Make Our Family Great Again – Chapter 138

Gata Melata showed a positive reaction to the negotiations conveyed through Solomon.

Solomon and I had a thorough discussion on how to handle the negotiation venue and Melata. For now, the Five Families’ attack on the Sanchez Family had temporarily halted.

We had no choice but to draw Melata into the negotiation. We needed to firmly establish the image that we truly wanted to negotiate.

And so, on the day of the negotiation.

I left the Balis Casino, the headquarters of the Carmen Family.

Solomon had already set off, and I checked that Melata had departed too.

“Veronica, I’ll be off.”

I said to Veronica, who came to see me off at the casino entrance.

I didn’t see Paula Carmen, who usually stayed by her side.

“Yes, brother.”

“….”

“What’s wrong?”

Though I didn’t have time to waste, there was something that had been bothering me.

“Veronica, you don’t have to be so formal.”

“Yes?”

“Brother is a bit stiff, you know. Just ‘oppa’ is enough.”

There was a slight distance, as if a wall existed between Veronica and me.

Despite not being blood-related, even Elena calls me ‘oppa’ effortlessly. It felt strange that Veronica, my blood sister, continued to use the term of respect.

Of course, there was an unbridgeable gap between Elena and Veronica. The time spent together was fundamentally different.

It wasn’t that Elena and I were always on great terms, but if I were to exaggerate, I could say we spent a lifetime together.

“….”

“Veronica?”

“I-I’ll try. Brother.”

Veronica looked at me, her face completely flushed.

Even while blushing, her shy eyes seemed to scan my body, yet the way she addressed me didn’t change.

“Godfather.”

I heard McBratney calling me from near the armored car.

“Well, I’ll be off then.”

Veronica nodded more vigorously than seemed necessary. It was more like she bowed deeply.

As I moved away from Veronica, Sarina naturally approached.

Without me doing anything, she quickly opened the door to the back seat of the armored car.

“We’ll follow right behind.”

“Got it.”

McBratney said that and headed to his own car. The back seat of my armored car was occupied by Sarina and myself.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, sister.”

Following Sarina’s directive, the armored car began to move.

Our destination was… in the eastern part of the Sanchez Family’s territory.

That area hadn’t been impacted much by the Solomon Family and Carini’s southern advance, but it had suffered significant damage from the Felini Family’s northern advance across the nearby bridge.

Vanella, Lumini, Granada.

These three caporegimes had been crossing the bridge, launching offensives, and using various explosives to blow up enemies holed up in their strongholds for days now.

It looked like the aftermath of a typhoon had swept through.

To summarize, while it was formally the Sanchez Family’s territory, their dominance and influence had long vanished in the surrounding area.

“Luke, do you think things will go as planned?”

“…Who knows? Nobody can tell how it will turn out.”

I answered honestly to Sarina. If it were up to me, I wished Sanchez would fall into the trap that Solomon and I had laid.

For this trap, the offensives launched by the Five Families had to stop on all fronts.

If we failed, it would just be a waste of time.

“Whether McBratney and Solomon’s guys can hold the area will be important, too.”

“Honestly, I don’t think those guys are trustworthy.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, compared to my guys.”

“That’s true. It’s a stretch to compare them to the Wolves.”

As expected, It felt wrong to even include ‘trustworthiness’ in the same sentence when comparing to the Wolves.

It wasn’t because I was the leader of the Felini Family. The Wolves inherently had superior combat prowess compared to other organizations in the underworld.

They brought in orphans thrown into a harsh world from a young age, sacrificing everything essential for survival, and made them into living weapons with a single-minded focus on achieving their goals.

It would be odd if they were weak instead.

“Still, since we’re the Wolves, who else could we compare ourselves to?”

“….”

Sarina’s point was not wrong. We were the Wolves, so of course, it was natural to compare ourselves with ourselves.

While Sarina and I chatted in a serious yet familiar atmosphere, an issue suddenly arose.

The first to arrive at the negotiation site was, of course, Little Dom Solomon.

He set off first, which shouldn’t have been a problem. It was expected causality, really.

The problem was Gata Melata’s actions.

While heading east from the Sanchez Family’s base toward the negotiation site, he suddenly changed direction.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean, what? Tell the Godfather immediately!”

Those chasing Melata split up immediately. Half pursued Melata, who suddenly turned south, while the other half used the nearest phone to communicate the situation.

Of course, Sarina and I couldn’t receive this news because we were in the armored car.

“…What?”

“Just as you heard! Gata Melata suddenly changed direction and is running south!”

The Wolves were trying to urgently explain to Elena what was happening.

“Got it! Hang up for now!”

