The city of Regio, which is close to the coastline, runs north-south, with the sea on the west and rolling hills and mountains on the east.
To the east of Regio, in the mountains more than ten kilometers away from the city center, there is a funeral parlor close to a large cemetery.
This is also an industry under the 'Ndrangheta.
The funeral industry is one of the very traditional pillar industries of mafia around the world. It is on par with catering, bars, nightclubs, parking lots, garbage recycling and other businesses. It is not only lucrative but also easy to launder money. Steve Ross, the deceased former chairman of Time Warner, first started out by running a funeral home in New York.
Steve Ross's mafia background is well known, but he was relatively successful in landing, which can be regarded as a complete cleansing.
At 2:50 in the morning, when the whole city was in chaos due to multiple incidents that happened at the same time, Antonio Danieli was secretly escorted to this remote funeral parlor on the outskirts of the city by two of the four-person team, while the other two remained guard. in his residence.
There was silence in the empty funeral home.
After Antonio Danieli got off the bus, he found that his two other brothers, Paolo Danieli and Giovanni Danieli, had arrived at almost the same time, as well as his two younger brothers, Mark Honorato, who had accompanied him to the United States. and Frank Paoli.
Premonition that the Stefano family was completely finished, the five of them followed the escort's guidance to the door of a room in the funeral home. When they arrived, the escort behind them did not follow up, but just motioned for them to go in by themselves.
Antonio Danieli thought he was finally going to see the mastermind behind all this. After entering the door, the five of them stood blankly on the spot.
This is the cremation room in the funeral home.
Most Italians still maintain the custom of burial after death, but there is no lack of demand for cremation.
This naturally cold room was nothing. The key was that there were many people in the room at this time, a few living people wearing hoods who fell into a coma, and more dead people in body bags.
Seeing the situation in front of them, the five people had the idea of escape almost at the same time.
However, think about those guys standing outside. They understand that turning away is tantamount to choosing death, not just themselves, but maybe their families as well.
Antonio Danieli first looked away from everyone in the room and looked at the simple iron square table not far away. On the table were five silenced pistols, a thick file bag, and a speaker-like device. things.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment, and a voice came from the speaker: "Well, everyone is here."
The voice came from a middle-aged man.
My Italian is not fluent, but it is standard.
After a slight pause, the other party continued: "You are very lucky. The boss originally planned to send you to heaven, but he changed his mind temporarily and you can survive. Moreover, as long as you are not too useless, you will live well in the future. "
The voice was unhurried and he paused again for a moment after speaking, as if to give the five people time to digest.
After hearing some kind of assurance, the five Antonios who were originally nervous did relax.
Then, the voice continued: "There are five pistols on the table, and there are eleven living people here. I don't think I need to remind you too much about what to do. After dealing with the things in front of you, you can take the table away. The file bag above contains a list of people who can help Mr. Antonio Danieli take over everything in the Stefano family. As for the future, I don’t think I need to remind you too much. However, you can rest assured , the boss has no interest in the business in your hands. No matter how much you earn in the future, it will be your own. The only thing you need to do is to do what you should do when the boss needs it."
After saying this, there was another pause. It seemed that the five Antonios could be seen standing still. The voice came out again, as if to remind you: "I suggest you start work immediately. The cremator has been turned on. There is still time before dawn. In two hours, after dawn, if you haven't finished your work, someone will come in and finish it for you."
After saying the last few words, no more sound came from the speaker.
Not knowing how many minutes had passed, Antonio Danieli noticed that the four brothers beside him were all looking at him. Antonio Danieli first made up his mind, walked to the square table, picked up a pistol, and walked towards the living people.
When a new day comes, a certain news spreads quickly in the city of Regio and spreads to the entire Italian underworld.
Overnight, the Stefano family, which had been entrenched in Regio City for many years, disappeared.
The huge family started by the six Stefano brothers, a total of 27 people, big and small, men and women, whether in Regio or not, including two children of the Stefano family who were studying in Switzerland, all disappeared. No one was spared. Also missing were the many bodyguards and servants surrounding the Stefano family that night.
