The next day.
Long Island, New York.
Inside the villa courtyard, Luca sat beside Carlo Gambino, casually discussing the latest developments and the compromise reached with the Persico faction.
After listening quietly for a long time, Gambino finally spoke.
"Luca, your performance exceeded my expectations. Everyone wanted to take advantage of the Colombo family's weakness and carve off a piece of meat, but you… you pulled the bone straight out."
He looked at Luca with a faint smile.
"Neither Persico nor Joe Gallo are the kind of men who are easy to persuade."
Luca took a sip of tea.
"Persico suffered heavy losses during last night's attack. He's already lost all hope of victory, so he doesn't really have a choice anymore except to join our side."
Gambino slowly shook his head.
"Gallo went too far last night. He shouldn't have dragged mercenaries into a civil war."
Luca frowned slightly.
"Where did that mercenary group come from? How did Gallo even find them?"
Gambino tapped his fingers against the armrest and glanced at Luca.
"They infiltrated New York State from Canada. At the moment, we still don't know their real purpose."
He paused briefly.
"Gallo crossed the line. Does he want to turn New York into some kind of battlefield?"
Thinking about it now, even Luca had to admit that Gallo had gone too far. His actions were becoming more and more outrageous.
Today it was mercenaries.
Tomorrow what—was he planning to launch missiles at New York?
A gangster and a terrorist are two very different identities, and Gallo's actions had clearly crossed the Commission's red line.
Gambino didn't dwell on the mercenary topic for long. Instead, he nodded approvingly at Luca.
"You handled Persico very well. Since he's willing to cooperate, the Commission is willing to give him some respect."
"I'll handle the formal appointment and the execution order from here on."
Then Gambino looked at Luca.
"You go deal with Joe Gallo. Get him out of the picture as soon as possible."
He smiled faintly.
"I'd like to have a peaceful Christmas."
Luca returned the smile.
"Gallo's death anniversary will come before XMas."
Gambino chuckled.
"Luca, you really are good at settling disputes. I believe you'll become a qualified judge."
He leaned back in his chair.
"In the future, not just New York—but the entire American Mafia—will need your help to maintain peace."
Luca found the idea appealing.
Maybe it really was time to take a trip and look around. After all, there were plenty of rare character cards scattered across the world.
---
As Luca was leaving the villa, he ran into a member of the Gambino family at the entrance.
Paul Castellano.
The future boss of the Gambino family.
Luca had seen him once before at the hospital.
Castellano was Gambino's cousin and relative by marriage. Officially, the Gambino family's underboss was a gangster named Delacroix, but many insiders knew Gambino valued Paul Castellano far more—treating him almost like a personal cash machine.
In fact, many people privately regarded Castellano as Gambino's de facto acting boss.
The two men exchanged greetings at the door and passed each other.
Castellano walked into the courtyard and approached Gambino.
Gambino spoke calmly.
"Something about last night feels strange. Gallo acted too decisively, the authorities arrived too quickly, and Yacovelli surrendered far too easily."
He narrowed his eyes.
"It felt like a carefully staged play. Everything seemed arranged in advance, yet it unfolded naturally."
Castellano paused.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
Gambino continued quietly.
"There was a director behind it all."
"Go investigate. Including Luca."
Castellano looked surprised.
"You think Luca planned everything?"
Gambino paused.
There had simply been too many coincidences. Someone had clearly been manipulating events behind the scenes, but he couldn't be certain whether that someone was Luca.
If it was…
Then that kid was far more dangerous than he looked.
"I'm not sure whether Luca was the director or just an actor who stepped onto the stage at the last moment."
Gambino waved his hand.
"Investigate anyway. There may be other problems inside the Colombo family."
---
December 10.
The Commission formally issued an execution order for Joe Gallo and publicly appointed Persico as the new boss of the Colombo family.
Behind the announcement lay a series of invisible deals.
The Lucchese family expanded their construction business even further, while the other families each gained their own share of benefits.
On the surface, everything appeared calm.
A new boss had taken power, and the rebellious leader—Joe Gallo—had been sentenced to death.
It seemed unlikely that he could cause any more trouble.
Inside a New Jersey estate.
"Persico? The Commission actually chose that spineless coward as the boss?!"
Joe Gallo jumped up from the sofa, shouting into the phone in disbelief.
Scarpa's voice came from the other end.
"Yacovelli has been arrested. Persico has taken control. Some people are saying Persico was the real leader all along and Yacovelli was just his puppet."
Gallo dropped heavily back into his chair, his eyes growing increasingly wild.
"Even if he was the real leader of the Colombo faction, why the hell should the Commission support him?"
"This is our family's internal matter. The civil war isn't over yet!"
"I don't accept it!"
