Chapter 63: Take Out the Big Boss!

Leon returned to the club.

"Mission accomplished."

"Good work. Go enjoy some champagne tonight."

Luca glanced at his interface, then walked through the banquet hall alongside Leon, who was dressed in a sharp suit resembling a security chief, to find his gathering friends.

The tables clustered in this section were all occupied by familiar faces.

One table seated Matilda, Uncle Biao and his wife, Bryan, Nancy, and others; another table was held by Jordan and his buddies; and a third was occupied by Old Zuo, Downey, and a few of their mob associates.

Luca seated Leon right beside Bryan.

One was an old-school eccentric, the other a blond playboy who spent his days street-racing and chasing girls... Luca never quite figured out how these two managed to become the closest of friends. Leon rarely said more than a few words to anyone else, yet he chatted with Bryan quite frequently.

Could it be that he wanted Bryan to introduce him to a girlfriend?

If that truly was the case, Luca considered it a positive development, and if possible, he wouldn't mind offering Leon some matchmaking advice.

——Sicilians simply loved meddling in other people's domestic affairs. Whenever a brother within the family experienced marital or romantic trouble, even a capo would step in to counsel and mediate.

Their primary mission was helping the government lower the divorce rate.

If a small family couldn't even stay united, how could one hope to unite a great family?

Fortunately, the Ambassador of Peace was still unmarried.

A chill ran down Luca's back as he thought: *Damn it, who knows when Mariggio might try to set me up with someone.* This was a peculiar hobby shared by certain capos and bosses; yet their judgment regarding women was always razor-sharp. The women they introduced were invariably virtuous and houseproud, knew how to take care of a man, lacked overbearing aggressiveness, understood the bigger picture, and made the ultimate supportive wives...

Luca glanced at the bachelor Leon, thinking to himself: *Leon isn't even married yet, what on earth am I worrying about?*

He turned around and resumed entertaining the rest of his guests.

Before long, another rare card dropped.

This was the first rare card Luca had discovered since awakening the system.

【Character Card: White Tiger (Mark Antonico)】

【White Tiger: D】

【Source: 《Rumble in the Bronx》】

【Skills: None】

【Bonds: Friend】

In the original plotline, this fellow clashed with the invincible nephew over a diamond case and was ultimately crushed into a meat patty by his nephew driving a hovercraft.

The White Tiger...

Luca let out a soft sigh. A background extra with barely a few frames of screen time could only ever manage a D-grade card, devoid even of a single skill, serving purely as a foil to showcase just how overpowered the nephew truly was.

Honestly, of all people to provoke, why pick a fight with the nephew's people?

Wait, no—they were now the people of the Ambassador of Peace.

The nephew would never have to worry about femme fatales ever again.

"Luca!"

The White Tiger walked up warmly and embraced Luca. Their superficial relationship was reasonably amicable.

Luca led the White Tiger over to Mariggio's table. The moment they sat down, the cell phones of both Mariggio and the White Tiger rang simultaneously.

After answering their calls, their expressions changed drastically!

Fuck!

The underboss had been murdered!

......

The sudden news failed to shatter the festive atmosphere of the club, but undercurrents were already surging beneath the calm surface of the lake.

Upstairs in the cigar room, the contingent from the Lucchese family had left the banquet hall to discuss the matter of Dominic's death.

"Bastards!" Mariggio slammed his clenched fist onto the table. "Retaliation! This is blatant retaliation! That bastard Galante! It has to be him. How dare he make a move against us without an execution order? Doesn't he fear sparking a war between the two families?"

A flicker of terror crossed the depths of the White Tiger's eyes. If it truly was Galante, someone reckless enough to shatter Commission rules on a whim... since he himself ran a drug operation, would that guy follow the vine to pluck the melon and eliminate him as well?

"What a joke! You lot were about to execute him, and you expected him to just sit back and wait for the chopping block?!"

A voice echoed from the doorway. Everyone turned their heads to see Paulie Cicero arrive on the scene. With his shock of white hair, he seated himself on the sofa, swept his gaze across the gathering, and stared coldly at them:

"On the very day Dominic pushed for that execution order, he should have anticipated how severe the consequences would be! Executing a family boss—something like this hasn't happened in decades. I wouldn't be surprised by any chain reaction that follows."

Quite a few mafia dons had died by assassination, but to be openly executed by the Commission—especially someone of a boss's standing—Galante was unquestionably the first in history.

The White Tiger glared at Paulie with a gloomy expression. "Paulie, what's the reaction from the top? Have you spoken with him?"

Paulie shook his head. "Bartolo told us to remain silent for now. It's not yet certain whether Galante was the one who pulled the trigger; he denies having done it."

Bartolo was the *consigliere* and advisor of the Lucchese family, primarily involved in legitimate and gray-area businesses, serving essentially as a cash cow.

"Of course he wouldn't admit to a thing like that!" Mariggio cursed. "Who the fuck would be stupid enough to confess to murdering a formal member? I'd bet my life that Galante definitely did this!"

"You can say that to us," Paulie replied, shaking his head. "Once you walk out that door, forget all about it—if you still remember what keeping silent actually means."

