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

Chapter 139 Escape
A night of chaos.

Throughout the night, Hobbs and Luca exchanged a great deal of intelligence and background information. Hobbs had learned from Luca the whereabouts of most of the gold and had secretly sent people to locate the tankers hiding in New York State and various parts of the East Coast.

Driving oil tankers to hide gold in oil, Hobbes couldn't help but marvel at what a brilliant idea it was. And Luca also owned garbage ships, was the president of the truck drivers' union, had a large number of drivers and gas stations under his command, as well as numerous trucks, oil tankers, and even controlled the docks—if the Mafia wanted to, he could really get that gold out of America.

With all the right timing, location, and people, Luca ultimately chose to betray Simon and give up the gold, which Hobbs, the righteous policeman, found utterly unbelievable.

Hobbes's opinion of Luca underwent a complete 180-degree turn, especially after his subordinates reported that they had located the oil tankers through Luca's intelligence and secretly confirmed that there was gold inside. Hobbes's feelings towards Luca became even more complicated, and he even felt a bit of admiration for him.

Not everyone can remain unmoved by such gold.

Hobbs and his team had already returned to New York. He pulled out a map and spread it out on the table, pointing to more than a dozen locations. "According to Luca's intelligence, we have confirmed the whereabouts of half of the gold. These tanker trucks are all operating independently, breaking up into smaller groups, with only two or three people in each truck."

He explained the current situation in detail: the car had been found, but they hadn't alerted the suspects to arrest them yet. They had only secretly confirmed that there was indeed gold in the car, proving that Luca's intelligence was true.

“But half of the gold was sent elsewhere by Simon.” Hobbs’s gaze swept over the people present, including Denham, David, and McLean. “Now Luca is our informant. He’s pretending to cooperate with Simon, lying in wait by his side, and helping us obtain information about the rest of the gold.”

McClain shouted nonchalantly, "What's the point of lying in ambush? We know where Simon is now anyway, let's just go and grab him, and find out where the gold is!"

“Symen and Luca are together. I’ve located them both. Simon can’t escape.” Hobbs shook his head. “The people aren’t important. Arresting and interrogating them is a last resort. The higher priority is finding the whereabouts of the gold. Facing a daring and meticulous madman like Simon, you can’t guarantee that you can get the gold out of him. If Luca fails, it’s not too late to arrest him then.”

Denham supported Hobbes's view, "That's right, our main goal is the gold, and it would be easier and more convenient if the old pigeon could get the gold's whereabouts out of the gate."

David: "Then our police force will start with oil tankers and thoroughly investigate all oil tankers within the country!"

Hobbes nodded: "Let's get started!"

The brief meeting ended, and everyone walked out of the conference room together.

Hobbs walked over to David and asked, seemingly casually, "How long have you been working with Luca? This isn't the first time he's helped you solve a case, is it?"

The story begins in Times Square.

David talked about Luca's act of standing up for his country, which turned out well, but Times Square ended up being the site of a long-running performance art piece.

And then there were the religious cases, the drug cases, and so on; it seemed like Luca was involved in everything.

Hobbs had no objection to this cooperation between the Mafia and the police, because when he was doing business abroad, he was sometimes outnumbered and often sought help from criminals, even using official documents to negotiate terms—if you help, the United States can forgive your past crimes and stop issuing arrest warrants for you.

This trick always works, and many criminals cooperate with it.

Many exiled criminals long to enter the United States legally and return to their families.

—The United States has a flexible bottom line on "crime and punishment," and many things are open to discussion.

But excluding this gold heist, Simon has threatened the interests of the entire world and made enemies of the world; no one can save him.

Hobbes still harbored doubts, unable to understand Luca's motives. If the guy wasn't after the gold, why was he getting involved in this mess? Or did he realize the gold was too dangerous and thus abandoned his allegiance to the light?
But in any case, judging from the outcome, this is a good thing.
"David, who gave him the nickname 'Pigeon'?"

