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
Andre’s confession sent all the Italian gang members thunderstruck. Someone glared at Gopher and demanded darkly, “Is Andre telling the truth?!” “O-of course not!” Gopher was quick to deny, but voice trembled slightly as he spoke. He pointed at Andre and snarled, “Shut up, Andre! Now that Mr. Wade is letting me be boss, you’re acting like I’m stealing all your influence! You know you’re at risk of losing power, so you slander me with a lie. You’re painting me as a shameless villain so Mr. Wade will be disappointed in me. But Mr. Wade is a brilliant man. He won’t fall for your lies!” At this, a strange grin appeared on Charlie’s face. He played along with Gopher and snapped icily, “Andre, your tactic is quite despicable! The way I see it, this b*stard, err, this man looks loyal and honest. His words are reliable, and he even has a good hairstyle. It’s obvious he’s a loyal person. He’d never be ungrateful.” Having said that, Charlie narrowed his eyes at Andre in distaste. His ton
Since dead men tell no tales, doing so meant that Gopher could secure an opportunity for himself. The instant Gopher stretched his hand out, Porter took action and seized his wrist with swift ease. He exerted a small bit of force on Gopher’s wrist, squeezing it lightly. Yet, that was enough to send Gopher wailing in pain. Charlie said, “Porter, don’t disable his hand. He won’t be of value if he’s crippled.” Gopher didn’t understand what Charlie meant by value, but he had witnessed Porter’s strength earlier and knew that the man only needed to exert a small amount of force to break his right arm. It was Charlie’s words that temporarily rescued him from that predicament. Porter nodded respectfully, obeying Charlie’s words. He turned to his subordinate and said, “Tie him up!” A soldier stepped forward to tie Gopher’s hands. He gave Gopher a kick for good measure, sending Gopher staggering before falling on his knees once more. As his final struggle had failed, Gopher slumped
Andre had tossed caution to the wind, no longer caring if he would be implicated as well. He feared that Charlie would actually promote Gopher. With the Gopher’s style of conduct, he would surely get rid of Andre the moment he got the chance. Andre would rather expose this incident than let Gopher make it to the top! This clear recording was actually a trump card he kept should he ever need to subdue Gopher. To think he ended up using it at a time like this… What rotten luck! In fact, Gopher himself was aware that Andre would definitely leave evidence behind. Since ancient times, proof of loyalty was simply leverage offered to the other party. If he wanted to join, he couldn’t be free of sin. This was an organization where people killed for goods and dominated territories with violence. No one would trust a person who was free of guilt, or treat him like part of them. The only way to join was to kill a few men himself. He even had to bring the heads of those he killed,
Pausing, Charlie then said, "I'll call Steve to drop by later too. I'm sure folks in Aurous Hill won't know him, but your potential troublemaker might.""I-Is that really fine?" Yolden blurted."What's not fine about it?" Charlie chuckled. "He has been treated like a tool ever since he came to Aurous Hill, and now that he has a chance to strut about, he wouldn't ask for more."Yolden appeared slightly relieved at that, and Charlie asked, "By the way, where's Paul, Matilda, and Autumn?""Getting their makeup done," Yolden replied. "Paul's my best man while Autumn's the maid of honor.""Good," Charlie nodded with a grin. "Don't worry—the wedding's going to be a success."As they spoke, Matilda stepped out of the dressing room in a stark-white wedding dress, flanked by Autumn and Paul.Seeing Charlie, Autumn nodded politely, "Good morning, Mr. Wade."As Charlie nodded in turn, Paul started, "G-Good morning… Mr. Wade…"Seeing that he was nervous and tentative, Charlie knew that he
As Yolden and Matilda were remarrying after living abroad for years, the wedding ceremony was much simpler, skipping Oskian customs and having a simple wedding reception for their guests at the hotel hall.There weren't that many guests either—aside from their children and close friends, only a handful of Yolden's colleagues at Aurous Hill University were invited.As the celebrant, Charlie didn't have much to do and was mainly the emcee.He brought along his jacket as he headed out to Shangri-La, not wearing it immediately so that Claire wouldn't guess that he was attending Matilda's wedding.Arriving at the Hanging Gardens before the guests were supposed to arrive, he found Yolden working with the staff to finalize the preparations.Seeing Charlie, Yolden approached him and said, "Thanks for coming this early, Charlie."Noticing that he was a little tired, Charlie asked in concern, "Had a bad night?"Yolden nodded, sighing, "Paul's uncle caused a huge mess. Both Matilda and I a
Tarlon nodded. "How do you suggest we find them?"Fleur scowled. "There's no rush. There are things which I'm still confused about, so just keep a close eye on the Ackers and the Wades for the time being. Report to me right away if anything important comes up—don't afford our enemies any opportunities to exploit.""Yes, milady!" -The next day, more news outlets were covering the joint project between the Ackers and the Wades as word continued to spread.However, neither family revealed too many details, be it the name of the company, who was the CEO, or the scale of their business.While the public was dying with curiosity, nothing else was known.Still, Aurous Hill's officials were especially interested, with the town hall visiting the Ackers the next day and showing utmost sincerity by leasing a whopping 2-million-square-meter land along the southern highway. Still, the condition was for the Ackers to come true on their promise to propel the city's economy to 15 billion US d