After inspecting the scene of the incident, the remaining two members of the Southern Regio faction of the 'Ndrangheta immediately confirmed that the incident could not have been committed by the authorities.
Officials have to follow the rules.
However, the three northern Regio families that were originally the main suspects were quickly eliminated.
According to feedback from people around the scene of the incident, the whole incident basically took place within half an hour between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. last night. The perpetrators acted swiftly and without giving others any time to react.
Especially in the mansion of Horace Stefano, the godfather of the Stefano family, there was a lot of movement. Not only did gun battles and explosions occur, but even the power and communications in the surrounding neighborhoods were cut off. Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, everything returned to calm. Only an empty mansion with a lot of blood stains left.
Such a strong and professional team is impossible to achieve by the three companies in the northern part of Reggio.
If those three families had the power to completely eliminate a deep-rooted mafia family in just half an hour, it would be possible for them to unify the Calabria region, and even become the king of the entire Italian underworld.
So.
Here comes the problem.
So what happened
Moreover, the invisible enemy is the most terrifying.
Since someone could make the Stefano family disappear overnight, several other families in Regio City could also follow suit in the blink of an eye.
As a result, the underground world of Calabria was in chaos for a while, and everyone was in danger.
The core of the 'Ndrangheta, who usually only forced others to hide around the world, sent their families to places they thought were safe in the following days. They even took the initiative to break the rule of not cooperating with the police and tried to find out through official channels. Some clues.
The result was still nothing.
In fact, it’s not like nothing was gained.
The night before the incident happened, Giorgio Stefano, the boss of the Stefano family, realized that someone might be monitoring and tracking the movements of the 'Ndrangheta, and he teamed up with the other two families to formulate a counter-strategy.
After re-investigation, we even noticed that the number of 'strangers' who appeared in Regio City a few days ago was obviously more than usual. Some people rented a large number of apartments throughout Regio City in a short period of time. Following this clue, in just three days, hundreds of empty rental houses were found throughout the city of Regio, and even across the strait in Mexico, which is the territory of the Sicilian Mafia. The city is covered.
Then the Sicilian Mafia started to fly.
It is impossible to hide such a big thing.
Soon, the Italian media also got involved.
Normally, exposing the inside story of the mafia would result in the slightest threat of having one's hands or feet broken off, but this time, no 'parties' would jump out to cause trouble for them, and the chaotic 'Ndrangheta had no time to take care of it.
As a result, the explosive news that all mafia families in southern Italy disappeared overnight suddenly appeared on the important pages of many newspapers and became the hottest topic of discussion among Italian people recently. The news even spread overseas.
Naturally, the Italian government cannot avoid such hot news.
At the beginning of this year, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian tycoon who took advantage of the political turmoil in Italy in recent years and successfully elected Prime Minister as a political amateur, said in an interview with the media that if necessary, the authorities will investigate the matter.
Italy, like Germany, has a prime ministerial system.
The president is just a symbol, while the prime minister holds the power of the government.
Silvio Berlusconi rose to the top of power in Italy as a "white man". After taking power, he immediately became the target of everyone. Due to various scandals that were uncovered one after another and a series of investigations by the Italian government, his position as prime minister was already in danger.
Originally, if this quite sensational incident was bigger, it would definitely help him to share a large part of the pressure of public opinion. However, for some reason, Mr. Prime Minister, who had solemnly vowed to do so the day before and even convened a special meeting with the head of the judicial department, the next day Silence, as if something had never happened.
Not only that, when some high-level officials from Calabria or Rome publicly stated that they wanted to investigate the matter, they were quickly attacked by the media.
The assassination of Judge Giovanni Falco two years ago is still fresh in our minds.
So many Italian people have been oppressed by the Mafia, but no one has come forward. Now, just because some Mafiosi have died, the officials want to go to war. Does this mean that the interests of the Mafia should override those of the Italian people? Go ahead, whose spokesperson are you
Italy also has a typical Western electoral system where no one cares about votes.
When such a big hat is handed down, no one dares to accept it.
