Chapter 766: Pushing

Listening to Lanse's words, Tang Mu roughly understood his thoughts, "Will you be engaging in large-scale firefights?"

"The Senator is very concerned about this."

Lanse gave a negative answer, "My opponent this time is very smart, not stupid at all, so there is a high probability that we will not have the large-scale firefights you imagine."

"Even if there are, they will be in the suburbs, not in the city, and we will control the timing well."

"I will control the situation well; it will not get out of hand."

Lanse only needs to pay attention himself; as for the Perez family?

With their operations in terms of capital, as long as they don't intend to narrow their own path, they actually hope even more than Lanse, Tang Mu, and the Senator that there won't be any large-scale firefights.

Who wants to do business with a group of people who reason with bullets?

Tang Mu said "Hmm," he didn't speak immediately, but remained silent, lasting for about twenty or thirty seconds.

If it weren't for the sound of his breathing always being in the receiver, Lanse would have thought the phone line had been cut, or that he had already left the phone.

However, he did not disturb Tang Mu's thinking; being suddenly silent during a call meant he must have encountered something very important, or was engaged in very important thinking.

After another while, "Are you confident you can flip them over onto the ground?"

Lanse frowned; if the other side were a group of idiots, he felt this wouldn't be a difficult problem.

But now that the other side at least has smart people, dealing with them will become less easy, at least it will be hard to kill them with one blow.

He felt that behind this there might still be the Senator's ideas, or perhaps, they saw the benefits.

With benefits, there is a driving force; if Lanse can bite them until they are covered in wounds, or even bite their throats off, then the wealth and benefits they leave behind—isn't that up to the masters to decide?

It is not just capitalists who use trickery and force; politicians do too.

The more top-tier they are, the more they will do this, and the greedier they are, whether they are capitalists, politicians, or anything else.

"I'm not sure; large forces like them have a high probability of compromising immediately after suffering a certain degree of loss or a fatal wound."

"They are no longer pure gangsters; wanting them to fight me to the end is impossible."

This is the answer Lanse got after cramming intelligence on the Perez family.

The descendants of a group of people who rose by risking their lives often are the least likely to inherit the characteristic of risking their lives.

Their elders, the generation that created all this, because they had nothing, just had to move forward with weapons; every step they took was a boundary drawn for their children's future.

But the young people born in the "prosperous age," their values are more inclined toward the privileged class and the ruling class who live in luxury.

Let them risk their lives with a bunch of mud-legged dogs?

Stop joking!

They might even take a step back to avoid mud splashes on their legs.

Lanse had actually already foreseen some of the results of this battle; the people of the Perez family would definitely choose to negotiate after being severely damaged, which is also the most common choice for capital and politics.

When it is unfavorable to themselves, choosing the one with the least loss is their characteristic, not the gangsters'.

Tang Mu also understood Lanse's meaning, "I will talk to the Senator about your view; who do you think between you... can make it to the end?"

Lanse answered without hesitation, "Me."

His tone was full of certainty about this matter; he didn't think there was any other possibility. This strong self-confidence infected Tang Mu, and his tone also became a bit lighter.

"Contact me if you need anything; I will also contact you if there are new developments. Keep the line clear!"

After Lanse hung up the phone, he called over everyone who hadn't slept yet; many of them lived in Lanse's manor, but everyone had their own house.

Even if they didn't live here, they lived nearby.

Lanse found ways to buy up the surrounding land, vaguely becoming a building complex with the Lanse family as the core.

People work and live here, their children are also here; recently Lanse has been considering this matter, whether to get involved in some real estate development.

For example, building this into a "fortress that will never be breached" or something, even if the federal army comes, they would have to trade blows before they could get in.

Soon, everyone came.

As the weather gradually got hotter, people's attire became much more casual, and some were wearing big shorts and floral shirts.

Seeing this scene, Lanse wanted to laugh a little; people only understand when they lose, just like after he forever lost the ability to wear short sleeves and shorts in April or May, he knew how powerful he was when he was young!

In a trance, he came back to his senses and signaled everyone to sit down; he didn't appear very anxious.

Anxiety won't change anything; instead, it will make some things worse.

"We have encountered some trouble; four cinemas in Jincheng have been burned."

Immediately someone slapped the table and stood up, "Who did it?"

"Those people who attacked us last time?"

"Give me some people and weapons, and I will send them all back to God's embrace!"

Hiram was clamoring to give them a taste of their own medicine; a bright point suddenly flashed in Lanse's heart—could it be the people from the Angel Lake?

Very likely, because recently, only their conflict is the deepest.

But now is not the time to talk about this.

Lanse raised his hand to signal him to sit back down, "Don't cause trouble."

