New Gods of North America.

Chapter 663 Distinction
Humans often readily label others.

For example, in many pub stories, gangsters are always portrayed as ruthless and vicious.

People might easily describe them as burly, scarred men with menacing faces, or as lawless, taciturn, and ruthless men dressed in black.

—How could all gangsters be like that?

But I have to say,
Stereotypes can be surprisingly accurate sometimes.

With Wayne's vague explanations and the enthusiastic support of his ally from the Tuto gang, the heads of several major and minor gangs present were momentarily intimidated.
Soon, a classic scene from gangster stories unfolded in the room: "They talk about brotherhood, but their testimonies are filled with the names of their brothers."

The relationships between the gangs in the dock area aren't exactly good, but the situation hasn't yet deteriorated to the point where they need to expose each other's dirty laundry just to survive.
However, just like in the workplace, whoever misses a department gathering becomes the focus of everyone's gossip, the Erlan gang has clearly gotten into big trouble right now, dragging other gangs into becoming tax targets as well. Therefore, although the other gang leaders may not all believe Wayne's statement, they are all willing to actively provide clues about the Erlan gang's assets.

“O’Sullivan has controlled the Erlan settlement for some years. Although his personal wealth may not seem particularly abundant, the Erlan gang actually controls a lot of businesses and properties there.”

The leader of the Tuto gang, who called himself "Little Tuto," subtly helped Wayne divert everyone's attention. "If they've offended some big shot they shouldn't have, which is why the city hall is targeting all the gangs in the dock area, then we should all work together to quell this matter as soon as possible."

His words quickly garnered a positive response from some gang leaders.

Unlike when Wayne initially wanted to target the Sailors, and the gangs all chose to "stand by," this time several gang leaders seem to be genuinely planning to put in serious effort, and even the usually slick James Damody seems somewhat tempted.

This made Wayne question his existence—according to the intelligence team, the gangs in the dock area shouldn't be this united.

However, after listening for a while, Wayne quickly figured out what they were up to:

Because of the large number of Irish people in the settlement and their separate language system, these numerous illegal Irish immigrants formed their own faction, essentially creating a self-contained "fortress" for the Irish gangs. Their territory was far more secure than that of other gangs.
This led to the area becoming virtually off-limits to other gangs. They couldn't collect protection money, and they couldn't expand their businesses at all. Even when James Damody tried to go in to help a ruthless banker recover a loan, he was blocked by members of the Elland gang and the local residents. It was practically a "country within a country" in the dockside underworld.

The Erlan gang is among the largest in the dock area, and many other gangs had previously been powerless to do anything about it, daring not to speak out.

Now that they have a relatively formal pretext, they want to take the opportunity to swarm in and completely dismantle the "borderline" of the Erlan community. This is no longer just aimed at the Erlan gangs, but at that entire untapped "blue ocean market".

To quote one of the gang leaders, "The dock area is still within the territory of the Federation. How can we let those Irish people band together here and ostracize the Americans?! This is a good opportunity to sacrifice the Irish gang to quell the situation and let them know whose territory the dock area really is."

Wayne didn't spoil their fun; he simply silently recorded the information about the Ellan yakuza revealed by the gang leaders.
Then he quickly realized the problem: "Wait a minute, the reason the city hall is using this time is to levy taxes on gangs. Aren't you broadening the scope too much? The Erlan people in the community are not entirely the same as Erlan gangs."

The communities inhabited by the Erlan people span several blocks, with businesses covering all aspects of life, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Naturally, there are various shops and small vendors there, and Erlan gangs may also collect protection money from them.

But those properties couldn't all be owned by their gang...

Are you all making fun of me?

These gang leaders seemed quite straightforward: "We don't know much about the internal situation of their community, so the specific verification will definitely need to be handled by you, Mr. Wayne. But you can rest assured, as long as they dare to clash with your people, our men will all help. This time, we must completely scatter them." Wayne thought for a moment and tentatively asked, "From what I understand, the Sailors' Gang was also involved in the attack on the cathedral monks last time. Will you help them then?"

This time they were indeed less enthusiastic. "Everyone knows that you have a personal grudge against the Sailors, Mr. Wayne. Even without the city hall's taxation issue, your detective agency probably wouldn't have let them off the hook. However, we are also on your side in this matter, Mr. Wayne."

Fine... I knew I couldn't count on you guys.

After the new members of the detective agency finish their onboarding training in the next couple of days, the intelligence team will conduct a preliminary check of all the information.
As long as the total amount can be raised to a certain level, then we can take people directly to the Sailors' Gang and the Erlan Violent Group to deliver the tax bills.

After that, they would openly set up surveillance. If they failed to pay the outstanding amount within the specified period, they could be arrested and taken away to assist in the investigation.
The "big battle" that these gang leaders envisioned, if it were to occur, would likely happen around that time.

However, after causing so much trouble, Wayne is no longer looking for a "big battle."

What he wanted was a successful "precedent," which he could then use to slowly teach other gangs—if you stomp, you'll be numb too.

As for the idea of ​​these gang leaders dismantling the Erland community, it did serve as a wake-up call for Wayne.

So many Erlans!
After the Erlan gang is wiped out, will it turn into a big war between them and other gangs?
Let's hope the detective agency isn't blamed for this later...

……

When Wayne left James Damody's stronghold, the Tutto gang ally, claiming to be going the same way, also said goodbye.

The two men got into Wayne's carriage one after the other, while his own carriage followed behind. At this point, his story had completely changed:
“As Mr. Beaton intended, we will cooperate with you to clean up some gangs in the dock area that abuse violence too much. The gangs that the people just mentioned all meet the criteria, and even James Damody, who assisted in accepting bribes through violence, I think it is necessary to eliminate him.”

Well……

Wayne was initially a little surprised. This guy was clearly a gangster himself, yet he could describe things so elegantly and refinedly.

But upon further reflection, the Tutto community does indeed have the right to make such a assessment.

According to the intelligence team's investigation into the gangs in the dock area, the Tuto gang's main business was actually cargo transshipment, belonging to the "doing business" category.
They not only had little desire for territory, but also despised the type of gangs fighting each other for it, making them more like the "escort agencies" that Wayne remembered.

Wayne suddenly realized that he probably wouldn't be able to become the "King of the Docklands" that Lina had previously complained about.

This place is a mess; we'll probably have to go back to the feudal system in the future.

(End of this chapter)