Today's farce finally came to an end with that one sword strike from Skadi.
Outside the mobile city, the combined forces of the other three families, responsible for tying down Sicily, were gradually falling into a disadvantage. In the past, the three families combined, even with a home-field advantage, could barely contend with Sicily, just managing to hold on and not collapse too quickly. However, after deciding to go all-in together and attack Sicily's largest mobile city, they had instantly lost their home-field advantage, turning it into Sicily's.
Lucas Reeve and the others had mainly come to see Sora's concert. The subsequent events were just them handling things along the way. After Skadi finished off the 'Great General' who tried to enhance himself with 'Seaborn' in one blow, the group didn't linger and left directly. After all, it was getting late, and they were planning to go out for a late-night snack together.
As for Sora's company.
The 'Great General's' extremely disgusting transformation left a short-term, indelible psychological scar on many of the staff members. Then, they were stunned by Skadi's full-power sword strike, which directly split the massive stadium in two.
These ordinary staff members, back in Lungmen, probably never imagined in their entire lives that... the things from movies and TV shows were actually real.
After everything was over.
At the manager's urging, these staff members quickly packed their luggage. They just wanted to leave Siracusa as soon as possible. This place was just too absurd. For them, they just wanted to speed back to Lungmen. After this trip, they truly felt that Lungmen was the safest and most comfortable place to live.
Lady Sicily was shocked by the sword aura that had just split the roof and shot into the clouds. In fact, when Lady Sicily met Lucas Reeve a few days ago, she was already astonished by how unfathomable this man was.
Even she felt like nothing in front of this man. And today, the sword aura that split the sturdy, earthquake-proof steel-reinforced stadium confirmed her suspicions. After it was all over, she led her people into the stadium almost immediately.
By the time they entered, Lucas Reeve and his group had long since left. The 'Great General's' subordinates, who had been imprisoned in the 'Inner World' by Lucas Reeve, were so scared after being released that they all knelt on the ground, shouting that they had offended a god and begging for forgiveness. Even when Sicily's troops arrested them, these people didn't resist at all.
As for the 'Great General', not even scraps were left. On the ground, a tiny piece of flesh and blood barely remained, indicating that the 'Great General' had once existed in this world. Although his body had been turned to ash by the sword aura, the tiny bit of flesh and blood that was lucky to survive could barely be placed in a coffin, saving him from needing a cenotaph.
On a distant rooftop.
Lisa, still carrying her sniper rifle, dove into her mother's arms like a little swallow returning to its nest.
The mother and daughter, who hadn't seen each other for a full year, embraced emotionally.
In the past year, no matter how hard or tiring it was, no matter how difficult, Lisa had never cried. But now, in her mother's embrace, for the first time, she cried like a normal girl in her teens.
"Mom! I missed you so much."
Lisa's mother gently stroked her daughter's hair. As one of the most powerful assassins in Siracusa, her hands were stained with the blood of countless people. Even when severely injured, even when surrounded by enemies, Lisa's mother would not shed a single tear. But today, reunited with her daughter, her eyes glistened with tears.
Actually.
Lisa's mother had heard of Lisa's fearsome reputation in Siracusa long ago, but she had never thought it would be her own daughter. Or rather, she found it hard to believe. It was like going to work in another city for half a year and hearing that Qingbei (Tsinghua/Peking) had specially admitted a young genius. No one would think it would be their own child.
But it was the truth.
When Lisa's mother learned that her daughter was the legendary [Inquisitor], she was speechless with astonishment.
Because.
During the time she was gone, the name [Vulpisfoglia] had long since faded from many people's view. Not just [Vulpisfoglia], but many of the top-tier assassins from her generation, who had well-known code names, had mostly chosen to wash their hands of the business or simply became bosses themselves. The older generation of top assassins had withdrawn from the public eye.
So, when the title [Inquisitor] emerged, it was immensely famous, known by almost everyone. Some even said the [Inquisitor] was an expert no weaker than the eight great top assassins of Siracusa.
In just over a year of not seeing her.
Her daughter had actually become so strong.
This was something Lisa's mother could never have imagined. And the weapon her daughter was holding... Lisa's mother also couldn't imagine what it was, to be able to blow an enemy's head off from two kilometers away. She now understood why the legends said the [Inquisitor] was elusive. After all, at such a long distance, even if the target was sniped, finding the killer would be extremely difficult. Besides, two kilometers away... by the time the enemy chased over, Lisa would have long since moved to a different location.
Now, Sicily had basically locked in a complete victory.
They just needed to crush the final, desperate resistance of the remaining three families, and then all of Siracusa would truly belong to Sicily. As an assassin who had temporarily joined Sicily, Lisa's mother's long-held wish was about to be fulfilled. To be honest, Lisa's mother had never expected her dream to be realized so quickly.
However, she couldn't guarantee that Sicily was the most suitable ruling family for Siracusa. But one thing was certain: Sicily was the only choice at present.
As a top-tier assassin, Lisa's mother knew the situation of the other families all too well. [Wolf Fang] was brutal, which is why it was the first to be destroyed. The other three families, while not as brutal as [Wolf Fang], weren't much better. None of them were families that could lead Siracusa to peace. As for the former 'Royal Family', that was even more impossible.
Regardless of the others, Sicily could be said to be the only choice right now.