His relaxation allowed the emotions of the others in the room to be relieved; some were still laughing and teasing Hiram, and Hiram was also shaking his hair and arguing with them.

Lanse poured himself a drink, "The Perez family is different from the opponents we have encountered before; they use their brains and have plans."

"They are very familiar with the local police, prosecutors, and judiciary."

"Just like us!"

He turned around holding the drink and looked at these people, opening his arms, "Anyone, as long as they dare to come in, come to the Likaer State, we can make them die miserably."

"Similarly, they should have prepared traps now, waiting for us to step into them."

"So we don't need to be so impulsive now."

"They have many industries; such a huge force definitely won't just operate in one place; their business must be spread throughout the Federation, and even here, they have their business."

"I called you here, firstly to tell you, don't go to Jincheng recently, including near Jincheng, don't go."

"The photos of us people have never been hidden; if they need to, they can know what we look like at the first moment."

"The second thing is to find the enterprises the Perez family has hidden in the south."

"Here, next to us, and states further west."

"We have stronger control here; find their people, whether they are regular or irregular, find them."

He looked at Poli, who had been sitting in the corner; this guy had always maintained a cautious attitude and would never stand in a conspicuous place.

If someone who didn't know him appeared here, the first glance at Poli would make them feel that this person might just be a punching bag.

After all, normal people, who would want to sit in an inconspicuous corner?

But Poli was willing.

"Poli."

Hearing Lanse call his name, Poli stood up immediately, "Boss?"

"You have gained my trust; I will allocate a sum of money for you to continue developing your eyes and ears; I want the entire south to have our eyes and ears, our people!"

Poli was stunned for a while; the fist hidden behind someone else's body was already tightly clenched, trembling slightly.

He didn't want to punch Lanse, but was excited!

One city, one state, had already made him "Mr. Poli," respected by everyone; if he planted eyes in more regions, he couldn't imagine what kind of amazing person he would become!

Lanse looked straight into his eyes, "Can you do it?"

"I want you to get this done as soon as possible; we can't just keep our eyes on a place like Likaer State."

"Facts have proven that even if we possess Likaer State and have friends in the Congress and the military, we will still encounter provocations and trouble."

He extended a finger, "However, trouble often also means opportunity; this is an opportunity for us, a very good opportunity."

"Continue to expand!"

Poli nodded forcefully, his voice trembling slightly, "Of course, I mean, no problem, Boss."

"I will get this done as soon as possible!"

Lanse nodded, "Don't always be stingy with the power in your hands; you can cultivate some reliable people; some small things can be handed over to them to handle."

Lanse pointed at him, "You are already a big shot!"

Poli was very keen on power, and also relatively independent; he actually had an intelligence distribution center under his hands, with twenty or thirty young guys sitting there, listening to intelligence from New Jincheng and surrounding cities.

This also included news passed on by Imperial gangsters in other cities.

This distribution and analysis center reported directly to him; in other words, he alone controlled the entire organization.

Every day he would be very busy, having to analyze something valuable from a lot of intelligence that might not have any damn meaning.

Now he might still be able to barely manage, but as the intelligence network points became more numerous, he simply couldn't handle so many things.

Lanse stared into his eyes, "You have to learn to be a big shot; big shots never have to do the work themselves; they only need to know how to put the right people in the right positions!"

He paused, "In short, think about it and get it done as soon as possible."

He turned to look at Meiluo, and then at Aierwen, "We need to continue to expand our manpower."

Lanse's previous idea was not to expand out, to occupy Likaer State, and then close the door to do his own business; in fact, he did exactly that.

So he didn't need that many people.

If a gang organization that doesn't engage in "proper business" in people's eyes gets thousands of thugs and gunmen, then this gang will definitely become a worry for some big shots.

He didn't want to cause trouble, but now it seems he must do something.

Meiluo nodded, leaning against the bar, "How many people do we need to recruit?"

There were only seven or eight hundred now; Lanse considered for a while, "Recruit two thousand people first."

Hiram whistled; he liked having many people and liked new faces.

Meiluo asked again, "Does that include our current manpower, or not?"

"Not including."

"Ma Duoer."

Ma Duoer also stood up; he looked very spirited; the military temperament combined with his attire gave him a very special... texture!

"Hand over this batch of people to you for training; don't worry about them not being able to take it; require them to the standards of soldiers."

Ma Duoer was also a bit surprised, but still agreed; this was what he should do, "I guarantee I can complete the mission!"

Lanse then assigned some other tasks, and only then let people disperse.

The speed of news spreading among gangs is countless times faster than in other aspects, and it is also very accurate.

