Chapter 665: Frankness

"Mr. Wayne, what exactly do you want to do? Let's just be clear about it this time."

After the main group left, O'Sullivan, sitting behind his desk, had clearly lost patience and wanted Wayne to get straight to the point.

Wayne thought for a moment, then decided to discuss the outcome first, leaving the remaining side issues for later, depending on the situation:

"My demands have never changed. Everyone who instigated and participated in the attack must pay the price. The Sailor Gang framed me first, and I heard they were the ones who contacted you for the last attack, so they are my top priority.

"As for you and your gang, you are at least accomplices and accessories. Those who were aware beforehand and contributed will face legal consequences. The remaining people might have other options, but only after the taxes are collected—there's no reason for those who remain to continue enjoying illegal gains. So, my actions against your gang will not stop."

O'Sullivan was so infuriated he almost laughed, "Then what's there left for us to talk about? Let's find another time and place to meet."

"If we were to follow gang rules, after the last attack, I could have had you die in your sleep. Our Detective Agency has caused so many explosions in the Dock Area recently. You might not know exactly what we're doing, but you should know that we have official tacit approval for it, at least there are no technical difficulties."

Wayne didn't pay much attention to his provocation and continued to speak as he thought, "After the news of tax collection came out, many gangs in the Dock Area have been restless, eyeing your gang. If they all swarmed you, you might be able to retaliate against a few, but in the end, you would still inevitably lose power completely. From my intuition, many of them probably have old grudges with you, and not many of you might survive."

"So, we should surrender and make it easier for you to put a knife to our throats?" O'Sullivan seemed to have lost the will to communicate now, and his words became sarcastic.

Wayne, instead, nodded seriously, trying to pull him back: "I can understand how you feel. Because you previously revealed the warehouses controlled by the Sailor Gang and their involvement in smuggling, no matter how you plan to retaliate and respond later, at least for now, I am willing to offer you an outcome that is comparatively not so bad."

Noticing O'Sullivan's listening expression, Wayne paused briefly before continuing:

"I am a private detective, not running a gang. If you regularly read the newspapers, you might have seen news of our Detective Agency cooperating with the prosecutor.

"From existing precedents, gang members not directly convicted of murder in Virginia usually are not sentenced to hanging. Therefore, the outcome I can offer you is—if you eventually find yourselves at a dead end, you can choose to surrender to me or our people. We will take you to court; the prison sentences might not be short, but at least more people will survive."

O'Sullivan clearly didn't think that counted as a good outcome, "So, in that case, when I had people attack you with the Sailor Gang, I actually didn't leave you the option to 'survive'?"

Wayne had no interest in bickering with him. Feeling his throat dry, he stood up from the sofa, walked to the small cabinet by the window, found two inverted lowball glasses, and picked up a bottle to pour into them.

Since it was someone else's liquor, there was no need to ask if it suited the other person's taste. Wayne pushed one of the glasses over and sipped from the other:

"In short, at least I have no extra animosity towards Mr. O'Sullivan, nor towards the other ordinary people in your community.

"However, since some things have happened, some people must pay the price. Our Detective Agency's actions will not stop, and you clearly won't just sit there waiting to die. After this, we can probably only wish each other good luck."

The conversation had reached a point where it was essentially an open declaration of hostility.

However, communication between men is sometimes strange. After confirming "no quarter in battle," some people can still "share a golden cup."

O'Sullivan thought for a moment, picked up his glass, and stood up, walking to the window to look out next to Wayne, "You just said that there are other gangs in the Dock Area planning to conspire against us?"

"There are several that I know of currently, but I can't tell you directly. You can probably guess anyway."

Wayne regretted pouring too much at this point; the liquor tasted strange. He raised his glass slightly, "What kind of liquor is this?"

"Distilled tequila. If you don't like it, there's whiskey in the cabinet." O'Sullivan's mood seemed to be slowly calming down. "From what you just said, our situation doesn't seem optimistic?"

"Mainly because you provoked me; otherwise, it might still not be a big deal."

Wayne first boasted a little, then became serious, "The overall structure of the Dock Area is not allowed to change easily. I guess the fact that the proposal for tax collection was allowed indicates that among the gentlemen with influence in Richmond, the majority are dissatisfied with the status quo. Otherwise, opposing voices would have certainly emerged long ago.

"I only truly realized the uniqueness of your community today. I estimate the situation with the Rabbit Gang is similar; their night business is so good that many people are probably invested. But compared to them, your community is a bit too exclusive, which makes people envious. So, if the situation is right, they certainly won't miss the opportunity."

O'Sullivan's face was expressionless: "How exactly do you plan to deal with our gang?"

Wayne spoke frankly: "There's nothing too special. Just like dealing with the Sailor Gang, we'll collect clues, investigate the assets you actually control, and if there's an opportunity, arrest people on the spot at smuggling sites. Once the amount is sufficient, we'll mobilize personnel to formally arrest all your gang members.

"Then, those involved in other murder cases will be convicted, those who report and expose will receive reduced sentences, and relatively clean individuals can be released. Even if you choose to pay the full taxes and fines, your gang will likely be severely weakened, and new gangs might emerge later, but the faces within will probably be completely replaced."

"That sounds like the police handling a case." O'Sullivan finally smiled faintly, "My people will cooperate with the tax collectors in performing their duties. As for whether they can find anything, that depends on your ability. I've been to the Police Station before, but some things, even if you investigate them, you might not dare to make public, and in the end, you'll still have to watch me get bailed out."

"Are you referring to Mr. Pryor? I'm aware of it." Wayne spoke vaguely, confirming that he really didn't like the liquor, and then chose to chug it down.

O'Sullivan's eyelids twitched slightly, but his expression remained unchanged, "Given your frankness today, if things become irreconcilable between us in the future, I might eventually give you a chance for a dignified exit."

Hmph, do you think you're that big fat Peter Clemensa?

If you dare to try again, it's not certain who will help whom maintain dignity then.

"Last time was because I was alone. If it comes to a formal firefight, your people probably won't stand a chance."

Wayne changed the subject, "By the way, a reminder for you: to create opportunities for other gangs, I will bring police personnel over again in no more than three days. The reason this time will be to request some members of your gang and the Sailor Gang to cooperate with investigations. The evidence is not enough yet, so at most, they can only detain you for 24 hours.

"But that's not the main point. The main point is that other gangs don't seem very interested in the Sailor Gang, and if your people openly resist arrest or are taken away directly, some people might not be able to resist taking action. I suggest you have all your subordinates go along to 'cooperate with the investigation' to avoid excessive losses."

O'Sullivan also chose to drink the liquor in his glass at this point: "I regret it now; I won't let you off easy then. But before that, those opportunists are even more annoying."

Wayne clinked his empty glass against O'Sullivan's, "Cheers?"

O'Sullivan still remembered what Wayne had just said. Their glasses lightly touched, "Good luck."

Okay, the instigation is over.

The Detective Agency should temporarily not be this guy's primary target.

World peace is, of course, a beautiful vision,

But since we're going with a feudal system, how can everyone be too "harmonious"?

That would be too much trouble to manage.

And more importantly, the reason Wayne tried to appear "open" was because there were witnesses present.

It didn't really matter what O'Sullivan thought. What was important was to prevent other Ireland people in the community from thinking the Detective Agency was targeting "all of them," to avoid them becoming hostile towards the Detective Agency.

Sometimes, rumors spread quietly are more easily believed than formal pronouncements.

For example, those who just left will probably start asking around soon.