And if, one day, Sicily also strayed from its original ideals, Lisa's mother would unhesitatingly stand against them.
However.
No matter what happens in the future, at least for now, Lisa's mother could finally rest a little. After being mentally tense for so many years, Lisa's mother decided that after everything settled down, she would take her daughter back to Higashi to see her husband. A family must be reunited.
And Lisa's ideal from over a year ago was now complete. Although she was hugging her mother, she hadn't put down her sniper rifle. This was the thing she used to protect everything.
Lucas Reeve and the others, as if nothing had happened, went to eat a late-night snack on the streets of Siracusa.
Because the events of tonight were so explosive, almost all the tourists at the street stalls were discussing what happened tonight, and how many more days the other three families could last.
To be fair.
Tonight, Lady Sicily's noble act of putting herself in danger for the sake of the hostages—it's unknown if someone was intentionally spreading it—but after a short while, it had already spread through every street and alley of the mobile city.
Regardless of the motive, someone who could do such a thing for the people was indeed worthy of their trust.
From this day on.
Lady Sicily's approval rating would be unprecedentedly high.
In reality.
Even Lucas Reeve secretly admired Lady Sicily's decisiveness and courage. To be honest, even if she hadn't come out at all, no one would have said anything.
After eating their late-night snack.
The group didn't sleep in Siracusa, but instead left directly aboard the [Stardust].
While they were eating, the staff from Sora's company had also finished packing everything. They returned to Lungmen together on Lucas Reeve's aircraft. There weren't actually that many staff members. Since it was an international concert, many of the staff were actually local to Siracusa. The ones brought from the company were mostly just those in charge of directing.
Terra was different from his previous life.
Aircraft on Terra were ridiculously rare. A major country might not even have many. 99% of civilians, including rich civilians, would likely never ride in an aircraft in their entire lives. Therefore, this time, riding on Lucas Reeve's aircraft, many of Sora's company employees were exceptionally excited, but no one took photos. Some who wanted to would politely ask Lucas Reeve if it was allowed.
Because they knew very well.
On Terra, the faction behind owning an aircraft was almost always terrifyingly powerful. And an aircraft was a classified asset for any organization. Just being able to ride in one was already an incredible experience, let alone taking pictures.
After dropping off Sora, her company's staff, and the Penguin Logistics group of four back in Lungmen, the group also swung by Rhodes Island to drop off the Doctor's physical body before returning to the farthest point, Columbia.
These days, Lucas Reeve's "Doctor" identity had been taking a few too many leaves of absence. Although, after the first time he asked Kal'tsit for leave, he had snuck out by himself many times since. And Amiya and the other Elite Operators were very cooperative, not mentioning Lucas Reeve's true identity at all after returning to Rhodes Island. But the Doctor's frequent, unannounced departures had probably aroused Kal'tsit's suspicion.
A person who could live for over ten thousand years... even if she couldn't build her own faction, her ten thousand years of experience were no joke.
Indeed.
Just as Lucas Reeve had guessed.
Using this opportunity, the Sicily family showed no mercy and directly eradicated the last three remaining families. Overnight, they captured or killed almost all the high-level-power-holders in the three families. As for the ordinary Mafia members, as long as they didn't resist, Sicily didn't bother with them. After all, they were just employees. Workers shouldn't make things difficult for other workers.
Overnight, the three great families, which had been established in Siracusa for so many years, finally reached an imperfect end. Sicily had finally laughed last, becoming the final winner. As for the 'Old Royal Family' that had tried to revive itself, all royal family members, including the middle-aged man who called himself Emperor, were captured by Sicily and thrown into prison.
However.
Unifying Siracusa was only the first step.
Many external countries didn't actually want to see a unified Siracusa. They would inevitably carry out all sorts of sabotage. Unifying Siracusa was just the first step. Conquering a kingdom is hard; holding onto it is even harder. The real difficulty was yet to come.
Similarly, at Lucas Reeve's reminder, Lady Sicily also began to pay attention to the numerous Church of the Deep members within her borders. If any were found, she was to notify him immediately.
Of course, Lucas Reeve didn't completely trust Lady Sicily either. He gave another task to Lisa: if Lady Sicily showed any signs of suspicious activity, she was to notify him immediately. A double insurance, just in case this new country, just reborn, was lured into sinking into depravity by the Church of the Deep.
Small, third-world countries like this craved power the most, and the Church of the Deep was very good at using power to bewitch people.
These days, the biggest news on Terra, besides the unification of Siracusa, was a song about the Infected that was jointly released by a Lungmen music company and a Columbia music company.
After the furor from Lucas Reeve's documentary "The Infected" had finally quieted down a bit, this song was like another king-bomb, instantly igniting the world's music scene.
Although many people said that the Infected had now become the key to trending.
But talk was just talk.
Following the success of the documentary "The Infected", if it had been a normal movie, there would have already been a whole pile of copycats trying to ride the coattails. But this time, no one dared to ride this wave. Including the new song Sora released. Many musicians were jealous, but if you asked them to write or sing it, they genuinely wouldn't dare. It was too dangerous.
Sora, too, had truly become a hit across all of Terra with this song. On her Bluebird account, Sora's original follower count of just a few hundred thousand shot past the million mark, truly making her the superstar idol she had always dreamed of becoming.