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

Chapter 144 12 Mafia Families

The party on the yacht continues.

White, green, and gold—Jordan was putting on a show, mingling with a throng of women of all skin colors. Meanwhile, Luca found himself in quiet again after the female celebrities had left.

Jimmy sat down next to Luca and shared some information about Boston. "I looked into that policeman; he just graduated from the police academy not long ago. To be precise, he's a member of the Massachusetts State Police's Special Investigations Unit, which investigates organized crime and gangs. This unit has very close ties with the FBI and often works together to crack down on gangs."

Massachusetts, whose capital is Boston, is not far north of New York, about 300 kilometers by car, a two or three-hour drive away.

This area is rife with gangs and is quite chaotic, with the Mafia, Irish gangs, Chinese, Russians, Jews, and others vying for power—truly a fragmented and independent region.

The Mafia has influence here, but not strong; it doesn't have the absolute dominance of New York or New Jersey. That's why Russian gangs can do business in the ports here—the Russian Brotherhood behind the Tarasov gang still has dealings with Luka, and those oil tankers previously landed near Boston.

After hearing a few key pieces of information, Luca roughly understood that the story of the undercover duo was probably just beginning. Perhaps the undercover agent sent by the police hadn't even joined the gang yet and was still serving time in prison, adding a dark layer to his identity to make it easier for him to get by in the underworld later.

Thinking to himself that there were a lot of undercover agents, Luca figured that once the plot unfolded here, he might be able to take over all the territory and businesses in Massachusetts.

— Luca needs some spheres of influence outside of New York, even if he doesn't submit to the Mafia, he'll still be able to control it from behind the scenes.

Only when the Mafia extermination crisis in New York breaks out in the future will I have more strength to fight back and more say in the matter.

Store up grain, build high walls, and delay declaring yourself king.

At this point, there's no need to rush to grab the top boss position, because it's a very hot seat right now. Since Gambino's death, the Mafia has been facing a growing number of problems, and the Federation's actions have been too ruthless, eliminating all the top bosses of the five major families in one fell swoop—they're either imprisoned for life and die of old age, or assassinated.
Luca didn't want to become a sitting duck for the Federation before the disaster even started. If the Federation's iron fist came crashing down, the big boss would be the first to be hit, and his position, along with David and Denham's, would become extremely awkward.

What he needs to do now is manage his territory and manpower, establish new rules, and prevent his subordinates from causing him trouble, so as to avoid the foreseeable disaster. Even if it breaks out, he can calmly navigate it. When all five major families are being attacked and all the big bosses are finished, it will be time for Luca to make his move.

He rose to power by stepping over the corpses of everyone else, and in one fell swoop ruled the entire New York Mafia.

Luca also wants to "get his hands on" other seats on the Mafia Commission—five seats in total for the five major New York families, and seven more for other families outside the city.

Just like the Philadelphia Mafia, they are currently Gambino's "dogs." Gambino essentially has two seats on the committee, and with his position as the committee chairman, he wields immense power, and no one dares to provoke him.

The Gambino family and the Philadelphia family are practically inseparable.

Luca certainly wanted the support of more families behind him.

And now he can use his position as referee to openly interfere in other people's family affairs: Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Pittston next to New York—the Bufalino family where the painter lives.

These are the other seven seats, making a total of 12 seats including those of the five major New York families.

Luca silently recited the names of the seven cities in his mind—these families outside of New York. Apart from the Philadelphia and Bufalino families, which had close ties with the New York headquarters, the other families were relatively independent.

Luca's initial idea was to learn from Gambino's strategy of forming alliances: if Gambino allied with the Philadelphia family, then Luca could try to unite with other families, or even control other gangs!
A thousand thoughts raced through his mind. Luca silently sipped his champagne, contemplating his next move. Jimmy sat quietly beside him, waiting patiently, glancing occasionally at Luca's thoughtful profile. In his fleeting glances, he could see glimpses of former big bosses in Luca, but not any specific individual; they were younger and more powerful.
Just then, Jordan came running over excitedly, opening his arms to jump into Old Pigeon's arms, "Old Pigeon, I love you to death! A billion dollars! Hahaha! The dock is my lucky place, shall we go to another dock next time?"

