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

Chapter 97: The Coming Rare Card
With a heavy heart, Luca ended his conversation with Denham early and returned to the SSR Club to ponder the situation of the Colombo family civil war.

"Who exactly issued the bounty?"

Luca found it increasingly suspicious. According to Marigio, the bounty was not issued through the management of the Continental Hotel, but through other channels.

— Bounty contracts within mainland hotels can only be issued to violators, those expelled from the organization by the High Table, or by designated personnel on behalf of the High Table.

Clearly, members of the Colombo family do not fall into this category, and the Continental Hotel has no right to interfere in their family affairs.

The mainland hotels don't concern themselves with personal grudges. Even when Night Demon receives a blood pact mission to assassinate the leader of the Camorra, such as an assassination mission against a member of the High Table, the hotels don't get involved.

This time, it wasn't a bounty contract inside the hotel, but an assassination mission from other channels in the underworld, just like in the original story where Vigo privately issued a bounty for Night Demon.

"Could it be Gambino who's behind this?"

Luca immediately thought of Gambino, the old man who liked to instigate conflict and make rivals kill each other.

"Or Vigo Tarasov?"

Luca frowned. Surely they wouldn't let Night Demon pop out now to complete that impossible task?
But what's the point of just eliminating the Colombo family? The Russians won't gain much advantage; in the end, the other four families will divide the spoils.

"But it is foreseeable that New York will descend into chaos again in the coming months."

“As long as this city is not peaceful, the peace ambassador will have to worry about it every day.”

"How can we obtain the peace rewards for this great war?"

It would be a lie for Luca to say he wasn't tempted. It's no longer just a family civil war; the underground assassin world has also gotten involved. Who knows how many people will die? The scale is no smaller than the previous drug war.

If we can resolve this major incident, the reward will be extremely generous!
Maybe we can unlock another talent aura skill?
As Luca pondered, he put Winston's photo on the blackboard—the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York, an acquaintance of Luca's, and an S-card holder.

Winston probably had no interest in getting involved in Colombo's domestic affairs, but those hitmen at the hotel...
Luca then pulled out a bunch of photos of assassins.

They're all rare cards, and many of them are from old colleagues.

"This is going to be really fun. I wonder how many former colleagues will jump in and get involved. There's a reward of millions or tens of millions!"

Although it's only equivalent to a week's profit from gasoline tax, millions is a huge sum for these hitmen.

Who knows how many assassins will appear to compete for these bounties?

"I might see a lot of colleagues then."

Luca smiled expectantly. Most of those assassins were lone wolves, but some served gangs and families. For example, Night Demon served the Tarasov Gang, while Luca was a member of the Mafia.

The mainland hotels provide logistical support and do not restrict what these assassins do—if they dare to hunt down the Mafia, they should be prepared for retaliation from the Mafia.

Money moves people's hearts.

As Luca was pondering this, two assassins arrived at his door.

El and Ishii Oren.

"I received the bounty notice."

Al met Luca at the club bar, his face beaming, and said, "The Colombo family has a bounty on their heads, totaling tens of millions! Pigeon, I've come to ask you about this, what do you say?"

"You should know the consequences of assassinating a Mafia member."

"High risk, high reward," El said nonchalantly, touching his blindfold.

Ishii Oren sat up straight. "Pigeon, you don't want us to get involved, right?"

Luca laughed and retorted, "Are you the kind of person who's short of money?"

Ishii Oren smiled faintly: "Bill doesn't want us to get involved either. He said that the Colombo civil war has very complicated underlying factors, and getting involved rashly will only lead to our death."

“Bill is a smart man.” Luca and Oren Ishii clinked glasses.

Seeing the two exchanging glances, El rolled his eyes. "Do you think I'm scared? And can you two stop being so in sync? You can read each other's minds with just a look. When did you two become so close?"

"You're not jealous, are you? Envious of my friendship with Ishii?" Luca laughed heartily.

Enraged, El grabbed his glass, intending to throw the drink in his face. "I'm just a third wheel! Goodbye! You two can keep talking!"

Al stormed into the casino and wreaked havoc.

Ishii Oren comforted her, "Don't worry about El, I'll talk to her. Our Deadly Viper organization won't get involved in this, but I don't know about the other assassins."

"Don't worry about the others, just come on over."

As spectators, the impact of this turmoil on Luca is very limited. It may affect some of the business collaborations between the Colombo and Lucches families, but it won't have a significant impact on the gasoline tax.

Luca can also sit back and watch the two fight it out, then wait for an opportunity to strike and reap the benefits.

Oren Ishii then added, "But some Japanese assassins I know are interested in this."

She remembered the group of Japanese samurai selling pufferfish and takoyaki on the street, each one incredibly arrogant, the leader of whom even shouted that he would defeat the Night Demon.

A cold glint flashed in Ishii Oren's eyes. He was determined to beat these people down, take them under his wing, and use them as his dogs so that he could return to Japan and fight for the position of the head of the yakuza!
Inside a hotel in Manhattan.

Brian secretly met with his boss.

The two sides first discussed the criminal intelligence that Luca had gathered.

