Chapter 401

Lance looked at Francisco. The young man glanced back at Alberto, who nodded. He then said, “Uncle Lance’s decision is my decision, Grand-uncle Vittorio.”

Vittorio’s gaze shifted between the three of them, the expression between his brows changing subtly before finally turning into a smile. “Good, then it’s up to you, Cisco.”

“We’ve had many people injured, and even killed, in the war with the Cassia family. The people are full of hatred for them.”

“Since you advocate for revenge, I hope we can see some results soon to inspire the young people in the family to use their strength to rebuild the family in these difficult times.”

The others were naturally indifferent; as long as they didn’t have to contribute men, it was fine.

The subsequent content was clearly less important. With Alberto’s strong arguments, he secured a decent bar in the Starlight District for Francisco.

This bar could provide Francisco with a stable income, more than enough for him to recruit men or do other things.

After the meeting, the three returned to where Paul had previously lived. His wife immediately came out to greet them. It was clear she was very worried about Francisco.

She embraced Francisco at once, a gesture that made his face instantly turn red.

He struggled for a couple of moments before breaking free from his mother’s embrace.

He wasn’t usually like this. Perhaps it was because Lance was here today.

Lance made him feel a little awkward in these situations. After all, Lance acted like an adult, which made him feel like he was still a child.

He didn’t want to admit he was still a child, so he had to act more like a man.

As everyone knows, a man doesn’t run into his mother’s arms as soon as he gets home and stay there.

His mother also seemed to notice some changes in her child. She peeked at Lance and roughly understood why.

“I’ll go prepare some food. Mr. Lance, you must stay for dinner.”

Lance didn’t refuse. He still had many things to discuss with Alberto and Francisco.

The three of them sat in the living room.

“Isn’t there much money left from Paul?”

Alberto shook his head. “The reconstruction of the house, and so many casualties, all this money was from the family’s funds.”

“Paul still had some money, but not much. It’s not enough to support Cisco in feeding so many men.”

“You saw it. These people have no decency left. Now they just need a suitable reason, and they will dare to drive Cisco out.”

“We must quickly grasp a force that can contend with them. Whether it’s recruiting men or doing other things, it all requires money.”

Francisco’s situation wasn’t good, so for some things that others could do with one dollar, he might need to spend two, or even three to five.

Plus, the situation was tense now. If they offered to recruit men for forty or fifty dollars a month, they wouldn’t be willing.

Joining the Five Families at this time, to put it bluntly, was to be cannon fodder at the bottom. They would have to face the battle with the Cassia family directly.

Never mind fifty dollars, even seventy dollars might not be enough to recruit enough men.

The price they were offering publicly was now close to a hundred dollars, but there was still a shortfall.

If they were to raise the wages, then the monthly salary expenditure for a hundred men would be ten thousand dollars.

In addition to that, weapons, ammunition, food, vehicles, gasoline—the expenditure for a hundred men might require twenty or even thirty thousand.

A hundred men could play no role at all in the family’s internal power struggle and external confrontation. They would need at least two or three hundred more, and also had to consider the issue of pensions.

Although Paul had left a sum of money, hundreds of thousands, it actually wouldn’t last for too long.

“If there’s a funding gap, I can help.”

For Alberto’s sake, he no longer owed Paul anything. What he had owed before was all paid back.

Alberto bumped fists with him. “We don’t need your money for now. I still have a little on my side, and with the bar starting up, the income will come in quickly.”

He paused. “In a few days, the Five Families might have negotiations. You should come too.”

Lance glanced again at Francisco, who was looking at him with expectant eyes. After a moment’s consideration, he nodded. “Alright, just tell me the location.”

Alberto sighed. “Besides you, I don’t know who else I can ask for help.”

He leaned over for a hug. “You are my best brother besides Paul. I don’t know how to repay you.”

Lance said with a smile, “Getting rid of the Cassia family would be the biggest help to me.”

During this time, Alberto had also gradually begun to look at problems from the perspective of a family ruler, and he had indeed made some progress.

From Lance’s words, he could roughly discern some of the superficial meaning. “You’re going to make a move on the Cassia family?”

Lance did not deny it. He thought for a moment. “Not just the Cassia family, but also the Kodak family.”

Alberto looked at him as if he were looking at a fool. “Are you… joking?”

“The Cassia family is continuously bringing in gunmen from the Yalan region. His one gang can fight both of us.”

“If you add the Kodak family providing them with funds, Lance, I’m not trying to discourage you, but you may not be their match.”

He used the word “may not” very tactfully. In reality, he didn’t think Lance could do it.

Francisco also watched Lance. He had a very contradictory emotion at this moment.

