New Gods of North America.

Chapter 675 Each Person's Trade-offs

Under the blazing sun, Wayne, accompanied by Mr. Paul from the Rabbit Gang, went to James Damody's house to urge the gang members who were still willing to send people to the appointment to "find the culprit and settle the score."
Inessa and Lina split up, one openly and the other covertly, to confirm the specific list of casualties from last night. They wanted to find out how many innocent people were implicated, and also to check off the "book of life and death" on the target list given to them by the Bishop of Tyrell—regardless of the process, some guys did die, so that would be credited to the detective agency.

In comparison, the Rabbit Gang's composition is quite unique. The list provided by the Bishop of Tyrell includes many mid-level gang leaders or suspected professional assassins, and some gang bosses are even on the list themselves.

But the Rabbit Gang has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Even with this tax collection operation, given the Rabbit Gang's level of cooperation, the detective agency would probably find it difficult to find a reason to directly overturn their table.
As the head of a major gang, Mr. Paul's status was far more transcendent than that of O'Sullivan of the Airland Gang. Many gang leaders treated Mr. Paul with far more respect than they did when facing Wayne.

Wayne had some guesses, but he wasn't in a hurry. He simply reiterated the detective agency's position amidst the controversy:

"Our stance has always been consistent: the detective agency's current task is to collect taxes and maintain basic order in the dock area during this period. As for who wants whose territory, let them take it themselves."

"The detective agency doesn't need territory and, in principle, doesn't get involved in gang fights. However, if anyone harms an innocent person, we might treat them the same way. You guys probably have more connections in the local area than I do. Getting people out of the police station directly might be easier than making things difficult for our detective agency."

To express his goodwill, Wayne also made a promise to the gang leaders present: "As long as you respect the interests of the detective agency, we don't mind cooperating with you. Whoever can set up a trap and lure a large number of members of the Ellan gang with a small number of people, our people will take them away as well."

Let them do it first.

What slightly displeased Wayne was that the Sailors' Gang seemed to have disappeared these past two days.
Despite the commotion in the dock area last night, they neither assaulted nor were assaulted.

……

In Richmond, people were also weighing the losses suffered by various parties in the dock area last night.
Mr. Schwartz, the banker, was sitting in a carriage on his way to the church hospital, followed by another carriage carrying his butler with an apology gift and the designer with blueprints for the cathedral renovation.

The gift was for that damned church monk; he only recently regained consciousness, and supposedly, thanks to proper treatment, his cognitive abilities are still intact.
However, because he was in a coma, he could only rely on others to feed him liquid food to maintain his nutrition, and he appeared to have lost a lot of weight. He is still resting in bed.

The other monk, though unharmed and already back to work, had a father who was a commander of a federal cavalry regiment—a figure in the army who was practically on the verge of becoming a general.

After a brief deliberation, Schwartz instructed his butler to prepare the same apology gift for them, and he had already personally handed one of them over in the cathedral earlier.

The gifts themselves weren't particularly valuable; they were merely a stone emblem carved by an artisan and a beautifully bound holy book, with a layer of banknotes underneath, each totaling $1000.

Compared to the previously promised expansion and renovation of the cathedral, the recently agreed-upon complete renovation of the church hospital, and donations to several monasteries, this expense is nothing.

Because of that foolish account manager's negligence, which led to that scene at the hearing, he has now completely offended Secretary of State Pryor, and therefore has to increase pressure on Mr. Walter and the cathedral.

Trying to reconcile with the furious Mr. Pryor now would likely come at a price too high to bear, and the result would only be a slight easing of tensions between them—too much of a loss.

Fortunately, the well-informed Mr. Walter had made a promise to himself before heading to Washington, D.C., and the unconscious monk finally awoke. The cathedral decided not to pursue the matter any further.
With their support, even if Mr. Pryor is dissatisfied with him, it will be difficult for him to find an opportunity to lash out. He will still have time to continue to find leverage so that Mr. Pryor cannot act against him without restraint.

