Chapter 663: Differentiation
Humans often carelessly “label” others.
For example, in many pub stories, gangsters are always depicted as vicious.
People easily describe them as scar-faced thugs or as “lawless,” “taciturn,” and “ruthless” individuals dressed in black clothes, black trousers, and black hats.
—In reality, how could all gangsters be like that?
But it must be said,
“Stereotypes” can sometimes be incredibly accurate.
Under Wayne’s vague statements and the backing of the Tuto Gang’s friendly forces, the various mob bosses present were momentarily intimidated.
Thus, a classic scene from gangster stories quickly unfolded in the room— “All brothers in words, all brothers in testimony.”
The relationship between the Dock Area gangs was certainly not that good, and the situation had not yet deteriorated to the point where gangs needed to expose each other’s secrets to survive.
However, just as in the workplace, whoever doesn't attend a department gathering becomes the focus of collective gossip, the Aierlan Gang had clearly caused a major disaster and implicated other gangs as targets for taxation.
Therefore, although the other mob bosses did not necessarily believe Wayne’s claims, they were all willing to actively provide clues about the Ireland Violent Group’s assets.
“O’Sullivan has controlled the Ireland community for some years now. Although his personal financial situation doesn’t seem particularly affluent, the entire Aierlan Gang actually controls many of the businesses and properties within it.”
The Tuto Gang leader, who called himself “Little Tuto,” successfully helped Wayne subtly shift the focus of everyone’s attention.
“If they provoked a big shot they shouldn’t have, leading to the City Hall targeting all gangs in the Dock Area, then we should all work together to quickly resolve this matter.”
His words quickly received active responses from some mob bosses.
Unlike the “hands-off” approach the gangs took when Wayne initially targeted the Sailor Gang, this time, several mob bosses seemed genuinely determined to exert effort, and even the usually slippery James Damody appeared somewhat moved.
This made Wayne somewhat doubt his understanding of the world—according to the intelligence gathered by the intelligence team, the Dock Area gangs shouldn’t be this united.
However, after listening for a while, Wayne quickly understood their little schemes:
Due to the large number of Ireland people in the community and their separate language system, so many Ireland illegal immigrants formed their own faction inside, which was equivalent to the Ireland Violent Group having its own “city wall.” The stability of their territory far exceeded that of other gangs.
This led to that area becoming almost a forbidden zone for other gangs. Protection fees couldn’t be collected, and businesses couldn’t expand into it at all. Even when James Damody previously tried to enter to help a certain black-hearted banker recover a loan, he was blocked by members of the Ireland Violent Group and the residents of the community.
It was practically a true “state within a state” in the Dock Area’s underworld.
The size of the Ireland Violent Group’s personnel ranked among the first tier in the Dock Area. Many gangs had previously been powerless and dared not speak out, despite their anger.
Now, with a relatively formal pretext, they wanted to seize the opportunity to swarm in and completely dismantle the “border” of the Ireland community. This was no longer just targeting the Ireland Violent Group, but that entire undeveloped “blue ocean market.”
To quote one of the mob bosses, “The Dock Area is still within the territory of the Federation. How can we allow those Ireland people to band together and exclude Americans here?! This time, we can just sacrifice the Aierlan Gang to appease the situation and let them know whose territory the Dock Area truly is.”
Wayne did not spoil their fun; he simply silently recorded the information about the Ireland Violent Group revealed by the mob bosses.
Then he quickly noticed a problem: “Wait a minute, the explicit reason the City Hall is using this time is to collect taxes from gangs. Haven’t you expanded the scope too much? Those Ireland people in the community are not entirely equivalent to the Ireland Violent Group.”
The Ireland community included several communities, and the specific businesses involved all aspects of life, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation. Of course, there would be all kinds of shops and small vendors there, and the Ireland Violent Group might also collect some protection fees because of this.
But those couldn’t all be their gang’s businesses, could they?
Are you perhaps making fun of me?
These mob bosses also seemed very straightforward: “We’re not very clear about the internal situation of their community. The specific vetting will certainly still need to be handled by you, Mr. Wayne. But you can rest assured that as long as they dare to clash with your people, our manpower will all help. This time, we must ensure they are completely broken up.”
Wayne thought for a moment and tentatively asked, “According to what I understand, the Sailor Gang also participated in the attack on the Cathedral Monks last time. Will you help then too?”
At this, they indeed became less enthusiastic again. “Everyone knows, Mr. Wayne, that you have a personal grudge with the Sailor Gang. Even without the City Hall’s taxation, your Detective Agency probably wouldn’t let them off. However, we are also on your side in this matter, Mr. Wayne.”
Alright… I knew I couldn’t count on you.
Once the new members of the Detective Agency complete their onboarding training in the next two days, and the intelligence team has initially verified all the information,
As long as a relatively reliable total amount can be gathered, they will directly take people to the Sailor Gang and the Ireland Violent Group to deliver tax notices.
After that, it will be overt surveillance. If they fail to complete the supplementary payment within the deadline, they can all be rounded up and taken away to assist with the investigation.
The “great war” that these mob bosses envisioned, if it were to happen, would occur around that time.
However, what Wayne wanted now, after causing so much trouble, was no longer a “great war.”
He wanted a successful “precedent,” and then use it to slowly tell the other gangs—you stomp, you also go numb.
As for the idea of these mob bosses dismantling the Ireland community, it really did give Wayne a wake-up call.
So many Ireland people,
After the Ireland Violent Group is cleared out, will it turn into a big war between them and other gangs?
At that time, don’t let this blame be traced back to the Detective Agency…
…
When Wayne left James Damody’s lair, the Tuto Gang’s friendly force excused himself by saying he was going the same way as Wayne, and they both took their leave.
Both of them boarded Wayne’s carriage, with his own carriage following behind. At this point, his narrative had completely changed:
“According to Mr. Beaton’s wishes, we will cooperate with you in clearing out some gangs in the Dock Area that are overly abusive of violence. The gangs those few were from actually all meet the conditions. Even James Damody, who assisted in violent extortion, I believe needs to be cleared out.”
Hmm…
Wayne was initially a bit surprised. This guy, despite being a gangster himself, could articulate things so elegantly and out of the ordinary.
But upon further thought, the Tuto Gang indeed had the qualifications to make such an assessment.
According to the intelligence team’s investigation into the Dock Area gangs, the Tuto Gang’s main business was cargo transshipment, belonging to the “business-oriented” type.
Not only did they have no desire for territory, but they were also the type who disliked gangs fighting over territory. Their style was closer to Wayne’s impression of a “security escort agency.”
Wayne suddenly felt that he probably wouldn’t be able to become the “King of the Dock Area” that Lina had complained about earlier.
This place was chaotic, and in the future, it might still need to adopt a “feudal system” to work.
