America 1919

"Haha, I knew no one could mess with the Block Family, even if they're from Atlantic City!"

The hearty and deep laughter made the identity of the speaker clear—it was none other than Donnie Block's father, old Carl!

Seeing old Carl jumping off the truck took Donnie by surprise.

He didn't even have time to tell Chris and the others to move the liquor from the truck to the bar before asking old Carl.

"Why did you come here?"

John said proudly at his side, "The moment dad heard someone dared to rob the Block Family's liquor, he immediately decided to come over and check out the situation in Atlantic City!"

"What, you're not happy to see your old man here?"

As Donnie's business got better and better, the concerns of the Block Family had disappeared into thin air, and old Carl had become even more exuberant than before.

"How could I not be? I'm extremely happy!" Donnie glared hard at John before inviting old Carl into the bar.

"This place is much livelier than back home!"

Old Carl said, somewhat amazed as he looked around the bustling bar.

Donnie casually pulled away a man sitting at the bar to make room for old Carl to sit down, "Now that you're here, won't there be problems back home?"

Old Carl waved his hand dismissively, boasting, "Don't worry, I've already taken care of everything!"

That's when Donnie finally felt at ease. The distillery in Elwood Village was the foundation of his position in Atlantic City, and Donnie would not allow anything to go wrong there.

"So, you're saying that you really were attacked on the way here?"

Only now did Donnie start to worry about what happened to them on the road.

By then, John had already come over, grabbed two bottles of beer from inside the bar, gave one to old Carl, and opened one for himself.

Glug glug glug…

"Just as you expected, LeBron did make his move. Luckily, we all hid in the truck's compartment at the time and ambushed them. LeBron James's men were all taken out!"

Robert walked over, grinning, "And we've tossed the bodies of those guys into the Atlantic, no one's going to find them!"

Hearing Robert say that calmed Donnie down.

"Since when do black guys dare to compete with us for business?" old Carl seemed to already know who was behind the ambush from Robert and John, and he was very angry.

Being robbed by black people was something that, if it spread in Elwood Village, would be laughed at.

"If I hadn't stopped him, dad would've already been off to North District!" John boasted to Donnie, trying to take credit.

"Donnie, I'm not criticizing you, but how come the richer you get, the more timid you become? If those black guys dare to make a move, just take them out!"

Donnie finally realized where John got his personality from.

"Things are not as simple as you think. Atlantic City has its own rules of the game, and since we don't have the power to set our own rules yet, we'll just have to temporarily abide by theirs!"

Donnie knew he couldn't explain the complexity of the situation to old Carl, so he tried to put it in the simplest terms possible.

Old Carl waved his hand nonchalantly, "Alright then, since you've built your empire here in Atlantic City, you make the calls about things over here. But let me tell you, if any black guys dare to cause trouble in Elwood Village, I'll definitely take them out next time!"

"Okay!" Donnie had no objections but remembered the incident about Nucky sending someone over. After the phone call in Nucky's study, Donnie had yet to contact old Carl.

"Has there been any stranger visiting the village lately?"

At this point, old Carl shed his brusque and carefree demeanor and said seriously to Donnie, "There was someone indeed, claimed to be some kind of Prohibition Investigator, I believe his name was Van Alden, that's right, that's the name!"

Donnie frowned slightly, not expecting the Prohibition Investigators to have started moving into Atlantic City.

Although Atlantic City had clearly repealed the Prohibition, it was only the city's word and had no strong legal basis.

"Did he cause us any trouble?"

Donnie asked directly since he was now the biggest bootlegger in Atlantic City!

Old Carl laughed heartily, pleased with himself, "That white kid started off pretty arrogant, saying he was going to take me in, but when he saw our dozen or so guns, he turned into a coward in an instant. Now, he's working as a bartender at my distillery!"

Donnie: "..."

He knew old Carl was tough, but he hadn't expected him to be this tough.

But thinking about it, Donnie could understand why Atlantic City had thrived so rapidly over a decade during Prohibition, without ever hearing of any prohibition agents making a significant impact there.

On the contrary, it was Nucky who eventually got caught by Federal Investigators in collaboration with the IRS for tax evasion, which clearly showed that prohibition agents had no place in Atlantic City.

