American Tax Officer

"Alright, please wait a moment..."

In the office, Bellamy was discussing with Trollope the response plan to be enacted after the matter reached headquarters.

A knock on the door interrupted their train of thought, and Bellamy had no choice but to shout, "Come in."

"Director Bellamy, Director David wants to see you!"

"To see me?"

After pondering for a while, Bellamy eventually replied, "Tell him I'm very busy and don't have time."

He knew why the other party wanted to see him; it was nothing more than having been rebuffed by Director Ducray and now looking to make a move on him instead.

But he had already made up his mind to freeze that sum of money indefinitely, naturally leaving no need to meet with the other party.

"Alright..."

"Wait a second."

Just as the person who had come in was about to leave with the message, Trollope stopped him, contemplated briefly, and said, "Go out for a moment and give me five minutes."

After the visitor left and closed the door, Trollope turned to Bellamy and said, "Director, I think we should meet with him."

"Is there a need?"

"I think there is because I've just thought of something... we could, perhaps, strike a deal with him!"

"What do you mean?"

"Director, you're curious about how he managed to hit GCO Corporation with a fine, right? If we could learn his secret from him, perhaps we could do the same..."

Trollope's words brightened the previously doubtful Bellamy.

GCO Corporation's business was widespread across America, and they owned several prisons in Los Angeles as well.

If they could also learn the method David used to coerce GCO Corporation into paying that sum of money, then they might be able to use GCO's prisons in Los Angeles to likewise demand taxes from the company.

Moreover, GCO's scale in the Los Angeles prisons was much larger than that in Nevada State.

If they succeeded, it wouldn't just be 80 million; even over a hundred million wouldn't be out of the question!

"Director, as long as he's willing to share with us how he operates, there's no harm in us unfreezing the funds for him!"

"But if we do that... that's tantamount to backstabbing Brown, and it would be hard to explain to his side."

Bellamy's concerns were indeed sensible.

Both were sharpening their swords, preparing for a decisive battle against David, and if he suddenly turned his guns around, wouldn't that make them hate him to death?

"Director, this is an opportunity for us. Otherwise, even if we deal with David, how easy would it be to overtake Brown's 'Operation Deification'?"

Bellamy fell silent, his face becoming tangled in thought.

Undoubtedly, Trollope was right.

Even if they managed to settle David now, Brown's revenue figures had already pulled ahead by more than 10 million, and with only a few days left, overtaking or even surpassing him seemed very unlikely.

However, if David were willing to divulge his method of pressuring GCO Corporation, and Bellamy could replicate it, then there might indeed be a chance for a comeback and win the 'Operation Deification'.

Of course, this was predicated on David actually sharing his method of putting pressure on GCO Corporation; otherwise, it was all just empty talk.

But anyway, they had to initiate talks first. Thinking this, he said to Trollope, "Alright, let's do as you say and talk to him."

"Good, I'll personally bring him over."

Seven or eight minutes later, David was brought into the office. Since both parties were currently star figures in the tax bureau,

this meeting could be compared to a collision of stars.

Having already seen each other's photographs through files and news channels, they were not too unfamiliar to one another.

After a brief handshake, David went straight to the point, "Director Bellamy, I know that the freezing of GCO Corporation's tax funds is related to you. In one word, unfreeze the money and give it back to me, and I'll turn around and walk away without troubling you!"

Bellamy seemed amused by the remark, replying, "Unfreezing isn't impossible, but there's something I'm very interested in. I wonder if you could satisfy my curiosity."

"Let's hear it."

"I want to know how exactly you got GCO Corporation to willingly give you that sum of money."

"Director Bellamy, as a member of our federal tax bureau, I believe you should know that we have the right to keep tax affairs confidential. That's something I cannot tell you."

Hearing this, Bellamy's expression turned icy as he responded, "Director David, it seems you haven't realized the situation yet."

David didn't waste further words and activated his 'golden finger' viewing feature, beginning to scrutinize Bellamy's information.

But soon his eyes revealed a hint of disappointment.

He had planned to see if there were any vulnerabilities in Bellamy's record, hoping to take advantage of the fund-freezing incident to bring him down and thus remove a competitor.

However, to his surprise, this man's track record seemed much cleaner compared to Director Ducray's.

For the moment, David couldn't find any leverage to use against him.

Bellamy continued, "In a word, if you explain to me how you managed to leverage GCO, then the funds will be immediately returned to you!"

David laughed, now understanding that this man wanted to 'steal his trade.' With a hint of mockery, he replied, "Want to learn, huh? Why don't you apply to transfer to my audit team, and I'll teach you bit by bit!"

"What did you say!"

The remark infuriated Bellamy, his face flushing with anger. He was a star figure at the federal tax bureau and the Chief Tax Officer of a major branch like the Los Angeles Long Beach Branch.

And yet, David had the audacity to suggest he transfer to his audit team, which was nothing short of a blatant insult.