Chapter 43: Not Even the Military Can Stop It

Over the next two days, Donnie exhausted every possible means and method to finally record all the intelligence before hurriedly arranging to meet his superior.

Inside the restaurant.

After reading through the intelligence, his superior fell into a silent state of shock.

What the hell? Smuggling drugs using the coffins of fallen soldiers?

Which little genius had such a stroke of genius to come up with a twisted idea like that?!

What the actual fuck? Does this even work?

No wonder customs never checked them—who in their right mind would mess with a coffin? To desecrate the bodies of fallen soldiers?

"Are you certain all of this is true?" the superior asked with a grim expression. "If this involves the military, that side will never admit to any of it! They will use every possible means to cover it up!"

"I'm not sure," Donnie shook his head. "The authenticity of this intel is still up for debate, but you can find ways to verify whether what's written inside is true."

"Where on earth did you get this? Does the Bonanno family hold onto this much intelligence?"

"Uh...."

Donnie's expression turned bizarre. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself... I was taken along on a job, and only after it was over did I realize they seemed to be following Dove Luca to bust a drug operation, hijacking drugs from a French gang. This intelligence was found right inside that safehouse."

"Wait..."

The superior's head was buzzing slightly, unable to process this for a long moment. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Are you saying Dove Luca took you guys... to bust a drug operation?"

"Hard as it is to believe, he genuinely doesn't seem to want anyone peddling drugs on his turf."

Donnie muttered, "I hung around the Bronx for a few days, and the residents there all respect him quite a bit. Some even look at him like a godfather... The Dove really is maintaining peace in Little Italy, though his methods are a bit violent."

The superior: "......"

What a damned ambassador of peace!

Silently putting away the intelligence, the superior planned to consult other trusted individuals. Since the military was involved, he had to proceed with caution.

Towards the end of their conversation, the superior brought up the previous matter again. "We've already transferred Brian here to New York. Over the past two years, he's built up a solid reputation on the streets in Los Angeles... But the Mafia families in Los Angeles are too far from the center of the Commission. New York is the true stronghold of the Mafia. How about I arrange for him to operate alongside you?"

The core of the Mafia National Commission was the Five Families of New York.

Among the twenty or thirty Mafia families across the United States, all those in other regions were subservient to the Commission.

For instance, in Philadelphia and Atlantic City just a short distance away, the local Mafia families were under the control of the Gambino family—one of the New York Five.

In turn, the Philadelphia Mafia exerted influence over certain Mafia families further north.

In other words, while Washington was the capital of the United States, New York was the stronghold of the American Mafia.

"I can't vouch for anyone right now!" Donnie refused once more. "I'm only an associate myself; how could I possibly vouch for someone at a time like this? Do you want to get me killed even faster?"

"We can only rely on you. You're the only undercover agent we have inside the Mafia."

"......"

Donnie felt his scalp go numb. *Stop looking at me like that, making it sound like I'm your only one. Give an undercover cop some breathing room, will ya?*

He immediately thought of the Dove and advised, "I suggest you send Brian to Little Italy, to go undercover under Dove Luca. That guy runs a club and is still recruiting staff. Getting in as an employee shouldn't be too difficult. Don't even fucking think about trying to join the Mafia directly—that is completely out of the question. It took me years just to become an associate! Do you have any idea how hard it is to earn the trust of those mobsters?"

"Again with Dove Luca? Can anyone even get into his club?"

"His club is hiring staff. You could have Brian apply for a driver position—isn't he great at driving? Let him get into the club first, and then he can slowly win the Dove's trust and infiltrate bit by bit."

"Fine."

The superior looked perplexed. "I'll think about it."

He recalled that Denham, that excessively incorruptible prick, was still investigating Jordan Belfort and had grown quite close to Dove Luca lately.

The superior added another thought: "How about you do us a favor and introduce Brian to the Dove's club?"

Donnie: "......"

*Is that even possible? The Dove doesn't even let me participate in criminal operations! Just because my seniority is too low and I'm not trusted yet! I'm only fit to stand on the sidelines and keep watch!*

In the end, Donnie convinced his superior not to bring trouble to his doorstep, letting Brian go wherever he damn well pleased. After ending the conversation, he snuck stealthily out of the restaurant.

A car parked by the curb for a long time slowly rolled down its window, revealing Luca's face.

Watching Donnie's retreating figure, Luca smiled faintly, "Good thing you guys didn't meet on a rooftop."

......

SSR Club, top-floor office.

"The intelligence has now been passed simultaneously to the Bonanno family and the FBI."

Luca stood before a whiteboard plastered with photographs, pinning Donnie's picture up among them. "The FBI agents on Donnie's line are pragmatic men with strong operational capabilities; otherwise, they wouldn't have dealt the Bonanno family such a devastating blow."

"Meanwhile, the Bonannos have been squeezed out by Frank to the point where they have no market left, and their drug business is practically bankrupt. Aside from Richie, they are the ones who want Frank to disappear the most."

Luca's gaze swept across the entire whiteboard. Aside from Donnie, it was densely packed with character cards: Underboss Dominic, Marilgio, White Tiger... and other key figures within the family.

There were also the FBI agents Donnie and Denham...

Police officers David, Richie, and Truper...

As well as Old Paul, Black Sonny, and characters from other criminal families or factions.

Right in the center of the board was Frank Lucas, representing the supreme drug supplier.

This rare card of Frank directly or indirectly connected to everyone else, and even Jordan had a tie to him—that guy snorted Blue Magic, and his company frequently sourced inventory from Frank's drug syndicate.

