Chapter 582: Glory

This was the first time many people had entered Jincheng Casino.

At the beginning, they didn't have any money, let alone coming inside to see and see, they couldn't even enter the main door.

Everyone who operates a casino isn't a fool. Don't look at the buses of Jincheng Casino constantly soliciting customers at the port, and also distributing a

These were actually all designed.

In this era, people who can afford to travel by ship to another region, or even to another country, are not poor people.

Poor people simply cannot leave the places where they live; some federal citizens have been in a small town since the moment they were born.

Until the day they die, they have never left a place five kilometers from the town.

So, people who can travel long distances during this period are all potential, high-quality casino customers.

Giving them some chips and taking them to the casino for free so they can enjoy the fun is not a loss.

As long as two or three out of ten people are interested in the games in the casino, not only can all their expenses be recouped from these two or three people, but they can also make a hefty profit.

But it is not so easy for those poor people already in the city to get in.

First, they need to produce something that shows their potential to pay—to put it bluntly, money—at least ten or twenty dollars.

Secondly, they must be dressed neatly; not necessarily well, but at least clean and tidy, so as not to be rude.

After all, players gambling in the casino would not want to sit at the same table as a beggar, so they must be dressed neatly.

Just these two requirements alone already prevent many of the underclass from entering the casino.

Later, when these people of Lanse's became wealthy and gained status, they didn't come in because Lanse and the five great families were at odds.

They stood in two opposing camps, and they would not easily come to the casino, let alone contribute their share to the Koda family's revenue.

So, they couldn't get in when they were poor, and they weren't willing to get in when they were rich, making this their first time.

The luxurious decor stimulated everyone's nerves. After Lanse took a tour of the office area, he returned to the second floor.

He stood by the railing, below which were neatly arranged gambling tables. Standing here and looking down, one could imagine how shocking it would be when the gambling tables below were crowded with people!

He turned to look at those young people, his gaze finally landing on Mo Lisi.

"Come here, Mo Lisi."

Mo Lisi coughed twice and walked over.

Lanse put his arm around his shoulder and turned him to look at the gambling tables below. "Among us, the person who knows the most about gambling and casinos is you."

"I, Aierwen, and the others—none of us understand the specific operations of a casino."

"Perhaps it's fine for us to talk big, since we don't need to take any responsibility anyway."

"But if we really have to do it, we can't do it well."

He looked at Mo Lisi, and Mo Lisi also realized what Lanse meant. He widened his eyes, shook his head, and said, "I can't do this well!"

Lanse disagreed with his point of view. "You can at least do better than us."

"The casinos will be handed over to you to manage—five casinos, according to your ideas."

"You can go and hire some professional managers, or other practitioners, and arrange them well; don't be stingy with wages."

"Casino revenue is very important, although the money that can fall into our own pockets is not much."

Lanse had already revealed to them that a large portion of the operating profits after getting the casinos would have to be sent elsewhere, and there wouldn't be much left for them to keep.

Moreover, Lanse did not think that moonshine was inferior to casinos; in fact, if moonshine is done well, it is absolutely more profitable than casinos, in this era!

People are crazy about Prohibition!

Those who didn't drink before have started to drink; they are using this way to protest and vent their dissatisfaction with the government!

So, as long as Prohibition is not resolved, the federal liquor business will be good for one more day!

Choosing Mo Lisi as this candidate was also a decision Lanse made after long consideration.

As the five great families are dismantled by him, the "hostile gangs" in the entire city will only become fewer and fewer, until they disappear completely in the end.

Mo Lisi still has some ability in this city, but once he leaves this city—for example, if he were sent to Xigu City—he wouldn't be able to make it.

Now that there are not so many internal problems and enemies, his work and the importance of his work are constantly declining.

Rather than letting him end up with nothing to do, it's better to give him a job he is very familiar with: managing casinos.

He grew up in casinos since he was a child; those small casinos look different from big casinos, but in essence, there is no difference.

They are all about taking the money of the gamblers from their pockets and putting it into one's own.

As long as he can do this well, it is enough.

Meeting Lanse's penetrating gaze, Mo Lisi finally did not refuse; he agreed. "I will try."

"If I don't do well, please find someone to replace me immediately!"

He sighed softly; in fact, he was really a bit uneasy about such a heavy responsibility.

But Lanse's trust made him unable to resolve it, and he finally agreed.

Many guys who had a good relationship with him ran over to ruffle his hair or give him a hug. Managing these five casinos not only represented that he was about to enter another stage of his life, but it also represented Lanse's absolute trust in him—a trust that could not be shaken!

