American variety show: The Godfather, the Peace Ambassador, what the heck?

Chapter 108 Good News

Luca had expected to be targeted by U.S. intelligence agencies, but he never imagined it would happen so soon.

He held his wine glass, looked at the burly man in front of him, and quickly processed information about the guy in his mind.

Harry Tasker, a senior agent in the U.S. Omega division—an organization linked to the CIA but operating independently, both conducting espionage activities globally.

Without a doubt, Harry is an elite member of Omega's division. He single-handedly took on terrorist organizations and intercepted a nuclear bomb that exploded in the United States. His ferocity is comparable to that of McClain.

But Luca felt a little like laughing.

Harry's spy identity was highly secretive, so he lived under an assumed name for over a decade, his mouth full of lies. In front of his family, he pretended to be a salesman, and in the process, he almost made his wife cheat on him.

Another SSR with family problems.

Every strong person has a weakness.

I just don't know if this guy has been honest with his wife yet.
At this moment, Luca listened to Harry recount his past achievements, finding it increasingly ridiculous. Harry was well-prepared, even producing gold coins from the Continental Hotel to vindicate himself.

"I believe in your ability."

Luca raised his hand to interrupt him. Luca had no doubt about the other party's professional competence, but the fact that the other party chose to disguise himself this time made Luca feel very absurd.

He actually pretended to be an assassin to get close to me.

He really does look like an assassin; what salesman has that kind of physique?

"I'm just curious, there's no shortage of bounty missions in New York right now, why are you coming to me? I didn't post those bounty missions, so you won't get the money even if you come to me."

“Mr. Greco, let’s not beat around the bush. You’re an assassin too. Aren’t you interested in those bounties?”

"I'm not a killer, I'm just an ordinary club owner."

"."

Harry smiled faintly. Luca's reaction was exactly what he expected. He immediately came up with a response: "Mr. Greco, you can listen to my advice first. The Colombo family civil war is currently raging, and many assassins are trying to get a share of it. You are one of the people who understand this civil war best. You have an advantage that many other assassins do not have."

You don't need to lift a finger; I can do the work for you, and I'm willing to share the bounty with you. All you need to do is provide me with a little intelligence support, and your enemies and rivals will vanish from this world.

So he wanted to get intelligence from me? Luca was actually a little tempted. If Harry really was an assassin, not a secret agent, Luca would be happy to cooperate with him.

Unfortunately, Harry could fool most people because few knew his true identity, but he couldn't fool Luca.

Why pretend to be an assassin?

But this is an SSR card, and it would be a shame to just turn it away. The other party is now deliberately disguising their identity to get close to me, so Luca has to think of how to take advantage of this opportunity to get his hands on the other party's skills.

Five skills, at least this guy should keep one or two before he leaves New York.

Luca thought for a moment and said, "How much intelligence and information do you have now? I'm not sure if I can help you, because I don't have much information either."

"Trying to get information out of me?" Harry looked regretful. "If I had known, I wouldn't have come here to find you."

He briefly explained the information he had gathered, all of which was widely circulated news that had passed through countless hands.

Luca felt that he was definitely hiding something; given Harry's abilities, he shouldn't have only this much information.

“Let me think about it.” Luca looked eager. “Let’s exchange contact information. I’ll get in touch if I need anything. Let’s not talk about this today. Would you like to try our club’s cocktails? I bet you’ll love them.”

Harry smiled politely: "Thank you. Actually, I've heard that the SSR Club's drinks are excellent, and that people linger there."

With so many lies, Harry swore that what he said was true.

Among the many pieces of information he gathered, the SSR Club was described by many guests as a place where people could feel happy and relaxed, and where they could release their mental fatigue.

Harry thought it was a rumor, but as he sat there and took a sip of his drink, he realized it was true.

He suddenly thought of his wife and daughter.
This time, he used the excuse of a business trip to promote products to a company abroad—he has been doing this for more than ten years. Whenever he has a task, he finds an excuse to go on a business trip. His wife and daughter have long been used to a home without a man.

Harry felt guilty towards his wife and daughter. The nature of his job made it impossible for him to be honest with them about everything, and he even had to cancel many promises he had made to them due to unforeseen missions.