Fleur had repeatedly mentioned the conspiracy theory of Ashley using a body double over the last twenty years.Tarlon had investigated from many different angles, but everything from the gender, age, dental records, to body figure pointed to the fact that the deceased was Ashley Acker.And yet, Fleur had never bought it, insisting that Curtis was prepared for them just because Curtis' son had gone missing soon after.There was no way Curtis would save his son but not his wife, and the disfigured corpse only added fuel to Fleur's suspicion.Thus, over the last twenty years, Fleur had kept a close eye on the Ackers, arranging for two 'scholars' to be embedded amongst their ranks as sleeper agents. She went that far all to determine if Ashley was dead or had faked her death.However, the scholars had since been killed in action, and they had no spies within the Ackers left.As for Tarlon, he still doubted Fleur's theory even now, but he remained respectful as he spoke, "Milady, I mu
Meanwhile, on the edge of the South Pole, Tarlon Griffin rushed outside of Fleur Griffin's room, knocking the door gingerly as he announced, "I have news, my lady!"Fleur didn't respond, but the thick wooden door between them slowly opened as if pushed by an invisible force.Tarlon entered to find Fleur seated on the floor with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes remained closed as she molded her Reiki, asking, "What is it?"Tarlon quickly answered, "News from Oskia. The Ackers are partnering with the Wades on a joint venture into electric-powered vehicles."Fleur slowly opened her eyes, asking quietly, "And you're telling me because?"Tarlon quickly explained, "It just came out of the blue, so I thought I should report it to you right away."Fleur sighed. "After I tried and failed to wipe out the Ackers so many times, they wouldn't dare set foot stateside. If anything, they must have decided to seek asylum in Oskia by offering a substantial investment, and it's a base whe
Silent for a while, Matilda then asked Yolden, "Do you think I can do it?""Yes!" Yolden nodded without hesitation. "You definitely won't have any problems!"Matilda sighed, shaking her head. "We traveled far abroad to study while we were young, but we didn't return to Oskia to help the country's development. It's been thirty years since, and now that we have returned to the country at the same time, I definitely wouldn't turn down such an opportunity to help."Pausing, she then said, "That said, major corporations make it a point to not hire family members. Forget spouses—employees aren't allowed to date, and one of the two will be asked to resign if necessary."Don't you think it's inappropriate since we are legally married, having gotten our certificate and all? And if we set these precedents, we would have trouble asking other employees to follow that policy. You are going to be a CEO, so you need a very clear answer on this issue."Yolden shrugged. "In the first place, that p
Yolden nodded slightly. "He does.""My gosh…" Matilda murmured. "That's too much… Ashley's son? A member of the Acker family and the Wades?!"Pausing, she then asked in confusion, "Wait, if Charlie has so much power and influence, why would he permanently reside in Aurous Hill… No, why would he be content as Jacob Wilson's son-in-law? Does Jacob know who he really is?""Definitely not," Yolden shook his head. "There were some compelling circumstances, and his identity is a sensitive one. That's why I'm asking you to tell no one except Paul—and even then, you should only tell him if he can keep the secret."Matilda was sharp enough to pick up on the reasoning, too. "Charlie's hiding because of his parents' accident, isn't he?""Yes," Yolden sighed. "He has his plans, but I didn't pry since I can only do that much, let alone help him on that.""Got it," Matilda nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed… And you just said you're resigning? Are you going to help with this e
"That would be Ashley Layna Acker," Matilda replied without hesitation. "She was our age, as well as a major investor in Silicon Valley, while we were only starting to get our first clients. It's no exaggeration to say that she's the shining example in many case studies when it comes to business."Pausing, she then continued, "And she used to be your classmate, right? I remember you mentioning that in our conversations before.""Yes," Yolden sighed emotionally. "She was a classmate and the star of our generation."Matilda nodded but soon shook her head, "Wait, weren't we talking about Charlie's car company? What does that have to do with Ashley Acker?" "Here's where I let you in on a secret," Yolden said. "But first, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone except Paul."Matilda nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry—if it's a secret, I won't tell Paul either."Yolden scratched his head. "Actually, Paul should know. We are going to marry soon, and he's my stepson, lega
In fact, the legal department of major enterprises covered many responsibilities, the chief of which concerned intellectual property, which was why veterans were needed to lead.Additionally, Charlie trusted Matilda's accomplishments in the legal field, especially since she had worked in the United States for years.With Curtis Autos' intended expansion worldwide, that meant the legal department should also know the laws of countries abroad, ready to file or respond to lawsuits at any time. After all, competitors may use the law to impede their growth, along with the government applying unfair policies to impede their development and impact on local businesses.Moreover, Charlie considered Paul young and therefore lacking in experience, not to mention that it was not likely he would abandon his family's law firm. As such, the ideal solution was to poach Matilda for now.As for Matilda, she was still in the dark and had no idea what she was in for, asking Charlie in confusion, "Lega