Chapter 46: The Doomed Carlson Family

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At midnight, Lyon walked alone onto the rooftop. The moon was full tonight, and the clear, bright moonlight bathed the rooftop, easing his somewhat anxious heart.

Even though he knew the person he was meeting wasn't likely to kill him—otherwise, there would've been no point in saving him in the first place—the thought of facing someone who could easily end his life still filled him with dread.

"You're here."

A familiar voice rang out, and Lyon looked up in its direction.

At some point, George, wearing his Reaper mask, had appeared above him. He was descending slowly from the sky, stepping through the moonlight like a god.

"Mr. Reaper, what are your orders?"

Lyon instinctively bent down in a bow.

George landed and, after sizing up Lyon, asked, "If I kill the leadership of the other twelve families in the Bronx, can you take over all their territories?"

After a moment's thought, George realized that cash alone wasn't enough. If he partnered with Lyon to take control of the entire Bronx underworld, they could split the spoils.

This would be a major move, big enough that they'd never have to worry about money again.

As for what would happen to the Bronx after Lyon took control of the entire underground world—whether it got better or worse—that wasn't his concern.

To be honest, the suffering of the people here didn't matter to him. He wasn't a superhero always thinking about saving people or being a savior. It was hard enough just to save himself.

"W-What?!"

Lyon's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed on the spot.

He hadn't expected George's first words to be so shocking. He had just finished transforming the Chappelle family into the Lyon family, and now George wanted him to take over the entire Bronx underworld.

Those twelve families were no easy targets.

But when he saw the seriousness in George's eyes, knowing he wasn't joking, Lyon couldn't help but gulp.

To be honest, the offer was incredibly tempting. Yet, in the end, Lyon forced a bitter smile and shook his head.

"It's impossible. With my current power, I can't swallow up all those families, even if I could, I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

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

Lyon, fearing he might anger George, quickly explained, "You might not know this, but the reason there are thirteen families in the Bronx is because it was established by Kingpin, who rules the entire underground world in the U.S.

Even if you kill everyone in the twelve families, I can't take all their territories for myself. In the end, twelve new families will just replace the old ones.

Kingpin wouldn't allow any family to rise in the Bronx that could threaten his position."

"Kingpin? And what if I kill him?"

George's brow furrowed slightly.

He knew about Kingpin, but he hadn't realized his influence was so great that he even controlled the number of families in the Bronx.

But Kingpin was just an ordinary man. Even though his strength and power were at the human limit, George didn't think it would be too hard to kill him. The real challenge was finding him.

"Hiss~~"

Hearing George talk about killing Kingpin as if it were as easy as killing a chicken, Lyon couldn't help but gasp.

"That... even if you kill Kingpin, it wouldn't solve the problem. It's not that simple.

With Kingpin dead, the entire underworld would fall into chaos. The families would fight amongst themselves, not just in the Bronx, but also in other places where the families are even more powerful.

With my current strength, I wouldn't be able to hold onto the entire Bronx, and even my existing territory could be threatened."

"Then forget it."

George found Lyon's reasoning quite sound. Unless he swept through the entire U.S. underworld, there was a good chance that the moment he wasn't around, someone would come after Lyon.

Moreover, he didn't have the time or energy for such an endeavor. Doing so would inevitably attract the attention of major organizations, which would go against his original intent.

The whole point of making money was to free up more time for him to quietly study magic. If he spent too much effort cleaning up the underworld, it would be a case of misplaced priorities.

"How about this—what if we take out just one family and seize their territory and assets? Would that be a problem?" George asked again.

This time, Lyon didn't immediately refuse. After a few seconds of thought, he replied, "If it's just one family, that shouldn't be an issue. I could even support a smaller family to take their place. As long as the number of families remains at thirteen, Kingpin might send someone to scold me, but that's about it."

This sort of thing wasn't unheard of in the Bronx. The thirteen families managed the district together, and fighting over interests was common. In fact, it wasn't unusual for a small family to defeat a larger one and rise in rank.

Kingpin generally turned a blind eye to these skirmishes. What he didn't want was for the thirteen families to unite, which would threaten his control.

"Alright. Then you pick a family you're at odds with. Over the next few days, I'll make sure their leadership has a string of unfortunate accidents. After that, you move in and take their territory. We'll split the profits fifty-fifty."

George nodded. If wiping out twelve families was off the table, taking down one and splitting the spoils still promised considerable gains—certainly more than just stealing cash from twelve families.

"The Carlson family. Their territory is right next to ours, and we've had a lot of conflicts. During my internal struggle with Chappelle, they seized quite a bit of our land.

I was planning to fight them and take back what they stole anyway. If their leadership suddenly dies, I'm confident I can swallow all their territory."

Lyon's expression had become animated.

Forget a fifty-fifty split, he'd give George everything if necessary.

After all, George had saved his life, and the Carlson family had taken advantage of his internal conflict to grab his territory. Lyon had lost several close brothers in the process and had already planned to exact revenge.

But now, after the internal strife, his strength had diminished. He wouldn't stand a chance in a direct confrontation—he could, at best, inconvenience the Carlsons.

But with this mysterious Reaper willing to lend a hand, revenge was finally within reach.

"Gather all the intel on this family. I'll come by tomorrow night to collect it."

Leaving those words behind, George leapt off the rooftop, disappearing into the darkness.

Although this wasn't exactly in line with his original plan, the outcome was still acceptable.

He wasn't a god—he couldn't predict everything. Even with his advantage in intelligence, there were bound to be unexpected developments.

But he felt that this was normal. When plans changed, the key was to have the ability to adapt calmly and still achieve his goals.

In the end, strength was the foundation of everything. As long as he had power, even if the world strayed from the stories he knew, it wouldn't matter.

(End of Chapter)