Everyone else was eagerly waiting for what Mr. Cuervo was about to say but I just started chuckling and shaking my head in disbelief when his words entered my ears.
[Phew… See that, Hermano? I can do it too, nothing special!]
I could see the smugness in his face from the way he was looking through the lens of the camera, and he was definitely trying to prompt a reaction from me.
With that said, it only took a short moment before I felt different gazes landing on me, and to my surprise, a camera was already pointing at me and my face was now on the big screen.
I was now the center of attention but the bunny girl that tried to sell her body to me earlier was back, and she was embarrassedly holding out an earpiece with both hands.
“I-I-It’s for you… P-Please t-take it…”
“Thanks,” I said after picking it up and replacing the one in my ear.
After that, I heard a small bee short static but then I saw the big screen displaying my face alongside Mr. Cuervo’s.
[Can you hear me, Hermano?]
“Damn, this is crisp. Loud and clear, Mr. Cuervo.”
My voice got transmitted in the large speakers and I couldn’t believe the overall quality of his sound system. However, I had to jab at him a little bit just to return his jab earlier. He was just about to say something to me when I cut him off.
[Hermano–]
“Oh yeah, I knew you could do it. Of course, you can. However, I wish you brought more than a thousand deadheads because if you’re free to dual-wield, I’ll fucking dual-wield too. I’d hate to end your show early like last time.”
As soon as I said that, it prompted a mix of reactions from the crowd but Mr. Cuervo couldn’t hide the smile on his face. He started laughing through his earpiece and it reverberated throughout the compound. With that said, he soon looked at the camera with a faint smile and a sharp expression before he spoke in his earpiece.
[Hahaha, I got that covered, Hermano. Anyway, I digress– we’ll take a short break after this but this night is so special in many ways…]
At this moment, the big screen only displayed Mr. Cuervo’s figure once more but he was now holding his rapiers by the handle on one hand while he was taking a puff from his cigar. However, the twins had already made their way toward him and he handed his weapons to the one on the right while the other helped him wear his shirt without buttoning it.
It just flapped as the cold wind blew but Mr. Cuervo continued with his speech.
[I say special because not only all of our families are present, but also there will be two families– old and new, joining us tonight!]
Cheers erupted once again but a few were confused by Mr. Cuervo’s statement.
[I see confusion in your faces but listen to me, the de Leon and the Rivas Family will be one after this night but the vacant spot will be filled by the person you just saw earlier. Some of you were there that particular night or you might have interacted with him earlier when they arrived– while some might’ve heard of him from whispers or have heard tales of his feats in passing. But I fucking assure you… his family may be small but they’ve proven themselves that they’ve got what it takes and they share the principle these events of mine have to offer…]
Mr. Cuervo paused for a moment before he pointed over in our direction.
[Everybody! You’ve seen Ilya, you’ve seen Nikolas, and you’ve seen Alexei dominate the games as soon as they arrived in our haven, but they haven’t signed in to any of The Six Main Families, and it’s for one good reason…]
The cameras were pointing at us at one point but it just zoomed into my figure.
[It’s because they’re already in a family of their own– a family led by one man who just appeared one night that only had the purpose to partake in the festivities, but left opening everyone’s eyes and my own when he took the stage. He may look young as he is but like me, he came from the very bottom– in the pits of despair, from mind-numbing hopelessness, from an unfathomable tragedy– but he fucking clawed his way out of that fucking situation and made himself what he is today! Ladies and gentlemen– I should’ve done this much, much earlier but I’d like you to welcome the head of our newest family– The Ishiyama Family, SKY ISHIYAMAAA~!]
‘This isn’t in the fucking plans… Well, fuck it… Whatever it takes to point everything at me…’ I tried to maintain a stoic expression as much as I could while everyone else close to me couldn’t help but try to make me chortle, but I felt a tap from behind.
The bunny girl was actually just staying behind us and she prompted me to stand up and show myself to everyone. And as soon as I did, cheers and applause welcomed me, and my own highlights were once again displayed on the screen. However, it was soon followed by Ilya, Nikolas, and Alexei’s own highlights before two different clips from different POVs played alongside each other.
One of them was the slapping match between Mikhail and Bob while the other was Artem piling bodies on top of bodies in the Cages.
Shock and awe were the first few reactions I’ve heard from the people sitting close to our group but the screen went back to showing Mr. Cuervo’s figure that now had his missing coat draped over his shoulders. He was now back on the stage with the twins now wearing short gowns, and he once again took to the mic to say his piece.
[As you can all see, the moment my Hermano came back, he brought two other extraordinary men that beat past champions all on their own– without even knowing the full extent of what owning one of my coins entailed…]
Jared nudged me, “Bro, he skipped me… He skipped me, right?”
“Yeah… Maybe because you gave yours to me… It’s probably for the best though…”
“Y-Yeah… G-Good thing…”
“Don’t mind it that much. If things go south, I’m gonna need you and Kaley watching our backs. Besides, the people present when you won that coin you gave me will still remember.”
“True…”
Jared and I had a talk for a short moment but Mr. Cuervo was still talking to the whole crowd.
[The coins I’ve given to the Champions are tokens of the highest honor and those coins will give you access to all of my facilities but with certain obvious exceptions and limitations. However, the most important thing it could give you is the power to influence a vote within our internal meetings and the more you have at your family’s disposal, the more you could affect The Six Families’ final decision. It doesn’t matter how many you have now but it will matter after everything’s over. Ah– I digressed once again but before we take this short break, I’d like to introduce everyone properly! To my left-hand side~~~ THE ALVAREZ FAMILY~!!!]
The lights and the cameras panned to the area Mr. Cuervo pointed to and it showed a group of people that numbered a few hundred that suddenly threw poses of their own. Their head was actually the guy who I thought was Mr. Cuervo’s relative who had the same taste in clothes like him and almost the same aura he was subconsciously letting out.
With that said, he was given the same introduction as I was and the Champions on his side were also introduced promptly.
However, the Champions themselves were men with a few words– a huge contrast from their supporters at the back who were cheering their name as loud as they could. It’s just that all of them were dressed in formal clothes though one of them was looking straight at me– even from a distance. I wasn’t entirely sure of his intentions but I just let out a faint smile before I ignored him completely.
I thought the break would come sooner but it took a good 30 minutes before everyone else was properly introduced.
After that, we were made aware of the whole Cuervo Family, the Alvarez Family, the Garcia Family, of which the couple we’ve met before who owned the casino were the heads, the Rivas Family, of which Sally was the head, and the de Leon Family, of which Quinn was a part of, but the last one was the Castillo Family.
For a moment, I thought they were the Rivas Family because of their few numbers on the viewing platforms, but to my surprise, they had the largest number of people that attended. When their turn came up, the whole compound almost shook and even the enclosure they were stationed on had enough people present for their own cheers to almost act as an echo from the cheers their people inside Mr. Cuervo’s compound were shouting out.
Their head was an older dude that was on the skinnier side but the aura he was projecting was enough to be a match with Mr. Cuervo and the rest of the heads present. He had this look that would tell from a glance that he had seen the world for what it was from different eras or generations but he was still ready to outlive the current generation.
‘Hmm…’
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