Chapter 427 The Nature of Violence
The New Federation has become increasingly prosperous in the past two years. Not only is its business booming, but it also has a wealth of talented people within the gang.
The young people left behind by Khad Khan have gradually begun to rise to power in the past two years.
They are more flamboyant and like to show off. They go to the upscale restaurants and cafes in the fortress area, which are clean, have good service and are full of fashionable bohemian style.
The wealthy of the Fortress area, lawyers, the film industry and the burgeoning television celebrities were all regulars here.
Now people from the New Union also like to come. They throw away their etiquette, eat voraciously, and completely ignore the eyes of others.
After finishing their meal, the group stood shoulder to shoulder to form a wide human wall and walked three blocks to the vicinity of India Gate.
From the Royal Gardens to the India Gate, you have to pass through several wide and crowded open squares.
They maintained this arrogant formation all the way, and the crowd automatically parted when they encountered them.
As the team passed by, passers-by turned their heads to look back and whispered behind them.
Finally, the few of them entered a cold drink shop, and two waiters led them to the reserved long table and sat them down.
There is a high window nearby, through which you can see the yard outside.
"The deal has been completed and we have made at least tens of millions!" said Salman.
"No trouble?" Johnny asked.
"No problem," Salman laughed. "That property is in great demand. You know, Johnny, that fat bastard Neil, put those two big houses, his own and the one next door, in his brother-in-law's name.
We can't help it, man, we all do it, but those two houses are worth tens of millions of dollars.
Those are fucking mansions. After we produced all the evidence of the fat guy's debts, his brother-in-law didn't want to sign to give up those two houses.
He became aggressive and started talking to a lawyer and the police, so we had to tie him up and hang him over a vat of acid.
Then he stopped being stubborn and couldn't wait to sign and give the house to us.
We sent Farid on this mission to get it done, but the fat guy's brother-in-law ignored us, and that pissed him off, because that bastard had made him go through all the trouble of getting a vat of acid.
Our brother Farid likes to handle things simply like this, giving that bastard a good beating. This matter is basically... Farid, what did you say it was?
"Shame on you," Farid said.
"Yeah, it's a fucking disgrace, this whole thing. Farid wants respect, and if he doesn't, he'll shoot the bastard without a word.
So he got so angry that he snatched the fat brother-in-law's house and forced him to sign to give up his house, just because his attitude when he paid off the debt was so bad.
Now he has nothing, and we have three houses that can be sold for 16 million rupees!"
"You guys are really cruel and vicious in blackmailing me." Johnny laughed at himself.
"Man, all over Mumbai is making money now. This is what you have to do if you want to eat well."
Salman didn't care and joined the New Union early on. He grew up in the bustling and crowded Bandra district and was a precocious child.
He ranked first in every subject in junior high school, which surprised his poor parents.
From the age of five, he and his father worked twenty hours a week, plucking chickens and cleaning the local chicken coop.
He soon told the school that he had to drop out to support his family so that he could have more time to work and earn money.
A teacher who knew Hade Khan learned about this and asked the gang leader for help.
So with the help of Khad Khan's scholarship, Salman was able to continue his studies and eventually went to a Catholic university founded by the Jesuits.
This boy from the slums wore a clean white school uniform every day and attended classes with the children of rich people.
The university gave him a good education, and Salman spoke fluent English. He was well-versed in everything from history and geography to literature and art.
But the boy had a wild and untamed soul, an insatiable thirst for excitement that not even the iron fists and canes of the Jesuits could quench.
By the time Salman was fighting the Jesuits, Farid had joined Khad Khan's gang, working as an errand boy, carrying messages and contraband between gang offices around the city.
A few weeks into his job, he was stabbed during a fight with a rival gang that tried to rob him.
The boy resisted, escaped, and, despite the pain, delivered the contraband to a collection center in Khad Khan.
His injuries were so severe that it took him two months to recover. His lifelong friend Salman blamed himself for leaving Farid alone and being bullied, and he immediately dropped out of school.
He pleaded with Khad Khan to let him run errands with Farid, and Khad Khan agreed.
From then on, the two boys worked together in every illegal activity of the gang.
They were only sixteen when they joined the gang, but now they are twenty-five years old as they sit together in the ice cream shop.
These two unruly young men have become tough guys at this time. They spend a lot of money to buy things for their family and live a cool and fashionable life.
They held a grand wedding for their sister, but both of them remained unmarried.
Salman said that they refused to get married because both of them thought or had a premonition that they would die tragically or die young.
