Brooklyn, New York.
Inside a luxurious estate, Robert, Lundin, and the others were gathered around a card table, playing Texas Hold'em with Liu Ren.
Tossing his chips casually onto the felt, Liu Ren raised an eyebrow. "A hundred thousand!"
"Fuck, this crafty bastard is trying to bluff again!"
Glancing down at his hole cards, Robert shot a look at Lundin sitting nearby.
Spreading his hands with total indifference, Lundin chuckled. "It's just money. Are any of us hurting for cash? Still, I'm dying to know what he's holding!"
Lundin flicked his chips onto the table with a backhand toss, laughing along with him.
None of the men gathered there lacked money. Even millions of dollars were nothing more than digits on a ledger to them.
After all, their boots trod across every shade of New York—the black, the white, and all the gray in between!
"Call! And I'm raising!"
Watching the others speak in quick succession, Gatsby beamed, scooping up his chips and tossing them into the pot.
Ever since the "white moonlight" enshrined in his heart had shattered to pieces, Gatsby had taken Liu Ren's lead, frequenting strip clubs to "appreciate fine art."
Yet he had to admit that, in his eyes, Liu Ren's artistic sensibilities were remarkably high!
After all, if they didn't spend their money in those establishments, how would the owners ever pay the wages of all those homeless, wayward young women? Every time they performed these "good deeds," they were in effect warding off the arrival of an economic depression. They were practically living saints!
A Chao: *That's a brand-new spin on things—first time I've ever heard that one!*
Liu Ren: *Hold onto that wooden fish and keep knocking. Don't you dare stop!*
Watching A Chao turn over and fold his cards, Liu Ren couldn't help but grin. "Looks like you boys really want to test me! But against me, Liu Huaren, do you even have what it takes?"
With that, Liu Ren flipped over his hole cards. "Straight flush! Hahaha!"
Throwing his arms wide in triumph, he yelled, "No child cries forever, and no gambler loses every day!"
Just as Liu Ren was about to scoop up the pile of money, Lundin clamped his teeth down on his cigar. "Liu, take a look at Gatsby's hand first!"
"What?"
Twisting his head around, Liu Ren squinted with immediate suspicion.
In the next instant, Gatsby raised an apologetic eyebrow. "I'm terribly sorry, Boss. Royal flush."
"Fuck! Fuck! How the hell is that possible?!"
Staring dumbfounded at the royal flush, Liu Ren froze on the spot.
A second later, he shot up from his chair and turned toward the kitchen. "Don't any of you leave! I'm going to the kitchen to fetch your money!"
"Hey, hey, hey—run, run! The boss is losing his mind!"
Frantically stuffing stacks of hundred-dollar bills into his briefcase, Gatsby hollered at the top of his lungs.
Hearing Gatsby's shouting, Lundin frowned. "That guy really is the sorest loser in the world!"
"Is this your first day finding that out?"
Robert burst out laughing, looking at Lundin.
A moment later, Liu Ren reemerged brandishing a carving knife, scanning the room. "Where'd he go?"
"Fled!" A Chao explained with a shrug and an amused smirk.
"Damn it! Next time I'm locking the front door first!"
Snorting in frustration, Liu Ren could hardly believe his rotten luck—how had he managed to lose for so many days straight?
It wasn't that he hadn't considered cheating, but the problem was that during their last game, he had forgotten to verify the deck pattern, and everyone had stared at him in utter disbelief.
Had they not been on the same side, none of them would have ever agreed to play cards with such a scoundrel again.
Who on earth was stupid enough to cheat without even bothering to match the card backs?
Ordering the servants to clear the table, Liu Ren headed toward the office.
When he walked in, Lundin and Robert were already seated, idly chatting about something.
Liu Ren sank onto the sofa. The men lapsed into an unspoken, comfortable silence, enjoying the momentary peace.
