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

Chapter 8 is always like this.
Compared to Luca, Lyon is truly elusive. Aside from working, he stays at home most of the time, occasionally going out to see a movie, usually a musical with few lines.

This is a man who has absolutely no social relationships other than the mission intermediary, and is even more reclusive than Matilda.

But Lyon is actually very soft-hearted, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the risk of opening the door for Mathilda.

He ultimately redeemed Matilda at the cost of his own life.

This killer is certainly not cold-blooded.

Luca opened the door first to prove he was a new resident, then turned around to greet Lyon, "Hello, I'm a new resident who just moved in."

His friendly smile caught Lyon's attention. He turned his sunglasses-wearing face, glanced at Luca, and then nodded indifferently.

"Hello."

With that one simple sentence, Leon brushed past Luca and headed straight for the room deep in the corridor.

There is absolutely no intention to have any further communication.

Luca smiled faintly, not caring. He knew that Lyon's cold personality was just a disguise and a protective shell.

No rush, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other gradually.

The next day.

Henry and Jimmy found Luca and brought him 500 million in cash. Luca kept some for himself and gave the rest to Mariggio as a gift.

That's how it works for peripheral members of the family. They pay the boss "protection money" so that the boss will protect them and shield them. He will let everyone in the area know that Luca Greco is backed by the Mafia family Marigio, so that no one will dare to touch Luca.

However, this does not mean that Luca is a family member. Their relationship is more like that of "partners." Mariggio would introduce some "business" to Luca, and Luca would share a portion of the money he earned with Mariggio.

Henry and Jimmy, too, had to pay protection money regularly.

This money has to be given because it's convenient to do things under the family's name, and people give face because of the family's reputation. Even the police treat them politely, so of course a portion of the money earned has to be given to those above them.

Maligi happily accepted the money, and casually inquired about the progress on Stan's end.

“I have some leads.” Luca still concealed Norman’s specific identity, only saying that he had found one of Stan’s informants, who could follow the trail to find Stan’s other drug hiding places.

Marigio had complete confidence in Luca's abilities and didn't ask many questions, only urging him on:

"Luca, you need to hurry. Your application has been preliminarily approved. You're now considered a new recruit, understand? You're practically part of the family. Complete this mission, and you'll officially join our cause!"

Marigio pointed to the street outside, "You'll also have a share of the business in Little Italy."

Luca is still interested in doing business. Fighting and killing is too tiring. It's much more comfortable to sit and count money.

Then we can only hope that Stan dies quickly.

The life of eavesdropping is always tedious, and Luca has to spend long hours lying in wait, eavesdropping on Norman's conversations.

Unfortunately, over the course of several days, all I overheard was the sound of neighbors arguing; there was hardly any quiet time. I didn't hear much about drug dealing.

There's not much progress here, but Luca and Matilda's relationship is getting closer and closer.

The little kid comes over to play whenever he wants, sometimes to watch TV, sometimes to freeload a meal, and he even brings his homework to do, claiming that it's quiet here and he won't be disturbed.

Luca, of course, welcomed it with open arms.

Her sister, Isa, often came over to visit, and even took the initiative to ask Luca out on dates.

And whenever this happened, Matilda would stand to the side, looking at her sister with disdain.

You think you're a toad trying to eat swan meat?

Every time Isa's dates failed, she would get furious and even believed that Matilda was behind it all, that she must have secretly said bad things about her to Luca and left a bad impression.

But she refrained from beating her sister because Luca said he didn't like violent girls.

The little brat has been having a much more comfortable time lately, at least he doesn't get beaten at home anymore.

A few days later, strangers visited Norman's house.

Luca overheard their conversation.

Stranger: "Dude, are you crazy? You dare touch Stan's stuff! Aren't you afraid of getting killed?"

Norman: "I don't understand what you're talking about."

Stranger: "Don't play dumb! I gave you 100% pure Blue Magic! You know what Blue Magic is, there's no better stuff in all of New York! But when I took it back, the purity was only 90%! Where did the other 10% go? Stan and the others have already found out!"

Norman: "What does this have to do with me? I'm just a trustee. I haven't touched anything you gave me. It was exactly the same when you took it from me."

Stranger: "It has nothing to do with you lying to me, but Stan will be coming for you soon! Listen, Stan's nose is sharper than a drug-sniffing dog, and your lies will fall flat in his face!"

Norman: "I really don't know. Get out! Who let you in?"

A loud slap, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps, and then Norman continued, "I swear! I absolutely didn't touch that shipment!" The stranger replied, "Norman, you won't admit it until you see the coffin. You'll regret this! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you."

Then the two had another argument.

Luca also picked up on something.

Norman knew perfectly well that he had embezzled the goods, and he knew that Stan would come after him, but...
Blue magic? That's not a very auspicious thing.

Luca was impressed; this stuff came from a Black family in Harlem, New York.

Luca had met the head of that black family once before.
With that in mind, he opened the panel.

[Character Card: Frank Lucas (Unlocked)]

[Frank: A]

[Source: American Gangster]

[Skills: Cross-border transportation, corruption infiltration]

[Bond: Strangers]

Luca stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Frank's brilliance lay in his connections with the U.S. military, which allowed him to fly directly to Vietnam, locate the source manufacturers in the Golden Triangle, obtain goods from the remnants of the Kuomintang forces, and then transport them back via U.S. military aircraft.

Guazi Used Cars. Wrong, it's about understanding the US, selling used US military aircraft, with no middlemen taking a cut.

With its high quality and low prices, Frank quickly captured the entire Harlem market and expanded its reach to New York City and several surrounding cities.

In addition, more than half of the police officers in the New York Police Department have taken money from him.

Now it seems that Stan, that bastard, even got his hands on Frank's stuff?
Just as Luca was pondering this, there was a sudden knock on the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Matilda standing outside, covering her nose, looking at Luca with a mixture of grievance and stubbornness.

Luca noticed the bloodstains between her fingers.

She is hurt.

“Luca, do you remember what you said? If my father hits me again, you will kill him.”

"remember."

Luca stepped aside. "Come in first, let me treat your wound."

Matilda's facial injuries weren't particularly serious; the blood was mostly from her nose. But the wounds in her heart were far more severe.

Luca knelt down in front of her by the sofa, wiped the blood off her face, and then applied ointment to the bright red five-finger marks on her face.

Matilda stared at Luca's face, which was so close to hers, for a long time.

She murmured:

"Luca, is life always this painful, or is it just like this when you're a child?"

"It's always like this."

Luca gently touched her face with his fingers, spreading the ointment evenly, and said with a smile, "Pain, like light, will never disappear, but we can learn to find our way in the dark."

He took a piece of candy out of his pocket and placed it in Matilda's palm.

Matilda gripped it tightly, but her voice softened, "Luca, you're so good to me."

"I just hope you won't be too pessimistic."

Luca clapped his hands and stood up. "You stay here, I'm going out to take care of something."

"Avenge me?"

"you guess?"

[Bond: Familiarity]

Apartment downstairs.

The stranger who had just spoken to Norman came out and drove away in a car parked on the side of the road.

At the same time, Luca started his car and followed behind.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Luca whistled and casually called two guys, "Guys, we've got some work."

(End of this chapter)