Chapter 185 Iron Hammer As the number one boss in Nevada, Ilsa raised money and personally invested in the construction of churches by various denominations, because, as he used to say, "Those who believe in religion and gambling deserve some compensation for their faith." "He was adamantly opposed to the construction of slums, but instead built first-class hospitals and excellent schools. He always said it was self-interested. He looked down on the city of Atlanta, where the people, under the leadership of the state government, put all their money in their pockets and did not engage in social infrastructure at all.

Ilsa led people to realize that gambling was not a contemptible business, but a source of entertainment for the middle class, as normal as golf and baseball. He made gambling a decent business in the United States, and not only in Las Vegas, but in Nevada, everyone in Nevada should pay tribute to him.

Aside from his personal feelings, Frans was deeply grieved. He has grown so big that there has always been a bond of true affection that binds them together. Today, Franos owns 51 percent of the Grand Tower, worth at least $800 million.

He knew his life was going to change. Because the richer and more powerful, the more dangers will arise. His relationship with Don #Eastwood and his family is about to become even more delicate, as he is now a partner in one of their big businesses.

Franos first went to San Bernardino to speak with Alfred, who gave him some instructions. He told him that no one from the Eastwood family was going to the funeral except Tommy. He also said that Thayer would take the next plane to complete the mission that had been discussed, but that he did not plan to attend the funeral. Alfred didn't mention that Franos now owns half of the hotel.

Franos receives a message from the governor of Sunderland. He likes Sunderland very much, and he still has his IOU of 50,000 yuan, but Sunderland's affairs will have to wait until after the funeral.

He also heard from his father, Tommy. Tommy is a lifelong friend of Ilsa. How Franos will live in the future, he needs to listen to his father's opinion. How would his father react to his newfound position and wealth? It's going to be a tricky question, like dealing with the Eastwood family, because the Eastwood people will need to come to terms with the fact that their western boss is just as rich and powerful as he is.

Don himself would be fair, this is what Francio has no doubt. His father would support him, and that was almost a matter of course. But how will Don's sons, Alfred, Fixio, Hammer, and his grandson Thayer, react? He and Thayer have been rivals since they were baptized in Don's private chapel. It became a joke for the Eastwood family.

Thayer is about to arrive in Las Vegas to do the "job" of "Ghost Hand" Neo. This caused Farnos to be uneasy, as he did not like Neo. However, his fate was set by Don himself, and Franos was a little worried and didn't know how Thayer would do his job.

The funeral of Ilsa #Kenthar was the most solemn ever in Las Vegas, which is why the Eastwood family did not come, and it was also a tribute to a genius. His body was laid to rest in a Protestant church for public view. The church, built with his money, combines the majestic style of a European Catholic church with the brown sloping walls of Indian civilization and the pragmatism for which Las Vegas is famous, with a large parking lot and Native American decorative tones instead of European religious tones.

The choir that praised God and exalted Ilsa's heavenly kingdom came from a university. He financed the expenses of three professors for the university's human department.

Hundreds of mourners looked sad as they were able to graduate from university thanks to scholarships offered by Ilsa. There were a few gamblers in the crowd, who lost their money to the hotel, and seemed to have some fun, and finally they prevailed over Ilsa; The women who came alone, some of them were middle-aged, crying silently. The synagogue and the Catholic church, which he helped build, were also represented.

It would be a complete violation of Ilsa's creed to shut down the casino, but the managers and casino managers who were on duty during the day also came. Even some of the people who lived in the villa showed up, and were treated with special respect from Frans and Tommy.

Nevada's governor, Sunderland, was accompanied by the mayor and came to the funeral. A traffic cordon was set up along the shopping street so that the long line of silver-white hearses, black cars, and mourners on foot could bring the bodies to the cemetery, and Ilsa#Kenthal could walk through the world he had built one last time.

That night, the citizens of Las Vegas held a final tribute for Ilsa, who would have preferred this way of mourning if he had a spirit in the sky. They made a gambling spree and set a new record for betting, except on Christmas Day, of course. They buried the money with his body as a sign of respect for him.

At the end of the day, Franos was ready to start his new life.

