Chapter 838

"Boss! Boss! Something's happened!" In a room on the top floor of Hell's Kitchen, a half-grown boy burst through the door and rushed toward Cobblepot, who was writing at his desk: "The three main streets in Phase One of the East District redevelopment plan are in trouble!"

Cobblepot didn't look up. "What happened? Does it warrant this panic?"

"It's… it's just…" The boy, afraid of being scolded, hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and saying: "The men in charge of this have been running around lately. One moment's lapse, and five or six of the local gang bosses are dead—and we don't even know how they died…"

"Five or six dead?" Cobblepot raised an eyebrow. "Those three streets never had big gangs—just a handful of small ones. You mean all their bosses are dead?"

The boy swallowed hard. "Pretty much. Not just the bosses—some of the junior leaders are dead too."

"How did they die?" Cobblepot asked again.

"The methods were all weird. Some got shot, some were strangled, others drowned. But overall, it doesn't look like gang retaliation…" The boy scratched his head, puzzled.

When the informant relayed this news to him, he'd found it strange too. Normally, when a gang boss dies, he's shot cleanly in the chest—or if ambushed, shot in the back a few times.

But for so many bosses to die in such a short time, with such bizarre methods, it was highly unusual.

"Any unusual activity nearby?" Cobblepot asked.

"Unusual? Nothing major. But the kid gangs around there seem to have vanished—probably driven out by the gangs ahead of time," the boy said.

"Driven out by the gangs?" Cobblepot put down his pen and sat up straight. "Why would gangs drive out the kid gangs?"

"Because… Boss, you know too—Wayne Group's renovation plan treats everyone equally. No matter their age, every resident gets one apartment."

"Lately, we've been cleaning up the order around Hell's Kitchen. We all know rent there is high. If you can control one extra apartment, you make a lot in rent. If you kick out the kids, the apartments assigned to them become yours to control."

"Before, it was just small change…" The boy shrugged. "Sending kids on errands cost a few dimes. But now, with hundreds of dollars at stake, they won't let those kids compete for profit."

Cobblepot sighed. "Then who do you think we represent?"

The boy looked confused, not understanding Cobblepot's meaning. Cobblepot sighed again. "Never mind. Go get Tire."

A moment later, the chubby Tire walked in. He was even fatter now, his face flushed and healthy—clearly eating well. He greeted Cobblepot. "Hey, Cobblepot. What's up? Need me for something?"

"You've heard about the recent construction renovations, right?" Cobblepot asked.

Tire nodded. "Of course. My place is slated for Phase Two—won't start for two or three months. My mom's planning to pay extra to upgrade us to a two-bedroom, one-living-room unit. I've got a girlfriend now, and if I ever get married, we'll need the space."

"What's the gang activity like in your area?" Cobblepot asked.

Tire thought back. "They've been recruiting aggressively lately. The word is, recruit one more person and you get one more apartment. Then you kick them out and you control dozens of units—you can rent them out and make serious cash."

Suddenly, Tire frowned. "Wait—so when the real move-in happens, won't people like me and my mom get kicked out too?"

"No way. I've got to get back fast—tell my mom to buy more bullets… No, that won't work either. Too dangerous. Maybe we should just buy an apartment in Hell's Kitchen outright. No need to get caught up in this mess…"

Cobblepot sighed. "You're in Phase Two, so gangs are scrambling to recruit more people to grab extra slots. But in Phase One, the gangs have already started evicting residents."

"The slots there are already locked in. The gangs are pushing out the weak, seizing control of the units, and renting them out for profit. How do you think we should solve this?"

Tire's eyes darted. His mind was sharp. "To solve this completely, Wayne Group needs to come up with a solution. But it's hard—they can't assign someone to watch every apartment 24/7…"

"One moment of inattention, and the tenant gets kicked out. Not just the kid gang kids—even me and my mom, with guns, bullets, and cash, might have to lie low."

