Chapter 48: The Family Needs You!

Half an hour later.

Inside the club’s bar, Jimmy looked at the young man before him and asked in surprise, “You have a commercial driver’s license?”

Brian responded confidently, “I have a Class A commercial license. I can drive any truck. I even used to drive a school bus back in Los Angeles.”

A school bus? Jimmy nodded thoughtfully. This kid seemed talented; very few in the family knew how to drive trucks.

Moreover, this young man’s background was clean, with no criminal record—clearly someone fresh out of society, eager to make money.

Perfect to be a workhorse!

The more Jimmy looked, the more satisfied he became. After discussing salary and job specifics, he immediately decided to offer Brian a position.

Of course, it would be according to the union’s collective bargaining agreement at the time, covering salary, hours, benefits, and other terms.

...

An hour later.

At an FBI base in New York.

Brian arrived and met with the officer in charge of this undercover operation. They briefly discussed the current progress.

“I’ve successfully gotten hired,” Brian shrugged, relaxed and confident. “It wasn’t hard. Jimmy looked at my license, asked a few simple questions, then decided to hire me. But he hasn’t said exactly what job I’ll be assigned. I guess it’s related to freight trucking.”

“Good job.”

The superior nodded in approval. “But this is just the first step. Now you need to use this identity well—get deeper into their organization, earn their trust, and participate in their criminal activities!”

Infiltrating the club was easy; it had many employees from various trades, but they only served the club’s daily operations and did not engage in the Mafia’s criminal acts.

“You must win Pigeon Luca’s trust! Ideally, secure his sponsorship and become a partner of the Lucchesi family. Only then will you have the chance to join their crimes and gather evidence.”

“Partner...” Brian knew what that meant—to prove his value, show that he could bring benefits to the family, build good relations, and then earn a chance to become a Mafia family partner.

Partnership had no bloodline restrictions.

...

At the FBI New York division.

Denham realized that ever since meeting Luca, he had become tainted.

To others, he was still the upright FBI agent; but in Luca’s eyes, he was a buddy who took bribes, did favors for the Mafia, and let Jordan go free.

Returning to his office after visiting his mother in the hospital, Denham hadn’t even warmed his seat before a colleague approached.

“Denham, I have some intelligence that might be useful to you.”

“What?” Denham was curious. Useful to me? Aren’t you investigating the Mafia? He reached out but saw the document was written in French.

His colleague retracted the paper with a smile.

“Have you been getting close to Pigeon Luca lately?” the colleague asked, grinning. “Jordan hooked up with the Lucchesi family; now he’s got Mafia backing. Taking him down isn’t easy. But I didn’t expect you’d be so close with Pigeon Luca.”

Denham felt more puzzled. What was this guy up to?

He had indeed been frequently meeting Luca lately—partly because he owed him a favor after taking money, partly to try to break through and gather evidence on Jordan’s crimes.

He never expected Luca wouldn’t reject his approach but would be so enthusiastic, even inviting Matilda to his house and getting friendly with his wife.

This gave Denham a foreboding sense of inviting a wolf into his home...

As for Jordan, who often hung around the Bronx, Denham once “accidentally” ran into him. The guy was even more arrogant, boasting loudly: “This is Lucchesi family territory. You dare lay a hand on me? The Mafia will chop your entire family down.”

Denham was furious and wanted to beat Jordan up.

Damn it, if you can cling to Luca’s thigh, why can’t I get on good terms with him?

I’m a VIP in Little Italy now! Who’s afraid of whom?

...

Under the watchful eyes of the Mafia, this cat-and-mouse game shifted to the Bronx, with Pigeon seemingly the hidden arbiter.

“What exactly do you want to say?” Denham asked, puzzled.

His colleague admired him; here was an FBI agent who could openly contact the Mafia without being undercover.

He understood the contact was superficial—Denham couldn’t access the Mafia’s criminal actions—but that was already impressive... or maybe Pigeon Luca was unusual?

“How’s your relationship with Pigeon? How much intelligence have you gathered?” the colleague inquired. “Tell me about his SSR club... I have some intel on a drug trafficking group’s money laundering, involving a banker in Switzerland.”

He handed Denham the report.

The intelligence was in French—common in Switzerland alongside German.

It concerned a Japanese restaurant called “Red Flower,” specializing in teppanyaki, owned by a Japanese man.

Secretly, it was a front for a drug trafficking group, laundering money through major sports clubs and events—like offshore rowing, rugby, baseball, racing, and so forth—collaborating with a Swiss banker.

Denham wasn’t interested in drug investigations, but money laundering caught his attention.

The Swiss banker was named Sorel.

Denham recalled that some intelligence he gathered on Jordan involved Sorel, but he had no proof yet that Sorel helped Jordan launder money.

If they could catch Sorel...

