America 1919

"Donnie, let me introduce you to a friend I met in prison, Dwight Savage, a very top-notch pickpocket!"

When mentioning Dwight's profession, Robert didn't show the slightest embarrassment, and the skinny Dwight also came over to Donnie's side with enthusiastic hunching.

"Boss Block, when I was in jail, I already heard about your big name. You're like an idol to me!"

Regarding Dwight's sycophantic attitude, Magichi and the others showed disdainful expressions.

Donnie, however, smiled and asked, "Really? What things did you hear about me?"

"That, at the time when the whole United States was in Prohibition, only Boss Block you, with great foresight, started hoarding liquor, and now, who in Atlantic City doesn't know that Boss Block you are the biggest liquor merchant in Atlantic City!"

Dwight said happily.

After hearing this, Donnie also laughed and said, "Well said, you can stay!"

Hearing Donnie speak like that made Dwight even happier.

It was then that Donnie turned to Robert and asked, "How about it? Did you make anyone sweat while you were in there?"

Robert spoke nonchalantly, "How could I? It's good enough that I didn't let them, who would dare mess with me!"

Dwight chimed in at the right moment, "Boss Block, what you don't know is that when Robert went in, some of the guys there wanted to teach him the rules of the place, but Robert quickly put them in line and they didn't dare say a word!"

Donnie was glad to hear Robert wasn't bullied inside, and then with a smile he said, "Today's a day of double happiness, we'll celebrate properly in a while!"

John spoke up and asked, "How can it be a double happiness? What other good news is there besides Robert getting out?"

Donnie clapped John on the shoulder and laughed, "It's because we've gained another tavern!"

The others inside the tavern, hearing Donnie say this, immediately showed smiles and eagerly asked, "What do you mean?"

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No sooner had the words left his mouth than a dejected Scott walked in, holding a set of keys. Scott didn't say much about the situation in the tavern, simply tossing the keys onto the table.

"From now on, my tavern is yours!"

Then he left without looking back.

"What's happening?"

Facing the recent event, John asked in surprise, not expecting that Scott would actually give away the tavern to them.

Donnie smiled modestly and said, "We helped Nucky deal with the trouble from the 3K Klan and the WCTU, so naturally, we had to receive some compensation!"

Today, with Brad appearing in Nucky's office, the two troubles that had been bothering Nucky in Atlantic City, the 3K Klan and the WCTU, had been formally dealt with.

Aside from the collaboration that Donnie previously proposed to Nucky, there was another matter—that was for Donnie to get Scott's tavern.

The small Block Tavern was no longer sufficient to meet the demands of Donnie's business, so he had to expand.

Thus, Donnie set his sights on Scott's tavern.

Nucky agreed to Donnie's request without hesitation. With Nucky's word above, Donnie cutting off the liquor supply to Scott's tavern in the middle, and the WCTU protests below, Scott realized that keeping his tavern was no longer possible and resigned himself to the need to transfer it to Donnie at a very low price!

After hearing Donnie's explanation, everyone in the hall got even more excited, as all of them revolved around Donnie—the better Donnie did, the better their lives would get.

Donnie picked up the keys from the table and threw them to newly released Robert, saying, "From now on, you'll manage Scott's tavern!"

Robert caught the keys with both hands, gleefully saying, "Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

Donnie nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at Dwight standing next to Robert and suddenly had an idea.

"Dwight, just now Robert mentioned you're an excellent pickpocket in Atlantic City, is that true or false?"

Dwight worked his way past John to Donnie's side, then spread his hands open, revealing a brown, somewhat tattered wallet in his grasp and chuckled, "Boss Block, look!"

"Fuck, that's my wallet!" Before Donnie could even speak, John had already seen his wallet in Dwight's hands and started shouting.

Donnie showed a look of satisfaction, then said to Dwight, "Good, I have just the job that requires your skills!"

Dwight showed his loyalty at once, "Boss Block, you just give the word, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

Donnie called Dwight to his side and began instructing him in a low voice. Dwight, who had been somewhat smug at the start, began to look troubled after hearing what Donnie had to say.

