HLM -Chapter 1380 A Different Kind of Gang

On Sunday, Eva made another batch of honey cherries, and they once again enjoyed the ice-and-fire dessert. Naturally, Wang Bo also got to experience that double dose of ice and fire all over again.

This time, Eva deliberately baked extra. Wang Bo took them to the office, and during the morning meeting with his close aides, everyone ate pastries while discussing work. The atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful.

After summarizing last week’s work and planning the tasks for the coming week, Wang Bo patted the table and said, “Very good. Keep up this pace. Let’s get to work!”

Not long after he returned to his office, Elizabeth called.

“Boss, someone wants to meet you to discuss something. They’re… very special people. Mm, I think you could call them gang members with a conscience.”

Wang Bo frowned in confusion. Gang members with a conscience? That was certainly a unique description.

“What’s it about?” he asked.

Elizabeth replied, “The leader of the TH gang, Mr. Jimmy Pink, and his pastor friend Vaughan are here to see you. They want to discuss expelling drug dealers.”

Wang Bo tapped the desk. “Have them come in ten minutes.”

During those ten minutes, he familiarized himself with Jimmy and Vaughan. As for the TH gang, he already knew them well—they were a very famous gang on New Zealand’s South Island.

TH had been founded more than a decade ago in Dunedin. It was originally a splinter group from another well-known gang, Black Power. The group consisted mainly of Māori and Pacific Islanders.

With a long history and a tight organization, TH had left an impression on Wang Bo from his earlier reading on New Zealand gangs.

Within TH, 47% were Māori, 45% were of European descent, and the remaining 8% were Islanders and Asians. The average age was forty, making them one of the oldest gangs on average in New Zealand.

The main body they split from—Black Power—was the most famous gang in the entire country. That gang had existed for half a century, originating in Wellington before spreading nationwide.

Black Power was primarily made up of Māori and Pacific Islanders, who together accounted for over 90% of its members. According to internal police statistics, 30% of last year’s prison population had gang affiliations, and more than 10% of them belonged to Black Power.

Compared with Black Power, TH was much more moderate. Very few of their members ended up in prison, and in recent years they had done many things that actually earned them good relations with local police.

Because of the large Māori and Islander populations, gang issues had long been one of New Zealand’s most serious social problems—so much so that gangs had become an inseparable part of the nation’s historical and cultural landscape.

When Sunset Town was first established, it too had attracted the attention of gangs—specifically another well-known one, the Mountain Monster Gang.

However, its leader and core members had all been personally sent to prison by Wang Bo, and the gang’s startup funds had been seized by him as well. As a result, the gang quickly fell apart.

Later, Wang Bo strengthened the town’s public security management, cracking down hard on violent crime, theft, loan sharking, gambling, and similar activities. As a result, no gang was able to gain a foothold there.

In other regions, gangs were everywhere. In many gang-dominated towns, ordinary people even felt that as long as the gangs didn’t harass civilians, everyone could coexist peacefully.

Wang Bo had never had a good impression of gangs. These people either committed crimes outright or operated on the fringes of the law, seriously damaging social order. At the same time, gangs living off government welfare policies consumed vast amounts of taxpayers’ money.

Therefore, whenever gang members appeared in town, he would strike hard and drive them out immediately. No matter how high-ranking a gang member was, if they wanted to see him, he would refuse.

But this TH gang was different.

Jimmy Pink was a well-known figure in New Zealand society because he was a staunch anti-drug crusader.

Whenever TH arrived in a town, they would first issue an ultimatum to local drug dealers, ordering them to leave within twenty-four hours. If they refused, TH would obtain information on them through gang channels and then cooperate with the police to arrest or expel them.

Soon, the ten minutes were up. Elizabeth led two men into the office.

One was fat, the other thin, both covered in tattoos. The fat man wore a black eyepatch over his right eye, and his tattoos extended all the way to his face—classic Māori-style patterns.

“I’m Wang Bo. Nice to meet you both.” Wang Bo stepped forward and shook their hands.

The fat man first patted his chest, then shook Wang Bo’s hand. “Hello, Mayor Wang. I’m Jimmy Pink.”

“Hello, Mayor Wang. I’m Pastor Vaughan.” The tall, thin man made the sign of the cross.

Wang Bo smiled. “If I didn’t know enough about you, I’d think ‘pastor’ was just your nickname.”

Vaughan said, “In truth, I very much want to devote myself wholly to serving my Lord. I want my hands to remain clean, unstained by blood. But as long as those damn drug dealers exist, I can’t do that with a clear conscience.”

Wang Bo nodded. “God doesn’t just need people to serve Him—He also needs people to punish evil on His behalf.”

Vaughan grinned. “Exactly. I tell them, Jesus loves you—but I don’t. My duty is to send you to meet the One who does.”

“And you’re right. I must punish them. The cross can’t punish them, and it can’t eliminate drugs. The only way to eliminate drugs is with guns.”

Wang Bo asked, “So this visit to Sunset Town—is it also to punish those people?”

Jimmy said, “The parties in Sunset Town attract young people from all over the country. They’re the drug dealers’ precious targets. Like flies drawn to rotting meat, many of them have already arrived.”

“What do you intend to do?” Wang Bo asked.

“We hope to cooperate with your police—raid the drug dealers’ hideouts, burn all the drugs, and arrest everyone involved!” Jimmy said through clenched teeth.

“Your methods are quite radical,” Wang Bo said.

“Yes, they are radical. They’ve angered many people. But I’m not afraid, because I’ve sworn to drive drugs out of every corner of New Zealand. To achieve that goal, I won’t stop for a single moment—unless I die!”

Jimmy spoke with ringing conviction. The determination in his eyes was something Wang Bo had never seen in anyone else.

“Why?” Wang Bo asked. “Why are you so firm in your stance on this?”

Jimmy froze, then his expression darkened. “Because I’ve done something wrong—and I want to make amends.”

Seeing his expression, Wang Bo said, “I see. If it’s not convenient to talk about it, then don’t.”

Jimmy shook his head. “There’s nothing inconvenient about it. About ten years ago, in Dunedin, I had a conflict with a bastard. I was young and hotheaded back then and threatened to kill him.”

“I didn’t mean it—I just said it offhand. But he was terrified. In his fear, he went on a drug binge, didn’t sleep for three days straight, and in the drug-induced frenzy… he killed his daughter. A six-year-old girl.”