Five days later, Dani's subordinate reported to him that a Colombian man wanted to see him.
Dani thought to himself that the Colombian had finally came over, and he must find out what is going on.
"Quick, bring him in," he said.
The man stood before Dani with a grim expression and said, "General Gustavo has a message for you."
"What message?" asked Dani.
"You stole our goods, killed our people, and we will not let this go unpunished."
Dani was shocked and exclaimed, "How could you accuse me of stealing your goods? It was clearly your people who attacked us. The gang advisor I sent for the deal was killed, all my men were killed, and the $300,000 I brought was stolen. I suspect it was you who did it."
"I don't know about that. The general only instructed me to inform you to pay 500,000$. And this matter will be over. If you disagree, the general will send his men, and Mr. Dani, you should prepare to face our retaliation."
Dani was furious.
Damn it, why is everything being blamed on me?
Now Dani really wanted to talk face to face with General Gustavo and clear up the whole situation.
Unfortunately, it is 1946 and there is no direct international long flight to Colombia.
Ignore them? General Gustavo was a powerful figure in the Colombian military, commanding thousands of troops. If he really sent someone to kill him, his own men would surely not be able to resist.
But they demanded $500,000, where could he get that kind of money now? And this time, he was the victim.
Dani felt extremely frustrated.
Suppressing his anger, Dani said to the Colombian man, "Please tell General Gustavo that there has been a misunderstanding. At an appropriate time, I will go to Colombia to explain to him face to face. Our business must continue, and many things can be negotiated."
Dani slumped onto the sofa.
Reaching for a cigar, the cigar trembled in his hand.
"Damn it!"
Meanwhile, Hardy was sitting on a plane headed for Las Vegas.
He was going to see Sigel and deliver the proceeds from the robbery.
He also wanted to chat with Sigel about some things.
During these days, Hardy had been thinking and had chosen the path of the underworld. If he wanted to expand and grow, he needed his own territory and some steady income to support more men.
Relying solely on robbery wouldn't work.
In present Los Angeles.
The Irish gangs mainly concentrated in the old town area.
The Austrian gang was in the more developed new town area.
The Spanish were near Hollywood.
As for other small gangs, they were irrelevant.
During these days, Hardy had been contemplating that if he wanted to have a greater influence, he needed a suitable territory. The Irish territory was not ideal, and the Irish were strong and difficult to deal with.
Become the boss of the Austrian gang.
There's always rank and hierarchy everywhere, and the Austrian gang was under the control of the Mafia, involving too much. He thought it would be very difficult to become the boss.
Hardy's gaze fell on the Spanish gang.
Although the Spanish gang's territory was small, its geographical location was good, controlling the Hollywood area. The future development would only get better.
If he eliminated the Spanish gang, took over their territory, and established his own sphere of influence, his power would increase significantly, and there wouldn't be much internal conflict with the Austrian gang.
Next, It depended on Sigel's thoughts.
...
"Everyone, we're about to land. Don't forget to fasten your seat belts " the pilot shouted loudly to the dozen or so passengers behind him.
The plane was small, carrying only eighteen or nineteen passengers.
It was very bumpy in the sky, and the noise from the propellers was extremely loud. This kind of flying experience could only be described as awful.
But this is currently the fastest way to travel.
From Los Angeles to Las Vegas, there is about 480 kilometers, which would take about half a day by car.
Hardy checked his seat belt. He didn't want to be thrown out by the violent pilot.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
After a violent shaking and clanging noise, the plane finally stopped. Hardy grabbed his suitcase and stepped off the plane.
A young man in a suit approached him.
"Are you Mr. John Hardy?"
"Yes, I am."
"Mr. Sigel sent me to pick you up. The car is over there."
Hardy looked at the young man. His memory was exceptionally good now, and he vaguely remembered seeing this young man among the security personnel when he went to Sigel's house.
The two got into the car and drove towards downtown Las Vegas.
Hardy looked out the window. The surroundings were all dusty gray rocks with a few dry patches of yellow grass, desolate everywhere.
After a short time, the car entered the city.
Hardy had been to Las Vegas in his previous life, the gambling city of the 21st century, brilliant with lights and full of skyscrapers, bustling and extravagant.
Now, in Hardy's eyes, Las Vegas couldn't even be called a city at most it was a small town with buildings mainly concentrated on either side of the highway.
In 1829, a group of Mexican traders discovered the water rich Las Vegas Valley and named it "Las Vegas," which means "the meadows" in Spanish.
Decades later, the discovery of gold in Nevada attracted many people, turning Las Vegas into a small town.
In 1905, when the railway was completed, Las Vegas emerged as a crucial junction. It was upgraded to a city with a population of over 3,000 at the time.
During the Great Depression in the U.S., Nevada legalized gambling, and a few years later, the Hoover Dam was completed, providing ample electricity to the area. Soon after, highways linking to Los Angeles were established, which spurred rapid development in Las Vegas.
This rapid development primarily revolved around attracting visitors for gambling. Presently, the local population is slightly over twenty thousand, with annual visitors not exceeding fifty thousand, as Siegel informed Hardy.
Siegel's vision was to build the most luxurious casino in America here, drawing in 100,000 visitors annually.
Although, in Hardy's eyes, this place was not comparable to later towns, he recognized its astonishing growth.
Sixty years later, the population reached 550,000, with peak visitor numbers exceeding 40.8 million. Despite the gold being gone, Hardy saw this place as an abundant reservoir of wealth a seemingly inexhaustible source of gold.
Currently, there is only one main road, Las Vegas Boulevard, lined mostly with two- or three-story buildings, some small casinos, and entertainment venues, with vast areas of vacant land behind them.
Hardy saw these lands as future towering buildings, presenting immense potential for value appreciation. If one had the funds, buying land here and doing nothing would likely yield substantial profits when others rushed in to invest in Siegel's successful casino venture.
But that urgency would have to wait. The value of Las Vegas land was expected to increase only after Siegel's casino succeeded, drawing everyone in for the substantial profits.
The car stopped in front of a vast construction site.
The driver said to Hardy, "Mr. Hardy, Mr. Siegel is at the construction site. I'll take you inside to find him."
Hardy followed the driver inside and spotted Siegel in an open space.
A large parasol shaded Siegel's head, with a round table and a few chairs beneath it. Siegel stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
"Mr. Siegel," Hardy called out as he approached.
Siegel turned to Hardy, a smile on his face, and said, "Hardy, take a look around. We're making History here. This will be home to the most perfect casino in America, perhaps even the world."
Hardy followed Siegel's gaze toward a wilderness of construction materials piled on empty ground, where several bulldozers were diligently clearing away dirt, enveloping the site in a cloud of dust.