Early the next morning, Heavens Arena.
Goreinu held a stack of fax papers in his hand, the corners slightly curled, showing traces of being stuffed in his pocket all the way.
The corridor was very quiet; at this hour, most contestants were still resting, with only the faint sound of hitting coming from a distant training room.
He pushed open the room door and spread the fax papers out on the table.
The intelligence was compiled overnight by Vivian's people. It was a thick stack with very detailed entries, clearly the work of an established Mafia Family—everything that should be there was, and not a single extra word was written that shouldn't be.
Goreinu pulled over a chair, sat down, and began reading from the beginning.
The Douglas Family controls three cities, with two small gangs under their jurisdiction within their sphere of influence.
Their scale is similar to the Colton Family, with adjacent territories and comparable strength. There isn't any deep-seated hatred between the two, and their business directions don't overlap at all.
There are only minor frictions between their subordinate forces, which doesn't affect their upper echelons.
If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have considered this commission at all—a clash between two large Mafia families wasn't something he could get involved in alone.
But something in the intelligence was off.
The Douglas Family has been recruiting personnel on a large scale recently.
Their direct members are five hundred more than the Colton Family's, reaching a total of over two thousand three hundred.
This number made Goreinu frown.
With over two thousand three hundred people, daily expenses for food, clothing, weapons, equipment, salaries, and pensions would be a massive expenditure.
The Douglas Family's industry scale is only so big; where is the money coming from?
Unless someone is providing them with financial backing behind the scenes.
He continued flipping through.
In the past half month, the Carlson Family, a subordinate of the Douglas Family, has already had three frictions with the Haywood Family, a subordinate of the Colton Family.
The first time, Haywood's transport convoy was intercepted on the highway. Carlson deployed over fifty people, led by a Nen User.
Haywood's side had received a warning from the Colton Family in advance and was fully prepared.
The two sides fought in a service area; over a dozen people died, and some cargo was stolen, but no vital damage was done.
The second time, one of Haywood's casinos was raided. The troublemakers had mediocre gambling skills but incredible physiques, injuring several security guards.
By the time Haywood's people arrived, the troublemakers had already fled, and the surveillance only captured a blurry back view.
The third time was even more serious; Carlson's people directly attacked the stronghold of another small gang, the Lancaster Family.
Lancaster is also a subordinate of the Colton Family, smaller in scale than Haywood, primarily dealing in high-interest loans and underground casinos.
That night, Carlson deployed nearly a hundred people, including at least two Nen Users.
Lancaster was caught off guard; the stronghold was smashed to pieces, over thirty brothers died, and even the leader was killed in the melee.
By the time the Colton Family's people arrived, Carlson had already withdrawn, leaving behind only a floor full of corpses and charred furniture.
The Lancaster leader's son took over the position, a young man in his early twenties with bloodshot eyes, standing in front of the ruins to receive the loyalty of his subordinates.
Goreinu looked for a few seconds and flipped past the photo.
Vivian's reaction was swift; she went directly to Belloc Douglas.
She spoke very bluntly—this was a serious provocation, and if they wanted a full-scale war, she would see it through to the end.
Belloc made an excuse to brush it off, not engaging with that line of conversation.
He claimed his subordinates acted on their own and that he would handle it. There was no apology, no compensation, and certainly no explanation.
This perfunctory attitude was more unsettling than a direct threat.
Goreinu put down the materials and rubbed his temples.
The target of this commission wasn't the Douglas Family, but its subordinate—the Carlson Family.
Intelligence showed that the Carlson Family was the core force responsible for smuggling channels within the Douglas sphere of influence.
They control three main routes, extending from the port cities in the southern Yorbian Continent all the way inland.
Every year, they handle goods worth tens of billions of jenny—weapons, drugs, rare metals, they dare to transport anything.
The Family has over four hundred official members and ten core members.
The leader is named Victor Carlson, in his fifties, a self-made man who has spent thirty years in the underworld and is ruthless.
It's said he was also a Nen User in his youth, but he has rarely taken action personally in recent years, so his background is unclear.
The ten core members each manage a different area: some handle the routes, some handle clients, and some handle the muscle.
One of them is a Nen User, with unknown strength.
Goreinu flipped to the last page; the price offered by Vivian was written clearly.
Eliminate the leader of the Carlson Family for an additional 1.5 billion.
Eliminate a core member for 500 million.
Mid-to-high-level members are counted per head, 10 million each.
This is a large sum.