Such a future did not scare them or make them uneasy.
They think it's a fair trade: they get excitement, power, and enough wealth to support their families. Even if their lives end early, perhaps by a knife or a bullet, it's fair.
After Had Khan's death, and after Johnny eliminated the traitors and won the war, the two immediately joined the new alliance and became independent gang bosses.
"See, Johnny, the real estate business in Mumbai is booming. In the past, it would have been difficult to make tens of millions of rupees!" Salman exclaimed in amazement.
"There was a fire in Jogrivash recently, and a two-story building burned down. Was that your fault?"
“That company is our competitor,” Salman laughed.
The burned building originally housed the archives of a department of the Bombay Municipal Administration, which later moved to a more spacious and modern office building.
The original old tables, benches, storage cabinets, and shelves were all retained, and the place was favored by the new federation.
The furniture suited their needs perfectly, and the New Union even had people clean and polish it and move it around to make room for other equipment.
Johnny planned to use that place as the office building of Happy Bean Media. It was both hidden and safe, and had enough space as a photo studio.
But just as they were about to move the equipment, someone got to the building first.
Officials who had previously reached a verbal agreement changed their minds and sold the land to another company.
That company also deals in restricted discs and is in direct competition with the New Federation.
As a result, on the second night after the other party's equipment was moved in, the sound of alarm bells and the even louder sound of fire truck sirens were heard on the street.
People appeared in the streets and looked in the direction of the frantic noise. The smoke from the fire crackled in the midnight sky.
"We killed our biggest competitor; they closed down due to a fire," Farid laughed.
“Guys, Happy Beans is already the biggest in Mumbai in this regard, there’s no need to bother with those smaller companies,” Johnny reminded them.
"Brother, winner takes all. Don't give others a chance, or they'll eat us too."
"This market is big enough, just like Bollywood, there are so many film companies, and they are all doing very well."
"We are an X-rated film, so we can't be seen in public. Have you forgotten what happened in the Capitol? The Shiv Sena and the police have teamed up to cause trouble for us.
There are many colleagues who tip us off, so we have no choice but to keep changing locations or make our company more legally invulnerable, time and time again.
Salman, what is this kind of competition called? " Farid turned to ask his friend next to him.
"The Red Queen Contest."
“That’s right! We are the virus, inhabiting this city, and the police and the Shiv Sena are the host’s defense mechanism.
We attack, they defend. We adapt to defeat them, and they develop new defenses.
This back-and-forth, endless, this is from a novel, damn, I forgot what it's called." Farid was a little annoyed.
"Alice in Wonderland," Saliman said with a smile, "The little girl Alice met the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts ran very fast, but she always seemed unable to move forward.
She told Alice that in her country, people have to run as fast as they can to stay in the same place. This is just like our relationship with the police and those who work with us.
They always want to destroy us, but we are growing stronger. One day, Happy Beans Media will become a place they can do nothing about. This is the Red Queen Contest!
"I'd say we're doing well enough. We're selling millions of CDs a month, which is more profitable than other gangs' opioids."
"Brother Johnny, don't worry, we know what to do. No one will be killed. That would be very troublesome. The host's defense system will be upgraded."
"Speaking of human lives, I remember," Johnny looked at them, "a while ago, 'Demolition King' Kellner was shot. Does this have anything to do with you?"
"Well, we just wanted to give him a warning." Salman and Farid looked at each other and shrugged.
Johnny wanted to say something, but a phone call came in.
He grabbed the phone on the table and walked to the window. He said a few words and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
"What's wrong, bro?" Salman asked.
"Don't bother Kellner again." Johnny said seriously.
"How can that be possible? He wants to tear down our restaurant. It's in a prime location," Farid shouted.
"Shut up! If you don't want to get shot, just do what you're told. And don't bother with those huts by the railway anymore."
Johnny's tone was hard, cold as steel. His long face was asymmetrical, with one eye a finger's width lower than the other.
There was a crooked crack on his nose, a scar from stitches.
His short hair formed a rounded hairline on his forehead, like a dark halo, pressing down hard on his slightly jagged ears.
At this moment, he was so angry that no one in the room dared to speak.
"Brother, we have been guarding those huts for seven or eight years. In a few years, that piece of land will belong to us. Have you heard that they are planning to build a road there?" Salman tried to persuade him.
"There are tens of thousands of police officers on standby in Mumbai. Anyone who dares to show their head will be caught by surprise!"
At the long table, several leaders of the New Federation opened their mouths wide, as if their throats were being strangled.
(End of this chapter)
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