New Gods of North America.

Chapter 720 Witness

It must be said that these gang members are very sensitive to changes in the power and status of their respective gangs, and their attitude is also very pragmatic.

After the basic pleasantries, Mr. Cooper casually made up an excuse and asked James Damody to leave, as if he were treating a "dead man in the futures market" or "someone on the street."

Sanders actually received better treatment.
Although Mr. Cooper did not pour him any wine, he also had no objection to him staying in the tent.

"Our Black Flag Gang hasn't been involved in any operations against the Ellan Gang recently. Mr. Wayne, you've come here tonight, so you must have something you want to discuss with me?"

"Hmm. What's your opinion on the city hall's tax collection policy?"

"Mr. Wayne, why don't you just give us a number? If possible, I'm willing to cooperate, but if it's too high, I'm afraid we won't be able to afford it."

Wayne chose to answer indirectly: "Mr. Paul of the Rabbit Gang voluntarily paid nearly $3000, while Mr. O'Sullivan of the Irish Gang had some plantation shares he had secretly purchased confiscated, valued at $15000. As for the Sailors Gang... Mr. Cooper, you probably already know their situation; the focus is no longer on them."

According to the intelligence team's investigation, the Black Flag Gang was established based on its relationship with the Navy.

However, such relationships don't seem to be particularly deep. After all, for naval personnel these days, bringing local specialties on board is an unspoken professional perk. The higher-ups can even launder large quantities of goods, while ordinary sailors can also "carry goods" themselves when they're on leave ashore. Smuggling investigations usually don't trace them.

Therefore, the Navy's decision to have the Black Flag Gang assist in selling stolen goods was more likely a favor or a convenient arrangement, rather than an indispensable one.

—If the relationship is really that big and strong, then it would be much better to just open a trading company and become a wealthy businessman. It would be both legal and prestigious. Why bother getting involved in gangs?

Mr. Cooper's tone sounded quite tough at first, but Wayne quickly discerned it. The man standing behind him seemed to be thinking of "making money peacefully" with the city hall, or at least "spending money to avoid trouble" and "it's better to avoid trouble."
Therefore, the Black Flag Gang's current focus is on whether they can "negotiate the price," rather than whether they can "avoid paying money."

With this foundation of cooperation in place, Wayne felt more relaxed. He gave Sanders a gold coin as a form of partnership, letting him try his luck in a couple of rounds. If he won, they would split the winnings; if he lost, Wayne would keep the rest.
In reality, it was a deliberate display of goodwill, allowing his bodyguards to leave as well, to show that he believed the Black Flag Gang would not take any hostile actions that night.

With no outsiders present, the gang leader no longer cared about saving face when haggling, becoming much like a market vendor haggling over every penny.
Of course, the other party was not yielding to the detective agency at this time. What they cared about was the city hall, which represented certain consensuses in Richmond. Therefore, Wayne did not mind taking a "kickback" from the middle. The final deal was that the Black Flag Gang would pay $2000 to the city hall, and at the same time, they would provide the detective agency with timely information on certain special item transactions and suspicious persons.

The transaction amount surprised even Wayne. He hadn't expected the Black Flag Gang to be so wealthy, nor had he expected them to be so honest as to not resort to the Tuto Gang's "accounting tricks."

If we're just speculating, Wayne thinks it might be related to the current situation of the Federal Navy having "more in the north and less in the south."

The number of free citizens in the northern states far exceeded that in the southern states. While there were a fair number of naval officers from the South, they were mostly "pure officers"—from well-off families, highly educated, and pursuing a career as commanders, lacking the kind of "top-down" influence that some Southern states had.
Ordinary southerners couldn't get ahead as seamen, and they had more career options. Working for a trading company or as a sailor in a shipping company would pay more than being a low-ranking naval soldier.

Therefore, the Black Flag gang's connections may not be very deep in Richmond.

They were either "remotely controlled" by naval commanders in the north, or protected by mid- to low-ranking generals in the south.

The logic remains the same: if the Black Flag Gang had connections with local bigwigs, why would they go to such lengths to "bleed" money? A token gesture like the Tuto Gang would have sufficed.

Taking advantage of the current pleasant cooperation, Wayne asked directly, "I've heard that Mr. Cooper has some powerful and influential friends in the Navy. Would you mind revealing a little bit about it? It would make it easier for the City Hall to accept this result."

Mr. Cooper certainly didn't have the confidence of some gangsters who subtly implied "I have connections with local big shots"—like James Damody before him, who was quite arrogant.

He appeared quite reserved in front of Wayne, asking in return, "Isn't it enough that we're willing to abide by the rules of the dock area?"

“Of course it’s enough.” Wayne didn’t want to ask any more questions at this point, so he smoothly changed the subject to save face for both of them. In any case, they had finally settled with one of the relatively large gangs in the dock area. There weren’t many gangs left that Wayne would need to negotiate with individually.

For the rest, Wayne planned to have James Damody help organize a group invitation for some, while others would be notified to come and "pay their respects" on their own, or simply "take it or leave it."

The main reason is that if the detective agency can improve the violence in the dock area, then some small and medium-sized gangs without a strong foundation will lose their source of income and will naturally gradually disappear.

Although they remain a source of social instability, they lack sufficient manpower and self-sustaining industries, making them a group to be prioritized for elimination.

As for the things that seem to be negotiable now, Wayne believes that some of them will eventually fall apart.

However, things will work out if we wait patiently. We can deal with it slowly, which is much easier than dealing with those strange and extraordinary individuals.

After chatting for a while, and when the whiskey they had just refilled was almost finished, Wayne unexpectedly got a new clue from Mr. Cooper:
"On the night of the major incident at the Erlan gang's docks, was there a convoy of vehicles from outside the area?"

"Yes."

Mr. Cooper nodded. “Some gamblers would try to exchange information for cash with us. Someone saw some people in the convoy board the boat, while others disembarked and drove north. Judging from the route, they probably didn’t go into the city and may have left Richmond directly.”

“Who was the witness?” Wayne asked.

Mr. Cooper thought for a moment: "How about reducing the taxes our gang needs to pay to $1500?"

"$1800. And to immediately back out after a deal is made, I don't think that's a good habit."

“Then let’s keep it at $2000. Consider this a small personal gift to Mr. Wayne.” Mr. Cooper didn’t seem to care much about the money. After saying that, he clapped his hands and gave an order to a henchman who peeked in through the curtain.

Not long after, Wayne received a small note with an address and a name on it, and it turned out the person lived in the Ellan community.

Sanders had already been notified and called back, and James Damody was waiting outside the tent, too afraid to leave first. Wayne needed to get the news back to the detective agency as soon as possible.

That dock accident now appears to be directly related to the high-level extraordinary individual that Inessa is searching for.
If this news can be confirmed, the detective agency's pressure in the dock area will be greatly reduced, and this clue can also be handed over to the church for investigation, which can be considered as doing them a favor.

Sanders handed the coins back halfway there, and Wayne casually asked, "How much did you win?"

"I won a little at first, but I quickly lost it all..."

Well……

Sanders finished speaking and sighed, "This is what their people returned to me when I came back..."

Wayne understood: "Alright, everyone has their own expertise. We'd better avoid this kind of thing in the future. Lina, on the other hand, could give it a try."

(End of this chapter)