Chapter 675: Individual Considerations

Under the scorching sun, Wayne, accompanied by Mr. Paul of the Rabbit Gang, went to James Damody's home to rally the gangs still willing to send people to the meeting, emphasizing the principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Inessa and Lina, meanwhile, split into two groups, one overt and one covert, to confirm the exact casualty list from last night.

Their goal was twofold: to ascertain how many innocent people were affected and, incidentally, to mark off names on the 'death list' from the target list Bishop Tiriel had provided—regardless of how it happened, some individuals had indeed died, and that counted as a success for the Detective Agency.

In comparison, the Rabbit Gang's composition was quite unique; Bishop Tiriel's list included many mid-level gang leaders or suspected professional killers, with some gang bosses even on it themselves.

But the Rabbit Gang was not involved at all.

Even with their active cooperation in this tax collection operation, the Detective Agency would likely struggle to find a reason to directly confront them.

As a leader of a major gang, Mr. Paul's position appeared more detached than O'Sullivan of the Ireland Violent Group; many gang leaders were far more respectful to Mr. Paul than to Wayne.

Wayne had some suspicions but wasn't in a hurry for now, merely reiterating the Detective Agency's stance amidst the general debate:

"Our position has always been consistent. The Detective Agency's current mission is to collect taxes and maintain basic order in the Dock Area during this period.

As for who wants whose territory, they can go seize it themselves.

"The Detective Agency does not want territory and, in principle, does not intervene in gang conflicts. However, if anyone harms innocent people, we may treat everyone equally.

Your local connections should be broader than mine; getting people out of the Police Station might be easier than troubling our Detective Agency."

To express goodwill, Wayne also issued a blank check to the gang leaders present: "On the premise that you respect the Detective Agency's interests, we are not opposed to cooperating with you.

If anyone can set a trap to lure a large number of the Ireland Violent Group's forces with a small number of people, our agents will also take them away."

Let them achieve that first.

What slightly displeased Wayne was that the Sailor Gang seemed to have vanished these past two days.

Despite the massive commotion in the Dock Area last night, they neither assaulted anyone nor were assaulted.

...

In the city of Richmond, some people were also calculating the various losses in the Dock Area from last night.

Banker Schwartz was currently sitting in a carriage heading to the Church Hospital, followed by another carriage containing his butler with a gift of apology and a designer with blueprints for the Cathedral's renovation.

The gift was for that cursed church monk, who had finally regained consciousness these past two days.

Reportedly, due to proper treatment, his cognitive abilities were still intact, but because he had relied solely on liquid food for nutrition during his coma, he appeared to have lost a lot of weight and was still recuperating in bed.

Although the other monk was not seriously injured and had already returned to work, his father was a commander in a Federal Cavalry Regiment, a figure in the army on the verge of becoming a "general."

After some deliberation, Schwartz had his butler prepare identical apology gifts for them.

He had personally handed one of them to the other monk earlier at the Cathedral.

The gifts themselves were not expensive, merely carved stone holy emblems and hardcover copies of the holy book, with a layer of banknotes totaling $1000 tucked beneath the padding.

Compared to the previously promised expansion and renovation of the Cathedral, the recently agreed-upon complete refurbishment of the Church Hospital, and donations to several monasteries, this expense was negligible.

Due to the negligence of that foolish account manager, after the incident at the hearing, he had completely offended Secretary of State Pryor, and thus had no choice but to increase his investment in Mr. Walter and the Cathedral.

Now, trying to reconcile with the enraged Mr. Pryor would likely incur an unbearable cost, and the result would merely be a softening of their relationship—too uneconomical.

Fortunately, the well-informed Mr. Walter had already given him a promise before leaving for Washington D.C., and the comatose monk had finally awakened.

The Cathedral side had no intention of pursuing the matter further.

With their support, even if Mr. Pryor was displeased with him, it would be difficult for him to find an opportunity to act, giving him time to continue seeking leverage to prevent Mr. Pryor from acting against him without restraint.

Power only lasts for a while; only wealth can be eternal.

