America 1919

It was very understandable for gangsters and businessmen to pay Nucky protection fees, after all, Nucky controlled all the power structures in Atlantic City, and without his support, their businesses couldn\'t continue.

And even the government officials of Atlantic City had to submit protection fees to Nucky, which was quite exaggerated, but was indeed the case.

It was written on the public payroll of both Atlantic City and Atlantic County that everyone had to thank Nucky for their jobs, because every job was vetted by Nucky himself.

Without Nucky\'s and his organization\'s protection, nobody could get any sort of job security in an administrative position.

To keep their jobs, workers in Atlantic City and Atlantic County had no choice but to take out one percent or seven percent of their salaries as kickbacks, to be paid to the local Republican Party... In Atlantic City, Nucky was the Republican Party.

With 26 paydays in a year, fees had to be \'paid\' on each payday. Managers in every department were required to record these amounts on a mimeographed form distributed by Nucky, which listed the required payment ratios and spaces for verification.

Secondly, Nucky also tightly controlled every contract for public construction and for supplying coal, vegetables, milk, and other goods to public institutions. Nucky had to ensure that every transaction had its price, and he and his organization would reap huge profits from them.

Third, was the now increasingly scarce supply of alcohol. Nucky didn\'t brew liquor himself, but whether it was Donnie or LeBron James, Nucky got a cut from every bottle of whiskey they sold.

Having earned massive amounts of cash, Nucky had a significant expense, which was buying up land in Atlantic City.

For this purpose, Nucky had set up a real estate company to manage his properties in Atlantic City, and only those he trusted the most would run this real estate firm.

The location of The Fuli Tavern was one of Nucky\'s properties!

Prior to this, Nucky had wanted Donnie to eliminate David Jabbar, but after Donnie took over The Fuli Tavern, his influence in Atlantic City surged instantly, something Nucky didn\'t want to see, so he had to step in to curb Donnie\'s development.

And the simplest and most effective way to do that was to make Donnie lose The Fuli Tavern again!

Olman gave a bitter smile and said, "Donnie, you\'re a very, very smart man, but why are you so foolish when it comes to this?

In Atlantic City, nobody can do without Nucky. If you can show your loyalty to Nucky, I believe that in ten years, you will certainly become the second most powerful man in Atlantic City."

"Thank you very much for your advice, my friend!" Donnie poured Olman a glass of whiskey and said with a smile, "I have no intention of being Nucky\'s enemy, all I\'ve thought about from the beginning is doing business."

Olman said, "Even if it\'s just business, you can take Nucky\'s side. That way, your business would run much more smoothly rather than being oppressed with every step you take like now."

Upon saying this, Olman pondered for a bit before continuing, "My friend, I know you might have a way to keep The Fuli Tavern now, but you don\'t think taking back the property is the only method Nucky has, do you?

Now that Nucky has noticed you and started to make a move, he won\'t stop. Even if you find a new place to run your business, Nucky will cut off the water and electricity there. Without water or electricity, you simply have no way to operate!

Don\'t tell me about the Constitution of the United States or the law in Atlantic City; these things might confuse Eli, but for Nucky, they are not a problem at all!"

Donnie just sat there, quietly listening to Olman\'s words, and after Olman finished speaking, he said, "My friend, thank you very much for talking to me about this, I believe it is because you consider me your friend that you would discuss these things with me!"

Olman laughed heartily and said, "I thought you were going to think my previous words were just me advocating for Nucky!"

Donnie shook his head and replied, "Not at all, Nucky knows he doesn\'t need to talk to me about these things."

Olman stood up, patted Donnie\'s shoulder, and said earnestly, "Donnie, since you said I\'m your friend, then let me say one more thing, it\'s not demeaning to be under Nucky."

Donnie laughed and said, "I know!"

"Well, I\'ve said what I should have and shouldn\'t have, now that you know the situation, I\'ll take my leave, Nucky said he\'ll give you two days to consider."

After saying that, Olman turned and left, with Donnie personally escorting him to the door of the tavern.

"Troubles never come singly, what should be done now?"

Bruce, who hadn\'t appeared before Donnie for a long time, came to him at this moment.

"I remember Robert telling me that you had benefited from using the relationship between Nucky and the Brigadier, do you want to continue with that?"

