Chapter 664: The Choice

After chatting with 'Little Tuto' for a while and discussing some details of their cooperation, Wayne dropped him off midway and then drove to the Ireland settlement.

Sanders, who was driving, had already put on his 'Red Armbands' from when he was screening for the plague. It seemed this item was still effective in the Dock Area. The carriage didn't speed up, but no one came out to cause trouble, though a few on the roadside deliberately avoided them.

Sellen Guide, on the other hand, was truly afraid of Wayne.

After the carriage stopped outside Sellen Guide's house, he probably heard the sound and came to investigate. Half of his head quickly flashed past the second-floor window, then he turned and climbed out a window on the other side of the house and ran off.

Unfortunately, Sanders had already been to this place several times and was no longer unfamiliar with the surrounding roads.

He immediately felt that Sellen Guide's reaction was not right. The carriage immediately turned around and changed direction, deliberately making a detour to wait for him in the opposite direction.

By the time Sellen Guide reappeared, he had already run to the corner of the next street.

After hiding by the wall, he leaned against it, propping his hands on his knees and panting, while also craning his neck back to look around.

Then, after Sellen Guide caught his breath and turned his neck back, he suddenly looked up and noticed the Detective Agency carriage already parked on the side of the road at that corner—Sanders had deliberately slowed down earlier to muffle the sound, wanting exactly this effect.

Wayne, at this moment, was still feeling his pulse, maintaining a composed demeanor: “About 500 yards, a sprint taking over 3 minutes. That would be a failing grade in our Detective Agency's speed assessment. I'm not in a hurry today, do you plan to keep challenging me?”

Sellen Guide nearly choked on his breath at this point. There was no need to delve into whether he felt it would be impolite to keep running, or if he genuinely couldn't run anymore.

In any case, he almost gasped for air trying to speak, and for a moment could only lean against the wall, weakly shaking his head and waving his hands.

After his breathing stabilized a bit, Sellen Guide honestly lowered his head and got into the carriage.

Wayne was a little curious about the change in his attitude. “What happened to you again?”

Sellen Guide was still a bit furtive even after getting into the carriage, glancing out through the glass on the carriage wall, his expression a bit speechless:

“Mr. Wayne, after I went to see Mr. O'Sullivan with you last time, I thought you two had finally completely reconciled.

“But then last night, rumors spread throughout the bars in the Dock Area, saying that Mr. O'Sullivan and his people had offended a big shot they shouldn't have, and they were doomed this time, and your Detective Agency would be the 'knife' actually stabbing them.

“You and Mr. O'Sullivan keep reconciling and falling out. A small fry like me truly doesn't dare to get involved anymore…”

Wayne understood. He first knocked on the carriage partition, then didn't respond directly, but continued to ask: “I remember you said you grew up in the community? You should be very familiar with their gang's business and property situation.”

“Our community is a bit different from other gang territories…”

Sellen Guide evaded the question, “Some laborers can continue to live even if they move to a different block, but if we leave our fellow countrymen, we might not even find a place to live. What you're asking is almost for me to completely betray Mr. O'Sullivan and his people…”

Wayne nodded upon hearing this: “That's exactly what I mean, no 'almost'. In fact, even if you don't say anything, when our Detective Agency investigates and finds out on our own, we can still say publicly that you told me—conversely, if you cooperate voluntarily, we will at least keep your secret and provide protection.”

This seemed to have touched Sellen Guide's bottom line. His expression instantly turned cold:

“Mr. Wayne, I am an Ireland person. You may not understand what that truly means, but Mr. O'Sullivan and his people are at least the same as us. If they fall completely, other gangs will never treat us better.”

“We Ireland people have no homeland to return to, and we used to have a harder time in the Dock Area than other laborers. I could expose some of the wrongdoings the gang committed to you before, forcing them to change for the better, but the scale of this operation is clearly different. I cannot let all my fellow countrymen ultimately pay the price for it.”

