Chapter 656: The Extra

Mr. Charles sat behind the desk. His elbow pressed against the desktop to support his body balance while he held the phone, and his other hand held a cigarette. In front of him was a cup of coffee with whiskey added.

The collar was slightly open in a way that didn't quite fit his status, making him look a bit... haggard.

The things that had happened in the past few days made him feel the pressure.

An interest group was like a big tree. No matter how big its canopy was, as long as the woodcutter found its main trunk, it could easily make it fall.

So for an interest group, what they needed to do was to let the layers of canopy form a barrier, protecting their main trunk in the very middle, not letting the woodcutter discover it, and even less letting them get close.

Now, Mayor Williams was frantically cutting down their branches and canopy.

Several small businessmen had already been unable to withstand the pressure and chose to compromise. More importantly, Mayor Williams had changed his attitude again; he stated that if they were willing to sign, then he could continue to provide replacement compensation.

Originally, he said that after the ultimatum, these would no longer be provided, which was equivalent to pushing the group of them who insisted on staying onto a tightrope, and there was no way to turn back.

So even if those people couldn't help it, they could only hold on, trying to compensate for their losses from the expected profit brought by maintaining the land price.

But now Mayor Williams suddenly decided to give them another chance. Many people who were already standing unsteadily on the tightrope immediately chose to retreat.

Once these people all left, their insistence would be meaningless, and at the same time, the authority of the Bay Area interest group would fall to the bottom.

People would all recognize a reality.

This time, they were not the Mayor's opponent!

So now it was no longer just a time when hitting Lans to deter Mayor Williams could work; they needed to be more aggressive.

His words, asking Mr. Hoff if only a very small number of people knew about the existence of those people, made Mr. Hoff feel something was wrong.

He tore at his collar and said softly, "We need a heavyweight bargaining chip to make Williams sit down and talk to us, make him take the initiative to talk to us, instead of us begging him to talk!"

Mr. Hoff bit the bullet and said, "Doesn't taking down Lans count as a heavyweight bargaining chip?"

Mr. Charles took a puff of his cigarette. "He is the Mayor, my brother."

Just a "light" sentence made Mr. Hoff fall into a situation where he couldn't respond.

Yes, he was the Mayor. He could appoint the heads of almost all government agencies in this city, the Police Chief, the Commercial Service Bureau Chief, anyone within his power.

"If it were a few days ago, and he hadn't proposed that he could re-provide subsidies, I wouldn't think so."

"His not making concessions is actually a good thing. It's like you are going to see your old lover, your wife doesn't want you to go out, you will scold her, and then slam the door and leave."

"The problem isn't too serious yet."

"But if you start lying to your wife, then the problem is much more serious than slamming the door!"

"He has already been able to go back on his word in order to disintegrate us. Can you understand what I mean?"

"When you have started to have no principles for something, it is when you will absolutely not retreat!"

"Lans's death won't stop him, it will only make the situation continue to escalate, and make him more determined to deal with us."

"We need a heavier bargaining chip!"

After Mr. Hoff finished listening, he had to admit that Mr. Charles was right. His head also hurt now, and he didn't want to think about what his purpose was for doing this.

"What exactly do you want them to do?"

The next second, a name that Mr. Hoff least wanted to hear, but had already heard, came from the receiver: "Arthur."

"Fuck!" He cursed directly. "You will break the rules by doing this. He is still in office!"

Mr. Charles took a puff of his cigarette and threw the remaining part directly into the ashtray. "This has nothing to do with me. I only know that if we don't handle them, we will be handled."

"Once they no longer believe in us, the Bay Area will soon split. Those traitors and speculators will stand on their side, and then find a way to put us on the dining table."

"Just like we did before!"

"You consider it."

Mr. Hoff was silent for a moment and then cursed again, hanging up the phone. Kidnapping Arthur made him feel that Mr. Charles had truly gone crazy!

Everyone knew that Mayor Williams favored his youngest son the most. Although his youngest son wouldn't become the successor to his political legacy, the visible favoritism was a fact!

Moving Arthur was the only way to make it truly impossible for them to have any room for relaxation, but not moving...

Since when did these things in the city become so troublesome?

Perhaps since Mayor Sydney wanted to make a final stand. Although he didn't succeed, he also overturned the subtle balance of the city!

