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

Chapter 76 I will become a regular here

John Wick's exploits were legendary in the underworld; his reputation was so great that almost everyone in New York City who dealt with murder knew him.

Luca's reputation comes from his dual identity as a pigeon and a butcher, while John's reputation is purely based on killing.

“Mr. Wick, do you also enjoy growing plants and flowers? The Silver Queen can't cleanse the sins on our hands, but it can bring us a moment of peace and allow us to temporarily forget the past.”

"The permafrost in Siberia can't sustain it."

John shifted his gaze from the Silver Queen to Luca's face and got straight to the point, "Pigeon, Vigo and Abram have mentioned the mission to me, and now I'd like to hear your plans."

"this way please."

Luca led John to the club bar.

After pouring a glass of wine, Luca got straight to the point and briefly discussed the mission arrangements with John.

—It concerns the Gambino family.

The Gambino family is the most powerful of the five major New York families in terms of control over the ports. Through dockworkers and warehouse unions, they indirectly control most of the ports in New York and New Jersey.

Other families have also gotten involved in other areas. For example, the Lucchese family has a huge garbage recycling and shipping business, which is the largest among the five major families in New York.

The Genovese family also owns a floating casino, and there's a yacht club in Colombo.
The Gambino family's tactic was to organize worker strikes, create disturbances, and cause sabotage when the dock authorities didn't give them face, all in an effort to gain their own interests and force them to sign a series of "peace treaties."

Then they set the workers' wages, took a cut, and incidentally bribed port authority officials to give the green light to smuggled goods.

How friendly were dockworkers to the Mafia? Not necessarily. They were exploited by the dock authorities and then by the Mafia. The Mafia helped them extract a lot of benefits from the authorities, but how much of it ended up in the workers' own pockets?
"I can help Tarasov secure a route for oil tanker smuggling."

Luca explained, "Mr. Wick, the condition is that you help me and my family seize control of the port. Once I control the port, Labrham's tankers can dock at will!"

“Tell me what to do, and who to kill.” John’s specialty is efficient killing.

Luca squinted: "John Gaudi! A gang leader from the Gambino family!"

Since we're going to do it, let's just "steal" one or two ports directly.

The dockworkers don't have a leader as powerful as the truck workers' union, and their influence is far less. They are relatively scattered, with so many branch unions in various cities. Luca only needs to seize one or two of them.

Luca and Jimmy have been investigating the situation in various places over the past few days and have collected a lot of information.

Luca has his sights set on several ports, and the man behind them—John Gaudi.

Gaudi, that bastard, is a gang leader in the Gambino family and a drug lord who employs a team of assassins. There are exaggerated rumors that Gaudi could kill someone within 30 seconds just by getting their name.

According to the original plot, this guy would become the big boss of the Gambino family—because the big boss did not support his drug trafficking, he violated the rules and killed the boss, taking over through bloody means.

Then other families issued execution orders against him, but they failed to kill him several times.

Luca wouldn't mind killing this undeveloped threat right now.

The only two things to be careful about are: first, find a way to get the execution order, and then execute Gaudi openly and honestly. Nobody can gossip or cause trouble, which will also make it easier to negotiate subsequent conditions and take over the port.

Secondly, after safely killing Gaudi, Luca wants to take over the port and the union, which will inevitably escalate to the family level; Luca doesn't mind giving up some of the gasoline tax revenue to the family, letting the Lucchese family negotiate with the Gambino family and distribute the profits.

Once the Lucchese family's influence extends into the docks, it will be difficult for the Gambino family to cut it off. At that point, Luca will be the first to object.

The plan is simple, with two core elements: justifiable killing and the distribution of benefits.

Two eternal themes.

John silently took a sip of his drink. He had no idea what kind of framing or underhanded schemes Luca was plotting. He only cared about who he was going to kill.

It also involves two steps: first find the person, then kill them.

For Night Demon, this is as easy as drinking water.

Luca said with a smile, "There's no rush to kill him. I'll let you know what to do later. Today, you just need to enjoy the party."

Killing Gaudi is something he and Leon could do themselves, but Luca insisted on dragging John into it.

How can we build a bond if we don't play together?

"It's a pleasure working with you." Luca raised his glass.

John gave a curt "hmm" and clinked his glasses with John's.

