You don't even want to call me godfather

"Is it from the government?" Dana asked tentatively. Seeing that Koshe didn't refute, she continued, "It seems that you have made up your mind. Have you thought about revenge? As far as I know, you are not the kind of person who will let reality take its course."

"The death of the Godfather will not be let go so easily," Koshe said firmly, holding the wine glass, "I will make them pay the price, and blood debt will be paid with blood."

"What about the consequences?" Dana continued to ask, "Now that the pressure from the Godfather is gone, the government will definitely try every means to target the Cascade family. The relationship between the family and the government is also in a shaky state. Have you thought about the consequences of failed revenge?"

Koshe was silent for a moment, then he raised his head and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, then smashed the glass on the bar.

"If I fail, what do I have to lose?"

Now he has nothing, but he is not afraid of failure, or rather, he will not let himself fail. No matter who killed the Godfather, whether it was the government or William, he would make them pay for the Godfather's death.

"Well, this is the Koshei I know." Dana returned to her carefree look. She patted Koshei's back vigorously and said, "Then I'll be leaving first. I just returned to Syracuse and have a lot of things to deal with."

"The boss just came back, are we leaving now?"

Jill asked as she took Dana's glass away.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't leave Syracuse in the short term," Dana put out her cigarette, stood up, and said, "Koshei, if you need me, you can hire me as a thug."

"If it really comes to that, I will call you."

Koshe smiled and agreed.

"By the way, that bag contains a gift for you, Koshei, remember to check it. No need to thank me!"

Dana trotted out of the bar, and Koshe picked up the bag from the ground.

In the bag were several short knives in sheaths, with words engraved on the handles that he couldn't understand, but at the end of those words, there was a sentence like this:

Presented to Koshe Cascade, the future godfather.

"This guy...really is..."

Chapter 45: Covering Up Mistakes

After leaving the bar, Koshe called Jose.

After learning that there were no problems with the transfer of the godfather's body, Jose asked Koshei whether an autopsy should be performed.

After more than ten seconds of silence, Koshe agreed.

At the same time, he instructed Jose to pay a considerable amount of compensation to the families of the medical staff who were killed in the hospital that night, and to ask for their permission to perform an autopsy.

Jose did so, and although the responses he received were few and far between, they were enough.

Just the autopsy report is enough.

"Squeak-"

Pushing open the heavy iron door, Koshe walked into the morgue, where Jose was already waiting for him.

Waiting with him was a forensic doctor.

"What's going on, Jose?"

"Currently, there are only four bodies whose families have agreed to undergo an autopsy. Their families also want to know the truth," Jose reported, and introduced the forensic doctor next to him to Koshe. "This is Doctor Charles, and he is also from our Cascade family."

"Charles, nice to meet you."

Koshe stepped forward and held out his hand.

"I have long admired you, Godson."

Charles shook Koshe's hand and then let go.

"Tell me the results of the tests so far."

"Let's talk about the Godfather's condition first." Charles pushed his glasses, took out a piece of paper from a folder in his hand and handed it to Koshe. "I checked the Godfather's whole body and didn't find any external injuries, so I suspect there is a possibility of poisoning. Further examination is needed, and this will take time."

"Jose, when is the Godfather's funeral scheduled?"

Koshe took the report and looked at the organized information on it. There was a lot of information, but it was also very concise. He asked Jose.

"There are no arrangements yet, but the relevant personnel can be in place at any time. We are all waiting for your opinion, brother."

Jose replied.

"Then tomorrow afternoon. We will hold a joint press conference with the government at noon tomorrow. Bring more people with you," Koshe said, and motioned to Charles, "Go on."

"Although we haven't obtained the consent of all the families of the four medical staff for an autopsy, it is enough," Charles took out a few more reports from the folder. Considering that it would be too troublesome to show all of them to Koshei, he directly told the news he had compiled. "The four medical staff died at almost the same time, and they all suffered fatal injuries. The degree of blood coagulation also ruled out the possibility of poisoning to cover up the cause of death."

"I have something to say about this," Jose suddenly said, "Regardless of whether the murderer is Lappland or not, judging from the time of death alone, it is difficult for one person to kill all the medical staff in the hospital at the same time. Moreover, how did the murderer know the whereabouts of everyone and kill them without even having the chance to call for help? So I guess the murderer may have committed the crime in a group."

"Lappland won't cooperate with others," Koshe thought as he held the godfather's report. "I know her. She's not someone who would rely on others. She's a lone wolf. Even if she wants to carry out this operation, she will rush in alone."

"Yes, that's what I mean." Jose looked at Koshei and continued, "In Syracuse, apart from our family, there is only one force that has this kind of mobility and intelligence capabilities - the government."

"William Patrick," Koshe agreed. "The Godfather said that he is a man who will do anything for his own benefit, so he cannot be ruled out as a suspect."

Charles, who was standing by, felt a little embarrassed as he listened to their conversation.

Based on just the time of death and the cause of death, the two men directly deduced the identity of the suspected murderer, which really made him sweat.

"The family's followers probably don't know yet," José frowned, covering the lower half of his face with one hand, "Do I need to tell them?"

"No, it's not the right time yet," Koshe said. "At this point in time, some of the party members must be very angry. If they learn the truth, they will definitely attack the government. Besides, the citizens should be in chaos now. We can't let Syracuse become more chaotic before things calm down."

"Yes, I understand," José agreed, and then asked, "What do you mean by bringing more people to the government press conference tomorrow afternoon?"

"We need to prevent the government from making a fuss. If they get mad, they won't be easy to deal with. After all, the power of Syracuse is still in their hands."