Luca pushed him away with a look of disgust. Damn, the guy smelled strongly of filth. Compared to before, he smelled less of medicine, but more of perfume.

“Sit here,” Luca said, pointing to the opposite side.

Jordan sat down obediently; if there were a tatami mat there, he thought he would even kneel down to listen to the lecture.

Then Luca talked to him about some things related to gold futures and the subsequent handling of funds—it's impossible to just leave a cash flow of up to 1 billion yuan sitting in an account; investing it in various industries to make money is the key.

Currently, due to deliberate federal regulation, the gold market is generally declining and in a bear market. It's not impossible to profit from this; you can play the market even in a bear market. However, Luca won't be able to anticipate future developments and control the situation, as stocks and futures are not his forte.

Or perhaps we should invest in the currently popular internet industry, along with some real-world businesses, or even try our hand at Hollywood.

For example, many Hollywood directors wanted to make a film about the New York Mafia, but Colombo messed things up and even changed their scripts—don't use terms like "Mafia" that refer to crime, they can't stand it, and they want to glorify the Mafia, to make it elegant, dignified, principled, and high-class, anything that defames the Mafia can't be made.

Secondly, they couldn't use the real names of the New York Mafia families; they had to use the name of a family that didn't exist in New York to avoid making connections between the audience and reality.

The Godfather movie presented to the audience should create a good impression.

Before Colombo was shot in the head, he did some "propaganda work" through his civil rights alliance, which many members of the mafia thought was quite good.

Luca thought to himself that if his story were ever made into a movie, it should be made in the same way.

Night falls at the SSR Club.

When Hobbs walked into the bar, Luca was chatting with Aqiang. In a few days it would be the Chinese New Year, and Uncle Biao's wedding was in its final stages of preparation. It would be held at the club on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Before leaving, A-Qiang said, "Old Ge, let's have New Year's Eve dinner together at Uncle Biao's house, and have a family reunion."

"Great! I've heard that Uncle Biao's dumplings are especially delicious. I've been wanting to try them for a long time."

Luca smiled as he watched A-Qiang leave, then looked at Hobbs as he sat down in front of him.

The latter looked around curiously, and inexplicably felt a sense of home and comfort. In the past, whenever he returned from a mission abroad, seeing his wife's smile when he entered the house would sweep away all his fatigue and make him feel particularly relaxed.

After sitting down, Hobbs called the waiter and ordered a drink. While the drink was being served, he muttered to himself, "These past few days, while I was with David and the others, they recommended this club to me several times. They recommended several New York specialties, but I thought they were all terrible. Only this place was right; I really enjoyed it." "Then I'm relieved. It seems I'll have another group of friendly NSA agents as guests from now on. You'll definitely recommend it to your colleagues when you get back, right?"

"Our salaries aren't high, and our spending power is limited. How much does a membership cost per month here?"

"I'm giving away memberships to my friends for free."

"Hmm?" Hobbs raised an eyebrow. You wouldn't be trying to bribe me, would you?
Just then, the waiter brought over the drinks. Hobbes took them and changed the subject, "Pigeon, do you know about those international speculative funds that have been targeting gold futures lately? They've been going long and short, raking in a huge amount of wealth."

"I vaguely remember them. Did they commit a crime?"

"Suspected of insider trading."

"Oh~~~"

Luca smiled and said, "Officer, you don't want me to go undercover in a speculative investment group, do you? I'm good at finding gold, but I don't know anything about stocks."

Hobbs shook his head and smiled, knowing this guy wouldn't admit it. Insider trading was only a suspicion; there was no evidence to prove it, mainly because they couldn't find who provided the inside information. If it wasn't insider trading, and he made so much money in the futures market through his own abilities, then there was even less way to investigate him.

