From the early 13th century, when a secret organization called Cosa Nostra (Our Thing), which violently resisted the law, appeared in Sicily.
To the early 19th century, when the first Mafia Commission was established in Sicily.
In 1911, the organization was officially named the Mafia, in memory of the past Sicilian Vespers uprising.
In 1913, the Mafia's council of 11 officially issued the family's internal law of silence, Omertà, in Sicily.
Until today.
One could say that the place name 'Sicily' has become completely bound to the Mafia.
That is why the nickname Roy used in the underworld, the assassin trade, and the Continental—the Black Mask—is interpreted by many Westerners as 'the Robin Hood from Sicily.'
This was not the first time Roy had complained about this.
However, seeing the confused and ignorant expression on Winston's face, Roy could only wave his hand in dismissal.
Barbarians will be barbarians, utterly lacking in cultural depth.
Forget it, there was no point in arguing with a foreigner who always looked like he was half-asleep.
"Forget it, forget it. Winston, just call me Roy."
"We've eaten, the polite pleasantries are over. Winston, tell me your real intention."
There was no point in discussing language and culture with a foreigner.
What could rednecks and n-words, whose entire cognitive world didn't extend beyond 26 letters, possibly understand?
Roy casually lit the thin cigar in his hand, his calm gaze meeting Winston's. His left hand rested nonchalantly on the edge of his slightly open jacket.
There, a highly concealed, modified M1911 pistol was hidden.
At the same time, almost no one knew that Roy, who appeared no different from a normal person, was actually left-handed.
His left-handed marksmanship was an ace up his sleeve that Roy had never revealed.
At this moment, Winston was unaware that his life was hanging barely an inch from the gates of hell. Upon hearing Roy's words, a sharp glint flashed in the depths of his perpetually sleepy eyes.
After preparing his words for a moment, Winston tapped the tip of his walking stick. "Roy, I invited you here because I wanted to ask about Hallstatt..."
The town of Hallstatt, the most beautiful town in Austria, bar none.
Hearing Winston's words, Roy almost immediately thought of the location of the final battle in the movie John Wick: Ballerina that he had seen in his past life.
Then, Roy quickly came to his senses, and information about European underground forces flashed through his mind.
Immediately after, Roy interrupted Winston. "What you want to ask about should be the X-Cult, right? That's not in Hallstatt, but in Xueyan Town, across Lake Hallstatt."
"Have those madmen from the X-Cult caused you trouble? Winston, those lunatics are not to be trifled with."
"No, to be precise, the monster behind those madmen is not to be trifled with. It's most likely related to demons."
For many forces in the underworld, the existence of the supernatural, hell, and demons was never a secret, though most had never seen them.
Even so, upon hearing the word 'demon,' Winston's brows furrowed, and his expression turned serious.
Stroking the head of his cane, Winston gave a slightly stiff smile. "Forget it. I'm just an old bag of bones. I don't want to stir up any trouble."
"Roy, what I wanted to say is that Baba Yaga—ah, that is, John—is preparing to retire."
"He is repaying a blood oath he once owed. Xueyan Town will most likely be his last stop."
"Of course, I believe it won't be a problem for him. Whether as the Boogeyman or Baba Yaga, John has his own destiny."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you."
"Roy, after John, the New York Continental needs to establish a new flagship in the assassin world."
"If you agree, I can negotiate with Rome to transfer your account here to New York."
Assassin platforms and assassins can build each other up.
It's like the relationship between a business and a celebrity.
A good celebrity spokesperson can sometimes provide an enormous boost to the business they represent.
The mutual success between John Wick and Winston had allowed Winston to control the New York Continental for 30 years.
Now, Winston was not yet 60 and hoped to continue controlling the New York Continental for another 30 years.
So, at this critical juncture of John Wick's impending retirement, Roy's arrival presented Winston with an opportunity.
Dinner, Xueyan Town, John Wick—these were all just pretexts from Winston.
His true purpose was to recruit Roy.
In this process, Charon's respectful and thoughtful service, Winston's friendly attitude, and the warmth he showed for his friend John Wick were all part of the groundwork to win Roy over.
In fact, this was not outside of Roy's expectations.
Just as John Wick had to be treated with caution wherever he went, Roy's reputation in the assassin world was only slightly weaker than John Wick's. This was only because he had debuted more recently. In four years, he had carried out 32 executions and taken 41 contracts without a single failure. The verifiable death toll was at least over 200 people.
A reputation in the world of assassins is built entirely on killing.
Nothing was more detailed and reliable than those statistics.
The attitude Winston displayed was enough to prove his sincerity.
And similarly, having come to New York from Europe, especially after being screwed over by his family in the territory allocation, Roy didn't mind using this identity to exchange for the 'friendship' of an old local kingpin like Winston.
He was just registering as an assassin, not selling his life to the Continental.
Whether it was the Rome Continental or the New York Continental, it made no difference to Roy.
If one were to dig deeper, the Mafia Commission held a seat at the High Table.
And the Mafia was a family organization; every official member owned a 'share' of the Commission.
Even if that 'share' was just a billionth of a point short.
But if you rounded up, wasn't he also half an owner of the New York Continental?
It was just a 'transfer,' not a transfer of his life.
Registering with the New York Continental wasn't out of the question, but they'd have to pay more.
In a flash of thought, Roy had already made his decision. He crushed the cigar in his hand and said, "Winston, what's in it for me?"
The ordinary services of the Continental could be bought with gold coins.
In that instant, Winston immediately understood the subtext in Roy's words.
Then, Winston nodded to Charon in the distance before looking at Roy and saying, "Roy, I know about your situation in New York, so I've prepared two gifts for you..."
...
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