On the one hand, he wanted to get close to Lance. Lance was about the same age as him. Although he was now his uncle, compared to the older Alberto, he felt he had more in common with Lance.

At this terrible time, if he could have such a “friend” by his side, it would undoubtedly make him feel more at ease.

But he was also a little resistant, because compared to Lance, he felt that he was too naive, so naive that he didn’t seem like a sixteen-year-old “little adult” at all.

In fact, this emotion often appears in ordinary people. It’s like when you’re still struggling for tomorrow’s livelihood, and someone your age, or even younger, has already become a minor or middle-ranking master.

Even if you were given a chance to have a few words with him, you probably wouldn’t want to.

Because the gap is too big.

Lance didn’t notice Francisco’s expression. He had his own thoughts. “The police are on my side. Plus, us and you, and the Tita and Keane families, we can completely solve the Cassia family.”

Alberto frowned. “I’m worried they might not necessarily be on our side.”

Lance was rather in agreement with Alberto’s speculation.

Politics is never simple addition and subtraction, nor is it a matter that can be decided by hatred. It requires weighing many pros and cons.

History is never short of some enemies, hostile forces, who become close allies under the impetus of interests. Nothing is immutable.

The scale of the Lance Family was actually already quite large. If it rashly intervened in the battle of the Five Families, it might trigger their vigilance and thus end the battle.

After all, except for the Kodak family, the other four families had all suffered heavy losses. It could be said that this was the weakest period in the history of the Five Families.

Once a third party appeared and caused a fundamental infringement of their interests, they might band together again.

However, from the beginning, he had never considered using the power of those two families.

Saying so was just to make Alberto and Francisco less nervous.

“We’ll talk about this later…” he paused, “Do you guys have any plans next?”

Alberto brought his attention back to family affairs. “Because of your appearance, they are unlikely to make any drastic moves in the short term.”

“Next is to recruit some men first, and then train them…”

He rubbed his cheeks. “Actually, I don’t want to restart the war with the Cassia family too quickly. They need time, and so do we.”

Lance patted his shoulder. “Tell me when you need me. I will always support you.”

Alberto nodded vigorously. “I won’t be polite.”

The food Francisco’s mother had prepared was very sumptuous. Although the main building of the estate had been partially blown up, and Paul was dead, and they had spent a lot of money…

But even so, the wealth that Francisco and his mother possessed was still unimaginable to ordinary people.

With the addition of wine, the meal, which cost at least several hundred, was quite harmonious. After the meal, Lance took the initiative to say goodbye. He had to go back.

Alberto still had a lot to do and didn’t try to keep Lance. He saw Lance to the door and watched his convoy disappear before turning back to the estate.

In the office, just as he sat down, Francisco asked curiously, “Can you tell me about Mr. Lance?”

Alberto was a bit strange, but he still didn’t refuse. “What do you want to know about him?”

The young man was a little embarrassed. “I want to know, when did he start on this path?”

Alberto was taken aback for a moment. Although in his memory it seemed like a long time had passed, in reality, up to this moment, it had only been a little over a year.

After a moment of daze, his expression became a bit complicated as he came back to his senses, because Lance’s achievements were too dazzling.

So dazzling that it didn’t even seem real.

“Before I met Lance, I always thought that the stories in operas were always fabricated, just the result of those unrealistic fantasies.”

“But after I met him, I suddenly realized that maybe there are really people who are the protagonists of this world.”

“The first time I saw him, he was in trouble. He came to me for two hundred dollars, and I wasn’t really planning to give him the money…”

Speaking of these things, Alberto had a feeling of “it was fated.” It seemed that from the moment Lance sat in front of him, the gears of fate began to turn.

Listening to Alberto telling stories about Lance, Francisco’s eyes lit up…

During this time, the Mayor’s silence had caused the rules in the city to seem to be returning to the past. Some people breathed a sigh of relief, but some, sighed.

For example, the speculators.

“Mr. Jobav, there are some problems with the bank again.”

Mr. Jobav’s gaze returned from the sky outside the window. He looked at his assistant standing by the door and suddenly asked, “Am I a failure?”

The assistant’s face was calm. They had worked together for a very, very long time and had once been inseparable.

But now, there was a thick, invisible wall between the two of them, separating them far apart.

Because of the assistant’s nephew.

Now the assistant was the bank’s vice president. He was responsible for the bank’s daily work arrangements. In this regard, Mr. Jobav still trusted him.

The assistant’s face still showed no expression. “You are already more successful than most people, sir.”

“Most…” he mulled over the word, then couldn’t help but laugh. “But still not as good as that small handful.”

