Manhattan Reborn 1978

new York.

Evening, Manhattan.

Upstairs at Wildfire Bar on 42nd Street.

David was sitting on the sofa in the living room. After enjoying the apple put in his mouth by Susan on the left, he turned to enjoy the apple put in his mouth by Cui Yingying on the right. .

"Hmm... delicious! So delicious!"

"Hehe~"

Susan and Cui Yingying were both amused by David's exaggerated appearance~

at the door.

Polly, who purposely came back from get off work early, saw the three of them like this when she entered the house. .He couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you two doing with him?"

"Hahaha~"

"We're playing...the I-am-the-King game!"

"Come here, my Princess Polly~"

"let me.."

"Oh?" Polly said with an expression on her face as if she had eaten a few lemons, and she threw away her coat and handbag with a pout.

"Wow~ Your Majesty the King... Huh?"

"Hahaha~"

"It's a joke~ Why do you take it seriously..."

Polly rolled up her sleeves and walked up to David. She saw that he suddenly shrank his legs back and smiled.

"Haha~ Let me come and play too!?"

"Uh... well... let's forget it~ Let's eat, eat~"

"Hehe~ How about that?"

"His Majesty the King has given orders, we must obey them~"

"Huh? What are you going to do?"

"No, no, no, I'm just joking, you must not..."

"Hahaha~ Susan, don't scratch me there... Hahaha~"

. . .

ten minutes later.

Polly held Susan in one hand and Cui Yingying in the other, walking towards the restaurant with "powerful" steps.

David was like a man who had been devastated by a typhoon. .Like a little flower, she collapsed on the sofa. .

However, before he woke up from the "weird" fantasy world, a voice came from the direction of the restaurant.

"Your Majesty the King, please come and dine!?"

"Uh... ok, here I come!"

"Hey hey hey~"

David suddenly jumped up from the sofa and trotted into the restaurant with a wicked smile on his face. .

----

Europe.

London, England.

midnight!

Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, heir to the Duke of Westminster, walked to the window with a frown on his face.

Behind him is Angres Holm, who briefly met David at Oxford University.

. . .

Holm, who was sitting on the single sofa, closed the folder and rubbed it hard while saying.

"For the time being, these are the only investigations related to the real estate industry in Hong Kong and Tokyo."

"Taken together, the investment value and rate of return of Tokyo's real estate industry are much higher than those of Hong Kong~"

"Hong Kong is just a city~"

"Tokyo is the political, economic and cultural center of the entire island country!"

"They...seem to be incomparable!"

"Ok!"

Jellal responded casually, walked to the small bar, poured himself a glass of whiskey and added a piece of ice, thought for a while, and asked.

"Where is Kanes? Have you arrived in Xiangjiang?"

"Not yet~"

"He said he had to rush to Greece to deal with some personal matters, and it might take a few days before he leaves for Hong Kong."

"...Okay~"

"You go back and get ready. We'll set off tomorrow - to Tokyo first, then to Xiangjiang!"

"Ok!"

Angres Holm sorted out all the documents he brought, nodded to Gerard, and strode out of the room.

. . .

Holm, gone.

Jellal didn't feel sleepy at all. .

He shook the wine glass in his hand, walked to a world map hanging in the room, and quickly found the locations of Xiangjiang and Tokyo from it.

Judging from their geographical location on the world map, these two places are indeed excellent choices for connecting the international financial markets of London and New York~

This can be seen from the fact that foreign banks settled in Hong Kong like sharks a few years ago and opened branches.

However, as Holm said, Hong Kong is just a city, but Tokyo is the center of the island!

Why is David so sure that the future development of Xiangjiang can be compared with Tokyo?

Jellal's eyes glanced back and forth between the two cities on the map for a while, then he slowly lowered his head and took a sip of the drink.

. .wrong!

After Jellal swallowed a sip of cold whiskey, a key point that he had never paid attention to suddenly flashed in his mind.

He raised his head and stared closely at Xiangjiang, which was only shown as a small black dot on the world map. After thinking for a moment, he moved his gaze slightly upwards.

"Hi~!"

Jellal took a long breath~

That's right!

Xiangjiang is just a city!

But it cannot rely on its own industrial and agricultural output to support the daily consumption of everyone in the city~

It has to be obtained from outside. .

Jellal's eyes continued to move upward until he found it on the map. .After that, I let out a sigh of relief~

Yes!

Perhaps, David has already seen the unique geographical location of Xiangjiang and the complex and various uncertain factors hidden behind it. .Only then will they have a strong investment interest in the real estate industry in Xiangjiang! ?

Jellal put down his wine glass and took a big step back, wanting to reconfirm his conjecture from a further distance~

After a few minutes.

He crossed his arms across his chest, an "interesting" smile appeared on his lips, and whispered.

"This bastard!"

"I'm going to have a headache again~"

"Hehe~"

----

new York.

Wildfire Bar, 42nd Street, Manhattan.

