America 1919

In 1924, the Atlantic City Hall, advocated by Nucky, had become the iconic building of Atlantic City, and the total investment in this City Hall reached 15 million US Dollars.

Of course, excluding the money that Nucky and the power structures behind him embezzled and the various construction contractors' profits, and adding everything up, the total investment was definitely close to 7 million US Dollars!

Now, Atlantic City had not yet fully flourished due to Prohibition, so if Donnie wanted to build this hotel at this time, a total investment of around 5 million US Dollars would suffice!

Regrettably, as Robert had said, Donnie simply couldn't come up with this sum of money at the moment. After calculating his income and expenses for this period, he had at most about 10,000 US Dollars in cash on hand.

"Who said," Donnie asked with a self-satisfied look at Robert, "that building such a hotel requires our own investment?"

Robert was slightly stunned, then reminded Donnie, "This matter is not easy to handle, and if anything goes wrong, we could be completely obliterated."

Donnie did not have any objections to Robert's reminder and said, "So we don't need to rush, slowly and steady will do."

Robert knew that Donnie had finished discussing the serious matters and stretched leisurely. Smiling, he said, "If there's nothing else, I'm going to go check out Scott Tavern next door. Who would've thought that one day I would be managing a tavern in Atlantic City?"

At the end of his words, Robert's expression was somewhat excited.

Donnie laughed, "Scott Tavern is bigger than ours and has better furnishings. You can capitalize on your strengths to make it successful!"

Robert looked puzzled at Donnie and asked, "My strengths? Are you referring to this?"

As he spoke, Robert spread his legs and pointed at his groin.

Donnie smiled and said, "Exactly, your strength lies there. You can negotiate with the apartment next door to have the women who aren't doing business there stay at the tavern. If they can help us sell more alcohol, you can certainly offer them a share of the profits. Also, you can let tavern patrons directly pick out women they like on the premises."

Robert's eyes lit up, "Are you talking about the pirate taverns from the Age of Exploration?"

Pirate taverns during the Age of Exploration were exactly the model Donnie described. In some harbor cities where pirates gathered, there would be many taverns. When pirates went ashore, they would seek pleasure in the taverns, and some of the taverns would even offer room service to them.

If this is hard to understand, it can also be understood in terms of the karaoke bars and pubs of later eras, with the prostitutes from the lodging being akin to the hostesses in those establishments.

Whether a karaoke bar or a pub is considered upscale depends on the décor, which is the hardware, and women, which are the software. If the women at your karaoke bar are pretty and know how to have a good time, the business there will certainly not be bad.

Men...they need face, especially in front of women. A delicate comment like: "You can't do it, can you?"

Men who have had too much to drink will always claim they can!

Donnie smiled slightly and said, "You can understand it that way!"

Robert got up excitedly, "I'm going to negotiate this with next door right now! Oh, and do we want the same for Block Tavern?"

Donnie shook his head, "Let's not bother with Block Tavern for now. I have other plans for it and will have some ladies from WCTU come to work here. Once they are familiar with the day-to-day operations of the tavern, then we can move forward with this business!"

Robert gave Donnie a sly look, then laughed, "I fear the divorce rate in Atlantic City is going to continue to climb!"

Donnie laughed heartily, "What does that have to do with us!"

.

The commodore was very angry!

So, his study was in complete chaos today, with red wine spilled on the wool carpet and broken glasses all around.

At this moment, the commodore stood with one hand on the armrest of the sofa, breathing heavily. Today, he had truly felt his influence in Atlantic City waning.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

After repeating 'damn it' three times, the commodore took a big gulp of whiskey before he managed to steady his mind.

"Godfather, this Donnie is utterly detestable. I will arrange for someone to take him into custody now!"

Vince was standing by, his face also showing an angry expression. He thought that he had Donnie under his thumb, but Donnie had pulled out the 3K party and the WCTU, and then managed to get Robert, who he had under control, released.

"If you take him now, someone will release him within an hour!"

The commodore's bloodshot eyes revealed that he was in fact not ready to let go of his anger.

"So we are just going to watch him strut around triumphantly?"

Vince could not stand being suppressed by Donnie. When the commodore had first found Donnie, he had said to Vince that Donnie was a very intelligent young man.