In fact, when Franos was just twenty-one years old, Tommy couldn't wait for him to inherit his father's business. The most crucial point in a man's life is that he must make a living, and this is the consensus of all. He had to earn money to eat, have a roof on his head to protect him from the wind and rain, clothes to keep him warm, and raise his children. In order to succeed in doing this without suffering unnecessarily, he has a certain amount of power in his hands. Franos must take his place in the Eastwood family, just as day follows night. But to do this, Frans has to be a hero.

Franos has a good reputation in the family. When Thayer tells him that Tommy is an "iron hammer", Franos' answer leaves Don #Clint ecstatic, who still relish it to this day. "I don't know about it. You don't know either. Nobody knows. Why do you always wear these shorts? How cleverly answered, Don exclaimed happily. is so young, but so cautious, so shrewd, it really gives his father a long face. We should give this child the opportunity to exercise. All of this is told to Tommy, who understands that the time is ripe.

Tommy sets out to train Franos. He sent Frans to collect debts, which was not easy to do, and he had to use force. Tommy tells Franos about the family's history and teaches him the various ways to take action. There's nothing particularly complicated, and Tommy stresses that. However, if you have to go complicated, you have to plan it out in advance. The easy way couldn't be simpler. Start by sealing off a small area and plugging your target inside. Then they stalk him, then hit him with a car, or hire a hitman to kill him, block the traffic to prevent anyone from following him, and then hide for a while after they are done, so as not to be immediately interrogated. It's the easy way. If you want to be a little more complicated, you can do it. You can use your imagination as much as you want, but you have to plan carefully. Play complex only as a last resort.

Tommy gave a brief introduction to the history of the Eastwood family to Franos. Together with the fire of the House of St. Alden, the dominance of the House of Eastwood was established. Tommy doesn't mention his role in the fire, and he actually downplays the causes and consequences of the fire, rarely going into details. He praised Alfred, Fixio and Hammer more often. But what he said was the vision of Don #Clint.

The Eastwood family has a lot of business, the biggest one being oil and banking, and then a variety of businesses. Then there's the gambling and film industry, and when it comes to gambling, the family controls all sorts of casinos and other illegal gambling businesses across the United States. It also has a subtle impact on the homegrown gambling and entertainment industry in the United States, and it influences sports gambling. Sports gambling is legal in only one state in Nevada, and it is illegal in the rest of the United States. It has factories that produce slot machines, is involved in the manufacture of dice and cards, and provides porcelain, silverware and laundry services to gambling hotels. The gambling industry is the jewel of this underground empire, with a focus on sports gambling, which studies have shown to be lucrative.

In the United States, there is a religious craze for sports, and once gambling is declared legal, this frenzy is transferred to the gambling industry, and the resulting profits can be imagined.

Alfred's company, which runs several state lottery agencies, has made a detailed account of the profits he expects to make. The entire U.S. has put at least $1.5 billion in bets on the Rugby Super Cup, most of which are illegal. In the Las Vegas sports gambling register, legal bets alone can exceed $60 million. The World Professional Baseball Championship, depending on the number of games played, places bets totaling about $900 million. The stakes are much smaller in basketball games, but the many winning finals between basketball teams can also attract bets of nine to a billion dollars, and that's not counting the usual last name bets each season.

All they need to do is add special draws and combo bets, and the profits from gambling can be tripled at the annual Rugby Super Cup, and they may even make a net profit of $1 billion a day. All in all, the profits of sports gambling can reach 100 billion US dollars, and the most wonderful advantage is that there is no production link in this kind of operation, and the only thing to do is sales and management. For the Eastwood family, this business alone could make a huge fortune -- at least half a billion dollars a year.

What's more, the Eastwood family has experts in this area, has connections in political circles, and has the power to control most of the market. Alfred drew a chart showing the variety of prizes that could be set up depending on the major sporting competition. Sports gambling is a powerful magnet that will extract a lot of wealth from the vast gold mine of the American people.

Therefore, gambling is a low-risk business with unlimited development prospects.

Still, Tommy turned around and cautiously added that sometimes he had to take a certain amount of risk, and sometimes he had to be ruthless. When such a time comes, the family members will show extreme caution and extreme cruelty. At this time, you should use your actions to win the current comfortable life, you should show your true ability, and earn three meals a day.

