old dream

Chapter 130 Underground Ecology

Because the capacity of consciousness has been further increased, Colin also spends longer working hours in the newsroom every day.

He controlled the progress of the translation and transcription at hand, lest "Stars"'s recording of the letters would not be able to keep up.As a result, when he finished the day's quantitative tasks, it was already six o'clock in the afternoon.

This is also about the time when other reporters finish their work. Most of the reporters are part-time students in the college, and they come here in their spare time, so everyone's working hours are not fixed.

Because there is no need to attend classes and the efficiency of translation is high, Ke Lin is often the first one to leave the newspaper room.But recently there are a lot of materials that need to be tapped. As a result, I have recently started to squeeze together with the students here to get off work.

"Tell us some stories, Naleth."

As a result, when Colin walked out of the newspaper room with his coat and hat, he happened to bump into several newspapermen.

Three people, male and female.They all entered the reporting room this year, probably all students who have just entered the third grade.Because only the third grade and above can come here to do things.

Those who lived in the old city couldn't tell the difference between Cincily and Nale, so they called Colin "Nale guy" directly.

"What do you want to hear?"

Colin didn't want to cause any trouble with them, so as not to attract unnecessary attention.So he just stood on the steps and asked back with a smile.

"Look at the thing about you collecting protection money in the slums in the south." One of the girls said.

It was not the first time they had entangled Colin because of some rumors.

This is out of curiosity, but also because I want to step on it to satisfy my sense of superiority.Colin, who made his living in the chaotic Southstadt, was as much a novelty to them as a monkey in an exotic circus.

But this monkey didn't stay in the cage obediently, standing at the same height as them intentionally or unintentionally.And all this was only in the light of his uncle, Lord Craigie D'Allozzo.

So no matter how despicable the monkey was doing, the academy could only swallow it.

"Will you tear up the ticket when the kidnapping fails?" A boy gestured to force his neck with a knife.

Probably in their eyes, everyone in the South is a gang member.And every gang member is bloodthirsty and anti-human as written in the storybook.

Colin shook his head:
"I won't do those things, I just help people with a little business once in a while."

"What business? Selling stolen goods?"

"Most businesses don't work the way you think they do," Colin said:

"Most of the time it's boring, innocent people don't usually die. And as a result, most people benefit from us."

Someone blew a whistle, and the girl smiled disdainfully.Then began to comment, as usual, on Colin's shabby clothes.

The clothes that have been worn for several years are of course not very fashionable.

Colin silently put on his old wide-brimmed hat and walked down the steps.

He certainly wasn't offended by the rudeness of these people.They can be regarded as peers, but these people are still in a state of very ignorance.They are ignorant of Stade society and even more ignorant of the world.

They must have fairly good backgrounds, otherwise they would not be good enough to enter the Holy One Theological Seminary.At the same time, their backgrounds are not good enough, otherwise they would not come to the seminary to report to the seminary for more than 60 Ori a month.

It is this state of restlessness that makes their self-esteem more sensitive and fragile.So they always need to emphasize and prove something to themselves and others, and they are always wasting their lives for such meaningless things.

"Who do you usually work with?"

The boy who was the calmest among the three asked, he had been silent just now.

"Some pussy," replied another.

Some punks.That was the answer Colin had intended to make, because he guessed it was the answer they wanted to hear.

But when others said that, Colin thought about it, and felt that he couldn't humiliate his friends and enemies like this.

So he stopped and turned to look at several reporters:

"I work with people with names," he said.

The teasing of the other two was interrupted by Colin's gaze and words.I don't know why, but they are inexplicably guilty:

"Oh? What kind of big shots are they?"

Colin thought for a while, and said with a little solemnity:
"Luca, Ricardo, Giulio, Giovanni..."

He slowly pronounced a dozen or so Sindhili names.If it were in Nanstadt, no one would not know these characters.But here is the Old City, the really important half of the city.For the residents here, everything in Nanstadt is as remote and wild as a foreign country.

"I've never heard of any of them." The girl burst out laughing, feeling amused that she was really bluffed by Colin just now:
"Who are they? Some famous car thieves?"

"Then you'd better remember these names." Colin responded directly to her and said:
"Because you'll be hearing about them every day soon."

……

……

Sincilians make up only one-eighth of the population in Stade.Except for some police detectives and politicians, not many outsiders actually know these characters.

Marizio and his group are older, they have already grown up when they came to Stade, and they have almost completely inherited the tradition of the "hometown".They have never been separated from the Sindhili community and its close and safe environment.

Therefore, the influence of the five hands has been limited to a corner of the southern city for a long time.

In the modest office on the top floor of the Aspen Hotel, the early autumn sunset slanted in along the shuttered panes.Luca was sitting in his seat and puffing.

Across the desk was a tall, thin man, Enzo, who ran the books for Cestalo, who had just conveyed to Luca his concerns about the completion of Capello's reorganization.

At present, Chestalo's position has stabilized, but he is still at the bottom of the five hands.Capello's comeback may make many people's positions sway again.

Following Enzo's words, Luca is also thinking about matters related to Capello - on another deeper level.

A week and a half ago, Colin gave him the complete manufacturing process of the inhibitor.Thereby the life worry of being infected by Vibrio carinii has just been solved.Even in times of crisis in the future, I have an extra means to save my life.