He didn’t care at all about what was wrong with the bank now. He lit a cigarette, looked at his assistant, and gestured for him to sit down. “We haven’t had a good chat for a long time. Sit down, let’s talk.”

The assistant walked to the opposite side of him and sat down. “What do you want to talk about?”

He took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled slowly. The assistant’s face was somewhat hazy in the smoke. “The Mayor is finished. All my investments in him are gone.”

“Millions in investment.”

When he said these numbers, his body was even trembling slightly.

His lifetime’s money, and also a portion of the depositors’ savings, was all gone now.

If the Mayor could have handled those people, then he would naturally have become the new municipal councilman, he would have entered high society, and he would have been able to make money more easily.

But, the Mayor had failed. He had been abandoned.

Even if Mr. Jobav was not very politically astute, he knew that the Mayor was finished.

The loss of millions had become a huge heartache that he was unwilling to face.

The assistant was still the same, as if nothing could make him have more of an expression. He lowered his eyes slightly. “At least you’re still alive.”

When Mr. Jobav heard this, the cigarette he had originally brought to his lips stopped. He was supposed to take a puff, but now he put it down.

“You hate me.”

This was the reason why he had transferred his assistant, who had been with him for so many years, away from his side. He knew that the assistant hated him.

Regardless of what stupid thing the assistant’s nephew had done that ultimately led to his being killed, the person who had triggered it all was not himself, but Mr. Jobav.

He had wanted to find a killer, that was his request. But not only did he not bear the consequences himself, he had also sacrificed the assistant’s nephew, a nephew he had raised like a son.

He himself had no children. His nephew was like his son, but because of Mr. Jobav’s lack of responsibility, he had personally cut off all his chances of survival.

At this moment, facing this problem, the assistant’s mood still fluctuated.

“I don’t want to lie to you, sir. I do hate you.”

“We clearly had more choices, but you chose the one that had the least impact on you, and ignored how much of an impact it had on me.”

Mr. Jobav was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

The assistant pursed his lips. “It’s okay. It’s been a long time anyway.”

“And…” a few expressions finally appeared on his face, some faint smiles, “seeing you like this now, some of the hatred has been released.”

Mr. Jobav couldn’t help but laugh, and even laughed out loud. “This is like a kind of revenge, isn’t it?”

The assistant shook his head. “Watching you charge into a dead end, and then constantly ramming into that wall you can never break, ramming until your head is bleeding, those emotions have also been vented.”

“You didn’t think I would succeed either?” Mr. Jobav pinched the cigarette butt and took a drag, then stubbed it out in the ashtray, even pressing it a few more times.

The assistant nodded. “You are an Empire immigrant, sir.”

This sentence seemed to sting him a little. “What’s wrong with being an Empire immigrant?”

“Do Empire immigrants have to be at the very bottom?”

“I’ve made so much money, why can’t I become an upper-class figure?”

His emotions began to fluctuate a little, but the assistant was still as calm as before. “There is no place for Empire immigrants here, at least not for now.”

“From the very beginning, your direction was wrong. No matter how hard you try, there will be no result.”

Mr. Jobav was taken aback for a moment, then sighed with some dejection. “You see things more clearly than I do.”

He paused, then took a deep breath. “You said just now that we’ve run into trouble. What trouble?”

He didn’t want to talk about this with his assistant anymore. Talking about this would only make him more uncomfortable.

The assistant also returned to a work state. “More and more people are withdrawing money, and among them are many merchants. Our cash may not last for too long.”

Mr. Jobav scratched his head. “Sell off some assets, bonds or something.”

The assistant lowered his voice a little. “Those bonds have all been sold.”

This sentence made Mr. Jobav come back to his senses with a jolt. His voice was even off-key. “What?”

Sharp, a bit piercing, like a soprano whose tail had been stepped on.

“How could they be gone?”

The assistant handed over the document in his hand. “For the past six months, we have been cashing out those bonds to pay for various withdrawals and your personal consumption.”

“Currently, our approximately seven hundred thousand in bonds have all been sold.”

“I need to add that in this part, we have lost about one hundred and fifty thousand.”

“Now all we can cash out is a portion of gold, some stocks, and some works of art.”

“These are all very difficult to cash out immediately. If you have any plans, you must prepare in advance.”

These things were not like bonds. After the bonds matured, they could be directly cashed in at face value from the federal government. The price was very stable.

But whether it was gold, stocks, or those works of art, their prices were uncertain.

To sell them at a suitable price, it would take a long time to find those who needed them most.

If you were in a hurry to cash them out, the price would inevitably be suppressed.

Mr. Jobav was completely dazed. He was in a daze for a long while before he asked, “How much… money do I have left?”

(End of chapter)