While in America, the system says Roosevelt was an emperor.

The world is vast, but making money is the most important thing.

From the moment Tim got in Tom's way of making money, Tim was on Tom's kill list.

But Tom wouldn't do it in the meeting room, much less kill someone with his own hands.

Tim doesn't deserve it, he doesn't deserve to let Tom get his hands dirty.

Not only is killing someone with your own hands beneath your dignity, but it also leaves evidence against you.

Tom couldn't leave any dirt on the mob bosses, and neither could Vito the Godfather.

Tom, one of the mob bosses, was fearless, but who knew that after Tom climbed to the top, his future political enemies might collude with the mob bosses to set him up?

If you are upright, you have nothing to fear; it's always better to have a relatively clean background.

Tom pulled Tim up from his seat and kicked him next to Tim's two henchmen.

Tom pointed at Tim and cursed:

"I no longer care about right or wrong. In short, he's getting in my way while I'm collecting taxes, so only one of us can live."

"Either I kill him, or he kills me."

"I, Tom Smith, await his killing me."

"As long as he has the ability."

"Hehe~"

Tom smiled and opened his arms, as if he didn't care about the Peaky Breasts at all, or even about life and death.

Tim's two henchmen were so frightened that their tongues tingled, and they were speechless for a moment, unable to move their hands or feet.

Tom's face darkened, and he roared at his two henchmen:

"Get out of here with your boss!"

The two henchmen returned to their bodies and quickly carried Tim away.

After the three members of the Razor Gang left, Tom returned to the main seat and said as if nothing had happened:

"Now things are simple and clear:"

"The central constituency belongs to the Corleone family;"

"The Eastern constituency belongs to the Fu Hing Association;"

"The southern constituency will be split equally between the Devil's Stick and the Mother of God."

"The western constituency belongs to the Blood Lions."

"The northern constituency belongs to the Kovic family."

"Eight hundred thousand dollars per constituency, ten armed tax collectors."

"Now that I've finished speaking, who agrees and who disagrees?"

The six gang leaders present all said in unison:

"I agree."

Tom nodded, then waved and said:

"That's all for now. Meeting adjourned. Go back and gather your men. Once you have ten men, come find Father Vito. He will be in charge of the handover to you."

"Godfather Vito will also teach you how to use these ten men."

"At the same time, I want to show my sincerity by not accepting money until each constituency is settled."

Upon hearing this, the Blood Lion Gang and the Kovic family's eyes lit up.

Their two constituencies differ from the other three in that they both need to take down another gang;

In particular, the Blood Lions are facing the Razorfen Downs, which have a "hidden power source"—the British Razorfen Downs headquarters.

Even with the assistance of ten armed tax collectors, the gunman would still suffer casualties, and the resettlement allowance would be a considerable expense.

If they weren't in a rush to pay, the financial pressure on the Blood Lion Gang and the Kovic family would be much less.

Tom continued:

"Once the constituency is unified, I welcome everyone to default on their debts and not pay."

"I have almost no trust in you guys to begin with, so it would be better to switch to a gang that I trust."

Tom's words were half-joking and half-threatening, but everyone broke out in a cold sweat; no one dared to take them as a joke.

Tom's "suicidal" demeanor just now truly shocked them.

Everyone nodded in agreement and then left the meeting room to find the person.

Soon, only representatives from the three factions remained in the meeting room—

Tom, Vito the Godfather, Wu Ailian.

Wu Ailian is a woman in her thirties who looks like an ordinary working-class Chinese woman. Her skin is tanned, and she is out of shape and slightly overweight, unlike the stereotypical image of a gang leader.

In Tom's previous life's film and entertainment works, female gang leaders were usually either cool, handsome, and beautiful women, or mature and beautiful wives.

In contrast, Wu Ailian, apart from having a name that sounds like a beautiful woman, is not good-looking at all.

Seeing that only Tom and Godfather Vito were left, Wu Ailian took the initiative to explain why she stayed:

"Mr. Tom, even before you started collecting taxes, our Fuxing Association was the one you said was in charge of the eastern constituency."

"Over the past few years, many tax officials have come to discuss tax collection issues in our constituencies with us."

There's an old saying in my hometown, Dongda University: "A new broom sweeps clean."

"It's normal for you, as a new official, to want to start a tax-collecting campaign."

"But a one-time charge of 800,000 is far beyond the normal tax amount."

"Isn't your newfound official fire burning a little too brightly?"

Even without using his 5.0 intelligence, Tom, as a veteran of Dongda University, instantly understood Wu Ailian's meaning—it wasn't that he couldn't give it, but eight hundred thousand US dollars was too much.

Unlike the other four constituencies, the Fu Hing Society in the Eastern constituency is the most unique.

The Fuxing Association already dominates the entire eastern constituency and doesn't need Tom's help to be the constituency leader. Why would they give Tom money for nothing?

Fuxing Society could bribe officials to ensure their safety, but in previous years no one had ever asked for such an exorbitant amount as Tom.

Before Tom could speak, Wu Ailian continued:

"If it's a similar amount to previous years, I can make the decision right now and accept your suggestion."

"Unfortunately, I am just a branch leader and do not have the authority to make decisions on such a large matter as eight hundred thousand dollars."

"Here's what we'll do. On behalf of the Grand Master, I'll extend an invitation to you. You can set the time. Whenever you're free, come to our Fuxing Society headquarters, where all of us Grand Masters will host a banquet to discuss this matter with you."

Wu Ailian spoke tactfully, neither agreeing nor refusing, essentially leaving a "to be continued" message.

Moreover, Wu Ailian had just given Tom a lot of face in front of all the forces, and only said this when no one was around;

She found a good excuse: "I, Wu Ailian, am just a branch leader. I am a nobody and have no say in anything."

Finally, he adopted a very humble attitude, representing the head of the guild to host a banquet and invite all the guild leaders to discuss the matter, giving Tom a lot of face.

After this series of punches, Tom really couldn't find a reason to be angry.

Tom, with an IQ of 5.0, instantly understood what the woman was thinking.

To put it bluntly, what Wu Ailian just said was to test Tom's strength.

If Wu Ailian couldn't manage the taxes, the Grand Master wouldn't have sent her.

Now that the Razor Claws and Tom are locked in a life-or-death struggle, it's a good opportunity for Wu Ailian to test the true value of Tom's credentials.

If Tom can weather this storm, the Fuxing Society is willing to make some concessions, but if he can't withstand the Razor Gang, the Fuxing Society won't be taken advantage of.

After Wu Ailian finished speaking, she got up and left, leaving Tom and Godfather Vito behind.

Godfather Vito looked at Tom with some concern and said:

"While I don't think the Peaky Blinders will amount to anything, we must be wary of individual assassinations."

"Do you need me to arrange a safe house for you?"

Tom waved his hand and said:

"Please help protect my family."

"You don't need to worry about my safety, Godfather Vito, and I don't believe you can completely protect me."

"Don't worry, I have the safest safe house."

"Don't even mention the Razorfen Downs, even a thousand Pierre Capones wouldn't be able to break into my safe house."