Chapter 504

"Huff..."

"Huff..."

Eugene almost instinctively used both hands to protect the sides of his head; the entire world seemed to be spinning along with his breathing!

He felt like he was about to die.

Every one of Ethan's punches felt like a car had slammed directly into his face!

After just a few punches, he already realized that he would not survive the night.

Fresh blood kept flowing from the wounds on his face; in his ears, there was only the sound of his wife's suppressed sobbing and his son's pleading voice.

He glanced slightly toward his wife and child, and a faint "buzz" sounded in his ears. The next second, a tremendous force erupted from the base of his ear, and he was sent flying sideways!

The whole world was dim, gloomy, and swaying; the flickering lights stretched the shadows of the people on the ground, making them look like demons from hell, constantly swaying, twisting, and approaching him.

He panted heavily, using his hands to support his body as he tried to crawl up, but that punch had been too heavy; his balance system had been destroyed, at least for the short term, and he simply couldn't get up.

Lanse stood not far away, watching him with no other expression on his face—no pity, no sympathy, only indifference.

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

This kind of person was not worth sympathizing with.

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

Since one decides to do something out of line, one shouldn't refuse to be treated with something out of line.

"Come on, stand up!" Ethan stood behind him.

Eugene lay on the ground and watched Lanse and his group for a while, then looked at his son and wife, and he managed to support his body.

Just as he stood up, he suddenly tilted to one side, stumbling several steps before regaining his footing.

He moved slowly and unsteadily in front of Ethan, raised his arm, and threw a punch at his face with almost no strength left.

The blood from his own fist smeared onto Ethan's face, as if he had injured the other party.

He threw two more punches at Ethan, just like a child playing around with an adult.

He even tried to move, adding some footwork.

Lanse frowned slightly, "Give him some dignity."

When Eugene, whose consciousness was already somewhat blurred, heard this, his whole body seemed to relax. He looked back at his wife and child one last time, as if wanting to firmly imprint their images in his heart.

"I'm sorry..." his lips moved, but he had no chance to say it out loud.

One of Ethan's hooks landed on his abdomen, and he felt his whole body "clench" up, as if a large tendon had been suddenly stirred and twisted, and he subconsciously curled his body up.

Following that, his hair was grabbed by Ethan and he was lifted up. Through the gap where his swollen face had been squeezed into a slit, he looked at Ethan with somewhat dim eyes, watching Ethan "pull back" his fist.

Perhaps it was just in that moment of distraction, an iron-like fist landed on his cheek...

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

A stream of heat sprayed out from his nasal cavity, but... it wasn't blood; it was pinkish and slightly transparent.

What was this?

He pondered, his thoughts gradually solidifying as if frozen, and finally, he fell into darkness.

He was dead.

Ethan didn't throw him away like a piece of rag; instead, he placed him on the ground.

At least, in an absolutely desperate environment, he still dared to strike at Ethan; at least it let people know he wasn't a coward.

Lanse scratched his eyebrow and glanced at Eugene's son; a trace of hatred was hidden in the young man's dodging gaze.

He sighed softly, took a puff of his cigarette, ran the thumb of the hand holding the cigarette along his cheek, and turned to walk outside.

Eugene's son and wife looked at these people in terror. Hailam stood out from the crowd, his left hand gripping his right wrist, while his right hand held a pistol.

"The Lord will forgive me!"

Bang, bang-bang!

The next morning, Eugene's corpse was dumped by a car at the entrance of the New Jincheng Casino, and the news was immediately reported to the leaders of the two generations of the Koda family.

Bandi looked at Eugene's corpse lying in the middle of the warehouse with an unusually ugly expression, whereas Gao Li became calm.

"I told you long ago that the tricks you use to deal with others are of no use against them." Gao Li's calmness was because he had long since "seen" the result.

Bandi's methods were very useful against other families in New Jincheng, including those small gangs and small families.

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

It was like... a parasite; at the beginning, it was very small and wouldn't be too picky about the big tree it was to parasitize because its needs were very few.

Big trees, small trees, crooked trees, and even those low shrubs could all become objects for it to parasitize; it could completely obtain nutrients for growth from these plants.

But as it continued to grow, strengthen, and reproduce, its volume and number became larger and larger; 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 if the big tree died, it meant it couldn't obtain nutrients, meaning it would enter decay, or even die together with the big tree.

Gangs were the same; at the beginning, they might be able to survive by extorting some shops.

But as their territory continued to increase and their manpower continued to increase, their expenses became larger and larger, and they were more eager than others to extract benefits from this city.

The benefits of this city were basically limited; ninety percent of the wealth had already had its ownership decided before they were even born.

No one hoped for accidents, because accidents represented risks.

In the past, Bandi used his influence in various aspects, and the "brotherhood" of the five major families, always managing this city well.

