Chapter 105: Kenjiro Miyamoto

Nicholas's hands were shaking as he called his father. He cried out, "Dad! Help me! I'm at the hotel on Fifth Avenue, someone's going to kill me!"

After he hung up, Nicholas looked at Leo's blank expression and swallowed hard. But deep down, he was seething: Just wait till my dad gets here. I'll have you beaten to death.

Less than twenty minutes later.

Tires screeched as eight black armored Range Rovers lined up in front of the hotel.

The doors swung open all at once, and forty or fifty thugs in black suits poured out carrying heavy weapons, surrounding Leo and Olivia.

Then a middle-aged man in a dark gray pinstripe suit, a thick cigar clamped between his fingers, walked over, flanked by several bodyguards.

It was Ronaldo Constantine, the current head of the Constantine family.

"Dad! You're finally here!"

Nicholas grabbed onto Ronaldo like a lifeline, scrambling over and pointing at Leo. "That's the bastard! He actually told us to get lost!"

Ronaldo blew out a mouthful of smoke and looked Leo up and down, his face full of contempt.

Ever since the Romano family and the Drake family had fallen, he'd been convinced it was the Constantine family's time to rise. He was riding high.

"So you're the one who messed with my son?"

Ronaldo pointed at Leo with the hand holding his cigar and sneered. "Nice clothes. Too bad your brain doesn't work. In New York, nobody tells the Constantine family to get lost. Nobody."

"Is that so?"

Leo took a slow drag on his cigar. His eyes were even more indifferent than before. He didn't even bother to look at Ronaldo.

That complete dismissal pushed Ronaldo over the edge.

"You've got a death wish, you stupid punk! You think you can pull this in New York?"

Ronaldo's face darkened. He waved his hand down sharply. "Kill him!"

Dozens of gunmen cocked their weapons at once. Dark muzzles locked onto Leo from every direction.

But Leo didn't even blink.

"Annoying."

The word barely left his lips.

Then he vanished.

Ronaldo felt a black blur tear through the air in front of him.

A series of sickening thuds exploded through the night.

Leo moved like a force of nature, tearing through a flock of sheep. No weapons. Just his fists and devastating kicks.

"Ahhh!"

In less than ten seconds, screams tore through the night air.

The forty or fifty elite gunmen Ronaldo had brought didn't even get the chance to pull their triggers.

They were launched through the air like ragdolls, crashing to the ground in broken heaps, bones snapped, groaning in agony.

It happened so fast that no one could even process it.

Ronaldo's cigar fell from his mouth. He stood frozen, like he'd been struck by lightning.

Only then did he notice it -- the black crossed-swords emblem barely visible on the inside of Leo's coat.

And then it hit him. The terrifying rumors that had been spreading through New York's underworld lately...

One man. Black coat. A deadly female lieutenant. And overwhelming, unstoppable force.

"Reaper? You're Leo!"

Ronaldo's legs gave out.

The man who had been so untouchable just moments ago, the head of the Constantine family, crashed hard onto the asphalt. His knees were skinned and bleeding.

"Mr. Ashford! I was blind! I had no idea it was you!"

Ronaldo was frantic with fear. He slammed his head against the ground over and over, his forehead quickly splitting open. "Please, spare my life! Please!"

Nicholas stood there completely stunned. He finally understood what kind of monster he'd provoked. His legs went warm and wet. He'd pissed himself. He dropped to his knees alongside his father and kowtowed frantically.

Leo walked slowly toward Ronaldo. His dress shoes crunched against the cracked pavement.

"I only have one question."

He looked down at Ronaldo, his gaze sharp as a blade. "My classified trip to Europe -- how did you find out about it?"

Ronaldo's whole body shook violently. He knew his life hung by a thread. He didn't dare hide a single thing.

"I'll talk! Everything!"

"Two nights ago, I went to a high-end dinner party hosted by the Apex Pacific Group. I stepped out to use the restroom, and I happened to overhear one of the group's senior members in a bathroom stall -- he was on the phone, selling intelligence!"

Ronaldo swallowed hard and kept going, his voice trembling. "I... I just happened to hear it from outside. They said the Pentagon had authorized a classified operation for you, that you were leaving New York for Europe soon. I swear, I never sent anyone to investigate you. Never."

Leo narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Olivia."

"Here."

"Verify his movements. Look into the Apex Pacific Group."

"Yes, sir."

Olivia pulled out her tactical terminal, and her fingers flew across the holographic keyboard. She pulled surveillance footage, hacked into cell tower data, and cross-referenced the timeline.

Ten minutes later.

Olivia looked up, her face unreadable. "Boss, he's telling the truth. Two nights ago, he attended the Apex Pacific Group dinner. He was in the restroom area for eight minutes. The intel checks out."

Hearing Olivia confirm it, Ronaldo nearly collapsed with relief. "See! I didn't lie! Please, let me live!"

"Take your useless son and get out."

Leo's voice was ice cold as he looked away. "If I ever see your family causing trouble in New York again, the Constantine family is finished."

"Yes! Yes! Thank you for sparing us!"

Ronaldo grabbed Nicholas and scrambled away, dragging his battered crew out in a humiliating retreat.

Leo watched them go, and his expression turned completely dark.

His trip to Europe was classified at the Pentagon level. And someone at a business association had been trading that information like a commodity -- two days before he was supposed to leave?

There were still Nightfall operatives in New York.

The next morning.

Federal Building. Underground operations command center.

"Leo, all the equipment we promised is ready, and the transport plane is standing by at the base. Why haven't you given the order to move out?"

Vance strode into the conference room, his brow furrowed as he looked at Leo sitting at the head of the table.

Speed was everything. Going up against something as massive as Nightfall's European headquarters, every second of delay added more risk.

"We can't leave yet."

Leo tossed a document onto the table, his voice flat and cold. "Classified Pentagon intelligence has been leaked. Someone is selling information about my movements."

"What?"

General Vance went pale. "How is that possible? The only people who knew about this operation were a handful of generals and your own people."

"In New York, nothing is impossible."

Leo stood and threw his coat over his shoulders. "No matter how deep this rat is hiding, I'm flushing it out and crushing it before I leave."

"Do you need military backup?" Vance immediately grasped how serious this was.

"No need for a big operation. Vance, come with me. Use your military clearance to help me shut a place down."

There was a cold, lethal look in Leo's eyes.

Two hours later.

Leo and Vance arrived with their team at the Apex Pacific Group building Ronaldo had mentioned.

With the military's authority forcing the door open and Olivia hacking her way through the firewalls, the real person pulling the strings behind the organization quickly surfaced.

"Got it!"

Olivia pointed at the classified files on the screen. "The Apex Pacific Group is just a shell company. The real man behind it is a Japanese national named Kenjiro Miyamoto. He has a hidden identity -- he's the top boss of the Black Dragon Society in North America."

"The Black Dragon Society?"

General Vance's expression darkened. "Those Japanese crime syndicates are like hyenas. They follow the smell of blood. What are they doing mixed up in our fight with Nightfall?"

Leo stared at Kenjiro's photo on the screen. Something flickered deep in his eyes.