The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

The injured cat reminded Leo of his own situation.

If Salvatore and his gang have their eyes on him, it will be a huge problem.

He was all alone, with no local connections, and was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, strength, and status. He had to improve himself as soon as possible.

With that in mind, he opened the system panel.

As expected, I saw the notification that the [Limited-Time Task] had been completed.

He was still foolishly searching all over the village when he realized that someone had come to block the spring.

The host successfully resolved the violent brawl within the territory.

[System evaluation in progress...]

Overall rating: Pass

[Congratulations, host! Mission to resolve the firepower conflict is complete!]

[Host: Leo Volpe]

[Identity: Anonymous]

[Reputation: 9]

[Faction: 0]

[Skills: Precision strikes, torture to extract confessions]

"I have to deal with even stray cats fighting. I'm such a busy godfather..." Leo sighed helplessly.

Seemingly having heard Leo's complaints, several new lines of text gradually appeared below the panel.

You have received a task: Add a chair.

[Task Requirement: Recruit one family member]

[System Note: Count how many people are around you? Zero! One person's strength is a fist, ten people's strength is a wall, and a hundred people's strength is rules. You haven't reached that level yet, but you still have to take the first step. Once you have the first one, the second one won't be far behind.]

[Quest Rewards: Influence +1, Reputation +1 to 99999]

Leo's eyes widened instantly.

"99999 reputation? How many levels can that get me in [Precision Strike]?"

......

Leo had gotten up early the night before and was already incredibly sleepy.

Perhaps due to exhaustion, he began to hallucinate, but as he approached the shipyard, he heard laughter again.

But this time it's not for children... it's for adults.

After turning the last corner, Leo saw two people standing at the entrance of the shipyard.

One of them is Nicholas, the owner of a grocery store.

The other one I don't know.

"What's going on today? So many people have come to such a remote place..." Leo muttered to himself, cautiously moving forward.

Nicholas didn't wait for Leo to get close; he introduced him from a distance:

"This is Saville, the owner of the tobacco shop."

After saying that, he walked away slowly by himself, his hands behind his back.

Saville had sparse curly hair; a handful of unkempt cat hair on the floor was thicker than the hair on his head.

The glasses on his nose looked like the bottom of a beer bottle, with his eyes surrounded by countless circles, making them appear as two tiny dots, which, combined with his hairstyle, made him look somewhat comical.

"Is something the matter?" Despite Nicholas's explanation, Leo remained wary.

"Hello Mr. Volpe, I really do have something to discuss with you this time," Saville suddenly said, turning his head to the air. "You can go back now; I'll bring you a pack of cigarettes this afternoon."

Leo was stunned.

Dude, isn't your humor a bit over the top?

Who are you talking to?

"Nicholas is gone..." Lack of sleep caused Leo's brain to lose its ability to think.

"Oh, he's gone? That guy always walks so quietly. Let's get down to business." Savile turned around, without the slightest embarrassment. "I came to ask you if you'd like to subscribe to a newspaper?"

"A newspaper?" Leo was truly surprised that the other party had come for this matter.

However, during his time in Marzamemi, he didn't see any places selling newspapers, nor did he see anyone reading newspapers.

"Yes, newspapers!" Saville skillfully introduced, "The Palermo newspapers *Il Sicily* and *Present Tense*, and the Catania newspaper *Il Sicily*, would you like some?"

"Newspapers are sold at tobacco shops?" Leo asked the other person.

No wonder he didn't see any newspaper shops in the village; the tobacco shop was an area he hadn't unlocked.

Saville explained it in great detail:

"In small towns, a shop often has several different business identities. For example, my tobacco shop sells not only tobacco and alcohol, but also lottery tickets and newspapers. Of course, if you have any special needs, even if my shop doesn't sell them, I can order them for you for an extra 5%."

After he finished speaking, he added:

"The villagers often ask me to help them order things."

Leo was grateful for Xavier's initiative in providing the information, but he had no intention of subscribing to the newspaper.

"Okay, now I know I can buy newspapers at the tobacco shop. I'll go if I need to."

