Public opinion can guide emotions.
The news was reported in newspapers and broadcast on radio stations, and it was well-founded, so naturally many people believed it. People in Las Vegas gradually began to realize that it was indeed the case.
Does Las Vegas have a future?
Is there still investment value here?
Land prices are like stocks, and what is sold is expectations. If a place has no development prospects, the land there is naturally worthless.
When Wash Mining bought the 8,000 acres of land in New Mexico, it was worth only $200,000, which is equivalent to only $25 per acre.
There is plenty of desert land in Nevada and Colorado, and the governments there have put it up for sale. The lowest price is only a few dollars per acre, but no one is buying.
Due to the legalization of gambling in Las Vegas, the land price is now around five or six hundred dollars, and the most expensive in the city center is over four thousand.
If the gambling industry here does not make money, or even disappears, the land price here may drop to a few dollars.
You know, this is the desolate Nevada Desert.
Those buyers who had purchased land as a bet and expected it to appreciate in value began to panic after hearing the news and began to inquire about the situation.
Some people even put their land up for sale, but they are not willing to sell it at a low price and add tens or even hundreds of dollars to the original price.
Then they discovered that
No one bought it.
The real controllers of Las Vegas are the gangs, or the major mafia families. Now the five major families are fighting among themselves, and the other families are just watching, with no one caring about investment.
Moreover, these families usually have one or two pieces of land. They are not real estate companies, so one or two pieces of land are enough. More is useless. You have to know that land is subject to tax.
The land in Las Vegas is all sold in the form of commercial land, which has to pay a tax of 1% to 3% of the land value every year. That is to say, if the land does not appreciate in value, investors will lose money every year.
Now that the gangs are in chaos, no one wants to buy the land, let alone ordinary people.
Considering the precedent of the Flamingo Casino, which invested 8 million and lost more than 1 million in three months after opening, this is definitely not something that ordinary people can afford.
The mafia families set up the casino here mainly for money laundering. Few of them really expect to make money from gamblers. What the newspaper said is true. If the casino relies on those few tourists, it will definitely lose money.
Therefore, no one was interested in the land that was put up for sale.
This further confirmed the rumor that there was no room for land appreciation in Las Vegas. Some people began to secretly lower the price, but found that the lower the price, the fewer people would buy. This was because no one wanted to be the buyer and everyone was in a wait-and-see phase.
With just a few articles, Hardy brought down the land prices in Las Vegas by a significant amount.
"Boss, are you going to make a large-scale acquisition now?" Andy asked.
Hadi shook his head. "Don't worry. The best time is yet to come."
Andy paused and asked, "Boss, aren't you afraid that Las Vegas will be crushed? If there is a sell-off, we may never be able to raise our heads again."
Hardy laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, as long as Nevada remains the only state with legalized gambling, this place will not decline, and the panic is only temporary."
Hardy is not in a hurry about the land matter. Business cannot be accomplished in a day or two, and he has more important things to do.
He received a report from Henry.
Someone might want to do something to Fredo.
Fredo is the Godfather's second son and Mike's second brother.
Those families killed Sonny, the successor of the Corrion family, assassinated Mike, and now want to kill the Godfather's second son. This shows how fierce the struggle among the five major families is now.
Hardy called the Corrion family and the old godfather answered the phone.
After the greetings, Hardy said, "Mr. Vito, I am in Las Vegas now. My people have received news that other families may take action against Fredo."
The old godfather was shocked when he heard this.
He had already lost one son and could not bear the death of a second.
The old godfather said in a hoarse voice: "I originally sent Fredo to Las Vegas because I wanted him to live a stable life. I didn't expect those bastards to focus on him again. Hardy, can you help me send Fredo back?"
"No problem Mr. Vito," Hardy replied.
The old godfather was silent for a while, then said, "Hardy, can you do me a favor?"
"You say." said Hardy.
"Help me take down the casinos of the other four major families!" said the old godfather in a decisive tone.
"I know that this will put you on the opposite side of the four major families, but I can promise to fully support your career on the West Coast in the future, including mobilizing all my connections," said the old godfather.
Hardy could feel it.
Under siege from the four major families, the Corrion family is in crisis.
The old godfather was asking for help. Of course, the other party also offered a reward, which was the connections of the Corrion family.
In fact, given the relationship between Hardy and Mike, the interests of the two families have long been tied together, and it is impossible for Hardy to choose to invest in the other four major families.
In fact, even if the Godfather had not made this request, Hardy would have taken action. Dealing with other gang families and occupying Las Vegas was a plan he had already made.