Later, Mr. Hoff finally made a compromise. He also inquired about the things that happened while he wasn't in New Jincheng, and even heard that the wharf shareholders seemed to be colluding to do something weird.

More and more unfavorable news made him become anxious. After painful thinking, he believed that Arthur might be a poison, but when this poison could first prolong their lives, this was a miracle drug!

After dinner, Mr. Hoff found both Richie and David in his room.

As soon as they sat down, Richie asked, "Are we going to make a move on Lans?"

Mr. Hoff shook his head. "I have already found someone to make an appointment with Lans. I'll tell you when there is news."

"Now what I want to talk to you about is another matter. I need you to kidnap someone for me, for Mr. Charles." Richie glanced at David, who also looked at his boss. Both of their expressions revealed a somewhat solemn look.

Richie said as if joking, "Who else do you need to kidnap, a big shot like you?"

"Can't you just make a phone call and have him come over directly?"

Mr. Hoff stared at Richie for a while, watching the latter move his gaze away uncomfortably and look elsewhere, before saying, "The situation has changed a bit now. Just handling Lans alone won't meet our and your requirements. We must also handle one more person."

"Mayor Williams."

David was somewhat curious at first, but after hearing this name, he curled up and lowered his head, as if he didn't exist.

Richie had an expression like he was listening to a joke. "You want us to kidnap the Mayor?"

"Wang Defa... how should I say how crazy and stupid you are?"

Mr. Hoff waved his hand quickly. "No, not kidnapping Mayor Williams, it's his youngest son, Arthur."

He briefly introduced the relationship between the Williams family and Lans, as well as the current situation.

"You are outsiders. If you don't have our support, it will be very difficult for you to gain a foothold locally. You just need to know this point."

!

"We need an opportunity to sit down and negotiate with Williams. I didn't ask you to hurt Arthur either. You just hide him, and then find a place to stuff him in."

"Let him go in a few days, and the matter will be over!"

"After the matter is over, we will fully support you in ruling the entire underground world of New Jincheng."

After Richie finished listening, he didn't express his stance immediately. He realized that this matter wasn't something he could decide. "I need to make a phone call to Joshua."

Mr. Hoff got up and walked to the door of the room. "Please feel free. Notify me when there is news. I'll be in the living room."

After the door closed, Richie picked up the phone and dialed the phone number of Joshua's church.

He explained the situation here, and Joshua held his forehead and closed his eyes to think.

Federation people were not very willing to make a move on politicians in office because there were too many sequelae!

They had party members, relatives and friends, and the cloak of the party. Touching them casually was like poking a hornet's nest with a dick; that feeling was definitely not a joke!

"Don't make a move yet. I'll talk to Charles and them first."

Joshua had suffered losses, so he didn't agree immediately.

Soon he and Mr. Joshua were on the line. What he didn't know was that Mr. Joshua had cursed Mr. Hoff a hundred times in his heart!

He didn't want to stand on the front line, but now that the phone call came, he knew that he had already been exposed. Although exposure was certain, it was too early now.

Even if he was exposed, he had to face this matter.

"We can't just make a move on politicians during their term of office, and the Williams family has a certain influence in the Licalai State. I also heard that he has connections with Congress."

"I don't want to see the army surround my home and my family one day just because we did things we shouldn't do."

When Joshua said these words, he was still very gentle. Most of the time, as long as he didn't fall into paranoia and become hysterical, he was a gentle and charming person.

Mr. Charles coughed twice. "I have a plan..."

Twenty-some minutes later, Richie received a phone call from Joshua. "Do as Mr. Hoff instructed."

Then he hung up the phone without any explanation.

Richie looked at the receiver in his hand. Based on his understanding of Joshua, this must be a guarantee.

He looked at David. "You do this."

David widened his eyes and pointed at his own nose. "Me?"

"I'm going to kidnap that Arthur?"

"Can I do it?"

His tone was full of distrust in himself. He felt he couldn't bear this responsibility.

Richie didn't indulge him either. "Do you want me to do it?"

After the two stared at each other for a moment, David was a bit annoyed. "Alright, alright, you win, you are the boss, shit!"

Soon they left the room and appeared in the living room. When Mr. Hoff saw them come out, he stuffed the cigarette he had just lit and hadn't smoked two puffs of into the ashtray, and then stood up and looked at them.

David rolled his eyes. "Tell me about the situation of that Arthur..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 657 =====