"You still need to be cautious, I believe many people will secretly start investigations in our area," he advised.

Since prohibition agents wouldn't accomplish much in Elwood Village, Donnie decided to leave them alone. It was Elwood Village that detained Nucky's men and now had taken out LeBron James's men, making it a place many were eager to probe into.

"Don't worry!" Old Carl said confidently, "Even if a strange fly enters Elwood Village, we'll know about it!"

After chatting for a while, Old Carl suddenly brought up another matter with Donnie.

"Cameron told me that underground speakeasies are starting to appear in Philadelphia, where the price of alcohol is very high, and he also asked me to tell you not to put all your eggs in one basket. Although we now have the Atlantic City market, if we could get Philadelphia and New York's markets as well, our wealth would roll in!" he conveyed.

Cameron Block was attending high school in Philadelphia.

Donnie frowned slightly and said, "Why does Cameron care about these things instead of focusing on his studies? Has he been to those speakeasies?"

Old Carl shook his head and replied, "Cameron told me he hasn't gone. It was his classmates who mentioned them."

At this time, Philadelphia was not yet the 'City of Zombies' of the future. Before the manufacturing industry in the United States moved overseas, Philadelphia was a very important industrial city, especially for its steel industry, which was the backbone of the city.

It was also because of this relationship that Atlantic City could quickly grow with the help of Philadelphia's middle-class.

However, as America's heavy industry moved away and the Great Depression loomed in the next decade, Philadelphia's economy plummeted rapidly, directly causing Atlantic City's business to nosedive, and what should have been one of America's most luxurious cities was gradually overtaken by Las Vegas!

Donnie told Old Carl, "Tell Cameron that the SAT is his priority right now, not business matters. Once he finishes college, there will be plenty of work for him to do!"

Old Carl nodded and said, "I've already given him a stern talking-to!"

Donnie then added, "Forget about New York for now, at least at this stage, its market is not something we can touch. As for Philadelphia, I will investigate the situation there first before making a decision!"

As bootlegging was a gray industry, it inevitably had to connect with local gangs.

As the economic center of the United States, New York's gang power was also very strong, and at that time, the city was being controlled by the Bugg and Meyer gangs.

As for the future ruler of New York's underworld, Charles Luciano had not yet fully risen to prominence.

"Alright, I'll keep these things in mind!"

After gulping down a beer, Old Carl said nonchalantly, affirming his trust in Donnie Block, who had proven his abilities.

With business matters settled, Old Carl threw his arm around Robert's neck and said, "I hear Donnie has given you a speakeasy?"

Robert's face flushed red as he breathed heavily, "I'm just managing, managing. The speakeasy is still Donnie's!"

Though he said that, the relationship between Scott's Speakeasy and Donnie was more like that of a parent company with a subsidiary. Scott was only required to pay a certain amount of money to Donnie each month, and any additional profits, large or small, were Robert's to keep.

Donnie, who made this decision, was well aware that even the best relationships cannot be maintained indefinitely by relying solely on so-called friendship or kinship. It's not possible.

It's only profit!

Only sufficient, tempting profits can truly make the people around one adhere closely to oneself as the core, forming a solid group!

"But I hear your speakeasy has quite a few features that this one doesn't?"

Old Carl asked with a smile.

Hearing Old Carl's words, Donnie and John, the two brothers, immediately turned their faces away in an understanding silence, pretending to have heard nothing.

Robert, catching on quickly, said immediately, "I can take you there right now to see for yourself, and you can give us some guidance!"

"Good!" Old Carl pulled Robert away from the place.

.

Meanwhile, a panic-stricken LeBron James scurried back to his home in the North District, the only two-story villa there.

LeBron, too anxious to remove his shoes, took out a bottle of rum from the liquor cabinet and took a hefty gulp.

Seeing LeBron like this, his worried wife asked, "What's happened? Where are TT and the others, why didn't they come back with you?"

His wife's question made LeBron feel as if the rattling gunfire from before was echoing again, and he sank to the carpet, crouching down.

"Atlantic City is no longer what it once was," LeBron mumbled to himself, sitting on the carpet.