Chapter 59: Melee

A sudden group of Japanese disrupted Luca's plans. He truly hadn't expected the Red Flower Restaurant to have ties with the Deadly Vipers.

Thinking back in hindsight, those gang members carrying katanas he had seen inside the restaurant a few times previously clearly had suspicious backgrounds...

As for the Deadly Vipers, their leader was the "infamous" Bill, commanding a group of assassins, all nicknamed after various venomous snakes.

Each of these assassins possessed extraordinary skills and was proficient in both Chinese martial arts and Japanese swordsmanship.

In the original plotline, a total of five snakes appeared: O-Ren Ishii, the "Cottonmouth," and Elle Driver, the "California Mountain Snake"—the very two who had just walked into the club.

There were three others, including "Black Mamba"—the bride whose entire family was wiped out by Bill on her wedding day.

It was this very bride who killed her way from start to finish, wiping out the entire Deadly Vipers organization.

Fortunately, the female war goddess hadn't come.

As for these two snakes right now...

The more Luca thought about it, the weirder his expression became. Where exactly was the Deadly Vipers plotline at this stage? If the yellow-robed female war goddess wasn't married yet and hadn't had her family slaughtered, then it wasn't time for the original plot to unfold yet.

Leon asked in puzzlement, "Is there an unexpected situation?"

Assassins hated unpredictable variables.

"A little, but it's not a big problem." Luca quickly thought of a countermeasure. "Perhaps this is still a good thing for us; neither of us needs to perform in person, we have stunt doubles."

Could this group of people appearing here be after Richie and Dave and the rest? Because these cops arrested the boss of the Red Flower Restaurant?

Or could it be that these assassins had also received the assignment to take out Richie and Gallante?

They surely couldn't be here to eat and get a massage at the club!

Fortunately, he had gotten McClane involved in advance... With McClane around, even if the entire Deadly Vipers organization rushed in, they couldn't kill him.

McClane, with his halo materialized, was an invincible and immortal existence.

At most, it would just get him injured.

As for the others, it was hard to say...

Luca casually pulled out his phone, called Denham, and inquired about the situation regarding the Red Flower Restaurant.

"Aoki Rocky has connections with the Japanese yakuza," Denham explained over the phone. "In the past, the drugs for the Red Flower Restaurant were supplied by the Japanese gangs. They teamed up, laundering money through the international dragon boat races, and it also involved South Korea, Hong Kong, and some Southeast Asian countries..."

Luca couldn't help but sigh that these people really loved sports. Street racing, boat racing—they meddled in everything, and even dragon boat racing could be used for money laundering.

If they were mixed up with the Japanese yakuza... then Luca wasn't surprised at all. Bill's gang of assassins had deep ties with Japan, and Bill's swordsmanship master was Japanese.

Glancing at his watch, Luca asked, "Does a gang turf war fall under FBI jurisdiction?"

Denham was stunned for a moment. "That falls under the New York Police Department."

The FBI didn't care about such petty brawls unless it was large-scale organized crime syndicates, like the Mafia...

Old Dove, your Mafia has an undercover agent—Denham silently added in his heart.

Yet he didn't know who the undercover agent actually was, as the confidentiality was too high.

"What if it's a three-way turf war between the Mafia, the Red Flower Restaurant, and the Narcotics Division?"

"???"

Denham was momentarily stunned. "Well, that wouldn't make it impossible to step in and handle."

.......

Club hallway.

Elle Driver pulled a small notebook out of her pocket and flipped through the relevant information she had recorded. She had the habit of keeping a record, carrying a notebook with her everywhere. Useful information went into it, and whenever she forgot, she took it out to look.

"Richie Roberts, Carmine Gallante... Are these the two targets? One is a narcotics cop, the other a Mafia boss. Intelligence says these two men colluded, and Aoki's drug business was destroyed through their partnership."

Elle used her single eye to look at O-Ren Ishii, whose expression next to her was aloof. The latter coldly replied with an "hm" and responded in English, "Gallante has quite a few bodyguards and gang members around him....."

The two exchanged intelligence while walking into a private room.

Tonight, they were here to kill people according to Bill's instructions.