“Oh my, what’s the matter?”

“….”

Elena held her index finger up to her mouth, giving a serious expression to Felicita. I didn’t have time to waste chatting with her.

Even if the Wolves may have already informed her, the priority was to inform the other Five Families.

I first contacted the Marinelli Family.

“Manfredi. It’s me.”

“I heard the news. Melata is running towards us, right?”

“Yeah. Good thing I don’t have to explain. Don’t lose that bastard.”

“As if I’d let him escape.”

Manfredi Marinelli boasted to the matriarch of the Felini Family. He was certain it would be them to seal the fate of the Sanchez Family.

“….”

Elena honestly thought she couldn’t do much with words, but she added just to mobilize everyone.

*

Even if there was no contact from the matriarch, Manfredi would have done so. All of his men, including Lia and Luca’s subordinates, were mobilized.

“Bro, what about those guys?”

Luca pointed at some slimes loitering nearby.

They were the slimes who had built their reputation by moving through various families. Those were the children and henchmen of Alex Leonhart.

“Tell them too. To come follow us immediately.”

“Is it really okay, oppa?”

“The matriarch said to mobilize everyone, so there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“No, that’s not what I mean….”

Unlike Luca, Lia was worried about a different issue. Among the Five Families surrounding Sanchez, the Marinelli Family was located furthest south.

If Gata Melata was running south, they’d be the first to make contact.

Moreover, he hadn’t gone straight south. He’d turned abruptly from east, where the Felini Family also had a presence.

His actions seemed recklessly careless for someone known to be cautious.

Unless that stubborn rock-head of his was seriously made of stone. The most plausible scenario was a massive response from the Dragovich Family.

“Where’s the loyalty in that?”

“Still, it’s true that it wouldn’t benefit them if Melata fell into our hands.”

A sudden argument erupted between the two siblings.

But Manfredi didn’t hesitate for a second. He couldn’t afford to waste even a moment.

What a ridiculous sight it would be to waste time on this when he had even boasted to the matriarch?

“Don’t worry about the back.”

“Are you serious?”

“If you’re really that worried, just have some of their guys follow a little behind.”

Manfredi wouldn’t allow any further debate. Following his orders, Luca moved, and while Lia had her reservations, she followed suit.

Thus, the Marinelli Family’s forces began to spread out widely and thinly in the southern part of Sanchez Family territory to secure Melata.

Of course, there were others trying not to miss this opportunity.

“Wait?!”

“I’m not joking. The Wolves we attached to him confirmed it. You better move right away.”

“Uh, understood!”

Elena had more to say to the person on the other end of the line, but they didn’t stick around.

“Everyone get in the cars! Move! Move now!”

“What?!”

Solomon simply gave one order to his subordinates rather than explaining the whole situation.

Southward! To catch the fleeing Melata!

The Wolves from the Felini Family, who had initially been lurking around the negotiation site, were bewildered by this turn of events.

The Golem and the Hamster Men rushed south after Solomon, resembling a herd of lemmings.

The Carmen Family received the news as well, but they were following Marinelli and Solomon Families’ lead. The Russo Family, currently clashing with the Vipers in the northern part of the city, didn’t need any alerts at all.

“Veronica, where’s Luke?!”

“He left just a moment ago. I’ll send someone right away.”

“Got it, do that. And let him know there’s no need to chase after Melata.”

“…Yes, understood.”

Elena thought her beloved husband, her one and only brother, didn’t need to take any unnecessary risks. However, it was our Family’s members, not the Carmen Family, who informed Sarina and me of this news.

Sarina and I were perplexed by the appearance of approaching Family members from the direction we were heading.

“Are you sure?!”

“Yes, sister! They suddenly headed south.”

A sudden shift in Solomon Family’s actions.

The response from the Felini Family was simple. Some stayed behind, some followed Solomon and his subordinates…while others informed the Godfather coming this way of the situation.

“Luke, what do we do?”

“Hang on a second. We should make a call first.”

What Solomon and I had planned was completely falling apart. And it was entirely due to Solomon.

He wouldn’t have caused such a mess without a good reason.

I attempted to contact Veronica, while Sarina rushed to call Elena.

“….”

“Brother?”

“Thanks for letting me know. Veronica.”

“Brother?! Wait, oh no…”

Through Veronica, I grasped the rough situation.

“Sarina, hurry and follow me.”

“Yes!”

Sarina hurriedly sought Elena’s permission and hung up the call. She didn’t ask what Elena had said to her, nor what she was supposed to relay to me.

“Head south. Quickly!”

Capturing Melata was on Sarina and me.

Without asking for anyone’s consent, I made that decision right then and there.