"The Commission has no right to interfere!"
Scarpa answered calmly.
"The Commission has already made the appointment, and every other family supports it."
"No! Not a chance!"
Gallo roared so loudly that Scarpa felt a chill run down his spine.
"I took down Colombo to make room for that seat!"
"That seat belongs to me!"
"And nobody is taking it away!"
At that moment, Gallo felt like history was repeating itself.
The last Profaci family civil war had ended almost the same way.
Joe Gallo fought the war, but Colombo secured the Commission's support. Not only did Gallo end up in prison, Colombo seized the boss's position and even changed the family name.
It should have been called the Gallo Family.
Now history was repeating itself.
Was Persico planning to rename it the Persico Family?
Gallo refused to accept it.
Why did this always happen?!
His fists clenched so tightly that the veins bulged.
"Did Persico promise something to the Commission?"
"It must have been that old bastard Carlo Gambino pulling the strings!"
Scarpa sighed.
"The family lost some assets."
That single sentence was enough.
Gallo instantly understood—and then burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"That piece of trash Persico actually betrayed his own family just to gain the Commission's support!"
"Trash!"
"Have No Stomach!"
"Exactly like Colombo back then!"
"Both of them are cowardly pieces of shit!"
Like pathetic dogs wagging their tails, begging the Commission for scraps.
The title of boss should belong to whoever wins the civil war.
Why beg those cowards on the Commission?
Only real power and capital give you the right to negotiate.
"That idiot Persico sold out the family just to become boss! ... That old bastard Gambino will strip the Colombo family clean!"
"They'll become nothing more than vassals of the other families!"
"Does he want every brother in the family to hang their heads in shame?!"
Scarpa was sweating heavily while listening.
Boss… the real traitor here might actually be you.
No matter which side wins, the authorities are eventually going to crush you both.
Thinking about it, Scarpa felt a deep sadness.
The once-powerful family had already been half devoured.
After that, they would face the government's devastating crackdown.
What would even remain of the family in the end?
Scarpa sighed quietly.
Maybe everything began with that shot fired at the Italian-American rally.
Or maybe earlier.
Perhaps when Gallo first launched the civil war.
Or when Colombo mocked Gallo after his release from prison.
From that moment on, everything seemed like it had been arranged by the invisible director called fate.
"Why are you sighing?!"
Gallo suddenly roared.
"Pull yourself together!"
"I can take it all back!"
"We'll rebuild the family!"
"I took down Colombo once, and I can take down Persico too!"
"I'll even overthrow the Commission!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gallo grabbed a hunting rifle, stepped onto the balcony, and fired several shots into the empty forest.
Santino was no longer with him.
The Camorra organization had stopped providing funding and weapons. Realizing Gallo was a doomed madman, Santino had wisely cut his losses.
The moment Gallo tried to assassinate Gambino, Santino had already concluded that the man was crazy.
He killed anyone he disliked.
Anyone who annoyed him.
Anyone who got in his way.
The man's mental state was clearly unstable—like a lump of mud that could never be shaped into a statue.
"If I just kill them all…"
"I'll wipe every one of them out until they're terrified!"
"Then I'll take everything back!"
"I still have the Black gangs!"
"I still have the East German mercenaries backing me!"
---
After hanging up with Scarpa, Gallo immediately dialed the mercenary leader's number again.
He demanded more military support.
"Damn it! Let's destroy New York!"
But what he got in return was a furious stream of curses.
"I lost more than forty men!"
"You bastard!"
"What the hell did you send them to attack—a military base?!"
"They're all dead! Not a single one survived!"
"You worthless idiots sent my men to die! You didn't care about their lives at all!"
"Joe Gallo, you're dead meat! If I ever see you again, you're finished!"
Click.
The line went dead.
Joe Gallo stood there completely stunned.
What the hell did that have to do with him?
How was he supposed to know?
It was just a lousy clothing factory!
Who could have imagined they'd fail to capture it?
Clearly those mercenaries were just incompetent.
"Useless!"
"A bunch of worthless trash!"
Gallo raised the phone as if he wanted to smash it.
In the end, he stopped himself and dialed Scarpa again.
"Scarpa!"
"Get your ass over here!"
"We're taking New York back!"
Scarpa agreed on the surface.
But inside, he was panicking.
Boss… the authorities are already tapping my phone.
We're not taking New York back.
The authorities are coming to arrest you.
Not long afterward, Luca received the news from Denham.
Denham said calmly,
"We've located Joe Gallo."
Luca smiled.
"Good."
"Bring him to me."
================================================================================
Thx to Bram Mols to become my P Knight, my cats can eat more fish.
You guys can support me on P Site/OrbisTranslate, for three bucks to get 15 advance chapters.
As always, 100 Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters.