Contact with the Rat's Den
I decided to leave the contact with the Rat's Den to Giovanni. He was the one who had suggested it in the first place, and he had more free time than the other wolves. In contrast, Sarina was going to be busy with the tasks that were about to begin, and Carso would be occupied helping Armo support Elena while also managing the wolves at the port.
"But are you really telling them to buy everything related to the five families?"
"It's not like their information will be all that different from what our own sources provide anyway."
"...Boss, still, the Rat's Den is pretty well-regarded on their side, isn't it?"
Cambara jumped into the conversation between me and Sarina. It looked like his call with Vanella had ended quickly. Sarina shot him a glare that clearly said he was overstepping, but I told her to let it go.
"They are well-regarded. Most of what they have is just eyewitness accounts, but since they're spread across the entire city, it's still useful."
In a way, their information was mostly just observation-based. On the other hand, our family's informants gathered intel directly from members or associates of the five families, making it the complete opposite of the Rat's Den. The problem was that the recent chaos had left even our informants struggling to obtain solid information. Even when they did manage to get something, it wasn't uncommon for the owner of a district to change within just a few days.
"Still, it's the Rat's Den. I'm sure they'll dig up something."
"If that's the case, I couldn't ask for more."
The short exchange ended there. After Sarina relayed my instructions to Giovanni, she began preparing to move out with her subordinate wolves and wolf trainees. While Sarina and I were away, I decided to leave the Academy in Cambara's hands.
"...."
"Sarina, it's written all over your face. You really don't trust Cambara that much?"
"I don't know. He just seems too soft for this kind of work."
"There's no one who starts out good at this stuff."
Killing one or two people doesn't make you used to it right away. Sometimes you can grow accustomed to it without needing to kill anyone yourself. Especially when you witness someone else's death—whether friend or foe—right beside you. Those indescribable emotions that exist on the boundary between life and death gradually wear away at a person's natural sensibilities, like sandpaper smoothing rough edges. Only after going through that process can someone truly pull their weight in the underworld.
It was a process that both I and the other wolves had already endured once.
"Luke, I'll head out right away then."
"Yeah."
Normally Sarina would have stuck close to me, but now she seemed impatient to leave the office as quickly as possible. Her desire to stretch her legs and get to work must have been that strong.
"Boss, should I talk to my brother as well?"
"No. Tell Gullyman to hold his position for now."
Gullyman had become a member of the Fellini Family, and his boss was now a caporegime of the family. Even so, his position as an outsider who had rolled in from the city's outskirts hadn't changed. For the time being, having him guard the northeast of Greenbug—his original territory—seemed sufficient. As long as I didn't break off the political marriage with Felicia, there was no chance of the Marinelli side launching an attack anyway.
*
Just as I had mentioned to the family's boss, Elena, Sarina and Vanella departed from the Academy and began advancing in different directions. Sarina and the wolves operated with extreme efficiency and thoroughness. Just as I had instructed, they targeted only the bosses or underbosses of the other organizations in South Woodlawn. Compared to what Sanchez had done—mobilizing large numbers of men and engaging in street battles with the police—this approach was far better. It would draw less attention from the police and other authorities, and the underlings could simply be absorbed afterward.
'Gang leader shot dead in front of his residence.'
'Found dead after being hit by six bullets in front of his home.'
'A bar owner discovered dead in front of his residence in River West.'
Although it had only been two days since we began our operations, the newspapers were already flooded with headlines like these. I was in the union office inside the Academy, going through the papers.
"Boss, my sister says we should use this opportunity to advance into North Woodlawn as well. What should we do?"
"...Fine. Tell her to go ahead."
Of course, I had no intention of leaving everything to Sarina and the wolves. To suppress and take control of North Woodlawn, we would need more numbers. Vanella and her subordinates were busy cleaning up River West, so they couldn't help Sarina's side either.
"Cambara, instead tell Sarina not to move immediately but to wait a little."
"Yes, understood."
While Cambara used the phone on his desk to relay my message to Sarina, I picked up the phone on my own desk and dialed someone. Naturally, I asked the operator to connect me to the right person.
"Yes, Underboss."
"Lumini."