"I'm not sure either. It must be the residents of Little Italy. The pigeons have helped them a lot. The crime rate there has dropped because of the pigeons."

"."

Hobbes was speechless. A decrease in the crime rate? That's ridiculous!

It seems the nickname "Pigeon" is quite fitting?
[Bond: Follow]

Newburgh is located between New York City and the capital city of Albany.

After leaving Albany, Luca and Simon arrived here, intending to head to the oil refinery. However, the roadside checks became increasingly stringent, while Luca drove his tanker truck swaggeringly through each checkpoint.

Simon was on tenterhooks, worried that some policeman might have a brain fart and go to check what was submerged under the oil.

Simon finally felt much relieved after the car drove into the refinery.

He also called to check on his companions and learned that everyone was alright, which made him even more impressed with Luca's idea of ​​using an oil tanker to transport gold. Those police officers probably never imagined that gold was hidden beneath the dark oil.

At the same time, Luca also received some news.

Those disobedient tanker trucks actually went around in circles and ended up in the suburbs of New York—he had installed tracking devices on the tanker trucks, so the whereabouts of all the gold were under Luca's control.

Is the most dangerous place the safest place?
However, Luca was not yet sure who Simon had asked for help until he received news that the vehicles had all gone to a warehouse base in the suburbs.

The warehouse was registered under the name of an arms company.

Jimmy quickly gave Luca the answer—Yuri Orlov.

Afterwards, Luca learned some more information about Yuri from Marigio.

“Yuri is the largest private arms dealer in New York, but his business is mainly overseas. Not many people in the local area know his true identity. Our family has secretly bought weapons from him a few times before.”

Marigio clearly knew who Yuri was and asked curiously, "Why are you asking about him? Are you looking to buy weapons from him?"

"I have this idea."

Luca gave a perfunctory reply and then hung up the phone. "It was Yuri." Luca suddenly realized something. "If it's Yuri, he might actually have the ability to take the gold away."

That guy was quite skilled at arms transportation. Although he didn't own a single private plane, he had a whole fleet of transport aircraft.

More importantly, Yuri is a lackey of the US military. In addition to his own private business, he also helps the president sell arms to warlords that the president cannot deal with personally, and then takes the opportunity to instigate various political and military struggles around the world.

Gambino orchestrates the power struggles among several major New York families, while someone in the White House instigates conflicts in many countries around the world; all of this is done to consolidate their own positions and thereby acquire more resources and benefits.

Yuri is a piece that's neither too big nor too small, and also a rare card.

In the original storyline, he relied on this connection to repeatedly thwart Interpol, even to the point of breaking his own moral compass—just when they had captured Yuri and were ready to convict him, a high-ranking military official suddenly appeared to protect Yuri.

At that moment, the international police officer who had been investigating Yuri for over a decade had his moral compass shattered, and he felt utterly devoid of his soul.

The fact that America’s biggest arms dealer is the federal boss who pays his salary makes him feel like his job has always been a fabricated joke.

Luca is currently unsure of the progress of Yuri's storyline, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yuri's business should have reached new heights. Furthermore, his willingness to cooperate with Simon in transporting gold suggests he's confident he can smuggle it out of the country.

"At this point, they still managed to create some unexpected problems for me."

Luca smiled.

However, compared to Yuri, Luca is the biggest variable in Simon's game. Now, hundreds of billions of dollars in gold are under Luca's control, like a naked woman with no power to fight back. He can say whoever can have her can draw their gun.

Simon's biggest mistake was believing Luca had designs on Gold. This premise was flawed; it was all a pipe dream.

"We need to put some pressure on Simon."

At this moment, Yuri is resting in an office inside the factory, communicating with his subordinates and his own team about relevant intelligence.

Then, a sudden message arrived—one of his subordinates had been caught red-handed by the police, and gold had been found beneath the oil. The subordinate desperately tried to deliver the message while on the run, but was ultimately caught as well.