Bodun in the crowd was a bit envious; he certainly knew that the status of "Casino General Manager" was much more important than his current status.

But he was indeed not very familiar with this aspect, and although he was envious and jealous, he had no dissatisfaction.

Although he was far behind Mo Lisi, he was much better off than the others.

The news that Lanse had taken people to the Jinhang Casino began to spread; it might have been leaked by people from the Koda family, but Lanse did not stop it, because they would know about this matter soon anyway.

On the second day after the casino suspended business and the Koda family had not yet figured out what had happened, the front page of "Today's Jinhang" reported this news—

"The Biggest Change in Thirty Years, Is the Lanse Family About to Reach the Top?"

Under the huge black headline was an old photo of Lanse coming out of his old company. He was not looking at the camera, but he was wearing a cloak, and his subordinates beside him were all exuding a murderous aura.

Someone opened the car door for him, and he was walking toward the car on the side of the road. Although the picture was static, anyone who saw this photo could imagine the momentum and temperament he possessed, like a lion on the prairie!

Then, the article below began to introduce some developments and speculations regarding this matter, and the second page even introduced that the five casino franchise licenses currently held by the Koda family, along with the five casinos, had all been signed and authorized to Lanse by Bandi.

The newspaper also included some small pictures, including the scene of Lanse signing, the scene of Bandi signing, as well as photos of the legal teams of both sides and many other people.

If reporters previously thought that Lanse had become the biggest gang leader in Jinhang City and would rule the underground world of Jinhang City, it only made people feel it was a matter of course.

Then the report on the second page tore everyone's emotions to shreds!

How did Lanse become... the owner of the casinos?

They didn't understand, but whether it was the photos or anything else, it was all laid out there; no one could change this fact, and the police had already stopped all investigations into Bandi, as well as subsequent inspections and prosecutions.

For a dead person, without any special driving force, the police station would not waste resources to investigate him, let alone prosecute a dead person who could not respond to the charges.

In other words, even if someone questioned whether these contracts were legal and compliant, it would have no meaning.

People who saw this report fell into an indescribable emotional change; they realized that the underground world of Jinhang City had truly undergone a change so huge it was unimaginable!

People from the Koda family also saw this report.

"Bang!"

A loud noise came from the table in the auditorium, and the dull atmosphere was broken in an instant. An old man of Bandi's uncle's generation couldn't help but stand up.

He looked at those clansmen, his voice very loud. "Why is everyone not talking?"

"Weren't you very talkative yesterday?"

"Why are you not talking now? Do you not like to talk?"

There was immediate cursing below. Everyone was very distressed now; the benefits that were in their hands were gone—where the hell could they go to reason? The old man didn't take these voices cursing him to heart; instead, he mocked, "You have the guts to curse me, but you don't have the guts to curse Lanse!"

"You must know, what he took away is the century-old foundation of the Koda family!"

His voice was filled with anger and sorrow, as if Lanse's move had really struck his windpipe.

In fact, the Koda family didn't have any so-called century-old foundation; it had only gradually developed to its current scale in the last thirty to fifty years.

At the same time, their franchises were not their own things either.

Before 955, the federal government did not allow the public operation of casinos or similar business venues with gambling properties; at that time, all casinos were illegal.

People could sit together in groups of three or five to play cards and could have a little stake, but absolutely no one could provide such a venue for others to gamble.

If someone did that, that person would be arrested, prosecuted for the "crime of illegally operating a gambling venue," and then thrown into prison.

But there were too many gamblers in the Federation, especially gold diggers and those poor people; they were addicted to gambling.

Almost all small taverns had this situation: three or five people, or seven or eight people, would sit around a table and start gambling.

The tavern owner would not charge them service fees just because they were gambling, nor would they provide chip exchange services.

Read the content carefully!

So this did not belong to "operation," and the bar owner did not need to bear relevant responsibilities.

The federal government saw huge profits from this, and since it was a period of rapid development for the Federation, after discussions in Congress, it was determined to allow the operation of casinos.

However, a special operating license was required, and at least sixty percent or more in special taxes had to be paid.

So these things were not the "heirlooms" of the Koda family; they were also things they had seized through other means.

When they were seizing other people's licenses in the past, those people probably didn't think there would be such a day when their descendants would also be plundered by others.

But this precisely conforms to the laws of nature.

The old man's hoarse voice made the auditorium quiet again, but soon someone asked, "What else can we do?"

"That is Lanse!"

"The five great families are already finished. Shouldn't you open your eyes and look at the surroundings and reality? We are finished!"

