Chapter 617: The risk and the reward coexist

"……I'll call you back later."

Director Dai Er hung up the phone and sat for a while before pressing a button on his desk. "Come in."

The door opened, and a senior agent from the Dangerous Goods Investigation Bureau, De Wente, walked in.

Before becoming a senior agent at the Dangerous Goods Investigation Bureau, De Wente had been a deputy sheriff in another city.

He had performed quite well in his previous post, and his local chief had recommended him to join this newly established department.

After training in Manton, he was assigned here.

Not everyone was assigned to the place they came from; the Congress had considered this, so when the State Prohibition Office arranged personnel, aside from needing a local to assist the Dangerous Goods Investigation Bureau in their work,

others basically came from different cities, and none were from the same city.

This maximally avoided the problem of corruption.

Just think about it: if all your colleagues around you are from out of town and you know nothing about them, how could you easily discuss money-for-power deals with them?

The internal discipline of the Dangerous Goods Bureau was also very strict, with corresponding office regulations. This approach was indeed very useful, but only in the beginning.

Once they became familiar with each other, what was bound to happen, happened.

"Director, I want to talk to you," he said.

Director Dai Er did not object, signaling him to close the door and sit opposite him. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

De Wente, having closed the door, scratched his chin. His skin felt itchy; in reality, this was a psychosomatic reaction, not that his chin was truly itchy.

"I don't know… have I mentioned to you that there have been some changes in the city recently?"

His phrasing was extremely careful and cautious. Director Dai Er frowned. "I don't know what you're referring to."

"De Wente, sorry, buddy, I'm very busy. You see, I have things to deal with every single moment. If you don't have anything important, I still have several calls to handle."

He was currently contacting people at the State Prohibition Committee. Lan Si had given him a sum of money and wanted him to spend it.

At first, he had been somewhat resistant, feeling that he was being coerced by Lan Si, but as he began to truly operate this matter, his mindset changed.

Spending someone else's money to pave his own way—what did he have to resist?

If he could, he only wanted to tell Lan Si: bring more!

Now, those people at the State Prohibition Committee had caught the scent of money from him and started taking the initiative to communicate with him.

The work at the State Prohibition Committee wasn't actually that complicated, and the structure was very simple.

An administrative department and a small-scale operations department.

The main job was to arrange the general direction of work for the Dangerous Goods Investigation Bureaus in various regions. If the gentlemen in Congress had some ideas, they would have the operations department go to the local level to preside over a specific action.

Overall, it was an easy and prestigious job, and as long as he didn't set his sights on the executive commissioner position, they wouldn't have any major objections.

Titles like "committee member" were a dime a dozen; these were honorary positions, and only executive commissioners held real power.

He was busy dealing with this matter. Moving up to the State Prohibition Committee might seem like a dilution of power, but at least it was safe.

Moreover, there might be opportunities to cooperate with Lan Si in the future. What if Lan Si wanted him to climb even higher?

Coupled with the fact that occupying this position would make Lan Si dissatisfied and pose a danger to him, after not-so-long deliberation, he made his decision.

He had been busy with this all along.

De Wente didn't know about these things; he just felt that Director Dai Er's mood had undergone some changes during this period.

He didn't dare to continue playing the "I say, you guess" game now, so he hurriedly explained, "I have an informant who told me that the entire alcohol-related industry in the city is about to undergo a huge change."

"I think this is an important opportunity. If we can catch some big players, we will definitely be able to produce a beautiful report."

Director Dai Er frowned. He really hadn't heard about this. "Tell me in detail."

"It's like this: I have an informant who says the Lan Si family has decided to change industries and will no longer operate bar businesses, but they have redefined the gang game rules for this city."

"They have set how many bars there are in the cooperative city, and require all bars to obtain their alcohol and beverages from them."

"Director, just think about it: a gang supplying alcohol for the entire city must have a huge alcohol factory behind it, or it could be a smuggling route we don't know about."

"The Lan Si family must have a massive inventory of alcohol. If we can find their warehouse and take it down in one fell swoop, this will definitely be a major case that shocks the whole country!"

A flush of excitement appeared on De Wente's face. This wasn't just a matter of fame anymore; the massive merit might allow him to be promoted directly to deputy director.

At the same time, according to the reward principle, this could be hundreds of thousands or millions in bounty!

The only way to obtain huge wealth in a short time and be legal seemed to be this, and the opportunity was rare.

Director Dai Er was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then frowned. "Is your informant… reliable?"

De Wente nodded. "Reliable."

Director Dai Er didn't express his stance immediately. "I need to consider this. Don't tell anyone else about this for now. I'll give you news in two days."

De Wente nodded. "No problem." He said this and then rose to leave.

