6 Chapter 6 - An Old Friend

After a successful day in the casino, I was now on a drive home while listening to some music. When suddenly, the music got cut short.

My brows raised as I heard the name. I slowed down my driving a tad bit to focus on what was said. A deep male voice came out of the radio and spoke.

Another voice spoke from the radio, this time a feminine voice.

<It's official, Epsilonism is not a CULT> <Funding war between security agencies rages in the capital> <Credits roll on another historic Vinewood Studio> <A shootout in Marlowe Vineyard!> Both reporters took turns with every piece of news.

I guess he finally decided to go public with this. They wouldn't really cause too much of a problem with my plans at the moment so they're lower in my priority list. However, with Security Agencies now completely legal, I'll be putting my hands on one as well.

I couldn't help but chuckle. They wouldn't be celebrating for long. All that billions will be going straight to me in a few days.

RNGesus is really doing its thing. Everything just keeps going my way. The IAA is gonna be of great help to me sometime in the future.

I grinned as I heard the news. Another boon coming my way. This means I could go ahead with one of my plans earlier than expected. That's right. When I said San Andreas Takeover, I meant Take EVERYTHING Over. I'll be laying a hand in the movie business as well.

I guess my plan worked. If my memory serves me right, Devin Weston will do anything for his money and sate his narcissistic obsession with himself. And the Duggans ain't no easy prey either, so they won't just take this lying down. A war is to be expected. This should buy me more than enough time till I claim the Casino for myself.

As the news report finished, the music continued while I continued my drive home.

***

It's been five days since my first time at the casino, and I've been quite busy since then. My schedule consisted of working out early in the morning, raising my shooting skill in the range, and every other day I go to the casino netting me about $30 million worth of clean money.

I also didn't forget to spend some time with the family. I still cooked dinner for them, we even had movie nights from time to time. I made some small talk with Jimmy and Tracy whenever they weren't doing anything. Jimmy was quite surprised when he found out I knew Anime and we spoke for quite a while. It was nice to have something to bond over with him. Of course, I did my research on this world's Video Games, Movies, and Anime. And I gotta tell ya… they ain't so good. They're more like parodies of our world. I'm gonna have to do something about that.

With Tracy though, I haven't really made much progress. None of our interests align so we didn't really have anything to talk about. But at least she doesn't look at me with a frown or disinterest like she did in the game. Parenting is hard man.

With Amanda… It's quite complicated. Four years worth of neglect would not suddenly go away with some home-cooked dinner and a few movie nights. Sure, we hugged, she's even given me a few quick pecks on the cheek whenever I left, but that's that. I'm sure this is gonna take a long healing process but I'm not really complaining.

Moving on. In the past five days, I bought quite a lot of businesses. They will be the ones earning me some passive income while I move around.

I bought a bar named Tequi-La-La. It was a small bar where bands could play their music. Some famous bands even played on it, so it was made part of Los Santos's history. However, as time passed, its customers dwindled. Sure, there were some loyal patrons but it just became some local gang hangout leading the owner to put it up for sale. Which I bought immediately. I'm planning on renovating it, expanding it, and making it a classy restaurant or maybe a Jazz Club. I don't know yet. The reconstruction should be finished in two months so I have quite some time to think.

I know I won't really get much money back at first, but that's not my reason for buying this. I'm using this to spread my name and to get a foothold in the entertainment district. It will also make setting up my Night Club quite easy. The latter having a big role in my criminal side of business.

Another business I bought was the Downtown Cab Co. I'm planning on using this as a cover-up for one of my distribution networks when I start producing some goods. Cabs are everywhere in Los Santos, so no one would really suspect them driving around anywhere. My dealers will hand out packages through the cabs. Of course, to make it safer, I hacked into the police database so I have every cop's name and then made a system where my dealers will be alerted on their phones when someone's an undercover cop or if there's one in the vicinity. With the profiler's help, I made it automated so it could run in the background without my supervision.

But that's when I start producing goods. For now, it's a normal cab business. However, I've already bought my worker's loyalty so they know what continuing to work for me entails.

I also bought a Car Scrapyard and an Auto Shop for modding cars. Like the cab business, this will be more of a cover-up rather than a money-earning business. I'll be buying a lot of parts in the future to mod my cars during heists and other illegal dealings. Being cautious wouldn't hurt, plus getting some recognition in the LS Car Community will be a big plus. The Auto Shop's renovation should be done in two weeks so this will be my main source of passive legal income till the restaurant is fully built.

The last business I bought was an Arcade. Like the others, this is mostly a cover-up business as well. This will be where my main headquarters will be. It is a two-story building with a large space. The first floor will be where the arcade machines and other games will be located, and the second floor will be a net cafe. I bought this so no one would bat an eye when I buy a bunch of computers and other equipment. I'm planning on making this a big business as well so I splurged quite a bit in the renovations.

On the back of the first floor will be my planning room and where I will be managing all my businesses. I bought a bunch of monitors and PCs to act as my Master Control Terminal like the one in-game. It also has enough space to store ten vehicles as well, so that's a plus. The arcade part is still under renovation so I won't be earning any money from it yet but I've been using it to store my not-so-legal things in the past week.

Other than that, I also bought a wine-red 2008 Dodge Challenger. I know I could've gotten a faster car if I won the prized car in the Casino, but the Dodge Challenger was my first ever car in GTA Online. This car was with me till I reached my first million. So I'm still loyal to it to this day. Another one I bought is a Harley-Davidson Softail motorcycle. It's not as fast as the other motorcycles in the market, but man I sure do love it. They're currently parked in the Arcade.

I can't bring them to the house yet, or else Amanda will start asking questions. I'll have to wait till the restaurant earns money. One of the reasons why Michael and Amanda's relationship deteriorated is because of his criminal life. She wanted their family away from danger, yet Michael was quite a magnet for it. I can't have another roadblock adding to my making up for the Family. So I don't plan on revealing to them where I get most of my money, only the legal ones.

All these expenses cost me $9,235,000. Leaving more than enough for me to invest in other prospects. That being the Richards Majestic. The studio that's owned by Solomon Richards. With this, I'll be starting my movie-making business, which will mark my first move in San Andreas as Michael De Santa. I contacted the studio and I got an appointment with him in three days.

***

I was currently sitting by my pool, scrolling through my contacts looking for a name, then stopping when I spot it. Lester Crest. I immediately tapped on the call and waited for him to answer as it rang.

"Hello, is this still the number for Lester Crest?" I asked when the call clicked.

"Who's asking?" A familiar voice rang out, it was Lester.

"Who's asking "Who's asking"?" I grinned as I repeated the lines Michael said in the game.

"You're awful cagey… even for a dead man" He stopped midsentence to blow his nose "Michael"

"Oh. You don't sound so good, buddy" The grin on my face lingered as I heard his reply.

"Tactful and charming even in death" He chuckled. "Come see me, old friend. I'm living in Los Santos just like you. Murrieta Heights" He then ended the call.

***

That's it for Chapter 6!

I'm sorry this took longer than it should've. There were some last-minute changes to my schedule so I couldn't get the time to write. Also, I won't really be focusing much on the movie-making business unless you guys say otherwise.

If you have any suggestions as to where you want the story to go, please let me know in the comments!

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