America 1919

It really is a routine to talk trash about Vincent!

"Walker once told me that Madam Madeline has helped him out many times, and Walker has always been grateful for that!"

Empty words, anyone can say them.

As it turned out, Madeline was quite skilled at speaking nonsense. For the first half-hour of their sit-down, it was mostly small talk, but in the end, it was Madeline's husband, Dick, who mentioned something to Donnie that piqued Donnie's interest.

"Donnie, after the destruction of bootleg liquor, visitors to Atlantic City have visibly increased. I suppose there must be some changes in policy coming up, right?"

Donnie smiled lightly, "Policy matters are for City Hall to consider, I'm just a businessman in Atlantic City, those things are not for me to worry about!"

"Mr. Donnie is being modest, I'd say. With the influence Mr. Donnie has in Atlantic City today, shouldn't any policy matter not bypass him?"

Seeing that Dick was clearly implying something, Donnie directly asked, "What do you mean, Mr. Dick?"

Dick said, "I've heard from some friends lately that Atlantic City is considering pushing for the legalization of the gambling industry through a constitutional amendment. In my opinion, if this goes through, Atlantic City will surely become the focus of the entire country. The nation's wealthy will flock to Atlantic City, and the cash flow here will certainly reach astronomical numbers."

"So, I believe that at this time, Atlantic City should have a closely cooperative bank!"

Donnie's face grew solemn, as both he and Nucky had been very cautious about pushing for the legalization of the gambling industry in Atlantic City before this.

One concern was that the move might cause public dissatisfaction and, if pushed over time, could be exploited by some and create a negative impact.

The second concern was the situation at hand; if more people became aware of it, it would definitely attract the attention of certain groups.

Bankers, financial conglomerates, and large families all belonged to these specific groups.

It has been an undisputed fact since ancient times that the gambling industry can generate substantial profits.

And substantial profits also invariably lead to bloody battles for power.

Neither Donnie nor Nucky wanted to see such a scenario unfold.

"May I ask where you got this news, Mr. Dick? After all, even I haven't heard about it!"

"Mr. Block is still somewhat cautious, huh? The matter has, in fact, already spread in New York, everyone knows about it now, and we even know that this whole endeavor is actually initiated by you, Mr. Block, and Nucky!"

Dick spoke frankly and then took up his glass, savoring a sip with a pleased air.

Donnie sat there, not speaking, as his mind rapidly churned, going over all the possible outcomes of this disclosure.

But when Donnie looked at Dick, a smile suddenly appeared on his face: "It seems, Mr. Dick, that you might not be too popular in that circle, are you?"

Dick, who had been smug just moments before, now wore an embarrassed expression as if Donnie's words had strangled him.

Donnie had already learned from Walker about Dick's situation. Although this man owns his own bank in New York, it's actually quite small, with limited business scope, otherwise, he wouldn't have just watched Madeline marry Astor IV back in the day.

This also explained that Dick held some status in New York, but definitely not a high one.

And legalizing the gambling industry in Atlantic City, for someone like Dick, although it was hugely attractive, posed no threat whatsoever.

Which meant that if Dick wanted to get a piece of the action on this matter, he could only do so by positioning himself in Atlantic City ahead of the bigger players.

Taking into account all the conclusions from the above analysis, at this point, Dick's only option was to seek cooperation with Donnie.

So, the final question now was whether he could gain some benefits from Dick while helping Walker resolve some issues?

"Haha, I was just joking earlier, please don't take it to heart, Mr. Dick!" Donnie suddenly burst out laughing.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Dick's face shifted from a mix of cloudy and sunny emotions to a warm spring breeze.

"Mr. Block truly has a sense of humor, but you still need to plan ahead, Mr. Block, because if those people really enter the scene, I think you won't be as happy as you are now!"

Having thought through all the matters, Donnie at that moment didn't take Dick's warning seriously. Admittedly, he could not compete with those big players in terms of absolute strength.

But this was Atlantic City, and no matter how those big shots planned for the future, as long as they entered Atlantic City, there actually wasn't a great disparity in strength between him and them in many matters.

"I think, at that time, Mr. Dick, you certainly won't be too happy either!"

Dick's expression changed slightly; he had thought that by bringing up this matter in front of Donnie, he could throw him into disarray and then take advantage to enter the plan.

But he hadn't anticipated that Donnie's brief moment of confusion would quickly give way to calmness, while also pinpointing his own weakness.

"If two unhappy people could unite, wouldn't that turn a negative into a positive, making it a happy situation?"

"That's true, but sometimes, a powerful ally can provide me with even better support, right?"

"How do you distinguish whether someone is a strong ally or a tiger looking to prey, Donnie?"

"There's always a way, if Mr. Dick could kindly share with me more about the situation in New York, perhaps I could figure it out?"

Donnie wanted to extract more information about the New York power players from Dick, while Dick was eager to finalize the cooperation with Donnie. Thus, the back-and-forth became the main theme of the dinner. Experience tales at empire

Until the dinner ended, there was no conclusion to this discussion.

Once Donnie got back to the Block Tavern, he immediately called Nucky at the Trenton hotel, conveying what Dick had said. Donnie urgently needed to confirm whether the push to legalize the gambling industry in Atlantic City, as told by Dick, was something that was already spreading in New York, or if it was just Dick with inside knowledge through certain specific channels, looking to deceive him.

After learning about the situation, Nucky immediately assured that he would get to the bottom of it!