Everyone took their seats, quickly dragging out the pre-prepared weapons and equipment from beneath the sofa, and initiated the assassination mission.

Swish, swish, swish!

Katana after katana flashed into view.

A black mamba snake crawled out of Elle's sleeve. Looking at everyone's formation, she couldn't help muttering, "This isn't Japan, American gang turf wars use guns!"

Click, click, click!

Gun after gun also flashed into view.

Elle shrugged. "You guys are quite thorough."

O-Ren Ishii tucked her gun into her thigh holster and picked up a katana. "Within three steps, my blade is faster."

The black mamba coiled around Elle's arm, flicking its tongue. Staring at O-Ren Ishii's blade, she asked curiously, "I heard you asked Hattori Hanzo to buy a sword, offering one million dollars, and you were still rejected?"

Hattori Hanzo was a legendary Japanese swordsmith whose forged katanas were incomparably sharp, capable of cutting through iron like mud.

He was also Bill's former swordsmanship teacher!

Of the known blades Elle was aware of, one was in Bill's hands, one was in Bill's brother's hands, and the rest were kept by Hattori Hanzo in his own collection.

To be honest, she also wanted one, but that old man wouldn't sell.

Hearing the name Hattori Hanzo, O-Ren Ishii's gaze sank slightly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Hattori Hanzo hated slaughter, yet she was a top international assassin who had killed countless people!

Back then, Bill caused too much bloodshed and was "expelled from the sect" by Hattori Hanzo. Since then, Hattori Hanzo had also retired from the pugilistic world, swearing never to forge weapons of murder again.

She had visited him repeatedly to beg for a sword, but all her efforts were in vain.

This made her feel extremely regretful.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

Hattori Hanzo attempted to constrain violence in exchange for peace, but O-Ren Ishii believed that without a sufficiently sharp blade, how could one sever the shackles binding peace?

Just like the chaotic Tokyo underworld, those violent syndicates that caused the deaths of both her parents—O-Ren Ishii had sworn to carve a bloody path, inherit her parents' foundation, unify the Tokyo underworld, and prove to Hattori Hanzo what true peace was!

However, uniting the underworld was not easy; she needed Bill and the organization's help, which was why she kept working for Bill.

Thinking of this, her expression suddenly turned cold.

"Move out!"

"Hai!"

The group filed out, dispersing as they crept toward the upper floors.

In a corner not far behind them, Leon stepped out from the shadows, followed closely by Luca in black attire.

"Leon, let's make a move. Tonight, rivers of blood will flow here!"

"Alright."

......

Poolside.

The conversation between the black and white sides was drawing to a close, each confirming their friendly forces' current progress and the strength they wielded.

The cigar at his fingertips flickered with a crimson dot. Gallante leaned against the poolside, exhaling a puff of smoke:

"The blue magic on the market is starting to run out of stock. Before long, Frank will import goods from Vietnam again! I hope you police officers make preparations in advance and don't miss this opportunity. If you need me to help pull strings anywhere, contact me anytime."

Richie nodded. Current progress was going smoothly; with Black Jimmy's testimony and intelligence as informant evidence, superiors had already approved the search of the military aircraft.

Before obtaining the testimony, superiors hadn't actually believed anything so outrageous. There was a war going on, and they still had time to transport drugs back using coffins?

Truly, these evil practitioners played wilder than demonic cultivators—apprenticed to the Corpse-Driving Sect, sourcing from the Golden Triangle, packing drugs in US military corpses' coffins, and flying them back to the United States to bypass a series of security checks.

Were they using drugs to preserve the bodies?!

Who would dare desecrate fallen American soldiers?!

Richie dared!

With a search warrant in hand, he wouldn't allow a single coffin to be transported away!

For the sake of this victory, even fallen soldiers would damn well have their coffins opened and searched before being buried!

At that moment, McClane suddenly interrupted and asked Gallante, "After Frank gets arrested, your Bonanno family's drug business....."

He stopped mid-sentence, largely because he didn't want to say these words to disrupt the cooperation between the two sides.

McClane didn't want to see drugs in New York anymore, even though he knew this was unrealistic. The wolves of Wall Street alone consumed an astronomical amount every day.