Not only that, the 'Ndrangheta, which was originally much less well-known than the Mafia in Sicily and Campania, has rapidly spread in popularity.
Traditional TV newspapers did not dare to dig deep into the dirty information of the 'Ndrangheta, but the nascent Internet had no such scruples.
The scandalous traces of the 'Ndrangheta soon appeared on the Internet.
The recent 'Ndrangheta civil war resulted in the death of a large number of innocent people involved, including thousands of murders, including many women and children. The 'Ndrangheta's drug trafficking network transports dozens of tons of various types of drugs to the entire Italy and even Europe every year, and countless teenagers have fallen into depravity. The originally happy family was torn apart by wives and families; all businesses within the 'Ndrangheta's territory had to pay protection fees on a regular basis and were even forced to launder money for the 'Ndrangheta, making life miserable; the 'Ndrangheta controlled human trafficking and smuggling networks that caused thousands of deaths every year Thousands of women have fallen... There are actual cases to be found for each of these accusations.
As the revelations spread on the Internet, the 'Ndrangheta, which had always been in the shadow of Cosa Nostra and the Camorra, suddenly became infamous.
Now, no one dares to stand up for the 'Ndrangheta anymore.
After an "official investigation" that was completely formal, the Italian authorities directly characterized the entire incident as a gang vendetta. The subtext was that this was an internal matter of the Mafia and the authorities would not interfere. Even in order to cope with the pressure of public opinion, the authorities dispatched a large number of additional police forces to the Calabria region, and launched a small-scale anti-gang operation in the city of Regio, the main base of the 'Ndrangheta, in early September.
The public is always forgetful.
When September arrives, the attention of the Italian media quickly turns to the intensifying internal struggles of the authorities again. Berlusconi is likely to choose to resign in the near future in order to get rid of lawsuits and scandals.
Obviously, Silvio Berlusconi will become another short-lived prime minister of the Italian government in the past ten years. Since the launch of the 'Clean Hands Movement' two years ago, two of Italy's established political parties have been directly dissolved due to scandals. Two consecutive prime ministers have resigned as a result, and Berlusconi is the third prime minister in the past two years.
As a political amateur, Berlusconi has no political secrets. Unfortunately, he is a businessman.
Italy also has a tradition of not separating politics and business. If businessmen want to do something, it is impossible without a good relationship with the government. Until many years later, some media listed the corruption index of global countries, which is equivalent to the greenness of Northern Europe. Italy is still dazzling. of scarlet.
Because of its continuous deployment in Italy over the years and the hand-cleaning campaign that started two years ago, Melisandre Company has also encountered some investigations.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Silvio Berlusconi, who had a good relationship with the Westeros system, suddenly came to power. This was a trick that Simon quietly laid out when the Westeros system first entered Italy in the late 1980s. Berlusconi's media company has had many cooperations with Daenerys Entertainment over the years. The two parties also jointly invested in the famous Christie's auction house last year.
Berlusconi's sudden turn on the 'Ndrangheta incident was naturally due to this reason. Otherwise, the other party would definitely not miss this opportunity to shift the direction of public opinion.
After that night on August 23, Simon was called back to North America by Jennifer.
The female assistant said she needed a vacation, so she forced Simon to stay at home and be a baby daddy for half a month. She and Janet flew to Australia and Africa, and also launched a medical charity project in Rwanda to help African children resist parasites. hazards.
It wasn't until September 9, when this year's Venice Film Festival opened, that the two women returned to North America, and Simon was able to escape and return to Europe.
Naturally, he understands what women are thinking.
Simon is also aware of certain changes in his mentality. As his wealth and status continue to increase, Simon's heart begins to harden again.
It’s extremely cold at high places.
Jennifer once tried to get Simon to go to church, but failed at all.
This time, the two women hope to soften his transformation through their children.
The effect is actually pretty good.
After spending half a month in Dumei Point Manor taking care of three little ones who were related to him by blood, Simon unknowingly dissipated most of the violent energy he had accumulated since Sophia's family received bullets at the end of July.
However, everything must have an end.
Since it is a shock, it is definitely not enough to just do something. People who should know must also be made aware of what happened.