So This Week's Goal,
150 POWERSTONES = 5 Extra Chapters.
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Gunfire roared, and blood painted the streets red.
Bystanders screamed and scattered in terror.
Faced with the ferocious firepower, seven or eight Jewish gang members, including their boss and key leaders, couldn't even draw their guns before collapsing in pools of blood.
Dix and his crew emptied two rounds of magazines and, without even sparing a glance, swiftly drove away from the scene.
The entire operation lasted no more than two minutes.
It wasn't until ten or so minutes after their departure that the police finally arrived at the scene, sluggish as ever.
Only two cars and about four or five officers responded—not because of negligence, but because at that exact time, similar attacks had occurred in over a dozen locations across the area.
Without exception, all these locations were key strongholds of the Jewish gang.
The only difference was the firepower used elsewhere. In most cases, attackers wielded submachine guns, whereas Dix's operation employed a full-fledged machine gun.
By this time, Dix's convoy had arrived at an abandoned dock. All the used firearms and spent casings were collected and loaded onto a waiting boat.
The boat then set off to deep waters, where the weapons were dumped overboard.
Meanwhile, another group of Dix's men swapped the license plates on several cars, which were then driven off in different directions. These vehicles would eventually be taken to separate repair shops, repainted, and thoroughly cleaned of any evidence.
Dix himself got into another car parked at the dock, taking Goss along with him.
"How do you feel?" Dix asked, opening a case in the car and pulling out two bottles of whiskey. He handed one to Goss.
"...Intense," Goss said, taking a deep swig. "I've only ever read about something like this in the papers. It's... hard to get used to."
"Hahaha, you'll get used to it eventually, my brother," Dix laughed, clapping Goss on the shoulder. "Stick with me, and soon the entire underground world of Chicago will be ours!"
Goss took another gulp of whiskey.
Though still in shock, he couldn't deny that he found the experience thrilling.
The events in Chicago seemed to signal something larger.
In the following days, in New York, several Jewish gang leaders were assassinated by highly trained attackers. In Atlantic City, two prominent Jewish gang bosses and their men were gunned down in their cars late at night. In Los Angeles, one of the most famous Jewish crime lords of the era, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, was taken out by a sniper. In San Francisco, the home of a Jewish gang boss was set ablaze.
The wave of attacks on Jewish gang leaders quickly caught the attention of both the Italian Mafia and federal authorities.
For the Mafia, the situation was personal. Ever since the establishment of the Commission under Charlie Luciano, the Italian Mafia and Jewish gangs had developed a close partnership. Jewish gangsters often acted as advisors to the Italians.
Seeing their partners under attack, the Mafia couldn't ignore the situation.
As for the authorities, they couldn't turn a blind eye either. So many daylight murders couldn't go unnoticed, especially since many officials were tied to the Jewish gangs themselves.
Initial investigations revealed a clear pattern: all the targeted individuals were closely associated with the most prominent Jewish gang boss in the United States, Meyer Lansky.
In other words, the attacks seemed to be driven by a vendetta against Lansky.
However, this clue wasn't enough to pinpoint the perpetrators.
After all, as the top Jewish mobster in America, Meyer Lansky had more enemies than anyone could count.
Based on the attackers' highly trained behavior, both the Mafia and the authorities initially suspected agents of Nazi Germany or Hydra.
The reasoning was straightforward.
The attackers exhibited a clear European military style—disciplined and precise, operating like soldiers or covert agents. Meyer Lansky had a long-standing enmity with Nazi supporters. During the Silver Legion's rise in the U.S., Lansky organized Jewish gangsters to confront them head-on, often without using guns, relying solely on fists and determination to drive the fascists into hiding.
Furthermore, Lansky had helped the FBI crack numerous German and Hydra spy cases.
This made him a thorn in the side of both the Nazis and Hydra.
Given these factors, both the Mafia and the FBI naturally assumed the attacks were orchestrated by external forces rather than an internal gang feud.
Complicating matters further, the attackers didn't seize any territories, goods, or money from the Jewish gangs, breaking from typical gang warfare patterns.
Faced with such an unprecedented situation, the Mafia quietly began absorbing the abandoned territories, while the FBI launched extensive investigations into recent European arrivals.
Their efforts unearthed several spies, but they failed to uncover the true perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the attacks continued.
The focus of these attacks—Meyer Lansky himself—had yet to be targeted.
This was primarily because Lansky wasn't even in the U.S. at the time. He had been in Havana, Cuba, overseeing operations for nearly half the year.
At the time, Cuba was under military rule, and American gangsters operated there with impunity, thanks to heavy bribery.
When news of the attacks reached Lansky in Havana, he wasted no time preparing to return to Miami.
Due to limited international flights, Lansky opted to travel by boat.
Havana and Miami were only about 400 kilometers apart—a half-day trip by ferry.
Upon his arrival in Miami, Lansky was met at the dock by his entourage: four or five cars and over twenty bodyguards, forming an impenetrable shield around him.
But as they prepared to leave, a Ford pickup truck carrying a load of hay passed by.
Suddenly, the hay was pulled aside, revealing a deadly weapon: a Browning M1919 machine gun—far deadlier than the one Dix had used in Chicago.
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