Chapter 51: Handling Business
Chris, a handsome young man with a ponytail, leaned against a pile of cargo, shaking a metal flask in his hand and taking sips every now and then.
Donnie had three lieutenants under him—Chris being one of them; the other two were Mad Dog Johnny and Gerald, who sat across from Chris.
Chris hiccupped. "I'll bet a hundred bucks he won't make a move. He's got too much on his plate lately,
and it's hard to find reliable runners. He took over so quickly—his position isn't secure yet, and making a move now would piss off too many people!"
"I don't see it that way. Just the fact that he had the balls to go after Mad Dog Johnny yesterday shows he's a ruthless son of a bitch. He definitely won't let his subordinates disrespect him."
"Besides, someone like Jeremy should've been kicked out of the crew a long time ago. That punk's definitely dirty. Just look at all those times his shipments got 'stolen'—it'd be a miracle if there wasn't something shady going on." Gerald waved away the lingering smell of alcohol, leaning back with a hint of disgust.
Both of them were veteran runner supervisors, managing the most prosperous and lucrative areas within the Gear Gang's territory.
The area around Chiba Street, being close to Donnie's headquarters, had never had any subordinate supervisors assigned to it—it was all directly managed by Donnie, with Old Hank at most responsible for job allocation. So, although his position wasn't officially recognized, Old Hank was practically a minor supervisor.
Mason stood before the group, his gaze slowly sweeping over everyone, lingering for a moment on the loudmouthed Jeremy. He grinned, seemingly oblivious to the earlier argument.
"Nice to meet you all. My name is Mason, and I'll be in charge of the area around Chiba Street from now on. Please bear with me!"
"Whoa!"
A low murmur rippled through the crowd. Seeing Mason's soft approach, the nearby runners looked down on him. These guys were bottom-feeders, experts at bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Hearing Mason's polite greeting, they were all somewhat contemptuous.
"Mason, you should..." George gently tugged at Mason's sleeve, giving him a look, indicating he should teach these people a lesson.
Mason waved his hand lightly, his smile becoming even more friendly, seemingly intending to play nice.
"So he's the one who supposedly took down Mad Dog Johnny yesterday?" someone sneered. "Psh! What a joke!"
"If you ask me, that's all just BS rumors! If Johnny had actually run into trouble, he would've crushed those runners' skulls!"
Chris rubbed his fingers together, gesturing for Gerald to hand over the money. Gerald looked annoyed. "Damn it, what's wrong with this kid? If it were me, I'd definitely smash Jeremy's face in!"
He rummaged through his pockets for a while, finally pulling out a crumpled hundred-dollar bill, which he reluctantly slapped into Chris's hand.
Meanwhile, Mason had gotten to know his group of runners. He tapped on his wristwatch, pulled up all the jobs near Chiba Street, and reviewed them several times before leisurely assigning tasks.
Seeing there was no drama to watch, the runners around dispersed, each busy with their own business, but subconsciously, they all gave Mason a dismissive look.
"Hank, this is your job."
"Tom, yours."
"Deford, yours."
...
Soon, Mason finished assigning tasks and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Go pick up the cargo. I expect to receive everyone's completion reports by 6 PM tonight. Okay, everyone get to work."
"Hold on!"
Just then, a resentful voice suddenly rang out.
Jeremy's pale face flushed red. His voice was so loud that it startled those around him and even attracted the attention of several runners nearby.
"What do you want?" Mason's eyes were slightly lowered, his expression unreadable.
"Why don't I have a job?!"
Seeing everyone's attention on him, Jeremy seemed to receive some kind of encouragement and his voice grew even louder. He strained his neck and shouted.
"Oh, that's normal. The jobs have just been assigned." Mason shrugged, looking helpless.
"Ha, good play—so this kid was waiting for this moment. He got the power and immediately put it to use!" Gerald rubbed his hands together, looking excited.
He glanced at Chris and said quietly, "Chris, you'd better hand over the money. The real show is about to begin!"
Chris frowned and took another swig. "As far as I know, business near Chiba Street has picked up a lot recently, and even with Jeremy's workload, we're stretched thin."
"This Mason rashly disrupted the job distribution. He might have won some face, but if he screws up business and pisses off Boss Donnie, it won't just be a matter of losing face."
"He might lose his position!"
Chris shook his head regretfully. "I thought he was a skilled and patient operator, someone I could work with, but now he just seems like a short-sighted thug, not much different from Mad Dog Johnny!"
At this point, the atmosphere in the room became somewhat tense. They were all people who made a living on the streets and knew the situation in Chiba Street very well. With a few exchanges between them, everyone understood that Mason was deliberately freezing out Jeremy.
"I really don't know how he became the boss of Chiba Street. If there's no work, Jeremy might just not make any money, but if Mason doesn't complete his assignments, he'll be punished by Boss Donnie."
"Can't you see something this obvious?"
"By the way, I heard Mason used to be a runner. Is he planning to personally deliver the cargo?" A well-informed runner whispered.
"Ha, this is probably the most pathetic supervisor in our Gear Gang." After discussing it, everyone felt that what the runner said made more sense, and they all chuckled quietly.
"Damn it, he's really embarrassing us!" Gerald also looked unhappy. "He might as well have just punched him instead of doing this!"
Hearing the surrounding discussions, Chris didn't want to say anything more. He shook his flask and took another drink.
"Boss Mason, we've got a lot of work on Chiba Street lately. If you have a problem with me and don't want me to work, that's fine. But you're dumping all the work on everyone else and expecting us to finish deliveries by six o'clock. Isn't that a bit unreasonable?"
Hearing the surrounding voices, Jeremy straightened his back, avoiding any mention of himself and instead adopting a concerned attitude for his fellow workers.
Hearing Jeremy's words, everyone except Old Hank showed a hint of difficulty on their faces—clearly, Jeremy was telling the truth.
Mason raised an eyebrow, his expression unwavering. "If I say it can be done, it definitely can. Anyone have a problem with that?"
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