Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

Two weeks later, things were going according to Tristan's plans.

The first few days were spent on preparations—gathering of information, mostly.

Tristan wasn't overly concerned his parents would do something to protect himself at that time, but he still placed some people to stalk them and report about their actions.

Predictably, the married couple didn't stay for long in the hotel where Tristan threatened them—they went to another mansion they owned, but rarely visited. It was, ironically, in Los Angeles.

The other thing they did was crying and complaining to Hayes Sr. Tristan didn't witness the conversation, but this was how he imagined it in his head, at least.

The result was just hilarious.

As soon as Hayes Sr. fished out for information a little, he put together Tristan Hayes and the new King Lion. After that, he immediately cut all ties with Harry Hayes and his wife!

More than that, afterward, Hayes Sr. sent a bottle of $3000 wine and a letter of apology to Tristan.

[Although you are my grandchild by blood, we have never talked before, so I don't know what exactly are your grievances with my son and his wife. However, I'm sure they are deserving of everything you mete out to them, Mr. Tristan! It's my fault that I didn't raise my son correctly, and now I can only wash my hands of him.]

Like father, like son. It only made Tristan scoff. At least Hayes Sr. didn't ask for favors from Tristan because of their blood relation.

But all in all, Tristan was incredibly pleased with how it all turned out.

Soon, the information he gathered was sent to all the right people. In a matter of days, aged but still acting celebrities were recalling old grievances with Norah Hayes, while Harry Hayes was put under investigation for tax evasion and money laundering.

Although it was going to take a while for the investigation to go through and even longer for the court to bring any verdict, people were already turning from Harry.

Actually going homeless was going to take some more burning of property, but here the brainwashed servants who organized the arson of the Hayes mansion unwittingly worked in Tristan's favor.

After being arrested, they already gave their crazy, fanatical statements—but there was plenty of genuine resentment on which Michael had built the fanaticism.

The servants told about being treated poorly in the house, from being sexually harassed by Daniel to just verbally abused by Norah whenever the woman was displeased with something. And of course, the salary was just barely enough to keep them from leaving in search of a better place.

As a result, even more accusations were going in Norah and Harry's direction, and after Tristan put everything in motion, he didn't need to lift a finger to keep it going.

So he let the things stew on their own, and focused on things he's been putting away for a while now.

***

Another way, another meeting between Tristan and his underbosses. Business was going well, all things considered—and they just had enough resources waiting to be invested to start a new expansion.

Of course, taking over the remains of Cuatro Angulos directly was unfeasible. Mexicans would never accept American leadership, not to mention that controlling an organization spread across several countries was supremely inconvenient.

"As I know, the bloody wars for the complete leadership over Cuatro Angulos are still happening between its surviving big shots. Right at this moment, in fact. We are going to pick one who's the most manipulable and help him win. Unless you have better suggestions?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Tristan looked over his underbosses.

"Sounds good to me," Damien said off-handedly. He looked bored. "Nothing more we can really do with those assholes while they are in their own country."

"I'm puzzled about the specifics, Mr. Hayes. What would our 'help' even look like? Just a gift of weapons or money?" Martinez asked, frowning. "There's no guarantee that indirect help like that won't just be squandered. Controllable people are usually not the most competent ones."

"Not to mention that if this help becomes too obvious to the rest of Cuatro Angulos, our chosen puppet will be discredited badly," Vargas added. "If people know he's a puppet, they will assassinate him in a month. He needs to at least appear reputable."

Tristan had answers to all those questions, of course. Answers that didn't include him going on another trip to Mexico—not this time, thankfully.

"Think about it like this, gentlemen—what is the most precious resource of a manipulator and can be freely moved between borders and distances? Information."

He explained the rest of his plan to the carefully listening subordinates. It was unorthodox, and something only truly possible thanks to Tristan's hacking skills and the existing spying virus worms Tristan had in the Cuatro Angulos network.

The size of the information-gathering net was going to expand now. With the help of Tristan's subordinates, more people and resources were going to be allocated to listening in on Cuatro Angulos' communications. Translators from Spanish had to be found and hired—a lot of them.

But after this, whoever Tristan chose as his puppet—and he had enough charm and fearsomeness that almost anyone can be manipulated—could use this information to defeat all the other candidates for the title of Cuatro Angulos' big boss.

It was like helping someone to cheat in chess on a tournament, without seeing the tournament itself and only listening in on the moves being announced from behind a closed door.

Orders were done, and people took their new work positions one by one. In less than a month, Tristan's plans were ready to happen. He found himself a fitting candidate into puppet leaders—Juan Manuel Ramos, a person ambitious enough to want to come out on top, and unprincipled enough to sell himself to Tristan without much resistance.

And as a bonus, Tristan's new information network was wide enough that he could use some of it for a side project. A more personal thing to research.