When Harry left the club, he still hadn't managed to extract any real information from Luca—the Dove of Peace.
Looking back at the past few days, spent beating up petty thugs and "defending neighborhood peace," Harry found himself feeling something strange.
Being praised by ordinary people actually felt… pretty good.
At the same time, he grew increasingly curious about the Dove.
That guy actually had an incredibly good reputation among the residents of Little Italy.
The place had practically become the Dove's territory.
He protected everyone, and in return, all the residents supported him.
His reputation had even spread across most of the Bronx, where many locals called him "the Dove" more readily than they used the names of actual gangsters.
Behind him stood an entire borough of New York.
Most of those people were just ordinary working-class residents, but even so, that kind of public opinion power could not be ignored.
Harry couldn't help thinking:
The Dove of Peace was a pretty interesting guy.
After leaving the club, Harry drove around the city twice to make sure no one was following him before finally arriving at a secret Omega safehouse.
Inside the room, several of his colleagues were sorting documents.
When they saw him return, they immediately started teasing him.
"Hey! The peacekeeper is back!"
"I heard a young woman invited you to dinner tonight!"
"Man, this job sounds amazing! Beat up a punk, keep the neighborhood safe, and the Dove even pays you for it!"
"Next time send me to the front lines! I want to be a peace ambassador too!"
"Damn peacekeeper!"
Harry rolled his eyes at them.
"You bunch of idiots! I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."
He frowned.
"I suspect the Dove might be playing me."
"Except for the first piece of intelligence—which turned out to be correct—none of the intel afterward has been accurate."
"We can't find anyone from the Colombo family at all!"
One colleague asked seriously,
"Did the Dove discover your spy identity?"
Harry shook his head.
"Probably not. Very few people know my identity. Unless the Dove somehow has someone inside Omega, there's no way he could find out who I am."
Another colleague sighed.
"How should I put it… that club is chaotic. Japanese, Italians, Black guys—people from everywhere come and go all day. He's constantly entertaining members."
"That guy really loves making friends."
Just then, a message arrived.
After reading it, the colleague suddenly shouted in surprise.
"The FBI found something!"
"They discovered Yacovelli's hiding place!"
"Damn, the FBI is actually giving us useful intelligence for once! This might be a first!"
Harry, however, was no longer excited.
He had heard too many stories about the boy who cried wolf.
"Where did the intel come from?"
"Are you sure it's reliable?"
"How did the FBI even find out?"
"They tracked down Yaco," the colleague replied.
"The FBI has a lot of agents and informants. We only have a few."
"Harry, let's go with them and take a look. The location is a garment factory in Brooklyn."
Harry thought for a moment before making a decision.
"Let's not waste time."
"We move now."
"I'll sneak in first and scout the situation."
---
In a Garment Factory at Brooklyn.
Yaco had just returned and was currently discussing the situation with "The Snake."
Over the past month, Yaco had spent most of his time traveling across New York's five boroughs, visiting members of major Mafia families to seek support.
He even attempted to visit the Gambino family boss.
But Gambino refused to see him.
Instead, he sent someone to deliver a message:
If you have something to discuss, go find Luca.
"Are these people just passing the buck?" Yaco complained.
"They keep tossing me around like a football!"
"I already talked to Luca, and he clearly has no intention of supporting us!"
Hearing this, Carmine Persico, nicknamed The Snake, rubbed his temples wearily.
"It seems the Dove and Gambino are working together."
"But what surprises me is that even after Gallo sent people to assassinate Gambino, that old man stayed calm and let the Dove take advantage of the situation."
Yaco snorted.
"If Gallo hadn't completely lost his mind, I'd almost think Gambino supported the assassination attempt against Colombo."
"Who knows? Maybe they're still secretly in contact."
Persico shook his head.
"Colombo threatened the very foundation of all Mafia families."
"He was doomed sooner or later."
"I warned him not to act so high-profile back then, but he refused to listen."
Thinking about it now, Persico sighed.
The civil war had already lasted more than a month.
Too many people had died.
He was exhausted.
He originally thought the war would end quickly.
But then Joe Gallo received support from the Camorra, and no one knew how much funding or weapons he had obtained.
Meanwhile, the Lucchese and Genovese families had initially supported Persico.
But once they realized the outcome of the civil war was uncertain, they started negotiating again.
Their message was simple:
"We supported the Colombo faction."
"So when you take power, you should give us something in return."
"If you can't pay now, that's fine."
"But once you win, we expect benefits."
Persico knew very well that Luca probably thought the same way.
At this point, Persico had finally realized something.
In the eyes of these wolves, there was no real difference between "orthodox faction" and "rebels."
Both sides had over a hundred supporters within the family.
Whoever won the war would inherit everything.
Persico suddenly felt like he was living in a small African country experiencing a civil war.
Rebels were fighting the government.
The United Nations stood aside and watched.
They might even secretly support the rebels, because rebels would offer more benefits after taking power.
Persico raised his head.
"By the way—what about those mechanics?"
"How's their progress?"
"It's going alright," Yaco replied.
"The progress isn't fast, but it's steady."
"None of their targets have survived."
Yaco sighed.