The colleague added, “There was a brutal gang feud here before, related to drug trafficking. Several DEA officers died, and it took a lot of effort to suppress the case.”

Denham nodded. “Thanks, this intel is very useful.”

He thanked him and then shared some conclusions from his contact with Luca.

“On the surface, Luca is a very friendly guy. Compared to other Mafia members, he’s not very resistant to official contact, but only in private friendship. He never mentions the family, not even a word.

“So, if you want to approach him, just be his friend—forget your identities and professions, treat him like a friendly neighbor, and he’ll respond kindly.

“In Little Italy, he’s a respected man! So if you want to befriend him, first you have to let go of Mafia-based prejudices and show him respect. Got it?”

The colleague’s mouth opened slightly.

From him and the feedback from Downy’s side, it was about the same.

Really a peace ambassador? Likes making friends, huh?

I want to see if you can tell who’s a friend and who’s an undercover agent.

...

Top floor office of the club.

The spacious room was silent except for the scratching of a pen on paper. Luca was contemplating his next business moves.

The drug war was nearing its end, and the police no longer needed his help. He had time to plan for the future.

As Maligio said, the club didn’t make much money; adding a casino wasn’t enough either. The key was using the club as a platform to build connections, bringing in a group of business-savvy partners to make money together.

The family’s big businesses—smuggling, various unions, or Dominic’s drug trade—were all mature and established.

Luca didn’t touch drugs, and his qualifications to join other businesses were limited; he would only be an assistant.

Better to forge a new path.

He wrote down “Wall Street” and “Internet Bubble.”

Currently, the Mafia had little control over Wall Street; investment banking and squeezing investors weren’t Mafia specialties—they preferred real industries.

Luca was an amateur, but he had a surface friend on Wall Street he could manipulate, and he knew some trends in the internet sector... He could start investing in emerging internet industries through Jordan.

He also needed Jordan’s help to operate a batch of offshore companies.

Luca then wrote “Gasoline Tax” on the paper—profiting hugely by reselling gasoline while evading taxes.

Originally, this business was pioneered by the Colombo family in cooperation with Russian gangs.

The core scheme was to declare bankruptcy before official gasoline taxes were collected, transferring assets to the next company. When tax authorities came after them, the new company would blame the previous owner, who had already fled the country, making him untraceable.

The new company would repeat this cycle endlessly, endlessly siphoning off profits.

...

In a week, they could easily make millions!

Luca realized no one was currently running this scheme, so he planned to strike first... If the Colombo family could do it, why couldn’t he?

But to pull off this scam, he needed foreign gang cooperation.

Maybe he could even drag Daredevil into it?

Then Luca jotted down notes on Hollywood, real estate, sports clubs, etc.—1. Investment; 2. Money laundering.

Using his family background, unions, and connections to make friends and earn money.

He, Luca, was destined to rise swiftly!

After finishing, Luca gathered his thoughts, tore the paper to pieces, and burned them until ashes.

...

Downstairs, Luca found Jimmy.

“Arrange a meeting with Jordan Belfort for me. Also, I need a batch of tanker drivers... and get in touch with the Russian gang for me.”

Luca told Jimmy these things, but Jimmy was confused, not understanding what Luca was rambling about.

He nodded, “Okay, I’ll handle it... Oh, by the way, I hired a driver today who can drive tankers.”

“I want trustworthy guys.”

“You want too many. The family can’t provide that many, so we’ll have to find them through the truckers’ union,” Jimmy said helplessly.

Luca frowned slightly. Union workers weren’t Mafia members; only the union leaders cooperated with the Mafia.

But it was doable... they were just transporting gasoline. The workers wouldn’t know what their bosses planned; they just had to do their jobs and not steal fuel on the side.

“Let me see that driver’s resume,” Luca said, reaching out.

Jimmy handed over the resume. “This kid’s driving skills are good, with lots of experience. According to him, he once won a racing competition in Los Angeles.”

Luca looked at the name and paused, then at the handsome photo, his eyes widening in shock.

Brian O’Connor?

Damn it, Brian, you’re not busy courting Don Tang’s sister in LA, and now you’re stirring trouble in my territory?

“Call him and bring him here!”

“I want to see how fast his driving really is.”

...

Half an hour later, at the club bar.

Looking at Brian’s striking blond hair, a melody involuntarily echoed in Luca’s mind:

It’s been a long day~~ without you my friend~~

[Character Card Discovered: Brian O’Connor]

[Brian: SSR]

[Origin: The Fast and the Furious series]

[Skills: Driver’s Unity; Charismatic; Turncoat; Family Protector; See You Again]

[Bond: Stranger]

Looking at Brian’s skills, Luca sighed, “Brian, look at these skills of yours. No wonder you ended up betraying the FBI to protect your family—a true family protector.”

The Mafia needs you!

You like making family, huh?

Family, family—doesn’t the Mafia family count as family?

This is also a big family!