Prologue

“TARGET at one o’clock,” the man said on the other line.

“Copy.”

Seth walks towards his target, who is currently waiting for its order, as the man had told him. He sits on the empty seat in front of his target without asking for permission.

“Che coincidenza vederti qui, Don Basco! (What a coincidence to see you here, Don Basco!)” Seth greeted with a warm smile.

Don Basco looks in the direction of Seth. “Oh! Ho voglia di vederti qui. Cosa fa qui il cagnolino di Vincenzo? (Oh! Fancy to see you here. What does Vincenzo’s lapdog do here?)” He responded with an insulting tone of voice.

Seth did not immediately respond to Don Basco's question as he turned his attention to the waitress who was about to serve Don Basco's order.

“Ecco il tuo caffè, signore (Here’s your coffee, Sir),” said the waitress as she carefully placed the hot coffee on the table.

“Grazie (Thank you),” Don Basco thanked the waitress and winked at her. The waitress immediately looks away from him, but when her gaze meets Seth's, her face flushes with sudden joy, and she quickly leaves.

“Sembra che il mio fascino non abbia più effetto sulle ragazze al giorno d’oggi (It appears that my charms no longer have an effect on girls nowadays),” Don Basco said, taking one sip of his coffee before turning his gaze to Seth. “Allora, tornando dove siamo, che ci fai qui, cagnolino di Vincenzo? (So, getting back to where we are, what are you doing here, Vincenzo’s lapdog?)”

When Seth is certain that the waitress is no longer staring at them, he smiles at Don Basco.

“Dimmi, cos’è? So che questo incontro non è una coincidenza (Tell me, what is it? I know this meeting is not a coincidence),” Don Basco wondered out loud straightforwardly, his gaze fixed on Seth's movements.

Seth laughed at the old man for being able to read his true intentions. “Mi hai beccato lì (You caught me there),” He responded quickly and with a smile on his lips.

But Seth's reaction changed in a split second. His sweet smile and angelic aura gradually fade away, and he suddenly turns into a serious face with sharp glares directed at Don Basco, ready to kill at any moment.

“Don Vincenzo ti ha già avvertito, don Basco. Tuttavia, sembra che tu stia prendendo alla leggera il suo avvertimento. (Don Vincenzo has already given you a warning, Don Basco. However, it looks like you’re taking his warning lightly)”

Don Basco laughed heartily, disregarding the threat of an ominous aura withdrawing from the young man with whom he was having conversations at the time. “Am I?” He responded in an insulting tone.

“Abbiamo già chiarito le cose in precedenza, nessuno deve intervenire nelle attività e nei territori degli altri ma hai comunque superato un limite che non avresti dovuto in primo luogo (We’ve already made things clear before, no one shall intervene in other’s businesses and territories but you still crossed a line that you shouldn’t have in the very first place),” Seth stated emphasizing his words. “Se vuoi vivere una lunga vita, dovresti smettere subito. (If you want to live a long life, you should stop right now.)”

Don Basco leans back in his chair, grabs his cup of coffee, and takes a sip while calmly looking around the area. “Sai come funzionano le cose, Seth. Se vuoi avere più potere— (You know how things work, Seth. If you want to have more power—)” and looks back to Seth— “dovresti divorare i deboli... ed è quello che sto facendo (you should devour the weak…and that’s what I’m doing),” he added and smirked.

Seth's left brow furrowed. “Weak?” he repeated.

“Mi hai sentito bene (You heard me right),” Don Basco smiled as his two brows moved up and down in accord with his own words.

Seth laughs and shakes his head in response to Don Basco's rebuttal. “Sembra che tu ci stia sminuendo troppo. (It looks like you’re belittling us too much).” Then he gave Don Basco a disappointed look.

“Non guardo dall’alto in basso la tua famiglia, Seth. Sto puntando a più potere e la tua famiglia è il modo migliore per ottenerlo. (I’m not looking down on your family, Seth. I’m aiming for more power and your family is the best way to achieve it.)”

Seth remained silent and stared at Don Basco. After a few seconds of eye-to-eye battle, he still maintained his silence, leaving Don Basco with no choice but to break the deafening silence between them.

