43 New Weapons

Over the following days, Phil managed to gather a team of trusted police officers that he knew and raided the storehouses of the Rosetti Family in Brooklyn. Of course, he didn't have an official warrant yet, as the higher-ups in the police department were not aware of the plan.

If they were, the majority of them would impede his investigations. After all, they were the running dogs of the crime family. Phil's plan was to gather evidence first, because if he did that his superiors would have a hard time sweeping it under the rug.

After raiding the storehouses, they found large quantities of bootleg DVDs and cigarettes, and alcohol that "fell off the trucks". That was already enough to issue a warrant and officially begin a large-scale investigation on the Rosetti Family, but David had provided Phil with something that would be the final nail in the coffin.

When David had killed Nico in his home, he'd also managed to gather important documents related to the inner workings of the Rosetti Family. The documents included proof of the corruption of public officials, illegal gambling, racketeering, and tax fraud schemes, among other things.

That further made things difficult for the police officers on the Rosetti payroll to involve themselves in this matter. Despite that, the investigation of the crime family had been proceeding much slower than anticipated. After all, they still had their own people in the commissioner's office, as well as the DA's office.

Phil knew that nothing could be done about it. A kingdom couldn't fall overnight. Thus, he would work according to David's plan and steadily move forward. He'd arrest most, if not all, of the lower members of the family, while David would deal with the higher-ups.

...

In a secret safehouse in New Jersey, the higher-ups of the Rosetti Family were currently having a meeting. The atmosphere was somber as the don, Enzo; the underboss, Angelo; and finally, the consigliere, Marcel, were sitting at the table in silence. Ever since the day the NYPD started cracking down on them, their lives had turned miserable and they were bleeding money with each passing day.

Even Antonio Luciani, the don of the Luciani Family and leader of the five families in New York, refused to lend them a hand. When Enzo had gone to him for help, Anotonio had adamantly refused and said that the entire thing was their own doing.

Enzo had never understood what Antonio meant by that. And if that wasn't all, even the family that his daughter was marrying into had ceased all communication with them.

The only silver lining in all of this was that the person Lucia was engaged to, Rodrico Maranzani, still stood by her, refusing to abandon her. And the other thing was that, strangely enough, the Bucccantis hadn't taken advantage of the situation to attack them.

Enzo was at his wit's end; he still didn't know just what had caused things to go so awry. Just as he was thinking about his next plan of action, Marcel nervously said, "B-Boss, I have something to say."

Enzo looked at him and coldly muttered, "Speak."

Marcel gulped. "Nico, Roberto, and his crew have been missing for over a week now. And their base of operations in Brooklyn, the Mulligan, has also been taken over by a mysterious third party."

Enzo's eyes narrowed. "That's the kid who took over David's crew after his death, eh?"

Marcel nodded, then cast a sideways glance at Angelo and met his eyes. The pair instantly looked away from each other.

Angelo had been the one that instructed Marcel to get rid of David. And Marcel had done that by painting the youth as a Buccanti spy and having Nico kill him. To this day, he was still unaware of the fact that Nico had worked with the Buccantis to 'kill' David.

The small interaction between the two didn't go unnoticed by Enzo. He couldn't help but wonder if a Buccanti spy was still in their midst, and if the allegation of David being the spy and his subsequent 'death' were false and unjustified.

As he thought of that, an unprecedented fury welled up in his heart. Coupled with what Antonio had told him about everything being the consequences of his family's actions, a foreboding feeling welled up in his heart.

He looked at Marcel and spat through gritted teeth, "Tell me, Marcel. Is there still a Buccanti spy among us? No... was there even a spy to begin with?"

"B-Boss," Marcel began nervously sweating. "I swear on my life David was the spy! But whether or not there are more spies among us... I can't be sure about that."

When Angelo heard that, he clenched his fists under the table. He couldn't believe Marcel would go so far as to lie to his father's face. But he himself didn't have the courage to come clean in front of his father, so all he could do was remain silent.

Enzo deeply looked into Marcel's eyes and coldly muttered, "You have two days to get to the bottom of this. Or you know what I'm gonna do to you, eh Marcel?"

Marcel shuddered in fear. "D-Don't worry, boss. I'll find out the culprit soon enough." With that, he got to his feet and hurried out of the room.

Enzo turned his gaze toward his son and silently stared at him, his thoughts a mystery.

...

David opened his eyes after a round of meditation in his apartment in Staten Island. He had already told Natasha to leave his shadow because he was planning to buy a few items from the system's shop tonight.

Even though the teenager had to save up enough DP to buy the memory fragment related to increasing his talent level, that was still years away. And his inner childlike curiosity and impulse were screaming at him to buy some items now. Thus, he gave in.

After getting confirmation from the system that she had indeed left, David softly muttered, "Open shop."

The next moment, a large panel appeared in his vision that displayed tens of items in a grid fashion. After his dream exploration the last time, he had earned a total of 700 DP. Just the prospect of buying items from the shop got him excited. Things that he had only read in novels were now happening to him in real life!

He took a few deep breaths and scrolled through the items displayed. After a long time, he decided upon an item that caught his interest.

[Basilisk's Venom Fangs - A pair of daggers made from the fangs of a fledgling Basilisk. The venom of this legendary snake perpetually resides within the daggers. Can be upgraded]

[Cost: 200 DP]

[Purchase?]

"Basilisk!" David was thrilled. Creatures that he had only heard of in myths were now beginning to appear in the system's shop as if they were vegetables at a farmer's market. He gulped and said, "Purchase."

DING!

The next moment, space tore open in front of him and a small tunnel to an unknown place was formed. From within that tear, two sheathed daggers flew out and landed on his lap. Following that, the tear mended itself and everything went back to normal.

David was speechless. "W-What… the fuck… was that!?"

It took a long while for him to come to his senses. He repeatedly asked the system about it, but as usual, he received no reply. In the end, he could only grumble and begin admiring his new weapons.

The daggers were as long as his forearms—from his elbow to the tip of his finger—and the hilts were made of bones that had a firm black grip around them. The blades looked extremely sinister and were dark purple.

He suddenly thought of something and bought five antidote pills for Basilisk's venom for 50 DP. Just in case.