Chapter 35: Opportunity for Advancement
Jordan’s wild party raged nonstop from morning till night.
Luca stayed until evening before leaving with the money, and a somewhat dazed Jordan came over to see him off.
“Old Dove, want to grab a piece of the Wall Street pie?” Jordan grinned slyly. “Come to our company—I’ll teach you how to be a proper stockbroker.”
“Oh, you’re turning the tables now, trying to recruit me?” Luca played along. “Alright then, tell me, what makes a proper stockbroker?”
“Lesson one on Wall Street: The truth of the market doesn’t matter. What matters is what you make the suckers believe.”
Having deceived countless people, Jordan effortlessly shared his experience. “If you grasp the essence of this, you’re not far from success.”
In short: deception.
“Forget it, I don’t have that talent.”
Luca wasn’t particularly interested in stock trading; if he wasn’t good at it, better to leave it to those who were.
Luca said, “You have to call countless clients to earn that $2.5 million, but I only need to call one person.”
Jordan was speechless.
Damn, that actually made sense—he had no comeback.
So who was really the wolf?
Luca said, “For the remaining $3 million, I’ll give you a tip so you don’t get screwed again.”
“You say! Which bastard is dumping stocks to crash the market this time?”
“No, no, it’s your Swiss banker friend, Sorel. He has a lot of evidence against your money laundering. If the FBI catches him, he’ll probably turn you in to save himself. I suggest you transfer that $20 million out now and cut ties with him.”
“That can’t be! He’s in Switzerland, not the U.S. How could the FBI get him?”
“Can’t he visit the U.S. for a little trip?”
Luca pulled out a photo from his pocket. “Sorel doesn’t just launder money for you—many Americans, including some drug dealers, are his clients.”
Jordan looked at the photo: it showed Sorel meeting others, and the location was New York.
Damn it, this idiot actually came to the U.S.? And didn’t come to see me?!
Suddenly, Jordan’s heart skipped a beat; his foggy mind cleared as a strong sense of danger washed over him.
He must never let the FBI find out about his money laundering!
...
According to the original plot, Jordan’s arrest was triggered mainly because Sorel betrayed him, making the FBI’s job infinitely easier—no need to hunt for evidence; every arrest was a sure thing.
Now Luca had warned Jordan in advance; it was up to Jordan’s own fate. If he cut ties quickly, the FBI wouldn’t have a chance to act anytime soon.
When the yacht docked, a troubled Jordan saw Luca off and casually asked when the club would open, saying he’d come join as a member and support the place.
Luca replied, “Should take another month or two of renovations. I’ll let you know when it opens.”
Jordan laughed, “No problem! I’ll bring my company over for a team-building party!”
Luca was speechless.
Wait, hold on—what kind of party exactly?
Waving goodbye, Luca walked away and opened his panel to check his status.
[Bond: Friend]
Bond instantly established; now superficial friends. New skill unlocked: [Neural Paralysis].
---
[Remaining Skill Fragments: 73]
Since meeting Jordan, though there were no major incidents, Luca managed to collect fragments little by little every day, now totaling 73.
Enough to learn a new skill.
[Spend 50 skill fragments to unlock “Neural Paralysis”?]
[Yes/No]
Yes!
[Redemption successful. Skill added.]
[Neural Paralysis: +30% immunity to all poisons.]
[Remaining Skill Fragments: 23]
A passive skill boosting poison resistance—Luca liked it; he might need it someday.
In this world, some assassins were adept at poisoning.
...
The next day, Luca handed the money obtained from Jordan to Jimmy for laundering and continued renovating the club.
In total, Luca had earned about $4.5 million from Jordan and Steve’s companies. Except for the tricky $2.5 million from Jordan, the short-selling profits were all clean money.
No big problem—Jimmy was a pro at laundering, often using family real estate companies to buy and resell properties, making the money clean.
Time quickly rolled into early June.
Recently, Luca spent time taking Leon fishing and enjoying quiet moments with Matilda, who had picked up a summer part-time job at Uncle Biao’s supermarket.
