Chapter 157

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Director Bruce looked at Lance, feeling no respect from him, which annoyed him. Everyone desires respect, and he was no different, but he felt none from Lance.

“Lance, I’m not talking about when it will end, but about the method and attitude of your actions,” he said. “Do you know what people are saying outside?”

“They say you’re more effective than the police, that what the police can’t solve, you solved in just one day!”

“And you shot that young man without trial, in broad daylight, possibly under the gaze of dozens, hundreds of people!”

“You’ve put me in a very passive position, Lance. This is my territory, not yours. You and your men haven’t followed the rules here!”

The more the residents of the Empire District approved of Lance, the more embarrassed Bruce felt. Just imagine how Director Charlie, the councilmen, and the mayor would view him.

People actually believed that finding the Lance family for help was more effective than calling the police when they encountered problems. This was the greatest sarcasm and ridicule against him!

He would become a joke to warm up conversations, starting with a dramatic “Did you know?” to describe his foolishness and incompetence!

As the director of the largest super-port in the Northern Hemisphere, he would not only become the city’s joke but also, through the spread of sailors, become a joke throughout the Federation and even the world.

Then, people all over the world would know that in Golden Port, there was an Empire District.

When residents of the Empire District had problems, they wouldn’t call the police; they would ask a gang, a member of the Lance family, for help. As for why?

It was because of corruption and incompetence!

This affected him too much!

Lance lit a cigarette. “So what do you want me to do?”

“The mayor told me to end the minor chaos here as soon as possible, but you’re telling me I shouldn’t do that.” He said, holding the cigarette in his mouth, and picked up the phone on the desk, pretending to dial. “Perhaps I should call the mayor now and tell him you have objections to his work arrangements.”

Director Bruce’s face turned green. He pressed his hand on the phone, glaring at Lance. “I didn’t say that!”

Lance took the opportunity to put the receiver back. “But that’s what you implied.”

“Listen, Bruce, I respect you and all the officers here, but we both have our own jobs to do now. We can be excellent partners.”

“I know what you want. You want dignity. No problem, I can give it to you.”

Bruce’s expression softened slightly. He rearranged the phone, placing it further away from Lance, then lit a cigarette himself. “How do you plan to do that?”

Lance spoke about his plan. “I’ll send the arrested criminals to you, and then you can hold a press conference or write reports to your superiors.”

“We all know what’s going on, but that’s the dignity you want, isn’t it?”

“Under your leadership, the crime-solving rate in this district will continuously increase, the crime rate will decrease, and the public safety rate will improve. Everyone will say you are a capable branch director, and perhaps when Charlie steps down, you can take over.”

Director Bruce’s mouth involuntarily twitched when he heard this. He then suppressed a slight impulse that shouldn’t have arisen in his heart, and said in a tone that was not at all resentful but feigned resentment, “I never thought about those things.”

Lance didn’t expose him. “Yes, you didn’t think about it; you only thought about working for the people’s welfare.”

“How about I have someone prepare a thank-you letter for you with at least a thousand handwritten signatures?”

Bruce was momentarily stunned, not reacting at first. “I don’t understand what you mean?”

“It means everyone thanking you for everything you’ve done for the Empire District. You’ve protected stability here, protected people’s lives and property. You are an enforcer of the constitution and justice, and they sincerely and spontaneously thank you.”

Bruce pondered for a moment, a little hesitant. “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? I actually haven’t done much.”

Of course you haven’t done anything, damn it!

Lance sat with his legs crossed. Although he was in the “visitor’s” chair, he gave off the impression that he was the owner of the room.

He held a cigarette in his right hand, sitting sideways, and tapped the table twice with his left hand. “There’s nothing more respectable than this.”

Then he saw a hint of shyness on Director Bruce’s face. “For now… no, thank you.”

The director’s tone had softened considerably, and he began to seriously consider the ideas Lance had brought up.

The reason he was so angry now was that people were saying he and his Imperial District Branch Bureau were useless trash!

This kind of talk and public perception would limit his future career progression. Although it wasn’t much to begin with, at most, he could become the city police chief, but it was still an advancement.

He knew Lance had powerful connections, otherwise he would have become a thing of the past along with the Camille gang. He had called Lance here now just to give him a warning.

To make him understand that even with powerful connections protecting him, in the Empire District, on his territory, he was the one in charge.

But now, after Lance’s series of coordinated moves, he found himself somewhat convinced.

As Lance said, everyone knew what public safety in Golden Port, and even the Federation, was really about.

The Federal government had so many law enforcement agencies, but why couldn’t they deal with the various gangs and families throughout the Federation?

Even the tentacles of the five major families of the Federation had reached into Congress!

