The next day, Harry carried a large bag and went to Falcone Manor as a salute.
The old godfather's manor is not as large as Wayne Manor, but has tall walls and many towers, a bit like a western lord's castle.
It is stronger than Wayne Manor in terms of defense against foreign enemies.
This is normal. Wayne and Falcone have two different professions and have different housing needs.
In Falcone Manor, there are actually not many family members of the old godfather, and they are all middle and low-level members of the gang.
Well, the old godfather's confidant and bodyguard, similar to the king's praetorian guard.
His son is a serious man who is not a gangster. He is an attending doctor and almost never comes to this "Castle Falcone". His daughter is not in Gotham at all.
“You stay with me for the next two months, and I will help you become familiar with the Falcone family’s business and operating model.” The old godfather said.
“Have every family member who received a ruby ring received personal guidance from you?” Harry asked curiously.
"Not everyone, but you are certainly not the first one." The old godfather glanced around at the maid in the living room and the boy in a black suit, waved to Harry, and the two came to the seemingly empty back garden lawn.
“The first rule is, never completely trust the people around you.” He said in a complicated tone.
“Where are the cronies?” Harley asked.
“The second rule is that you can have confidants, but you must not rely on one or several confidants.
If you have 10 cronies and 11 secrets, it is far safer to give 10 secrets to them and keep one for yourself than to rely on just one person and tell him all the secrets.”
Harley nodded thoughtfully.
The old godfather returned to the previous topic, "When I started my business in the early years, I had many good friends and partners, but they either died of old age or died unexpectedly.
If their descendants have the idea of getting involved in the business of their ancestors, I will bring them to the manor until they come of age.
Well, just like in the ancient West, lords would accept the sons of minor lords under their command as knights and squires."
Hmm, the old man is implying that he regards her as a confidant?
“Thank you, Boss, for taking me seriously.” She said seriously.
No matter what you think in your heart, your attitude must be sincere.
The old godfather didn't change much in emotion. He just nodded casually and said slowly while walking on the lawn in the sun: "What kind of business do you think the Falcone family will do?"
“All illegal businesses except Du Ping?” Ha Li asked.
The old godfather smiled strangely.
“Once, I attended a banquet hosted by a Chinese friend, and the main course was a golden roast lamb.
I have a bit of a bland taste, so I didn’t want to touch it at that time.
The host was very enthusiastic and cut off the fattest lamb ribs and put them on my plate.
He himself ate the juicy leg of lamb, while his deputy only touched the back, while the other parts were divided among the other members of the host's family at the table.
After the dinner, when we left the restaurant after having a good meal, we saw a few homeless people in the garbage dump in the alley. They were holding sheep bones with clean fat and were beating them hard, while wild dogs were waiting beside them.
In fact, Gotham is also a roasted whole lamb.
The ribs belong to top plutocrats like Wayne, and the leg of lamb belongs to a big political family, or a religious family like Archbishop Marvin.
In Gotham, I could get a piece of lamb back meat.
Since I can go to the dinner table and eat a clean piece of lamb back meat, why should I go to the garbage dump to find bones?"
Then the old godfather described his business and that of his family members in detail.
The old godfather can eat mutton back meat. His current main goal is real estate. His stable business includes hotels, bars, high-end clubs, spinach, Broadway theaters, movie theaters and other service and entertainment assets.
It’s all a formal business.
The family members under the Godfather have a slightly poorer diet and are involved in some gray industries. For example, Sister Yu almost monopolizes Gotham's stolen goods sales channels, and Russian Nikolai engages in loan sharking and underground spinach.
However, the Falcone family does not touch the completely black industry. Even if someone does it, it is a personal act.
Harry might have still had doubts before, but after listening to the old godfather’s theory of carving up a whole roasted lamb, she believed what he said.
The reason is very simple: Who wants to go to the garbage dump and eat other people’s leftovers when you can have a dinner?
“This is not the same as the Heibang family I imagined before.” She sighed.
“Haha, we are gangsters, not to fight bravely, but to make money.”
The old godfather counted on his fingers and said: "Get a piece of land from the government, pre-sell one-third of the house, get a sum of cash, divide the money into two, pay for the land, and ask a construction company to build the entire building.
The process requires almost no manpower and material resources.
Two or three years later, after the building is completed, the net profit will be tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.
The speed of making money is faster than robbing banks, the cost is lower, and the income is more stable. If there is a choice, a fool would rob banks instead of real estate."
Harry was unable to refute, sighed and said: "We are already doing serious business, are we still considered the Heibang family?"
“Of course, if it’s not black enough or ruthless enough, how can we get the land from the Gotham City Government? Just now, aren’t we and Maroni fighting fiercely for Arkham Island?
Even in other industries
Fish has monopolized the sales channels of Gotham’s stolen goods, and I helped Sass monopolize Gotham’s sex industry. Except for Hilton and Wayne’s plutocratic hotels, I have monopolized all the leftovers.”
“You see? Monopoly is the guarantee of stable and high profits. But if you want to form an industry monopoly, how can you do it if you are not black and ruthless enough?”
One afternoon two days later, Harley saw a penguin in the chicken coop in Falcone's backyard.
Short in stature, just over 1.6 meters tall, half a head shorter than Harley.
One foot is lame and he walks with a limp, which is very funny, like a clumsy penguin.