But now it wouldn't work, because an "outsider" had joined the game, and he didn't follow Bandi's ideas.

He didn't care about order, didn't care whether everyone could continue to make money stably; he only wanted his own!

A spoiler!

Bandi glanced at Gao Li, "What do you want to do?"

Gao Li shook his neck, "We are a gang; of course, we solve it in a gang way."

What other way could a gang use? Nothing more than gang fights, battles, and death.

Bandi couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile, "We spent more than twenty years trying to go clean..."

"But now it is possible that our efforts will be ruined in one go."

Going clean had always been Bandi's greatest desire; he didn't want the Koda family to always be the "easy-to-use tool of the Koda brand" in the eyes of those upper-class masters.

He not only wanted to get off the dining table but also wanted to squeeze to the edge of the dining table, as a diner, to find a place of his own.

Eating others was always better than being eaten by others; this was beyond doubt.

Gao Li didn't immediately refute him but asked, "This time we can still back down, letting everyone discover that we are actually not as powerful as they imagined."

"Then those small gangs will also start trying to provoke us; they open casinos and compete with us for business; what do we do?"

"Call the police?"

"Use the law to deal with them?"

"Come on, Bandi, we are a gang, not law-abiding citizens!"

"I don't object to you wanting to go clean, but you can't forget how we survived just for the sake of going clean."

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 himself; he scratched his head, "Ah... um, I don't know how to say this."

"They are a bit afraid of me because of our gang status; apart from the five major families, I actually don't have many close upper-class friends."

Bandi actually knew this situation too, just wasn't very willing to face it.

Gao Li's hand tapped on the table twice, "The gang has already merged into our blood; even if you wash yourself so clean that you can't see a bit of black."

"As long as they decide to put us on the dining table, then we are black!"

"You make the decision, but I hope that before you make the decision, you can consider clearly what we will gain, what we will lose, and what we will face!" Eugene's death and his corpse being dumped outside the New Jincheng Casino caused a huge stir throughout New Jincheng!

These two years in New Jincheng had been unusually... terrible; internal and external wars, the war of the split of the five major families, all kinds of terrible things happened in turn, and now it was the turn of the battle between the new forces and the old forces.

Someone immediately spread some details and reasons for this matter, as well as the two sides of the conflict.

Undoubtedly, beneath the seemingly calm surface of New Jincheng, it was not as calm as it appeared.

Some people were looking forward to their gang fight, looking forward to gaining benefits from it; order was always rebuilt after complete destruction, no exceptions!

After Councilor Williams learned of this news, he called Lanse and asked to meet him.

Not long after, Lanse appeared in Councilor Williams' study, and besides him, there were James and Arthur.

"Sit, drink something?" Councilor Williams stood at the door of the study to welcome him; before this, Arthur had welcomed him from the very outside, then he met James in the living room, and then they walked up together.

Being able to stand at the door of the study to welcome Lanse was already the greatest respect Councilor Williams could show now!

After all, you couldn't let someone who was about to become mayor go outside to welcome a gang leader when the weather wasn't warm yet.

Lanse sat on the chair opposite Councilor Williams' desk, "Tea, no sugar."

Federal people liked to add sugar to tea, and also liked to add milk, and also liked to add fruit juice, but they didn't like pure tea.

Soon the butler brought a pot of brewed black tea; inside, besides black tea, there were some flower petals, which might be the greatest compromise they could make.

Reading the original text!

"I heard about what happened these two days; I have no intention of blaming you for anything, Lanse."

"I just feel... isn't it a bit impulsive for you to do this?"

"This is not quite the same as the Lanse I know."

His smiling appearance couldn't reveal his true inner thoughts at all; Lanse held the cup handle, picked up the teacup, and took a small sip.

In the mellow fragrance of black tea, there were some floral scents, making the taste complex but not unpleasant.

"Some things I wanted to do, so I did them." He put down the teacup, "And I don't think I was too impulsive doing this."

"New Jincheng is waiting for us to transport a large amount of benefits there; Senator Cleveland is currently in need of money."

"I can't rely on the money from selling alcohol to support his activities in the Assembly."

Councilor Williams nodded, "That is indeed the case."

Socializing was very expensive; political socializing was even more expensive!

Everyone had a price, from the homeless on the roadside to Mr. President in the Presidential Palace; they all had prices and tags.

You invite a municipal councilor to participate in an activity, give him a three-dollar standard room, and he will be very satisfied, feeling that you are a sensible person.

But if you invited a senator to come and also let him stay in a standard room, then he would feel that you had some problems.

In New Jincheng, before Mr. Qiaobafu died, every time the mayor had formal socializing, he had to take out tens of thousands of dollars.