"Is this so..."

"Then Jose, you should prepare for the godfather's funeral first. Charles, can the autopsy report be out by tomorrow afternoon?"

Koshei ordered.

"Yes, we just need to collect blood samples and examine the internal organs," Charles replied, but then he remembered something, "By the way, what about these four bodies...what do the families say? They want to know the truth, but this truth is a little too exciting for them."

"Half true, half false. Let's not reveal the government's involvement in this matter for now. The rest is up to you. The consolation money has already been sent to Joseph. Just consider it as the money they paid for working for the Cascade family."

Koshe threw the stall to Charles, but Jose also found that Koshe seemed a little different from before?

Money to buy a life, he would never say such words before, although it is true, but it is just some obscure things, there are obviously better ways to express it, but why...

Recalling Koshe's tiredness when he came to the hospital early this morning, his anxiety and disappointment when he asked about Destiny, and the fact that he hadn't seen Destiny for the past two days, Jose could vaguely guess something.

Koshei, the pressure and blows he endured were far greater than those of his party members.

Perhaps compared to before, Koshei has grown up, but as one of the cadres of the Cascade family, Jose does not want Koshei to grow up in this way in the end.

This is so unfair.

"Jose."

"exist."

"Keep an eye on the Godfather."

"……Yes."

Koshe has said this to him many times in the past few days.

He promised every time with a solemn oath, but in the end, the godfather's death was inseparable from his negligence.

If he had not left the ward because of the power outage, if he had stayed in the ward, by the Godfather's side, perhaps the murderer would not have been able to get close to the Godfather and would not have been able to commit the crime.

Sometimes now, he couldn't even raise his head in front of Koshei. Even though Koshei didn't blame him or even said a word about it, he knew how much responsibility he had.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything that comes next, Jose."

As if he could see what was on Jose's mind, or perhaps he was just trying to comfort him, Koshe patted him on the shoulder and said.

“Ah, ah… um…”

In the past, as a cadre, he often stayed in the jazz club in Koshei to slack off.

Now, he is busy with the Godfather's affairs. When the Godfather was alive, he did not make enough contributions. After the Godfather died, he was busy just because of guilt.

Covering up his mistakes with busyness.

Koshei, Jose didn't want to let him down again, not to mention that Koshei was the next godfather.

Therefore, as long as he is still here, Koshei will be the eternal godfather.

Looking at Koshei, José thought so.

Chapter 46: Improvisation

Koshe stood on the street, looked at the empty streets, and took a deep breath.

"It's really quiet."

Msisha looked at the outside world through the eye contact with Koshe and sighed.

"You seem to appear less and less these past two days, Msisha."

Koshe stood there gloomily, and he didn't seem to want to talk.

"It's not just you humans who are busy. Sometimes I also need to take care of things."

Koshe didn't hear anything Msisha said.

After Jose announced the news of the Godfather's death this morning, the people of Syracuse seemed to be mourning for the Godfather. They stayed indoors and many jobs granted leave to their employees.

On the streets now, apart from Koshei, there are basically only a few people to be seen.

Perhaps this just reflects the influence of the Godfather in Syracuse and the Syracuse people's reverence for him, but the more this is the case, the more uncomfortable Koshe felt.

The Godfather has gained the respect of the people of the entire country through his own efforts, but Koshei may never be able to reach that level.

He was only eighteen years old and had just passed his coming-of-age ceremony some time ago. Yes, he was indeed the next godfather, but he didn't know if he was qualified to take this position at this age.

He didn't know if he could defeat the cunning old man William.

"Come to think of it, I've been wanting to ask you a question for a while now."

"what?"

"Can you bear the price of becoming the Godfather?"

"If you come out now just to piss me off, I advise you to stop talking."

“No, maybe you misunderstood me,” Msisha said. “I just want to say that it’s up to you to choose whether you want to continue to stay in the lies of self-indulging or to face the reality.”

"..." Msisha's words made Koshe silent for a moment, but he immediately said, "Tomorrow, um, tomorrow at noon, many citizens of Syracuse should be present at the press conference, and government officials will also be here."

"You want me to help you find the person who kidnapped you last night."

Msisha said, knowing what Koshei was thinking.

"Well, since we can confirm that he is a government agent, it shouldn't be difficult to find him through the smell you remember. If that person thinks I won't kill someone in front of the crowd, then he is underestimating Cascade."

"Yes, it seems that you are still sober," said Msisha with relief, "You now feel a little similar to Ulysses back then. I mean a little."

"No need for you to repeat yourself, Msisha. I know I am far inferior to the Godfather now," Koshe said solemnly and firmly, "but all this will change, or I will change it myself. The Cascade family will not allow anyone to ride on our heads."

"During the decades that I spent with your father, I once read a record in a book. In that record, there was a country with a proverb, 'Where the wolf's ears are visible, the wolf's fangs are waiting for an opportunity to move.'"

"It means that you should always be alert to your surroundings. I have read that book. My godfather showed it to me. Although it is just a fairy tale, many of the words in it do make sense."

Koshe said.

"What plans do you have? What plans do you have for the person you're looking for?"

"I prefer to improvise rather than plan. Sometimes, plans can never keep up with changes. I have to adapt to unexpected things and think of ways to deal with them in a short time, no matter what they are."

"Why is it that even the way you talk has become strange?"

Msisha was full of doubts about Koshe's subtle changes.

"Perhaps if I put it another way, you will understand it more easily."

……

A few minutes later, Koshei was standing on the top floor of a clock tower, overlooking the country.