Chapter 46: The Carlson Family's Downfall

At midnight, Leon walked alone onto the rooftop.

The moon was full tonight, and its silvery light bathed the rooftop, easing some of his nervous tension.

Facing someone who could kill him at any moment was unnerving, even though he knew it was unlikely—otherwise, why would they have gone to such lengths to save him? Nonetheless, his heart trembled with unease.

"You're here."

The familiar voice rang out, and Leon looked up in its direction.

At some point, George, wearing his Grim Reaper mask, had appeared above him. Walking gracefully downward on the moonlight, he descended from the sky like a god.

"Mr. Reaper, what are your instructions?"

Leon instinctively bowed.

After landing, George examined Leon from head to toe before speaking: "If I were to kill the leadership of the other twelve families in the Bronx, could you take over all their territories?"

He had considered it. Cash alone wasn't enough. If he worked with Leon to seize control of the Bronx's entire underworld, they could divide the spoils.

That would be a true big score—enough to eliminate his financial worries for good.

As for whether Leon's rule over the Bronx would make the area better or worse, George didn't care.

Frankly, the hardships and suffering of the people here had nothing to do with him. He wasn't a superhero driven to save people or uplift the masses. Managing to save himself was challenge enough.

"W-What?"

Leon's legs buckled, and he almost collapsed to the ground in shock.

He hadn't expected George to start with such an audacious proposition. Leon had just transformed the Chebell Family into the Leon Family, and now George was suggesting he take over the Bronx's entire underworld.

The twelve families weren't exactly pushovers.

But when he saw the seriousness in George's eyes, Leon realized he wasn't joking. He swallowed hard and hesitated before forcing a bitter smile.

"It's impossible. Even if I could absorb that many families, I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

George raised an eyebrow. He could understand the first part, but the second puzzled him.

Fearing he might anger George, Leon quickly explained:

"You might not be aware, but the reason there are thirteen families in the Bronx is because Wilson Fisk, known as Kingpin, established it that way.

Even if you wiped out the leadership of the other twelve families, I couldn't take over all their territories. In the end, new families would replace the old ones, maintaining the balance of thirteen families.

Kingpin would never allow a single family to dominate the Bronx in a way that might challenge his authority."

"Kingpin? What if I killed him?"

George's brows furrowed slightly.

He had heard of Kingpin but hadn't realized how influential he was in the underworld. Even the number of families in the Bronx was under his control.

Still, Kingpin was a mere human. Though his strength and abilities were near the peak of human potential, killing him wouldn't be too difficult—it was finding him that posed the real challenge.

"Hiss~"

Hearing George talk about killing Kingpin as if it were as easy as swatting a fly, Leon couldn't help but suck in a breath.

"Well, even if you killed Kingpin, it wouldn't solve everything.

His death would throw the entire underworld into chaos. Families would inevitably fight for dominance—not just in the Bronx, but in other regions with even more powerful factions.

With my current strength, I couldn't possibly maintain control over the Bronx. In fact, even my current territory might come under threat."

"Then forget it."

George considered Leon's words and found them reasonable. Unless he cleared out the entire American underworld, Leon's position would always be precarious.

Besides, he had neither the time nor the energy for such a monumental task. Doing so would attract unwanted attention from major organizations and contradict his original goal.

He only wanted to earn enough money to have the freedom and stability to study magic. Wasting time and effort cleaning up the underworld was counterproductive.

"Then let's scale it down. What about taking out just one family and claiming their territory and assets?"

George offered another option.

This time, Leon didn't immediately refuse. After a moment of thought, he replied:

"If it's just one family, that's doable. I could even split off part of their territory to prop up a smaller family. As long as there are still thirteen families, Kingpin might send someone to reprimand us at most."

This kind of infighting wasn't unheard of in the Bronx. The thirteen families often fought over interests, and smaller families occasionally rose to replace larger ones.

Kingpin actually encouraged such disputes. What he didn't want was unity among the thirteen families.

"Alright. Then give me the details of a family you have issues with. Within a few days, I'll ensure their leadership meets an untimely demise. After that, you can take over their territory, and we'll split the profits fifty-fifty."

George nodded. If he couldn't take down twelve families, eliminating one and splitting the spoils was still worthwhile.

At least it would yield more than his original plan of just looting cash from the twelve families.

"The Carlson Family. Their territory borders mine, and we've had constant friction. During my conflict with Chebell, they seized quite a bit of my land.

I had already planned to fight them to reclaim it. If their leaders were to suddenly drop dead, I'm confident I could take over their entire territory."

Leon's expression became animated with excitement.

Frankly, he wouldn't even mind giving George all the spoils.

George had saved his life, and the Carlson Family had killed several of his close comrades while taking advantage of his internal conflict. He hadn't intended to let them off the hook anyway.

But after the recent infighting, his weakened forces were no match for the Carlson Family. He could only hope to frustrate them.

Now, with the enigmatic Grim Reaper willing to intervene, Leon was certain his revenge would be realized.

"Gather information about this family. I'll come for it tomorrow night."

Leaving these words, George leapt off the rooftop, vanishing into the darkness.

Although the plan had deviated from his initial vision, the outcome wasn't bad.

George wasn't omniscient. Even with his informational advantage, some missteps were inevitable.

But he accepted this as normal. Plans could change; what mattered was his ability to adapt and still achieve his goals.

Ultimately, it all boiled down to strength.

With strength, even if the world spiraled out of control and diverged from the narratives he knew, he could handle it.