Copy & Paste Power in Modern World
Chapter 54
By the time Adam reached the private room above the restaurant on Market Spine Road, Bruno was already inside.
The room was not big. It had one table, four chairs, a dull wall fan, and a window covered from the inside. Someone could eat there without being seen from the main floor. That was enough for this meeting.
Adam entered as Wil.
Bruno stood up the moment he saw him.
"Mister Wil," he said quickly.
Adam gave him one look and sat down without answering at once.
That small silence was enough to make Bruno straighten his back.
He had expected to wait longer. He had come early because Wil had told him to come alone, and because he did not want to look careless in front of the man who had pulled him back from death. But Wil had arrived almost immediately.
To Bruno, it felt as if Wil had known.
That thought moved through his mind on its own. If Wil came this fast, then maybe the old man had already known where Bruno was, how he was moving, and whether he had brought anyone with him. Bruno felt lucky again that he had chosen to bend at the last moment. If he had kept chasing Wil as an enemy, he might already be lying in some ditch without knowing which hand had killed him.
He still could not push Wil to kill Gonda, and that part was clear.
Bruno had survived because Wil needed him, but needing someone and trusting someone were not the same thing. He had learned that under Gonda. At first he had been just one more useful man. Only after he kept proving his worth had Gonda let him stand near the top, even if there were still people Gonda trusted more than him.
Wil would be the same, so if Bruno wanted Gonda dead and wanted the seat after that, he had to become useful enough that Wil would choose him without hesitation.
So he took out the file and placed it on the table with both hands.
"These are the companies you told me about," Bruno said. "Their buying lines, decision people, weak points, habits, debts, side payments, and a few personal matters too. If I had learned to work like this earlier, I could have funded my gang for years with this kind of information."
Adam opened the file.
Inside were names, notes, shipment points, unofficial payments, supplier weaknesses, and small secrets that could become big if they were used at the right time. Bruno had not only asked questions. He had spread his people, followed clerks, paid drivers, and checked who drank too much when business went wrong.
Bruno watched Adam’s face closely.
Adam did not react.
That made Bruno even more careful.
To him, it meant this was normal for Wil. Normal people looked at such secrets and became greedy. Wil only turned a page and closed the file as if Bruno had brought him a simple receipt.
That was when Bruno understood that this organization did not think like a street gang.
Street gangs looked for cash, weapons, routes, and fear. Wil’s side looked for pressure points. They looked for the place where a person could be pushed until he moved by himself.
Adam placed the file beside him and looked at Bruno.
"Listen carefully," he said. "I have another important job for you."
Bruno leaned forward at once.
"Tell me, Mister Wil."
"You need to find a man for me," Adam said. "I am not giving you a name. Search in this province, the next province, or anywhere your people can reach. I need someone smart and useful, but with a weakness large enough that if I tell him to walk into death, he will still have to obey."
For a moment, Bruno did not answer.
The request was not normal. It sounded less like hiring a man and more like building a weapon out of him.
Was Wil preparing an attack on another gang? Was this for the other organization? Or was it for something even bigger than the gangs in this district?
Bruno did not ask those questions.
He only swallowed once and said, "Mister Wil, forgive me, but I cannot guarantee that kind of man will agree. Even if we find someone’s weakness, making him obey to that level is not simple."
Adam looked at him calmly.
"You are misunderstanding your job," he said. "I am not asking you to make him obey. I am asking you to find the vulnerabilities. Small ones, large ones, personal ones, financial ones, anything that can be used. After that, our organization will investigate deeper and decide how to use them."
Bruno understood the message behind the words. He was supposed to bring the material and let the organization handle the rest.
He lowered his head.
"Understood. I will find someone like that."
"Good," Adam said. "Now the second matter. The gang Gonda found, the one that looks ready to join. Find out everything about them."
Bruno looked up quickly.
"You can ask me directly about them," he said. "I know them well. We had rivalry with them before."
Adam did not interrupt.
Bruno continued, "After what happened recently, the gangs stopped fighting openly. Everyone understood that something bigger was moving. So the old rivalries did not disappear, but they were pushed aside. Right now there is an unofficial alliance between several groups. It is temporary, but it is there."
Adam smiled a little.
"Tell me."
Bruno started explaining.
He spoke about the gang’s base, their leader, the men they trusted, the men they feared, and why they were ready to listen now. Adam only asked short questions in between. The details stayed in that room.
When Bruno finished, Adam stood up.
Only then did Bruno notice the bag near Wil’s chair.
Adam pushed it forward with his cane.
"Give this to Gonda," he said. "Tell him these pieces need to move through the underworld and the black market. Sell them quietly. Split everything according to the cut we discussed earlier. Three percent of your side is yours."
Bruno looked at the bag.
It was larger than the last one.
He did not open it in front of Wil, but the weight alone told him there was more jewelry than last time, maybe much more.
Adam had no cleaner way to turn copied valuables into usable money right now, so this route had to keep moving.
"I understand," Bruno said.
Adam nodded once.
"Then do it."
After saying that, Adam turned and left the room.