Las Vegas is now just a small city with a permanent population of more than 20,000 and 30,000 to 40,000 tourists each year, which is about the same size as a small town in China in later generations.
Therefore, the Las Vegas Police Department is equivalent to the size of a police station, with only more than 30 people including the police chief.
HD Security can be said to be the most famous security company in the entire United States, without a doubt. A few days ago, I heard that it assisted the Los Angeles police in eliminating a large gang. After Chief Steve and Lanster signed the agreement, he asked about this matter during the conversation.
Lanster smiled slightly, "There was indeed a fierce battle, with more than 200 people on the other side."
"What about the casualties?" Chief Steve asked curiously.
"More than 80 people on the other side were killed and more than 200 were arrested. As for us, five were injured, but no one died," said Lanster.
Director Steve was very impressed when he heard the data. He heard that all the members of HD Security were veterans of World War II. No wonder they were so powerful.
"How many people are there in HD security now?"
"There are more than 1,500 people now." Director Steve thought to himself, "What a good guy."
“So how many people are you going to put in Las Vegas?”
"We will temporarily deploy about 150 people. If we encounter problems and are short of manpower, we can quickly send reinforcements." Lanster said.
Chief Steve thought to himself, our police department only has more than 30 people, and you have 150 people as reinforcements.
Also called for reinforcements.
How big a thing can happen in a small town of more than 20,000 people?
From the next day.
HD Security was patrolling downtown Las Vegas, with black stripes painted on the white body of the vehicle and a large "HD" logo in the middle.
Some people say it imitates the style of a police car.
American police cars are black at the front and rear and white in the middle, while HD Security's patrol cars have alternating black and white on the top and bottom, which is more similar to the style of Chinese police cars in later generations.
The body paint and logo of HD Security are both designed by Hardy, which has a deep sense of bad taste.
The contrast between black and white represents Lao Tzu's straddling the black and white worlds.
Las Vegas is not big, with only two main streets. HD Security dispatched five police cars at the same time, so within 10 minutes, people would see a patrol car driving past the entrance of their casino.
At first people would take a look at it in surprise, but after a long time, aesthetics would wear off and no one would care about the HD security patrol cars anymore. They would just gamble and pick up girls.
......
Just when HD Security was established, an inconspicuous plaque was hung on another three-story building not far from the main street.
"Beautiful Garden Real Estate Company."
The company name is very common, but the boss is not, the registered company owner is Jon Hardy.
The reason why Hardy brought Andy here was because he had an idea from the beginning to buy a piece of land in Las Vegas.
When he came to Las Vegas for the first time, he saw vast tracts of land after getting off the plane. He recalled his visit to Las Vegas in his previous life. He knew that this barren land would be built into tall buildings in the future.
The land price here is still very cheap now, but once it really develops, every inch of land here will become very valuable.
Hardy found a map of Las Vegas and drew a circle on it.
The location of this circle is the new city area of Las Vegas in later generations, which is also the famous "Las Vegas Strip".
MGM, Caesars Palace, Venetian, Luxor, the one with the Egyptian Sphinx, the Paris Hotel, the one with the Eiffel Tower.
The Bellagio Hotel, Mirage Hotel, Treasure Island Hotel, Wynn Hotel, Trump International Hotel, etc. are all located in this area.
Now this place is still a wilderness with only one highway passing through it. No one would have thought that in a few decades, this place would become the most prosperous place in Las Vegas, with luxurious gambling palaces built on both sides of the highway.
After the real estate company was established, Andy sent people to collect information, and soon a piece of information was placed in front of Hardy.
"Boss, we checked with the Land Transaction Center and found that part of the land you want is owned by the government, and part has been sold to a private individual."
"The government has reserved some land for public construction, and the rest can be sold to the public. The price varies depending on the location of the land, about $500 to $800 per acre."
"As for the land near the city, all the land has been sold out. Except for the reserved public land, all the land has been sold to private individuals. We learned about the price. The best land in the city is about $4,000 per acre, which is already very expensive."
"Further out, for example, the land near the Flamingo Hotel, two kilometers from the main city, is priced at around $2,500 to $2,800 per acre."
Hardy knew about the Flamingo. Siegel had told him that the Flamingo covered 30 acres and cost more than $80,000 to buy the land, which was roughly equivalent to $2,700 per acre.
Hardy nodded after hearing this.
"You can buy all the land you can buy now in the name of the real estate company, but you must make an agreement with the land transaction center that the transaction must be kept confidential and cannot be leaked to the public for the time being."
"Okay boss."
"How are the newspapers and radio stations I asked you to inquire about?" Hardy asked.
"I have already found out that there are three newspapers in Las Vegas. The largest one is called the Las Vegas News, which has a history of more than 20 years.
The Las Vegas News is published every other day, mainly reporting local news, national events, international news, etc., with a sales volume of about 5,000 copies, and is a very small newspaper.
"The newspaper's owner is called Benedict. He initially invested a few hundred dollars. We now value the Las Vegas News at between 10,000 and 12,000 dollars."
"There is only one radio station in Las Vegas. The owner is Colin Firth, who is also a broadcaster. The equipment is estimated to be worth about $3,000. We think we can offer $10,000 for the acquisition."
Hardy understood it all.
"Andy, contact the newspapers and radio stations and try to acquire them. Tell them that if they don't agree to the acquisition, HD will set up new newspapers and radio stations, and their lives will be even more difficult in the future," said Hardy.
