I nodded to the stone, and immediately Scorpion and the others came up, gagged Xiao Ruan again, tied her up, and threw her back into the corner.
As I stepped out of the cellar, I asked Stone, "Where is that woman?"
Stone said slowly, "They're right next door, still alive. But..."
I nodded. In this situation, the woman's mental state had most likely collapsed. Women's bodies are inherently weaker than men's, and here, imprisoned, she's pregnant…
I sighed: "Let's release her after this is all over. As for now, it's not that we're heartless, it's just that we can't release her now."
After a pause, I slowly said, "I don't like to harm the innocent. Last time at Xiao Ruan's house, I could have used some methods to make him submit. But now that he has submitted, we don't need to torture a pregnant woman... She has been given enough food and water. As long as she can get through this, she'll be lucky to survive."
Stone's face remained calm. We came out and stood outside the lighthouse, enjoying the sea breeze.
The two men smoked for a while, and then Stone suddenly said, "Someone will be coming in the next couple of days."
His words seemed disjointed, but I immediately understood what he meant.
"Oh." I smiled. "You sent someone from your side?"
"Hmm." Stone seemed a little uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact with me and turning his head away. "The family... sent someone to attend Eighth Master's funeral and pay their respects."
"Yes, that's to be expected," I said with a calm smile. "It's perfectly reasonable."
Stone paused for a moment, his eyes still fixed elsewhere, then slowly said, "I... cough cough!" He coughed, as if making up his mind, then looked at me deeply: "You are a very good person."
"Thanks."
"Regardless, we are all from the same school." Stone carefully chose his words: "Harmony is of utmost importance."
"Peace is the most important thing." I smiled and extended my hand to him. He didn't hesitate. He seemed relieved and shook my hand firmly.
Peace is the most precious thing...
Hey!
I showed no outward expression, but inwardly I sighed.
How could I not want peace? It's just that at this crucial moment, the fact that a large group from Asia sent people... I'm afraid their purpose isn't as simple as just offering condolences for the Eighth Prince!
The rest of the day was quite carefree for me.
On the streets of Vancouver, police cars patrolled back and forth, their sirens blaring. The crackdown on organized crime was nearing its end, but the scale of the operation remained impressive. Police officers throughout Vancouver were working overtime.
As for me, I hid in the repair shop, still locking the gate, and forbidding anyone in the family from going out freely.
The old gym had been turned into a funeral parlor. So I simply cleared out a storage room, cleaned it up, and turned it into the new gym.
These nearly two hundred men in my household are all excessively energetic. I might as well let them exert themselves more in the gym and release their excessive energy.
I wasn't fully recovered from my injury, so naturally I wouldn't go down and try to outmuscle these guys. But I managed to get Xiluo and Hammer into the gym.
As for me...
I'm fine. I'm in my room, talking to Yan Di and Qiao Qiao.
I have another task: to feign illness.
Doug has invited me to the police station. But I declined, saying I was injured and unable to move around easily.
I know this guy is eager to get Xiao Ruan. He's about to take power and needs to immediately deliver a brilliant achievement to win people over!
At this moment, the credit for "capturing the terrorist leader" is undoubtedly the most appropriate.
But I haven't caught the biggest fish, Da Ruan, with my small Ruan yet. Of course, I can't give him the person now.
Doug was anxious, and actually, I was a little anxious too.
Da Ruan hasn't contacted me all day. Logically speaking, he gave me the traitor, killed Cobra, and subdued the ransom collector long ago... Doesn't he want his brother dead?
Police have cordoned off the train station, airport, and dock. I believe Da Ruan can't escape.
As for me, I'm more concerned about the sea route. I'm pretty sure that Da Ruan will most likely choose to leave Canada by smuggling people out by sea.
But just as I was anxiously waiting, I received a strange guest... and this guest unexpectedly helped me open a loophole in this matter!
Looking at the tall, thin man in front of me...
He was about forty years old, with long hair tied in a neat ponytail. He had a shiny forehead, a high nose, and somewhat sunken eyes with green pupils. His face was rather long and thin.
He looked like a typical Mediterranean person. One of my men just told me someone came to visit, which I found odd. What's even stranger is that it was a white man.
However, I still met him in my office.
This man had a strange demeanor, a hint of cunning, yet he appeared quite sincere... More importantly, he had a thuggish air about him, clearly not a good person. But then, he wore a cross around his neck.
He took two of his men with him, both of whom stayed outside. I also sent my men out.
Only the two of us remained in the office.
“Hello. Respected Mr. Chen Yang.” The man’s English had a heavy accent, which sounded a bit odd, but I could still tell… he was of Italian descent. Sure enough, he smiled slowly and said, “I am Giarni Arbetoni.”
Abbottoni?
A thought struck me, and I took a closer look at the guy.
Of course I know the name Albertoni.
I remember that night, in order to track down the Vietnamese, I broke into a restaurant and accidentally discovered that the pizzeria was actually a small stronghold of the Italian Mafia... The restaurant owner even misunderstood that I was targeting their organization, and the two sides almost had a misunderstanding.
The Italian Mafia, infamous worldwide, is naturally a notorious criminal organization.
However, despite its vast size, the Italian Mafia's organization is quite peculiar.
To put it simply... there are countless gangs around the world that use the name "Italian Mafia," but they are scattered all over the world and are not subordinate to each other... Their names are also varied, and each organization is an independent "family," and many "families" are even hostile to each other.
However, outsiders commonly refer to this type of organized crime group as the "Italian Mafia".
I don't deny that there are several very powerful Italian Mafia "families" in the world!
However, this Albertoni is an exception.
Albertoni was at best a second- or third-rate figure in Vancouver's underworld.