Too many promises have been broken.

His wife's attitude became increasingly cold.

My daughter is also going astray, spending all her time hanging out with those rebellious young people.
Harry was feeling weary after living a life of lies for over a decade, and sometimes he wanted to tell the truth.

Harry, who was holding a wine glass, suddenly paused, wondering why he had thought of these things just now.

He looked at Luca, who was smiling across from him, and then glanced at the Silver Queen on the table.

The mellow liquor left a lingering and unforgettable aftertaste.

This club is truly amazing!
How about we get a membership? I'll be staying here during my business trip.
[Bond: Follow]

It was already evening when Harry left the club.

Before he knew it, he had spent the entire afternoon at the club. He even had time to go to the dance floor and dance with some other female guests, thoroughly enjoying himself.

After leaving the gate, he walked across the main street and through several alleys. Once he was sure no one was following him, he got into a small pickup truck parked next to the open space.

Inside the car, several colleagues who had also been transferred from Omega were processing all the intelligence and information they had just received—he was carrying a listening device.

“Harry, you’re dancing and drinking wine in the bar while we’re holed up in the car gathering intelligence for you! Damn it, next time I’m going to the front lines too.”

"Madam, would you like to dance a tango with me?"

"Oh my, tango~~~"

"Is that woman very slutty?"

Faced with the sarcastic teasing from his colleagues, Harry snapped at them, "You bastards, how's it going on your end? Have you gathered any useful clues?"

"There was nothing there, it was all you and Pigeon discussing which wines were good and what kind of women were the sexiest. To be honest, I didn't expect Pigeon to be a leg fetishist. Don't Italians prefer big butts and big breasts?"

“Harry, next time you need to gather more useful clues and find a way to hack into the club’s network system.”

“Let’s talk about it next time,” Harry nodded. “Anyway, I already have a membership, so I can go to the club anytime.”

"Fuck! You actually got a membership? I bet you're after the women there!"

“It’s all for the mission,” Harry shrugged. “I love my wife very much; everything else is just for show.”

He recalled his time at the club and the atmosphere there.
"If you have the chance, you should try it out; the wine there is really quite good."

Over the next two days, Luca began using his influence as a referee to search the entire city for members of the Gallo faction.

As the arbitrator handling the Colombo civil war, Luca wielded immense power. Aside from the bigwigs on the committee, everyone else from the five major New York families had to cooperate with his actions; no one dared utter a word of dissent. The only limitation was his exclusive jurisdiction, much like a police task force. He had immense power in specific matters, but in unrelated areas, the other families were not pushovers. They might cooperate in matters of the civil war, but they wouldn't stand idly by and watch Luca use his power to create trouble.

In many people's eyes, isn't Luca just a fox using Gambino's tiger-like power?
A little fox, and a sick tiger.

But no matter how weak the tiger is, as long as it's not dead, it's still the king, not to mention that Luca has the support of the Lucchese family behind him.

For a time, the entire New York Mafia was extremely wary of Luca, who knew what this guy might do with his power.

New Jersey estate.

Upon receiving the news, both Joe Gallo and Santino looked extremely grim.

The two factions were evenly matched, but now that the committee has officially intervened and a biased referee has emerged, Santino feels that his investment is going to go down the drain.

The most obvious point is that this is no longer a family matter for the Colombo family. Luca, representing the will of the committee, will never allow Gallo to take the position of the big boss.

In addition, the family sent a message telling Santino to go back to Italy.

This embarrassed Santino.

"I've told you countless times, you can't lay a hand on Gambino, are you really crazy?"

Santino, enraged, pointed at Joe Gallo's nose and yelled, "You messed with that old bastard, he'll never let you go, even if it kills him!"

Compared to Santino, Gallo, though his expression was grim, still maintained a calm gaze. "Santino, you still want to be Camorra's heir? Don't you understand the current situation? Gambino never intended to let me go, nor did he intend to let Ako go."

He's targeting the entire Colombo family. If I don't get rid of Gambino, the Colombo family is finished.

Santino frowned: "What about Luca? Why did Gambino choose Luca to work for him?"