Make a move against Frank, and every single card on this board would be affected.

"A single hair pulls the whole body. By providing this much intel on Frank, I've saved the authorities a massive amount of time. Once the Feds get their hands on it, they'll verify it quickly, allowing the drug war to skip the preliminary exploration phase and enter the white-hot stage directly. Frank is going to be caught completely off guard."

"And the Bonanno family will seize the opportunity to strike back at Frank from the shadows!"

"Aside from the Feds, the ones who want Frank to fall the most are the Bonannos!"

"Both sides share a common goal." Luca picked up a pen and drew a line between Carmine Galante and Richie.

"The sooner you two families join forces, the sooner Frank goes down!"

In the original plot, Luca remembered that when Frank was arrested, he did not plead guilty at first and refused to cooperate.

The final straw that crushed him was Richie gaining the support of the Bonanno family—the police and the mafia uniting to completely crush Frank's drug empire.

The Bonanno family's business had been heavily battered by Frank, and they wanted to eliminate their rival; Richie wanted to bust Frank and also bring down the corrupt, drug-taking cops in the police department, whom he considered far more detestable than drug dealers.

With shared objectives, the two sides naturally came together.

Absurd as it might seem, the Bonanno family indeed made an indelible contribution to Frank's downfall.

This was also one of the reasons Luca sought out Old Paul, Black Sonny, and the others.

Luca thought to himself that if he were inside the Bonanno family, operating would be countless times smoother. With the family's backing, he could directly farm max affinity points with Richie and take Frank down with extreme prejudice.

Yet, as it happened, he was in the Lucchese family and had become Frank's ally, forcing him to help the police in secret, sneaking around behind his underboss's back.

Still, it wasn't a major issue. Though his faction alignment was a bit skewed, he could ride the currents of the era's grand trend, flow with the current meta, rack up rewards, and enjoy building character bonds—how comfortable was that?

Understand who the meta powerhouse really was!

Time for the underboss to chill out!

......

New Jersey.

That piece of intelligence, of uncertain veracity, ultimately made its way into the hands of Richie Roberts and his superiors through federal prosecutors and Richie's commanding officer.

After studying the contents of the intelligence, expressions of sheer shock likewise appeared on everyone's faces.

This intelligence was countless times more detailed than anything the police had managed to investigate so far, even outlining how Frank and his girlfriend had met.

"Where on earth did this intelligence come from?"

"I can't disclose too much to you. It involves an FBI operation, and even I'm not entirely clear on the specifics."

Seeing Richie's shocked expression, his superior recalled his own astonishment upon first seeing the intel. He explained:

"After reading it, I found that it was entirely about Frank... This intelligence might prove useful to us, which is why I'm standing here with it."

"Is there any witness to verify this?"

Richie asked, "This intel has no verified source, and it's hard to tell whether it's true or false. Without witness testimony, it can't be used as evidence in a court to indict Frank."

Of course, this stuff couldn't be used as direct evidence, no matter how detailed it was written.

The crucial question was *who wrote it*!

Anyone could make up a story; all it took was a pair of hands to write it down. If that were enough, fabricated evidence would be flying everywhere.

His superior shook his superior's head: "It can't serve directly as evidence, but it can provide us with investigative clues and directions—provided that what's written inside is true."

"It has given me too much inspiration and insight! We have to verify it no matter what!"

Looking at the contents of the letter, Richie muttered, "Smuggling drugs using U.S. military planes from Vietnam? Who the fuck thought of a method like that? It's unbelievable."

His superior wore a wry smile as well. If the U.S. military was involved, this case would become extraordinarily complicated.

He had been sent from Washington to crack down on drug crimes in New York, not to wage war against the U.S. military.

The deeper they dug, the more troublesome the things they would unearth.

Yet, he wasn't afraid of the military!

When the time came, it would just be a matter of seeing whose backing was stronger!

......

Richie and his team began their preliminary verification.

"Laboratory analysis shows that the purity of the Blue Magic matches the Asian imports."

Holding the test report, Richie spoke to the group with palpable excitement. "We all know those Italians usually deal with Europeans or Turks! But Blue Magic is Asian cargo. As it turns out, it really isn't coming from the Mafia—Frank is the true mastermind behind the scenes!"

"Frank is the biggest behind-the-scenes drug lord in New York?" one of the cops asked rhetorically.

"How is that even possible?" Another officer's expression was even more shocked. "Blue Magic floods every single area across the tri-state region, from Chinatown to Harlem, all the way up to Washington Heights! Places like Princeton and Newark are all swimming in Blue Magic!"

"No one has ever claimed a market that massive, not even the Mafia. And now you're telling me that Frank, a Black man, achieved what Italians couldn't do in a hundred years?"

"This is incredible!"

"And what about the military planes smuggling drugs? Do you have any idea how serious that is? The military will never admit to participating in drug trafficking!"

"I'll handle the military!" his superior raised his voice and said. "But I need evidence! Are we supposed to rely purely on our word and an unverified story? Washington isn't going to approve a search warrant for us based on that."

He stared intently at Richie. "I need more detailed evidence and witnesses! You have to produce those before I have grounds to request a search warrant from above!"

Richie nodded firmly: "I'll go investigate right away!"

His superior offered his backing: "I told you, Washington means business this time! As long as you have detailed evidence, even if it involves military aircraft, we'll turn the place upside down!"

The drug war orchestrated by Washington this time was dead serious, and even the military wouldn't be able to stop it!