Soon after he was born at the age of twenty-one, Franos began to be tested.

Franos didn't know the specifics of the target, but he knew that his father would never let him kill an innocent person, and he remembered that Alfred personally flew from San Bernardino to Las Vegas! Although Franos's mental quality is not ordinarily good, he still wanders away during meetings.

Even though Alfred was not a significant gambler, he and his bodyguards were arranged to live in a villa. Ilsa knows when to make an exception. He had refused to give the villa to a powerful politician and financial tycoon, a famous Hollywood movie star, but he let Alfred #Eastwood live in a villa, even though he knew that Alfred admired the simple life and did not approve of excessive extravagance and extravagance. But every hint of respect is counted and accumulated; And every little omission, no matter how inconspicuous, will be remembered one day in the future.

Franos only remembers a few fragments......

"The governor is a great asset to our family,...... Ilsa.

"Does the Governor know you're one of ours?" Alfred's questioning.

Then Franos was sent out of the door by his father's eyes. Because he also seems to see that his son seems to be a little absent-minded!

The Eastwood family has strict discipline, Tommy told Franos. "You have to get their consent. You must not kill people because someone spits on your shoes. You must have the support of your family, and only they can save you from prison. ”

Franos listened quietly. He only asked one question: "Alfred asked the scene to look like an accident, right?" How can this be done? ”

Tommy smiled and said, "Don't let anyone tell you how to act. To hell with them. They just have to tell me what they want most. I do what I think is best. The best way is the easiest way. Very, very simple. If you have to play something complicated, you have to be amazing. ”

After receiving the surveillance report, Tommy asked Franos to go through all the material. Among them are a photo of the mission's target, Corina himself, a license plate number on a photo of his car, and a road map of Corina driving from Brentwood to Oxnard to date his girlfriend. Franos looked at the man's profile and asked his father, "How can he still have a girlfriend?" The reason for this is that Corina's profile says that he once killed a girl, but was able to avoid prison because of his mental illness.

"You don't understand women," Tommy said with a smile as he looked at his son, "and if they like you, you can even pee in the sink." If they don't like you, they won't take you seriously, even if you honor them as Queen of England. ”

As Don said, the most ruthless animal in this world is actually a woman! Although it is important to get married and have children, you must not choose such a woman.

Tommy flies to Los Angeles and sets up his action team. When he returned two days later, he told Franos: "Tomorrow night." ”

The next day, Tommy and Franos drove from Las Vegas to Los Angeles before dawn to escape the desert heat. As he walks through the desert, Tommy reminds Franos to relax.

The sun was rising in the east, radiating a thousand rays of light, and the desert in the morning light seemed to melt into a river of gold, and the waves crashed against the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distance. Looking at the beauty of the natural world, Franos couldn't help but feel anxious. He wanted to complete the mission right away.

They arrive at the Eastwood family, a house built on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, where a team of six from Locketown is waiting for them. A stolen car was parked in the driveway, which had been repainted and had a fake license plate number. There were still guns in the house, whose origin was unknown, ready to be used in this operation.

The extravagance and luxury of the house surprised Franos, who was not inferior in knowledge. Overlooking the picturesque Pacific Ocean across the highway, there is also an outdoor pool and sunbathing balcony with six bedrooms. Those people seemed familiar to Tommy. However, they and Franos were not introduced to each other.

The operation officially began at midnight, and eleven hours had to be passed before that. The men ignored the television set and played cards on the balcony in their swim trunks. Tommy smiled and said to Franos, "Damn, I forgot there's a swimming pool." ”

"It's okay," Franos said, "we can swim in our pants." "The house is in the middle of nowhere, shaded by towering trees and surrounded by hedges.

"We can swim bare-bottomed," Tommy grinned, "and no one will see it except the people on the plane, and those people are staring at the women who are sunbathing outside their respective Malibu villas." ”

They spent hours swimming and sunbathing together, and then ate a meal cooked by one person in a group of six. There are two dishes, one is steak grilled on the grill on the sunbathing balcony, and the other is arugula lettuce salad (quack!). I play The Sims Three Miles with a dish quack). The six men drank red wine to accompany their meal, and Franos drank only a glass of soda. He noticed that they ate and drank in moderation.

