Chapter 62 Huh... you look just like your mother
The Xrezone family is quite well-known in mafia circles. They formed a group with eight other mafia leaders and named their group the Nine Dragons.
The Nine Dragons themselves each have their own heirs who will become leaders after their fathers step down, and Zinan Xrezone is one of them.
For these nine leaders, personal matters are not within the Nine Dragons' purview. They pursue their own visions and missions, not interfering with each other, but protecting each other if something happens that isn't triggered by their own members.
For the Xrezone family, the Malaike family is very precious. It all started when the sister of the Xrezone family's mafia leader fell in love with an ordinary man. The relationship was very successful, and Hatsu, the son of the Malaike family's company leader, was born.
Zinan could only remain silent about such upsetting things. At first, he didn't understand why his father was so protective of Hatsu and the man's father, but now he understands the crazy reason behind it all.
"My sister is someone who loves Hatsu's father so much, she even let the man of her dreams marry another woman."
Zinan remained silent. He glanced at Hatsu's father, and Hatsu, who seemed pleased with his father's confession. Honestly, Zinan didn't care who they were; he didn't want to involve blood relations in protecting someone.
"After you replace me as leader, I want you to continue protecting your cousin and your uncle. Danieru is making his move, and that woman you insisted on bringing is quite a scheming woman."
Zinan gave him a lazy look. "Father, don't pressure me too much. You know I hate trivial matters, especially if you've said it a thousand times."
"You still don't understand who your enemy is," said Mr. Xrezone.
"It's just the Golden Snakes, isn't it?" Zinan glanced at his father. He could clearly see that his father was holding back his anger; he even vividly remembered the time when his father was attacked by the Golden Snake mafia leader.
"Besides... wasn't it Father who caused trouble for the Golden Snake leader?" Zinan grinned as he saw his father holding his chest in pain. Perhaps it was especially torturous for his father, remembering an enemy who had come so openly and killed many of their mafiosos several years ago.
"Even though Father keeps using the antidote, the poison hasn't gone away." Zinan leaned back, adjusting his sitting position to make himself as comfortable as possible.
"Zinan! You should respect your father," said Mr. Malaike.
Zinan, hearing this, averted his gaze. "Strangers are not allowed to speak. You may be romantically involved with my father's sister, but you are not related to me by blood. Besides... why should I listen to the ramblings of a man like you?"
"Zinan!" snapped Mr. Xrezone.
"Yes, Father?"
"Don't be so rude to your uncle."
Zinan took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "Father, I can protect them in your stead. But I already said I'll always be myself. If I don't like it, then that's how it'll always be."
Hatsu, hearing Zinan's answer, couldn't help but swallow hard. He'd always known that his cousin wasn't one to weigh things up. Zinan liked to keep things simple and always acted on his own terms.
"Huh... you're just like your mother," said Mr. Xrezone.
"If I resembled anyone other than you and Mother, that would mean I wasn't your son."
Zinan's answer left his father speechless. His son often had harsh words, but he knew Zinan would also be firm in his responsibilities. He had complete trust in his son and didn't want their frequent arguments to be exposed to others.
His sister had died giving birth to Hatsu, and at first, he had been eager to care for his sister's child. But... because the man his sister loved wanted revenge, he allowed Hatsu to grow up in the Malaike family's care.
"So, what did you want to talk about, Dad?" Zinan began to look more serious. He was already very bored in that room. Truthfully, he had been monitoring Danieru, Camilla, and Hatsu's movements for a long time. This had been going on since they were in high school, and he had to get involved directly to carry out the investigation his father wanted.
"Father wants you to kill Danieru, his grandfather, and his mother. Only you can do that so well."
Zinan glared at him, killing someone again, and this time even worse than before.
"After killing Leoni Malaike, and now killing her twin again." Zinan stood up, the man crossed his arms and chuckled.
"Leoni was a tool to threaten my in-laws and a tool for dealing, and Danieru is now a threat because he collaborated with the leader of the Golden Snakes." Mr. Malaike began, seeming to have no feelings for his daughter who had been killed in the past.
"Mr. Malaike, do you know how terrifying the Golden Snake is?" Zinan glanced at his uncle.
"Terrifying?" Hatsu repeated Zinan's words.
Zinan sighed again; explaining this to a fool was pointless.
Seeing his son begin to feel reluctant to be in the room, Mr. Xrezone realized their conversation had wandered in a different direction. He immediately stood up, and as the other three stared at him, he began to feel a sense of appreciation.
