King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer-Chapter 1832 - 1512: Truce?
Park Avenue in the Upper East Side, several low-profile NYPD Major Crimes vehicles were parked by the roadside...
Joe Ga and his team all donned jackets with NYPD printed on the back, following Danny Regan to the vicinity of an old apartment building.
Joe Ga took a look at the structure of the apartment; it was obviously a converted old factory from the industrial era, with even the exterior walls still retaining their red brick appearance, but the doors and windows of the apartment had been replaced with high-end products.
The characteristic of this type of apartment is that it's big! 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Because the internal space of the factory is inherently large, and the floor height of around 4 meters is difficult to segment, the result is that the apartment's area needs to be correspondingly large to match the height.
This type of house isn't favored by America's nouveau riche of today, because no matter how it's renovated, some inherent flaws remain within.
However, such houses are still expensive!
The primary reason is location; Park Avenue implies proximity to New York's Central Park, and although many high-rise apartments built in the past twenty years obstruct the view from old apartments on the east side of Park Avenue, you cannot deny this is still a prime location.
Just a 300-meter walk downstairs to Central Park, with surrounding hospitals, schools, shopping centers, and other complete facilities; plus, the security is particularly good.
Secondly, a portion of America's old money is fond of investing in real estate with some historical significance. Through organizations like homeowners' associations, they control other property transactions within the apartments, filtering in elites they approve of as fresh blood.
Old money has continued since America's founding, and their penchant for developing secret societies and fraternities has persisted.
Old money is somewhat akin to European nobility, enticing America's celebrities, dignitaries, and athletes towards similar properties.
The target apartment for Joe Ga and his team is just such a building, except it's surrounded and somewhat severely obstructed, so the actual old money presence isn't high; most who spend large sums to buy here do so to flaunt or hold onto their final bit of dignity...
Joe Ga isn't sure if 'Ladder of Light' is due to being extremely wealthy or for other reasons to arrange a safehouse within such a luxury apartment.
Aside from spending a lot of money, this place has no connection to the secrecy a killer requires; instead, it appears somewhat ostentatious.
However, when Joe Ga observed Danny's cautious demeanor, he somewhat grasped the logic of the safehouse.
A luxury apartment needs luxury property facilities and security installations.
The police also need a search warrant to enter the apartment; otherwise, there could be a lot of trouble.
In New York, a place driven by money, many property companies will fiercely confront the police in court to demonstrate their professional dedication to tenant-centric service.
Landlords residing in these old money-style apartments are also mostly not easy to deal with and difficult to handle!
Seeing Danny's hesitant demeanor, Joe Ga frowned and said, "What are you waiting for?"
Danny glanced at Joe and said, "The people inside are tough to handle. I'm waiting for my sister to bring me the search warrant; she's a prosecutor at the New York District Attorney's office..."
Joe Ga paused, clicked his communicator to inquire with 'Iceman' and 'Water Ghost,' who had long arrived for surveillance...
After confirming the killers were still inside the apartment and hadn't moved, he nodded reassuringly and then looked at Danny with mild amusement, "You guys are interesting—a prosecutor and police in one family. Do you have any relatives who are judges?
If you gather them all, wouldn't it be easy to send anyone to jail?"
Hearing this, Danny irritably tugged at his somewhat reddened and peeling earlobe and said, "If you saw my sister, you wouldn't have such thoughts.
The Regan family never confuses public with private..."
Joe Ga listened, noncommittally shook his head without revealing Danny's real issue...
Public is public and private is private, that's when their own family hasn't encountered trouble.
To others, of course, they can handle affairs officially, but when Frank has issues, he first thinks of his own son.
The so-called search warrant Danny mentioned is probably not entirely legitimate!
Joe Ga didn't provoke the clearly anxious Danny; he signaled others not to move, and then looked out the car window at the surrounding scenery...
A very prosperous area, the nearby conflict on Wall Street seemed to have little impact here.
The people around the target apartment behaved normally, even somewhat lazily; aside from a tall, elderly white doorman, those entering and exiting the apartment strolled slowly, and even those in the boutique shops below the apartment were the same...
