The Mafia Empire

Colt was their only choice. Their only option.

...

"Uncle Wood..." The momt the office door was suddly pushed op, Colt\'s expression turned fierce as he glared at the person tering. He was just about to hurl some harsh words wh one of the two individuals, the one trailing behind, removed his bowler hat, revealing his meticulously slicked-back hair. As soon as Colt saw that hair, he knew exactly who had come. That head was all too familiar.

Colt quickly stood up, putting on a respectful expression. He hurried over, taking Wood\'s hat and coat and hanging them on a rack nearby.

Although Wood didn\'t like his freeloading nephew, he had to admit that, no matter how much you showed him disdain or cursed him, Colt would still wag his tail and stick to you like glue, shamelessly trying to please. Colt had reached the highest level of braz shamelessness. Wood\'s expression softed a bit as he surveyed Colt\'s office.

As someone who prided himself on being a refined gtleman since his rise to promince, Wood had developed strict standards for both his own life and those a him.

There were two glass-fronted bookshelves in the office, filled with books, which pleased Wood. Books were the steps to human progress, and reading more was always beficial. On the wall hung a taxidermy of a large antelope, its ormous horns twisted and macing. Ev in the wild, carnivorous predators would shy away from such a majestic animal.

However, its presce here signified that, in the natural world, it remained weak in comparison to humans.

The office was tastefully decorated, and Wood nodded in satisfaction. He walked behind the desk and sat down. Colt, while greeting Wood\'s assistant, busied himself grinding coffee beans for Wood. "It\'s rare for you to visit. Is there something you need me to do? Just say the word, and I\'ll do my best to get it done.

It will surely pay off."

Wood was accustomed to Colt\'s sly and opportunistic ways. If it wer\'t for his wife\'s fondness for this nephew, Colt would have be st to the slaughterhouse long ago.

"Do you have any First Love or Snow Elf here?" Wood asked, leaning forward with his hands on the desk and looking directly at Colt.

Colt nodded without hesitation. "Yes, I rectly bought a batch, and it almost wiped out all my savings!" He sighed, "It\'s expsive, but sales have be pretty good."

Wood had remarkable patice. If he were t years younger, he would have picked up the kilogram crystal ashtray on the desk and hurled it at Colt. He wasn\'t here to ask for repaymt or borrow money, so why was Colt leading with how broke he was?

Taking a deep breath, Wood brushed it off as trivial and not worth getting angry over. He th asked, "Do you know a man named Graf, from the Guar people?"

At the mtion of Graf, Colt instantly understood that Wood\'s visit wasn\'t really about him. His smile became more guine as he placed the coffee pot on the stove and sat down in a chair. "Of course, I know him. Graf is somewhat well known among the Guars, a good hearted fellow. He\'s the one in charge of the First Love and Snow Elf business right now."

Wood looked at Colt. "Good. I want you to tell him that First Love and Snow Elf are sold out and to sd another batch."

Colt was momtarily stunned and immediately grasped the situation. He was well aware of Wood\'s business, having heard about it from his aunt, and he had ev dealt with Wood himself. Knowing what Wood was up to, Colt wasn\'t worried about getting dragged into this conflict. With Wood\'s connections and methods, he was sure to bring Graf\'s backers to their knees.

Feeling a surge of excitemt, Colt scooted his chair forward, curiosity and eagerness in his voice. "Has he offded you? That damned Guar, a country bumpkin!" He spat out a few curses at Graf before continuing, "I have no objections if you want to deal with Graf... but once that\'s settled, could you let me take over the distribution of this new product?"

The idea had ignited a stronger desire in Colt. With Wood\'s support, he could use these two products to become a major player in Ternell, second only to the top three. The prospect was too tempting. However, wh he saw Wood give him a disdainful glance and shake his head, Colt knew his ambitions were dashed.

Leaning back in his chair lazily, Colt spoke with a hint of bitterness, "Uncle Wood, it\'s not that I don\'t want to help you, but as I mtioned earlier, all my working capital is tied up in this batch, so I can\'t afford to pay for a new shipmt right now."

If he couldn\'t get the big reward, he might as well drink from the pot for now. Plus, buying a new batch of alcohol wasn\'t cheap. Ev last time, wh they only required a third of the paymt upfront, it was still a considerable sum.

Predictably, Wood\'s eyes twitched. He pulled out his checkbook, glaring at Colt with a look that showed just how much he detested him. Colt, however, grinned shamelessly. "Fifte thousand!"

"Fifte thousand? How could it possibly add up to that?" Wood asked, frowning as a drop of ink fell onto the checkbook. He\'d heard that the bottles sold for a t or so each, so how could it possibly add up to fifte thousand?