Power can only last for a time, only wealth is eternal.

Mr. Pryor wasn't without rivals in politics. Since he had already thoroughly offended him, the only option was to try and fund his competitors. With the same or even less money, he could not only eliminate an adversary but also gain more friendships, and then profit from it. Lost in thought about this, Mr. Schwartz finally snapped out of his reverie and continued to inquire about the previous night's events from the people traveling with him.

"It sounds like the Ellan Gang and those smaller gangs have suffered considerable losses. Your covert coordination is still effective; try to make their infighting even more intense. Are our goods all alright?"

The messenger from the dock area nodded in reply, "The Ellan Gang sent a lot of men last night to specifically target the Sailors' Gang, but they all came up empty-handed. We secretly moved all the valuables to other warehouses beforehand, and the remaining men stayed there all night to guard them. So far, only one empty warehouse and two empty houses have suffered minor damage, and some Ellans were arrested while setting the fires."

Mr. Schwartz nodded: "Well done. Let those gangs take the lead and draw the ire of the Elland Gang. For now, there's no need to confront the tax collectors. The Sailors' Gang's role is just to handle some miscellaneous matters that are inconvenient for us to handle directly. The smuggling channels are the most important thing."

"Don't worry, I know what to do."

"However, the detective agency's actions are becoming increasingly suspicious. While those gangs are busy fighting with the Ellan gang, you can start spreading the word. Once you've dealt with the Ellan gang, they'll be next. After that, we'll try to secure a piece of land in the Ellan community. It will be difficult for the city hall to directly infiltrate there. There's no better place for a secret warehouse in the entire dock area."

“I’ve already discussed it with James Damody. Wayne still trusts him quite a bit. I’ve asked him to gather some gang leaders around noon today—around this time—to discuss the matter. Some gangs have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the arrest of their people, and we’ll make good use of this.”

At the very moment these words were spoken, the impromptu gathering at James Damody's house had already ended.
Two gang leaders happened to be going the same way, so they left together in a carriage.

One of them asked doubtfully, "Mr. Paul from the Rabbit Gang actually chose to side with the 'Red Armband' gang. Can we still trust what these debt collectors say?"

The other one also seemed undecided: "We'll see if they and the Sailors' Gang get involved later. Wayne was right about one thing: they're authorized by the city hall, so they can only maintain neutrality on the surface. They can't handle private matters for a certain gentleman in the city on their own, otherwise they might be abandoned by all sides—they can't replace us, there are some things they can't do."

“That makes sense. At worst, another ‘Rabbit Gang’ will appear in the dock area, but at least they won’t care about the business on the docks.”

"But who exactly are Mr. Paul's supporters? I've tried to find out before, but without any results. If the things that the Rabbit Gang has done were published in the newspapers, those citizens who have nowhere to show their kindness would probably be outraged by now, right?"

“I heard that he has at least the Lecher family backing him, which is not something we can mess with. But fortunately, the Rabbit Gang never interferes in the affairs of other gangs.”

"The Leitcher family?" The latter paused, "The...governor?"

"Shh! It's said that it's not just him, but also some other big shots whose names can't be mentioned—they're all truly powerful figures. So, it's best if we cooperate on this taxation issue. We don't need to worry about why the Ellan Gang is being targeted this time; their absence is a good thing for us."

“I will not let them get away with this. Their men killed my cousin and nephew last night, smashed my kerosene shop, and almost burned the warehouse next door to the ground.”

"So you lost a lot of money, right? Were there any other losses?"

"A few of my men were captured in the Ellan community, and Wayne certainly doesn't seem willing to release them. Sigh." Only his cousin's death brought him any slight joy; the entire gang was finally truly his now.

"Those Erlans really deserve to die." It sounds like this guy's losses aren't big enough. If he could take the opportunity to absorb their gang, once that detective agency leaves and he adds the Sailors' territory, the docks could be connected into one area, and he would be considered a big gang in the dock area.

(End of this chapter)