When Joe Ga and his companions were escaping, the lawyer who had entered the prison called someone immediately after finding out about old Mori's death..."Old Mori is dead, the Catania SWAT has already sealed off the area around the prison.
What were you all thinking? Why place bombs on the San Pedro Bridge? Now it is completely blocked off."
"......"
"What? It wasn't you? Then it must have been the work of the person who assassinated old Mori.
Shit, get your men out of there fast, GIS is about to arrive, and if they encounter you, you're finished."
"......"
"Yes, yes, I will request to inspect old Mori's belongings and body, hoping that there are clues to the 'smuggling directory' among those items.
Yes! I will do my best, I know, you don't need to remind me that you have something on me, I've served your father for 20 damn years, and I know the importance of that item better than you do.
I just don't understand how you could let your eldest brother take away something so important."
"......"
"What do we do? You're asking me what to do?
Your father is dead, the case is temporarily closed, and the first thing you need to do is arrange a funeral for him, letting the other Sicilian families know that you haven't fallen."
"......"
"Yes, I know you want to negotiate, but without that 'smuggling directory', you don't even have a bargaining chip for negotiation, what will you use to talk with the Glorious Society?"
"......"
"I don't know, if it really comes to that, then you'll have to go to war.
You have no way out, I will arrange for little Anthony and the others to go to America.
I hope you can uphold the honor of the Mori Family!"
...........
Joe Ga and the others did not know that today the lawyer visited the prison to inform old Mori that it was no longer possible to be exonerated through normal legal procedures.
Therefore, the second son of the Mori Family had organized a squad, ready to intercept old Mori and rescue him during his medical bail application.
The reason they were so eager to extract old Mori was that he was the only person apart from the eldest son who still had control of the 'smuggling bible'.
It was the smuggling routes operated by the Mori Family for decades, and among the family's core members, only the eldest and the sixth were in charge of the smuggling business, and now they were both dead, along with old Mori, equating to the Mori Family's most profitable channel being lost.
Without external pressure, the Mori Family could use their own resources and manpower to slowly piece together the smuggling routes, which could at least save them some time to restart.
But now...
The already unstable Mori Family was pushed to the brink of desperation like this.
The remaining second son of the Mori Family now controlled most of the family's gunmen, and he had always been responsible for the forceful aspect.
The fourth and fifth sons were in charge of the nightclubs and drug trade, and their territories were now the main targets of the Glorious Society's attacks, suffering enormous losses.
The eldest daughter was in charge of the hotel and underground gambling businesses, and due to her connections with the Sicilian upper class, her operations were relatively stable; however, once the powerful second son fell, the stability of her domain would likely be in jeopardy.
A transaction in SD led the Mori Family to lose more than half of their power, and this kind of hatred was something they could never forget.
......
Compared to the chaos within the Mori Family, Joe Ga's group was much more stable.
After traveling about 6 kilometers north along the canal, Dorian took Joe Ga and the others ashore and then continued to drive the boat north to return it.
Last night, Dorian had disposed of his own car and returned Joe Ga's rental, then somehow acquired a minivan. Thus, all of their equipment and luggage were in this vehicle.
Karman's appearance was too conspicuous for driving a minivan in Italy, so Joe Ga took it upon himself to drive, letting Nis take the passenger seat. He then steered onto the highway, heading in the direction of Catania.
About 40 minutes into their highway journey, as they neared Catania, Joe Ga began to sense that something was amiss.
As they were about to enter the city, the traffic started to slow down and eventually came to a complete standstill.
Joe Ga stepped out of the car to take a look and saw that a checkpoint had been set up on the main road leading into the city, with a large number of police officers inspecting the vehicles passing through.
Recalling the firearms hidden in the car, he turned and said to Nis, "Go to the back seat. Stow all the weapons. If things go south, you'll enter the city on foot, and I'll find a place to meet up with you in the car."
Nis was about to retort when Joe Ga sternly cut him off.
"No time for nonsense. It's too risky for us to be together; we'd draw too much suspicion. If it's just me, I have a way to get through the checkpoint."
As Joe Ga was speaking, a helicopter suddenly flew over them, the same one they had seen before—an MH-90 tactical transport helicopter emblazoned with 'GIS'.
The helicopter circled above their heads for several seconds, then abruptly veered off to land in an open area beside the highway. As soon as the helicopter's doors opened, a six-member assault team jumped out.
Once the six-person team hit the ground, the helicopter took off again. The atmosphere became tense, as the helicopters' doors were left open, each side occupied by a 'Leather Headgear' wielding a machine gun.
The 'Leather Headgear' team, free from the helicopter's influence, quickly formed a tactical formation while on the move. Joe Ga watched nervously as they brushed past him with their guns drawn, starting to search along the congested line of cars.
As 'Leather Headgear' dressed in black combat gear and holding MP5s passed by, Joe Ga almost reached for his gun.
Realizing that the 'Leather Headgear' were not targeting them, Joe Ga let out a long sigh of relief, then turned and leaned into the car window to tell the others inside, "Put on hats and sunglasses. Don't grab your guns. They're not after us. Get out and we'll assess the situation."
Karman put on a baseball cap and a pair of Ray-Ban glasses gifted by his son, then took out a Glock 17 and tucked it into the back of his waistband. He was the first to open the door and move to the front of the car.
Watching Joe Ga, who was fixated on the 'Leather Headgear' and seemed a bit tense, old Karman said, "Boss, if there's trouble later, you take Devil Bird and Owl and get out. I'll take care of the stuff in the car."
Joe Ga was taken aback for a moment before putting on a pair of large sunglasses and replied irritably, "What do you think I do for a living? Do you think I care about those guns?
If nothing happens, you still proceed with the original plan and walk into the city. If something does happen, we'll decide based on the situation."
While Joe Ga was talking to Karman, Antar got out of the car on Joe Ga's side.
In the moment that the girl habitually looked around her surroundings, gunfire erupted from the line of cars behind them...
"Dada dada dada..."
A dozen gunmen armed with automatic rifles leaped from five cars, unleashing a barrage of gunfire at the six 'Leather Headgear', pinning them down and leaving them unable to raise their heads.
"Get down, get down!"
As bystanders in the middle of the road, who were watching the commotion, ran away screaming from stray bullets, Joe Ga swiftly pulled Antar down to crouch at the front of the car.
Glancing at Nis crawling towards them and Karman quickly moving to the rear of the car, Joe Ga said helplessly, "Try not to shoot if possible, but if you must, don't hesitate..."
Karman, crouched behind the car, replied in a muffled voice, "What if those 'Leather Headgear' start shooting at us?"
Joe Ga looked up at the circling helicopter and lamented, "Then we take them down.
But avoid it if we can. If they shoot, there's an RPG in the trunk; use it to scare off the helicopter, and we'll retreat towards the woods." Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.