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

Chapter 148 Tell Hoffa that we all love him.

New York, SSR Club.

Luca and a group of mafia members sat in front of the television, watching Hoffa's interview.

On the screen, Jimmy Hoffa stands at the entrance of the Washington union headquarters, venting his frustrations to a group of reporters:
"This used to be my office! You won't find Fitz in here because he travels all over the country, fucking following the president and the attorney general around, playing golf and getting paid a full salary!"

How can he get so much money for neglecting his duties? I'm in jail for fraud, but Fitz is the real fraudster!

Looking at the loud-voiced Hofa on the screen, a panel popped up in front of Luca's eyes:

[Character Card: Jimmy Hoffa]

Hoffa: S

[Source: The Irishman]

[Skills: Fury Overlord; Guild Tyrant]

[Bond: Follow]

Luca glanced at it and then closed the panel.

The three core characters in the original storyline—the painter, Hoffa, and the big boss of the Bufalino family—have had their friendship and grudges intertwined for decades. Now, with the outbreak of internal guild wars, Hoffa's fate is nearing its "end."

At this moment, besides Luca, there was also Marigio in front of the TV, as well as the fat Tony who had come to the club specially—a C-card player.

Also from The Irishman, there is a unique skill called "Gang Mediation".

The Genovese family boss is obese, likes to wear a black top hat and smoke cigars, and also likes to mediate gang conflicts. In the original storyline, he was the one mediating the disputes between Hoffa, Fitz, and Pro.

Unfortunately, he failed, and in the end he could only issue an execution order, ordering someone to kill Hoffa.

The peacemaker's last resort is to get rid of the troublemaker.

However, things haven't gotten to that point yet, and Tony's attitude towards Hoffa is one of "love and helplessness."

“Hoffa shouldn’t have said that in the interview.” Tony leaned back on the sofa, puffing on his cigar. “He can’t badmouth Fitz. After all, they’re friends. Can’t they just calm down and talk things out?”

Tony, who likes to smooth things over, and Mariggio, who used to be an "old friend" of Hoffa, said helplessly, "This probably wasn't Hoffa's intention. It's understandable that he wants to run for chairman and build momentum for himself, but his words were a bit too radical. We all know that Hoffa is a straightforward person."

“Hoffa is too reckless; someone needs to calm him down.”

Tony added, "Fitz went a bit too far. He shouldn't have blown up someone's yacht. This won't end well; it will only make things worse."

After saying that, he looked at Luca and said, "Pigeon, haven't you met with Hoffa yet? You should talk to him in person as soon as possible. Nobody wants this to get too ugly."

Now that the big boss of Genovese is willing to mediate, Luca smiled and said to this peacemaker, "Well, I've already invited Hoffa, and I'll pass on your message to him."

"Let's have a good talk with Hoffa."

Tony instructed, "Pigeon, you are best at prioritizing peace. You do some things even better than I do. Look, now everyone is willing to ask you to mediate disputes. As the referee, you must maintain peace."

Luca nodded in agreement.

Currently, these Mafia bosses are not so radical, because the civil war between Hoffa and Fitz has not yet involved the Mafia's interests. In fact, no matter who becomes the chairman, as long as they follow the Mafia's wishes and are willing to be "dogs," the Mafia does not mind if Hoffa takes power through legitimate means.

The Mafia and Hoffa had cooperated for decades and had a very good relationship.

For example, when Hoffa needed to threaten business owners with strikes, the Mafia would step in to help stir up trouble and assist Hoffa in creating large-scale strikes in exchange for more favorable labor contracts from the business owners.

In return, Hoffa gave the Mafia a lot of kickbacks and approved a lot of low-interest loans through the union's retirement fund, helping the Mafia build Las Vegas into the gambling city.

For example, during a presidential election, Hofa colluded with the Mafia to manipulate a large number of votes and support a certain president to take office. In return, the president had to drive Castro out of Cuba—because the Mafia had many businesses in Cuba and had lost billions of dollars in assets due to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Revolution.

Castro was the leader of Cuba at the time.

Later, a relative of the US president targeted Hoffa, frequently investigating him. Then, the New Orleans Mafia carried out a single shot, resulting in one of the most infamous presidential assassinations in American history.

The Mafia and Hoffa had done far too many things in cahoots; it was a rather pleasant period of cooperation, with both sides enjoying their heyday in this free country.

So while many Mafia bosses were somewhat annoyed by Hoffa's bad temper, they still highly regarded this partner and considered him one of their own. Hoffa was also very straightforward—he was imprisoned for fraud, but in prison he never mentioned anything detrimental to the Mafia, and even before he "disappeared," he never betrayed the Mafia to the government.

If the Mafia's peripheral partners are ranked, then Hoffa would be the highest-ranking one, on par with the big boss.

“Tell Hoffa that we all love him and hope he won’t let us down.” Tony stood up, patted Luca on the shoulder, and walked out of the cigar room with his cigar in hand.

Luca is aware of Tony's attitude, and so far no one has any intention of killing him.

Marigio was also preparing to leave. "Luca, Hofa is too hasty now. We support him running for office, but he can't be so radical."

"Uncle, to be honest, how many people support Hoffa as chairman? Fitz is much more obedient than Hoffa, and everyone knows who to choose."