He had thought it was because the deal around Julio was over.But not long after that, the news of Aresio's disappearance came.The lampkeeper concludes that Giovanni killed Aresio, but Colin must have had something to do with it.

Just when Luka was distracted, Enzo reminded him in a low voice and brought him back to reality.

"Oh." Luca nodded, expressing that he understood Enzo's worries.

Enzo has a camera-like memory, but his bookishness makes him too cautious in many cases.

"Colin and I have discussed this matter." Luka lit the ash into the ashtray and said:
"The final conclusion is that this matter is beneficial to Chestalo. If Giulio can rebuild Capello, it will be a very strong signal for the 'home' and the five hands."

Luca spread out his hands, referring to himself:
"Luka scored five hands, Giulio rebuilt Capello. All this is telling the old guys that the younger generation is rising."

Internal friction for the last seat will only make it easier for those who are vegetarians.I and Julio can stand on the same side, and the new generation must have their own voice.

"But this time is a little different from the past, because this time it is not a simple change of dynasty."

Luca stood up from his seat:

"Something that came out of those speakeasies, it freaked everyone out."

This means that Stade still has many channels for the influx of bootleg alcohol, and the high profits of the bootleg alcohol trade even make him faintly afraid.

Marizio, Barain and the other old guys, like the local emperors of the Sindhi area, manage all the affairs here.

The Old Folks cornered the market and controlled the prices of all the necessities and luxuries of Sincilians, including olive oil, artichokes, cheese, lotteries and all forms of gambling.Even the dues paid by various industries to the Five Hands can be regarded as an alternative tax.

League officials and police detectives are not welcome here, which means that the cost of law and order is extremely high, and they cannot be taxed.But the most important reason is the general poverty in Sindhili, which is why the alliance allows the five hands to exist and occupy this wealth.

For the whole of Stade, this is really a small fortune.

Maintaining "government" over such communities is a delicate art, and sometimes patriarchs have to value reputation above all else.In addition to ensuring that their decisions will be respected and punishments will be enforced.It is also necessary to convince people that they are by no means some evil and corrupt organization, and that their existence is beneficial to everyone.

In this regard, Marizio is the most successful one.He tried to convey an image of high morals and knowledge, like Pope Nale, who blessed others on the street, knew five languages, quoted classical proverbs, and sometimes came forward to resolve disputes between some groups. Very famous among the crowd.

It was not by force that he was able to rule the Sincilian community, in fact it was impossible even with the force of the Caruso family.Marizio relies on tradition and majesty, the Sindhilian family tradition of self-government, and the fame that the Five Hands have built up in the Sindhi area over the centuries.

To some extent, this is a benign relationship. Of course, it is far from good, but it is not as bad as outsiders imagine, and it has been operating within the range that most people can accept.

But the emergence of the bootleg wine trade may break this old ecological balance.

That is the kind of wealth that no longer depends on fame.The life and death of other people in the territory will become irrelevant to the patriarch.No matter how bad the family's reputation is, as long as there is a market for money, the organization can function.

what does that mean?Meaning the checks and balances between organizations and communities no longer exist.

Luca had fully foreseen how staggeringly morally corrupt the five hands devoted to the bootlegging trade would be if it proved impossible to stop.

All previous self-restraint would cease to exist if their survival were no longer dependent on Sincilian immigrants.Most patriarchs will take off the masks of hypocrisy and righteousness in the past, and completely expose the nature of violent organizations.

And once they are separated from the basic plate of the community, they will not be able to continue the management of the Sincilians.From the perspective of the alliance, this illegal organization lost its previous meaning of existence.

Perhaps, this is the real reason why Marizio resisted the bootlegging trade in every possible way.Because once the foundation of the organization's survival changes, his current status will inevitably be shaken.

Even, the entire Five Hands may be uprooted by the authorities.

But for Luca, it was like an unexpected boost.

And the premise of all this has not yet been determined: Whether Prohibition will succeed is still unknown.

Two days ago, Luca got the news from Marizio that the Prohibition Commissioner sent by the Alliance has arrived in Stade, and the Principality's Prohibition Bureau will be formed with them as the backbone.

At the same time, Luca also heard from his own channels that the mysterious "Ninth Branch" also participated in the formation of the Prohibition Bureau.

I'm afraid everyone is now focusing on this new department.Their abilities will directly determine the next move of Stade's underground world.

But at this moment, Luca's attention was focused elsewhere.The development of Prohibition was an accident, and he never actually bet on bootlegging.

"Six farms have been bought so far, all orchards that went bankrupt because of Prohibition."

Enzo raised his glasses, flipped through the ledger on the desk and continued:

"The fruit trees have been cleared out now, and the first batch of seeds have been sown half a month ago...but most of the other equipment is not in place yet..."

"Well, I know about this problem." Luka rubbed his temple and said:
"I've been wrestling with this for two months, but trust me, it'll all work out."

In fact, what Luka really expected was not to find a guild to take a rake like this, nor was it to deal with the huge uncertainty of bootlegging.

It is an area that is more dangerous and can bring more stable benefits.

Redstone trade.

(End of this chapter)