Wayne felt that Sellen Guide had a point. He had met several gang leaders today, and almost half of them had expressed willingness to help eliminate the Ireland Violent Group, even including the 'friendly force' Tuto Gang. It was clear that there might be even more gangs secretly assisting.

However, Wayne's hope was for the Dock Area to become 'peaceful'. Of course, he wouldn't let off those who instigated and participated in the attacks, but he had no grudge against the Ireland people:

“Sellen, have you ever thought that while I have a grudge against the current 'Ireland Violent Group', it doesn't mean I will help other gangs target the ordinary people in your community. Without O'Sullivan, can't you choose a new leader among yourselves?”

“Huh?” Sellen Guide was clearly a bit confused.

Wayne currently only had a general idea: “Things are not convenient to explain in detail for a while, but in short, I am a person who is willing to abide by the rules, and I am also willing to guarantee the living space of innocent people. Do you remember I once said I would offer you a job? Our Detective Agency recently landed a big deal, which might provide work for many people—I hope you can distinguish, our Detective Agency is not a gang.”

“Uh…”

Sellen Guide pondered the meaning of Wayne's words, and the carriage fell silent for a moment.

Then he seemed to want to make the atmosphere less awkward, so he temporarily chose to change the subject, “Where are you taking me?”

Wayne's response was easygoing: “To see Mr. O'Sullivan, of course, to have you as a translator.”

“What?!”

Sellen Guide hadn't even closed his mouth, as if for a moment he felt that among 'him', 'Wayne', and 'the entire world', at least one of them must have gone crazy.

...

This time, in the Ireland Violent Group's lair, the atmosphere was a bit tense.

Mr. O'Sullivan's office now seemed even more crowded. Even if Wayne pulled out his revolver and shot one person at a time, he couldn't take care of everyone inside and outside the door without reloading.

O'Sullivan sat behind his desk, toying with a gold coin, his tone slightly accusatory: “Mr. Wayne, the news I've received these past two days is completely different from what we discussed before.”

“I said I would deal with everyone involved in the attack. It's just that the Sailor Gang's priority in my mind is higher than yours, it's merely a matter of order.”

Wayne shook his head and sat down on the sofa, unconcerned. After speaking, he felt O'Sullivan was a bit weak, and pulled out a 1-dollar silver coin from his pocket, which danced much more smoothly and lively on his fingertips.

It was Wayne's action of reaching into his pocket that made the gang members standing beside O'Sullivan a bit agitated, feeling as if they almost pulled out their weapons.

Wayne felt that these onlookers were a bit in the way, “How about they all go out first? There are some things we might be able to discuss alone, or we can each keep two people. It's up to you.”

“Do you think you still have a chance to speak?” O'Sullivan countered.

“The administrative order for tax collection was issued by the City Hall. Even if you kill me now, new tax collectors will still come later, and the attitude of those gentlemen in Richmond will probably change as well.”

“Compared to that, I might not be the worst choice. And someone has already seen the Red Armbands on my bodyguard. What you're doing is openly attacking a public official, which is more serious than the previous attack.”

Wayne had a matter-of-fact expression, “There are so many people in the Dock Area who want to deal with you. At least I'm willing to come to your door to talk. If I don't have a chance to speak, then you won't have one later either.”

A visibly angry subordinate took a step forward. Wayne tossed the silver coin in his hand backward. After Sanders caught it, his clothes tightened, and the silver coin, when dropped to the floor, was already visibly deformed.

Wayne wasn't playing with him like that. Under the gaze of the subordinates, he bent down and picked up the silver coin again, “Make up your mind quickly, I still need to continue investigating your gang's financial situation later.”

O'Sullivan made a gesture, and everyone except the two subordinates behind him started to leave.

Sellen Guide had originally wanted to follow the crowd out, but Sanders grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

Hmph,

O'Sullivan always likes to pull this kind of stunt.

Standing around in such a messy crowd, even all of them combined weren't as unsettling as Lina pretending to speak 'foreign languages'.

Always with these superficial theatrics, who are they trying to scare?