After the meal, Tommy takes Frans with him and drives the stolen car to reconnoiter the situation. Their destination is a Western-style restaurant and coffee shop that is a longer drive along the Pacific Coast Highway, where they can find Corina. Surveillance reports indicate that every Wednesday night, when Mr. Collina drove back to Oxnard's home, he used to stop at a Pacific Highway restaurant at midnight for coffee, prosciutto, and eggs, and then get back on the road at 1 a.m. That night, a two-man surveillance team followed Collina, who called Tommy to report as soon as Collina hit the road.

Back at the house, Tommy lays out the plan of action to the team of six. The six people will be divided into three small cars. One car leads them, the other breaks down, and another is parked in the restaurant's parking lot for emergency purposes.

Franos and Tommy sat on the balcony, waiting for the surveillance team to call. There were five cars parked in the driveway, all black, like five big bed bugs in the moonlight. The six men from Locketown continued to play cards, betting on coins: five, dime, and two-dime. At eleven thirty o'clock, the telephone rang at last; Corina was on her way from Brentwood to the restaurant. The six men got into the three cars and drove to the pre-designated positions. Tommy and Franos got into the stolen car and waited a quarter of an hour before leaving. Frans carried a small pistol in his jacket pocket, without a pinner, but it emitted only a slight, sharp "snap" when fired; Tommy brought a Colt pistol with a loud gunshot. Ever since Tommy became the number two "hammer" in the family, he has never used a pin.

The car was driven by Tommy. The action plan is well organized. Members of the Action Team were not allowed to enter the restaurant. Because the detective will ask the employee about all the customers. The surveillance team has reported on what Corina is wearing, the car he is driving, and the license plate number. Luckily, Collina's car is a fire-red color and is a cheap Ford that's easily recognizable in this spot where Mercedes and Cadillac sedans abound.

When Tommy and Franos arrived at the restaurant's parking lot, they saw that Corina's car was already parked there. Tommy pulled his car next to Collina's. Then he turned off the lights, turned off the engine, and sat quietly in the dark. They looked across the Pacific Coast Highway and saw gold chains scattered across the glittering ocean, which turned out to be the moonlight. They noticed that one of the team's vehicles had been parked at the other end of the parking lot. They knew in their minds that the other two cars must have stopped somewhere on the road, ready to intercept any tracking vehicles, resolve any problems that might arise, and escort them safely back to the house.

Franos looked at his watch. Twelve thirty o'clock. They had to wait a quarter of an hour. Suddenly, Tommy patted Franos on the shoulder. "He's out early," Tommy said, "and let's go!" ”

Franos saw a figure emerge from the restaurant and appear in the lights at the gate. To Franos' surprise, the man was of childlike stature, short and thin, pale, thin, with curly hair piled up on his head. Corina looked vulnerable and didn't look like a murderer at all.

What happened next was a surprise to Tommy and Franos. Corina didn't go over to his car, and he dodged the oncoming traffic as he crossed the Pacific Coast Highway. At the end of the road, Corina continued to the public beach until it reached the end of the beach, where the blue waves rippled beneath his feet. He stood there, staring intently at the sea, where the golden moon hung from the distant horizon. After a while, he turned and walked back, crossing the road into the parking lot. The waves had reached his feet, and there was a large patch of water on those sleek boots.

Franos slowly stepped out of the cart. Corina almost bumped into him. Franos let Corina walk over and, politely, smiling, waited for him to get into the car. As soon as Corina got into the car, Franos pulled out his gun. Corina was about to turn on the ignition when the windows were rolled down, and he noticed the shadow of Frans and couldn't help but look up. At that moment, Franos fired, and he and Corina were staring at each other. When the bullet hit Corina's face, he froze, blood immediately filling his face, his eyes staring at each other. Franos opened Collina's car door and fired two more shots at Collina's head. Blood poured down his face. Immediately afterward, he threw a bag of poison* into Collina's car and slammed the door shut. As soon as Franos fired, Tommy started the engine. At this moment, Tommy opens the car door and Franos jumps in. As planned, Franos did not throw away the pistol. That would make the incident look like a premeditated murder rather than infighting among drug traders.

