Chapter 46 New Skill Unlocked

"Drop your weapons! Do not point them at our friend!"

David walked over from among a group of armed police officers, waving his hand to signal them to lower their guns, and cast a remarkably complex gaze back at Luca.

Their previous interview had not been a particularly pleasant experience for either of them; standing on different sides and holding different positions, they had made different choices.

Yet both of them could understand why the other had acted that way.

Luca knew what kind of person David was, and David had not forgotten the many times Luca had assisted the police—not to mention this latest incident...

"Dove, my intuition tells me that your appearance here is no coincidence."

"Surely you don't think your fellow officers staking this place out day and night could escape my notice?"

Luca said half-truthfully, "I just wanted to see what you were up to. I hope you won't disrupt the peace here; that is not something I wish to see. Judging by the looks of it, the commotion you made was still far too loud. Tomorrow I am bound to receive numerous complaints from local residents."

David: "......"

Come on, brother, why would resident complaints be called in to you mobsters?

"Is it over now?" Luca asked, knowing full well the answer. "Do you need my help?"

"Thank you, no..." David looked at Black Sonny, who had already been helped to his feet, and shook his head, saying, "You've already helped us."

At that moment, another dispute broke out not far away, as the police shoved Black Sonny and Old Left onto the ground, treating them to a string of profanity-laced American-style takedowns.

Richie had already recognized Black Sonny and Old Left—having gathered a vast amount of intelligence on New York criminals during this period, he naturally knew Black Sonny and Old Left, and the other members were hardly strangers to him either.

However, Donnie, standing beside them, did not recognize him.

A newly recruited mafioso?

In less than a moment, the group was handcuffed and escorted into the police cruisers.

Old Left glanced out through the car window, his expression deeply anxious, and did not forget to instruct Donnie beside him: "Don't say a word! Donnie! Spend twenty-four hours at the precinct and everything will be fine! Remember, say nothing! Don't be afraid, kid! I will protect your safety!"

Faced with Old Left's caring gaze, Donnie could not suppress a stirring in his heart... His identity was entirely fabricated, and even the name Donnie was fake. Where on earth was Old Left investing his affections?

With a complex look, he nodded, "I know, I won't say a thing."

At that moment, in Donnie's peripheral vision, a familiar figure walked past the outside of the car window.

The Dove?

......

Ten minutes later.

Watching the police unlock his handcuffs, Donnie still found it somewhat incredible. They weren't even going to take him to the police station? They were just letting him go straight away?

Nearby, Richie chatted casually with Luca. "Last time you helped me get my money back, this time I'm helping you out, Dove. But there won't be a next time!"

He knew that arresting Old Left and these mobsters was of little use; it was hard to pin any serious charges on them. Armed robbery? Illegal possession of firearms? These charges wouldn't hold them at all. Pay a little bail, and they would be released in no time.

Still, he felt compelled to add: "This is the last time. If I catch them again..."

Luca interrupted him: "They were merely trying to assist the police in capturing drug dealers, and for that they were shot by a drug dealer and nearly sacrificed their lives. I believe the police should present these enthusiastic citizens with flowers, rather than handcuffs."

"If I write my case report that way, not many people will believe it."

Richie looked at Luca with a cold expression. If things were really written according to Luca's version, those mobsters wouldn't just be innocent; they would actually have performed a meritorious service. Perhaps their lawyers would use that argument for their defense and spring them out at lightning speed.

Seeing Richie's attitude—as if he was anxious to clear his debts of gratitude and cut all ties—Luca smiled faintly... Why rush to distance yourself? All the intelligence in your hands was written by me; you owe me a massive favor.

The gifts bestowed by fate have already been marked with a price tag.

And this time was no exception.

"Richie, do you know how many people in New York have been driven to bankruptcy since Frank brought in Blue Magic? The streets of New York are drowning in it, and many legacy families have been driven to desperate straits. This stuff isn't just selling product; it's tearing down the foundation. Its appearance has severely disrupted the market order of New York."

Luca's sudden change of subject left Richie looking doubtful and serious. "Order? The order established by you legacy families through guns and bribes? Put away your high-sounding rhetoric. From where I stand, your family is no different from Frank."