The most impressive features of the face are the nose and teeth.
A sharp long nose that can puncture the screen and enter the third dimension.
Open your mouth and you can see a set of large, uneven yellow teeth.
Oh, there are also weird finger hairstyles: the hair is waxed, and the strands of hair hang on the forehead, like the fingers of a dead man.
“Wow, you are Harley Quinn, the famous witch Harley!” The Penguin was stunned for a moment when he saw Harley present, and then greeted him naturally.
“Hello, I’m Oswald Cobblepot, you can call me ‘Penguin’. Harley, you are younger than you look on TV, just like a girl.”
"Hello, Penguin, your reputation is no less famous than mine recently." Harley was also very surprised.
Penguin used to be Fish’s umbrella boy. Because he betrayed Fish, he was sent to Gordonner to vote for him.
Gordon used a little trick to let the penguin go.
Penguin did not leave Gotham, but came back the next day and became one of Maroni's leaders.
Theoretically, Penguin should now be looking for traitors to the Falcone family.
How did he come to Falcone Manor? He even entered quietly through the back door, concealing his whereabouts.
“Cobot is my undercover agent beside Maroni.” The old godfather straightforwardly revealed the answer to Harry’s mystery.
Then, he turned to the smiling Penguin and said, "You don't have to worry about your identity being exposed. Harley will never betray you to Fish and Maroni."
“Of course, it’s okay to do it to someone you trust.”
The penguin smiles even though he is smiling, but it still looks a bit fake.
The old godfather looked at Harry again and said, "Remember when I first came to the manor, I told you that there were two reasons for letting Gordon go.
I only said one reason at that time that he and I were not enemies, and the second reason was Cobot.
Cobblet wanted me to keep Gordon alive.
I promised him, as for the reason
Cobot betrayed Fish earlier, and I was ready to kill him with one shot.
He begged me to give him a chance to become Gordon's vote-getter. If Gordon killed him, he would have deserved his death and would have nothing to say.
But he believed that Gordon would definitely let him go, and if he escaped, he would find a way to join Maroni.
As a traitor to the Falcone family, I will definitely be able to gain Maroni's trust and become someone useful to me.
I agreed to his plan and handed him over to Gordon.
It turns out that Cobot’s brain is as good as your skills.”
“You are the two darlings of Gotham’s young generation!” the old man sighed with a complicated expression.
Cobot straightened his back, beaming with pride amidst the praise, with a smile on his face.
Harley
She was very interested in hearing the secrets about Penguin before, and looked very interested in it. However, the last sentence of "peerless twins" made her face slightly distorted.
“Boss, you’re being ridiculous. I’m just starting out, and I’m far behind Copot.”
“No, no, no, you are famous in Gotham, you are a household name.” Penguin said immediately.
"Okay, I want you to meet today because the next thing is related to the common interests of both of you."
The old godfather interrupted the two people's business bragging and said in a deep voice: "Gotham needs to restore calm, and the battle for Arkham should end as soon as possible.
Harley, you should seize your time recently and try your best to understand Nikola’s industrial operations. Copot will kill him in two days, and everything owned by the Russians will be yours by then.”
“Uh, kill Nikola, why? Can he affect the ownership of Arkham?” Harley asked confused.
She thought the old godfather wanted her to cooperate with Penguin to kill Maroni.
Copot smiled and said: "On the surface, Nicola and Fish are at odds, but in fact the two have been together for a long time.
The conflict on the surface is just a cover-up for their private and dark purpose of overthrowing Bo SS and supporting Nikolai to rise to power.
Of course, this is wishful thinking on the part of the Russians, and Fish is using him as a weapon.
If Nikola kills Boss, Fish will kill him immediately, and then ascend the throne with the righteousness of revenge for the boss.
When we kill Nikola now, we not only eliminate a powerful enemy for the SS, but also break Fish’s arm.”
“This” Harley understood. It was a very complicated power struggle in the black country, but
“Why not just let the boss of Sasse take action and kill Fish and Nikola?”
Cobot shrugged and looked at Falcone, but he didn't presume to take it seriously.
The old godfather sighed: "First of all, there are not just one or two family members who want my seat.
Nicholas hasn’t done anything too outrageous yet. Killing him openly will scare some people, but it will also reduce the cohesion of the family.
Secondly, Nicola is only a small character, and I value Fish more.
Like you now, Harley, I also invited young Fish to live in the manor and taught her step by step how to become the ruler of Gotham's underworld.
The time I spend with her is longer than that of my own daughter.
I have always regarded her as my daughter and I am willing to give her a chance.
Sigh, I am indeed getting old and starting to be sentimental. It would have been before."
Shaking his head, the old man continued: "Nick pulled a Russian, killing him will make Fish feel more at ease, it's already worth it.
If Fish is willing to come back after I warned her, I will be very happy.
Finally, Harry, and Copperpot, you must remember to try not to expose your weakness to outsiders.
If I let Victor take action, Fish and Nicola will of course lead their own people to fight to the death.
There was a large-scale war between the two sides, and the whole Gotham was watching the excitement. Maybe some people guessed that two traitors appeared at once. Is Roman (Falcon's nickname) really old?
Otherwise, why can’t he even suppress his younger brother? Has he lost his absolute dominance over Gotham?”