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 forr. The reasons for both options were sowhat 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 ntioned... 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 more than just money, I bring you more than just bioproducts—I have a company that greatly reduces law enforcent costs."
Another seemingly contradictory statent.
He reviewed the gun ownership rate, cri 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 ca 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 henchn.
He didn’t need large criminal industries to ensure the "employnt rate" of criminals; he could transition faster.
"...This is indeed a good thing," Martin said aningfully, "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 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 beco 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 seed 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 sothing goes wrong this ti, abandoning another person next ti sothing goes wrong, always abandoning soone—
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, ca 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 improvent becos true."
"You choose to trust your people and hope good things happen, simply put," Martin sumd 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 like this when I was a kid, telling that when I grew up, good things would co true.
But when I had money, they could never see it."
"...I am very sorry."
"My eternal regret—we should have t a few years earlier. In my hotown, there’s a saying..."
"Regret eting so late," Lille said, smiling as he took over the wine glass.
Martin showed a surprised look: "I thought you were a native Arican."
"I like learning, and that includes excellent culture—that’s why I don’t actually like red wine. Next ti, we can have tea."
"I’ll rember that—my hotown has great tea, I’ll let you try so next ti."
They raised their glasses, and Martin said, "Then let’s hope we can work together to make good things co 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 soone with such deep cunning who believed in good things coming true—put harshly, Lille appeared imnsely contradictory to him.
A kind-hearted person would almost always make naive mistakes, whereas soone with seasoned ans 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 sowhat appreciate his inner world without reversing his whole nature.
The mont this negative energy inadvertently touched Lille, Martin’s expression drastically changed, and he jumped, startling the driver.
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