The Vancouver port was as busy during the night as it was during the day.Large-scale ports basically operated twenty-four hours a day. Despite the late hour, the lights were still on. A large number of trucks transporting containers kept going in and out, and the dock was constantly loading and unloading cargo to docked ships.Therefore, the sight of many cars entering the pier one after the other didn’t raise any alarm.Porter arrived at the port first, under the guidance of the Italian gang members he had subdued. He and his soldiers brought the gang members to a small, dilapidated cargo ship at the dock.There were eight members of the Italian gang on the cargo ship, as well as three young women whom the gang had kidnapped. In addition to the two women that Porter brought with him, there were a total of five young women at present. They were all kidnapped by the gang, ready to be sent to the high seas tonight.Porter conducted a surprise interrogation on the gang on the old
Charlie pretended to walk out of the car resentfully, looking very aggrieved. In truth, he was delighted. To think it would be so easy to fool Andre! He was pleased.He simply threw the bait in front of Andre. The fish went beyond his expectations and actually took the initiative to bite the hook before he even had time to properly entice it. The fish also brought all of his lackeys together with him to bite the hook. This feeling of a one-shot explosion was amazing.The entire fishing process went very smoothly at every step. Everything was within Charlie’s control. Just then, two to three hundred men came out of their cars. They too grew excited when they saw the large cargo ship. A few shouted eagerly, “Boss! Since this cargo ship is ours, we have to take it to the high seas and have a huge party on deck to celebrate!”Everyone approved this proposal immediately and cheered in delight.Another person added, “We have to get more hot girls too! And we should get a DJ to
Andre let out an ecstatic yell, rousing his men into excitement. They were all in high spirits, eager to board the ship and look through every nook and cranny. Andre pressed his pistol against Charlie, grinning. “Mr. Wade, please lead the way.”Charlie said nothing and complied in silence, taking a step forward as he entered. Andre and Gopher followed closely behind, with the crowd cheering and swarming in from behind them.The power part, control area, and the crew’s living quarters were all in the stern of the cargo ship. The front part was full of cargo storage.From the cabin door, they entered a stairwell with a steel structure that led to the engine room, and then to the cargo hold. However, these passages were locked in advance. They could only climb the staircase and go all the way up. None of them, Andre included, were interested in the structure of the cargo ship. They simply wanted to rush to the top floor and take control of the entire bridge. The entire gang
The reason why they used to do well in Canada was solely because they came early.Before the large-scale influx of Asians into Vancouver, the Italians came from Sicily and established themselves in the United States and Canada. After the Vietnam War, a large number of retired and defeated Vietnamese soldiers arrived at Canada and quickly took over with their superior military qualities. Since then, the Italian gang went through troubled times.With the rise of the Oskian gangs and the infiltration of the Eastern European forces later on, things became more and more difficult for the Vietnamese. The Italian gangs suffered even worse.In recent years, the Italian gangs struggled to survive. Even the past few days were terribly suffocating. Porter turned a blind eye to Andre’s pistol, not bothered to spare Andre a glance. He remained calm and continued speaking to Charlie. “Mr. Wade, there are less than a million people in a small city like Vancouver. If you’re interested, just
Charlie’s words stunned Andre, Gopher, and the rest of the gang.Gopher couldn’t help but think to himself, ‘Isn’t it enough for what’s-his-name to lose his mind? Has Mr. Wade also lost his marbles too?’While Gopher was caught up in his thoughts, Porter clasped one of his hands over the other in front of Charlie. After that, he turned to Gopher and Andre, and said indifferently, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Porter Waldron.”“Porter Waldron?!” Gopher was stunned to hear the name. He found it particularly familiar, but he couldn’t put a finger to it.At this time, Andre sneered, “Your name’s Porter Waldron? Damn! No wonder why you’re so arrogant. You have the same name as the famous lord of Ten Thousand Armies!”Then, it dawned on the crowd!No wonder this name sounded so familiar!Porter Waldron, the famous lord of Ten Thousand Armies, was a legendary god-like figure.However, none of them believed that the Porter in front of them was the same Porter Waldron who was the
