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Chapter 510 Chess Pieces

A gambling debt of $50,000?

In the eyes of the Skull Gang, this was nothing more than a small, insignificant sum, and not their real objective.

For those who control the underworld in and around Philadelphia, $50,000 is nothing.

Inside the bar's luxurious private rooms, the air was filled with the rich aroma of cigars and the strong scent of alcohol.

Hall and Craig sat upright on the sofa, listening attentively to their younger brother's report.

"FDA staff have gone to the hospital to question Almid as we expected and to learn about his health condition. So far, it seems that everything is going according to plan."

Craig slowly turned his head, his sharp gaze fixed on Hall beside him. "Did you do a clean job? If there were any oversights, and someone caught you red-handed, we all know the consequences."

Hall met Craig's gaze with a confident smile, then gave him a reassuring look and said, "Don't worry, Almid is absolutely trustworthy, there won't be any problems."

This person was the underling Hall arranged to report Wawa; he suffered from food poisoning, vomiting and diarrhea.

The purpose, besides cooperating with Craig's plan, was naturally to provide compensation.

What's $50,000?

According to relevant U.S. federal laws, if an investigation confirms that Wawa did indeed have food fraud and safety issues, then Almid, as a victim, could receive compensation far exceeding $500,000.

This incident is not as simple as ordinary food poisoning; it involves a more serious issue of food fraud, and it is even linked to religious beliefs, which undoubtedly makes the nature of this matter even more serious.

Because Al-Mid is a Muslim, and the Quran explicitly forbids Muslims from using pork, considering pigs to be unclean.

According to the Islamic dietary principle of nourishing the body through food, food should not only be clean and hygienic, but its properties should also meet the standards of goodness.

As an omnivorous animal, pigs live in filthy and unclean environments, and their habits do not conform to the dietary requirements of Islam. Therefore, pork occupies an extremely important position in the dietary taboos of Muslims.

Although the United States is predominantly a Christian country, the Muslim community is also a significant group, exceeding five million people.

The most critical point is that, in addition to involving Muslim groups, this also has connections with Jews.

In the Torah, the Jewish holy book, chapters 11 of Leviticus and 14 of Deuteronomy explicitly state that Judaism has strict requirements for the animals consumed. Only animals that meet specific conditions can be considered kosher and allowed to be eaten by Jews.

Judaism stipulates that edible meat must meet two core conditions.

One requirement is that the edible animals must be even-toed ungulates, that is, animals whose limbs have an even number of toes.

The second condition is that the animal must be a ruminant, possessing multiple stomach chambers and capable of digesting food through rumination.

Although pigs are even-toed ungulates, they do not possess the physiological characteristic of rumination. Therefore, according to Jewish doctrine and regulations, pigs are explicitly classified as unclean animals.

For Jews, not only is eating pork forbidden, but even touching or using pork-related products is strictly prohibited; it is an inviolable red line in their religious beliefs.

The fact that Wawa was reported for using pork to impersonate beef in food production is undoubtedly a blatant violation of Jewish taboos and will inevitably provoke strong dissatisfaction and protests from the Jewish community.

Because no one can guarantee that they won't be the next one to get infected.

Not only does the FDA need to take this matter very seriously, but the entire Pennsylvania state government must also take it seriously and give the Jewish people an explanation.

Otherwise, if the Jews are dissatisfied and cause trouble, not everyone can withstand it.

Therefore, unless there is solid evidence, the FDA must close the case as soon as possible, even if it knows that Wawa is a scapegoat.

The bigwigs at the top don't care about Wawa's life or death; what they want is to make an example of him.

"I'm not worried about Almid himself; I'm worried about the hospital."

It's impossible that Almid actually ate pork, but whether he did or not isn't up to him, Wawa, or the FDA; it's up to the hospital's testimony.

Want to have it inspected by a third-party organization? Absolutely not.

By this time, the food in the body has already been used up.

The most direct evidence is the half-eaten pork sandwich that Almid left over, and the pork residue found in his mouth when he first entered the hospital.

"Don't worry, this hospital has some connection with our Skull Gang. You could say that this hospital is in the same boat as us."

"Many of our brothers who were injured and unable to go to the hospital for treatment had their wounds treated by doctors at this hospital."

"They were well aware of their family situation, and the doctor in charge understood this as well. From any perspective, he had no reason to betray us."

After hearing Hall's explanation, Craig's worries dissipated considerably.