The cafe played leisurely music, and people browsing in several nameless boutiques showed no signs of tension, while some uniquely styled, retro-dressed Haredi holding Bibles leisurely entered and exited a tailor shop that seemed to have some history...
This completely contrasts with Joe Ga's impression of New Yorkers; it's too laid-back!
Seeing Joe's confusion, Danny pointed to a few Haredi people who had just walked out of the tailor shop, frowning unhappily and said, "Do you know them?"
Joe Ga nodded and said, "I do. Jewish people...
Not working, not serving in the military, solely focusing on reading the Bible, that's the Haredi!"
Danny sneered and shook his head, "That's in Israel. American Haredi don't have that privilege, they need to work too...
Guess what they do?"
Joe Ga frowned and looked at the dilapidated tailor shop, thought for a long time, then said, "A tailor shop can't support too many people, if I had to guess, money laundering is probably the job that best fits the Jewish style."
Danny nodded and said, "Simple money laundering is just part of their business, they also deal with the storage and pawning of black market goods.
It's not petty stolen goods but antiques from around the world, securities, precious jewelry...
Rich people from all over the world, unable to smoothly convert their money into US Dollars and take it out, will buy high-priced luxury goods instead and store them here, or pawn them directly.
America has religious protection laws; without clear evidence, the police have no right to investigate these Haredi people.
These people are troublesome!
The Jewish elites and old money living in the apartments are even more troublesome…"
After listening, Joe Ga frowned as he looked at the apartment in front of him. After pondering for a few seconds, he pressed the communicator and said, "'Iceman,' are you sure all the assassins entered this apartment?"
'Iceman' replied in his characteristic flat tone, "8 people, I am not sure if they are all from the New York Division of the Ladder of Light, but I am sure there are 8 suspicious people who entered this apartment on the east side of the 6th floor.
These 8 people include the person who shot at Rhino on Wall Street, and another was the backup shooter at the time."
Joe Ga listened, nodding slightly and then shaking his head, saying, "Something seems off, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
Is there anything unusual about those assassins?"
'Iceman' was silent for a moment, then said, "They seem a bit anxious but haven't left the east side of the 6th-floor apartment. They seem to be waiting for someone..."
Joe Ga furrowed his brow, pondering for a long time but getting nowhere. Just as he was impatiently about to urge Danny to call his sister, his satellite phone rang...
Seeing the unfamiliar number, Joe Ga frowned and answered the call, saying, "This is Hu Lang..."
"Hello Hu Lang, my name is Abel Ravensdale, I'd like to propose a deal..."
Upon hearing this, Joe Ga frowned, recalled for a moment, then sneered, "Abel Ravensdale, Chairman of the Jewish Business Association of New York, what kind of deal do you want to make with me?
Your surname sounds somewhat familiar to me. According to some undisclosed intelligence sources, the Livingstone Family founded the Ladder of Light organization...
I don't think we have much to talk about. If I were you, I'd buy a ticket and escape to the most remote corner of the world, because I'll be coming for you soon..."
Abel Ravensdale on the other end of the phone wasn't intimidated. He paused for a moment and said, "Hu Lang, on behalf of the Edward Foundation, I am requesting a ceasefire...
We don't have a direct conflict of interest, although you've done many things that are hard for us to accept in Israel and Gaza, the current world situation is different...
We shouldn't be targeting each other because the world now has more opportunities!
We can sit down and talk, which would be beneficial for both of us…"
Livingstone paused for a moment, giving Joe some time to digest, then continued, "I know your way of doing things. If you agree to my proposal, I can inform you of the location of the New York Division assassins...
Consider it our apology for issuing a bounty on you!
You should understand that your series of actions since coming to New York has caused significant trouble for the Ladder of Light...
But we are still willing to extend enough sincerity to negotiate with you!"
Upon hearing this, Joe Ga looked at the distant apartment, realizing, "So you sell out your elite subordinates to negotiate peace with me...
Brother, how do I know that after peace talks, you won't sell me out for other reasons?"
Saying this, Joe Ga pressed the car window button, stuck his hand out to make a gesture, then as he pushed the door open and got out of the car, he said into the phone, "Mr. Livingstone, you said you know my character, so you should be running now!
You've caused me a lot of trouble, I will tear you limb from limb!"
