Liberi Reader

...I'm tired of this.

Nng——!

You're strong. And you've shown me some really cool kung fu.

But I can't keep playin' with you like this.

Real sorry about this, but you, your buddy, and that traitor, you all gotta die here.

Boys, weapons ready.

Ready!

So you're going to win with sheer numbers...?

It ain't so simple, Gambino.

Listen up, once the so-called 'boss' opens fire, that's the official announcement of the end of your affiliation with the Gambino Family. Don't go easy on 'em.

Got it!

Waai Fu, this side too...

We're getting boxed in.

Hah. We got the Family all split up, and the prey becomes the predator. We got a nice chaotic battle here each fallin' into each other's traps.

It's just like that time back in Siracusa... But this time, it's a gamble we got no choice but to win.

Too bad you've always been a shit gambler.

All right. That's enough. Settle down.

What!

You finally crawled out of your filthy hole?

Mr. Gambino, I am truly sorry, but I've given you and your Family so many chances.

We got no trust between us at all. You really think I'd hand the Family over to some non-Sicilian freak?

Sicilian. While I have not once in my life set foot in a Siracusan city, I do know that you are unworthy of describing yourself as such.

...What are you gonna do?

The time for questions has passed, young man. And you have broken the rules far too many times.

Once was your transgression, another was yours. But it matters not. You have both overstepped your bounds.

......

You goin' back on your deal?

I made no deal.

Hmph. You really think you can take us?

You sit on a throne in a stinking sewer, telling desperate people who got no choice but to throw down their lives what to do. That's you.

It behooves you, as head of your household, to broaden your horizons.

Compared to everything we have been through, your little Siracusan fiasco was a stubbed toe.

Shut up!

Have you ever seen a true onslaught? What it means to truly have barbarians at your gates?

When moving cities crash against one another, smoke chokes the skies, and the dying infected rot away by cesspools, crying in hopeless agony?

You know nothing. And yet you think to fight a city.

(He's immensely powerful... him and that woman with him...)

(Shit, we have to at least stop provoking the Rat King... now is not the time...)

You think you stand for all of Lungmen?

Lungmen certainly cannot stand for me.

Enough talk! Haah——!

——

No one will permit you to strike this old man.

Get back, Waai Fu!

Out of my way!

Thank you. You are Ah Fil. I've heard your story.

You're the one Uncle always talks about...

Heh, my old friend.

I thank you for helping Lungmen put a stop to them. And I thank you for your pursuit of justice.

Now, please leave.

But...

I promised many times to many people that I would not let the children get mixed up in such matters.

...Waai Fu.

Fine.

The children are gone. And with them your hope of victory.

Put down your weapons, kneel before me, and your 'Family' will have at least some chance to survive.

Do you really think your threats mean anything?

...You are on our land. It means to us what Siracusa means to you. You must know this much.

You still have some chips on the table, young man. Wouldn't you like to save them?

Qui- quicksand?! Run!

Aaaaaagh! My hand! D- don't touch the sand!

You cocky——

Hmph.

Calm yourself, young man. I don't need my hands to stop your sword.

Look around you at your companions. This city has bled so much already. I really don't want to see 'Family' killing one another on the program.

This is your last chance.

I ain't gonna turn coward again. Leaving Siracusa was the last step backwards for my Family.

I'd rather die here like a true Sicilian than ever let the enemy see me run off with my tail between my legs.

Perhaps in your mind, this is the way for a warrior to behave. But for a leader, going too far is as bad as not going far enough.

You should reflect, and introspect. Unfortunately, it is too late.

Aaaagh!!

...This is the end, Gambino. You should never have bet the whole Family on this.

Capone, you, you son of a——!

Calm down. We don't want you to go out too hard.

Gah!

Funny. You don't look surprised at all. Were you waiting for me to do this?

What are you thinking, backstabbing boss-killer?

I'll offer up the whole Family. We're gonna live here, in Lungmen. And we're not gonna fall on our swords for no good reason.

It's too bad... if you were truly willing to work together, that woman never would have exiled you from Siracusa.

You know a lot about us... But I'm not gonna ask. It's Lungmen.

Indeed. It's Lungmen.

You mean I should be easier on you, since you're willing to personally discipline the disobedient?

My Family will take orders from you.

'Your Family.'

You are simply describing the situation as it is. You made so many miscalculations you have no other choice.

Right. It's been a hell of a night. I've had a lotta setbacks. But that's business.

Mmm... Business.

You're absolutely right. This is an excellent deal. Fair and equitable.

Then——!

But, Mr. Capone, it's Lungmen.

It's not me.

——

I have no need of your loyalty. Never did.

......

You... from the very beginning, you were...

It's what it is. We gotta survive.

When you tried to worm your way into Lungmen, your mutual suspicion ground turned you up into a sheet of sand. A stone is hard to break. But sand? I can easily scoop up a handful.

I have no love of trickery. It's really no fun at all. What matters is what I said a few minutes ago: I truly do not wish to see family massacre family...

And yet you did harm to your own brother, right in front of me.

Now for this, I would not say you've crossed the ultimate line. So I will not kill you.

It's just that, since you disobeyed me, I'm afraid I have no need of such a crafty and conniving friend.

You...! You had these moles in the Family from the very beginning! And you waited until we got at each other's throats, and then you...!

Gah!

You're wasting your life on idle words, young man.

Heh... while you toyed around with the power over them, your underlings were mulling it all over for you. Truly remarkable.

Their loyalty has bought them a chance to survive in Lungmen. And a life for each of you as well.

Now then, you have seen for yourselves the choices made by these two leaders, and now the time has come for you to fulfill your commitments.

...Heh.

Rat King. No, Lin. Lin Gray, you're more Sicilian than either of us.

You tore my honor to shreds, and then you let me live? Are you trying to humiliate me?

——!

......

Astonishing. To save your life, you don't hesitate to draw a sword on your own brother, your own leader, and yet when I offer to let you live, you are determined to die?

I thought only the one out cold over there would gnash his teeth at me so.

That's because I too am 'Sicilian.'

Or I guess I should ask if you really thought you could wipe out one of Siracusa's 'Families' and get away with it?

Idle threats. You must know that nobody will go to war over an erased Family. Take a step back and see that even though some hopeless, scattered warriors may ignorantly think to act...

...I say let them come. Let them be torn to shreds by the true rage of this city.

Grr!

You alone have no power to stand against us.

Now. Go.

......

...I guess my life just has to go on for now, but one day you'll regret that you didn't kill me, a true Sicilian, today.

No question.

...If I were to send a man to kill him now, what would you do?

You wouldn't do that.

But what he said is true. I have no reason to be so lenient with a Siracusan mafioso.

We had a deal. When we came face to face, we'd defect, and you'd let the others go.

Unless, of course, the remaining mobsters force a fight to the death.

......

Heh heh. Don't worry. He didn't mean that. He's simply a coward who wants to live. But his anger is not feigned.

An unrighteous man has nothing for which to live.

Remarkable. His negligible dignity saved his life, in the end.

...Thanks.

Go. It is time to bring this evening to its conclusion.