The one who answered was Vincent Lumini. The port had remained under our family's control the entire time. Thanks to that, Lumini—who had claimed the northern port as his territory—wouldn't have to deal with the same troubles Gullyman had faced in Greenbug. When I asked him how things were in his district lately, Lumini replied that while there were some punks trying to eye the port from the north... it was remarkably peaceful.
"Then you should have some room to spare."
"Pardon?"
"I'd like you to help Sarina's wolves clean up North Woodlawn."
"...."
Lumini didn't answer right away. He was probably running calculations in his head even at that moment.
"Yes, that's possible."
After a brief pause, that was his answer. He then said he would send every available subordinate he could spare right away. The number came to about forty men. Considering he was still able to dispatch that many while leaving enough to guard the northern port... it seemed his forces remained intact despite the change in territories. He had been the first caporegime to join us after my father's death, but he was not a man to let one's guard down around.
As a reward for contributing to the cleanup of North Woodlawn, I planned to assign the northern port to one of Elena's suitable subordinates and give North Woodlawn to Lumini instead. Since North Woodlawn was much larger than the northern port, it wasn't a bad arrangement. Of course, it was a region that would require more stabilization than the northern port. Above all, pulling Lumini slightly away from both the port and Elena was the greatest benefit for me.
"Good. I'll let Sarina know as well, so I'll leave the rest to you."
"Yes."
After ending the call with Lumini, I asked Cambara whether his conversation with Sarina had gone well. He said she was currently waiting for Lumini's forces to move according to my instructions.
"Boss, does that mean after North Woodlawn we'll immediately advance into the central district of the city?"
"No, that's too soon."
We needed to move before the other five families could claim the central district. But judging from each family's current situation, they didn't seem ready to make any immediate moves toward the center. '....'
Considering how the Russo Family and the Carmen Family had approached the Academy, I couldn't let my guard down completely. Still, if I started considering every possible scenario, there would be no end to it.
"Then it will take some time."
I nodded at Cambara's words as if it were obvious. No matter how one looked at criminal organizations' territories as points and lines rather than surfaces, expanding into River West, South Woodlawn, and North Woodlawn meant claiming three entire districts. Stabilization would naturally require time. I already had some thoughts prepared regarding the distribution of the newly acquired territories. All that remained was to get Elena's approval.
*
Meanwhile, while Sarina and Vanella were rampaging across the city, Giovanni followed through on his suggestion and made contact with the Rat's Den, bringing back information related to the five families. To verify that information, I left the union office at the Academy after work and headed to the Rufus Carlton Hotel. It was Thursday, which meant it was the day I spent with Felicia—just like two days ago. She would probably be disappointed, but first I needed to go to Elena's suite on the top floor and check the information Giovanni had obtained.
"...."
What I hadn't expected was the sight of Elena and Felicia quietly waiting for me inside the suite.
"Nothing happened, right?"
"Yeah. Nothing happened."
Even I had to admit it was a rather stupid question. There was no way Elena and Felicia would tell me something had happened just because I asked.
"More importantly, I want to check this quickly and go back to my room."
"Just wait a little. You're so impatient."
"That's because I want to be alone with Luke in my room as soon as possible."
"...."
It seemed my earlier worry had been nothing but needless anxiety. Seeing the two of them return to their usual dynamic, I realized I felt relieved.
Ding-dong—!
A loud sound came from beyond the wall. It was the elevator announcing its arrival at the top floor.
"Looks like Giovanni's here too."
Instead of Elena or Felicia, I went to the entrance again and let Giovanni inside.
"Boss."
"How did it go? Did you get anything useful?"
"Yes, a little."
Giovanni's demeanor was unusually serious. He was normally moderately aggressive and moderately lazy, but when the situation called for it, he could switch to this serious mode in an instant. If Sarina was the radical and Carso was the moderate, Giovanni sat right in the middle.
"Miss, I'm here."
"Yeah, come on in, Giovanni."
I had Giovanni report the information he had obtained from the Rat's Den right away.
"Um..."
"Ah, don't mind Felicia."
No matter how much she was my wife, Felicia was still one of the key figures in the Marinelli Family. It seemed Giovanni found it somewhat inappropriate or unfamiliar to share the information he had gathered in front of her.
"Miss, is it really okay?"
"...Well, knowing won't change anything. It's fine, so just tell us."
"Yes, understood."
Elena didn't hesitate at all after hearing my words. Of course, she still showed clear signs of wariness toward Felicia.