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

Chapter 71 A New Round of War

Only Luca and Mike remained sitting opposite each other at the poker table.

A large crowd of onlookers, including members of the Mafia and gamblers, formed a human wall around the area, making the blond college student feel immense pressure.

Looking at the still damp bloodstains on the table, Mike unconsciously swallowed.

Will I die here today?
"You understand the whole story, right?" Luca asked with a smile, holding a deck of cards. "Do you have any objections to my proposed solution?"

Mike shook his head helplessly: "No objection. Bug cheated, so he was definitely in the wrong first, but you also injured his hand. Can't you pay less money?"

"That reason is not enough."

As Luca shuffled the cards, he said, "Casinos have their rules. Even if I cut off his hand and then ask him for 3 dollars, he can't refuse."

Mike was in a bind. He knew the rules, of course. He could skip the small card games; people there might not dare to play there. But this was the territory of the Mafia, which was even more powerful than the Russians.

That guy, Bug, is insane! He's an idiot! He cheats wherever he plays cards!

Seeing the other person's conflicted expression, Luca asked, "Your name is Mike, right? If you can't come up with the money, you can leave. This has nothing to do with you."

“Can we have some time?” Mike took a deep breath and suggested, “I don’t have that much money right now, but give me three weeks, and I’ll give you ten thousand dollars a week, how about that? Bugs just got out of prison not long ago, can we be understanding?”

This isn't about money. Luca countered, "Are you sure you want to vouch for the bug? I'll hold both of you accountable. If you can't pay up on time, the consequences won't be as simple as cutting off a hand. Are you willing to risk your life for your friend?"

"."

Mike's body trembled slightly, as if his heart had been squeezed hard by a large hand, and he was so nervous that he could hardly breathe.

Even those Russians weren't pushed this hard!
The cost of providing guarantees is simply too high!

This matter has nothing to do with me. I have already quit gambling, I have a wonderful university life, my professor values ​​me highly, and I have a girlfriend who loves me deeply. As long as I don't gamble, this peaceful life can continue, and my girlfriend won't argue with me because of gambling.

If he doesn't gamble, Mike doesn't know where he can get so much money in a short time. 3 yuan is a considerable sum for a poor college student like him.

Should I step in and vouch for the insect?
But looking at the bug, Mike sighed and said, "Count me in."

Luca smiled and said, "Good lad, you're more loyal than your brother."

“A touching friendship.” Luca nodded in agreement. “But three weeks is too long. I can’t wait that long.”

"Then two weeks it will be, please be patient!" Mike gritted his teeth, planned to borrow some money from various places, and if all else failed, he would break his vow to gamble, find a few remote small venues, and use his card skills to earn it back.

"I can't wait even a day longer, get the money out for me today."

"Mr. Greco, one day is too short!" Mike gripped the table tightly to steady himself; his legs were weak. One day? Not even enough time to run away!
Luca shook his head: "I have another plan, would you like to hear it?"

"what?"

"Promise me a favor. If I ever need something, you have to do it for me, and I'll forgive the 3 yuan. Let's just consider it as making friends. Want to think about it?"

Mike was slightly taken aback; his heart had just gone on a rollercoaster ride.

No money? Just a promise?

These days, there's still such a good thing? That's not right, that's the Mafia! Is there anything easy to do for the Italians?
I don't know what I can do for you.

"I will only ask my friends to do what they can."

Luca smiled. "Like attracts like. The bug is a skilled gambler, and your skills must be pretty good too. Someday in the future, I'll need you to gamble for me."

"Play cards for you?"

"Okay, I'll provide the money, you provide the labor."

"Who are you going to fight?"

You don't need to know now.

Luca thought to himself that he was just making up an excuse to deepen the connection, and whether or not they played cards was completely unimportant.

Once you owe a favor to the peace ambassador, it will be difficult to repay it.

Mike was unsure what to do for a moment after hearing his words. After thinking for a few seconds, he nodded and said, "Okay, I hope you keep your word. If it's just about playing cards for you, I'll agree."

“A wise choice.” Luca extended his hand. “Mike, you saved your friend with your courage and ability. I admire you as a young man who values ​​loyalty.”

"Thank you."

Mike grasped Luca's hand, sensing a hint of goodwill. A huge weight lifted from his heart; he hoped the mafia boss was just asking him to play cards.

“Mr. Greco, I hope you won’t find me a too strong opponent,” Mike joked to ease the tension.

Luca smiled slightly: "I won't throw my money away."

