The next day, dark clouds blanketed the sky, and a light rain shrouded all of New York.
In an upscale cemetery in the Bronx, Old Carlson leaned on his cane and looked at his son's gravestone. The desolation of a white-haired man burying his black-haired son rose within him, and even tears could not help but fall from his fierce face.
"Let's go. We have more important things to do today."
Old Carlson wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, then turned and headed out of the cemetery under the escort of his underlings.
In front of a gravestone not far from them, George was also casting a spell.
"Serpensortia!"
As the spell took shape, a gray black mamba appeared before him, then swiftly slithered into the grass toward Old Carlson.
About a minute later, George heard Old Carlson's scream and the panicked cries of his underlings.
Even the nearest hospital was thirty minutes away. With Old Carlson's condition, he would not last fifteen minutes after being bitten by a black mamba.
Once Old Carlson died, the Carlson family would surely fall into chaos. The higher-ups would naturally make moves to fight over the boss's position, and George could then fish in troubled waters and eliminate most of them.
Even if he used a sniper rifle, no one would suspect anything. They would only assume that the higher-ups had hired people to kill one another.
Three days later, at night, on a rooftop.
"These past few days, the Carlson family has been fighting internally and has suffered heavy losses. I plan to make my move tomorrow and take all their territory."
Leon spoke respectfully as he looked at George.
George had dismantled most of the Carlson family, one of the Thirteen families, in just a few days. Leon was deeply shocked by it.
The later shootings were one thing, but the accidental deaths of the Carlson father and son at the beginning had truly frightened him.
Even though he knew George had done it, he could not see the slightest trace of human involvement. Everyone believed the Carlsons had simply been too unlucky—one had accidentally fallen to his death, while the other had accidentally been bitten by a snake and poisoned to death.
Sometimes, he wondered whether, if George wanted to kill him, he too would die in some accident without ever realizing it, just like the Carlson father and son.
It was simply too terrifying, like Satan coming to take your soul. No matter how you resisted, you could not avoid it.
As a result, the awe he felt toward George deepened even further.
"Where should I transfer the money when the time comes?"
"Don't transfer it to me. Keep it in your account. I'll take it from you when I need it."
George nodded.
He did not have an account and could not receive transfers. If the money went into Wolverine's or Gabriella's account, it could easily expose his identity.
It would be better to leave it with Leon. He could withdraw cash whenever he needed ordinary spending money, and for large payments, he could have Leon handle them directly.
After everything that had happened, Leon probably would not dare get any ideas about his money.
"Oh, right. After you take over the Carlson territory, turn as much of it as possible into liquid funds. If necessary, mortgage everything you can to the bank for loans, then wait for my call."
"Huh?"
Leon froze upon hearing George's words, clearly not understanding what was going on.
George did not explain further. He merely said:
"If you trust me, do as I say and you can make a fortune. If you don't, I won't force you. Just use all of my share to buy Stark Industries stock."
There was no need to tell Leon that he was going to rescue Tony Stark. Saying too much would only be troublesome.
As long as they made money in the end, Leon would naturally trust him more and more.
"I trust you. I absolutely trust you!"
Leon immediately replied, thumping his chest.
It was not that fear of George had made him say something against his heart. He genuinely believed in all the miraculous abilities George had displayed.
He thought that perhaps George possessed the ability to predict the future and knew Stark Industries stock was about to soar, which was why he had told him to buy it quickly.
If that were true, he really would make a fortune—perhaps even far more than he would by annexing the Carlson family.
They might be one of the Thirteen families in the Bronx and enjoy considerable prestige in the area, but compared to a global behemoth like Stark Industries, they were ants before an elephant.
After all, the Bronx was merely the poorest and most chaotic borough in New York, while Stark Industries was the richest corporation on Earth.
A day later, the newly risen Leon family of the Bronx mobilized in full force, sweeping through the Carlson family, whose strength had bottomed out due to internal conflict. They took eighty percent of the Carlson family's territory, leaving only twenty percent to the last surviving Carlson higher-up.
Two days later, Leon frantically raised funds. He even mortgaged his extended Lincoln to the bank, showing complete determination and trust in George.
Three days later, the Mutant School's field slowly opened, and an invisible fighter slowly took off, flying toward Bagram Province, Afghanistan.
There was no Wolverine aboard the X-Jet, only George and Isabelle, who was flying it.
Originally, George had planned to have Leon send someone to Afghanistan with him. However, when he returned to the school to discuss it with Professor X and the others, Isabelle said she could already fly the X-Jet smoothly.
Professor X had given Isabelle some professional instruction when he was not having an episode.
Since Isabelle could fly the X-Jet and take him to Afghanistan, that was naturally best. They could fly straight to the desert, saving time and avoiding the risk of exposing their identities through transfers.
As for why he was not bringing Wolverine to help?
Mainly because he was now strong enough to deal with those Ten Rings terrorists, and Wolverine had once been a famous figure. Tony would likely recognize him.
Even if Tony did not recognize him, he would definitely find out once he returned and had Jarvis investigate.
For now, George did not want Tony to know his identity. Every additional person who knew it meant another risk of exposure. Even if the other party was Iron Man, he still needed to be cautious.
In another two years, when he was stronger, Professor X and Wolverine had recovered their strength, and the mutant children could skillfully use their abilities in battle, he would not need to be so careful.
The X-Jet was extremely fast. In just a few hours, it reached the skies above the desert outside Bagram Province, Afghanistan.
"Direction Manifestation!"
As George's incantation rang out, an arrow made of golden dust appeared before him.
As Isabelle changed the fighter's direction, the arrow turned along with it.
However, the arrow could only point toward the target's direction on a flat plane—north, south, east, or west. It could not distinguish up from down. It was useful for finding someone in the desert, but not very convenient in a city.
After all, cities had skyscrapers. If the person he was looking for was on the eighteenth floor while he was on the first, he would not find them no matter which way the arrow pointed.
This Tracking Charm was not suited for complicated terrain. For complicated terrain, he needed the better kind that could display a person's trail of movement, but he had not learned it yet.
Before you continue