In most cases, John always wears a cold and aloof expression, even towards close friends, with a touch of polite indifference and detachment, no matter who he is facing.

Abbreviation: Facial paralysis.

Luca couldn't help but wonder if, even with Mike's "seeing the big picture from small details" skill, he could still hardly figure out what this guy was thinking.

Fortunately, he had extensive experience dealing with stoic killers like Leon, so when facing John, he could simply ignore the other man's expression.

But John couldn't ignore the other man's kind and refined smile. For a moment, he even saw a hint of "Winston" in him—the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York was a refined and easy-going older brother.

John took a few sips of his drink, his gaze drifting intentionally or unintentionally toward the door. "When does the party start?"

Naruca, the man captivated by love, glanced at his watch. "Around seven or eight o'clock in the evening, when most of the people have arrived, we can start earlier."

Luca was thinking to himself, "Am I going to be John's wingman today?"
“I saw your name on the party invitation list. I think that lady named Helen must be a good friend of yours.”

Luca sighed, "Only very close friends would invite me. I've never been invited to a party by a lady before."

They were all out having fun with a bunch of married men.

John, whose mind is now half-hearted on killing and half on love, was touched by Luca's words. Did Helen also have feelings for him, which was why she took the initiative to invite him?
But Helen was just an ordinary woman; she hadn't even revealed her true identity to the other woman. If the other woman knew she was a bloodthirsty killer, would she still...?
This is John's concern.

This is also one of the direct reasons why he will eventually retire from the criminal world and leave the cement industry behind.

John fell silent for a moment.

He doesn't talk much, but he's a good listener.

Luca chatted with him familiarly about the party arrangements for the evening. John didn't mind Luca's rambling; on the contrary, he was looking forward to the party and even felt a strange sense of trust and warmth in Luca's words.

"Mr. Wick, would you be interested in showing me around the club?"

"I"

"This is your first time here, but it won't be your last. SSR Club is a place where guests can feel happy and relaxed. Give me a chance to introduce it to you, and believe me, you will love it here."

"Okay, thank you for your help."

Luca was very patient, acting like a tour guide, leading John through each area and explaining the facilities and functions of each area.

John discovered that the club was full of Silver Queens, making it hard to miss them.

He found himself enjoying this sense of peace, which was quite comforting.

Around four or five in the afternoon, many newspaper employees arrived early, and Helen was among them.

The newspaper editor-in-chief chatted warmly with Luca, thanking him for sponsoring the party and discussing the upcoming advertising shoot in detail. At the end, Luca said, "Let me arrange for someone to show you around the club first."

The editor-in-chief readily agreed.

Helen came up and greeted Luca, "Mr. Greco, I discussed the filming process with you on the phone earlier."

Luca immediately pulled John over. "John is a good friend of mine. He knows the club very well. He can take you on a tour for filming. If you don't understand anything, just ask him." John: "???"

Before he could ask a question, Luca turned and gracefully left the stage.

"Have fun."

Hearing Luca's words, Helen paused for a moment, then looked at John and gave him a half-smile.

Did you plan all of this in advance, Mr. Wick?

"Mr. Wick, would you please show me around the club?"

"Helen, actually..."

John instinctively recalled the entire club's map and Luca's explanations in his mind, and a rare smile appeared on his face. "It's my pleasure. Come with me, I'll show you around."

The two walked and talked. The Night Demon had a stern face when facing Luca, but his expression softened a lot when facing Helen.

My heart softened.

The party in the evening was enjoyable and relaxing.

Luca even saw John and Helen dance together; the aloof man had a stern face towards him, but he smiled happily at Helen.

Brothers or woman?!

Luca sat at the bar watching the show, occasionally chatting with some of the women who came up to him.

Actually, Luca's main purpose for this party was to get to know Helen, build a good relationship with her, and then find an opportunity to remind her and learn about her illness.

Help Helen quickly gain John's trust.

That was the woman Night Demon cared about most until his death.
That night, John drank quite a bit of alcohol and he and Helen were very affectionate and chatted happily.

The peace ambassador, acting as the "patriarch," was very pleased.

He swore that his peculiar hobby of matchmaking didn't stem from his Sicilian bloodline, nor did he learn it from the older brothers in his family. Well, he simply wanted to lend a hand.

This is all for the happiness and well-being of the family!

After the party, Luca called Brian over and asked him to take John and Helen, who had been drinking, home.