After finishing dinner, David finally remembered to talk to Mag Ludwig and Odis Parker. .

in the bar.

David and Mag sat side by side, looked at Otis Parker across the small table, and asked with a smile.

"Why did you come here wearing this outfit today?"

Mr. Parker, who was wearing a jacket and jeans and looked younger, shrugged and smiled.

"Every day I look like I'm in a suit."

“You’ll always get tired of being the same~”

"Change it occasionally and relax~"

"Oh~"

David rubbed his chin with his hand, a smirk appeared on his lips, and said.

"Hey~ I'll introduce you to some beauties tonight. How about it?"

"Hehe~"

"Why didn't I know that you still have this...part-time job?"

"fxxxyou!"

"You never talk to beauties. What if you get depressed and become a psychopath?"

"Hahaha~"

All three of them laughed~

. . .

The three of them talked and laughed for a while.

David turned to look at Mag next to him and asked.

"There will be a reception at your house tomorrow night, but the hostess Janet is not here... What should I do?"

Mag shrugged nonchalantly and said with a smile: "She doesn't really like this kind of boring entertainment anyway~"

"...Okay~"

"Do you need me to find someone to help you decorate it?"

"No, I've already contacted you!"

"Ok!"

David nodded in agreement, thought for a moment, and asked Mr. Parker: "Do you have the information on the Yasuda family and Yasuda Fengichiro?"

"Not yet~"

Mr. Parker picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "My business partners are all active in Europe~"

"News from the island country is not profitable~"

"what?"

"Um... you are still in this business, do you divide the market into regions?"

"Of course! Haha~"

Mr. Parker laughed at David "uncharacteristically" and explained.

“The geographical location of the island country is too far away from Europe, the center of the Cold War’s bipolar confrontation~”

"There is almost no valuable information out there that could find a buyer in the intelligence market."

"The island country's Cabinet Intelligence Office + Defense Agency Intelligence Department + Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Investigation Department + Metropolitan Police Department Investigation Department, etc., all the intelligence department staff combined are not as many as the number of people in a CIA branch overseas."

Mr. Parker shrugged helplessly: "The fact that the island country is so weak in intelligence capabilities is related to its reliance on the U.S. CIA for a long time after World War II."

"It is precisely because of these reasons that the island country has not made the effort to establish an effective intelligence coordination agency and intelligence management department, resulting in the embarrassing situation that the country's seven or eight intelligence departments, which are divided into various departments, cannot keep any secrets."

"Even the top leaders of the island country's government have made public complaints more than once..."

"The reason why foreign intelligence agencies are unwilling to share intelligence with island countries is because the sub-committees of the island countries' parliament like to accidentally and accidentally leak secrets..."

"Forehead.."

David and Mag looked at each other and saw it in each other's eyes. .

"Unintentionally + accidentally leaked secrets?"

"Hahaha~"

"Otis, you are definitely a joke-telling genius who has been buried!"

"Hahaha~"

Odis Parker, when he saw David and Mager laughing so hard that they almost slipped under the table, he spread his hands helplessly.

"Is this funny?"

"Hahaha~"

"It's really not that funny~ But you are particularly funny today..."

"I?"

Mr. Parker lowered his head and checked, but found nothing unusual. .

Mag raised his hands to cover his face, and after rubbing it vigorously a few times, he finally stopped the urge to laugh and said.

"It's okay~ We just suddenly went crazy..."

"Oh... Haha~" Mr. Parker agreed dryly, squinting at David who was covering his mouth to hold back laughter.

David tried hard to control his emotions and said, "Sorry!"

"Well... uh... let's get down to business!"

"Ahem~ let's get down to business!"

"Mag, you need to follow up on Wood's side, follow closely!"

"If there is any emergency, please contact me in time~"

"..OK!"

"By the way~ Have you heard about what big things happened in Washington?"

Mag also followed David's example and nodded seriously.

"Yes~ There are two things that have made everyone in Washington busy today."

“One happened in San Francisco and the other happened in Iran!”

"Last night, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and government worker Harvey Milk were shot to death in front of the city government building by a gunman named Dan White!"

"The shooter, Dan White, has been caught~"

"It is said that he was also a staff member of the San Francisco city government and had a very bad relationship with one of the victims, Harvey Milk~"

"That's why he planned this shooting after losing his job."

"Um.."

David scratched the wrinkles on his forehead with his hand and asked Mager in confusion.

"You just mentioned...Harvey Milk? But you didn't mention the unlucky mayor?"

"Could it be...?"

"That's right!"

Mager smiled and nodded: "If only Mayor George Moscone was killed, this incident would at most cause a big sensation in California, and it would not spread to Washington."

"The victim, Harvey Milk, is the one causing headaches for Washington!"

"Harvey Milk was the first government worker in American history to disclose to the media that he liked men..."

"Furthermore, he still relied on betraying his best friends and comrades to the media, winning the curious attention of countless people, and then successfully entered the government department and served as a member of the San Francisco Supervisory Committee."