The White Tiger asked, "What exactly are the higher-ups planning to do?"

Paulie answered, "Wait for word. Barring any accidents, another sit-down will be called."

The White Tiger closed his mouth, his mind racing as he calculated the chain reactions brought about by Dominic's death.

First was his own narcotics business—this trade had always been operated exclusively by himself and Mariggio on Dominic's behalf, with no one else involved. Once the boss was dead, the drug empire would fall to the two of them to carve up.

But how were they supposed to divide it?! Mariggio was no pushover, and he had that bloodthirsty butcher working under him...

Furthermore, with Dominic's demise, the position of underboss stood vacant.

Presumably, none of the capos in the family would object to sliding their bottoms a bit higher up the ladder.

Yet there was only one position. To whom should it go?

Mariggio? Paulie? Or perhaps another capo who hadn't arrived yet?

A murderous intent surged within the White Tiger's heart, but he quickly suppressed it... The boss was still alive, and the *consigliere* was still present; internal strife was temporarily unviable.

If one wished to ascend to the seat of underboss, it would depend entirely on who could secure the approval of the boss.

After all, the position wasn't decided by a voting ballot; it was an absolute dictatorship by the boss.

And his most formidable competitor was none other than Mariggio!

While Paulie's money-making capabilities were limited, he enjoyed a good relationship with the boss and posed a distinct threat as well.

......

Luca stood up and headed toward the restroom.

Dominic was dead. In due course, a capo would be promoted to replace the boss in openly managing the family's affairs.

Luca had already decided whose back he was going to push from behind.

Aside from Mariggio, who else could it possibly be?

Once Mariggio ascended, he, Luca, would rise right along with him.

"Luca!"

Mariggio followed him out, entering the restroom alongside him. He bolted the heavy door shut, and after making certain no one was eavesdropping, he grabbed Luca by both shoulders and spoke with a grave expression:

"This hit was pulled by people from the Bonanno family, it couldn't possibly be anyone else! Nobody else has any motive whatsoever! Remember, no matter what, it was fucking Galante who did it, it was exclusively the fucking Bonanno family! Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Luca's gaze flickered slightly as he nodded. "Isn't that glaringly obvious? Of course it was Galante's men!"

Mariggio's expression grew complex. He stared into Luca's face for a long moment before finally sighing and pulling Luca into a firm embrace:

"Good lad!! You're better suited to be a mafioso than I am, and better than your father, too. But never forget, you still have Uncle Mariggio by your side. I promised your father I would look after you, and there will always be a place for you at my family's dinner table."

......

"Richie, Dominic is dead."

Dave plucked Dominic's photograph off the blackboard. "Just a short while ago, he was assassinated right outside his estate."

Richie was struck speechless with shock.

McLain, who still bore a few lingering bruises on his face, asked curiously, "Dominic? You mean that big shot from the Old Pigeons family?"

"Yes."

"This is going to usher in utter chaos for the Lucchese family."

Richie didn't know whether to feel elated or anxious. When the upper echelons of a mafia family were purged, it was predictable that a succession of violent power struggles would inevitably follow.

......

Old Zuo and Downey were thoroughly enjoying their card game and drinks, right up until Black Sonny made his appearance.

"Sonny, where the hell have you been?"

"I took a trip to the prison and saw Nasti."

Black Sonny seated himself beside Old Zuo with a preoccupied air. "He already knows about what happened last night."

Nasti Rastelli, the underboss of the Bonanno family, was still serving time behind bars and had yet to be released.

Yet he still wielded vast authority, and prison walls were utterly incapable of preventing him from remote-controlling the family.

"The underboss?" Recalling the events of the previous night, Old Zuo lowered his voice and asked, "Did he give any instructions?"

Old Zuo knew very well that the boss, Carmine Galante, didn't have all that many loyal followers, nor were his relations with the other families particularly amicable... The family was fractured by warring factions, with Red Sonny and several other capos constantly locked in a power struggle.

It was only because Galante still sat upon the throne that things hadn't boiled over into complete ugliness.

Glancing at Old Zuo's familiar face, Black Sonny sighed inwardly, uncertain how to face what was coming next.

Underboss Nasti wanted to unseat Boss Galante, seizing the current golden opportunity of a falling tree being bombarded by everyone's axes to capture the supreme position for himself.

He had even promised Black Sonny that once he ascended, he would promote Black Sonny to the rank of capo.

It sounded like a wonderful prospect... but the prerequisite was that Galante had to die before Nasti could take power.

Black Sonny had never imagined the situation would deteriorate so rapidly into its current state.

——He was actually being slated to take out the big boss himself!!

Motherfucker!!

Black Sonny's heart hammered against his ribs in agitation, and the hand holding his wine glass trembled.

He raised a glass to Old Zuo in a toast. "Nothing much, just talked a bit of business with Nasti."

His full name being Sonny Black, Black Sonny's heart was equally pitch black. He knew full well that this matter could not be shared with Old Zuo, nor could Old Zuo be allowed to get tangled up in it.

Let this credit be his alone, and let the position of capo be his as well.

Black Sonny vowed that once he made it to the top, he would treat Old Zuo, his aging younger brother figure, very well indeed.