Kai, Daphne, and Gary all took a seat first; they were practically opposite the three leaders of White Rose.
Only afterwards did Kanu and Adam sit off to the side. It was as if they were there but not practically part of the meeting.
Kai opened his mouth to say something, but the words just didn't come out.
‘I wasn't expecting myself to be like this. I'm meant to be here to support Gary, and yet I can't even say a single word.’
Having raised the Howlers to the rank of King, an untouchable position in the eyes of those below, he had hoped that the meeting could take place on equal footing.
Yet seeing the three from White Rose, he felt like he was sitting with three other Kings, and all of them were on the same side.
"I will handle most of the talking, and I would like you to hear my proposal," Don said. "This is a talk between the White Rose Chief Constable and the leader of the Howlers.”
"The reason we have called you in is because the evidence that has fallen into our hands, allowing us to put a silver bullet into the One Gang and part of NIRV, has come from you," Don claimed.
Gary was a little worried about the use of the phrase 'silver bullet.' For a split second, he wondered if Don was just using a metaphor or had purposely used it because of who they were.
"I'll cut to the chase: we want to use this information to bring in the corrupt in NIRV as well as the One Gang organization.”
"Although we have the evidence, legally bringing them in and actually doing so are two different matters.”
"For NIRV, there are the retrievers that work for them. Now, you have the support of Rickle, so hopefully that's not too much of a problem for us.”
"The bigger issue at hand is Harvor. Do you think if we asked him to come in nicely that he will do the same as you, Gary? Do you think he would willingly come to a cell and stay there?"
The answer was obvious to everyone in the room.
"Taking in Harvor means going to war with one of the Kings. In all honesty, the White Rose doesn't have the manpower to take him in by force.”
"On top of that, Harvor even has control of gangs located in other cities, including the recent Inferno City.”
"If we focus on him, chaos across the country will unfold. The White Rose afterward will be prime to be attacked, meaning we can't do our job of protecting the people."
Kai wanted to say, ‘What people? The politicians who lived in Centerfield?’ But he knew to keep his mouth shut.
"This, however, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us, and Kanu says you have good reason to go against the One Gang as well.”
"Which is why I'm proposing a once-in-a-blue-moon offer—a collaboration between the Howlers and White Rose.”
"We will give you and your gang immunity for whatever happens to the One Gang members that are involved.”
"While the Howlers and the One Gang fight each other, we will go after NIRV and everything linked to the One Gang.”
"Of course, we know Harvor's strength, and we don't expect you to take him on your own. Which is why Assistant Chief Leon Chen will also aid you in the fight against the One Gang."
Leon looked there, his face expressionless, to the proposal.
"So let me know your initial thoughts first."
Gary was trying to take it all in. They wanted the White Rose's help, and they were getting it in multiple ways, but there was something that just felt wrong that he couldn't put his finger on.
He was waiting for Kai to speak, but no words came from his mouth.
"Isn't this deal unfair?" Daphne eventually spoke, which was surprising to both Kai and Gary.
"Essentially what you're suggesting is that we take all of the losses. The Howlers will lose a lot of people instead of White Rose.”
"It leaves you in a strong position and us in an even weaker position."
Now Gary knew what the strange feeling he had was. This was exactly the case—they were being used.
If anything, only Leon was being offered as help.
"Do you have any suggestions then?" Don said. "At the end of the day, you can either go against the One Gang on your own, but the risk is too big for us. In our eyes, we are the ones helping you; we don't have to take on this case."
Daphne clicked her tongue, thinking, ‘So much for the White Rose working for the sake of the people—they were just looking out for themselves.’
It was then that Kai leaned in to Daphne and started to whisper in her ear a proposal he had come up with.
"I think that could work," Daphne smiled. "We will take care of Inferno City and the smaller-scale cities that are controlled by the One Gang.”
"The resources you were going to use can be used as support for taking the One Gang and NIRV."
The truth was, Kai had suggested that the Bree family do this and not the Howlers. In turn, they would give up all control of those cities over to Daphne.
Without Harvor in the picture or the Zodiacs, the Bree family would be able to deal with the other cities, and she could focus on helping them.
"I think that could work, but my issue is that you would be spread too thin," Don replied.
"At the end of the day, I don't want to send my men in on a suicide mission," Don explained. "As I said initially, I wanted to use the Howlers as a distraction, but if you're spread so thin it might not be big enough to cause problems."
Kai was now the one frustrated; they couldn't reveal that the Bree family were the ones actually involved in taking on the other towns and cities.
Yet it was clear it wasn't enough to convince the constable in moving his people.
"The main issue is Harvor, right?" Gary finally spoke. "If we can distract him, then everything can move without getting him involved.”
"If that's the case, then I think I know a distraction that can work."
Kai was wondering what Gary was thinking, and everyone at the table was ready to hear Gary as it was the first time he had spoken.
"I'll return to the AFC again and challenge Harvor in the ring."