[Bond: Follow]

[Mike: S]

[All in: All in! You must go all in! When you go all in at the poker table (Texas Hold'em), your win rate for the hand is forcibly increased by 5% to 30% (depending on when you go all in: the fewer the community cards, the earlier you go all in, the higher the win rate increase)]

[Learning Requirements: Affinity level of Friends or higher; Requires 50 Skill Fragments]

[Observe the subtle signs: You can judge, analyze, and understand the other person's psychological thoughts and distinguish between truth and lies by observing their micro-expressions and small gestures, increasing your observation, analysis, and judgment abilities by 30%; when you are at the poker table, your ability is increased by an additional 20%, allowing you to more accurately guess the strength of the other person's hand.]

[Learning Requirements: Bond level must be close friend or higher; 80 skill fragments required]

Both are card table skills, but the skill of "seeing the big picture from small details" has a wider range of uses. It is equivalent to the ability to "read between the lines," where a person's true thoughts may be revealed by a single expression or action.

The Godfather needs this boost!
Luca's observation skills are already good; with an additional 30 points, he'd develop incredibly sharp eyes, making it impossible for demons and monsters to hide.

That said, Mike has such a keen eye at the poker table, how come he didn't realize that Bug had turned into a slick, slick scoundrel after going to jail?

Mike led the bug away from the club to the hospital for treatment.

The insect's injury wasn't minor, but it wasn't serious either. However, for a con artist who needed to use tricks to switch and steal cards, it had already taken half his life.

Technology will definitely be greatly affected.

"Mike, I'm doomed."

In the hospital corridor, the insect looked at its hand, wrapped in bandages, with heartbreaking grief. "My right hand is ruined!"

Mike sighed and comforted him, "I know you love playing cards, but look at me, I haven't played for a year. I only played with you once when you got out of prison. Otherwise, I've gotten by just fine, haven't I? We can still have a great life without cards."

"I need to start practicing left-handed cards."

"."

Mike rolled his eyes. "You son of a bitch, will you die if you don't play cards?"

The bug laughed heartlessly, "With my skills, I can master it in three months, six months at most. We've already agreed to go to Las Vegas together to slaughter pigs."

Mike sighed. "Why bother killing pigs now? It's a miracle we don't get killed by the Mafia."

Bug patted Mike on the chest: "Consider this a debt I owe you. I forgot to ask, where did you get so much money to give to the Italians? Didn't you gamble it all away long ago?"

"No money."

"???"

"That guy called Pigeon asked me to do him a favor: play a game of cards." "Oh~~~" Bug joked sarcastically, "I've been trying to persuade you for so long, and you wouldn't even touch a card, but you agree to do something for someone else!"

"Damn it! I only agreed because of you!"

"Haha, buddy, calm down, I was just kidding," Bug laughed. "But I didn't expect the Mafia to make such a request. In my impression, aren't those Italians very xenophobic? They actually want you to do things for them."

“How should I know? Did I have any other choice at the time?” Mike muttered. “But if it was just playing cards… never mind.”

"The card game they invited you to must be high-level!" Bug started urging again. "Come on, buddy, let's go play cards. You need to get your feel for the game, otherwise you won't be able to beat them and the mafia will kill you."

Mike: "."

In the end, will I still break the vow?

You'd better hide it well, so your girlfriend doesn't find out.

That evening, Luca led Matilda to visit Marigio's house.

After a pleasant meal, the uncle and nephew went to the courtyard to secretly plot their rise to power.

“Marigio, among you gangsters, who is the most qualified to take the position of second boss?”

"The most senior one should be White Tiger. He is very good at making money and used to have a good relationship with the big boss and Dominic."

We've come full circle back to that birdman, the White Tiger.

As the first rare card discovered by Luca, the White Tiger is, in Luca's stereotype, a fool who was completely defeated by his nephew. A group of mafia members, with hostages, went to settle scores with his nephew with typewriters, only to be taken down by a man without a gun.

I don't know whether to say that the white tiger is both stupid and greedy, or that the eldest nephew is too outrageous.

"Besides the White Tiger? Paulie Cicero? Anthony Cassel?"

"Uh"

You're talking as if the White Tiger doesn't exist. Margio thought for a moment, "The White Tiger wasn't wrong about one thing: Paul is very timid in business. His ability to make money is not as good as mine or the White Tiger's, as well as Anthony Cassel."

Marigio's expression turned serious. "That guy can't do business. He's a complete madman!"