"After we acquire the newspapers and radio stations, let them publish the news. I have already drafted the title and outline. Have your people write a few analytical reports on the future economy of Las Vegas."
Hardy said as he picked up a piece of manuscript paper from the side and handed it to Andy.
"Las Vegas is rapidly declining. Where do we go from here?"
"Flamingo Casino invested 8 million dollars, but lost millions within three months of opening and closed down. Why?"
"Shock! Las Vegas may have no future. It will become a desert again!"
"The Hoover Dam may collapse in an earthquake due to crustal movement, flooding the entire city."
"Some members of Congress are discussing whether to stop Nevada's liberal gambling policy."
"It is reported that real estate companies that previously invested in Las Vegas are not optimistic about the future of this place and are all secretly selling off their land."
Hardy brought out the "UC shock body" of later generations and criticized the future of Las Vegas from all aspects.
People of this era have little access to information, and in their minds, newspapers, magazines and radio stations still have a strong authority. After seeing news like this, some people will definitely panic.
After public pressure is formed, if Beautiful Garden Real Estate Company buys more land, those who hold the land will certainly be willing to sell it as soon as possible to avoid investment losses.
After reading it, Andy was filled with admiration for his boss.
Few people can handle this series of tricks.
Andy took people to find the owner of the newspaper. When the owner heard that someone wanted to buy it, he immediately offered a high price of 50,000 US dollars.
Andy smiled faintly: "Mr. Dickert, your newspaper has only three people in total, an editor-in-chief, a copy editor, and a foreign relations officer. You do the foreign relations work yourself. I heard that sometimes you can't even earn your salary."
"If you hadn't run a hotel yourself, I'm afraid the newspaper would have been unsustainable long ago, am I right, Mr. Dickert?"
Dicket looked a little embarrassed by what Andy said.
"But our Las Vegas News is the largest-circulation newspaper in Las Vegas, and that's our advantage," Dickert defended.
Andy smiled and spread his hands.
"Okay, I admit that, otherwise we wouldn't have chosen him. If you refuse to be acquired, our boss means to set up a new newspaper and launch a completely free newspaper. How long do you think the Las Vegas News can last?" Andy said.
Dicket's eyes widened. "If the newspaper is completely free, how do you make money? If you don't make money, how can you support the newspaper?"
Andy smiled softly, "HD Group has countless advertising resources of its own. Just calculate how many newspapers it can print with the cost of any single advertisement."
Dekter gave in.
Faced with big capital, he really has no ability to resist.
Fortunately, Andy did not bargain hard in the end and offered a very reasonable price, $12,000 to buy everything in the newspaper.
The acquisition of the radio station went exceptionally smoothly.
Andy found his boss Colin Firth and expressed his intention to acquire him. The 30-year-old Colin Firth was so happy that he almost jumped up.
"Great, I'll sell it to you, but I have a request. Can you let me join? I'll continue to be the anchor."
"Of course." Andy said.
Colin Firth is a well-known figure in Las Vegas, so he can definitely stay.
"Will the radio station be equipped with television equipment in the future? I used to work in a New York TV station, and I think Las Vegas should have its own TV station?" said Colin Firth.
Andy smiled and said, "That's what our boss thinks."
"Ok, it's sold." Colin Firth said happily.
The next day.
The Las Vegas News was officially changed into a daily newspaper and began to be distributed for free, without charging a penny. The circulation increased directly to 10,000 copies.
Advertisements from many hd related industries appeared in the newspapers.
The headline on the front page of today's newspaper is extremely shocking: "Las Vegas Gambling Industry Faces a Cold Winter!!!"
"In 1931, the Nevada State Assembly officially passed a bill to legalize gambling, ushering in the spring of Las Vegas. The town, which originally had only a few thousand people, attracted a large number of investors to come here to build casinos."
"In 1946, there were already 32 casinos in Las Vegas, but how many gamblers were there each year? According to statistics, the number of tourists per year was less than 40,000, and each person stayed here for no more than a week. In other words, no more than 20 tourists entered the casino every day. Based on the average consumption of $20 per person, the gross income of each casino was no more than $400, and the profit was $100."
"This $100 is not enough to pay for the workers, let alone the electricity and water bills. And this situation has been going on for several years."
"The newly built Flamingo Casino was far more luxurious than other casinos and was originally intended to attract a large number of customers. However, it closed down in just three months, with a total loss of more than $1 million in three months."
"The failure of Flamingo has seriously affected the enthusiasm of investors. No one will invest in a business that loses money. In recent months, the volume of land transactions in Las Vegas has dropped significantly. Some people have secretly sold the land they had hoarded, and the price is even lower than the original purchase price."
"Some people have analyzed that the gambling industry in Las Vegas has already entered a cold winter!"
........
The article is very long.
After listing all the problems in Las Vegas in detail, many people's first impression after reading this report is that Las Vegas is really going to be finished.
During the radio broadcast that day, host Colin Firth also talked about this issue. Many people are not optimistic about the future of Las Vegas.
"What does Nevada have? Apart from the Gobi Desert and the hot climate, it doesn't have land for grazing like in Texas, nor does it have mines like in Arizona. If it weren't for the casinos, the land in Las Vegas would have no value at all. Now the price of land in Las Vegas is among the highest in the United States."
"If the gambling industry goes out of business and no one comes here to invest, those who originally hoarded land will lose everything. I also heard that some legislators are proposing to cancel the bill to legalize gambling. If this bill is really canceled, my God, it will be a disaster for Las Vegas. This place will become deserted in a few years and the land value will become zero."
......