Chapter 538: Self-Rescue, Wedding Date, and Excessive Sentencing

Chali sat in his chair, leaning forward, hunched over, rubbing his cheeks with both hands.

When did he... become like this?

Scenes of past memories surfaced in his mind. In those memories, he was full of yearning to be a guardian of justice, becoming a police officer—a profession people weren't particularly keen on, and one that was extremely dangerous.

When he first entered the police force, he believed being a cop was a very honorable job; his work should be to fight crime and maintain justice and peace.

But soon he discovered that the real police and the police in his ideals were two completely different professions!

That was an era when monopoly capital was still rampant; the power of capital even surpassed that of the government!

The capitalists' struggle surrounding the "Anti-Monopoly Act" was at its most intense; every day, newspapers would report on some well-known or unknown person dying in an alleyway.

To fight the "Anti-Monopoly Act," the capitalists had exhausted all their strength; they bribed politicians, murdered witnesses, and even threatened police officers...

This caused a violent shock to the worldviews and values of many people!

Although "fairness and justice" ultimately won the final victory, this society did not undergo any changes.

The monopoly groups just changed their form and methods to continue monopolizing, yet people seemed to think they had defeated evil.

When Chali got married, he couldn't even afford the money to get married at the cathedral and could only marry in a small church in the countryside.

At that time, he still maintained his sense of justice.

It wasn't until his first child was born and some things happened that he began to change.

The first bribe he took was only five dollars.

Of course, five dollars back then was roughly equivalent to about forty dollars now, which was a person's monthly salary; after all, he was only a patrol officer at the time.

When he received the bribe for the first time, his heart raced, his mouth went dry, and he didn't even dare to look his partner in the eye.

But the next day, he was exposed by his partner. That guy said with certainty that he had taken the money, then told Chali that he also took bribes, receiving over ten dollars in bribes every month.

He also learned from his partner that taking bribes was a manifestation of "loyalty" itself. If you took money from the Bay Area, they would trust you, and you would be safe.

If you weren't willing to take the money, they would only move you to a remote place and leave your position for those willing to take bribes.

Just like that, he began to become another version of himself. He started constantly taking money, taking big money, and constantly scheming and climbing upward, eventually becoming the person he is now.

Look at his life!

Living in a large Bay Area villa that ordinary people might not be able to afford even with several generations of savings, wearing a gold watch worth thousands of dollars, wearing clothes worth hundreds of dollars a set, possessing millions in assets...

Everything he possesses, let alone a few lifetimes, even if it were dozens or hundreds of lifetimes, he could never obtain through his own efforts.

Sometimes, when you think about a person's life carefully, it really is quite meaningless.

You struggle your whole life without daring to stop, yet in the eyes of others, it's nothing more than a night's consumption, or even just a joke.

Everyone is human!

The imbalance of his mindset, coupled with encountering some things, made him become what he is today.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist again. If those people were really there to investigate police corruption and had colluded with Lans,

he couldn't escape.

Everything he possesses is the most direct, most naked evidence!

Although he had made some arrangements, they didn't have much significance.

He didn't know how long those people could hold out, nor did he know how much they had confessed. At this very moment, the only thing he knew was that he couldn't sit here waiting for them to come to his door with handcuffs.

He had to save himself!

Many faces flashed through his mind; their identities, status, and abilities all appeared in his heart.

But he had searched for quite a while and couldn't find anyone who could provide him with help.

His power and status in New Jincheng were bestowed by the wealthy in the Bay Area, but the people investigating him were from the State Prosecutor's Office.

Some of these people in the Bay Area could indeed reach the State Prosecutor's Office, but whether they would stand up for him, and whether they could influence their decisions, Chali wasn't sure.

Once the news that he was in huge trouble was leaked, the masters in the Bay Area would soon consider whether they should save him or abandon him.

The scenes from many years ago all appeared before him; one after another, they spoke of how much they had done for the Bay Area, only for those discarded fellows to kneel on the ground, ultimately trading their loyalty for nothing more than a bullet.

Chali was unwilling to become that kind of person; his fate should be in his own hands!

He had to save himself!

His life, Chali's life, would absolutely not end here!

With Lans's help, Prosecutor Dean's interrogation of these police officers progressed quickly. After all, facing Lans, who could make an entire family disappear at the drop of a hat, it was absolutely impossible for these corrupt cops not to be afraid in their hearts.

Yes, they had already been defined as "corrupt cops": taking bribes, extortion, helping criminals escape justice, fabricating evidence to frame innocent people...

Prosecutor Dean and his task force felt shocked and angry at the things these people confessed—

Actually, it was fake, because the things they had done were definitely more excessive than these people!