Gallante flicked his ash nonchalantly. "Do you want to arrest me along with him?"

A wave of stuffiness filled McClane's chest. Wasn't this fucking obvious?

One evil dragon falls, another rises, endlessly!

Gallante said indifferently, "The federal government cracks down on drugs every year. Over a dozen years, my costs have risen by 10%, but my profits have multiplied over a dozen times... Officer, even if you chop off my head, ten even more vicious young men will still rise up to fight for this business. The slums never lack starving wolves willing to kill for fifty dollars."

Several police officers remained silent.

Gallante spread his hands. "Middle-class people in many states of this country are secretly pushing for the legalization of marijuana. These people are my customers; they are personally helping me cultivate and expand the market. You've seen it yourselves, the military is still helping transport drugs from Vietnam... Who knows if New York State will pass a decree one day declaring ** legal?"

He stood up and extended his hand toward the police officers. "If your police department ever announces that 50% of a drug lord's assets will be given as a reward to informants, I swear I'll be the first to quit this business."

Such a measure would never appear... The expressions of several police officers were complicated. McClane had a bellyful of frustration yet felt powerless in the face of this reality.

Richie pushed aside the distracting thoughts in his mind. The primary goal right now was still to bring down this guy Frank... By comparison, Frank, who was developing in a disorderly and chaotic manner and turning the New York Police Department pitch black, was far more detestable than the Gallante before them.

Richie shook Gallante's hand. "Mr. Gallante, once I catch Frank, I'll see you in court then."

Richie declined Gallante's invitation to the "pool of wine and forest of meat" and left with his colleagues.

Dave sighed. "Is it finally going to end?"

"Yeah, it's going to end."

Richie smiled wearily, the faces of numerous police department colleagues flashing in his mind—those cops who took dirty money and partnered with drug dealers to traffic narcotics would soon be brought to justice.

But where would this city head tomorrow?

Richie did not know.

Boom!

Suddenly, a violent explosion came from beneath their feet, abruptly freezing the luxurious atmosphere at the scene.

......

[You killed 13 heinous gang members... You defended the peace of the community]

[Received Skill Point X10]

[Received Skill Fragment X5]

[Remaining Skill Fragments: 41]

At this moment, Luca had no time to look at the panel; the battle was fierce right now.

Earlier, Leon had taken the lead by using a ring gadget to blow up 4 Japanese and 3 club gang guards, firing the first shot of the gang turf war. This successfully ignited the battle between the club and the Japanese yakuza, and ruined the Japanese plan to sneak upstairs to carry out assassinations.

It directly evolved into a large-scale melee!

With the club and the Japanese fighting each other, Luca and Leon enjoyed the leisure of hiding in the shadows to watch the show, keeping an eye on a few key figures, casually picking up a few headshots, and helping the weaker side to maintain the balance of combat.

According to Luca's original plan, he and Leon were supposed to make a huge scene here and stage an assassination plot.

Now the assassins had been replaced by the Japanese yakuza.

Luca had even thought of an excuse for the assassination's failure: he would blame it entirely on this group of reckless, brainless Japanese for ruining the assassination plan, otherwise he definitely would have successfully killed Richie and Gallante!

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

The Japanese ruined my good deed!

Biu!

Luca stood at the corner of the hallway, raised his hand and fired a shot, sending another Japanese away; not far away, a few club guards groped their way over. Just as they stepped through the gate, a figure suddenly dropped from above, hanging upside down like a bat and firing multiple shots to send them to the western paradise.

Immediately afterward, the two top assassins quickly vanished from the battlefield like two ghosts, continuously reaping the lives of the Japanese and the club gangsters, spreading the flames of war elsewhere.

......

Gunshots rang out. Richie and the others maintained their combat formation, cautiously groping their way downstairs.

"What the fuck is this situation?" Dave ran behind a bunker, holding guns in both hands with a very puzzled expression. "Did we run into a gang turf war?"

Richie observed his surroundings vigilantly. "Who dares to cause trouble on Mafia turf?"

McClane leaned his back against a pillar, cursing as he pulled out his handgun. "When did narcotics work become this dangerous? Have you guys ever run into this kind of situation before?"

Richie shook his head. "No."

Dave: "This is the first time."