In a super big city like New Jincheng, facing top tycoons and politicians, one socializing event might cost over a hundred thousand, or more.

Senator Cleveland wanted to continue to expand his influence in the Assembly, so he needed to win over more people to support him.

Political benefits, capital benefits, and money.

He needed these.

Of course, it wasn't just Lanse transporting benefits for him; there were many other people transporting benefits for him; this kind of thing would only be feared to be too little, not too much.

Councilor Williams didn't refute; his election as mayor was almost decided.

He and James calculated, and he probably still had to take out at least 1.2 million in funds to satisfy every bloody mouth.

However, he could understand Lanse's idea, but didn't understand why he wanted to declare war on such a huge group so quickly.

"I still don't quite understand; we can split it up and go step by step."

"Clowns like Charlie and Hunter, those people in the Bay Area, and then the Koda family; wouldn't the difficulty be a bit lower?"

Originally, Councilor Williams still had a small idea in his heart, but now he looked at Lanse talking about these things so steadily and calmly, and the things he was worried about seemed unlikely to happen anymore.

Lanse smiled and said, "Because it's too late."

Councilor Williams raised his eyebrows; such an action made his eye sockets become much larger; he leaned back on the chair, and the sunlight penetrated the glass window and shone on him.

He raised his hand, his wrist turned outward, "Can you tell me?"

James had completely concentrated his attention; he felt this was a very important lesson.

Arthur, on the other hand, seemed a bit bored; his mother urged him to come, otherwise, he would rather hang out with Kelinda.

That girl was completely different from those he had seen before, full of wildness and danger that fascinated him.

It was incredible to say, Kelinda actually used a gun barrel... to poke his butt, but I have to say that having more experiences in sex made him feel great!

Very exciting; this kind of excitement was not possessed by those "weak" girls.

He was thinking about the happiness of these few nights when James poked him with his elbow, "Did you bring a lighter?"

Of course he brought it, and then he saw that Lanse had already pulled a cigarette out of the cigarette case, held it between two fingers, and put it to his mouth.

Arthur immediately walked to Lanse's side, took out the lighter, and lit the cigarette for him.

"Thanks!" Lanse said.

Arthur hurriedly smiled and said politely, "It's nothing."

He ran back to James's side and sat down.

"A few reasons."

"The first reason, the garrison is coming."

"Once the Navy comes, they are definitely less willing than us to see changes in the city's pattern."

"They don't care about the small ones, but they absolutely won't allow changes involving the big pattern in the city."

"By that time, everything will be fixed; can you understand what I mean?"

Councilor Williams was a bit surprised, but kept nodding; he certainly understood, but he didn't expect Lanse to be able to think about such deep things.

He hadn't even considered these problems much, but what he could be sure of was that Lanse's view was no problem.

The purpose of the Navy garrison was to ensure the conduct of federal maritime trade and the stability and safety of New Jincheng, an important port city.

Now the Federation imported a lot of materials from overseas every year; if New Jincheng was destroyed or unstable, it would likely affect the development of the Federation.

They certainly wouldn't agree to large-scale gang fights breaking out in the city; no one knew if this was just a gang fight or an invasion by enemy forces.

"The second reason, the mayor is about to leave; there are some things he is more convenient to bear than you, for example, certain responsibilities."

Councilor Williams frowned.

While Lanse picked up the teacup and took a sip, he looked at James and Arthur sitting on the side; Councilor Williams immediately said, "Stay for dinner tonight."

He said while looking at James, "Go tell the kitchen; the few dishes we ate last time were very delicious; go keep an eye on it."

Then he looked at Arthur, "Let your mother attend tonight too; tell her not to run around."

James knew this was them having something to say alone, so he stood up.

Although he was a bit unwilling, he knew that when it was time for him to know, Councilor Williams would definitely tell him.

Arthur was much simpler; he had long not wanted to be here.

He knew his mother's good intentions, letting him have a little contact with family affairs so he wouldn't be completely controlled by James in the future.

But now he came to contact these high-end games, like someone who hadn't even attended elementary school, sitting directly in a university classroom; he couldn't listen to a word!

What hints, what metaphors, he couldn't understand at all, so naturally, he wouldn't mind being sent away.

After both of them left and closed the door tightly from the outside, Lanse put his hands on the armrests of the chair and said with a smile, "After I bought the Red Heels, I found two account books under their floor."

"Inside, it recorded in detail on a certain month and day, a certain big shot from the Bay Area called an eagle claw from their side."

"Whether these escorts were beaten, whether anyone didn't come back, there were also some photos of girls inside, as well as checks written by them, with signatures on them, and even fingerprints."

Councilor Williams gasped; he stared at Lanse with wide eyes for a long time, and slowly spat out two words—

"Fuck!"

(End of chapter)