When the other gang members witnessed Porter easily twisting the gun, they started shivering in fear. Now that they had confirmed Porter’s identity, they were certain that they no longer had any chances of winning. Even if they tried to escape, they would be met with a dead end. Instantly, they dropped on their knees and groveled. It didn’t matter if there were many of them, or if the narrow staircase was crowded. All of them still knelt, too frightened to do anything else.Andre was now pale in fright. He looked at Charlie, trembling, all confidence and smugness gone like the wind. In a shaky voice, he asked, “Mr…Mr. Wade… This… What the hell is going on? Is there a misunderstanding?”Charlie replied with an easy smile, “There’s no misunderstanding. Didn’t you win a cargo ship from me? I’ll give it to you now.”Andre may be a colossal fool, but at this point, even a fool like him came to realize that Charlie had been pretending to be weak all this while. Right now, the famous
At that moment, Andre thought he had found a way out. Without an ounce of hesitation, he nodded and declared eagerly, “Mr. Wade, I’d like to join the Ten Thousand Armies!” Charlie nodded, pleased. Things were going right according to plan. He then turned to Gopher and asked, “What about you, Gopher? Are you interested in joining the Ten Thousand Armies?” Gopher looked up and said earnestly, “Mr. Wade, I…I’m more than interested… Joining the Ten Thousand Armies is such an honor!” He continued to flatter Charlie, adding, “Mr. Wade… Since our gang will be under your wing, there’s something I wonder if I should tell you…” Judging from the way Gopher’s eyes were darting around, Charlie knew that the man bore ill will. Still, whatever plot Gopher had wouldn’t shake him. And so, he waved and smiled leisurely, and said, “Go ahead.” Gopher began excitedly, “Mr. Wade, our country has an old adage saying that people of a different ethnicity or race can’t be trusted. Now that you’ve take
Someone in the crowd shouted in agreement, “Our salaries haven’t changed, but our workload sure has increased!” “Andre made us do the businesses our last boss didn’t permit, and that earned him a lot of money. But we received no extra compensation for our hard labor!” “None of us got a pay raise, but Andre’s income in the past few months has risen sharply. He’s even driving a Rolls Royce now!” These statements aroused dissatisfaction in the entire group. Everyone unanimously agreed that Andre wasn’t qualified to be a leader, so he must be dethroned at once. Charlie then asked them, “What would you think if Gopher becomes your boss from now on?” For a moment there, everyone went quiet and exchanged glances. Even if they were displeased with Andre, having an Oskian like Gopher lead them all of a sudden was hard to digest. After all, this was an Italian organization. Perhaps not all of them hailed from Sicily, but they still had Italian blood in their veins. An Oskian le
"Exactly!"Charlie agreed, striking the metal while it was hot. "To be honest, the years Matilda spent in the States would be wasted if she was actually still interested!" "She's a Wall Street veteran who'd definitely have met so many successful men! Why would she be interested in a loser like Jacbo Wilson? It's not like she returned from the States after thirty years to help the poor, don't you agree?"Charlie then finished with a sigh. "The way I see it? You're the only one who'd be interested in him."Jacob heard that from behind the wall and was left absolutely fuming and humiliated.He was the only one who knew that Matilda had come back for him—even if she was worth millions now.However, he just didn't have the spine to divorce Elaine and get together with Matilda.He presumed that it was no rush and that he could just give Elaine the silent treatment—who knew, she might just give in and ask for a divorce herself, and then, he would have no issues getting together with M
"Her real lover?!" Elaine exclaimed in shock. "What are you talking about?"Charlie put on a serious face as she said, "Matilda came back to Oskia for her one true love, who is now her fiance. His name is Yolden Hart, a top economist who's now a lecturer at Aurous Hill University, who was invited all the way from the States. He's a professional manager and used to work in Wall Street, so he'd be qualified to be a CEO in any Fortune 500 company…""Professional manager?" Elaine pouted. "That still means he's a wage slave!"Charlie laughed. "Don't underestimate professional managers now. Just look at Apple Inc.'s CEO—the man earns around a hundred million USD per year, and that's over seven hundred million in Oskian dollars!"Elaine was left gaping, unable to imagine how a wage slave could earn so much.At the same time, Charlie continued, "To be fair, Professor Hart wouldn't earn that much, but 50 million per year is still no sweat for him. Do you get the amount of money we're talki
Elaine appeared taken aback, and she promptly demanded, "You've met Matilda too?!"It was only then that Claire realized she had let the cat out of the bag, and she suddenly didn't know what to say. "Oh… Uh… Mom… I, uh… didn't?"Nonetheless, Elaine was suddenly pressing her menacingly, "If you've never met her, how would you know she's a serious person?!"As Claire stayed silent, Elaine broke down in tears. "No… You're lying to me too! Aren't you?!"While Claire was left at a loss of how she should salvage this mess, Charlie suddenly entered and said, "Claire didn't—but I did.""What?!" Elaine was left staring at Charlie, stunned.Still, she soon demanded, "Y-You've met Matilda?! Did Jacob take you with him to see her?""Yes," Charlie admitted, nodding.Elaine snapped right then, and she bellowed, "Then why didn't you tell me?! To think that I've always done right by you, treating you like my own son, but you wouldn't tell me that Jacob is cheating on me! Y-You disappoint me!"