At least their operations were all legal and compliant; it's just that every step they took was too precise, making it look too much like insider trading.

He had to admire Luca for this: by actively participating in the gold heist, he artificially controlled "insider information" and even helped several of his friends in the police force recover the gold.

Since Luca was being evasive, Hobbes knew there was no point in asking any further questions. Financial crimes were not his concern; he was just trying to satisfy his curiosity.

After a few drinks, Hobbs stared into Luca's eyes and said, "That speculative fund made over 7 million. That's a lot of money, but it's insignificant compared to that pile of gold. When you were faced with so much gold, was there ever a moment when you were tempted?"

"Are you curious?" Luca asked with a smile. "Hobbes, I really don't recommend you use so much gold to test someone. The result will most likely disappoint you, because apart from me, I don't think many people can resist it."

Hobbes couldn't refute him. He grinned, revealing his bright white teeth, and smiled with genuine admiration. Compared to Luca's operations in the futures market, he admired Luca's restraint in the face of gold, and this restraint was a choice made even though Luca had the ability to acquire the gold.

Hobbes found it very rare.

With his guard down, Hobbes raised his glass and said with a smile, "Peace dove of Little Italy, I toast you."

[Bond: Friends]

[“Absolute Power” Unlocked]

Hobbes: S

[Absolute Strength: Wielding a heavy Gatling gun, stopping a helicopter with your bare hands, and smashing through a bulletproof vehicle. Your strength is unmatched, with an additional 10%~50% increase in destructive power against machinery, the environment, and buildings (based on your strength)]

[Learning Requirements: Friendship or higher bond level: Requires 60 Skill Fragments]

[Samoan War Dance: When you perform the Samoan War Dance, you will temporarily receive the blessings of your ancestors, clearing away negative emotions such as fear, increasing battle morale by 50% and all physical attributes by 25% (effect disappears after battle); if you have Samoan blood, the skill effect is doubled.]

[Learning Requirements: Bond level must be close friend or higher; 100 skill fragments required]

Luca glanced at Hobbs's exaggeratedly large, chimpanzee-like physique, then looked at his own lean but muscular build, and thought that even if he learned [Absolute Strength], he probably wouldn't be able to pull a helicopter by hand.
Is this even something a human being could do?

—It wasn't that he was pulling in place, but rather that Hobbes was in the car, using the hinges to pull the helicopter, launching it like a kite. The scene was simply too beautiful.

I really envy those strong monsters.
Before leaving, Hobbes jokingly remarked, "Didn't we agree to give our friends membership cards?"

Luca handed him the permanent membership card he had prepared beforehand: "Welcome to visit again next time."

Hobbs raised an eyebrow. "I hope your club's business will be even more successful next time you come to New York."

Over the next few days, Luca took some time to help Uncle Biao prepare for his wedding, and also summoned his soldiers and partners.

Having already spent 100 fragments to learn "Simon Says," Luca reiterated the rules of his territory and strictly required everyone to abide by them. He also instructed everyone to spread the message to other small gangs and thugs in his territory, throughout Little Italy and the Bronx.

White, black, and gray each have their own rules. If you want to survive in the pigeons' territory, then follow the rules. Everyone can live in peace and make money together. If you break the rules and ruin everyone's business, then Luca will have to have a heart-to-heart talk with them.

As the soldiers spread Luca's words throughout the territory, coupled with his own aura as a peace ambassador, an invisible and subtle change was quietly taking place.

New Year's Eve arrived quickly, and Luca was invited to take Matilda to Uncle Biao's house.

But before he left, Fitz, the president of the trucking union, made a phone call to Luca.

"Pigeon, Jimmy Hoffa is out of jail!"

Luca was slightly taken aback.

With the previous president released from prison, the truck drivers' union is about to face some big trouble.

(End of this chapter)