Just as the sky brightened, rumors about "the Perez family burned down four cinemas of the Lanse Company, and they didn't even dare to let out a fart" had already begun to spread from the central region of the Federation to the entire Federation.

Some people hearing this news were quite emotional; the Perez family's ability to act was still as strong and efficient as ever.

There were also some who were looking forward to the subsequent development of the matter.

Between a newly rising gang and an old-school gang, what kind of sparks would collide.

The Perez family had also made various preparations to respond; what they feared most now was not Lanse coming to cause them trouble, but Lanse not coming to cause them trouble.

Of course, Lanse was not the kind of person who could endure this kind of thing, and he was also very clear about what consequences would follow if he did something according to what those people in the Perez family expected.

So he changed his method.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Lanse had already arrived in Dashan; at the invitation of the Director, a large number of film industry practitioners and some production companies came to Dashan.

The matter of Wanli Film spending over a million in costs to shoot a movie had already spread throughout the film circle; even if they weren't interested in the Wanli Group behind Wanli Film, or interested in Lanse.

Now they also had to come and listen to what Lanse had to say.

After all, Lanse still had some face here, and they also relied on the channels and box office of the Wanli Distribution Company.

Lanse rented an auditorium, and many people had already come; they all took the initiative to come over to greet Lanse and the Director, and after simple pleasantries and mutual introductions, they walked to one side.

After the invited people had almost all arrived, the Director picked up the microphone and patted it, and the attention of everyone at the scene was attracted to him.

"I am very grateful that everyone could be invited here during busy working hours; I just talked to Mr. Lanse, and today all the gentlemen present, whether you are practitioners, production companies, or anything else."

"As long as your films are distributed through us, we will lower the rate by two points."

Benefits are always more "sincere" than words!

You can say a hundred or a thousand sincere words, but it will never be as shocking as taking out equivalent money!

Both the gentlemen and ladies put down their glasses and began to applaud enthusiastically.

Two percent, is it a lot?

From the structure of the percentage, it is not much at all; it is equivalent to two dollars more for every hundred dollars.

But from the box office sharing structure formulated by Lanse, two percent is a lot.

It accounts for about five percent of the total revenue of the production side, which is already quite a bit, and it can be seen that Lanse is indeed sincere.

But as for whether it can be executed in the end, and to what extent, they don't know yet.

However, this didn't prevent them from applauding enthusiastically!

What if he was telling the truth?

After all, many production companies now, especially some small production companies and independent productions that don't have the ability to get box office shares themselves, are very dependent on Lanse's distribution channels and payment returns.

Now the production costs of movies are getting higher and higher, and the salaries of actors are also getting higher and higher; the days of shooting a good movie like in the past and then selling copies at film festivals can no longer keep up with the development of the times.

Sharing the box office is a very favorable operating model for both sides; once they deeply understand its benefits, the film industry will become increasingly inseparable from him.

Mastering the channels means mastering the foundation of monopoly, which is why so many people came today.

"Next, I will hand over the initiative to Mr. Lanse."

He said, signaling that Lanse could begin; Lanse walked to the podium calmly; he looked at the several hundred guests at the scene, the expression on his face a bit serious and painful.

"There was something yesterday; I don't know if you are aware."

"Four of my cinemas in Jincheng were set on fire by arson, and nineteen innocent viewers watching the movie died."

This news had not yet spread in Dashan; many people were hearing it for the first time, and they all showed shocked expressions.

Phrases like "Too terrible," "How could this happen," and "My God" almost constantly popped up.

After they sighed for a while, Lanse nodded slightly and said, "The person who committed arson is a well-known gang organization in the Federation; they saw that I was developing well in the film industry, and after failing to blackmail me, they set fire to the cinema."

"Movies are an industry that is developing at a speed that people can't imagine; we are facing huge opportunities and challenges, but also huge threats."

"Some threats are mild, which is ordinary industry competition."

"But there are also some threats that are disturbing, coming from those criminal organizations."

"Movies should not become a place for criminal organizations to run wild; movies are an art close to people's lives; they carry the development and progress of an era; if we compromise when facing such things."

"I bow my head, apologize, and give them money according to their requirements."

"Then the film industry will be finished!"

"I will not compromise, and I cannot compromise, but the power of me alone is not enough; I need more strength to unite!"

He looked at these people, "The development of the film industry needs norms, needs rules, and we also need to help each other and protect each other."

"So today I asked the Director to invite everyone here; there are mainly two things."

"First, the Federal Arts Committee is preparing to establish a Film Committee and an industry union; you should know better than I do what this means for me and for you."

"We cannot let them grasp the initiative!"

"Second, regarding the wanton behavior of this gang organization, we cannot be silent!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 767 =====