She found the summer incredibly boring except when hanging out with Luca. When he was busy, she was lonely.
Little Italy was the only lively place, full of talented, charming people, and everyone knew Luca was her brother, so no one bullied her.
Luca was happy to see this—kids should play and stay away from Mafia affairs.
The rest of the time, Luca gathered intelligence across New York.
First, about Jordan Belfort. He had begun transferring assets out of Switzerland and planned to find a more reliable banker, with decent progress.
Luca didn’t need to worry for now.
Also, Denham kept his word—he didn’t bother Jordan anymore, but the investigation continued. No one knew exactly what he was secretly probing.
Sometimes Denham would come to the Little Italy bar and share a few drinks with Luca.
Luca welcomed this; cultivating a close bond with a righteous FBI agent like Denham wasn’t easy.
At the close friend stage, true hearts were exchanged.
Denham obviously wouldn’t truly open up to the Mafia anytime soon.
Compared to this cat-and-mouse game between Jordan and Denham, Richie Roberts’ drug bust was a far bigger event that could reshape New York’s landscape.
...
The drug war had already begun. If Luca didn’t intervene, according to the original story, it would be a long, drawn-out stalemate.
The core issue was that the police never suspected that Frank’s drugs were transported via U.S. military planes.
Without uncovering this key secret, they’d never bring down Frank, the major drug lord.
---
Luca only knew the drugs came in on military planes but didn’t know which airport, which plane, or which military unit was secretly involved—these details were skipped in the original story.
He could threaten Jordan directly thanks to his foresight, but he couldn’t just storm a military base.
That would be suicide.
The Mafia could never match the military—the biggest gang of all.
After much thought, Luca realized he had to rely on federal power to take on Frank. At least Richie Roberts could legally apply for a federal search warrant to inspect military planes.
...
In early June, on the day Luca gathered another 50 skill fragments, a new tire shop opened in the Bronx, owned by a black man—Frank’s own brother.
This tire shop was secretly a drug distribution center and Frank’s official source of income.
On opening day, Dominic, second boss of the Lucchesi family, stopped by.
This wasn’t to start trouble but to cooperate.
“A while ago, Dominic met Frank in Harlem and got a shipment of Blue Magic from him,” Maligeo complained to Luca at the bar. “That black nouveau riche Mad Frank somehow got this ultra-pure stuff; no one in New York can compete with him… long story short, we’re now Frank’s distributors.”
Maligeo continued, “You know, before Frank took over New York with Blue Magic, the Bonanno family dominated the drug trade here. They almost monopolized drug import and export until Frank changed everything.”
Luca raised his glass, his gaze deep in thought.
Among New York’s Five Families, Bonanno was the first to break the Commission’s rules by dealing drugs.
Decades ago, when the National Mafia Commission was formed, they set a rule: no drug trafficking.
Drug dealing was a serious crime that stirred public outrage and triggered federal crackdowns, prompting Congress to allocate more funds to the police.
Investigating criminals was expensive; without funding, families faced less pressure and were safer.
But since the Bonanno family broke the rule, all families have dabbled in drugs to some extent.
The profits were too tempting, and greed long overshadowed the rule.
If everyone’s breaking the rules, it’s no longer breaking the rules!
That said, the Bonanno family was notoriously stingy, refusing to share drug channels with other families, violating the Commission’s golden unwritten rule of mutual sharing.
This made the other families resent Bonanno.
But now, the Mafia’s drug business was small potatoes—Frank was the biggest drug lord in New York.
“Is Dominic planning to work with Frank long-term?” Luca probed.
Maligeo asked back, “Is there any other choice? No cooperation means no business. Frank has driven prices so low that other dealers can’t survive.”
Luca sipped his drink, silent for a moment, thinking, the second boss was pushing himself into a dead end.
Why board Frank’s sinking ship?
Once you’re on Frank’s stolen boat, you risk being betrayed.
If the second boss ends up in prison…
Maybe this would be a good opportunity for Luca to rise.
He thought silently.