"Block boss, won't this be too dangerous?"

Donnie sat there nonchalantly and said, "Of course, if you think it's dangerous, you can refuse this task. But Block Tavern doesn't harbor any dead weight. If you can't do it, the door's right there; you can leave anytime!"

"I can do it, I can do it," Dwight hurriedly asserted.

Donnie patted Dwight on the shoulder and said with a smile, "If you succeed in this task, I won't let you down!"

"Thank you, Boss Block!"

Seeing that Donnie had finished instructing Dwight, Robert then said to Donnie, "Now that I'm out, the aftermath of this incident is still quite serious. Shouldn't we discuss what to do next?"

This was why Donnie needed Robert. While John and the others were still reveling in the joy of Robert's release, Robert was already worrying about the consequences of the event.

Donnie nodded and said, "Come upstairs with me; let's talk in detail."

The others had no objections to Donnie's command; after all, they knew they couldn't keep up with the pace of the two men upstairs.

"John has already told me about the process of my rescue. Although we've gained Nucky's approval and secured half of Atlantic City's liquor supply, and you now have the assistance of both the 3K Party and WCTU, we did outright reject the Commodore, and we've made Nucky more wary of us. I think, once Nucky deals with the Commodore, he will definitely turn his attention to us.

This is unfavorable for our development!" Robert spoke at length.

Donnie nodded. Now that he thought about it, their gains were indeed significant, but follow-up issues were also likely to be troublesome.

"I think we can put Nucky aside for now. After all, his biggest adversary is the Commodore, not us. But with the Commodore, this man has been planning ever since he returned to Atlantic City, and he is not as broad-minded as Nucky. I am indeed worried he might do something nasty to us, just like he had you locked up before!" Donnie conveyed his concerns.

Robert pondered for a moment and then said, "I think our current strength is still not strong enough. If the Commodore really takes action against us, Nucky is very likely to remain a disinterested onlooker. After all, reducing our strength would also make it more convenient for Nucky to deal with us after he's finished with the Commodore."

"So what you're saying is, if possible, we should minimize friction with the Commodore?"

Robert nodded and replied, "That's right, but it's going to be very difficult. First off, the Commodore must be extremely angry about our recent actions. If he's not a fool, he must also understand that it's impossible for you to heed his commands, so mending our relationship with him is out of the question.

Therefore, we need to increase our bargaining chips!"

Donnie had already thought about this on the way back, but he still wanted to hear Robert's suggestions.

"What do you have in mind?"

Robert said, "I think we should formally start building our own forces. We can't abandon Olman, and we should also cultivate our own people in the public security branch."

After hearing this, Donnie nodded thoughtfully and even smiled. Robert was thinking along the same lines as him.

"A few guys from public security often come to our tavern to drink. I have a decent relationship with them, and they looked after me when I was inside. I think we can recruit them to be our people," Robert continued.

Donnie responded, "Sure, I'll leave this task to you. Just let me know how much money you need!"

"No problem!" Robert replied.

Seeing that Robert had no further questions, Donnie shared his own plans.

"You'll have to take good care of the two taverns from now on, as I might not have much time to deal with them in the future."

"Is it because of Margaret's situation?"

"Margaret isn't that important now, but she's still useful to keep around!" Donnie naturally wouldn't let a woman delay his plans.

"Having public security on our side isn't enough, though. Even though Nucky is already wary of me, I think when there's good news beneficial to him, news he really needs, he should be willing to set aside his caution and work with us!"

"So you're saying you already have a plan?"

"Of course....."

After discussing the plan, Donnie brought up another matter: "All of what we're doing now involves seeking external support, but what's really important is for us to grow stronger ourselves. Only by strengthening ourselves can we truly ignore the threats from those people. So next, I want to establish our own hotel in Atlantic City."

Robert was thrilled, "Just like the Commodore did back in the day, running that street corner in Atlantic City?"

"Exactly, just like that!"

Robert reminded Donnie, "Starting a hotel isn't easy. Our current cash on hand is far from enough, unless you're planning to establish just an ordinary inn!"