Before long, Robert finished his cigar, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and spoke up first: "Municipal public works expenditures are running too high. The higher-ups are talking about budget cuts."
Hearing that, Liu Ren replied with complete nonchalance, "Did the money we fed them not fill their bellies? Or are they trying to hike their prices at the eleventh hour?"
"That's not what they mean, Liu. They think you're taking too big a bite! Fucking bastards!"
A cold glint flickered in Robert's eyes. He wasn't aiming his anger at Liu Ren, but at the bureaucrats pushing to slash the budget.
After all, he and Liu Ren had worked together for years; they were welded tight to the very same ship.
Out of all that municipal money, a generous portion went into their own pockets, while the rest was divvied up as dividends across numerous departments—or funneled away as black money.
If someone was suddenly unhappy with the numbers, it only meant their appetite had grown. And that was exceedingly unfriendly.
"Why make such a fuss over it? Just send a few men over from Brooklyn, and the problem solves itself."
Watching the two men converse, Lundin chimed in impassively, his gaze turning venomous.
He was now a deputy commissioner; take one more step, and the entire New York system would fall under his command.
Lundin hated trouble more than anyone, but that didn't apply to people trying to snatch meat from a tiger's jaws.
After all, Liu Ren had just brokered a massive 'donation' for him from the New York Syndicate this year. That was real political capital on his record!
Robert stared at Lundin in shock. "Fuck, Lundin, shouldn't that kind of talk come from Liu? When did you turn into such a brute?"
Watching Lundin—a high-ranking official within the establishment—act like a ruthless mobster, Robert was genuinely stunned.
"Damn it, Robert, what are you trying to say? Do you think I'm some mindless bastard who only knows how to murder people?"
Hearing Robert's remark, Liu Ren stared back at him with an innocent, bewildered look.
Sitting off to the side puffing on a cigar, A Chao felt his lip twitch.
Among the people in this room, he didn't know who had the best temper, but whenever trouble cropped up, the very first person who wanted to wipe out someone's entire bloodline was undeniably Liu Ren!
His given name might have meant 'benevolence,' but his conduct had never possessed an ounce of mercy.
"Fuck, I feel like you two are getting more lawless by the day!"
Pointing between Liu Ren and Lundin, Robert adjusted his suit jacket, his face full of indignant bluster.
Confronted by his scolding, Lundin and Liu Ren merely clinked their glasses together with a crisp chime.
Once he finished grumbling, however, Robert immediately added, "I brought the list with me. Move as fast as you can. Once the council meeting starts in two days, it won't be easy to strike."
Liu Ren looked at Robert, entirely unsurprised. None of them were novices at this sort of thing; if they were, how could they have held all of New York in the palms of their hands?
When trouble found you, there was no need to panic. First find out where the bastard lived, then pay him a visit at night to send some 'warmth'!
Don't bother asking what kind of warmth—once the flames were roaring, ask him if he felt warm enough!
Snapping his fingers, Lundin turned his head. "That liquor you sent over last time was excellent. Where'd it come from?"
"A comrade-in-arms of Gatsby's sent it. If you want more, I'll put in a word for you."
Raising his glass, Liu Ren grinned and arched an eyebrow.
Though he controlled plenty of bootlegging channels, he hadn't crushed all the other syndicates into oblivion.
After all, the other side of the ocean was teeming with small distilleries—how could he possibly track down and smash every single one?
However, their struggle with the Mafia had already broken into the open.
Yet with Liu Ren planting his feet across half of New York, even Don Joe Masseria, the undisputed godfather of the Mafia, dared not challenge him face-to-face. The disparity between them was simply too vast.
At the end of the day, the mobsters were merely gangsters in the dark, whereas Liu Ren commanded the black, the white, and all the gray in between!
In this city, 'lawless' was not an insult, but a title; 'ruling supreme' was no boast, but absolute power.
He might not have been the most ruthless man around, but he was unquestionably the most 'benevolent'!
Chapter 53