Chapter 576

Bandy’s silencing in the police station was not concealed by Chief Bruce; he disclosed the matter to the public directly.

Although it brought about much discussion, as the police chief, as long as the mayor did not decide to remove him, his power would not be shaken.

The mayor would not remove him. The mayor and Lance had other deals, and he was about to lose his own authority soon.

Once he lost the power in his hands, some of the “counter-trend” things he was doing now might come back to haunt him after he lost his authority.

So he had no intention of replacing the police chief, and Chief Bruce also stated that the police department had been infiltrated, so the purge of the police force was necessary and must continue.

Lance had provided him with this little idea, and he used it very smoothly—

This was not his responsibility; it was the responsibility of the previous police chief. He had filled the entire police department with people who had been bought.

So his job was to find these bought people and then purge them from the police force to maintain the purity of the police force.

In his public speech, he used “This is a war between justice and evil” to summarize everything that had happened from the time he took office to this moment.

Who represented justice and who represented evil was clear at a glance.

The public actually bought it, because as those purged police officers and their evidence of corruption were selectively made public, the citizens of the entire Golden Port City were stunned!

They could not and dared not believe that these guardians who were supposed to protect their lives and property had actually become the executioners who harmed them for some people!

Severely punishing corrupt and dirty cops had already become one of the prevailing trends in Golden Port City, and even in Likalai State, recently.

But in any case, Bandy was dead, the Keane family had fled, and the Tita family was also packing their bags.

The era of the Five Families, at this moment, had come to an end.

But the impact of all this, the subsequent changes, were still ongoing.

Compared to Stone’s silence after learning that Bandy had been silenced, the Kodak family internally did not seem so sad.

As soon as Bandy died, they couldn’t wait to start holding family meetings, seemingly wanting to discuss the family’s next head to lead the family through the difficulties.

But in fact, they were discussing how to divide the family’s property.

Putting aside those that had been transferred, just the licenses for the five casinos made it impossible for people to hide their greedy desires!

They were the ones who knew better than anyone outside how profitable these casinos were!

In the past, when Bandy and Gorry, the two brothers, controlled the family, they only allowed three casinos to be opened, and most of the profits were sent to other places by Bandy under various names.

Whitewashing, making friends with dignitaries, he always had various reasons to find an outlet for these funds.

This led to the family’s funds being about 15% of the casino’s operating profit. The rest of the money was all sent to those powerful and wealthy people.

And this 15%, was definitely not evenly distributed to every member of the family. Not everyone was so important, and not everyone was qualified to receive a dividend.

For example, those who played a relatively large role in the family, such as those who worked in the casino, or those who worked in the gray industry with Stone, all of them together could get about 25% of the total income as a bonus.

And the other people who worked in other industries of the family could only get about 15%. At the same time, this group of people was the largest.

Not everyone was willing to fight and kill, and the casino was not so easy to get into.

In order to whitewash himself and the family, Bandy had actually acquired many enterprises. These enterprises needed to be watched by the family members. Even if they did not interfere in the specific work, at least some family members had to be there to watch them not to mess around.

Compared to being a criminal, there were also many people who were willing to do legitimate work.

However, they received less money, 15%.

This way, 40% of the total annual profit had a destination. Of the remaining 60%, about 40% was added to the family fund.

The family fund was an institution used to develop the family’s business, for example, acquiring enterprises, acquiring factories, or other things that required money but were under the family’s name.

Then this part of the funds would be used to bear it.

Finally, there was about 15% left, which was divided between the two brothers, Bandy and Gorry.

As for the remaining few percent, it was a reward for those who had made contributions to the family.

In short, everyone in the family was dissatisfied with the current profit distribution method.

What they were dissatisfied with was that the proportion occupied by the two brothers, Bandy and Gorry, was too high, the proportion of the family fund was too high, and the money they could get was too little.

This was actually not just a problem that a large family had to face. Many start-up companies had to face such problems.

If the profit distribution method cannot meet people’s demands, then there will inevitably be conflicts and frictions.

In the past, Bandy and Gorry had firmly controlled everything in the family and their word was law. Even if they had objections, they could only keep them to themselves.

But now, Bandy and Gorry were both dead. Fleming had run away with a portion of the money and family members. Stone had become a tainted witness. The entire line of the family head was finished!

They didn’t even have time to feel a bit of sadness. Their minds were full of interests!

The interests of the casino!

The money in the family fund, there was still a lot!

Every branch in the family was arguing endlessly in the family hall that Bandy had presided over the construction of. This side said that in terms of bloodline, they were very close to a certain family head.

That side said that they were cousins with Bandy and also cousins with Gorry. It was obvious that he should be in charge of the family.