For Goreinu, it was also a sum with significant risk.
A gang of over four hundred people, with guns and cannons, and at least two Nen Users.
This isn't a street brawl; it's a real Mafia war.
But then again, if it's just a small gang, it's still within the range of risk he can handle.
He is not alone.
Kastro is at Heavens Arena.
He knows Kastro's strength; taking out a few Mafia core members wouldn't be a problem.
As long as they don't launch a frontal assault, firearms aren't much of a problem for them.
The situation is clear.
Douglas is expanding, testing, and squeezing the Colton Family's survival space bit by bit.
There's someone behind them, most likely related to the Ten Dons; the money and manpower are coming from abnormal sources.
Vivian has sensed the danger but cannot yet launch a full counterattack.
She has to attend the Mafia gathering on September 1st; being too high-profile would ruin everything.
So she needs someone else to handle the matters she cannot personally deal with.
The target isn't the Douglas Family, just the leader of one of their subordinate small gangs.
This price is very generous.
Goreinu stared at the stack of fax papers for a long time.
Vivian is offering this price not just to buy a life, but to buy a favor.
Colton now needs outside help, the kind of people who aren't Mafia and won't attract Gavin's attention.
He thought for a moment and picked up the materials on the table.
Kastro's room was at the other end of the corridor, and the door was unlocked.
Goreinu knocked twice and, after receiving permission, pushed the door open and entered.
Kastro was sitting cross-legged on the floor meditating; he opened his eyes and stood up.
"Something the matter?"
He asked.
Goreinu handed over the fax papers.
"There's a commission. See if you're interested."
Kastro took them and flipped through page by page.
He reads very quickly, scanning the key points and not looking a second time.
Turning to the last page, he looked at Goreinu.
"There's someone behind the Douglas Family."
He said.
"I know, and Vivian knows too."
"That's why she didn't ask us to deal with the Douglas Family."
Kastro said, putting down the materials.
"Sure. When do we leave?"
Goreinu was stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected Kastro to agree so readily.
"You don't need to think about it more?"
Kastro shook his head.
"I don't have any matches recently, and I'm idle anyway."
He paused.
"Besides, Master Leo said that actual combat is the best training."
Goreinu smiled.
"It's not set yet. I also plan to find Nico; he's good at intelligence gathering."
Kastro nodded and didn't ask further.
The two of them then went to find Nico.
Nico's room was at the very end of the corridor, and the door was closed.
Goreinu knocked a few times, the sound of a chair moving came from inside, and then the door opened.
Nico stood at the door, his hair a bit messy, the blue light of a computer screen still reflecting off his glasses.
"Big Brother Goreinu? Come in."
The room was very dark, the curtains drawn, with only the computer screen lit up. Several windows were open on the desktop, all filled with data and analytical charts.
Nico pulled over a chair for him to sit in and returned to the computer, his fingers still tapping on the keyboard.
"Is something up?"
He asked, his gaze not leaving the screen.
Goreinu placed the fax papers on the table.
"There's a commission; I wanted to see if you're interested."
Nico stopped his fingers and picked up the fax papers.
He read even faster than Kastro, scanning ten lines at a time and stopping to look twice at the important parts.
"The Douglas Family."
Goreinu said.
"You know them?"
"I don't, but I can look them up."
He said confidently.
His fingers tapped on the keyboard for a while, and some information popped up on the screen.
"They have three smuggling routes; I've found the node locations for two of them. If you need to infiltrate, I can do some preparations in advance."
"You're going too?"
Goreinu was a bit surprised.
Nico shrugged.
"It's not like I can only tap on a keyboard."
"My ability has already been developed, and it just so happens I plan to test it out."
Nico thought to himself.
The person behind the Douglas Family is the one who truly needs to be watched.
But he didn't say these things; if they couldn't win, they could ask Master Sophia and Grandmaster Leo for support.
Now they were also people with a backing; a Mafia gang wasn't enough to make them afraid.
"Then it's settled."
Goreinu took out his phone and sent a message to Vivian.
A very simple sentence—Commission accepted.
The message was sent and soon showed as read.
A few seconds later, Vivian replied.
Just one word—Good.
Goreinu put away his phone and looked at the two people in front of him.
Kastro leaned against the window, arms crossed, his gaze steady.
Nico had already turned back to continue tapping on the keyboard, the screen displaying the distribution map of the Carlson Family's strongholds he had just pulled up.
"Then let's get ready."
Goreinu said.
"We leave tomorrow."