After watching him leave, Director Dai Er, amidst hesitation, dialed Lan Si's number, and it just so happened that Lan Si was by the phone.

"This is Dai Er."

"Dai Er?"

"Waiting for your call is really not an easy thing. So, what wind blew you here to take the initiative to call me?"

Lan Si's tone carried a hint of teasing. Director Dai Er didn't feel annoyed or disgusted. He talked about what had just happened and then asked, "What exactly are you planning to do?"

He didn't quite understand what kind of tricks Lan Si was playing this time.

Lan Si explained his thoughts very straightforwardly; there was nothing to hide. Director Dai Er had to admit that Lan Si was indeed like a seasoned veteran when doing certain things.

The deterrent power of a gang never came from how many criminal businesses they engaged in, but from how many people they had and how many guns they possessed.

Ending such intuitive criminal businesses like bars wouldn't bring them much negative change, while the gains would have more guarantees.

As long as the transportation was done secretly and the people transporting were tight-lipped, the risks they faced would be much smaller than operating the bars themselves!

Even if their fleet and people used to transport alcohol were caught, as long as he could hire good lawyers—which was inevitable, as he had money and could hire the best lawyers or law firms to defend him—the probability of him losing the case would be very small.

He could say that the alcohol was all his own, and the transportation was just moving the alcohol from one place to another for storage, not for sale or public consumption.

From Warehouse A to Warehouse B for storage—this wasn't selling or public drinking.

Even if someone reported him and obtained enough evidence, they could only charge them with the lightest crime: the crime of transporting goods containing alcoholic beverages.

As long as they could convince the judge to believe this statement, the most they would get was a fine of two or three thousand dollars, and those people wouldn't even need to go to jail!

As for why the alcohol they testified in court was intended for storage appeared in bars?

That was very simple: it was stolen!

Someone discovered the alcohol in the warehouse, and then it was stolen. It was just that simple.

As for whether the Lan Si family would sue these thieves, that was a matter between him and the thieves, not the court.

The Lan Si family would avoid the biggest trouble while making even more money. He really was a genius!

There were already such cases in some places. This was clearly a loophole in the judiciary, and the judiciary had to keep letting him exploit it.

This was an unsolvable problem.

"Capital is pursuing firewalls and unified management. I think gangs should also keep pace with the times. Between us and the judiciary, there also needs to be firewalls, and we also need to follow the times and progress together."

"Dai Er, those old-fashioned gang rules are no longer working in this constantly progressing era. I don't deny that some gangs are still very rigid and unable to adapt."

"Nor do I deny that some of them are still very powerful and have a say."

"But that is definitely not me, not the future of the Lan Si family."

"We are not the front wave, nor will we be the front wave. We will always be the spray in the middle. When the power disappears, we will retreat back into the sea to accumulate power again, rather than dying on the beach."

The pride in Lan Si's tone when he said these things could not be hidden at all.

If the person on the other side were someone else—Erwen, Yi Sen, or anyone else—Lan Si would only say it simply.

Because they couldn't understand the significance and value of what Lan Si was doing at all, just like Mei Luo and the others who still thought the family should continue to expand and inflate. They still wanted to have a scale of thousands or tens of thousands of people, becoming the "largest and most populous gang in the Federation." This was no different from courting death!

Their level of education and their understanding of the world limited their ability to correctly recognize this world.

But Dai Er wouldn't. He graduated from an elite institution and was considered a marginal small character in the Golden State political circle. His cognition of this world already stood among the forefront group.

So when Lan Si said these words, the small pride in his tone was not concealed at all.

He was operating his "business" with a mindset beyond this era, and he needed someone who could appreciate it and read him.

It was like… he put on a beautiful suit, and he needed someone who could appreciate this suit to appreciate it, whether it was a friend or an enemy.

Listening to these words from Lan Si, Director Dai Er felt a slight numbness on his scalp. A constantly progressing, evolving gang—just thinking about it made one feel terrified.

Cunning, treacherous, vicious—all the places the sunlight couldn't reach would eventually become their hunting grounds!

Director Dai Er was silent for a while and then sighed. He was increasingly unwilling to be an enemy of Lan Si now.

Being an opponent of a fool had no pressure, even if he were a thousand or ten thousand times stronger than you!

You only needed to watch him make mistakes today and tomorrow, slowly wearing away his own power, and then be defeated by you.

But being an opponent of someone like Lan Si would be very terrifying.

While you were becoming stronger and expanding yourself, his speed of expanding himself was faster than yours, and his methods were more savage and rough, and the consequences he bore were smaller.

He might need to do a lot of things to gain more power; he just needed to defeat all competitors under reasonable and legal rules.

But Lan Si, he only needed to get rid of the competitors.

Director Dai Er thought for a while. "Then I'll pretend I don't know about this?"