There were also people who said that they had worked in the casino for twenty years and had very rich experience in operating a casino. He believed that he should be the general manager of the Golden Port Casino.

Everyone had their own demands, their own opinions. Some even proposed to govern the family in a “parliamentary” way.

Anyway, no one could come to a conclusion now.

The head of the Kodak family was “hereditary.” The old family head appointed a successor to the family, so this system often led to the position of the family head being continuously inherited within one family.

Now that Bandy was finished, everyone thought they were qualified to be the next family head, and they also knew very well that if they didn’t fight at this time, their line might not have a chance for the rest of their lives, or even for several generations to come.

So everyone’s argument was very intense, which was why the idea of “governing the family by a parliament” came up.

It has to be said that the person who proposed this suggestion was indeed a smart person.

If they could never argue out a result that satisfied everyone, then there was a high probability that they would have to establish such a parliament-like institution within the family to jointly rule the family.

Some were red-necked, asserting themselves, while others sat in a corner, watching all this with cold eyes.

After an unknown amount of time of arguing, the noisy sound in the hall had subsided a lot. At this moment, someone suddenly pushed the door and walked in.

They all knew this person. He was a member of the family, responsible for the security of the Golden Port Casino.

He ran to the stage of the hall with a panicked look on his face, snatched a microphone from someone’s hand, and shouted, “Everyone be quiet!”

The people in the hall were quiet for a moment at his shout, but then some people started to curse at him.

His seniority was not high. There were many of his uncles or grandfathers here. They were clamoring that this junior was not qualified to stand on the stage.

But he couldn’t care less. “The Golden Port Casino has been shut down, and the other two casinos seem to have been ordered to suspend business…”

In an instant, the endlessly arguing hall finally fell completely silent.

At the same time, Lance was gently tapping the armrest of his chair, holding the phone receiver in his other hand, with his legs crossed, looking at the scenery outside the window.

In fact, the scenery here was not that beautiful. You couldn’t see the seaside, let alone the sea level, only the surrounding buildings.

The buildings in the Empire District were not that beautiful. After all, this was not the city center or the Bay Area, where there were magnificent buildings.

This was one of the poorest areas in Golden Port City. It was already very impressive to have some tall buildings around, so most of his gaze was still on the sky.

The weather had been good these past two days. The approaching summer had suddenly made the weather even better. The temperature was also constantly rising. Everything was becoming as pleasant as people remembered.

The high temperature and sunshine in the afternoon made people lazy and lacking in energy. The old men on the side of the road would also choose to take a short nap after lunch.

The whole city seemed to exude a lazy energy.

“…The situation is like this now.”

“Bandy is already dead. Before he died, he had already transferred the licenses and the operating rights of the casinos to me.”

“In other words, the five casinos in Golden Port City are now my property.”

“It may not be possible this month. We still need some time to rectify and clean up the problems within the casinos.”

“From July, we should be able to officially operate.”

“July, August, September, and then October, November, December, two quarters.”

The person on the other end of the line was listening very carefully. Of course, his face was also full of smiles.

“You’ve done very well, Lance, much better than I imagined.”

“You haven’t caused any trouble for yourself. Some fools have helped you solve the most troublesome matter. You are a smart man!”

“How about this, I’ll have Tom give you an account number. You just have to transfer the money into this account.”

“Our expenses have been very large recently. We need money everywhere. You’ve done a very good job.”

This sentence was actually a hint, hinting that Lance’s funds were tight now, and Lance could naturally feel these things.

Lance nodded. “No problem. Do you need me to transfer a sum of money to you first?”

After Senator Cleveland finished listening, the tone from the receiver did not have any emotional change. “Didn’t you say that you could only officially take over the operation after July?”

No one would ever have too much money. And he was in the stage of expanding his power in Congress, and he needed money in many places.

Although he also had other channels for the transfer of benefits, and funds were constantly being transferred into his hands, those funds, compared to the millions of funds from the casinos in Golden Port City every quarter, were indeed a bit insufficient.

Lance said with a smile, “I believe the Kodak Family will be happy to advance this part of the money.”

After Senator Cleveland finished listening, he was stunned for a moment, and then he laughed. “Do I need to thank them for their ‘willingness’?”

Lance also said with a smile, “They are good people and don’t ask for anything in return, so I think… it’s not really necessary!”

Senator Cleveland was very satisfied. It was always better to get a sum of money in advance than nothing, but he also felt something else from these words.

Lance would not unconditionally obey him. He had thought that Lance would pay for this himself, but now it seemed that the money was probably squeezed out of the Kodak family.

