Took the Bait

A moment later, the Fills Family butler arrived at the top floor.

As he stepped out into the corridor, he happened to see the young lady chatting and laughing with an unfamiliar man.

Ever since the fallout with the Kenny Family, the Fills Family had been extremely thorough in protecting Lily... This top floor belonged exclusively to the Fills siblings.

Who was this man?

When had he arrived? How had he gotten up here? The old man's hand holding the tea trembled uncontrollably... But seeing the smile on the young lady's face, it seemed she knew him and that he posed no danger.

"David... let me introduce you. This is a blood relative of our Fills Family. His name is Oboro."

Lily had keen hearing and noticed the butler, introducing him.

A relative?

"Mr. Oboro, hello."

The elderly man was likewise dressed in a suit and bow tie. Even his beard seemed meticulously groomed, giving him an elegant appearance.

He respectfully bowed to Oboro.

David had served the old family head since his youth, so he knew the Fills Family's circumstances well... Where had this supposed relative come from?

"Starting today, he will replace my brother, Fills Garu, as the new family head," Lily said softly.

David stared at Oboro. "Yes!"

"Please... contact the family's senior executives and have them come here for a meeting." Oboro smiled at the old man.

"All right!"

David set down the tea, bowed to the two of them, then turned and left.

"He seems to trust you a great deal..."

Watching the butler's retreating back, Oboro remarked.

"He watched my brother and me grow up... To me, he's no different from a father."

Lily replied, then asked, "You're purging the family's upper ranks because you're worried they'll expose your secret, aren't you?"

"Not only that... I looked into your family's situation a little. Now that Fills Garu is dead, the people under him will definitely grow restless. Some might even entertain thoughts of rebellion and usurpation... Isn't that sort of thing common among the mafia? Aside from inheritance among relatives, plenty of people rise through internal struggle... Can you guarantee that every one of them is safe?"

As Oboro spoke, he walked away and waved a hand. "Since you can't see it, don't look. Listen to some music instead. It's getting late... Good night."

"Good night."

Meanwhile, Butler David's efficiency was truly impressive. Within only a few hours, the managers of the Fills Family's various businesses had all gathered at the group's headquarters.

Quite a few luxury cars were parked outside the building, and the area bustled with people. A group of mafiosi continually greeted and escorted the leaders toward the conference room.

"David... Why call us all here so late? What happened?!"

"Still no news from the boss?"

"Old man... I heard that... Boss Garu..."

Inside the brightly lit room, more than a dozen people sat around a long table, talking among themselves. They endlessly speculated about the family head's intentions and the bits of gossip they had heard. This time, the butler had summoned them in the family head's name.

So they assumed Fills Garu had returned.

However, rumors had been spreading over the past two days... They had not only been unable to contact Fills Garu, but even Kuga, Sam, and the others had vanished without a trace. They knew their boss had gone to Tandon to deal with someone... someone rather troublesome.

After waiting for a long time, the doors were pushed open. When the group saw Butler David appear, they immediately rushed to question him.

Only the butler had come. There was no sign of Fills Garu or any of the familiar faces! "Everyone, please quiet down."

David walked to the seat at the head of the table and raised a hand to calm them. "This meeting was indeed called at the family head's request... But... it was the new family head."

"New?"

The senior executives looked at one another in confusion.

When had the boss been replaced? Why had they not heard anything? Just then, footsteps sounded from the doorway.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw an unfamiliar man walk in.

"Who is he?"

Someone asked in a low voice.

"Allow me to introduce him. This is Fills Mabor, a younger relative of the old family head and the new family head... Mr. Oboro. As the only remaining direct descendant of the Fills Family, Miss Lily made this decision several hours ago," David explained.

"What kind of joke is this!"

A fat, big-eared man immediately slammed the table and stood up, his face full of rage. "How can something as important as choosing the family head be decided so carelessly... without even informing us!"

His tiny eyes darted rapidly.

No one present was stupid. David's words had already revealed one thing: Fills Garu was dead!

The rumors were true!

Though they were shocked, what concerned them more right now... was the choice of family head.

That meant... they all had a chance!

"Exactly!"

Other senior executives echoed their displeasure.

"Are you questioning Miss Lily's decision?"

David's expression remained blank. "With Young Master Garu's passing, Miss Lily holds absolute authority over the family!"

"What does a woman know? Are we supposed to place the fate of the entire Fills Family in the hands of a blind woman... and even bring in an outsider to be the boss!" The fat man sneered. In the past, he would not have dared show the young lady such disrespect, but now...

The butler's expression turned cold.

"All right, all right, everyone calm down."

Oboro, who had not spoken until now, was already standing beside the butler. He suddenly clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Please, settle down!"