The factors of the era were one part, and another part was that they had not yet entered a fierce “confrontation” process.

In this period of rapid development, which was still primitive and barbaric, whether politicians, capitalists, or these gang families, their goals were very simple: to unite and gain more wealth and greater social influence.

What was wrong with cooperating with gang families?

Some important figures in Congress even did business with members of the Federation’s five major families, and some laws were even pushed through by gangs!

Of course, it’s not excluded that they once assassinated more than one president for important figures. In the Federation of this period, it was a case of “you in me, me in you.”

So what Lance said, about arresting criminals and sending them to him so he could take credit in a grand manner, was not a joke; it had a strong basis.

Important figures don’t care if you did it yourself; they only care if you fulfilled their instructions.

Because they need your work results to deal with even higher-level figures, and higher-level figures don’t give a damn whether law and order in a certain district is maintained by the police or by a certain family.

There’s room for maneuver!

Most importantly, the idea of cooperation Lance provided was very good.

Before, whether it was the Camille gang or the Red Dog gang, they didn’t want the police to enter their controlled territory and didn’t want the police to interfere with their affairs.

This included some vendettas in society and conflicts between gangs; they didn’t want the police involved.

But Lance’s current attitude clearly showed a willingness for more open cooperation. This attitude left Director Bruce unable to find fault, not to mention, Lance was preparing a thank-you letter with a thousand sincere signatures for him.

The initial dissatisfaction had significantly diminished. From the perspective of his own interests, he found no need to continue opposing Lance. This also didn’t align with his interests.

Just as he was about to soften his tone and have a good talk with Lance, Lance suddenly pointed to a photo and a certificate on the wall and asked, “Does Director Bruce enjoy darts?”

Darts are most popular in the Midwest, with almost every bar having dart equipment. It’s a very popular mini-game.

There are some small competitions for it within the Federation, and those obsessed with it love it very much.

Lance had immediately hit on Director Bruce’s soft spot.

As a branch director, setting aside whether he had money in his pocket, if he wanted to play some sports, there weren’t many good options.

Basketball or football were too intense, and he was no longer young enough to participate.

Things like golf or polo were too high-class. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford them, but if he played, some people might find it inappropriate.

“You, a branch director whose name they might not even know, playing on the same field as them, are you worthy?”

So there weren’t many games these not-so-big, not-so-small figures could enjoy, and even fewer that they could play anytime, anywhere.

Darts was one of them.

He looked back at the photo and the certificate, and said with a smile, “This is from a darts competition in Golden Port. I was lucky a few years ago and took second place once.”

“Second place?” Lance emphasized, but to Director Bruce, it sounded like he was saying… “How is it only second place?”

Now he felt Lance was decent, so his tone wasn’t as harsh. “Second place is good. You should know that at least several thousand people participate in each session, and I was just very lucky to get that ranking that time.”

“Since then, I basically can’t even make it into the top thirty-two.”

He said, shaking his head, trying to tell Lance that it wasn’t an easy feat.

Lance nodded slightly. “Are there many police officers in the station who like darts?”

Director Bruce didn’t understand what this meant. “Some, about a dozen people, after all, we don’t have much time to do other things.”

“But with darts, even a minute is enough for us to throw once.”

Lance thought for a moment, “I plan to donate a thousand dollars each month to host a monthly darts competition at the Imperial District Branch Bureau, open only to internal police officers.”

“First place gets a thousand dollars, second place to… ” Lance paused, “…tenth place, each person gets fifty dollars in prize money.”

Director Bruce was stunned for a moment; he didn’t react at first. If there was a darts expert in the entire police department, it would definitely be him.

Even if some people were roughly at his level, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to insist on beating him.

And what kind of competition gives prize money to tenth place? Some competitions only have champions and runners-up; third place was something that came later.

Then he realized that Lance was sending him money, a thousand dollars every month.

And this money was more discreet than what others gave him!

It also solved another problem for him. He had additional illicit income. Police officers also collected fees, and then everyone shared them according to their hierarchy.

But this part of the money was actually also illicit and not easy to spend.

Now it was no problem. He could legally declare Lance’s thousand dollars for tax purposes, and then when he made large purchases, he could claim it was his competition winnings.

As for how many times this prize money had already been spent, that was another question. If you wanted to say the money I spent wasn’t prize money, then you’d have to prove in court that the money was illegal, but how would you prove that?

Unaccountably, Director Bruce suddenly found Lance more and more agreeable, and a smile appeared on his face.

He seemed to have completely forgotten that he had called Lance over to cause trouble for him. “On behalf of the officers of the branch bureau, I thank you for your generosity, Lance. They will be very happy when they hear about it.”