Send HD security to stay in Las Vegas.
Acquire newspapers and radio stations.
All are prepared for this goal.
It looks like now is the time to take action.
"Okay, I promise you." Hardy replied.
......
Night falls.
The hot Las Vegas has become much cooler.
The originally quiet casino seemed to come alive, with neon lights flashing on the streets and singing coming from bars and dance halls.
Fredo held a glass of wine and looked at several tables. Finally, he came to the bar and put his arm around the shoulders of a waitress.
"Life is often so boring, repeating the same thing every day, Gina, why don't I take you for a ride?" Fredo said with a smile.
The waitress glanced at the boss and said, "Excuse me, boss, I already have a boyfriend?"
Fredo shook his head with some sadness, "Then do you mind changing it?"
"Mind, I have to go to work."
Gina said as she carried the tray to serve the wine.
Fredo raised an eyebrow at the woman's butt.
After being here for a few months, Fredo actually likes the life here. Running a casino, there are not so many disputes and chaos. Occasionally flirting with the waiters, Fredo thinks this is pretty good.
At this moment, two men in suits walked into the casino. They saw Fredo sitting at the bar at a glance and walked straight over to him.
"Mr. Fredo, we are Mr. Hardy's guards. Mr. Hardy is outside now and he wants you to go out for a while." said one of the guards.
Fredo was stunned.
Hardy?
"Is Hardy coming to Las Vegas?" Fredo asked in surprise.
Hardy has been in Las Vegas for half a month, but except for meeting with the mayor once, he has never shown up in public. All matters are handled by his subordinates, so Fredo didn't know Hardy was here.
Hardy's car was parked on the other side of the road. Fredo crossed the road and approached. The door opened and Hardy smiled and said to Fredo, "Get in the car. I have something to tell you."
Hardy went to the Corrione family several times, especially when he helped the Corrione family overcome the crisis of the Godfather's assassination. Fredo and Hardy became familiar with each other.
Fredo got in the car.
"Hardy, why are you in Las Vegas? By the way, why are you chatting in the car? Let's go to my casino and you can play a few games." Fredo said with a smile.
Hardy shook his head and his expression became much more serious.
"Fredo, I received news that people from the four major families want to deal with you." Hardy said.
The smile on Fredo's face disappeared instantly, and he turned pale with fear and became a little at a loss.
"Is it true, they're going to deal with me?"
Fredo began to stutter.
Fredo is a timid person. He was so scared just by hearing the news. Hardy thought of his performance in The Godfather Part II and shook his head in his heart.
"I called Mr. Vito and told him the situation. He asked me to send you back to New York. At least within the family, there will be more power to protect you."
Hardy said.
Fredo nodded quickly, "Okay, I'll go pack my things now."
As he said that, he was about to get off the car.
But at this moment, several cars came roaring over and quickly stopped in front of the door of Corrion's casino. Dozens of strong men rushed out of the cars, each holding a machine gun in his hand.
“Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick~!”
As soon as these guys got out of the car, they opened fire on the security guards at the entrance of the casino, killing two Corrion family members instantly.
The men then rushed into the casino.
There were continuous gunshots coming from the casino, and it was obvious that the exchange of fire was very intense.
From time to time, women's screams and men's groans could be heard.
You can imagine how terrible it was inside the casino.
Fredo was so frightened that his body began to tremble violently. He curled himself up in the car and dared not show his head.
Hardy frowned deeply.
He initially thought that the four major families would resort to assassination, but he did not expect that this time they would send so many people to directly charge and kill.
Perhaps their purpose is not only to kill Fredo, but more to destroy the Coririon family's industry and power and to undermine the Coririon family's prestige.
Hardy took another look at the casino where the gunfire was still raging, and said to the driver, "Let's go back to the manor."
Just after their car drove a few hundred meters, they heard sirens in the distance and a patrol car was driving quickly towards the Corrion family casino.
When they arrived at the manor, Hardy arranged a room for Fredo. Before leaving, he said to him, "It's safe here. You can sleep here for one night. I'll have someone book a flight for you tomorrow. You can take the flight back to New York tomorrow."
Fredo was now terrified and would do whatever Hardy said.
"Okay, I'll listen to you, Hardy."
Arriving at the command room, Lanster, Henry, Matthew, Neil and others were all there. When they saw Hardy coming in, Henry immediately reported:
"Boss, the four major families attacked the Corrion family casino. Our patrol car rushed over and exchanged fire with them. Since they were outnumbered, they finally ran away. Two of our team members were injured."
"What do you think we should do?"