Chapter 159 - 144 The Predicament of Another Mr. Lee (Owing 5 Chapters)_2

Martin had only two options, either expand through high-tech or annex other gangs, violently expanding his territory.

However, he couldn’t handle Kingpin if he chose the latter, and he had no high-tech companies to play along if he chose the former. The reasons for both options were somewhat similar—they both belonged to minorities, and among minorities, they were the easiest to manipulate.

If he didn’t have other Asians with him and his superpowers, establishing such a financial and criminal organization would have been nearly impossible.

Lille’s words were so vague that Martin couldn’t make up his mind— "This financial empire you mentioned... does it include my other assets?"

Before he could react, Lille continued, "We are natural allies, Martin, you must realize that.

Just like you bring me more than just money, I bring you more than just bioproducts—I have a company that greatly reduces law enforcement costs."

Another seemingly contradictory statement.

He reviewed the gun ownership rate, crime rate, and illegal drug transaction cases in Chinatown, and it wasn’t high.

On the contrary, the probability of problems occurring in large industries like financial companies, real estate companies, and banks was much higher—when it came to choosing criminal targets and industrial layout, Martin and Kingpin had vastly different approaches.

Both needed people to maintain their empire, but Kingpin relied on providing clandestine services above, brutal violence below, and for his people—sharing the spoils. The importance of money went without saying.

Martin relied more on superpowers, allowing him to attack rich people and competitors more, with no allies and subordinates all being henchmen.

He didn’t need large criminal industries to ensure the "employment rate" of criminals; he could transition faster.

"...This is indeed a good thing," Martin said meaningfully, "You are deeper than you seem, yet you chose to continue liaising with and even employing Peter Parker, that troublemaker, after the incident. Why?"

"For many reasons—you could see it as me believing he will bring more benefits in the future than this loss.

My lawyer also asked why I didn’t completely sever ties with him and shake off all the spotlight and attention."

That was also Martin’s real question—a minor kid made such a big mistake, any boss would have fired him; it was normal.

Lille was also quite familiar with operating this way, so he understood their doubts. He continued to explain:

"...But then I thought, first of all, I was one of the sponsors of the lab and tacitly allowed Peter to become an intern. So, if he made a mistake, I also bear responsibility. I don’t want to be an irresponsible person."

If the company had a problem, simply blaming an intern or a contract worker seemed too irresponsible and perfunctory.

As he said before—Lille didn’t want to go back to that way of doing things if he had a choice.

"Abandoning this person when something goes wrong this time, abandoning another person next time something goes wrong, always abandoning someone—

Just to secure my assets, throw away everything to build a fancy vault for myself, and then sit on it all day admiring my money?

I’m not that kind of bastard.

Peter made a mistake, came forward to bear the consequences, and could bear those consequences. He learned a lesson and had the opportunity to help the NYPD restore the truth of a real murder case, to redeem himself.

I believe he can change for the better, my partners also believe he can change for the better, the court also believes he can be educated to be better... In short, I hope this trend of improvement becomes true."

"You choose to trust your people and hope good things happen, simply put," Martin summed up.

"Yes, I hope good things happen."

After hearing this, Martin laughed—a genuine laugh from the heart, not a mocking laugh, but because he felt Lille spoke well and honestly, too honestly to be real.

He took cups and red wine from the car’s minibar, pouring as he said, "My parents used to comfort me like this when I was a kid, telling me that when I grew up, good things would come true.

But when I had money, they could never see it."

"...I am very sorry."

"My eternal regret—we should have met a few years earlier. In my hometown, there’s a saying..."

"Regret meeting so late," Lille said, smiling as he took over the wine glass.

Martin showed a surprised look: "I thought you were a native American."

"I like learning, and that includes excellent culture—that’s why I don’t actually like red wine. Next time, we can have tea."

"I’ll remember that—my hometown has great tea, I’ll let you try some next time."

They raised their glasses, and Martin said, "Then let’s hope we can work together to make good things come true."

After finishing a glass, the car arrived in Hell’s Kitchen.

As Lille got out of the car, Martin’s hand suddenly turned black and white—

He hadn’t intended to use his powers, but he felt someone with such deep cunning who believed in good things coming true—put harshly, Lille appeared immensely contradictory to him.

A kind-hearted person would almost always make naive mistakes, whereas someone with seasoned means and profound thoughts could never say these things or do these things.

At the very least, that was his belief, so he wanted to understand Lille a bit more.

His instinct told him not to invert Lille’s nature, but getting to know him more shouldn’t be an issue.

This energy would let Martin slightly feel Lille’s buried negative emotions and somewhat appreciate his inner world without reversing his whole nature.

The moment this negative energy inadvertently touched Lille, Martin’s expression drastically changed, and he jumped, startling the driver.