Simon was struck dumb!

The loss of a car is a minor issue; the real problem is that the police have realized there is gold in the tanker truck, which will undoubtedly make the next steps more difficult.

He immediately rushed to Luca. "Pigeon! Get out of here! There's no time to melt down the gold. We have to leave now and move it away. The police have already found gold in the tanker truck!"

"asshole!"

Luca's expression changed drastically. He slammed his fist on the table and stood up, angrily pointing at Simon's nose and cursing, "I warned you long ago to follow my plan! Now your men have caused me such a huge mess. If we had followed my plan, this wouldn't have happened! Now that your men are in trouble, don't come looking for me. Anyway, my batch of gold is fine."

A pang of regret welled up inside Simon, and he couldn't help but think about what would have happened if he had actually followed Pigeon's plan. He said in a deep voice, "Pigeon, we made a promise, you had to help me!"

“I did say that, but did you ever truly trust me?” Luca sneered. “No, you didn’t trust me at all, and you took it upon yourself to collaborate with others. Now I have no obligation to pay for the mistakes you’ve made!”

“Pigeon, we’re in this together! My man’s been arrested by the police, and he knows you’re working with me,” Simon threatened directly. “If he betrays you, you’ll be going to hell with me! Nobody will get any of that gold! You’ll spend the rest of your life in prison, or you’ll be wanted worldwide, living like a rat in the sewers with those beggars!”

Luca's sneer deepened. "Simon, are you planning to break ties with me? Is this how you treat your friends? I helped you escape from Albany and arranged for a garbage ship to take you out of America. I did everything I could, and you ruined it all yourself!"

Simon's face darkened, and he couldn't help but question his choice. If he really followed Luca's plan... He took a deep breath. "Listen, Pigeon, I don't want to fall out with you, but I need your help now. Those tankers can hardly move any further. I need another way to transport the gold. Cooperation is the most beneficial thing for both of us!"

Just then, Luca's phone rang. Simon saw Luca's face visibly turn incredibly ugly, so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

Luca put down his phone and stared intently at Simon. "Look what you've done! The police are on their way to the refinery! Damn it! Simon, you're going to get me killed! Run for your life! I can't let the police catch me here!"

After saying that, Luca rushed out of the room. Simon's expression changed several times, and his regret grew stronger.

Perhaps I really made the wrong choice?
He rushed out of the room, followed Luca into a car, and plopped down in the passenger seat. "Pigeon, I apologize for what I said earlier. I never intended to ruin our partnership."

Luca slammed on the gas pedal, yelling, "Stop talking nonsense, let's get out of this police encirclement first."

[Skill Fragment -20]

[“Motorcycle Phantom” has been added]

The car had barely gone a short distance from the gate when several police cars surrounded it. McLean popped his head out of the car window and yelled through a megaphone, "Pull over! Stop the car! Otherwise we'll shoot you right now and smash your head into a pulp!"

Simon was furious when he heard McLean's voice. He drew his pistol, ready to fire a few shots at McLean, but the car suddenly lurched and drifted sideways, causing Simon to lose his aim.

Luca skillfully maneuvered the car, rammed through two police cars, and recklessly broke out of the encirclement.

Bang bang bang!
Bullets came chasing after it, sending sparks flying from the rear of the car.

Inside the police car, McLean watched the departing vehicle and glared at Hobbs beside him, "Are you really going to shoot? What if you hit Old Pigeon?"

“I only shot at the back of the car,” Hobbs said calmly. “How can Luca gain Simon’s trust quickly if he doesn’t create some life-or-death situation for him? Enough talk, hurry up and chase! I’m going to fire a few more shots. Even if I don’t kill that motherfucker Simon, I’ll break his leg!”

After a moment's thought, McLean also pulled out his pistol. "Then I'm going to do it too! This bastard made me run around New York defusing bombs, treating me like a fool. I'm not done with him!"

(End of this chapter)