"These mechanics are way too cautious."
"They investigate everything before making a move. They do tons of preparation before killing someone."
"They're slow."
"Too slow."
Persico nodded.
One of the smartest decisions Yaco had made was contacting Cobol Engineering in advance and hiring a group of top-tier "mechanics."
Their methods were so clever that many people believed the victims had simply died in accidents, not assassinations.
If this group could kill Joe Gallo, the rebel leader would die and the entire conflict might end.
After chatting for a while longer, Iaco left to handle internal faction matters.
Persico took out his phone and called the mechanics.
"I'll add another $5 million to the reward!"
"I want Joe Gallo found and killed as soon as possible!"
"Mr. Persico," the mechanic suddenly asked, "do you know where I am right now?"
Persico frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I just tracked a member of Gallo's faction."
"He's heading toward Brooklyn."
"And based on his route… his destination appears to be your family's garment factory."
Persico's pupils shrank.
"!!!"
"Damn it!"
He jumped to his feet.
"How many people are coming?!"
"At least a platoon."
"Gallo just hired an entire mercenary unit to kill you."
Persico was stunned.
That lunatic Gallo…
Did he really want to start a full-scale war in New York?
---
FBI New York City Office.
"Gallo has completely lost his mind!"
Denham stood in the stairwell while speaking to Luca over the phone.
"Scarpa told us Gallo hired an overseas mercenary group."
"They plan to wipe out the entire garment factory in one attack!"
"How many people?" Luca asked calmly.
"About forty or fifty."
"Former East German veterans, according to the intel."
Hearing this, Luca raised an eyebrow.
East German mercenaries?
Still, forty or fifty people wasn't a huge number.
With someone like Harry around—and if John McClane joined as well—they could probably handle it.
Not to mention Luca himself was watching the game.
After all, it was Luca who leaked the intelligence to the FBI.
The FBI then passed it to the Gallo faction through Scarpa.
Luca was deliberately accelerating the conflict.
Both sides refused to negotiate and kept dragging the war on.
If this continued, when would the civil war ever end?
"Get ready to move," Luca said softly.
"Bring McClane."
"And that unofficial spy you planted inside the FBI—bring him too."
Denham replied,
"The information has already been passed on."
"The spy should have received it."
Luca smiled.
"Commander Denham, if we capture a mercenary unit and stop large-scale destruction tonight…"
"That will be quite an achievement."
Denham exhaled.
No wonder David liked following the Dove of Peace around to catch credit.
Working with this guy was like riding a rocket.
Case solved.
Credit earned.
Promotion guaranteed.
Before meeting Luca, Denham never would have dreamed of advancing this fast.
At this rate, he might actually move his chair a few levels higher before retirement.
"By the way," Luca asked casually,
"Where's Gallo?"
"Has he arrived yet?"
"No," Denham replied helplessly.
"Scarpa is the one leading the operation."
"Even Scarpa claims he doesn't know where Gallo is."
"I'm not sure whether he truly doesn't know… or if he's hiding the truth."
"That guy is basically a double agent—using the FBI to eliminate Colombo members while helping Gallo's faction."
"But he also provided us with a huge amount of criminal evidence against the Colombo family."
"With that evidence, Scarpa can't escape our control."
"Once the family war ends… we'll close the net."
Taking down a mercenary squad was nothing.
But if they could destroy the Colombo family after this war…
That would be a truly massive achievement.
The setting sun dyed the rooftop crimson.
Luca's long shadow stretched across the concrete.
After hanging up the phone, he narrowed his eyes and looked toward the garment factory in the distance.
Beside him, Léon crouched quietly with a sniper rifle in his arms.
Through the scope, the scene inside the factory became clear.
Fully armed mercenaries carrying rifles and submachine guns were storming the building from every direction.
This wasn't an assassination.
It was a full-scale assault.
"Dove, They've started fighting," Leon said.
"I see them."
Luca picked up binoculars.
In the image, a bald man and several assassins slipped through a side entrance of the factory.
Luca's eyes lit up.
So it's you.
You bald bastard.
__________________________________________________________________________
[Character Card Discovered: Arthur "The Mechanic" Bishop (Unlocked)]
[Rank: SSR]
[Source: The Mechanic]
Skills:
- Mechanic
- Accidental Death
- Infiltration
- Deadly Tenderness
- Deception
Bond: Stranger
__________________________________________________________________________
Luca couldn't help sighing.
"The less hair a guy has, the stronger he is in combat."
"That really is a golden rule."
Arthur Bishop—an assassin working for Cobol Engineering—was familiar with the investigation methods of major insurance companies.
He understood nearly every possible cause of death and specialized in creating "accidents" using everyday tools.
Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't fight directly.
When it came to killing, Arthur's combat ability was terrifying.
"So Iaco hired this guy?"
Luca smiled faintly.
"Looks like tonight will be interesting."
"Arthur Bishop, Harry Tasker, and John McClane."
"A three-way melee between three SSR cards."
Then Luca suddenly glanced sideways.
Right.
There was another one beside him.
Leon.
================================================================================
Thx to Bram Mols to become my P Knight, my cats can eat more fish.
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