Luca frowned as well. Anthony, nicknamed "The Asthma Man," was a minor character in the Lucchese family, a marginal figure with little screen time, but in the original storyline, he rose to become the second-in-command.

This is a fairly pure gangster, and a bit neurotic—rumor has it that Anthony dreamt of someone informing on him, and the next day he sent someone to kill him, which is indeed a bit of an overreaction.

One of the more impressive things Anthony did was, at the urging of the Genovese family patriarch, to assassinate the Gambino family's big boss by arranging for someone to blow up his car.

The funny thing is, they bombed the wrong person, letting them escape unharmed.

Luca had no idea how this guy had gotten to where he was.

Too many characters who didn't exist have entered the family, and Luca can no longer predict the family's future based on the original storyline.

Marício: "Bartolo will contact us in a few days to discuss family matters, and several gang leaders will be present."

"I will go with you."

“Okay.” Margio nodded. “At this meeting, some of the industries that Dominic used to control will probably be allocated. In the past, everyone followed Dominic’s rules, but now everyone wants to get their hands on them. No one will give up the profits that are within easy reach.”

He stared at Luca with a hint of helplessness. "Are we really going to give up the drug business? It's the most profitable business."

“Let go!” Luca said firmly. “These are sensitive times. The NYPD is undergoing a major overhaul. If we want to maintain good relations with the authorities, it’s best to stay away from this stuff. Right now, the authorities hate drugs the most.”

Despite my status as an anti-drug ambassador, I'm dealing with drugs.

Drug trafficking is impossible. Although Richie has retired to become a lawyer, David is still around, and McLean, the SSR card, is still in the police station.

I haven't even touched any of Old Mike's skills yet.

Luca needs to maintain a good relationship with the authorities; he must avoid things as sensitive as drugs.

“But we can’t just give it away so easily,” Luca said in a deep voice. “Let someone else bring something in exchange! The White Tiger wants to seize control of the drug business? Make him hand over his other businesses!”

Marigio was still a little reluctant, but he was already on the same boat as Luca, and sighed, "The White Tiger still has a jewelry business."

Luca: "."

The jewelry business is certainly viable, and the undercover agent Downey even has a [jewelry appraisal] skill.

However, the conflict between the nephew and the Mafia was because of diamonds.

Am I now going to be the one going against my nephew? If I kidnap Nancy, that woman will be overjoyed.

Hopefully, the diamond won't be picked up by the nephew during the transaction.
However, Marigio and Luca's concerns were completely opposite: "The profit margin in the jewelry business is not as high as that in the drug trade."

"Stop thinking about drugs."

"I'm worried that the white tiger will become too powerful."

"Don't worry, I'm here."

Luca thought to himself that his "gasoline tax" business was truly lucrative. "Uncle, believe me, you will get your wish and become the second boss."

Marigio laughed and said, "Then you will become the youngest gang leader in the history of our family."

The uncle and nephew raised their glasses and clinked them together.

Luca then told Marigio about some things regarding gasoline taxes—it's easy to open a gasoline wholesale company, but it's very difficult to get the relevant licenses. Russians can't grow their businesses because they can't get legal licenses, and that's where the Mafia family's network of connections becomes very important.

Go through the back door and get the license plate.

After hearing Luca finish recounting the whole scam, Marigio looked at his nephew as if he were a monster, then reached out and touched Luca's forehead:

"Are you still the same Luca the pigeon I know? How did you become the clever Luca, with such a business mind? You've finally figured it out!"

“Marigio, please don’t tell other people about my educational background so casually next time. This morning Matilda was laughing at me for not even finishing elementary school. She’s only 12 years old and her education level is higher than mine!”

"."

Marigio gave an awkward smile.

While the Mafia generally has low levels of education, it is extremely rare to find someone like the Peace Ambassador who didn't even finish elementary school and started working at the age of 10.

Marigio quickly changed the subject: "Oh, right, there's one more thing. In two months, Joe Colombo is going to hold the second Italian-American community rally. He's already started planning the event and wants us and other families to participate."

Luca's eyes flickered slightly.

A public gathering?

It's bound to happen eventually.

The most high-profile death of a mafia boss – being shot in the head in front of tens of thousands of people.

From then on, the facade of peace within the New York Mafia was gradually shattered, and it began its descent into a path of carnage.

The committee's peace rules were frequently ignored, and some even used them to execute others; assassinations were rampant as Mafia fought a bloody war in the city in pursuit of power and money.

The peace ambassador thought to himself that this was the moment for him to step in and defend peace.

(End of this chapter)