Part Two: The Road to Success, Chapter Sixty: Even Heaven Is on My Side
In Vancouver's underworld, Italians don't wield much influence. Simply put, there are traditional white gangs, and Italians are a small part of Vancouver's population. Naturally, they can't wield much power.
Basically, Vancouver's underworld is divided into two parts. One part is the white-collar underworld, naturally led by the Hells Angels. However, unfortunately, in this unrest, Mr. Thorin, the leader of the Hells Angels, adopted a strategy of retreat... He is focused on clearing his name. With such a major disturbance in Vancouver, such a large-scale gang riot, he didn't want to get involved, so throughout the entire process, he not only didn't intervene, but simply chose to "retreat."
This strategy is similar to the one I adopted. I abandoned almost all the peripheral territory and brought all the core members back.
Thorin, on the other hand, did it even more decisively than I did!
In the past, whenever there was a major disturbance in the underworld, Thorin would step in and use his influence, as the top dog in the Canadian underworld, to suppress the unrest. This method had always been very effective. But this time, I caused too much trouble; almost overnight, I turned the whole of Vancouver upside down!
Gang violence has become a huge social problem! In this context, a police station bombing has occurred, escalating the gang issue into a "terrorism" problem.
In this way, not only would Thorin not want to get involved... even if he wanted to, he wouldn't dare to!
He's currently doing everything he can to clear his name, desperately trying to align himself with the mainstream and curry favor. Under these circumstances, Vancouver has become a murky pool... and he doesn't want this murky water to tarnish the reputation he's worked so hard to restore.
So, despite the uproar in Vancouver these past few days, Thorin has remained uninvolved. He even gave up several pieces of land in Vancouver.
With Thorin's withdrawal from the white-dominated underworld in Vancouver, the rest of the criminal organization has lost its influence.
Another major criminal organization in Vancouver that wields significant influence is the immigrant community from various countries.
Chinese gangs, large circles, Vietnamese gangs, Iranian gangs, Indian gangs, Arab gangs... these "multinational forces" composed of gangs from various countries account for more than 70% of Vancouver's underworld influence.
The man in front of me, Albertoni, had an Italian-American gang under his command, the so-called "Italian Mafia," though it was just a small, insignificant organization.
His organization belonged to the white underworld of Vancouver, but within that white underworld was the Hells Angels, the Canadian leader. Organizations like Abbottoni's could only be allocated a very small space to survive.
If the Italian Mafia families in the United States are world-renowned mafia giants... then the small Mafia family led by Albertoni in front of me is not even a broken boat.
He gave me his name, and I immediately remembered that night when I had stumbled upon the restaurant, which was a gang stronghold of Albertoni's men.
At the same time, the extent of Abbottoni's organization's power immediately flashed through my mind.
This guy is a drug dealer who also does a little smuggling. But it's all small-scale, just petty operations. He has fewer than thirty core members under him. He controls a nightclub, the kind that's a low-end strip club.
To put it simply, given our different statuses, he has to look up to me!
“Oh, Mr. Albertoni,” I said calmly, fiddling with my fingers, “I don’t think we have any connection… What brings you here today?”
“Oh, Mr. Chen Yang. I believe in one thing… friendship can be built!” His tone was very polite, even with a hint of respect: “A few days ago, I think there was some misunderstanding between us…”
“Oh.” I interrupted him, saying calmly, “It was just a misunderstanding. I didn’t know it was your property before I visited that restaurant last night. I went there for other things. I didn’t mean anything by it, so you can rest assured.”
“Of course!” Albertoni smiled, revealing a set of white teeth as he grinned. “I’m here today for friendship.”
I remained noncommittal, gesturing for him to continue.
"I think the unrest in Vancouver is about to end... Anyone with eyes can see that the Vietnamese are finished. Those Indians, Arabs, and Iranians, they can't see the situation clearly, and they will be crippled by the police! I think, dear Mr. Chen Yang, if I'm not mistaken, Vancouver will undergo a reshuffle... and after the reshuffle, I'm afraid that you, Mr. Chen Yang, will be in charge of this path from now on."
I just smiled and didn't say anything.
I admit I enjoyed his flattery. But flattery is still just flattery.
"Tell me your purpose. My time is precious," I said indifferently.
Don't call me arrogant, it's because I have the right to be arrogant!
“Cooperation.” Albertoni was completely unfazed by my cold attitude; instead, he became even more enthusiastic. “I hope to cooperate with you! You should understand one thing… cooperating with the strong is a sure-fire way to make money! And right now, in all of Vancouver, you are the strong one!”
A smart person.
At least he could see the situation clearly and predict that in the future, Vancouver would probably be dominated by our big circle... His judgment was quite accurate.
"Cooperation?" I laughed.
Indeed, he's very clever, but that doesn't mean I'll necessarily cooperate with him... After all, he's not the only clever person. Once the storm passes, everyone will see our strength! Then, deciding who to cooperate with and what to do... won't be a problem at all?
“I’m sorry.” I said slowly, expressionless, “Excuse me for being frank… but from my perspective, I don’t believe your organization is capable of cooperating with me.”
I phrased it subtly, but he should understand. In short… his organization is too weak. So weak that I can almost ignore it. Considering the number of his subordinates, his territory, his strength… even if he offered himself up to me, I'd have to consider whether he's worth accepting…
Cooperation? Cooperation is only possible when the two sides are roughly equal in strength!
Have you ever seen Microsoft engage in business cooperation with those roadside computer parts vendors selling cheap, unbranded items?
“Oh…I think our cooperation will be very valuable!” Albertoni was not discouraged at all.
Actually, I know... this guy. He's just trying to take advantage... He's convinced Vancouver is going to be his territory... so he wants to hitch a ride! To climb up to a big tree!