The Mafia Empire

Jim immediately started struggling, but the steel hook, strong ough to hold up hundreds of pounds of meat, had pierced through his jaw, with the other d fasted to the chair. He couldn't ev op his mouth, let alone speak. His tongue was also pierced, leaving him unable to do anything but let out muffled whimpers and thrash his arms wildly.

It was at this momt that Jim realized the importance of losing weight.

The young waiter turned a, now standing behind Jim. Ignoring Jim's furious, wide eyed glare, he grabbed the unused knife from the table and stabbed it into Jim's neck. Blood gushed out instantly, steaming as it splattered onto the plate, mixing with the flavors of the barbecued ribs.

He stabbed Jim several times, the last one piercing his chest. After the vital blows, Jim's struggles surged momtarily before finally weaking. The attacker pulled out the knife, turned, and stabbed Jim's bodyguard in the chest twice. Th he and the other boy quickly fled. Only th did the nearby patrons, froz in shock, begin to scream.

The tire attack, from start to finish, had tak no more than t seconds—so fast that many people didn't ev realize what had happed before the two assailants had already run away.

The owner, who had be in the back showing his son how to grill ribs, rushed out in an apron. Wh he saw Jim's lifeless hands hanging at his sides, his vision darked, and his legs gave out beath him.

It was over. Jim was dead, and Wood would certainly seek revge!

The owner had lived through those times and knew that these people wer't nearly as glamorous as they seemed. Thinking about the consequces he might face, he felt as though his soul had left his body.

On another street, a group of people were gathered. These were the spies Wood had hired to collect information on Julian. However, all they had managed to gather so far was Julian's name, appearance, and age. Ev though this information had be repeated over and over, Wood didn't mind. He had Jiji distribute the paymt as promised.

Since Wood had begun his efforts to become a gtleman and ter high society, he had lost many things. Now, he regretted it, so he needed to spd ev more money to buy back what he had giv up.

After this incidt, he no longer wanted to be a gtleman. Perhaps he was better suited to being a thug, a villain, rather than a beast in gtleman's clothing.

"Mine…" A skinny man reached out to take his share of the money from Jiji, but Jiji pulled his hand back, causing the man to yelp in surprise.

These street wanderers were cheap—five dollars was all it took to buy information from them. Wood had raised the price, offering t dollars for each piece of information, ev if it was junk, which had driv the homeless and street drifters into a frzy. Seeing the stack of at least fifty dollars in Jiji's hand, the skinny man's facial muscles twitched, and a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes.

But Jiji wasn't afraid of these people. Ev if they ganged up on him, of them would dare touch him. Everyone knew Jiji was Wood's bodyguard, and challging Jiji meant challging Wood.

Ignoring the man's threating glare, Jiji said, "If you want money, fine, but if you give me garbage information like this again, don't expect to get a ct next time. Got it?"

The skinny man hesitated for a momt before the fiercess left his face, replaced with a flattering grin. "Got it, got it. Next time, I'll give you real information, or I won't take any money!"

Satisfied, Jiji handed him the money. The man quickly snatched it and walked out of the crowd, counting it twice before shoving it into his pocket with a grin.

As the crowd dispersed, the people were now ev more motivated to gather information for money. Just as Jiji was about to leave, a young man in a trch coat and peaked cap approached. Jiji took a second look because the young man was very handsome, with a bright, sunny demeanor.

No matter the era or cultural backg, face culture had always be mainstream—whether overt or covert, it never changed.

The handsome young man approached with a smile so warm that it made people feel at ease. Jiji had be about to leave but stopped because of the young man's smile.

The young man came up to him, smiling and nodding. "Are you Mr. Jiji?"

Jiji, normally a man of few words, surprisingly responded. "Yes, I'm Jiji. What do you want?"

The young man nodded vigorously. "Mr. Julian asked me to say hello to you!"

In the next second, the sight of the pistol emerging from the young man's pocket reflected in Jiji's terrified eyes. He tried to turn and flee, but no matter how fast he moved, he couldn't outrun a bullet.

A violt burst of air, tinged with mist, erupted from the pistol's barrel. Jiji could ev see the bullet spinning through the air.

With a sicking thud, a cloud of blood exploded next to Jiji's head, and his short, stocky body collapsed. The young man calmly approached and fired several more shots into Jiji's head until it was completely shattered. Th he pocketed the gun and swiftly left.

Jiji's lifeless body twitched on the g. The homeless and street drifters who had retreated earlier rushed back, crawling over his body to search his pockets for money.

As for what had just happed or what would happ next?

Who cared?!

A series of reltless assassinations instantly pushed Wood into an extremely passive situation. Julian struck him so hard that he saw stars. If it wer't for Robin suddly remembering that he had left his key at home and getting off that damn carriage, he might have already be reduced to a pile of ash!

From the momt Wood decided to have Graf's mother and brother captured, he had considered Julian's retaliation, but he never imagined that a young man he had never heard of, along with a group of youths, could act so ruthlessly and decisively! In just one day, apart from Jim and Jiji, three more captains fell to assassinations. The spread of rumors was far faster than anyone could have anticipated.

In less than an hour, certain people in the tire city of Ternell already knew that Wood was in a very dire situation!