"So, after months of infiltrating, all you got was that Luca opened a casino at the club, and you didn't get any other useful information?"

Brian's boss stared at him with a look of utter disbelief. "You're such an incompetent undercover agent! What's the point of investigating a small casino? This trivial matter isn't enough to convict Luca!"
Learn from Downey; he has already obtained substantial evidence of the Bonanno family's crimes.

"Sir, I've done my best."

Brian slumped on the sofa like a slacker, looking nothing like an FBI elite.

"Do you know my daily schedule? I have to get up at six or seven every morning to take Old Pigeon's sister to school in Central Park. Then I have to go to work at one of Old Pigeon's auto repair shops. Yes, a proper auto repair shop, at most some parts are smuggled. In the afternoon I have to pick up Matilda from school, and after that I have to help her with her homework. Late at night I have to go to Brooklyn to race cars to make money."

Brian shrugged. "That's how simple and boring life is when you're undercover."

boss:"."

It sounds a bit weak. Look at Downey, he's already gone to Miami to open a bar with Old Left and Black Sonny.

Rubbing his temples with a headache, his boss asked, "How much do you know about the Colombo family's civil war?"

Brian's eyes were crystal clear: "What civil war?"

The boss was utterly desperate. Damn it, he knew absolutely nothing. Useless!

We should still hope that the higher-ups will send some capable agents; he has already submitted an application to increase manpower.

The Colombo family civil war was so fierce, with explosions and shootings everywhere, it ravaged New York.

We need some capable people to oversee things.

He's supposedly a high-ranking agent from Miami, belonging to Omega's division!

The next night.

Continental Hotel New York.

Outside the gate, a black vintage car slowly came to a stop.

Luca got out of the car, turned around and called to Jimmy, "You go back first, come pick me up later."

Luca walked into the lobby with practiced ease. The iron gate opened in front of him, and he walked through the quiet lobby corridor to the hotel counter.

"Long time no see, Mr. Greco."

The Black concierge gave a polite smile.

[Character Card: Charon]

Charon: B

[Source: The Chase series]

[Skill: Hotel Concierge]

[Bond: Familiarity]

Charon, a concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York, has been working there for decades. Luca knew Charon from when he worked at the Continental Hotel.

However, at that time Luca was a loner, and his relationship with Charon was limited to familiarity—that of a regular customer and a hotel concierge.

Are you checking in?

“I’m looking for Winston.”

"Do you have an appointment?"

I owe him a drink.

Charon hesitated for two seconds, then picked up the landline on the table, dialed Winston's number, and after a brief conversation, gave Luca a reply:
“Mr. Greco, Winston invites you to the lounge to see him.”

The Continental Hotel is Luca's second home.

He has lost count of how many nights he has slept here; sometimes he stays for more than half a month at a time.

He was intimately familiar with every open space here, and he easily took the elevator down to the underground, then walked through several corridors to reach the underground bar.

At a corner table, Luca met Winston, who was drinking and reading the newspaper alone.

[Character Card: Winston Scott]

Winston: S

[Source: The John Wick series]

[Skills: Hotel Manager; High Table Games]

[Bond: Follow]

Winston.

"Luca."

Winston took off his glasses, a smile spreading across his wrinkled face as he looked at the uninvited guest before him. "When did you owe me a drink?"

Luca sat down opposite him, smiling, and said, "The banquet at the people's assembly, have you forgotten? If it weren't for that accident, we should be sitting in the club having a drink."

Winston squinted at Luca. "I'm sorry about what happened in Colombo. Many people didn't want to see such an accident happen."

"That's not necessarily true," Luca leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Winston, you should know who put a bounty on Joe Gallo and his crew, right?"

"You should be very clear about the mainland hotel's position: the hotel will not interfere in your mafia's internal affairs."

"But the guests staying here will."

"Once they step out of the hotel, they are free to do whatever they want, as long as they don't kill anyone inside the hotel."

Winston said with a smile, "Across the world, among the many families and organizations under the High Table, more than one family engages in civil war every year. They kill each other for power and for grudges. The High Table established these rules to prevent everyone from turning into beasts."

Luca smiled without saying a word. "Winston, Winston, back when you took over the Continental Hotel in New York, you broke a lot of rules and rose to power through bloody means—you killed the previous hotel manager, stole the gold coin minting machine, and even killed one of the High Table's adjudicators."

Before John Wick, Winston had rebelled against the High Table decades earlier.

Moreover, he successfully seized power and survived the punishment of the High Table, becoming the new hotel manager.

That's really awesome.

Winston raised his glass and said casually, "If the Colombo family wants peace, they should be prepared for war."

Meanwhile, upstairs at the front desk reception area.

A Black man walked over with a German Shepherd, smiled, and took out three gold coins, placing them on the table. "Book three nights first."

Charon glanced at the dog at his feet and politely declined, saying, "Pets are not allowed in mainland hotels."

Black man: "This is my emotional support animal."

Charon: "."

Is this your emotional support animal? Don't take me for a fool.

Why should Black people make things difficult for other Black people?

(End of this chapter)