After speaking, he looked over the hostile faces around the table and said casually, "I called you all here today... not to let you voice your opinions, nor to ask for your approval. This is simply to notify you all, and incidentally... see you off."

See them off?

Before they could fully process Oboro's words, a swift black shadow had already leaped onto the table. Like a ghost, it flashed between the two rows of executives. The butler only heard a series of crisp cracks, and when he came to his senses, Oboro was once again standing by the far end of the table.

As for the dozen or so family executives... without exception, their necks had been twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, their heads wrenched around behind them. They had stopped breathing.

The expressions from their final moments remained frozen on their faces.

"Fill their positions by promoting people from below. Ideally, find the kind who want to make something of themselves, have ambition, and are fairly capable... You definitely know them better than I do, so I'll leave it to you!"

As if he had done something utterly trivial, Oboro yawned and walked straight out. "I'm going to sleep!"

"Yes."

David came back to his senses and bowed to accept the order.

On the top floor, Fills Lily had taken Oboro's advice and had the maid play music in the room.

The music was soothing and relaxing... yet tinged with faint sorrow.

It reflected her current mood... though it was impossible to tell whether she was mourning her brother, Fills Garu, or holding a funeral for the family managers who had died violently downstairs.

Butler David was indeed highly capable. After all, he had served the old family head. In just a few days, he stabilized the family's situation, and the new senior executives had begun handling their duties.

The change of family head and Fills Garu's death could not be concealed.

Oboro simply released the news.

He intended to announce it loudly... while pinning Garu's death on the Kenny Family.

The feud between the Fills Family and the Kenny Family had not begun yesterday. Lily's injury and her father's death had both been caused by the Kenny Family... So no one would doubt the claim that the Kenny Family had killed Garu as well.

This was perfectly normal in the mafia world. The Kenny Family's territory bordered the Fills Family's, and everyone in the underworld knew that the Kenny Family had long coveted the casino business with great envy.

And after the Fills Family went through such upheaval, the first ones unable to sit still would inevitably be their neighbors, who stood to benefit first.

Less than a day after the news spread, mafia forces throughout the region had heard about it...

"Did you find anything?"

Inside an office, Gole, the Kenny Family's boss, held an expensive breed of cat in his arms as he asked the subordinate who had entered after knocking.

"We found out... Fills Garu and the bodyguards around him are all dead... They also lost quite a few men, and all their senior executives have been replaced. Their family has been severely weakened. That new family head, Oboro, is supposedly a distant relative of old Mabor... but there should be something suspicious about him. The Fills Family's upper ranks were removed overnight. For an outsider like him to become family head without any warning, he is probably not simple."

The subordinate analyzed the situation.

"As for the culprit who killed Fills Garu... there are no leads yet. Their family has sealed the matter off tightly, and few people know the truth... But they have continually been spreading rumors that we were the ones who took Garu out..."

"Hmph. The one in the Fills Family with real brains was that woman... Garu only charged ahead with brute force and ruthlessness. Besides, the bodyguards at his side were formidable too... Casinos are places that make serious money. With money, the people he could hire would naturally be no slouches... But now... this is a rare opportunity."

"Interesting... If it were you, would you shelter a murderer or an enemy?"

The subordinate shook his head.

Kenny Gole stroked the cat's back. "But... announcing a new family head to the outside world so quickly, isn't that exposing their weakness? Or do they think... the Ten Dons will stand up for them? I'm afraid... even if the Fills Family were mentioned, the Ten Dons might not remember them..."

"Boss, do you think this is a trap?"

The subordinate caught his meaning.

"Over the past few days, the Fills Family has been making frequent moves. Most of their men have been stationed at their casinos to guard them, likely because they are on alert... There aren't many left at the group headquarters."

"Not many people at the group headquarters?"

Gole's eyelid twitched. The pet cat he had been fondling a moment ago was suddenly grabbed by the neck and violently thrown away.

The cat let out a miserable shriek.

"Then Fills Lily and that butler named David may have already slipped away in secret and relocated... Even if they ran, the Fills Family's main businesses are still there... They are merely guarding against us finding them! That building is the symbol of the Fills Family... They've even abandoned their headquarters. They're truly at the End of the Line, miserable beyond measure..."

"That new family head is merely a scapegoat... someone put there to take the bullets, hehe! No wonder..."

Gole interlaced his fingers and pondered.

"Their family relies on casinos for massive cash flow, so we cannot delay... Otherwise, they will soon be able to use money to replenish their manpower and restore morale. Even if we cannot swallow them whole, taking the Fills Family's group headquarters along with several casinos and biting off a chunk of that fat meat would still be quite nice..."

No matter what tricks they were playing, it was worth trying!

"Go gather the men!"

"Notify the people in Koke City too. Tell them the mafia is doing business tonight!"

"Understood!"

The subordinate nodded and hurried off to carry out the orders.