McClane: "......."

You've got to be kidding me, bro. I just joined and I run into a gang turf war. Are you guys sure you're not messing with me?

Does trouble really follow wherever I go?

Richie and Dave also looked at each other in dismay. Could this guy McClane really be a jinx cursed with bad luck?

Possessed by the god of misfortune?

"It really has nothing to do with me!" Seeing his colleagues' strange gazes, McClane felt extremely exasperated. "This is definitely just a coincidence! It has nothing to do with whether I'm here or not! Please, can I get a little trust here?"

Dave dryly chuckled. "Bro, keep it down a bit later. If you plan to blow this place up, at least wait until we run out first."

Richie sighed. "Let's hope there are no bombs and suicide drones here."

McClane: "......"

Fuck, I'm not a jinx!

The group made their way all the way to the 3rd-floor lobby, where the fighting was even more intense. Blades and guns mixed in close combat, leaving the scene in utter disarray, with the surrounding glass curtain walls shattered all over the floor.

Richie looked up and saw a black-clad Asian woman wielding a katana, committing a massacre in the lobby.

She was like a phantom in the night, moving with catch-off-guard speed. With every flick of her wrist and drop of her blade, corpse after corpse fell, and gang members' heads rolled across the floor.

From time to time, she also drew a handgun to dispatch a few distant enemies.

Richie: "???"

What the hell kind of psycho is this madwoman?

O-Ren Ishii swept her gaze and quickly noticed a few police officers.

Seeing the psycho woman charge over, Richie felt his scalp tingle and raised his gun to fire.

O-Ren Ishii leaped, dodging behind a bunker as bullets left a string of bullet holes on the wall behind her.

Her erratic figure shuttled behind cover, and the casual glance she threw made Richie feel as if he were being targeted by a man-eating viper.

Richie took a deep breath, quickly moving from his spot, and used the surrounding cover to shoot at O-Ren Ishii and the other Japanese assassins.

Bang!

McClane took out a Japanese assassin with a single shot, then angrily kicked the guy in the head. "Motherfucker! Of all times to come, why pick right now!"

With that, he took the frontline all by himself. His superb combat skills and calm mindset in the face of a major battle turned him into a war god.

Using the surrounding terrain, McClane moved flexibly and fought on the go, swiftly harvesting enemy lives.

Bullets could only chase his shadow, and enemies' blades couldn't even get close to his body.

Dave watched dumbfounded: "Jesus! This guy is fiercer than Captain America!"

Richie was also dumbstruck. No wonder this guy could wipe out an entire team of mercenaries all by himself in Los Angeles; that simply wasn't something a normal person could pull off.

At that moment, a cold glare flashed, launching a surprise attack on McClane's back.

McClane rolled on the spot, dodging in an awkwardly bizarre posture as the blade's edge narrowly grazed the skin of his back.

O-Ren Ishii's expression turned surprised. This man could actually dodge her blade with his back turned?

Injuries were nothing unusual to McClane; when had he ever not gotten himself covered in blood? He wiped the blood off his back, baring his teeth as he cursed:

"Fuck! A katana? You bunch of Japanese madwomen treating toy blades like treasures?!"

I'm a mixed-race of Chinese, Japanese, and American descent, you bitch! O-Ren Ishii sneered. "Damn white-skinned pig! Go to hell!"

Bang! Bang!

The two drew their guns and fired simultaneously, sprinting sideways into cover almost at the same time.

Richie and Dave could only witness the dazzling figures and movements of these two, the confrontation between military knives and katanas, and the near-miss encounters with bullets.

On the upper balcony, Luca and Leon watched the battle below with keen interest.

"McClane is no match for O-Ren Ishii," Leon analyzed and judged calmly. "His physical skills, marksmanship, and close-quarters combat ability are not as strong as that woman's."

"You're right, but McClane will definitely win in the end."

"???" Leon looked bewildered. How on earth did you reach that conclusion?

Luca stared at the katana in O-Ren Ishii's hand, then looked at the combat knife in McClane's hand. "The assassin's blade and the soldier's blade were forged in the same furnace, but the difference is, one craves more blood, while the other rejects being stained with blood again."

Page (3/3)