Tire sighed. "At the root, it's all about profit. Everyone sees what's happening in Hell's Kitchen. Everyone's waiting for land prices to rise. As soon as a new construction plan drops, everyone rushes in, trying to buy more apartments—even if they can't sell, they can rent. Rent in Hell's Kitchen is high."

"If you control ten good apartments, you make at least a few hundred dollars extra a month. If you control a hundred, the profit's so huge even big gangs will want in. Logistics depend on the weather, but renting? Always a guaranteed return."

"You're right. To solve this, we need to act on implementation—and I believe Wayne Group has a way."

"Suppose the person who proposed this renovation plan has a brilliant method to prevent this entirely—and we already know about it. What should we do now?" Cobblepot asked.

Tire frowned, thinking carefully. "The gangs in Phase One are aggressively kicking people out—driving away kid gangs, even expelling their own recruits. When the apartments are finally handed over, they'll find they can't claim the units they thought were theirs. They'll be furious."

"But they can't do anything to Wayne Group—they're all small gangs. They can't even get near Wayne's upper management."

"If Wayne Group ensures the original tenants move in, the gangs will direct their rage at those tenants. Conflict between the two sides is inevitable."

"But even if they kicked out their own members, they won't have absolute advantage. More likely, both sides will be evenly matched."

Tire hadn't studied any theory, but like all kids in Gotham, he'd grown up in the streets, and he had an exceptionally powerful mother. She owned and operated her own gas station—no ties to gangs. That alone showed how formidable she was.

Through osmosis, Tire understood gang logic perfectly. "The original tenants will hate the gangs that kicked them out. The gangs will hate them too. Their conflict can't be resolved. When it explodes, the whole city will shake."

"At that point, which side the kid gangs choose matters…" Tire suddenly realized. "The gangs will fracture. To gain dominance, they'll need the kids who know the streets. We can help those kids ahead of time…"

"If this happens, after all phases are complete, Gotham's kid gangs might unite tightly—instead of staying fragmented like now."

Cobblepot shook his head. "It's even more than that. When you were young, you met kid gang members. Each got one apartment. Do you think they'd live alone? Or would they crowd together and rent out the extras for profit?"

"I'm not a kid gang member, but I think they'd squeeze together, rent out some apartments, improve their living conditions, and make money."

Tire shrugged. "I don't fully get it, but they're loyal. They'd rather go without themselves to feed the younger kids. So yeah—they'll choose to make money."

"The single rooms assigned to the kids are the easiest to rent," Cobblepot analyzed. "Most Gotham residents don't need a living room. A bed and a window are enough. No one pays extra for a one-bedroom apartment…"

"If we don't intervene, the gangs will interfere with who they rent to—and likely take a cut. But we can handle this ourselves…" Cobblepot tapped his fingers lightly on the desk. "Unite all the kids. Free them from gang exploitation…"

"Once they earn rent and have spare cash, we can encourage them to go to school—like the school in Hell's Kitchen. Send some kids in, have teachers guide them, teach and play with them."

"Once they're in school, dorms free up even more apartments to rent—more profit. Maybe even the older kids can follow a normal educational path."

Tire nodded. "It sounds ideal. But the only problem: how can Wayne Group guarantee everyone lives in their own apartment? What if gangs block the door with guns—who dares come out?"

Cobblepot smiled. "You underestimate Wayne Group's technology. In less than two months, the first building of Phase One will be fully completed. Then you'll see who actually gets to move in."

Tire scratched his head. "If that's true, it'd be better. No one can steal anyone's apartment. We'd finally feel safe."

"Isn't that exactly what families like mine and my mom's want? Safety? If the gangs treat us well, paying protection money is fine. If Wayne Group really builds such apartments, paying them protection money is the same."

"Or—if they don't ask for money, we'd suspect something's wrong," Tire shook his head. "My mom always says there's no such thing as a free lunch. If they take money, they'll protect us forever. If they take nothing, they'll demand something else in return."

"Perhaps now, what they want isn't money," Cobblepot turned toward the window. "Perhaps the day you speak of—eternal safety and freedom—will come. But when it does, the cost may be something else entirely."