So, he still had to make money in the gray areas.
And gray industries inevitably involved gang forces. Even many of the city's nobles and wealthy merchants worked with gangs to make money.
Land development, red-light districts, taverns, slaves, arenas, even medicinal herbs and ore—things openly prohibited by Imperial law could all be bought on the black market.
And these things were basically hugely profitable. Otherwise, how could they support so many rich people?
Of course, the underworld alone was not enough. He also needed the legitimate side to cover for it. White plus black was invincible.
Ryan calculated it over and decided to first consolidate the gang forces. Once he had a foundation, he could use his authority to build up an industrial chain. Then he could dominate both sides, and money would come naturally.
"Let Shally handle it first."
'Lin Qi' was gone, so he could only send 'Shally.' Ryan did not trust anyone else, whether it was the Burning Covenant or Gruk's special operations squad.
As for the military, Ryan could first put 'Shally' on the guard unit's roster. He was the mayor now anyway, and when war came, he could simply pull her out.
Night.
An old residential district in the East District.
In a large mansion along a street lit by lamps, the burly Bright leaned against a sofa with a cigarette in his mouth, his right arm around a seductive woman as he smiled at the huge pile of coins on the table.
"Boss, tonight's earnings are pretty damn good. Opening the arena here was truly a brilliant decision!" one underling fawned. "You really have vision, Boss. You're better than all those people in the gang."
"Of course. They all wanted to open the place in the rich district, thinking that was where