"I have no interest in the drug trade," Luca shook his head calmly. "I simply want to tell you that many people are dissatisfied with Frank, including the Mafia."

Richie was slightly startled. "Your family is openly cooperating with Frank."

"Not all families."

Luca cast his gaze toward Old Left and the others. "See these mafiosi? They hate Frank with a passion. To their eyes, a Black businessman like Frank represents 'progress,' but that progress is a destruction of the established order, and it will cost them dearly! Only when Frank disappears will everything return to normal."

"What you are telling me doesn't match what I know."

Richie asked perplexedly, "Your family..."

Luca smiled. "We are talking about Black Sonny and the rest of them. Let's not keep dragging my family into this... Black Sonny and Old Left, they are men of the Bonanno family, and they despise Frank to the core. These are things I can tell you."

With that, Luca waved to Old Left and the others in the distance, signaling that he would handle the police shortly, while saying to Richie:

"Toppling Frank is no easy task.

"Frank has befriended many entertainment and sports stars, and behind him stands the entirety of Harlem; the residents there all support him, and many people will speak out for him. You know what that means—come election time, plenty of candidates seeking votes will choose to help exonerate Frank the drug lord.

"However, compared to all that, the labor unions and grassroots base controlled by the Bonanno family are far more powerful than Frank's. A hundred years of Italian enterprise cannot be surpassed by Frank in just a few short years!"

Hearing this, a flash of lightning crossed Richie's mind, and he instantly realized what Luca was trying to convey.

He realized he had fallen into a misconception, misunderstanding the connection between the Mafia and Frank.

Luca continued, "David approached me about cooperating in the past, and for certain reasons I refused him, but Old Left and his crew won't refuse you."

Richie felt a surge of energy.

This choice was no longer about turning a mafioso into a witness; it was about forming an alliance with the Mafia.

Not the Lucchese family, but the Bonanno family.

If they had the help of the Bonannos, then dealing with Frank...

Suppressing his inner shock and excitement, Richie asked, "So, you want me to..."

"No, no, no. I am merely teaching you how to write tonight's case report."

Luca smiled meaningfully. "Old Left and the others are my friends. I am telling you all this simply because, for certain reasons, I wish to fish them out of the police's hands, understood? This matter originally had nothing to do with me. Get this straight: I am helping Old Left, not helping you."

Hearing this, Richie's gaze toward Luca gradually grew complex. He understood Luca's meaning—the case report was just a surface veneer, and Old Left and his companions were merely the catalyst; the reality was a cooperation with the Bonanno family.

"Will Old Left and the others really cooperate by giving statements?" Richie probed uncertainly. Would the Bonanno family truly cooperate?

Luca nodded. "If there is anyone who wants Frank to disappear, it is most definitely Old Left. If you want it, they will cooperate with statements!"

Richie's expression grew even more complex. "Dove, I don't understand why you are telling me this. If Frank goes down, your family..."

"Doves eat feed, you know. Have you ever seen a dove that eats drugs?"

"......" Richie suddenly remembered that doves didn't traffic drugs. Did that represent the other man's stance?

"Like I said, I only came to fish Old Left out, and to have you cooperate by taking statements and writing the case report. What you think about the rest of it has nothing to do with me, and I will never admit that we had this conversation."

Richie let out an involuntary, amused laugh.

Oh, Dove, Dove. You say one thing on the surface, but do another in reality. What kind of person are you, really?

Richie let out a long sigh. Why did his ties with Luca keep growing deeper and deeper?

Sometimes he really, really wished he were an ungrateful scoundrel, rather than someone bound by moral principles, professional ethics, and social responsibility who willingly bore certain invisible shackles.

Finding lost money and turning in one million dollars—if that were to happen all over again, Richie felt he would still do the exact same thing.

Richie sighed, then smiled helplessly. "Dove, I know how to write tonight's case report."

"Old Left and the others are enthusiastic citizens acting out of righteousness, right?"

"You are too."

