Chapter 132

Chapter 132 – Traces of the Mask #2

Tae-hyuk brought Caterina and Semon to the previous cafe . In other words, they were entering enemy territory .

Caterina’s eyes narrowed as she saw the ‘cafe893’ sign . (TL: The name is deliberately written in lower capitals by author)

Semon looked around suspiciously, like he expected an ambush . Both of them were suspicious .

“The Yakuza are behind this shop . ”

Tae-hyuk smiled as he watched the uneasy Caterina .

“Why, do you think I would sell you out? Well, doesn’t this seem surprisingly good? Won’t they give me one of the executive positions if I hand over the head of the Red Mafia?”

“Y-You know…!”

Caterina stretched out a hand to stop the agitated Semon from pulling out a gun .

“…Semon . If Phantom was really planning that, then he wouldn’t have spoken it out loud . Rather, that type of suggestion makes the story easier . I can promise you three times what the Yakuza offered . ”

Tae-hyuk coughed and looked at Caterina .

“Really? Then I will listen to your story . ”

Caterina laughed and raised a finger .

“Please look at my face now…hmm . Do you think I am just a pretty face? Actually, Semon is the real boss behind me . So please don’t talk that way . ”

Caterina’s words were surprising . Tae-hyuk had been suspicious when Caterina had introduced herself as the boss of the Red Mafia . At this moment, he realized that he took her lightly .

‘She definitely isn’t a normal girl . ’

This was the first time he lost a psychological battle against someone .

“Don’t worry about being wiretapped . I removed all the surveillance cameras and recorders that were installed inside . ”

“Then let’s talk more over a cup of coffee . ”

As they opened the door, the cafe boss was mumbling something while he was counting money . It looked like he was thinking of escaping from debtors .

“Fuck~ I lost revenue due to that Phantom bastard closing my store . ”

“Hey, it has been a while . I thought this place would be full of customers, but it’s already closed?”

“C-Cough! Y-You…”

Tae-hyuk laughed and summon an iron pipe using his Violence skill . Then he swung it at the boss’ head .

Kaaang!

The cafe boss fell to the ground with a large sound . Tae-hyuk put the iron pipe down and clapped .

“Now that the witness is handled, we can talk as much as we want . ”

“Where did you suddenly get the iron pipe from? Are you a magician?”

“Oh, this? Trade secrets . Then sit back and wait . Do you want any coffee?”

“Ah, yes . ”

Tae-hyuk muttered as he made coffee for three people .

“Aigoo… If I knew this was the case, then I would’ve let him make the coffee before hitting him . ”

As they drank the coffee that Phantom made, the three people started to talk in earnest . Caterina stirred the surface that looked like a brownie with a fork and said,

“First of all, I should explain my situation . As you can see, I’m a woman . ”

“Well, you don’t have to explain that part . ”

“A woman can’t become the boss of the mafia . ”

“Didn’t you say you were the boss earlier?”

“That is the problem . ”

Caterina was the only child of the Ivankov family’s boss . He knew that if he died, there would be a battle over who would be the boss .

“Before my father died, he declared to all the members that he would leave everything to his only child . My father was literally the symbol of Zvezda . If I was a man, then I would’ve been able to take over the Red Mafia without any problem . Even if they didn’t swear absolute loyalty to me like they did to my father, they wouldn’t be able to rebel . ”

Tae-hyuk nodded with an understanding expression .

“Caterina’s situation is similar to the King of Russia . ”

“The Red Mafia, Zvezda is a coalition of various organizations across Russia . Of course, there are eight bosses . I can’t stop them all by myself . ”

“In the end, you will die in the fight against them . ”

The end of the Red Mafia that Tae-hyuk remembered wasn’t so different .

“Of the nine heads, there is only one who follows me . In such a situation, I can only do one thing . ”

Tae-hyuk looked into Caterina’s eyes as she told the story . She was speaking a shameful story . They were words that couldn’t be said in front of her subordinates . Was the situation so desperate that she was telling him this?

“In other words, you have to prove that you have the ability to be the Red Mafia’s boss . ”

“Yes . ”

Tae-hyuk suddenly had an epiphany .

The Red Mafia had done something in South Korea .

“Um, by the way . Was it the Reubens business?”

The Red Mafia had distributed forged artwork through South Korea . However, he had completely ruined their plans . Surely it was the work of the woman in front of him .

“……”

Caterina gazed at his opera mask with a red face .

“Huhu, I didn’t do that due to some malice . It was just a few fakes…”

“Then the damage sustained…”

Caterina was unable to bear it and raised her hand to her head .

“…Ugh . I didn’t come to talk about that business, so let’s stop talking about it . After analyzing the past events, I realized that you aren’t someone who would help a female in difficulty . You only move due to what interests you . ”

“I am like that?”

