Gang Fight

Inside Mulligan Bar—Nico's base of operations—around half a dozen people were gathered at a large table. The rest of the bar had been emptied out, except for the bartender, who also worked for Nico.

Everyone was intently listening to the information that David had gotten from the informant just a while back. It only took him a few minutes to recount everything he had heard.

After he finished speaking, a few seconds of silence ensued. Everyone at the table turned to look at Nico, awaiting his decision. Nico, on the other hand, thought for a long time, then asked, "So, you're saying those bastards are only a couple of blocks away from us?"

David nodded with a solemn expression. "That's what the guy told me. And I'm pretty sure he was telling the truth."

One of the associates sitting at the table, Roberto, couldn't help but curse, "Fuckin' hell! Those assholes have been hiding right under our noses all this while."

The other associates nodded and displayed their discontentment by cursing out aloud. One of them looked at Nico and urged, "Boss, let's go guns blazing and blow their brains out."

Nico shook his head. "Don't be stupid. Murder in the middle of Manhattan? If we were in the outskirts or by the docks, we could get away with killing them."

"Boss, we don't even need to kill them. I believe beating them to within an inch of their lives and sending them back to the Buccantis would send an even stronger message," David proposed.

"Oh!" Roberto was pleasantly surprised. "That isn't a bad idea at all. Looks like the Bricklayer ain't just all brawn and no brain, after all."

David rolled his eyes at him and turned his attention back to his Boss, who nodded with approval. "That was indeed what I was thinking as well. And since we know where they're hiding, we can take them by surprise."

After thinking of a plan for a few more minutes, Nico looked at one of the associates and instructed, "Carl, go scout the area first. Confirm their location, and tomorrow at midnight we can attack their base."

"Yes, boss!" Carl, a skinny blond youth, got up from his seat and immediately left the bar to complete his task while the rest of the associates, along with Nico, also dispersed. Tonight, they would be going to bed peacefully, but tomorrow night, there would be carnage.

…

Outside an auto shop in Hell's Kitchen, two people were standing and chatting with each other. One was a young man in his twenties with black hair, and the other was a youth with brown hair. They were Roberto and David, respectively.

Since the two of them were the best when it came to combat, Nico had ordered them to attack the people from the Buccanti Family that were hiding in the shop.

Since Nico was only a soldier in the Rossetti Family, he didn't have a large number of people under him, only five. Three of them were currently standing guard at all the exits of the large auto shop.

Roberto finished smoking his cigarette and stubbed it on the ground. He looked at David and grinned. "You ready, kid?"

David simply nodded. Roberto couldn't help but chuckle, "You're quite bad at hiding your expressions, ya know? I can see the excitement in your eyes."

David looked at him and grinned from ear to ear. "Heh, you're right. So do me a favor and leave most of them to me."

Roberto was slightly taken aback, but the next moment he laughed, "Don't get too cocky, brat. Just follow my lead." With that, he turned around and walked toward the entrance of the garage.

David rolled his eyes and followed after him. The two of them entered the shop and were instantly stopped by a middle-aged man who was repairing a car. "We're closed. Are you fucking stupid? Can't you see it's almost midnight?"

Roberto smiled brightly and continued walking toward him. The middle-aged man's eyebrows furrowed. "Didn't you fucking hear what—"

But before he could finish his words, Roberto had already punched him straight in the face.

The man's nose cracked open and he fell limply to the floor, instantly passing out. Roberto adjusted his brass knuckles, then looked at David and said, "This guy's the owner of the shop. We'll deal with him later. Let's find those Buccanti bastards first."

David nodded and followed Roberto as they searched the entire place. The shop was in fact a large garage. And since the place was huge, it took them a while to finally locate the people they were looking for.

They found seven men playing a game of cards inside a room in one corner of the garage. Standing by the entrance to the room, Roberto whispered to David, "I'll create a distraction. Find a place to hide, then take them out one by one, got it?"

David nodded, then silently walked away and hid behind a car. Meanwhile, Roberto walked to another car in the distance, quietly opened its front door, and triggered its anti-theft alarm.

Instantly, blaring car alarm sounds started ringing throughout the garage. The people sitting in the room playing poker were surprised. At once, all of them stood up and walked outside.

After all, they were in the territory of the Rossetti Family and had to be on guard at all times. They walked toward the source of the sound and found that it was the car alarm.

One of them walked toward the car to disable the alarm. He asked in confusion, "How the hell?"

A few more car alarms went off all around them.

The tallest of the group, a burly blond man, narrowed his eyes and instructed, "Something's off. Each of you, go in pairs and search the whole place. There might be intruders."

Everyone solemnly nodded and dispersed. The burly man walked alone as he went from one car to another, disabling their alarms and at the same time looking out for any possible attacks.

David patiently waited, crouching behind a car as he saw two men heading his way. His lips curled up into a smile as he thought, 'Finally!' But he made sure that he didn't make any rash decisions. After all, the blaring car alarms would provide the perfect cover for silent takedowns. So that's exactly what he did.

As soon as the two people passed him, completely overlooking his hiding spot in the shadows, he stood up and quietly walked behind them. He raised both of his hands and struck them at the base of their necks. Following that, he grabbed their heads from the sides and banged them against each other!

Instantly, the two Buccanti associates lost consciousness and limply fell to the floor. David focused his hearing and found that the car alarms were slowly being silenced one by one. He narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Need to take out as much as I can before everything goes silent.'

He rushed toward the next spot he heard the sound of footsteps and people speaking to each other coming from. And just like before, he took another two people out as easy as pie. By then, most of the car alarms had been switched off and only one remained.

Right at that moment, he heard a painful scream coming from behind him. He turned around and rushed in that direction. There, he saw a man knocked out cold on the ground while two others—one of them with a huge build—were ganging up on Roberto.

The burly blond man grabbed Roberto's neck, lifted him up, and threw him in a random direction. Roberto groaned as he slid across the floor and stopped right in front of David's feet.

He looked up and saw that it was David, and his eyes shone with hope. "Be careful of the big guy." David looked at his bruised and bloodied face and simply nodded.

"Oh?" The burly man said. "Looks like we have another one. Leo, go fetch."

The man beside him nodded and walked toward David with a wrench in hand. "Yes, boss!"

David walked toward him with steady steps, and when he was just a few feet away from him, Leo raised his hand and viciously swung the wrench at his face. David calmly leaned to the right and efficiently dodged the wrench.

He grabbed Leo's wrist with his left hand, pulled him closer, then viciously struck his face with his right elbow. Leo spun in the air—one full rotation—then landed on his stomach, a pool of blood beginning to form under his face.

David continued walking toward the burly man, as calm as ever. All of a sudden, his eyes narrowed and he shot forward at quick speed. Within two seconds he appeared right in front of him and delivered a push kick!

The man was completely taken aback by the way David had taken out Leo in just one move and rushed toward him at such inhuman speed. Instinctively, he raised both of his arms to block, but despite bracing himself, he still stumbled a few steps back.

"Oh? You managed to block it?" David raised his eyebrows in surprise. The next moment, he grinned widely. "Looks like I can finally have some fun."