Richie smiled and shook Luca's hand. "Old Dove, let's value harmony above all."

[Bond: Friends]

New skill [Turncoat] unlocked.

[Do you wish to expend 50 skill fragments to exchange for "Turncoat"?]

[Yes / No]

Yes!

[Exchange successful, skill added]

[Turncoat: You find it easier to persuade criminals; criminal trust +10%. If you are a government official member, when you turn a criminal, trust is additionally increased by 20%.]

[Remaining skill fragments: 53]

.......

"Shit!"

Black Sonny grumbled as he finished giving his statement to the police. "I've lived this long, and this is the first time I've been praised by the cops! It makes my whole body feel uncomfortable! I'm a robber, not a good Samaritan!"

Old Left was also feeling somewhat numb as he said to Luca nearby, "Dove, what did you say to the cops? Why are they being so generous to us? This statement reads so absurdly that even I feel ridiculous."

Donnie, standing to the side, was equally bewildered.

One of them robbed drugs, another possessed illegal firearms, and coupled with their Mafia identities, the police certainly wouldn't have minded dragging them to the station to extort a hefty bail. How could they let them off so easily?

Not to mention calling it acting out of righteousness!

When Donnie had been writing his statement just moments ago, he had almost burst out laughing. He had never once acted out of righteousness back when he was an FBI agent, yet after becoming a mafioso, he was actually praised by the police!

Luca shrugged. "Didn't you spell it all out clearly in your statements? That's just how I talked to the cops... Relax, guys, it was just casually cooking up an excuse to let you off. The result is good, isn't it?"

Listening to this, the group felt something wasn't quite right, yet they didn't seem to want to refute it either. A strange feeling hung in the air, making them feel that what Luca said was indeed just the way things were.

Luca glanced at the [Turncoat] skill. This wasn't turning a criminal; this was pure hoodwink skill.

"Alright, alright," Old Left patted Luca's shoulder with a sigh of mixed feelings. "You kid really know how to get things done, your connections are this solid! Even an outrageous excuse like acting out of righteousness is something the police will play along with for you!"

"I am an ambassador of peace, after all. In the Bronx, the police have to give me at least a little face," Luca countered. "Wasn't what you guys did tonight an act of righteousness? Wasn't this defending peace? You helped the police intercept a vicious drug dealer!"

The group fell into an awkward silence: "......"

You ambassador of peace really don't blush when you say things like that!

Old Left pulled Luca into an embrace, patting him on the back. "Anyway, Dove, thanks to you tonight. I really didn't want to take a trip down to the police station."

"Old Left, you're my uncle, a good friend my dad spoke of fondly right up until the day he died!" Luca wrapped an arm around Old Left's shoulder. "From now on in New York, if you ever need anything, come find me."

Old Left laughed. "I truly regret not baptizing you. Come to my house another day and try my cooking. Your dad yearned for my cooking for all those years and never got to taste it, and I don't want you to miss out."

"Haha, alright. Food that made my dad yearn for it even on his deathbed must be amazing! Old Left, why don't you just come be the chef at my club in the future?"

"You kid are even greedier than your dad!"

[Bond: Close Friend]

Luca checked Black Sonny's bond again—still friends, while Donnie remained merely familiar.

Ah, Old Left, you're truly the most straightforward one!

Another skill unlocked—[Emotional Corrosion].

Luca thought to himself that tonight was truly a bountiful harvest. With this skill, he could consider himself to have taken a major step toward becoming a Godfather.

Suddenly, Sonny interrupted uncle and nephew, "Can someone take me to the hospital first? There's still a damn bullet in my thigh!"

Should've said so earlier; he was acting way too much like a tough guy, enduring it in total silence... Only then did the others snap back to reality, quickly stuffing Sonny into the car and heading straight for the hospital.

As they drove past a bridge, Luca, behind the wheel, raised his chin at the sprawling, colossal city looming ahead. Amidst the bizarre, flickering neon lights of the towering skyscrapers, he fancied he saw a colorful dove stepping upon the head of a bald eagle.

Some wished to progress, others wished to hold the line, and this city had never lacked idealists writing their own stories.