And nine other people, fifty dollars each month, might not be as much as the money they found outside, but who would turn down free money?

As for Lance bribing police officers, he didn’t think so; he saw it as Lance demonstrating respect for sportsmanship!

Lance nodded slightly. “As for the recent case, I will urge them to send the people over as soon as possible, and as for the one who died…”

Director Bruce interrupted directly, “They had a shootout with some people we had no information about. Dying in a shootout is the most common outcome for these… people. As for whether we can catch them, I cannot guarantee that to society.”

Lance put down his crossed legs, threw his cigarette on the ground, then stood up, straightened his clothes, and extended his hand. “Thank you for your understanding, Director Bruce.”

Director Bruce also quickly stood up and shook Lance’s hand tightly. “The Presidential Palace and the state government have always advocated for police-civilian cooperation. I believe this is a manifestation of our cooperation…”

“Oh, right, that thing…” He felt the conversation was about to end and hinted at Lance, somewhat awkwardly.

Lance knew what it was, but he deliberately feigned ignorance. “What thing?”

Sometimes, when you bring something up proactively versus the other party bringing it up, the effect is different.

If Lance brought it up proactively, it would mean he was the passive party. But if Director Bruce brought it up, then Lance could not only maintain control but also be more assertive.

Director Bruce took a deep breath. “The thank-you letter…”

Lance shook the hand they were holding tightly. “I guarantee there will be no problem…”

After leaving the police station, several people at the entrance immediately came forward. They were all men brought by Lance. One of them leaned in and said, “They’ve already taken the men back to the company.”

Lance nodded as he got into the car. “Back to the company. Find someone to call Nick and let him decide the fate of these men.”

When Lance returned to the company, they had just finished pouring cement into the oil drums.

The weather was already a bit cold, so the cement in the oil drums would take a little longer to dry, so they were left directly in the yard.

The four young men were still trembling. They had personally seen these people drain the blood from their companion, then clean him and throw him into an oil drum, filling it with cement.

They finally remembered the small story only locals knew, the story about the mystery of Angel Lake’s waters.

Morris simply interrogated them. These people did not belong to any gang. They had only seen the rapid collapse of the Camille gang, leaving behind large swathes of territory.

They thought they could also become a behemoth like the Camille gang. The young man who fired the gun had stolen his father’s revolver, and then they formed a small family and began their “criminal enterprise.”

Their plan was to first find a way to rob a large sum of money, then recruit people and open a bar or something.

Once they had a stable income, they would expand outwards with the bar as their core, eventually becoming the sixth major family in Golden Port.

The idea was beautiful, but it died too quickly, so much so that they hadn’t even bought the second pistol in their plan. The “Empire’s Hegemony” collapsed before it even began.

The four of them didn’t dare to hide anything and confessed everything, as witnessing the entire process of disposing of the body had truly scared them!

By the time Lance returned, these people had no backbone left.

After Morris briefly summarized the interrogation results, Lance didn’t get involved further.

About half an hour later, Nick arrived again.

“Mr. Lance, I… I’m a bit emotional.” His eyes were slightly red. Although he had been emotional once already, he still seemed very agitated when he saw Lance!

Because he had already confirmed that the young man who shot his father was indeed dead.

What he didn’t know was that the person was now in an oil drum not far from him.

If the police had caught that person, since there were no terrible consequences, he would at most be released after ten years or so, which was unacceptable to Nick.

His father had almost died because of it, and even if he survived, he was severely injured, while that murderer would only be in his thirties or forties after ten years, which was unacceptable to Nick.

But now, that guy was truly dead. In an instant, he felt completely clear-headed, and his respect and gratitude for Lance became even stronger.

Lance nodded slightly, then led him to the courtyard, showing him the four young men who had started trembling again. “There are still four people here. You can choose to forgive them, or you can beat them up.”

“Of course, if you’re still angry, you can kill them, and I’ll have someone handle everything for you…”

The four young men couldn’t endure this any longer and immediately knelt down, pleading with Nick not to kill them.

On the way there, Nick had thought of many things, even considering making them experience the feeling of being shot.

But now, after his emotional peak, his excitement had begun to subside, and the thoughts of an ordinary person began to take over.

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “Someone has already paid a sufficient price, and they also seem to have received appropriate punishment. Let’s just leave it at that.”

The four young men were so moved that they cried, beginning to apologize for their past mistakes.

Lance patted Nick’s shoulder. “You are a forgiving person. They will go to jail; that’s what they deserve.”

Nick breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s for the best.” He paused, “I brought two bottles of wine when I came earlier; you must try them.”

“This is our own brew; it might not be as good as what you usually drink, but it has a unique flavor…”

Lance’s footsteps paused. “Your own brew?”