Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Princeps returned to the hotel, the members of the Tucson gang were shouting in
chaos.
Upon seeing his men almost fighting, his anger flared up and he roared, “What the hell
are you doing?”
A few of the Tucson treasure hunters looked back at him, and one of them said
contemptuously, “Fool, who do you think you are? Why do you think you have the right
to speak here?”
“This, this, this seems to be the boss,” One of the treasure hunters said in surprise after
looking carefully at him.
Princeps was forced to shave off his mustache after a messy skirmish with the police,
and his own men hardly recognized him.
Seeing that Princeps was back, the Tucson gang finally quieted down. They were
divided into two parties and looked fiercely at each other.
Princeps asked angrily, “What is the matter with you?”
A treasure hunter jostled him and said, “Boss, after you were caught, they spoke ill of
you and questioned your position!”
“Yes, boss, I saw these bastards trying to usurp power.”
“They must be punished, you have to let them know who is in charge here!”
No one in power could bear the thought of someone else usurping his position.
Princeps squinted and looked coldly at a group of people standing nearby. He asked,
“Ranka, come here and tell me, is it true?”
A big black man with massive arms came out and said, “Princeps, these bastards are
talking nonsense, I don’t covet your position…”
“Ha, Ranka, you are a coward. You were jumping so hard just now. You’re going to see
who’s boss,” laughed the first youth who spoke out.
Ranka was furious. He pointed to the young man and said, “Put away your ugly attitude,
Alves. You could damn cause trouble.”
“Who said the boss wanted to reap the harvest all by himself?” cried Alves with all his
might.
“That’s what I said,” Ranka said angrily. “I questioned Princeps, but I didn’t mean to
become the boss myself!”
“You did, otherwise why do you question the boss? Why didn’t I hear you do that
before?”
The two sides were about to quarrel again when Princeps picked up a cup and
smashed it on the ground, shouting, “Shut up, everyone! All of you! Everybody shut up!”
Hearing the sound of smashing china and seeing Princeps lose his temper, the two
noisy people closed their mouths again. Their expression was showing that they were
not happy with each other.
Seeing this, Princeps was even angrier.
This showed that he has been unable to control these people. They dared to question
him, they were not listening to him anymore.
Princeps had been in the Tucson gang business for a long time and was very influential
in the gang, but a number of things happened this year, causing his position to lose its
security.
First, he had been cheated by Li Du several times and lost a lot of money. Tucson
operated as a team. When one flourished, all flourished, and when one lost, all lost, so
when they lost they had to pay the compensation money together.
Secondly, in order to use Conrad against Li Du, he tried every means to please Conrad,
which made the Tucson gang very unhappy.
Then George blackmailed him, and the loss was the whole gang’s money. That was a
huge loss, and Ranka began to question his decisions from then onwards.
Finally, at the last meeting with Li Du, he was again in trouble and was taken to the
police station, which made him feel extremely humiliated.
Even more humiliating was that when the police came to the motel, he unconsciously
chose to jump out of the window to escape. According to the tough guys in Tucson, this
was a coward’s act.
Another thing was losing his Hitler mustache.
The mustache was a symbol. Actually, people were not afraid of Princeps, but of the
image he took care to create. When his mustache shaved off, the image collapsed.
Rome was not built in a day, that is, his position in the gang to this point was not the
work of a moment, but the effect of a long time.
He knew he had to deal with them or his dominance would be at stake.
Princeps stared at Ranka and asked, “You say you question me. What do you
question?”
As his authority still remained, Ranka looked away from him, not daring to look directly
at him and said, “We have heard that you sold the silver and are going to take the
profits for yourself.”
Princeps smiled and said, “Where did you hear the damnable news? Fool, am I stupid?
Will I embezzle the money we got together?”
“Yes,” Alves and others nodded.
“They say you sold the silver and replaced the coins with a dozen bad ones. They said
you want to make a fool of us,” grumbled Ranka.
“Don’t you have any brains? What kind of person am I? What a bunch of idiots! Fools!
This someone is denigrating me, secretly trying to break up our Tucson gang, or don't
you know that?” said Princeps with a cold face.
“Yes,” Alves and others continued to nod.
Ranka stopped talking, but his face was still defiant.
Princeps waved and said, “Alves, you go to my room, take out my knapsack and I will
speak the truth.”
Alves quickly ran upstairs and brought the knapsack.
Princeps pointed to Ranka's nose and said, “Watch carefully, grow some brains in the
future, don’t believe everything you hear!”
Then he took out the box of silver coins and opened it before them all.
It was evening, and the light in the hotel lobby was as bright as day.
When the box was opened, the people saw what was inside. Those were pieces of
round black things with messy carvings.
Princeps froze, and for an instant, he was transfixed.
Ranka and his men were in a right state again, and asked, “Princeps, you’re not going
to tell us that these are the silver coins we got, are you?”
Princeps was somewhat taken aback by what he saw. It was completely unexpected.
He looked at the silver coins and stammered, “How… how-how did this happen?”
Ranka repressed his anger and said, “Don’t be a fool, Princeps. The news we heard
was true. You sold the real coins and you’re trying to fool us!”
“Yes, we lost a lot of money lately. You lost more money. This time the warehouse is a
loss too. You sold the silver coins to minimize your own loss.”
“Princeps, you have gone too far. I am ashamed to work under you!”
Eager to protect Princeps’ reputation and status, Alves angrily pointed to the treasure
hunter and said, “If you feel this way, you can go away, do not stay in Tucson!”
Hearing this, the treasure hunter swung his hand and roared, “I’ll go. I’ve wanted to go
since he became the New Yorker’s slave.”
The man beside him shouted, “I’m going too! Let’s go together!”
With a wave of his hand, the group of treasure hunters began to leave.