He picked up the wine glass on the table, raised it towards Hall, and the two glasses clinked gently in the air before he drank it all in one gulp.

After setting down his glass, Craig looked again at the henchman who had delivered the message. "Did you deliver the goods to them?"

The henchman nodded quickly. "We followed your instructions and successfully intercepted them less than two kilometers from where they left Wawa Company. We've already handed them the goods. The location was very well hidden; no other outsiders would have seen it."

"Very good." Craig nodded in satisfaction, a smile appearing on his face.

He then pulled out a stack of brand-new US dollars from his pocket, which looked to be about five or six thousand dollars.

He placed the money on the table in front of his underling and said, "Here, take this. Take your brothers out for a good meal and relax. It's on me."

The henchman's eyes lit up the moment he saw the US dollars on the table. He picked them up, turned around, and walked out of the private room.

After the underling left the private room, Craig's smile faded, and he looked at Hall with a serious expression. "Once Almid receives the compensation from Wawa, do not have any contact with him. Have someone notify him to leave the city immediately and lay low for six months. Only bring him back after this matter has completely passed."

"Is it really necessary to be so cautious?" Hall felt it was completely unnecessary; wasn't the other party being overly cautious?

Craig turned his head and looked at him coldly. "Don't end up making money but not being able to spend it. What's a big deal to big shots is a huge deal to us."

Hall swallowed hard, offering no rebuttal. Although his Skull Gang appeared strong and well-equipped, in the face of a truly powerful figure like Ernst, they were utterly insignificant, like ants.

Putting aside everything else, his businesses, if the other party is willing, can easily use the media to create momentum, guide public opinion, and exert political pressure through parliament. Then those so-called big shots who usually spend a lot of time and money to curry favor with him will not be able to protect him at all, and may even choose to sacrifice him in order to protect themselves.

If things escalate to the worst possible point, covering up the truth and silencing witnesses is not out of the question.

"I understand, I will give the order."

Meanwhile, on a highway leading to the Wawa supply factory, a black BMW was driving smoothly.

Inside the car, Nathan gripped the steering wheel tightly, his expression serious. The atmosphere inside was terribly oppressive, with only the faint roar of the engine echoing in his ears.

After an unknown amount of time, Elena, sitting in the passenger seat, finally broke the silence, saying with a hint of emotion and lingering fear, "That old man Gallup, who on earth did he offend? The other party's methods this time were too ruthless. They didn't leave Wawa any chance at all; they just wanted to wipe her out completely."

"Judging from their stance, they are determined to completely destroy Wawa, leaving Gallup and all of Wawa's top executives with no chance of recovery."

Elena turned to look at Nathan, who was driving, her eyes filled with relief, as if she had been reborn. "Thank goodness they ultimately chose us, otherwise I can't even imagine what would have happened to me for the rest of my life. Maybe we would be scapegoats now, locked up in jail, or suffer some other misfortune."

The contents of the black file folder on their lap still haunt them to this day.

This file folder contains evidence of misconduct by various high-ranking personnel at Wawa Company, including records of improper actions by Nathan and Elena.

However, none of that mattered. What truly shocked and terrified them was that the document bag contained a formal purchase contract.

It's a receipt for Wawa Company's purchase of a large quantity of pork, and it even has Gallup's signature on it.

In other words, this contract must have been filed with the relevant authorities, otherwise it would not stand up to any investigation.

That's an incredible amount of power; it's practically blatant framing.

Since things have already gone this far, it's no surprise that Wawa's top executives will not have a good time, in order to prevent future troubles.

As a lawyer, Nathan has encountered far more cases and heard about far more shady practices than Elena, giving him a deeper understanding of the cruelty and complexity of the world.

He shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "You have to understand, this world is inherently composed of two different circles."

"No matter how hard we try to climb the social ladder or how desperately we try to integrate into a higher class, in the end we are nothing more than pawns in the hands of those truly powerful people."

"Our ultimate goal is to become someone who can be used."

Nathan glanced at the silent Elena and continued, "However, these are not things we should be considering now. Since they've given us this contract, it means we have value to them."

"With this contract, things became much simpler. We could just push all the blame onto Gallup; he had no hope of turning things around."

There was no pity or resistance; in this brutal struggle, they had no choice.

Essentially, Gallup is just like them, a pawn, a dog.

However, since this dog has started biting people, there's no need to keep it anymore.