Over the next two days, Donnie tried every possible way to record all the intelligence information. As soon as he finished compiling it, he quickly arranged a meeting with his superior.
Inside the hotel room, after reviewing the intelligence, his superior was left speechless in shock.
They used the coffins of fallen soldiers to smuggle drugs?
What kind of twisted genius came up with that insane idea?!
Jesus Christ… that actually worked?
No wonder Customs never inspected them. Who in their right mind would open a soldier's coffin? Wouldn't that be considered desecrating the dead?
"Are you sure this is real?" his superior asked sternly. "If the military is involved, they will never admit it. They'll bury this so deep it'll never see daylight!"
"I'm not sure," Donnie admitted, shaking his head. "The authenticity is still uncertain. But you can verify whether the details check out."
"Where did this come from? How does the Bonanno family have intelligence this comprehensive?"
"Uh…" Donnie's expression turned awkward. "I don't know the specifics. I was taken along on a job. Only afterward did I find out we were following Luca to raid a French crew's drug den and steal their product. This intel was inside that hideout."
"…Wait."
His superior froze for a moment, brain scrambling to catch up. He rubbed his temples. "You're telling me Luca personally led the raid?"
"As hard as it is to believe, he genuinely doesn't want anyone dealing drugs on his turf," Donnie muttered. "I've spent time in the Bronx. The residents there really respect him. Some even treat him like a godfather. Luca is maintaining order in Little Italy… just in a very violent way."
Superior: "…"
Peace ambassador, my ass.
He quietly gathered up the intelligence. Because it potentially involved the military, he would have to consult trusted contacts and proceed carefully.
Near the end of the meeting, the superior brought up another issue.
"We've transferred Brian to New York. Over the past two years, he's built a serious reputation in the Los Angeles underworld. But L.A. is far from the Commission's core. New York is the Mafia's stronghold. I'm thinking of assigning him to work with you."
At the heart of the National Mafia Commission were New York's Five Families.
Across the United States, there were twenty or thirty Mafia families, but most were subordinate to the Commission. For example, the Philadelphia and Atlantic City families operated under the influence of the Gambino family—one of New York's Five Families. The Philadelphia family, in turn, exerted control further north.
In simple terms: Washington, D.C. was the capital of the United States. New York was the capital of the American Mafia.
"I can't vouch for anyone right now," Donnie refused immediately. "I'm barely holding on myself. How could I vouch for someone else? Do you want me dead faster?"
"We don't have a choice. You're the only agent who's successfully infiltrated the Mafia."
"…"
Donnie felt numb.
Don't look at me like I'm your only hope. I'm already suffocating here.
He quickly thought of Luca and offered a suggestion.
"Send Brian to Little Italy. Have him infiltrate Luca's nightclub. Luca's recruiting staff right now. It shouldn't be hard to get hired."
"Don't even think about jumping straight into the Mafia—that's impossible. It took me years just to become an associate. Do you know how hard it is to earn their trust?"
"Luca again?" his superior frowned. "How would Brian get into the club?"
"They're hiring. Make him apply as a driver. He's an excellent driver, isn't he? Get him inside the club first. Then slowly gain Luca's trust and work inward."
"…Alright," the superior said, still hesitant. "I'll consider it."
He also remembered that Denham—that overly rigid bastard—was still investigating Jordan Belfort and had recently been getting close to Luca as well.
"Do me a favor," the superior added. "Introduce Brian to Luca's club."
Donnie: "…"
Is that even realistic? Luca won't even let me participate in criminal activities! I'm too green in his eyes. Too unreliable. I'm barely allowed to stand around as a bystander.
In the end, Donnie pushed back hard enough that his superior dropped the idea of forcing the introduction. Brian would have to find his own way in.
After the meeting, Donnie slipped out of the hotel.
Across the street, a car that had been parked there for some time slowly rolled down its window, revealing Luca's face.
Watching Donnie walk away, Luca smiled faintly.
"Good thing you didn't meet on the rooftop."
---
SSR Club – Top-Floor Office
"The intelligence has now reached both the Bonanno family and the FBI."
Luca stood before a whiteboard covered with photographs. He placed Donnie's photo onto it.
"The FBI agents connected to Donnie are competent and aggressive. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dealt such a heavy blow to the Bonanno family before."
"The Bonanno family has been squeezed out of the market by Frank. Their drug operation is on the verge of collapse. Other than Richie, they're the ones who most want Frank gone."
Luca's gaze swept across the whiteboard.
Besides Donnie, it was covered in character cards: Dominic, the underboss; Maranzano; the White Tiger; and other key Family figures.