Savile shook his head and said apologetically:

"In small towns, not many people pay attention to national affairs, and newspapers have time limits. If they don't sell, they'll be stuck with the stock. So if you want to read the newspaper, you have to subscribe in advance, and it has to be a monthly subscription. Please understand the helplessness of a small vendor."

Leo nodded in understanding and asked:

"What's the price?"

Saville smiled, his eyes appearing even smaller behind his glasses:

"The Sicilian Daily and the Sicilian Daily cost 42000 lira per month, and the Current Times cost 48000 lira per month. Your newspaper will arrive in Marzamemi at 5 a.m. every day, and you can know about the world's major events by 6 a.m.."

Saville's words reminded Leo of those luxury mansion videos he used to see on short video platforms.

The guy in the suit inside started speaking as soon as he opened his mouth:

"President, this is your 1000-square-meter detached, fully-furnished villa..."

The products being sold may differ, but the underlying logic remains the same.

Although he was tempted, Leo felt a pang of regret at spending so much money at once.

Saville, on the other side, didn't want to give Leo too much time to think and continued his sales pitch:

"Marzamemi is a small place, and people don't care much about what's happening outside. By subscribing to the newspaper, you'll be among the first people in the village to have access to important information. I don't need to give you examples of how important that is, do I? Someone of your status should understand its significance."

My child, your godfather agrees with what you said.

Someone in my position should indeed have firsthand information, especially at this crucial moment when the government is about to crack down on the fishing industry.

"What's the difference between the Sicilian Daily and the Sicilian newspaper?" Leo asked.

Saville replied:

"The Sicilian Daily focuses more on local issues, while the Sicilian Daily has more world news sections."

"Then I'll subscribe to the Sicilian Daily for a month." Leo took out some money from his pocket.

Worried that Saville's eyesight was poor, he deliberately handed them over slowly, one by one.

"1 million..."

"2 million..."

Before the money was even fully paid, Saville pulled out exact change from his pocket and handed it over without even checking it.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Volpe."

......

Lunchtime.

"What? Why didn't you tell me about something this important sooner?" Nicholas asked, looking shocked.

His wife, Veronica, complained unhappily:

"You never said you cared about Leo, how was I supposed to know you were so concerned about him?"

Nicholas rarely went to the fish market; his wife Veronica usually went to buy things in the mornings.

During lunch, she shared the "big event" that happened at the fish market that day with her husband, and Nicholas became anxious after hearing it.

"But the fact that he can catch crabs means my deduction was wrong. I told others this morning that Leo wasn't penniless, and I even swore that they would curse me behind my back for being 'too clever' once they found out the truth!" Nicholas was extremely annoyed.

The crabs in that pot were actually caught by Leo, not bought.

Veronica took away his cutlery and plates:

"Haven't you done enough self-righteous things? Instead of thinking about how to make more money, you're researching useless things."

"Even you think that about me?!" Nicholas protested loudly. "Sooner or later, you'll understand how intelligent your husband is, not just 'pretentious'!"

......

Nicholas had long since run out of cigarettes, but he dared not go to the tobacco shop, fearing that Savile would "mock" him for his accurate judgment of people.

He waited until two or three in the afternoon before nervously going in and asking a question as if nothing had happened:

"How was your morning?"

Savile was doing his accounts when he heard the question. He stopped and confidently replied:

"What else could we do? Of course, we've got it sorted out!"

"You got it done?" Nicholas asked incredulously. "You really managed to sell those unsold newspapers?"

Saville laughed twice:

"Of course, you're right for once. Leo isn't broke; he ordered a whole month's worth!"

Nicholas pulled a newspaper from the counter by the door, rolled it into a barrel shape, and banged it on his head several times.

hiss.......

There aren't even 10 people buying newspapers in the village every day.

So it was just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

Does this place really have economic strength?

Thinking of this, he turned to ask Saville:

"Aren't you afraid Leo will find out the newspapers are right here... there's no need to order them in advance?"

Saville adjusted his glasses:

"First of all, Leo has never been to the tobacco shop, and he probably never will; secondly, I didn't lie to him. I only order 10 copies of the three newspapers a day, and even that's not enough to sell them all... If he subscribes to the newspapers, he'll be the person in the village with the most firsthand information. I'm doing this for his own good, and he might even thank me later!"