This praise was something Vince, with all his youthful vigor, could not accept. He always believed that he was the most capable among the younger generation in Atlantic City.

"Humph, of course not!"

The Brigadier-General sat down on the sofa with the help of the armrest, gasping for breath as he said, "Although Donnie seems to have won this time, he's also made enemies of his own!"

"Who?" Vince asked.

"LeBron!" said the Brigadier-General viciously. "This time, Donnie took away half of Atlantic City's liquor share, which is like stealing food from LeBron's mouth, and since he's gotten so close to the 3Ks, LeBron doesn't dare seek revenge on them but would definitely have the guts to make a move on Donnie!"

Vince's eyes lit up as he heard this, but then his expression dimmed, "But does LeBron dare to defy Nucky's orders? We've told him many times to cooperate with us before, but he has always been very cautious and declined."

"Hmph!" The Brigadier-General snorted coldly, "That was before. I believe that after experiencing the shooting and having his share taken away, LeBron's dissatisfaction with Nucky must have peaked. Now, if we just show LeBron enough goodwill, he will definitely stand with us!"

Vince nodded excitedly, "Then I'll go to LeBron right now!"

The Brigadier-General nodded, "Tell LeBron that if he stands with us, I will open up Leck Young's hotel and docks to him!"

Vince laughed, "With this chip, I'm sure he'll be very happy!"

"Go!" The Brigadier-General waved his hand.

Vince left.

.

In the southern part of Atlantic City, close to Boston Street, a small tavern sat... Although its sign suggested it was a tavern, inside it was actually a small casino.

Although gambling was one of the main industries in Atlantic City, it wouldn't be officially legalized until the seventies.

Dennis sat at the gambling table, his eyes red, intently studying the poker in his hand. Slowly, his look of anticipation turned to disappointment, and then from disappointment to anger.

Clearly, he had lost again!

Watching the last of his chips being taken away, Dennis seethed with the thought that he would definitely win the next round.

Under such a mindset, Dennis found the tavern's owner. The tavern not only provided a place for patrons to gamble, but also solved their financial difficulties.

Of course, such a friendly owner also required the gamblers to pay interest – just much higher than a regular bank's.

"Isaiah, I need your help!"

Dennis stood at the bar, wringing his hands, his face wearing a sycophantic smile.

"Oh, isn't this Dennis?" teased Isaiah. "Are you planning to repay the money you borrowed from me?"

Dennis chuckled, "Once I win, I'll be able to pay you back, so I need some funds to turn the tables now."

Isaiah replied, "But that's what you said last time you took money from me too!"

Dennis still kept his flattering demeanor, "Trust me, this time I can definitely win!"

"I've already checked your financial situation. The bakery is preparing to fire you. Soon you'll have no income, which naturally means no money to repay me!"

Isaiah wasn't planning to lend money to Dennis anymore, not only was he not going to lend it, but he was also ready to demand repayment of his past loans!

Dennis quickly said, "There is, there is, did you forget, I still have a wife at home? If I can't pay you back, you can send my wife to the boarding house, then you'll have the money, won't you?"

Margaret was famously beautiful throughout the southern district, and many people said it was sheer dumb luck that Dennis married such a pretty woman.

Isaiah's eyes lit up; he had coveted Margaret for more than a day or two, "Alright, as we are friends, it's only right to lend you the money!"

As he spoke, Isaiah took out US $20 from his drawer, along with some paper and a pen!

Dennis hesitated not a bit to write down what he had just said.

Whether such an IOU was legal, well, no law in Atlantic City acknowledged it, but that didn't stop the whole of Atlantic City from following such rules.

Once Dennis was done, he smoothly received the US $20 Isaiah provided.

The outcome was simple. Dennis quickly lost the US $20.

Just as he was thinking of borrowing more money from Isaiah, a skinny man brushed past him. Dennis didn't pay the slightest attention to this. When he came to Isaiah again, smiling obsequiously to make his request, Isaiah naturally refused him.

It was at that moment, as Isaiah was about to ask Dennis to take him to his house, that someone in the tavern suddenly shouted out loud.

"My money? Where's my money, who stole my money?"