"Why pretend you don't know?" Lan Si immediately retorted. "Such a large-scale plan cannot be hidden from those with hearts. I know you have many informants in every gang, searching for information for you everywhere."

"Today there can be a certain…"

Director Dai Er prompted, "De Wente."

"Right, today there can be a senior agent De Wente discovering this 'secret,' and tomorrow another senior agent can discover it. People will always discover it."

Director Dai Er felt a headache. "Then what do you plan to do?"

"Find a scapegoat?"

This had always been Lan Si's approach. Every once in a while, Pang Da could seize one of Lan Si's bars, which also always made people unable to raise their vigilance against Lan Si.

A gang that was often caught would not make people feel they were a trouble, and they also ignored the fact that they were expanding at an astonishing speed.

Now Director Dai Er understood it all, but it was too late.

He thought Lan Si would still use that method to numb the people here, but this time he was wrong.

"Do you know about the things at the police station?" Lan Si asked a seemingly unrelated question.

Director Dai Er was a bit puzzled. His brain spun at high speed. "What aspect are you referring to?"

Lan Si didn't hide it from him. "The extra subsidies they have every month, and a foundation specifically serving the police force."

Director Dai Er laughed twice first. "They are not that easy to be bought." But he couldn't laugh soon, because Lan Si and the others were the largest gang in Golden Port City.

"Send me the personal information of senior agent De Wente. Do you have my fax number?"

Director Dai Er was silent for a while. "Yes."

More than ten minutes later, Lan Si glanced at the faxed content and casually placed it on the table.

After seven o'clock in the evening, Golden Port City began to enter the nightlife mode, and the entire Starlight District became radiant.

It was a somewhat incredible thing: since the complete decline of the Five Great Families, the public security of Starlight District, and even the entire Golden Port City, had become much better.

Some said this was the credit of the police station, but some knew that this was entirely the credit of the Lan Si family.

Lan Si didn't like a chaotic city; this was a fact known to every gang member here. He even sent his own people to maintain order on the streets.

If anyone broke his rules, the outcome would definitely not be good!

In order not to offend Lan Si and the Lan Si family, and in order not to become food for the ocean or a part of Angel Lake, people consciously reduced criminal acts and criminal impulses implemented at night.

The city, naturally, became more stable.

At least in Starlight District, even at ten, eleven, or twelve o'clock at night, vicious cases rarely appeared.

De Wente had just finished contacting the informant. He obtained some new information from the informant: the Lan Si family would set up about four hundred warehouses throughout Golden Port City.

These warehouses would all use special password locks, and opening the warehouses also required passwords.

After some gang ordered alcohol, these alcohol would be sent into these warehouses, and then the Lan Si family would give the gang leader who ordered the goods a password.

He only needed to take the password lock to find the corresponding warehouse, and he could take away the alcohol inside.

No one would contact them during the whole process, and the password for each warehouse would be changed after each use.

De Wente was shocked after knowing these things, and his mouth couldn't close!

What kind of efficient criminal network was this?

He even asked the informant at the beginning, what if someone stole that alcohol?

At that time, the informant looked at him with an expression of looking at a retard, and then he understood.

Anyone, as long as they stole the alcohol inside, would have to face the encirclement, suppression, and pursuit of all the gangs in Golden Port City. As long as he couldn't fly, he would definitely be caught, and he would definitely die!

Today they could steal the alcohol of a certain gang, tomorrow they could steal others'. Whether it was the Lan Si family or all the gangs, they would find him out and then honorably kill him!

A terrible opponent!

The problem of the driver's brain was thinking about how to carry out the work if Director Dai Er supported him, and the threat of fainting, while driving the vehicle and slowly pulling over to the side of the road.

He was home. In one of the many middle-class communities in Prissia, he had a single-family house here, with front and back yards, but no swimming pool or anything. This was not a villa; he couldn't afford such a big mansion.

This was just an ordinary single-family house, and he lived here with his family.

After the car stopped steadily, he smoked a cigarette in the car because his wife didn't like the smell of smoke in the room, so he tried not to smoke at home.

After the cigarette was finished and there was no clue in his brain, he pushed open the door, took out the key, and unscrewed the door lock.

"Hi, honey, I'm back!"

Just after he finished speaking, his brows twisted. There was smoke in the house, and he could vaguely hear the sound of people talking—it was a man's voice.

He never worried that his wife would betray him or cheat. He had a decent job and an income higher than the ordinary crowd. His wife wouldn't be stupid enough not to love him.

Did a relative come?

Or was there any visitor?

His hand pressed on the holster, and he walked slowly to the edge of the living room.

A few more steps forward, and he would be able to see what was happening in the living room, when something cold pressed against the back of his head……