The old man glared at that person fiercely. "As long as we are still here, the Koda family will not be finished."

That person sneered and stopped talking; there were still people who were immersed in the greatness of the family and couldn't extricate themselves.

In fact, there were indeed quite a few such people; even though they already knew the world had changed, they were still unwilling to break free from the glory of the past.

They were unwilling to accept the facts.

"Bandi died unclearly; maybe it has something to do with these authorizations. We must protest and let higher-level law enforcement agencies investigate this case to figure out who is stealing the wealth that belongs to our family!"

He considered some countermeasures, and some people were tempted, after all, the family's wealth mainly came from the casinos.

Now that the casinos were gone, it was definitely a fatal blow to them!

And with the complete rise of the Lanse family, if they lost the casinos, it meant it would be difficult for them to continue to gain a foothold in Jinhang City.

Let them migrate to other places like other families, carve out a new territory, and start from scratch?

That would be better to just disband on the spot!

So those who supported him asked, "What do you plan to do?"

The old man pursed his lips, and a firm look appeared in his eyes. "Go to Mantong, find people who can exert influence on this matter, give them some benefits, and see if there is any way to change this terrible outcome."

"I know some big shots who had a good relationship with Bandi in the past; they might be interested in my proposal."

Someone asked, "What kind of benefits do you want to use to persuade them to go against Lanse?"

"Money?"

"Or something else?"

The old man said it more bluntly. "Casino shares; even if we give away half, it's better than losing it completely!"

"I know some of you might think it's too much, but in reality, it's really not much."

"Once we can stabilize, and develop bit by bit in the future, it's not impossible to stand up again."

"The casinos are our only chance to stand up again. If we lose them, we will lose everything!"

"Including the wealth we have now, everything, even...", his tone became a bit low, and amidst people's unwillingness, he said the word they didn't want to hear, "... life!"

Yes, life.

Although they were finished, the wealth they possessed was still unreachable by ordinary people—so many industries, so many companies, these were all money!

In the past, they could protect these industries because the remaining prestige of the five great families was still there, but now, those people no longer had any concerns.

Soon they would find ways to annex this wealth, and whoever stopped them, they would kill them!

Those people in the Bay Area look like civilized gentlemen on the surface, but in their bones, they are even more disgusting than the evil dogs in a graveyard!

A decision was made, and most people agreed with his choice; soon they began to operate.

It's just that compared to the methods of most people, some had different ideas, and at the same time, they didn't intend to tell others.

These people belonged to the few clear-headed ones; they knew very well that even if that old man's plan succeeded, they would still not be able to escape those miserable ends in the end.

Because they had already lost the power to protect this wealth and everything else, the result of doing so would be nothing more than changing from "people from the Bay Area or Lanse took away everything they had" to "people from Mantong took away everything they had"—nothing more!

So rather than letting the situation get worse step by step, it's better to run now.

Those people packed their things and left secretly; they didn't tell anyone, intending to leave this city forever.

As long as there is money, one can live very comfortably anywhere.

Of course, they couldn't compare to the past, but at least they were still among the wealthy class and hadn't fallen into the middle class.

But there were also a few people whose choices were different.

Rather than having their bones chewed up and swallowed by the diners at the table, it's better to change to a new backer.

A middle-aged man in his forties brought his sincerity to the outside of Lanse's new company and requested to see Lanse.

Soon he was allowed to see Lanse; of course, before this, he had been searched, including his shoes, which he had taken off and been checked.

When he arrived outside Lanse's office, he patted his cheeks, intending to face Lanse with a flushed, smiling face and the most sincere and flattering attitude, but his flattering smile solidified bit by bit as the door was opened.

His first thought was "How the hell are you guys here," and when the people in the room saw him, they were no longer so shocked; someone even rolled their eyes, as if saying "You're only just arriving now."

He was pushed by the person behind him and walked into Lanse's spacious office. He looked at the brothers and a nephew sitting on the sofa, the expression on his face changing constantly.

Lanse smiled. "You should know each other."

The youngest person hurriedly bent over and said, "Yes, Mr. Lanse, this is my uncle...", and he said that person's name.

Lanse let the guy who had just entered the door sit on the sofa as well. "If I'm not mistaken, the matter you want to talk about must be the same as what they want to talk about."

The middle-aged man glanced at the few people beside him with an ugly expression, then immediately put on a smile. "Yes, Mr. Lanse."

"There are a few people in the family who can't see the situation clearly; they are trying to go to Mantong to find help to change the status quo."

"I'm not worried that you are not their match; I just think... things in the city should be solved in the city."

He lowered his head after speaking.

(End of chapter)