Exposed

"... I remain the same as always."

Maria did not answer directly; she simply nodded slightly and then continued reading the documents.

After tidying everything up again, she finally frowned.

"The Texas Family is in trouble... A strange monster has appeared in Columbia... Banshee's Secret Art and Sarkaz... And, Cainhurst?!"

Maria remained extremely calm throughout the first part of the letter, but Maria voice rose slightly only after the last word appeared.

Her pupils dilated slightly, and her eyes revealed disbelief.

Cainhurst?

Cainhurst!

Shouldn't he be the only Cainhurst left in this world?!

How could this be?!

Maria's expression turned extremely serious.

This piqued Madam Sicily's curiosity.

You know this?

"I know... I know very well what this means." Maria's eyes gradually fell silent, and in an instant, the Madam Sicily was astonished to see a monster gradually awakening.

But she didn't have an attack.

After taking a deep breath, he silently raised his head.

"Perhaps... we should go and see that land..."

Chapter 241 Exposure

Almost in the blink of an eye, Celinina had been back in Columbia for a week.

Things have gotten much less busy these past few days.

The loudest voices were from the Sarkaz in the city, who were outraged by the public killing of their comrades and began to protest. However, many extremists believed that Lappland's actions were just... After all, Lappland looked like a teenager, while the one who was killed was an extremely dangerous Sarkaz demon!

The two sides were arguing fiercely, which caused Celinina's efforts to bail out Lappland to be repeatedly delayed.

Now, the time has come for her to meet Salvadore, whom she had arranged with her father, and she has no choice but to come here alone...

Standing outside the ward, Celinina held a few small flowers in her hands, looking somewhat nervous.

Just now, a large group of doctors rushed into the ward to examine Salvadore's condition.

The girl and Leonardo clueless about this, could only stand blankly at the door, waiting anxiously.

"It'll be alright... Celinina."

Seemingly sensing his daughter's unease, Leonardo patted her shoulder, smiled at her bewildered little face, and smiled back.

Although Celinina was worried, she could only remain silent.

They didn't have to wait long before the doctors who had just flooded into the ward came out with worried expressions.

An ominous premonition arose in the girl's heart.

She immediately stepped forward to ask.

"Doctor, Grandpa's condition..."

"This is very bad..."

The leading man, with graying hair, shook his head, a bitter look on his face.

"We have used all our technology, but... I'm sorry, Salvadore's body is currently..."

"What did you say?"

Leonardo's face immediately darkened, and he stepped forward, grabbing the other man by the collar.

The old man opposite him also showed a hint of fear on his face.

Such behavior is hardly that of a businessman; it's more like that of a thug or rogue.

But Celinina had no time to pay attention to her father's strange behavior. Instead, she quickly pulled her hand away from the doctor's grasp with a clever move. Ignoring the man's astonished expression, she turned to the doctor anxiously and asked him questions.

What do you mean?

"I... I mean..." The doctor was slightly surprised to see the girl use such methods, but after quickly calming down, he said seriously, "Salvadore's body is very weak now because of overworking himself in his early years. In fact, the fact that he has lasted until now has exceeded all of our expectations, but... even so, his current physical condition is not optimistic."

"So... there's still hope?!"

Celinina's eyes widened slightly, revealing a hint of excitement.

The doctor nodded.

"While the situation is bad, it's not beyond repair, but continuing treatment at the Texas Mansion is proving too cumbersome... and we can't keep track of his health condition in a timely manner..."

"So... you mean Grandpa needs to go to a different place for treatment?"

Upon hearing the doctor's words, Celinina's expression finally softened, while Leonardo, who had been momentarily stunned by the little girl's actions, returned to his senses after a moment of silence.

"So... can we go see him now?"

"Hmm... Regarding this, I actually recommend quieter conditions... After all, patients are very sensitive to sound these days, and we're worried..."

Although the doctor didn't explicitly refuse Leonardo's request, his words implied that it was best to avoid seeing him now.

This made Leonardo frown.

Meanwhile, Celinina nodded understandingly.

"Thank you for your help. Please go to the conference room and rest for a while. The Texas Family will arrange for someone to take you back to your posts afterwards... along with compensation for your hard work these past few days."

The girl's simple words not only stopped Leonardo from having a fit of rage, but also reassured the doctors.

After all, when facing Leonardo, this madman completely disregarded their identities and even threatened their lives from time to time.

In contrast, although Celinina was young, she knew very well what to do at what time. At this point, the doctors had done what they could, and whether they succeeded or failed, they couldn't be blamed. So, the girl not only didn't blame the doctors for not completing their rescue, but also made arrangements for their follow-up.

This made them all take another look at the little girl.

But it was just a glance.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that it's not the time for her to have a say in the Texas Family right now.

In a hurry, the group began to leave.

Celinina, meanwhile, gazed at Salvadore's hospital room, her brows slightly lowered, revealing a hint of anxiety.

Leonardo sighed to himself.

"I'm sorry, my little Celinina, the date you want to meet him may have to be postponed..."

"It's alright, Father... it's alright."

