Thorne no longer looked at Stanley's face, which was filled with despair. He turned his head slightly and nodded very slightly towards the door.
The professional scavengers he hired had been waiting for the signal for a long time.
Two sturdy bodyguards in dark suits emerged silently from the shadows behind Stanley.
One person grabbed Stanley's neck tightly from behind, while the other was already prepared and accurately covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief soaked in ether.
A final burst of fear and unwillingness burst out in Stanley's eyes, and a short and desperate hoarse sound came from his throat.
He kicked the expensive carpet in vain, but his struggle seemed so weak and futile in the face of the absolute suppression. In just a dozen seconds, Stanley, the leader of the Crips, completely collapsed and lost all sound.
Thorne just wrinkled his nose in disgust, as if the smell in the air was not of ether, but of the filth and trouble emanating from Stanley himself.
"Clean it up and leave no trace." Thorne's voice was as calm as if he was ordering the disposal of ordinary garbage.
He turned his gaze back to the brilliant night view outside the window and began to think about his next plan.
It's not that he hadn't thought that the Crips would suffer a blow, but he never expected that Reeves would dare to and could directly mobilize the National Guard!
This is not a business war or a gang-level confrontation at all, but a dimensionality reduction attack by the state apparatus on civilian armed forces!
Stanley is finished, and the Crips are finished too.
This powerful gangster, ranked number one in the Chicago underworld, is gone.
At this time, Thorne, a real estate developer from New York, became really scared.
"Reeves! Reeves, who on earth did I... offend?" Thorne muttered to himself, a chill he had never felt before crawling up his spine to the back of his head.
The more Thorne thought about it, the more afraid he became, and the more he thought about it, and finally fear overwhelmed his self-esteem.
He took a deep breath and dialed Ribs' number himself.
"Hello?" Ribs' voice came from the other end of the phone, calm but with a biting indifference, without the slightest surprise, as if he had expected him to call.
Thorne's voice tried to remain calm, but a subtle tremor still leaked out: "... Ribs, I saw what happened with the National Guard. You did it...very well."
"Thanks to you, my brother almost died at the hands of the 'Chicago Boss' you hired. This is just a necessary response." Reeves interrupted him, his tone calm. "If you have something to say, please tell me. I'm busy."
"...Listen," Thorne said with difficulty, "Perhaps our feud... should come to an end?"
"Come to an end?" Reeves sneered, his voice cold to the bone. "Old Deng, are you thinking things are too simple? You sent people to smash my place and hired thugs to attack my brothers, and now you want to brush this matter off with just a simple 'time to stop'? Stanley was the knife in your hand, and the Crips were the weapons you stabbed me with. Now that the knife is broken, you think you can just pat your butt and let it go?"
Thorne on the other end of the phone felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet.
"How about this, Ribs..." Thorne said tentatively, "I will no longer stand in your way of the Blue Roof Project. Our Thorne Group will withdraw from Chicago and never return. How about that?"
Ribs just replied coldly: "This is far from enough. You think too simply, Lao Deng."
"What? What else do you want?" Thorne raised his voice to try to hide his guilt. "Do we really have to fight to the death?"
"What do I want?" Reeves replied calmly, "I want you to understand that if you go against me, Reeves, you will pay the price."
"What do you mean?" Thorne's heart sank.
"The Crips have been cleaned out, and Chicago is now peaceful." Reeves said word by word, "But our old friends from New York, the Red Bloods, are still here! I'll give them a good workout!"
Before Thorne could say anything else, Ribbs hung up the phone.
Thorne held the busy receiver, feeling as if he were sinking into an icy cave. His premonition had come true.
Reeves is not going to give up, he wants to vent all his resentment on himself!
…
The news that the Chicago Crips had been eradicated had already reached the ears of Kruen, the leader of the Red Bloods in New York.
The Red Bloods Gang had been bullied by the Crips Gang for so many years, but now they have finally gotten their revenge and become the undisputed largest gang in Chicago.
Such thundering methods of Ribbs really impressed Kroon, and he worked even harder to harass the Thorne Group in New York.
Without waiting for Ribs to speak, Kronen mobilized the Red Blood Gang's massive underground forces at full capacity.
A wave of attacks that was far larger, more destructive, and more targeted than before instantly swept across the Thorne Group!
Deafening explosions were heard one after another late at night at the construction site of the Thorne Group in Manhattan. Large-scale engineering equipment was completely paralyzed by unidentified explosives and poured concrete, and the key underground sewage project was blocked by the dumping of highly toxic chemical waste; the security monitoring centers of several high-end apartment model rooms were burned down by Molotov cocktails.
A luxury store owned by the Thorn Group, located in a prime location, was looted and set on fire by a group of masked men at gunpoint during business hours; trucks in logistics fleets were frequently "robbed," with goods stolen and vehicles burned;
The Thorne Group's headquarters received multiple anonymous bomb threats, leading to large-scale evacuations and widespread panic among employees. Suspicious individuals and symbols were frequently seen spray-painted outside the homes of Thorne family members.
Public opinion: At the same time, anonymous "evidence" of Thorn Group's financial fraud, bribery of politicians, and involvement in mafia dealings began to spread wildly online...
The consequences of this large-scale, high-frequency and ubiquitous destruction and harassment are immediate.
Panic spread among the shareholders and employees of the Thorne Group. Even though Thorne flew back to New York himself, he was unable to stabilize the situation.
Investors panicked and sold their stocks. Headlines like "SORN plummets!", "Thorn Group suffers wave of terrorist attacks, future uncertain!", and "Chicago turmoil spreads, New York real estate giant in crisis!" filled the financial pages.
A week later, the stock price of Thorn Group (SORN) plummeted like a kite with a broken string!
Less than an hour after the market opened, Thorne Group's stock price fell below its historical low, billions of its assets evaporated in an instant, and it was completely on the verge of collapse.
…
The other side.
In the dazzling white ward, the electrocardiogram monitor emitted a regular and monotonous beeping sound.
Ao Guanhai's eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light.
Reeves and his brothers sat around the bed, the butcher leaned on his iconic cane, Fox had a dark look in his eyes, and Alfred still stood meticulously at a distance.
"Cough, cough..." Ao Guanhai's throat felt dry as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper, and he let out a series of hoarse coughs. He tried to raise his arms, but they felt heavy as if they were filled with lead. A piercing pain shot through his calves, instantly breaking into a cold sweat and bringing him completely awake.
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