Mr. Pryor was not without other competitors in politics. Since he had completely offended him, he could only strive to fund his competitors.

Spending the same, or even less, money could not only eliminate an adversary but also gain more friendships, and then earn returns from that.

Lost in thought until this point, Mr. Schwartz collected his thoughts and continued to inquire about last night's situation from the person sharing his carriage:

"It sounds like the Aierlan Gang and those smaller gangs have suffered considerable losses. Your secret coordination is effective; try to make them fight more intensely. Are our goods all right?"

The messenger from the Dock Area nodded in reply, "The Aierlan Gang arranged many people last night specifically to deal with the Sailor Gang, but they all came up empty-handed.

We had secretly moved all valuable items to other warehouses in advance, and the remaining personnel guarded there all night.

Currently, only one empty warehouse and two empty houses suffered minor damage, and some Aierlan people were even arrested for arson."

Mr. Schwartz nodded: "Well done. Let those gangs take the lead in attracting the Aierlan Gang's wrath.

For now, there's no need to confront those tax collectors. The Sailor Gang's role is merely to help us handle miscellaneous tasks that are inconvenient to deal with directly; the smuggling channels are the most important."

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

"However, the actions of that Detective Agency are looking more and more suspicious. While those gangs are busy fighting with the Aierlan Gang, you can gradually start spreading rumors.

Once the Aierlan Gang is dealt with, they will be next. Afterwards, we will try to occupy a place in the Aierlan community.

The people from City Hall will find it difficult to extend their reach directly into that area; there is no more ideal secret warehouse in the entire Dock Area."

"I have already discussed it with James Damody. That Wayne currently trusts him more, so I asked him to gather some gang leaders for a discussion around noon today—which is probably right now.

Some gangs have already expressed dissatisfaction with their people being arrested by them, and we will make good use of this matter."

As these words were spoken, the impromptu meeting held at James Damody's house had already concluded.

Two gang leaders, conveniently going the same way, left together in a carriage.

One of them wondered, "Mr. Paul of the Rabbit Gang actually chose to side with the 'Red Armbands.' Can these debt collectors' words even be trusted?"

The other also seemed undecided: "We'll see if they and the Sailor Gang also get involved then. At least one thing Wayne said is true: they have authorization from City Hall and can only maintain neutrality on the surface.

They cannot unilaterally help a certain gentleman in the city handle private matters, otherwise they might be abandoned by all parties simultaneously—they cannot replace us; there are some jobs they cannot do."

"That makes sense. At most, there will be another 'Rabbit Gang' in the Dock Area. At least they won't care about the businesses on the docks."

"But who exactly is Mr. Paul's backer? I tried to inquire before, but never got an answer.

If some of the things the Rabbit Gang does were to be published in the newspapers, those citizens with nowhere to show their kindness would probably be outraged by now, wouldn't they?"

"I heard he's backed by the Letcher family at least. They're not someone we can afford to offend. But fortunately, the Rabbit Gang never interferes with other gangs' affairs."

"The Letcher family?" The latter paused, "The Gov...ernor?"

"Shh! Reportedly, it's not just him, but also some other big figures whose names cannot be casually mentioned—those are truly important people.

So, regarding this tax collection matter, it's better for us to cooperate.

There's no need to concern ourselves with why the Aierlan Gang is being targeted this time; in any case, their absence is a good thing for us."

"I can't let them go. Their people killed my cousin and nephew last night, smashed my kerosene shop, and almost burned down the adjacent warehouse."

"Then you lost a lot of money, didn't you? Any other losses?"

"Several subordinates were also arrested in the Aierlan community, and that Wayne definitely won't release them. Alas."

Only his cousin's death made him slightly happy; the entire gang now truly belonged to him.

"Those Aierlan people really deserve to die."

It sounded like this guy's losses weren't big enough. If he could take the opportunity to annex their gang, then once that Detective Agency leaves, plus the Sailor Gang's territory, several docks could be connected, and he would be considered a major gang in the Dock Area then.