Brian felt melancholy. So, Old Pigeon had been waiting for this moment, preventing him from racing tonight?

It felt like I had really become the club's full-time driver.

I wonder if I'll be able to stand at the entrance to park for customers in the future; I hope I can get a generous tip.
Before parting, Helen came to say goodbye to Luca and made arrangements for the subsequent advertising shoot in the next few days; John, on the other hand, also subtly made arrangements with Luca for the next task, telling him to contact him if needed.

The young couple both worked for the peace ambassador.

"Thank you, Pigeon."

Night Demon, who was even more looking forward to love, shook hands with Luca and said, "Tonight's party was unforgettable, and the atmosphere here is very reassuring. I think I will become a regular here."

It's a common ailment among assassins. They all need the Silver Queen to cure them, but John still has love, quite a few friends, and he can read, which is a bit better than Leon's friendless husband.

Luca smiled and said, "Welcome to come again next time."

[Bond: Follow]

John: SSR

【Rapid Pursuit: Actively lock onto a target and activate Rapid Pursuit mode. During the pursuit, each enemy killed will add 1 layer of Pursuit Mark.

追杀印记：战斗力+1%、移动速度+0.3%、闪避+0.4%、体质恢复+0.5%、意志+0.6%；

Each layer of the mark lasts for 24 hours, with a maximum stack of 100 layers; the mark immediately disappears and refreshes upon target cancellation or death.

[Learning Requirements: Bond level must be at least Partner level; Requires 300 Skill Fragments]

[Suit-Wearing Thug: When wearing a suit, evasion +20%, damage taken by the body (suit-covered parts) -20%]

[Learning Requirements: Affinity level of Friends or higher; Requires 60 Skill Fragments]

[Dog-Protecting Maniac: When your pet is killed, your combat power increases by 30% in Speed ​​Chase Mode; when your partner/dog (partner or higher bond) is killed, your combat power increases by 100% during the chase.]

[Learning Requirements: Bond level must be close friend or higher; 200 skill fragments required]

[Baba Yaga: Your deeds and legends resound throughout the world. Whenever, wherever, and whoever mentions your name or faces you, the other person will be psychologically suppressed.]
战斗力-10~-30%、敬畏+10~30%、反抗心理-10~-30%（根据你的地位、事迹和名气、敌对关系、以及对方对你的了解程度判定）；
During high-table duels, the win rate is forcibly increased by 50%.

[Learning Requirements: Bond level must be at least Partner level; Requires 500 Skill Fragments]

[Living Towards Death: Those Who Seek Life Die, Those Who Seek Death Live]

[Learning Requirements: Achieve Symbiosis Bond; Requires 1000 Skill Fragments]

Those who seek death will live; those who seek life will die.

John's hesitation stemmed from his inability to define his identity after his retirement. Two voices lingered within him: one of an assassin, and the other of a loving husband and wife in retirement.

So, for whom should one die? The Night Demon, the assassin feared by countless people, serving the High Table, and bowing to the Elders, or the ordinary man who deeply loves his wife?

When John followed his heart and chose to die as his wife's lover, standing beside Winston in rebellion against the High Table, he had already awakened to the truth and completely become a ghost searching for a grave, just to gain his freedom, to get rid of everything associated with the High Table, and to be quietly buried next to his wife.

He will not die until his grave is found.

Luca didn't want to become a "ghost" with a death wish and no will to live, nor did he want John to repeat the same mistake.

I'll just be a husband who loves his wife, his car, and his dog, and live a good life.

Peace ambassadors would never allow accidents to happen to their families.

Rebellion against the High Table?

Luca stared at the departing car and let out a long sigh.

"We still need the peace ambassador. I will step in and turn the high table into a dining table!"

The next day.

A meeting was held within the Lucchese family, and Luca accompanied Mariggio to the meeting.

The location is a secluded villa.

Here, Luca met a group of gangsters and also saw Anthony Cassel, the man rumored to have killed someone because of a dream.

In the original storyline, this guy was supposed to execute the Gambino family's big boss, but he blew up the guy's car with a bomb, only to blow up the wrong person.

That big boss is none other than John Gaudi, who will one day rise to power in the family through bloody means.

Both of them are still gang leaders at the moment.

Luca wondered if he should send the two of them on their way together.
At least you'll have company on the road to hell.

(End of this chapter)