"Zinan, from the investigation conducted by the senior executives some time ago, Camilla and Danieru were trapped with the leader of the Golden Snakes. They also discovered that the Golden Snakes were collaborating with the pair. Camilla is the daughter of your uncle's business rival, and you know how clever she is at scheming." Mr. Xrezone looked very displeased as he said this, becoming irritated.
"Initially, I really wanted to get Terizla to cooperate with us. That would make it easier for us to control him. If I killed him, I would lose my valuable asset."
Zinan nodded. "Then your plan went wrong because the Golden Snakes interfered. Am I right?"
"Yes, they caused trouble and made a mess of everything."
Hatsu and Mr. Malaike remained silent, not knowing what to discuss and simply listening to the father-daughter pair's conversation.
"In my opinion, it's not Golden Snake who's looking for trouble. It's Father who's looking for trouble with them. Father also knows that Golden Snake has many business connections, and Jay and Hunt are even good partners with the mafia leader. Alistair's family has had ties to the mafia from the start, and Golden Snake is simply protecting their assets. If Father wants to blame Golden Snake for interfering, he should look at the old man sitting with us right now." Zinan seemed to disagree with his father's assumption; he really didn't like anything that deviated from reality.
"Why am I to blame?" asked Mr. Malaike.
Mr. Xrezone was speechless, unable to continue. The man stared at his only son; he knew this was his fault from the start. He should have investigated Alistair's family more deeply, not acted so rashly. But... but because he knew very well that his younger brother loved his nephew's father, he was willing to do anything to make him happy.
“First, you used our family as a shield to protect yourself. You feuded with the Alistair family simply because the big projects always belonged to the family leader. You should be aware of your own stupid brainpower. And the reason you want revenge on the Malaike family is because your family's reputation had to be replaced after marrying your current wife. It's all a personal matter, and you dragged someone who didn't know anything into it.”
“Zinan!” snapped Mr. Xrezone.
“What? Because of the Golden Snakes' massive attack, Mother died, and it's all your fault, Father. You were the one to blame from the start. Just because of a promise to a dead man, you made Mother's death seem trivial. The Golden Snakes didn't do anything wrong; they came to rescue what was rightfully theirs. Have you forgotten the warnings from the other eight great families? They warned you, and you kidnapped the mafia leader's beloved daughter.”
Mr. Xrezone remained silent again; his wife's death had indeed left a deep wound.
"Oh, it's not just kidnapping Ashura Roulette Snake. Before that, you even kidnapped Agata Alistair. You brainwashed that woman, making her a parasite on her own family. You've already made three mistakes with the Golden Snake, and now you want to add to the trouble by kidnapping Camilla again, and planning to kill Danieru and the two people precious to him. Don't use personal matters as an excuse. You're the leader, and I, as your son, am trying to bring you to your senses."
Mr. Malaike, hearing Zinan's words, became afraid. He had to maintain control and get Mr. Xrezone on his side.
"Personal matters are deeper, it's natural for your father to do everything."
Mr. Xrezone looked at Hatsu and Mr. Malaike. "Don't interfere in this."
Zinan stood up. "Father, I will continue to fulfill my responsibility to protect them, but I will not condone their wrongdoing. You are trapped by compassion; you should realize this is not the right path. Don't let our family leave the Nine Dragons just because of your personal problems. And I remind you, I love you, and I don't want you to die just because of your own foolish actions."
Hearing his son's words brought Mr. Xrezone to his senses. It was true, but now they were already in trouble. The man glanced at the two people who had overheard his and Zinan's argument. He could see their faces pale.
"Zinan," said Mr. Xrezone.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you love Camilla?"
"Yes, I love her. And it's all because you asked me to do stupid things to her. After Camilla was free, I couldn't enjoy her anymore, and unfortunately, she married Danieru."
"What if you made the last mistake I wanted to make? You could have Camilla and live peacefully with her."
Zinan grinned. "I'm not you, Dad. Even though I love Camilla, I know my limits."
Mr. Xrezone smiled. "You are indeed an extraordinary son."
Zinan, having received his father's praise, immediately left the room, saying nothing, only wanting to return to Camilla. He wanted to make amends to that woman, to free Camilla from the suffering she had endured.
After Zinan left, Mr. Xrezone looked at Hatsu and his father. He sat back down and took a deep breath.
“So, how was it?” Mr. Malaike asked.
“Let’s go home, I’m feeling tired now.”