Capone: Fortress of Ambition

Bege sat smoking on a large chunk of rubble from a collapsed building. Suddenly, a tremendous crash echoed through the area, and Bege glanced toward Modi.

Modi was dragging the unconscious form of Heavy Punch Homan toward Bege. Bege took a closer look at Homan. The man was covered in sword wounds, clearly grievously injured. Modi's own clothes were torn in several places, evidence that his victory hadn't come easily.

"This guy's fist techniques are really something," Modi said.

Bege nodded. He grabbed Roose Bolton and Homan and entered a nearby building. His chest split open, revealing a castle gate, and he pulled the two men inside. Then, closing his eyes, Bege himself appeared within the castle inside his body. He brought the two captives to a dark corner of the castle, where a gloomy room stood.

The room's large iron door was adorned with sculptures of two vicious, snarling demons. Above the door hung an iron plaque, bearing the ominous words "Blackwater Platform" in a sinister script.

He opened the door. Inside, a group of his men were eating and drinking. Seeing Bege, they immediately snapped to attention, forming a respectful line.

Bege tossed the two men in front of a large, burly man with a menacing face. "Noxi, get the location of their treasures out of them, and any other information of value. Don't let them die."

"Finally, something to do! Don't worry, Godfather, I'll make sure they spill everything," the hulking man promised, thumping his chest excitedly.

"Alright, lads, get to work!" Noxi shouted. His subordinates hauled the two men into the room. There was another large iron door within, and when they opened it, a collection of various torture implements was revealed.

Blackwater Platform was Bege's holding area for prisoners and a place for interrogation and torture. Noxi and his men were the most skilled experts in coercive interrogation that Bege had inherited from his father.

To this day, no one had ever withstood Noxi's methods.

Returning his consciousness to his body, Bege discreetly summoned more than ten additional men from within his castle, adding them to the effort of looting the Scoundrel's Den.

The massacre of the criminals on Grove 16 was too big an event to keep under wraps. Outside the Scoundrel's Den, many people were watching, trying to gather information about what was happening inside.

It was likely that before long, every capable person in the Sabaody Archipelago would know what had transpired here.

The five men, including the massive one, quickly identified all two hundred-plus criminals. Most of them had bounties, though the majority were quite low. Still, Bege, adhering to the principle that even a mosquito was meat, no matter how small, wasn't about to let any of them go.

As for the criminals without bounties, Bege didn't bother with their corpses.

"Godfather, the Marines are here," one of his men suddenly reported, running up to him.

"If they were any later, they'd really be useless," Bege said with a cold smile. He stood up and strode confidently out of the Scoundrel's Den.

There were fifty or sixty Marines. Seeing Bege emerge, they looked panicked, raising their rifles and aiming at Bege and his men.

"Put those down!" a Marine with the rank of Captain hurriedly shouted, berating them.

The Marines lowered their weapons, but their expressions remained wary and tense.

"Are you the captain of the Masked Bounty Hunter Group?" the Marine Captain asked.

"That's right, we are the Masked Bounty Hunter Group," Bege said calmly.

The Marine Captain breathed a sigh of relief. He looked inside the Scoundrel's Den and asked, "I received a report that a large-scale brawl broke out in the Scoundrel's Den. Was your group responsible, and what's the situation inside?"

"That's correct. I heard that there was a lawless area on the Sabaody Archipelago, harboring a number of wanted criminals, so I came to eliminate this threat to the people. The situation inside has been resolved. My men are currently tallying up the wanted criminals, and we'll be going to the Marine base later to collect the bounties," Bege explained.

The Marine Captain's face showed astonishment. "They're really all taken care of? Heavy Punch Homan and Roose Bolton, the Skinner, have been dealt with?"

"Yes, practically the entire Scoundrel's Den has been dealt with," Bege confirmed.

The Marine Captain was overjoyed. He hurriedly said, "Captain of the Masked Bounty Hunter Group, please allow us Marines to enter immediately to apprehend the criminals."

Bege gave him a look, and the Marine Captain's heart skipped a beat. The smile immediately vanished from his face.

"We dealt with them, so you don't need to trouble yourselves. After we've finished tallying our gains, you can go in and apprehend any other criminals. " Bege stated casually.

"That..." The Marine Captain's expression turned sour, but facing the Masked Bounty Hunter Group, who had taken down the entire Scoundrel's Den, they didn't dare act rashly.

"We bounty hunters do dangerous work, risking our lives. I need to ensure our profits. After our interests are secured, you can handle the remaining tasks. So, please wait here and don't go inside. Let's avoid any misunderstandings," Bege said coldly, then turned and walked back into the Scoundrel's Den.

"Captain, what should we do?" a Lieutenant Commander asked the Marine Captain.

The Marine Captain replied helplessly, "What can we do? Do you really want to rush in there? That's the hunter group that took down even Heavy Punch Homan and Roose Bolton, the Skinner."

"I'm going to report this to headquarters and let them decide," the Marine Captain said, taking out a Den Den Mushi and calling his superiors.

About half an hour later, Bege received a message from Noxi inside his castle that the interrogation was complete. Bege went to a deserted building again.

"Godfather, it's all done. Every bit of information they knew has been recorded, without missing a single detail," Noxi said, handing several sheets of paper to Bege.

Bege carefully examined the contents of the papers and discovered some truly useful information.

"These criminals had connections to the human auction house in the lawless area. Interesting," Bege said, folding the papers. He then summoned Gecko Moria and had him cut the shadows of the two men.

His consciousness returned, and his chest opened like a castle gate. He tossed out the tortured, unrecognizable forms of Homan and Bolton. Of course, they were already dead.

He took out a sheet of paper and handed it to one of his men, instructing him to go to Homan's and Bolton's homes and retrieve their treasures.

Shortly after, the men returned with seven or eight large chests. Bege pried open the chests, revealing piles of gold and Beli.

"Godfather, a preliminary estimate puts the value of these treasures at around 145 million Beli," a man reported.

Bege was very satisfied. He absorbed all the treasures into his castle. The men he had sent out to scour the Scoundrel's Den also returned, each with significant hauls. After Bege had absorbed all these treasures into his castle as well, he had his men tell the Marines they could enter to clean up.

The Marine Captain entered the Scoundrel's Den with dozens of Marines. Walking at the forefront was an unfamiliar Marine; the previous Captain stood behind him. When they saw the devastation, the ruined buildings, and the bodies strewn everywhere, most of them turned pale with fright.

"Captain of the Masked Group, you slaughtered them," the unfamiliar Marine said with a very grim expression, questioning him.

"Who are you?" Bege asked.

"Marine Rear Admiral Fedeler," the unfamiliar Marine said gravely.

Bege raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to draw the attention of a Rear Admiral.

"Captain of the Masked group, please tell me, did you slaughter these people?" Rear Admiral Fedeler demanded.

"We didn't slaughter them. We fought with these heinous criminals, a fight to the death. Casualties were inevitable," Bege explained.

"But, Rear Admiral Fedeler, are you sympathizing with them?"

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