“Doesn’t that mean if the conditions are right, we can cooperate with each other? I have some bad memories but I’ll forget about it . ”

In fact, Tae-hyuk had inflicted one-sided damage .

‘Hrmm… The Red Mafia’s boss is rendered helpless . ’

She came to see him directly so it wasn’t a simple lie .

“So you want my help for Caterina to be recognized as the Red Mafia’s boss?”

“Please, call me Anne . I don’t like that name . ”

“If you like . ”

“There are many who covet your abilities . Japan’s Yakuza, The Triads in China, and the violent organizations in South Korea as well . The name of Phantom is more widespread among the mafia than you think . ”

“So what do you want me to do? Don’t tell me that you are planning to sacrifice the other bosses? I think it would be quicker to ask the guy standing over there . The merchant of death, Semon . ”

“C-Cough . ”

Semon coughed as his name was called . But he didn’t come forward .

“It isn’t that simple . Even if I cut off the hydra’s heads, new ones will just grow in their place . However, there isn’t enough budget to do a new business . The only thing left for me is South Korea . ”

“South Korea?”

“That is where I need your help, Phantom . You are in a conflict with the Yakuza . Right?”

“Um . ”

“The Triads as well . Don’t you think they are too big to fight alone?”

It made a lot of sense . He didn’t want to touch the Triad unless they acted first . However, the Yakuza were different . He needed to fight them in order to obtain Yamashita’s gold and smash Mister Park .

Anne accepted it as a positive answer when Tae-hyuk didn’t reply .

“Semon and I will be your allies . You don’t need to do anything for us . Just continue fighting with the Yakuza and the Triads . Then I will be able to build nests in South Korea without them interfering . ”

Then Anne, after gaining South Korea, would be recognized as the boss of the Red Mafia . Phantom would be used as a barrier to block the Yakuza and Triads .

“In other words, do you mean a non-aggression treaty? That seems to only be lucrative to you . ”

“If necessary, I will support you with firearms and troops . And once the whole thing is over, I’ll make you the 10th head of hydra if you want . ”

In other words, he would be the boss of the South Korean branches . Obviously, if he entered into an alliance, then he would gain the power to fight both the Yakuza and Triads . However, he needed to keep in mind that the condition for upgrading to a King was to conquer the mafia game . Could he become a King if he allied with the Red Mafia to deal with the other two?

As Tae-hyuk hesitated, Anne opened her mouth .

“If that isn’t enough, there is one thing left that I can give you . With me…”

Unfortunately, Anne didn’t finish her words . The Demon Revealing Mirror within Tae-hyuk’s clothes started vibrating violently .

Biiiiiik-!

A warning cry rang in his ears .

[Caution!]

-The Spying skill has detected a danger .

-The special ability has been triggered and 20 affinity points have been reduced .

-Time remaining until the raid on cafe893 .

-00:01:49’

Tae-hyuk trembled as he saw the message in front of him . It was the special feature of Spying that detected the collapse of Atlantis .

This meant…

“W-What is it? A-All of a sudden, a large sound…”

Semon shrugged like he didn’t know what Anne was talking about .

“Young Lady . I’m sorry, but I heard no sound . ”

“You didn’t hear that sound just now?”

There was no time to watch the argument . Meanwhile, the countdown to the attack was steadily decreasing . Fortunately, it wasn’t at the level of the bomb exploding in Atlantis .

Tae-hyuk reached towards Semon .

“Gun . ”

“W-What do you mean?”

“I have no time to explain now . We are about to be attacked . ”

“Nobody knows we are here… D-Don’t tell me the Yakuza…!”

Tae-hyuk raised a finger to his lips . Then he used Spying to see how many people were approaching .

“There are around 30 armed gunmen with assault rifles . ”

“It is fortunate that I have a weapon, but fighting alone against 30 people…”

If Semon fought against 30 people, then his body would be riddled with holes like a honeycomb . Anne approached the window and looked out using her hand mirror . Then she murmured in a despairing voice .

“W-We are completely surrounded…”

Her eyes gazed at one of the attackers . He wasn’t wearing a mask so she could see his face . They were the Yakuza .

“…The Red Mafia . Maybe one of them didn’t want me to be recognized as boss . ”

Semon moaned .

“Kuoong…”

“I wonder how they knew we were here . Certainly not just anyone…”

The whole reason she came alone without bodyguards was for security reasons . But how did this place…?

While Anne was confused, the man in the opera mask approached .

He smiled and said,

“I’m sorry . Can I ask you something?”

“Huh?”

Are any of your people out there?”

“N-No!”

“Then it doesn’t matter if I get rid of them all?”

“……!”

It was the first time Anne realized the imposing nature of the man in front of her . He was able to stand against the mafia alone .