It was like a child holding a needle, at most pricking someone and causing pain, but an adult holding a knife could potentially kill someone.

The corrupt cops entrenched in the New Jincheng police force could actually do very limited evil; at most, they were accomplices to capital forces.

But what about the State Prosecutor's Office?

If they started doing evil, it would be much more terrifying.

But Lans wouldn't expose it; after all, they were on the same side now!

The interrogation work proceeded in an orderly manner, and Lans didn't need to continue showing his face, so he directly extricated himself from the interrogation work.

In the evening, everyone gathered together. Chali seemed to have suddenly become honest over the past two days.

Lans believed he smelled an abnormal scent; perhaps he was seeking self-preservation, or perhaps he was asking his dog masters for help, and hadn't come out to jump around for the time being.

So tonight, everyone gathered together to discuss some issues regarding the Koda family.

"Bandi and Gao Li, one won't come out of their manor, and the other won't come out of the New Jincheng casino."

"The defensive power of the Bandi family manor is very strong. If we were to launch a frontal assault, the losses would be huge."

Mo Lisi stood by a blackboard, on which there were some photos and rough hand-drawn sketches. Among them was a photo taken from a distance of the Koda family manor.

It presented a "Hui" character structure, and in the very center, there was another building; that building was where core members of families like Bandi lived.

Between the two buildings, there was also a garden-like buffer zone, and the entire manor could accommodate over a thousand people.

During this period, they felt a sense of crisis; the defensive power in the manor had obviously increased quite a bit. In the photos, one could see gunmen carrying weapons patrolling and standing guard on the roofs of some buildings.

In the gardens on the ground, there were also many security guards patrolling.

Just a rough glance at a single photograph revealed twenty or thirty gunmen; if one counted those hidden in the deeper, unseen areas, the manor's defensive strength would be extremely formidable.

In an environment with such obvious offensive and defensive relationships, the price the attacker needs to pay is several times that of the defender!

You never know if someone behind a certain window will suddenly shoot you; this is where the advantage of defense lies.

Looking at these photos, everyone fell into thought.

After a while, Mo Lisi continued to introduce, "The New Jincheng casino has also recently increased its defensive power, and it's not just this one; all their casinos have increased their defensive power. It's estimated to have doubled, and there are more gunmen."

He also displayed some photos; the photos contained content taken from a distance, as well as content taken inside the casino. The security guards and gunmen visible everywhere made the casino's safety coefficient much higher.

On the side, Angel Lake was a bit irritable, "Their manor can't be attacked, and the casino can't be attacked. Are we just going to drag it out like this?"

Lans shook his head, "We definitely can't drag it out with them; we don't have that much time." He pondered for a while and looked at Mo Lisi, "Continue to collect information on other members of the Koda family. It's impossible for all of them to hide in the manor and not go out."

"The Koda family has existed in New Jincheng for a long time, and they have always had a relatively high status. They might be able to endure hiding for a while."

"But it's impossible for them to keep hiding forever."

"If they don't come out, force them to come out. Mark all their industries, and once we've dealt with Chali, we'll act immediately."

"Before that, we can use the power of the Hazardous Materials Bureau to make them feel less comfortable first."

Mo Lisi nodded; collecting "external" news was still work he was doing.

This didn't mean Luo Ben couldn't do this work; actually, as the power in his hands grew, Luo Ben also tried to do external intelligence gathering.

Lans knew, but didn't stop him. This kind of positive competition was beneficial to the family; as long as it wasn't the kind of malicious mutual assassination, he would hold a supportive attitude.

After he arranged everyone's tasks, he kept Mo Lisi behind.

"I heard you and your little nurse have been developing very quickly lately?"

Lans heard about this from Enio, who said Mo Lisi might be planning to marry his nursing nurse, which made everyone feel a bit surprised.

In a glance/p>

Of course, this was understandable.

When he was injured and had limited mobility, it was always that nurse taking care of him, including the time when he lacked mobility.

Perhaps for the nurse... this was just a job; she respected, loved, and was loyal to her work.

Then, in reality, there was also a shortcut to a gentleman's heart.

For a big boy like Mo Lisi, his shortcut was passed by people every day. Sometimes he couldn't tell if it was reliance, gratitude, or love; it was possible it was all of them.

If Mo Lisi were just an ordinary person, perhaps reliance and gratitude would be a bit more; girls often mature earlier than men.

Whether psychologically or physiologically, she would control her emotions well.

But when bread and love could potentially coexist, then the possibility of love became a bit greater.

The nurse had already resigned from her hospital job and was living with Mo Lisi; their relationship was very good, even to the point of getting married.

