Chapter 487 Respectable Family
“Old Mr. Gomez!” a guard shouted as he rushed into the living room with his baton.
“Why are you hollering? This is a wake, for goodness’ sake. Watch your behavior!” Zane scolded. “I’ll snap your head off if you disturb Quinton again!”
The guard gave a violent shudder when he saw how furious Zane was. “Y-Yes, Mr. Gomez. I-I’m very sorry…”
Philip patted his son’s shoulder to motion for him to calm down before turning to look at the guard.
“Take your time. What’s going on?”
“A man called Jonathan Goldstein has barged into the house, Old Mr. Gomez. We had no way of stopping him!”
Even as the guard reported on the situation, everyone could hear painful howls and screams coming from the front garden.
Seconds later, Jonathan and Xiara walked into the living room leisurely.
“Jonathan Goldstein?” Philip uttered, his gaze cold and dark.
“We finally meet, Philip Gomez.”
Just then, a flurry of footsteps sounded, and before they knew it, almost sixty guards armed with batons had gathered behind Jonathan and Xiara.
Despite that, the two of them remained unfazed as they slowly walked on.
Then again, why would either of them flinch? Jonathan had fought countless battles, and not even the most powerful armies scared him. Why, then, should he fear such a little confrontation?
Similarly, Xiara had long gotten used to fighting and killing for a living.
Even though she had been a professional assassin for less than five years, she was one of the best in the business and boasted at least eighty kills.
With both of them being so powerful, how would a small team of security guards ever be their match?
Of course, Philip was more than aware of that. If Jonathan had the means to escape the Dark Web’s bounty list and severely injure Quinton, it’d be useless to pit a team of ordinary guards against him.
“Leave the hall, all of you,” Philip said to the guards. “You aren’t needed here.”
“But Old Mr. Gomez—”
Before the guard could finish his words, Philip once again cut him off. “Clean up the Gomez residence. No matter what happens, no one’s allowed to come here without my permission!”
“Got it!”
Left with no choice, the guard promptly rounded up his subordinates and retreated out of the garden.
“Since you’re our guest, why don’t we sit and chat?” Philip said while pointing at a gazebo in the garden.
“Sure,” Jonathan replied.
With that, the two men made their way out to the garden gazebo and sat facing each other.
Without further ado, Philip poured a cup of tea for Jonathan.
“I should have welcomed you myself, Mr. Goldstein,” he said with a chuckle as he put the pot down. “Sorry about what happened earlier.”
Needless to say, Jonathan had noticed the glint in the old man’s eyes.
I can feel a lot of spiritual energy emanating from him, except it’s rather messy and impure. Then again, that kind of energy is already more than sufficient to benefit ordinary people.
“You’re too kind, Old Mr. Gomez. I’ve caused quite a commotion for showing up uninvited, so how could I trouble you to welcome me?”
“Nonsense. I should still have done my part as host,” Philip said smilingly. “Here’s a toast to you, Mr. Goldstein. I hope you’ll accept my apology.”
As he spoke, he raised his cup and downed the tea.
Jonathan, however, merely smiled and nodded with no intention of touching his cup of tea.
Seeing how guarded the young man was, Philip burst out laughing.
“I put a hundred million bounty on you, Mr. Goldstein, yet you can still chat with me so calmly. I’m sure you must have many questions for me.”
“That’s right,” Jonathan replied with a nod. “I’m curious. I don’t know anyone in the Gomez family, and my wife’s family lives at least a thousand kilometers away from Lumonburg. No matter how you see it, there shouldn’t be any reason for a conflict between us. In that case, why would you spend so much money placing bounties on two people completely unrelated to you?”
Xiara, who had been watching them from the gazebo fence, had a blank look on her face.
It’s clear from their conversation that these two men hate each other to the core, so why are they now behaving like long-lost friends and chatting happily away? Where’s the fight? Where’s the bloodshed? What on earth are they doing?
Just then, Philip let out a sigh.
“Mr. Goldstein, do you know what a respectable family is and what it means to be in that position?”
Jonathan frowned. “Respectable family?”
In the eyes of ordinary people, “respectable family” was nothing more than a title for families who wielded influence and power.
To someone like Philip, however, respectable families meant so much more.
In Chanaea, where there was a vast distribution of forces, the strongest one of all was undoubtedly Jonathan’s Asura’s Office. They controlled more than half of Chanaea’s armies and had millions of soldiers at their disposal. The Eight Kings of War, who reported to Jonathan, were just as renowned as they worked together to keep their territories safe.
Despite all that power, it still didn’t mean Jonathan was free to do whatever he liked.
That was because other than Asura’s Office, the Office of Government Affairs in Jinrich also had a say in the grand scheme of things in Chanaea.
After all, no matter how powerful Asura’s Office was, its focus was only on military strength.
When it came to law and politics, especially the introduction of rules and regulations, that was a task strictly for politicians and lawmakers. And as it turned out, the Office of Government Affairs’ headquarters was strategically located in Chanaea’s Yaleview!
In short, Asura’s Office and the Office of Government Affairs were essential in keeping each other in line.
Apart from them, the other forces scattered around Chanaea were individual factions formed by the more prominent families.
Even though there wasn’t a distinct distribution of power, there were still general concepts that could determine how highly ranked a family was.
For example, the Smiths would be considered a first-class family in their part of town. However, if compared to the rest of Chanaea, they were, at best, a third-class family.
As for the Cabot family that had extended their reach to various parts of the country, they were, without a doubt, a second-class family.
First-class families, on the other hand, would have the power to form conglomerates that had far-reaching implications on the economy. So long as they didn’t provoke any prominent figures or dig a hole for themselves, they were as good as invincible.
Even if they were to make a wrong decision, they’d still be able to recoup their losses in a short space of time.
The Goldsteins, however, were a different class altogether. Not only had they built their headquarters in Yaleview, but they were also under the supervision of the Office of Government Affairs. They were undeniably a prominent family!
The power that prominent families had easily trumped that of other families, to the point where they could gain control of any one, or more, commodity markets at the flip of a switch.
Whether it was grain, vegetables, or even crude oil, they could monopolize them all.
To some extent, prominent families had become the rule-makers of the economy. They could even increase a stock price tenfold in a few days if they wanted to.
The respectable families that Philip had brought up, however, were the ultimate goal for any family.
After all, no matter how the times might change, these respectable families were the ones who would continue standing strong.
They had reached a level where rules no longer applied to them. In other words, they were untouchable.