Gallo scoffed, "The Lucchese family has been colluding with the Gambino family for a long time. Gambino's son married Lucchese's daughter! Lucchese is dead, but Gambino is still alive! The two families are definitely cooperating, and Luca is their mouthpiece!"
Just you wait and see, Luca will definitely seize the opportunity to cause trouble, take advantage of the situation to suppress the Colombo family, and benefit the Lucchese and Gambino families!
That bastard Luca is a master at using others to do his dirty work!

Gallo is furious. He has only just realized that he was definitely tricked by Luca when it came to the truck drivers' union. Luca turns on him faster than flipping a book.

Santino's eyes flickered slightly; perhaps he should consider other options.

Often, the enemy knows the enemy best and will speculate about the other party with the greatest malice.

Gallo felt he knew Luca very well, while Joseph Yaco of the Colombo faction was now somewhat unsure of Luca's position.

At this moment, he was hiding in a secret base, and his men brought him a message from Luca.

"Boss, Luca has refused to issue a formal execution order against Gallo."

"Fak, what exactly is this guy trying to do?"

Iaco looked confused. Shouldn't Luca and the Lucchese family be on his side?

Upon learning that Luca had become a referee, he immediately sent his men with a list of more than a dozen people to seek Luca's help, hoping to obtain a formal execution order. Killing only requires bullets, but an execution order represents nominal legitimacy, meaning that he, Yaco, can gain the support of the committee and completely remove Gallo from the list, cutting off all of his escape routes.

But Luca refused.

This terrified Iaco. What exactly was Luca planning to do?

With a mixture of surprise and doubt, he went into an inner room and found a middle-aged man nicknamed "Snake" watching TV on the sofa.

This is the real wartime leader; Yako is merely a proxy pushed out by the other side.

This move was very successful; Yako attracted most of the outside attention, but few people targeted the middle-aged man.

"Luca refuses to formally execute Joe Gallo's faction. What should we do now?"

"Luca."

The middle-aged man muttered Luca's name under his breath, "No one does something for no reason. Luca must be doing this for his own good in some way."

"I think he just wants us to both suffer heavy losses so he can come out and take advantage of the situation."

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

What the middle-aged man couldn't understand was, wouldn't cooperating with him also bring many benefits? Or had Joe Gallo promised Luca even more benefits?
The referee is there to mediate the dispute; Luca can't just beat both sides to death with one blow, can he?

After Luca left the field as referee, the struggle between the two factions didn't seem to change much, and many people were unclear about what he was trying to do.

Until the end of November.

Inside the office, Luca received a message from the anonymous person.

"Pigeon, I have good news for you."

"I've found 'The Reaper' Scarpa," the nameless man said with a laugh on the phone.

Luca thought to himself, "Wow, that's impressive. He truly is a master tracker." As the referee, he had used so many resources and manpower, including those from other families, yet he still couldn't find Scarpa in hiding.

The nameless one was found.

Is this guy using some kind of cheat code? Full map vision?

Luca said with relief, "That is indeed good news."

Then Wuming gave a detailed explanation of the address: a villa in the suburbs of New York. "From my initial observation, there is a team of thirty or forty fully armed men there. If you want to launch a strong attack, you'd better prepare more manpower."

Luca understood; it wasn't a big problem, since they had Harry, their ace spy.
Luca took out Scarpa's photo and turned around to stick it on the blackboard.

This guy is actually a fairly important minor character. In the original storyline, he was recruited by the FBI as an informant and betrayed the Colombo family in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Scarpa succeeded, didn't spend many days in jail, but eventually contracted AIDS and died a painful death.

"Death" has too much blood on his hands; who knows where he got his hands on HIV-infected blood?

Luca loves these loose-lipped, rebellious types.

Whether the Colombo family can be brought down this time depends on these informants.

Murder cannot solve all problems; the mouth of an informant is more lethal than a bullet.

—Gallo guessed correctly, Luca is determined to destroy Colombo, or at least leave it half-dead and severely weakened.

Luca and Gambino will be the biggest beneficiaries. When Gambino dies of old age in a few years, Luca will have all of it for himself!

"If you let me be the referee, then don't blame me for rigging the game."

(End of this chapter)