Luca's words made Marigio's expression somewhat complicated. "Hoffa is our friend, and you heard what Tony said earlier. Well, Fitz is indeed the more suitable candidate in everyone's mind because he's more cooperative. In his eyes, the union is just a tool. Hoffa, on the other hand, treats the union like his own home. Hoffa will invite us to his home, but he won't give us the house key. That's the difference."

These words might chill some people's hearts, but that's the Mafia. They only make friends widely as long as it doesn't affect their interests. Once their interests are threatened, they won't hesitate to eliminate even longtime friends like Hoffa.

What's most heartbreaking is that the killer who executed Hoffa in the original story was the painter, Hoffa's most trusted friend—when Hoffa turned his back to him without any reservations, the painter pulled out a pistol and smashed Hoffa's skull in the back. Heaven knows how much the painter struggled and suffered in this matter; the torrent of fate swept him away and pushed him into the abyss.

“Peace.” Marigio gently hugged Luca. “Shaking hands and making peace is the best outcome. This is the result everyone wants to see. Luca, you can do it, right? Let Hoffa back down. Meet some of his conditions, and everyone can compromise.”

But Hoffa wanted the chairman's position. Luca's eyes were dark. If Hoffa became more and more aggressive, even resorting to coercing the Mafia through loans from the Card Foundation, that hot-tempered and stubborn old man was capable of doing such a thing.

"give it to me."

Luca thought to himself that he didn't really want to see an execution order either.

After Fitz had someone blow up Hoffa's friend's yacht, Hoffa retaliated by having someone blow up Fitz's car.

Both sides took turns detonating explosives, but the attacks were mainly threatening, and they refrained from directly attacking people.

Everyone knows that if someone is directly bombed, there will be absolutely no room for negotiation.

The bomber that Hofa arranged was not Frank, his friend. He knew that Frank wanted to be a peacemaker and was not very willing to do this kind of thing.

So Hoffa found a fellow Detroit resident to help him.

At that moment, in a hotel in Philadelphia, Hoffa was treating his fellow countryman to fine wine. "Babby, haha, tell me, what was Fitz's expression when he saw the explosion? Was he so scared that his legs went weak and he almost peed his pants?"

The man from the same hometown was a black-haired white man named Bobby Marcel, who was once a notorious street thug in Detroit's underworld before leaving his hometown to make his way in the world.

Hoffa met Bobby's mother, Ms. Marcel, a well-known philanthropist in Detroit who took in many homeless orphans and found them new foster homes.

Bobby was also adopted by Ms. Marcel, but unfortunately, he was too much of a troublemaker and no other family was willing to adopt him, so Marcel had to adopt him herself.

Normally arrogant and domineering, Bobby only respected a few people in his life, such as his mother and Hoffa, the legendary chairman who cared for his fellow union members.

“Uncle Jimmy, if you need, I can go and kill that fat guy myself,” Bobby said confidently. “I can guarantee no one will know it was me.”

Hoffa rolled her eyes. "Yes, they won't come after you, but they will. I just want to scare that guy and let him know I'm not someone to be trifled with!"

Then Hoffa received a call from his wife—she had been fired by Fitz.

Hofa's wife works in a union and earns a very high salary.

Upon hearing this news, Hoffa was furious, his beard bristling and eyes wide with rage. "That bastard Fitz! He's a dog-fed son of a bitch, fuck him!"

Bobby encouraged, "I can do it even more discreetly, so they can't find you."

"It's not about whether there's evidence or not; they don't care about that."

Hofa clenched his fist in frustration, picked up the phone and complained to Frank for a long time before calming down a little.

He recalled his experience of campaigning everywhere, which was fraught with setbacks. Most of the union drivers on the East Coast expressed their clear support for Luca.

Yes, those drivers didn't support Hofa or Fitz; they all sided with Luca!

This struck Hoffa as utterly absurd and unbelievable.

He thought for a moment and said, "Frank, come with me to New York. I need to see the pigeons."

The meeting and talks were successfully held in early April at the SSR Club in New York.

Hofa brought Frank and Babi along, but Babi wasn't allowed to come in during the meeting; he was instead told to go sit in the club bar.

Luca instructed the waiter to take Bobby to the bar.

Watching Bobby's departing figure, a hint of doubt flashed in Luca's eyes.

How did this guy end up hanging out with Hoffa?

Is it because they all have rather impulsive and fiery tempers?

[Rare Card Discovered: Bobby Marshall]

[Babby: A]

[Source: The Four Brothers]

[Skills: Vengeful Vanguard; Eldest Son of the Family]

[Bond: Strangers]

Luca racked his brains for a while before he remembered something. It seemed to be a story that took place in Detroit. Bobby's mother was murdered by the mob, and then he returned to Detroit for the funeral. He led his half-brothers and chased down and killed the mob boss.

With a faint smile, Luca withdrew his gaze, turned, and walked into the cigar room. Several Silver Queen cigarettes were displayed around him. He sat down opposite his two older brothers, Hoffa and Frank, and smiled.

"Welcome, both of you. Do you see these silver queens? Every leaf of theirs smells of peace. May we work together today to make them bloom."

(End of this chapter)