America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 572 One-Punch Man

The solid wood door to the conference room slowly closed after the last executive disappeared from sight, shutting out the noise from the outside world.

Ernst sat at the head of the long table and slowly raised his right hand, waving it gently.

His secretary, Daphne Barnes, standing beside him, immediately understood and spoke again, "So Craig hopes you can use your connections to get him out of the police station."

Wearing a charcoal gray custom-made suit skirt, her hair was neatly styled in a bun, and a pair of thin-rimmed gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, she exuded an extraordinary sense of competence and composure compared to her 25 years of age.

This is Ernst's newly chosen personal secretary, who has been working for almost a month now.

I had been working with his various companies and key personnel for a while, and I only returned to his side yesterday.

His two personal secretaries, Anne and Annie, returned to work for the Boston consortium, while the other's remains have been cremated for who knows how long.

As his business grew and the number of things he needed to handle increased, even though he had his own secretaries at each company, it wasn't a good idea to always have Mueller handle everything.

Then he hired one, who is Daphne Barnes right in front of him.

I chose her for one reason only: she's beautiful enough.

Her eyes, framed by willow-leaf eyebrows, were clear as water; her lips, with their distinct lines, possessed a gentle curve; coupled with her tall and well-proportioned figure, she was practically a perfect beauty. Moreover, she was one-quarter Russian, inheriting the captivating gaze characteristic of Slavic women.

As for work ability, Ernst never considered it.

This is one of the candidates selected by the family office for Ernst. Being able to stand out from the family office through five rounds of interviews and finally stand in front of him must have undergone rigorous assessment in terms of professional competence, stress resistance, and confidentiality awareness.

However, Ernst had also brought this upon himself, because this woman didn't seem to be the type to be a secretary when things were going well and when there was nothing to do.

She's really capable when things are going well, but when things aren't, this woman doesn't seem very capable.

On her first day at work, the first thing she said to Ernst left a lasting impression on him.

"Actually, I already have a boyfriend." Daphne's tone was calm and honest, without the slightest evasion. "I concealed this during the job interview. If you want to fire me because of this, I completely understand and have nothing to say."

"But if you choose me, I promise I will do it better than anyone else."

Ernst was completely baffled. Was this a confession game?

Then a smile appeared on his lips. He didn't change his choice of secretary, but instead chose her again.

According to the information he obtained, Daphne Barnes did not have a boyfriend at all, and she did not even date during her college years.

She had the fate of a novel's protagonist: a dead father, a sick mother, a decent start, but unfortunately, her family fell on hard times. She was very capable; Ernst had given her two months to sort out everything around her, but she mastered her job in less than a month.

He greatly admires her work ability.

However, his main thought was that sleeping with this woman would be more challenging.

Unlike those women in the entertainment industry who come at his beck and call, he has a quirky sense of humor in his relationships, which is just a little spice in his life.

Of course, even if he used force, the other party couldn't do anything to him.

"Craig in New York?" Ernst frowned slightly, his voice tinged with doubt. "Shouldn't he already be on a plane to China at this hour?"

Yesterday afternoon, he called Craig and asked him to lead the core team of the flash sale platform to China.

This trip to China requires in-depth integration with local supply chains and logistics channels.

On the other hand, and more importantly, is to negotiate cooperation and investigate the market in order to prepare for the platform-based strategic transformation of the flash sale platform.

Flash sales are bound to become platform-based; relying solely on a self-operated model will make it difficult to achieve long-term sustainable development.

While the self-operated model can guarantee product quality and service experience, it limits category expansion, has high operating costs, and is difficult to meet the increasingly diverse needs of consumers in terms of product update speed.

He clearly understands that platformization is the inevitable trend in the e-commerce industry. Only by opening up the platform and attracting more merchants can the product categories be enriched, the update speed increased, and the platform's core competitiveness enhanced. Therefore, Flashbuy has assembled a professional team composed of key personnel from multiple departments, including marketing, operations, technology, and merchant recruitment, and plans to establish a branch in China to be fully responsible for platform recruitment, merchant services, and marketing.

We will provide one-stop service support for merchants joining Huaxia, including store setup, operation guidance, logistics integration, payment solutions, etc., to help merchants quickly adapt to the consumption habits and operating rules of the North American market.

Having become somewhat of a China expert and made numerous trips to China, Craig, who had built up a network of connections, became the middleman.