Tommy drove the car out of the parking lot, with the car covering him and Franos following. The two leading cars were also in place, and five minutes later they arrived at the Eastwood family's house. Ten minutes later, Tommy and Franos were in Tommy's car and headed for Las Vegas. The team will dispose of the stolen car and the pistol. When they drove past the restaurant, there was no sign of police activity. Corina's body has apparently not been found. Tommy turns on the radio in the car and listens to the news. There have been no reports of this. "Impeccable!" Tommy approvingly said, "If you plan well, things will work perfectly." ”

When they arrived in Las Vegas, the sun was rising and the surrounding desert was a sea of misty red. Franos will never forget the long drive, through the desert, through the darkness, through the endless moonlight, and then he saw the rising sun, and after a while, he saw the flashing neon lights on both sides of the streets of Las Vegas, like a lighthouse, a sign of safety, a sign of waking up from a nightmare. There is never a dark night in Las Vegas.

Around that moment, Corina's body was found, his face looking horrified in the white morning light. Propaganda media reports revolve around the fact that Corina is carrying $500,000 worth of cocaine. Obviously, this is a homicide triggered by the drug trade. No one was implicated.

From this incident, Franos learned many things. The drugs he planted in Corina were worth only $10,000, but the police authorities claimed they were worth as much as half a million. A week later, the murder disappeared from media publicity.

Tommy and Franos are summoned to San Bernardino to meet Alfred. Alfred praised the two of them for their tactful and good work, but said nothing about the murder as an accident.

Through this meeting, Franos realizes that the Eastwood family has given him the courtesy of an "iron hammer". The most important piece of evidence is that Franos received a cut of the Eastwood family's legal and illegal income from Las Vegas casinos. This indicates that Franos is now a full-fledged member of the Eastwood family and will be ordered to carry out special missions and receive a reward for the riskiness of the mission.

Over the next five years, Franos became an expert in the gambling industry, as well as in the operation of hotels with attached casinos. He became an assistant to Ilsa#Kenthal, but his main job was to assist his father Tommy, not only running the collection company that would belong to him, but also becoming the "hammer" of the Eastwood family.

At the age of twenty-five, Franos became the hammer of the Eastwood family. What struck him as strange was that he didn't have any passion for his work. His targets are all strangers he doesn't know. They were like a pile of soft meat, encased in fragile skins, with an abrupt skeleton outline, like the beasts he had hunted with his father as a child. He was also worried that something would happen, but he was just thinking about it in his head, and he didn't have much real worry. When his life was relatively peaceful, he would occasionally wake up in the early morning and feel faint palpitations, as if he had just had a terrible nightmare. When he was depressed, he would think of his mother, the scenes of his childhood, and the time he went to visit her after the family broke up.

He remembered his mother's cheeks, warm, skin like satin, so transparent that he felt he could hear the sound of blood flowing, but it was flowing in the veins, very safe. But in his sleep, his skin always crumbled into powder, and blood flowed through the terrible cracks, forming a red waterfall.

This brings back other things from the past. His mother kissed him with cold lips and just put her arms around him politely. She never held his hand like she did to her sister. Every time he went to visit her, he always felt breathless when he left her house, and his chest seemed to be bruised, and it hurt hotly. He never felt that he had lost her now, only that he had lost her in the past.

When I think of my sister Helen, I don't have this sense of loss. They share a past, and Helen is still a part of his life, albeit not very much. He remembered that they liked to fight each other in the winter. They hide their fists in their coat pockets and swing them at each other. A feint. Everything was normal, Frans thought to himself, except that he occasionally missed his mother and sister. But he felt that following his father and the Eastwood family was still very fast.

At the age of twenty-five, Frans took part in his last operation as the hammer of the family. The target was someone he had known since childhood.

The FBI carried out a large-scale investigation operation, arresting many high-ranking leaders, some of whom were veritable bosses, all over the country. One of them was Albert #Massino, the head of the largest family on the eastern seaboard.

(To be continued)