Jacob certainly left Charlie speechless—the man might get kicked out of the house, but he was more worried about his car.Sighing in exasperation, he told Jacob, "Look, if it fails, I won't be able to get you a nice place, let alone leave the Cullinan with you."Jacob blurted out, "But why—""Don't forget—I'm still living in this house even if you're gone!" Charlie explained, his expression dead serious. "If I let you have a nice place and the Cullinan, God knows how terrible a grudge your wife would hold against me. I need to have a sense of self-preservation too!""If I got you a rundown apartment, I could at least defend myself even if she gets upset about that. I mean, I can't let you sleep in the streets, can I? Claire and I would be guilty of abandoning our elders."Seeing the serious look on Charlie's face, Jacob breathed a long sigh as he clapped him on the shoulder, groaning mournfully, "Oh, I get it. I wouldn't want to upset Elaine if I were in your shoes too…"Charlie
Charlie sighed. "I told you it'd blow up, Dad, but you had to doubt me.""I wasn't doubting you," Jacob promptly defended himself. "I thought I might catch a lucky break—"Charlie cut him short, "Fair enough. Then, how are you going to handle this? I can try to stop Mom from going to that wedding and prevent her from getting in the hall even if she went, but what's going to happen to the both of you? Do you want a divorce or do you want to stay with her?"The light in Jacob's faded as he shrugged and sighed. "If I could divorce her, I would've—and I would be living happily with Matilda now. What company would I have if I did it now? Do you think Elaine would let me stay in Thompson First, with that attitude of hers?""In the end, I'd be chased out without a place to stay, and I can't suffer the humiliation of moving back with my mom and brother, can I? Hell, they might not even take me back!""So, that's a no?" Charlie pressed.Jacob smiled wryly. "At my age, even if I could, I w
Hearing that Elaine was threatening suicide, Claire exclaimed urgently, "Take me to her now!"The traffic police officer quickly nodded. "Come on!"As the traffic police officer quickly led Claire to Elaine, Charlie arrived just then and gave chase after leaving the luggage by the entrance.Stopping them, he asked, "Excuse me, officer—where's the gentleman who came with Madam Parker? May I see him?""And who are you?" The traffic police officer asked."I'm his son-in-law," Charlier replied. "I was thinking that while my wife talks to her mom, I can talk to my father-in-law, make peace, and take them both home.""Oh, that'd be great!"The traffic police officer exclaimed and quickly beckoned at a colleague, "Come over. Take this gentleman to Jacob Wilson!""Okay!" The other traffic police officer was also quite enthusiastic.Charlie entered the room where Jacob was first, immediately seeing a disfigured Jacob taking deep puffs of his cigarette.Another traffic police officer w
Charlie frowned in thought for a while, before saying, "Well, there is a plan, but I can't vouch for the chances. I also need you to cooperate with me and not let anything slip, or everything will go to waste. Can you do that?""I can!" Claire nodded, determined, before quickly asking, "So? What's the plan?""Well, it's not specific," Charlie replied. "We just have to improvise as we go along. Let's just head in for now!"-They left the airport and took a cab to the traffic police's headquarters. Just as she entered, they saw their Cullinan parked outside.Charlie sent Claire in first while he carried her luggage before following.Meanwhile, Elaine was wailing in her room, "I've been married to him for years! Suffering so much pain and humiliation, only for him to hook up with an old flame behind my back! Is it wrong if I struck out?"The traffic police officer was on the verge of a breakdown, but he still said patiently, "Ma'am, I've told you many times—what he did was wrong
Claire wasn't all that experienced in love and hence didn't know how a person caught in a love triangle would think or why they would experience such terrible mood swings.Still, Charlie's explanation gave her a general idea, and she sighed, "Actually, Dad looked really bad when Matilda came back. He was so obsessed with her that he didn't care if Mom was alive—even bringing her home for dinner. I'd be seething if I was Mom."Charlie sighed in exasperation. "Well, let's not loiter about. Let's go to the traffic police station.""Yeah!" Claire nodded, before holding his arm, "If they're there, that means they're safe, and they won't be fighting with those officers around. So, let's not head over so quickly."Charlie raised a brow. "What are you getting at?"Claire sighed, clearly troubled. "We have to think—how are we going to alleviate this crisis? If it's really as you say and Mom has mostly guessed it right, this fight might just be the start. At best, that fight on the highway
The traffic police officer smiled in exasperation. "Is there no getting through to you? You could even afford to drive a nice car, and you'd most likely survive an accident. But what if you were left bedridden for a long time? Yell at each other in the same hospital room?"Elaine waved him off. "I don't care—all I know is that I will always get my revenge, and on the spot if possible. If there were superheroes, I would be Wonder Woman!""Urgh…" The traffic police officer was utterly speechless. "How about this? We will call your daughter and have her come over to bail you. She will mediate your fight!"With those words, he returned Elaine's phone to her, and it happened to ring just then.It was a call from Claire.Seeing that the contact name said [Daughter], the traffic police officer quickly said, "Go on, answer it!"Elaine took it and answered the call, and Claire asked urgently before she could say a word, "Mom? Where are you? Where's Dad? Are you both alright?"Elaine sulk