"Judging from Craig's words, Reggie Carter has also started a trading company," Daphne Barnes quickly replied. "He flew to New York first, and then took Reggie with him to China, essentially showing him around."

Upon hearing this, Ernst's doubts gradually faded, replaced by a sense of understanding.

It's become commonplace for registered internet users to send clothes and basins as gifts, and various cross-border trading companies are raking in the profits.

Putting aside everything else, Craig's trading company, as far as he knows, is expected to generate over $200 million in trade this year from companies not under his control.

It's a legitimate business, and they make a good amount of money, so it's normal for Reggie to be envious.

It's obvious that Craig was given shares in his company, and it's normal for Craig to pave the way for him.

He didn't interfere with these things; on the contrary, he was happy to see them.

Self-interest is the strongest bridge; we can't always rely on someone's sacrifice.

"So, the one detained by the police is Reggie's brother?" Ernst picked up his coffee cup, found it was cold, and put it back. Daphne Barnes wanted to get him a new cup, but was stopped, so she nodded slightly and said, "Yes, Craig said on the phone that he's Reggie's younger brother."

"No wonder," Ernst muttered to himself.

For gang members, having blood on their hands is nothing unusual.

In the process of fighting for territory and resolving grievances, violent conflicts often occur, and it is not uncommon for people to die.

However, in most cases, people will choose to hide temporarily to avoid trouble.

If the police investigate too closely, they will simply flee and hide in other cities or even other countries.

Clearly, Reggie didn't want his brother to live a life of hiding, so he turned to Craig for help.

Reggie couldn't do it, and neither could Craig, but he knew that the person behind Craig could.

Should I help?

Ernst will help.

It wasn't that Craig begged him for help, but rather that Reggie was still of use to him.

The last time someone was watching Wall Street was done by his underlings. He was also the one who made the connections with the Philadelphia gangs. There will be many more things we need him for in the future. This guy is the boss of the Hammers, one of the biggest gangs in New York. He's not even forty yet, which is considered the prime of his life in the underworld.

Moreover, his territory is in Queens, at the intersection of Queens and Brooklyn, occupying multiple streets in both boroughs.

Queens will be a key area for my future development. With this help, many things will be much easier.

This incident will serve as a good opportunity to make the other party more compliant, and also to give them a chance to prove their abilities.

"He killed someone with his fists." Ernst thought that was a valid reason, at least it showed that his brother was a good fighter.

"One punch?" Ernst suddenly became curious, wondering if he had stumbled upon a One-Punch Man.

"Um... Craig didn't say," Daphne Barnes replied hesitantly.

"Are we fighting for territory?" Ernst didn't notice her change in expression.

"Killing someone with your fists? I thought that only existed in movies," Ernst asked, as if he had discovered something amusing.

In the past six months, he has spent his free time at the gym learning some combat sports from Muller and others. He knows very well that it is very difficult to kill someone with his fists.

After all, the opponent isn't a block of wood, standing there while you relentlessly attack one spot.

"No." "No?" Ernst paused slightly, a clear look of confusion on his face.

If it's not a battle for territory, then what could be the reason?

Was it due to a personal grudge, or was it murder to cover up a failed kidnapping and extortion attempt?

But if it's the latter, Reggie could have easily found a henchman to take the blame; there's no need for him to go through all this trouble and beg Reggie himself.

For gangsters, sacrificing an insignificant henchman to protect their core members is a perfectly normal choice.

Being caught means they were caught red-handed.

"What happened?" Ernst's gaze fell on Daphne, awaiting her answer.

Daphne Barnes was silent for a moment, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she lowered her head, her voice so soft it was almost a mosquito's hum, "Craig said... it happened in bed."

"In bed?" Ernst repeated subconsciously.

But the next second, he understood the meaning behind Daphne's words.

His body, which had been leaning back in the chair, froze instantly. He mechanically turned his head and stared straight at Daphne, as if trying to confirm from her face whether his understanding was correct.

Daphne felt Ernst's gaze, looked up, and met his eyes. Although a hint of shyness remained on her face, her eyes were unusually firm. She nodded slightly, indicating that it was exactly what she thought. "F*** you!" After a few seconds of dead silence, Ernst suddenly swore, his voice filled with astonishment and amusement.

I thought you were One-Punch Man, but it turns out you're the one who can kill people with one punch.