When Mag saw David and Mr. Parker listening carefully with interest, he lowered his voice and explained.

"Harvey Milk, who joined the Navy as an officer, later became a high school teacher, a bit actor, and a wandering hippie."

"In 73, he wandered to San Francisco, opened a store, and prepared to start his life again."

"But that year, reports about the Watergate scandal were on the national news."

"At that time, Harvey Milk, after watching the news for many days, decided..."

"Hey... just wait a moment!"

David looked at Mag suspiciously and asked: "What you said...how does it look like a TV host reading a script?"

"Hahaha~"

"This was originally a press release that was going to be broadcast on TV tomorrow morning~"

Mag glanced at Mr. Parker and said with a smile: "For this kind of news, if you go to the FBI for help, you might as well go directly to our reporter friends!"

"They are the most powerful intelligence experts~"

"Hahaha~"

"Okay...you continue!"

"Hehe~"

"Let me make a long story short."

"After Harvey Milk decided to enter politics, he disclosed his LGBT identity to the public and participated in the California House of Representatives elections many times."

(The term lgbt group appears here in order not to mention some words that will be criticized. Everyone who understands understands it!)

"In 77, Harvey Milk was defeated in many elections. In order to get more media attention, he directly revealed that his friends and comrades were from the LGBT community, and broke the news to the media."

"At that time, Castro Street in San Francisco was known as the cultural center of the LGBT community in the United States!"

“Countless reporters who hoped to find breaking news from Castro Street found Harvey Milk, and he and his friends... together made the headlines of the gossip pages of many domestic newspapers. .”

"So, in the 77 election, Harvey Milk was finally elected as a member of the San Francisco Municipal Board of Supervisors."

"Harvey Milk's success, in a sense, created American history."

"After he was successfully elected, he was determined to change the misunderstanding and discrimination against the LGBT community in San Francisco."

"But the domestic sentiment against the LGBT community has caused him to be reviled, despised, beaten and expelled when he spoke in many public places~"

"This year, as the content related to California's Proposition [-]: banning LGBT people from entering schools and serving as teachers for children... was leaked, the public learned about it~"

"As the spokesperson of the LGBT community, Harvey Milk has stood in front of the media's camera many times to encourage all those who hide their identity from the LGBT community."

“Finally, on the 7th of this month, California’s Proposition [-] was overwhelmingly rejected~”

"Harvey Milk wins~"

"But he also paid the price with his life..."

When Mag said this, he looked at David with burning eyes and asked.

"Press release, finished~"

"The impact of subsequent events... have you guessed it?"

David pursed his lips, raised his eyebrows, and whispered: "Of course~"

"The LGBT community is not a specialty of San Francisco."

"Harvey Mir's death may be just the beginning of this activity~"

"Those who never dare to tell anyone their secrets, from now on..."

"Hehe~"

David recalled those memory fragments in his mind that felt very "magical" now, and his thoughts couldn't help but wander to Lilith and Laura.

. . .

That's it.

Mag didn't wait for David to continue asking, so he continued talking on his own.

"Yesterday, Iran's Pahlavi II sent the sixth request for help to Washington."

"It is said that he also chatted with the Secretary of State for more than half an hour about the domestic situation, hoping that our government could send Saudi troops to Tehran for reinforcements."

"Hmm...then what?"

"It's gone~"

"..."

David touched his nose, looked at Mr. Parker, and asked.

"Is there any news from your side?"

"No."

"My friends don't like this kind of high-risk, low-return work~"

"They left Tehran long ago when the limelight was not right."

"...Okay~"

"It seems that Pahlavi II can't stand it any longer..."

"Our plan will start to speed up a bit~"

David muttered something to himself, causing Mag and Mr. Parker to look at each other, waiting for his next decision.

But what the two of them didn't expect was that David suddenly changed the topic and said.

"After I attend the party at Mag's house tomorrow, I'm going to rest for a while and do some exercise~"

"..Haha~"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"After missing this period of time, if I want to rest again, I don't know what year and month it will be~"

Mr. Parker narrowed his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and asked.

"You mean, starting from next year it will become more and more... uneven?"

"Almost~"

David shrugged, stood up and spread his hands to the two of them: "Elena is gone..."

"I will ask Maggie to come to my house every day to be my assistant tomorrow."

"If you have anything, you can call me at home upstairs and contact me~"

"Ok!"

"Then...that's it first?"

"Hahaha~"

"I'm going back, I have a very important task to complete!"

"Let's break up~"

"..."

. . .

Mag and Mr. Parker looked at each other in tacit understanding and laughed after watching David leave in such a "fashionable" way.

"Tomorrow night, you can come to my house too!"

"Oh? Are you... a formal invitation?"

"Haha~ Do you love me~"

"...Okay~ I happen to be free tomorrow night."

"Yeah! Remember to bring a gift!"

"Well... I suddenly remembered that there is something important tomorrow night..."

"fxxxyou!"

"Hahaha~"