Celinina didn't show any displeasure; she simply tilted her head slightly, nodded to the man, and silently turned and left.

The man watched the girl's departing figure without saying a word.

Then... both father and daughter raised their heads.

His wolf-like eyes were revealed...

"So... is it basically certain now?"

Inside the detention center, Lappland and Celinina talked about what happened outside the ward that day.

Both of them narrowed their eyes and discussed the events of the past few days.

Meanwhile, a curious Sankta woman was taking notes on today's meeting using her unique coded language.

Since Lappland was imprisoned here, the group has silently reached a strange understanding.

The Sankta women want to investigate the real reason behind the Columbia cannibals, Celinina wants to find out what happened to her family, and Lappland wants to protect Celinina.

Although everyone had different goals, the things they were investigating were connected by an extremely subtle coincidence.

"It's basically confirmed..."

Celinina kept her head down, holding a teacup in her hands.

"These past few days, as planned, I visited the homes of many older gentlemen. Just as you said, I didn't even need to say anything; just a few hints were enough for them to offer their support. My father has been doing too many extreme and radical things lately, which has made many people dissatisfied with him... And indeed, just as we suspected before, after Grandpa fell seriously ill, except for the initial period, my father basically arranged his treatment."

"And today... just as you said, I had no way to see Grandpa..."

"That's for sure." Lappland wasn't surprised by Celinina's experience. "Even if she had health problems, how could she be sick for half a year? Your father must have used some method to keep Salvadore under house arrest."

"Initially, he probably wanted to buy time for his own power to expand rapidly, so that once his influence was fully consolidated, he could force Salvadore to step down... But he didn't expect Salvadore's prestige to be so great. Even though many people were recruited by him, very few actually obeyed him. As a result, he can only continue to delay treating Salvadore's illness to buy himself more time."

"The reason we called you back was just a delaying tactic, to keep the older generation of family members from becoming too radical... After all, they don't want any major chaos to erupt within the Texas Family. Given a choice, they would definitely prioritize you as a figurehead to gradually reclaim their power..."

"And this will buy him some time."

Lappland took a deep breath and looked at Celinina, whose expression was gradually becoming serious. She paused for a moment, then looked at the Sankta woman beside her.

After the other person nodded, she continued.

"During this time, Mu Lisi and I have also investigated the various troubles that have occurred in Columbia over the past six months... We can basically confirm that these were caused by that group of Sarkaz mercenaries."

"However, this shouldn't be the work of the Sarkaz collective. There must be a group of them who have formed a special organization and are carrying out these things in a planned manner..."

"Most importantly, those who were victims or went missing were often people with some form of cooperation with the Texas Family... This isn't hard to see, but even now, very few people mention it..."

Lappland's eyes swept over the crowd, her expression growing increasingly silent.

There seems to be only one explanation for this result.

This group of Sarkaz reached some kind of agreement with Leonardo... an agreement that allowed them to help Leonardo deal with those inside and outside his family who did not support him.

Such an answer made them feel extremely uncomfortable.

Although the fighting in Siracusa continued unabated, they all knew that even in the most dangerous times, their families would still stand behind them.

But at this moment, they seemed to have fallen into a trap called Columbia.

The entire city has now been transformed into a giant spider web, and there are only three of them...

Isolated and helpless.

How can they, in this situation, resolve all these problems?

"And..." Lappland looked at Celinina in front of her, hesitated for a moment, then decided to speak her mind, "Others may not know, but the older generation of the Texas Family should be able to see these problems... This would have been their best excuse to criticize and warn Leonardo, but so far, no one has mentioned it... This means someone has suppressed their voices..."

"Furthermore, from what I understand, the ones who initially brought in that group of Sarkaz were actually..."

"Enough..." Celinina took a deep breath, not letting Lappland continue.

"I don't know my father well, but... Grandpa isn't the kind of person who would do such a thing!"

"But if he wasn't involved, there are still many things we can't explain!"

"That must be because there's something we haven't investigated yet!"

Do you have any leads?

"I..."

"Celinina, are you awake?!"

Lappland's voice became unusually serious.

At least in her view, things were clearly more complicated than simply protecting Celinina in the power struggle within the family.

Although she found it hard to believe, based on the clues she had uncovered so far, the various strange occurrences and deaths that had taken place in Columbia over the past six months were inextricably linked to the two leaders of the Texas Family!

Salvadore was indeed a respectable, heroic figure.

But...

"As Lady Maria said... all heroes grow old," Lappland said softly, her eyes drooping.

Looking at Celinina, who was standing in front of her with her head down and not saying a word, she felt a pang of pity, but she had to tell her everything.

Perhaps many of these ideas are wrong, but in situations like entry into the country, only by placing the presuppositions in the most dangerous corner can they find the safest solution!

"There may be a misunderstanding, but... we are not as capable as Ms. Maria, and we cannot afford to fail."

"I don't believe Salvadore is that kind of crazy guy either, but the fact is, before he fell ill, he brought Sarkaz to Columbia, indirectly helping Leonardo..."