Looking at Mo Lisi's silly smile, Lans said with some reproach, "If Enio hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you had this idea."

"Our relationship hasn't been completely settled yet. Whether to get married, both she and I have some concerns of our own."

"You know, marriage isn't just our business; it also has to do with her family. If her parents don't agree to us being together, this matter will be very difficult to handle."

"I hope to give her a wedding blessed by her family, so we are still considering how to face her family," Mo Lisi explained, "But if it's really settled, I will definitely tell you all."

Lans nodded, "You have to tell everyone yourself, lest they say you want to hide it from them."

He paused, "You have a good relationship with those private casino operators in the Imperial District?"

Mo Lisi nodded, a bit hurt, "Thanks to the old guy, I've been hanging around different casinos since I was a kid. I'm very familiar with them. What's wrong?"

Lans nodded and said, "If I say, let them hand over thirty percent of their profits to us, and we ensure their casinos won't be hit by other gangs, especially suppression by the Koda family, do you think they will agree?"

Mo Lisi blurted out without hesitation, "Of course they will agree!"

"If they can operate casinos openly, this means that even if they hand over thirty percent of their profits to us, their income will still be much higher than it is now."

"As long as they earn more money, it's impossible for them not to agree!"

Currently, these private casinos were all very small in scale, one casino with two or three gambling tables, twenty or thirty gamblers, and at most forty or fifty.

But in reality, there were hundreds of thousands of residents in the Imperial District, and the number of gamblers definitely wasn't just a few thousand; it would only be more!

There was also the Port District, which was also a place where gamblers gathered.

There was a truth—

The poorer the place, the fiercer the gambling atmosphere; the poorer they are, the more they gamble—that's what these people are.

Don't look at these gamblers only being able to get thirty or forty dollars in wages a month; as long as they get hooked, not only can they throw all that month's wages in, but they can also borrow money from the casino to continue gambling!

So don't ever underestimate the potential value of these people.

"Contact them and say I'm inviting them to come chat, about expanding operations in my territory."

This matter could only be done by Mo Lisi; he was very familiar with these casino bosses, and at the same time, they trusted each other.

If it were someone else, they might not be able to facilitate this matter.

While Mo Lisi agreed, he was also a bit confused, "Didn't you say before that after we dealt with the Koda family, we would also operate casinos?"

"Why are you..."

In his view, these casinos were actually stealing the Koda family's interests; the Koda family's requirement was a fifty-fifty split, and some casinos even required taking away seventy percent of the revenue.

If Lans only wanted thirty percent, would there be any losses when they operated casinos in the future?

Lans shook his head and said, "Even without these casinos, those people wouldn't really go to places like the New Jincheng casino to gamble. On one hand, they would have a sense of fear toward that kind of environment; on the other hand, it's too inconvenient."

"So in reality, the crowds operated by the two don't overlap. The Koda family doesn't want to see these private casinos; it's just that they are used to doing monopoly business."

"So you don't need to worry about this; you just need to connect them, and I'll chat with them..."

After the two chatted for a few more sentences, Mo Lisi left. A bit later, Lawyer Luo Ben called Lans and soon appeared in his office.

"I've troubled you to keep running around these past two days. I have other things I can't attend to here. Thank you very much for everything you've done for us. This is a token of my appreciation."

Lans placed an envelope on the desktop and pushed it over.

Inside was a check. Lawyer Luo Ben definitely wouldn't think there was only a twenty-dollar bill inside. He took it very generously, but didn't open it, putting it directly into his pocket.

The more times he cooperated with Lans, the more he understood that Lans was a very generous person, as long as you were useful to him and could help him.

Then he wouldn't be stingy at all about sharing a portion of the wealth with you!

Lans had already become Lawyer Luo Ben's most important client, bar none.

He smiled and was humble for a few sentences, then talked about the results he had handled at the Hazardous Materials Bureau over the past few days.

"I've communicated with them. They will definitely prosecute our people, and the sentence won't be too short."

"I don't know if you've heard of a senior agent they had before named Weber, who died because of some accident. Some people outside say..."

Lans nodded, "I heard, so?"

"I've investigated this senior agent Weber. The person behind him is a commissioner of the State Prohibition Committee."

"Director Dai Er is urgently wanting to get rid of his image of incompetence, so he will very likely handle these cases strictly and heavily. The judge will carefully consider the sentencing recommendations they put forward."

"Ordinary participants will start at at least three to five years; bartenders and managers will be over ten years. They are unwilling to coordinate on this point."

"So you need to be mentally prepared."

"The case transfer should be very fast. The trial will likely be held before June, and the sentencing and execution will be in June..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 539 =====