There were also FBI agents Donnie and Denham.
Police officers David, Richie, and Trupo.
And members of other criminal factions—Lefty and Sonny Black among them.
At the very center of the board was Frank Lucas, representing the drug kingpin.
Frank's rare card was directly or indirectly connected to almost everyone—even Jordan. Jordan was addicted to Blue Magic, and his company frequently provided support to Frank's distribution network.
If Frank moved, every card on the board would tremble.
"A single move can ripple through everything."
"By handing over this much intelligence on Frank, I've saved the authorities months of legwork. Once Washington verifies it, they'll skip the slow buildup phase and jump straight into full-scale war. Frank will be caught completely off guard."
"The Bonanno family will also start making underhanded moves against him."
"Besides the federal government, they're the ones who want Frank to fall the most."
"These two sides share the same objective."
Luca picked up a marker and drew a line connecting Carmine Galante and Richie.
"The sooner your two factions align, the faster Frank collapses."
In the original timeline, after Frank's arrest, he refused to cooperate. What ultimately broke him was Richie receiving backing from the Bonanno family. Police and Mafia worked together to dismantle Frank's empire.
Frank had devastated the Bonanno family's business. They wanted him eliminated as a competitor. Richie wanted to arrest Frank—and expose the corrupt narcotics officers within his own department, whom he despised even more than the dealers.
Shared interests brought them together.
Absurd—but historically true: the Bonanno family played a crucial role in Frank's downfall.
That was one reason Luca had approached Lefty and Sonny Black.
If Luca had been inside the Bonanno family, things would have been easier. With Family backing, he could openly support Richie and make life miserable for Frank.
Instead, he was aligned—at least on paper—with the Lucchese family. That meant any assistance to the police had to happen behind the underboss's back.
Still, it wasn't fatal.
Even if the factions weren't ideal, he could ride the larger trend of events—follow the "meta," harvest rewards, strengthen bonds.
Who cares which side you're technically on if you're winning?
In this version of the game, who's the strongest piece?
The underboss would cool off soon enough.
---
New Jersey
The intelligence—its authenticity still uncertain—eventually reached Richie Roberts through a federal prosecutor and Richie's own superior.
After reviewing it, shock spread across every face in the room.
The report was more detailed than anything the police had uncovered. It even documented how Frank met his girlfriend.
"Where did this come from?"
"I can't disclose much," the superior replied. "It's tied to an FBI operation. Even I don't have the full picture. But it's all focused on Frank. If it's real, it's valuable."
"Do we have corroborating witnesses?" Richie asked. "There's no confirmed source. Without testimony, this can't be used as evidence in court."
No matter how detailed, it couldn't serve as direct evidence.
The real issue was authorship.
Anyone could write a story. If written reports alone counted as proof, courts would drown in fabricated evidence.
"It's not evidence," the superior agreed. "But it gives us investigative direction—if it's accurate."
Richie studied the page again.
"Using U.S. military aircraft to smuggle drugs from Vietnam? Who even thought of this? It's insane."
"If the military's involved," the superior said carefully, "this becomes explosive. I was sent here to fight drug trafficking—not to wage war against the Pentagon."
The deeper they dug, the messier it could become.
Still—he wasn't afraid.
Let's see whose backing runs deeper.
Preliminary verification began.
"Lab analysis shows Blue Magic's purity matches the Asian version," Richie announced, holding up the test report.
"We all know the Italians typically source through Europe or Turkey. Blue Magic is Asian. This supports the idea that the Mafia isn't behind it. Frank is."
"Frank—the biggest drug lord in New York?" someone asked incredulously.
"How is that even possible?" another officer said. "Blue Magic is everywhere—from Chinatown to Harlem to Washington Heights. It's in Princeton, Newark—everywhere."
"No one has controlled a market that large. Not even the Mafia. And you're saying Frank—a Black man—did what the Italians couldn't do in a century?"
"This is unbelievable."
"And the military angle?" someone added. "If aircraft are involved, that's catastrophic. The military will never admit it."
"I'll handle the military," the superior said firmly. "But I need evidence. We can't go in front of a judge with rumors and speculation. Without hard proof, no warrant gets signed."
He looked directly at Richie.
"I need detailed evidence. Witnesses. Something concrete. Bring me that, and I'll apply for the warrant."
Richie nodded sharply. "I'll start immediately."
"I said before—Washington is serious this time," the superior added. "If you produce evidence, even if it's military aircraft, we will search them."
This drug war—ordered from Washington—was deadly serious.
Not even the U.S. military was untouchable.
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