Life After Prison Chapter 271-It was Claude’s first time dealing with Zachariah, and he was caught a little off guard when Zachariah saw through his intentions. There was clearly more than meets the eye to Zachariah’s rise to power.

Claude smiled. “Haha, you’re right! We’re afraid, but I believe that you’re just as afraid as we are. I’ll just get to the point then. I hope that Brookbourn Mansion will lend us a helping hand if Draco Hall somehow decides to attack us, and we’ll help as well if they target Brookbourn Mansion. How does that sound?” Zachariah pondered over that proposal and said, “I trust that they won’t act recklessly. After all, I know that Draco Hall only took over the Cedar Gang because they had no choice. Furthermore, we from Brookbourn Mansion would rather not make any deals with underground forces.” “Haha, are you sure about that? If my Emerald Cloud Gang disappears suddenly one day, Brookbourn Mansion will become the next target. Though councils similar to Brookbourn Mansion in other cities. might be the sole strongest force there, yours isn’t the sole force here in Brookbourn. The gap between Draco Hall and Brookbourn Mansion isn’t that big, after all!” Claude laughed, stood up, then took out a business card and placed it on the table. “Here’s my business card. My phone number is on there, so feel free to call me if the need arises. We can put everything else aside for now if you like, and you can treat this as making a new friend!” Claude ended his sentence and turned around to leave with his men..

After walking out, one of the old men who was behind Claude asked, “What’s the deal with Zachariah Isn’t he afraid of Draco Hall’s rise? He doesn’t seem interested to make a deal with us!” Claude smiled. “Oh, he’s afraid all right. He just doesn’t want to show it. He didn’t refuse my business card or instruct me to take it back when I placed it on the table, which means we might still have the opportunity to work together with him. Maybe he’ll even consider making a preemptive strike toward Draco Hall!” The old man listened to Claude’s views and thought for a moment before nodding. “You’re right. My guess is that he wants to observe Draco Hall’s movements first. If Draco Hall gets ambitious and decides to target them, they might be the ones who will take the initiative to go against us. However, if Draco Hall doesn’t try to rock the boat, then there might not be any movement at Brookbourn Mansion either!” Claude sighed heavily. “I hope Draco Hall doesn’t come after us. I’ve already given out the order to everyone within the gang to avoid offending Draco Hall so they won’t have any reason to come for us!*

“Yes. And the lower-level guys have been behaving themselves quite well recently!” The old man nodded, looked at Hugo to one side, and could not help but say, “I heard that your sworn brother, Hugh, was beaten up and had his manhood destroyed. How is he now? Did you help him take revenge?” Hugo smiled bitterly and said, “Not yet. That kid is very strong, and I’m no match for him on my own. I’m planning to bring a few more people with me, so I can teach him a good lesson!” Claude frowned, and then said, “Does that person have a strong background? Where did he get the balls to do go up against someone from our gang? Find out who he is, and make sure he doesn’t have any sort of association with Draco Hall!” “Hehe, that kid’s a nobody. He just came out of prison not too long ago, and he’s just the cousin of one of our former debtors, Queenie. Don’t worry, sir. I can handle this. Our other protector, Brad Leyland, has also said that he’ll come with me when it’s time,” Hugo said with a smile.

“Brad is stronger than you. Everything will be fine if he goes with you.” Claude nodded, and they all drove.

Life After Prison Chapter 272-As soon as Claude and the others left, Zachariah and several of the Ballards’ elders fell silent in the room.

After some time had passed, a middle-aged woman said to Zachariah, “Sir, I think Claude has a point. We need to be wary of Draco Hall!” Zachariah nodded. “Indeed, we do, but I’m afraid that we shouldn’t mess with Draco Hall. If Brookbourn Mansion joins hands with underground forces like the Emerald Cloud Gang in dealing with Draco Hall, our reputation and image would be tarnished if word gets out! Moreover, Draco Hall did not commence any further action after absorbing the Cedar Gang.” The middle-aged woman thought over Zachariah’s words and said, “Sir, the upper-class families hand over ten percent of their income to us every year, don’t they? How about we raise that by double? The councils in other cities mostly request a twenty percent contribution from the upper-class families, and this makes us seem a little too merciful.” “I agree, sir! We might have a wealth of funds right now, but Draco Hall will surpass us if they take over the Emerald Cloud Gang. Even if that doesn’t happen, we are now barely on par with each other. The way I see it, we should adopt the suggestion that esteemed elder, Edith, has just proposed and increase the contribution amount to twenty percent! Only with money can we hire elite fighters, and that would most certainly stabilize Brookbourn Mansion’s position!