

“I heard about what happened these two days. I don’t mean to blame you for anything, Lance.”

“I just feel… that what you did was a little impulsive.”

“This is not like the Lance I know.”

His smiling appearance did not reveal his true thoughts at all. Lance held the teacup by its ear and took a small sip.

The rich aroma of the black tea also had some floral fragrance, which made the taste complex but not unpleasant.

“Some things, if you want to do them, you just do them,” he put down the teacup. “And I don’t think I was too impulsive in doing this.”

“The people in New Golden City are waiting for us to transfer a large amount of benefits over. Senator Cleveland is in need of money right now.”

“I can’t just rely on the money from selling liquor to support his activities in Congress.”

Councilman Williams nodded. “Indeed.”

Socializing is very expensive, and political socializing is even more expensive.

Everyone has a price, from the homeless on the street to Mr. President in the Presidential Palace. They all have a price and a price tag.

If you invite a municipal councilman to an event, and you give him a standard room for $3, he will be very satisfied and think that you are a sensible person.

But if you invite a senator and also have him stay in a standard room, then he will think that there is something wrong with you.

In Golden Port, before Mr. Jobav’s death, every formal social event of the mayor would cost him tens of thousands of dollars.

In a mega-city like New Golden City, facing top-tier financial magnates and politicians, a single social event could cost hundreds of thousands, or even more.

Senator Cleveland wanted to continuously expand his influence in Congress, so he needed to win over more people to support him.

Political interests, capital interests, and money.

He needed these.

Of course, it wasn’t just Lance who was transferring benefits to him. There were also many other people who were transferring benefits to him. This kind of thing, you can only complain that there’s too little, not too much.

Councilman Williams did not refute. His campaign for mayor was almost a foregone conclusion.

He and James had calculated that he would probably have to spend at least another $1.2 million to satisfy every bloodthirsty mouth.

However, he could understand Lance’s idea, but he didn’t understand why he had to declare war on such a large group so quickly.

“I still don’t quite understand. We can split it up and do it step by step.”

“Charlie and Hunter, these clowns, the people in the Bay Area, and then the Kodak family. Wouldn’t the difficulty be a little lower this way?”

Originally, Councilman Williams still had a little idea in his heart, but now that he saw Lance talking about these things so calmly and composedly, the things he was worried about seemed unlikely to happen.

Lance said with a laugh, “Because there’s no time.”

Councilman Williams raised his eyebrows. This action made his eye sockets look much larger. He leaned back in his chair. The sunlight shone in through the glass window and landed on him.

He raised his hand, his wrist turned outwards. “Can you tell me?”

James had completely focused his attention. He felt that this was a very important lesson.

Arthur, on the other hand, looked a little bored. His mother had urged him to come, otherwise he would have preferred to hang out with Corinda.

That girl was completely different from the ones he had seen before, full of wildness and a dangerousness that fascinated him.

It’s incredible to say, but Corinda had actually… poked his butt with a gun barrel. But it had to be said that having more experiences in sex made him feel great.

It was very stimulating, a kind of stimulation that those “weak” girls did not have.

He was thinking about the pleasure of these few nights when James nudged him with his elbow. “Do you have a lighter?”

Of course he had one. Then he saw that Lance had already taken a cigarette out of the cigarette case and was holding it between two fingers, putting it to his lips.

Arthur immediately walked to Lance’s side, took out his lighter, and lit the cigarette for him.

“Thanks,” Lance said.

Arthur quickly said with a smile, “It’s nothing.”

He then ran back to James’s side and sat down.

“A few reasons.”

“The first reason is that the troops are coming.”

“Once the navy comes over, they will definitely be more unwilling than us to see the city’s landscape change.”

“The small ones they don’t care about, but this kind of change that involves the big picture of the city, they will absolutely not allow.”

“At that time, everything will be frozen. Can you understand what I mean?”

Councilman Williams was a little surprised, but he kept nodding. He certainly understood, but he didn’t expect that Lance could think of such a deep matter.

He hadn’t even considered these problems much, but he was sure that Lance’s view was not problematic.

The purpose of the navy’s stationing was to ensure the progress of the Federation’s maritime trade, as well as the stability and safety of this important port city of Golden Port.

Now the Federation had to import a lot of materials from overseas every year. If Golden Port was destroyed or unstable, it was very likely to affect the development of the Federation.

They would definitely not agree to a large-scale firefight in the city. No one knew if this was just a firefight, or an invasion by enemy forces.

“The second reason is that the mayor is about to leave. Some things are more convenient for him to bear than you, for example, certain responsibilities.”

Councilman Williams frowned.

Lance took a sip of his tea and, at the same time, glanced at James and Arthur, who were sitting on the side. Councilman Williams immediately said, “You should stay for dinner tonight.”

As he spoke, he looked at James. “Go and tell the kitchen. The few dishes we had last time were very delicious. You go and keep an eye on it.”

Then he looked at Arthur. “Have your mother attend tonight as well. Tell her not to run around.”

James knew that they had something to talk about alone, and then he stood up.

Although he was a little unwilling, he knew that when the time came for him to know, Councilman Williams would definitely tell him.

Arthur was much simpler. He had long since not wanted to be here.

He knew his mother’s good intentions, to let him have a little contact with family affairs, so that in the future he would not be completely controlled by James.

But for him to come into contact with these high-end games now was like a person who hadn’t even gone to elementary school sitting directly in a university classroom. He couldn’t listen to a single bit.

What hints, what metaphors, he completely didn’t understand. Naturally, he wouldn’t mind being sent away.

After the two of them had left and closed the door from the outside, Lance rested his hands on the armrests of his chair and said with a half-smile, “After I bought the Red High Heels, I found two ledgers under their floorboards.”

“Inside, it recorded in detail on a certain year, a certain month, a certain day, a certain big shot from the Bay Area had called for an ‘eagle claw’ from them.”

“Whether these call girls were beaten, whether anyone didn’t come back, there were also some girls’ photos inside, as well as their handwritten checks, with signatures, and even fingerprints.”

Councilman Williams took a sharp breath. He stared at Lance for a long time, and slowly spat out two words—

“Fuck!”

(End of chapter)