“Am I right? What do you think? (Am I, right? What do you think?)” Don Basco questioned; his lips painted with the image of the devil's grin.

Without Don Basco's knowledge, the real devil was the young man in front of him—a devil who is hiding in human flesh with an innocent face, waiting for the right moment to attack his enemy and make them feel what hell is like.

Seth smiled and decided to stand up. “È la vostra scelta. Hai già ricevuto il mio ultimo avvertimento, Don Basco (It’s your choice. You’ve already received my final warning, Don Basco),” he said with a warning. “Enjoy your coffee.” He added with meaning before starting to walk away.

Don Basco smiles, believing he has won over Seth— to the Corpuz Famiglia at the time. However, after a few steps, Seth looked into his watch and began to count.

“3, 2, 1.”

When he has finished counting, he returns his gaze to Don Basco, who has suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, making it difficult for the old man to breathe.

“What the—”

Don Basco couldn't finish his sentence because his body fell to the ground, grabbing his chest tightly and gasping for air. Even though he was having difficulty breathing, he made every effort to seek assistance.

“Help…help me…” he begged.

However, due to fear, no one has the courage to help him.

“Aiuto… (H-help…)” He begged for help once more to those around him, but no one dared to help him.

Don Basco's vision began to blur until everything went black, he lost his breath, and he died. Seth witnessed everything that happened to the old man and witnessed the uproar caused by Don Basco's sudden death.

“Ti ho avvertito ma non hai ascoltato  Ti ho avvertito ma non hai ascoltato  (I’ve warned you but you didn’t listen),” Seth stated. He then straightens his suit. “Rest well,” he said with a smile on his face.

He continues his walk-in order to get away from that place.

“È stata una bella ripulita, Seth (That was a smooth clean up, Seth)” The gentleman complimented Seth, who is speaking on the other line.

“Chiunque incasina la nostra famiglia deve essere eliminato (Anyone who messes up our family needs to be eliminated),” Seth said.

While Seth is walking, a lady unexpectedly bumps into him. Because of his strong and masculine physique, he is unlikely to be affected by the surprising bumping; however, the lady ends up sitting on the road as a result of the impact of the collision with him.

“Ahh...” The lady was grunting in pain as a result of the impact of her fall on the road.

Seth looked at the lady he'd collided with and noticed the wig that had fallen on the road, leading him to look at the lady who was starting to panic at the time.

“Ms. Aurora!”  the man in the black suit yelled, chasing his own breath.

When the lady heard the voice of the man chasing her, she became even more terrified.

“Shit!” She curses and rushes out onto the road.

“Ms. Aurora!” The man in the black suit called her again. As another pair of men in black suits arrived, they were also catching their breaths.

When the lady saw this, she quickly prepared to try to escape, but before she could get far, she was grabbed by the two men in black in both arms.

“Let go of me!” As she struggled against their grip, she issued an emphatic order.

Seth was drawn in by the lady's language as soon as he heard it.

"I said, 'Let me go!” she once said, but they wouldn't let her go and dragged her away.

Seth did not intervene and simply let them drag the lady, but the moment their gazes met, he saw the desperation in her eyes.

“Save me.” The lady pleaded.

Seth could clearly see the lady's strong resistance to the two men pulling her, but he didn't move and simply stood there, following the lady with his eyes.

“Help me!” The lady continues to scream and beg for help.

Seth, on the other hand, chose not to intervene because he did not want to get involved in trouble and endanger his family.

“È meglio non farsi coinvolgere negli affari degli altri (It’s better not to get involved in the affairs of others),” he said. “Unless it’s about my family.”

Seth simply continued his walk after that.

“Save me, please!” When Seth passed through into the front of the car where she was dragged, the lady yelled. Seth, on the other hand, didn't bother looking at her and just kept walking.

“Please, save me…”

***

“COME si è rivelato? (How did it turn out?)” The old man specifically asked, sitting in a wheelchair as Seth entered his room. “Tutto è andato come previsto? (Did everything go as planned?)”

“Yes, Sir,” Seth replied politely.

The old man set down the newspaper he was holding and turned his attention to Seth. “Ben fatto (Well done).”