Donnie shook his head and said, "That approach doesn\'t work anymore, ever since we took over The Fuli Tavern, both of them have started taking us seriously. Even if it requires a small part of their attention, they wouldn\'t ignore our development any longer!"

Bruce asked, "Then what are you planning to do? Are you really going to bow down to Nucky?"

Donnie, sitting in a chair, smiled at Bruce and asked, "Back when we were in the army, did bowing to George Kurle benefit us in any way?"

Bruce understood Donnie\'s meaning and said, "So, how do you plan to resolve the current predicament? According to that fat man just now, Nucky\'s influence in Atlantic City is beyond our current capability to challenge!"

Donnie laughed, "Don\'t worry; I already thought of a solution when I set my sight on The Fuli Tavern."

Bruce laughed as well, "Since you say so, I won\'t worry anymore!"

Donnie asked, "Tell me about your observations lately. How has Ponzi been spending his time in Atlantic City?"

"Ho! Speaking of this Ponzi, that really perks me up!" Bruce said loudly. "This man is simply Protos reincarnated. I\'ve never seen anyone so rich before. He rented a seaside villa in Atlantic City and throws wine parties every day, not just inviting the rich of Atlantic City but also some from the middle class."

"There\'s fine wine, gourmet food, beauties—truly paradise on earth."

Donnie didn\'t speak, but looked seriously at Bruce, "You know that\'s not what I want to know!"

"Alright!" Bruce gestured helplessly, "This might be useful to you. Although Nucky brought him to Atlantic City, Ponzi met with the Brigadier General privately many times during his stay, though I don\'t know what they discussed!"

Donnie smiled, "That\'s the information I want to know."

"Speaking of which, why hasn\'t Ponzi invited you considering he has invited so many people in Atlantic City?"

Bruce joked with Donnie, "After all, you\'re now a notable figure in Atlantic City!"

Donnie smiled lightly, "Perhaps the other party doesn\'t see it the way you do!"

It was just a joke, but the real reason, in Donnie\'s analysis, was probably that Ponzi had heard through some channel that Donnie was about to be targeted by either the Brigadier General or Nucky.

In his view, he would likely disappear from Atlantic City soon, so whether or not Ponzi sought him out didn\'t matter anymore.

"By the way, I heard from David Jabbar that the Brigadier General has a young man with impressive skills following him. Additionally, David Jabbar said that when the Brigadier General was \'king\' in Atlantic City, he always had a master by his side.

You should pay attention to this!"

David Jabbar had told Donnie why he sided with the Brigadier General, of course, not of his own volition, but because Donnie had asked out of curiosity about the matter.

Thus, Donnie also knew about the threat the Brigadier General posed to David Jabbar.

"What about Ponzi?" Bruce asked.

"We can leave Ponzi aside for now. I think I already know why Ponzi met with the Brigadier General," Donnie said.

Who was Ponzi, after all? A notorious swindler in international financial history, his focus was always solely on money matters.

By that time, Donnie had guessed why Ponzi might have shown up in Atlantic City—Ponzi must have almost run his scam dry in Boston.

To continue maintaining his scheme, fresh blood was needed.

As the enforcement of Prohibition took effect across the United States, Atlantic City\'s economy began to soar thanks to the policy.

Ponzi must have taken note of this and thus aimed to perpetuate his deceit here.

And his contact with the Brigadier General...

Most likely was also about this matter.

Of course, as Donnie saw it, a man like Ponzi was unlikely to pull the Brigadier General into the scam to collaborate, and given the Brigadier General\'s wealth, there was no need for him to partake in an affair that was bound to blow up.

So, there was only one possibility.

The Brigadier General had been deceived by Ponzi\'s façade too!

If that were the case, there might be a way to leverage this!

As Donnie was pondering this matter, Chris came over and whispered to Donnie.

"Some people from outside have arrived, saying they\'ve come from New York, and they\'ve brought a large load of alcohol!"

Only then did Donnie remember something—when David Jabbar had trouble, he mentioned that he had ordered a batch of alcohol from the Meyer faction in New York.

Donnie had thought that with David Jabbar\'s departure, Meyer wouldn\'t send anyone. Yet, unexpectedly, they had arrived!