But in any case, Senator Cleveland did not have any sense of guilt about these things. It wasn’t him who had done it. It had nothing to do with him at all. And this money would enter his hands very cleanly. How could it make him have the slightest sense of guilt or even unease?

Only being poor, having no money, would make him uncomfortable, not having money.

“I have other things to do. You can talk to Tom about the rest.”

“You can come to Golden State at the end of the year. We have a year-end party. You know what I mean.”

Lance did not refuse. “I will come.”

“Okay, talk to you later.”

Not long after, Tom called and gave Lance an account number. “From now on, you just have to transfer the money into this account. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Then he congratulated Lance on solving this big trouble and quickly hung up the phone.

He was also very busy. As one of the senator’s aides, he had more work to do every day than those congressmen!

Lance put down the phone, stood up from his chair, and walked out of the room.

Many people were already standing in the corridor. Their faces were filled with excitement, and they were all waiting for a signal.

Lance looked at them and kept nodding. “Let’s go and see our casino!”

The corridor instantly became lively and vibrant, with whistles, cheers, and most of all, laughter.

Soon, a large number of cars headed for the largest casino in Golden Port City. Before this, Lance had already had someone seal off the casino.

His men, and some police officers, on the grounds that the casino and the licenses were now his property, and he was going to officially take over, so he had to suspend operations first, complete the handover work of the casino, and then he could reopen for business.

This was also a normal request.

During this period, there were not many gambling addicts in the casino. In addition, Bandy’s death made the people in the casino even fewer. When they were not sure how the future would develop, they were not very willing to go to the casino to gamble.

For fear of encountering something like a gang vendetta, which would involve them.

The news of the casino’s suspension of business spread throughout Golden Port City at the first opportunity. In an instant, not only did the calls within Golden Port City become frequent, but even the calls to Manteno (the capital of Likalai State) became more frequent. Many people wanted to know who held these licenses now!

Over the years, the Kodak family had used these licenses to monopolize the entire city’s casino business and had made countless amounts of money.

If, because of Bandy’s death and the decline of the Kodak family, these licenses could be released, that would be an excellent opportunity for many people.

Even many of the wealthy and powerful in the Bay Area were also calling to inquire about this matter, to see if there was a chance to get a license, or to do other things.

At this moment, the long convoy finally stopped outside the Golden Port Casino. Many people had already arrived here and were arguing with the police officers at the entrance of the casino.

Before Lance had gotten out of the car, someone had already figured out the situation. “It’s the Kodak family’s people. They say that the act of shutting down the casino is illegal, and they are confronting the police officers.”

Hearing this, Lance was not too surprised. After all, the matter of Bandy transferring the casino and the licenses to him was only known to a few people so far.

But soon, everyone would know.

He then pushed open the car door and got out.

The members of the Kodak family who were confronting the police officers at the scene also discovered these “outsiders.” Their gazes were all vigilantly focused on these people.

Lance walked in the middle of the crowd. The police officers, who had originally not let the Kodak family’s people in and did not say much to them, actually took the initiative to make way for Lance and his men when they saw them.

“On what grounds can they go in?!” a member of the Kodak family suddenly shouted.

Lance’s footsteps paused slightly. He stopped and turned to look at the shouting guy.

Being stared at by Lance, and more and more fierce gazes, he suddenly felt his scalp go numb, and a sudden urge to urinate rushed to his head!

The arrogant and domineering aura on his face also became restrained.

Lance shook his head slightly. He didn’t plan to explain to these people, and started walking again. This time, no one stopped him, and no one said anything about what was reasonable or unreasonable.

“That’s Lance…”

The people from the Kodak family looked at Lance’s departing back, their eyes all different.

Some were disdainful, some were suspicious, some were indifferent, some were curious, and of course, some had dissatisfaction and disgust in their eyes.

It was just that no matter what emotions they had, in the end, they could not affect Lance, only themselves.

From the moment he stepped into the main gate of the casino, the word “magnificent” appeared in Lance’s mind.

This was not Lance’s first time at the Golden Port Casino, but it was his first time here as the owner.

No matter what his identity was, everything here gave him the same feeling, which was to make people fall into depravity!

Looking at the flashing various gambling machines, at the chips placed on the quiet counter, at the gambling tables in the distant gambling hall.

Everything was filled with the fascinating smell of money!

Lance walked around the casino, and then came to Bandy’s office.

“I don’t like the decoration here,” he did not sit in Bandy’s chair, but stood at the door of the office and shook his head. “Find someone to re-do this place in the next few days, and also the floor and the walls.”

On them were the initials of the Kodak family, showing the “bloodline” of this place.

In the past, there was no problem with doing this, but not now.

(End of a Chapter)