A whole day went without any movement, without any trace of Joseph, because while all around the country, in the underworld, a shift was going on… he was sleeping.
Not just sleeping, but he was knocked the fuck out. Sleeping so deep and so long that Pablo himself went into the bedroom to check on him, to see if he was still breathing or not. But he did. Not just breathe, but again, snoring like an engine.
He was sleeping so deep and comfortable that he looked like he was dead. But he deserved it, to be finally in comfort knowing that he's not in that cell. But also, he slept without even thinking about what is going on outside, what is happening in the criminal underworld right now, because a lot of things are happening. Not just a lot, but a whole bomb exploded with the news of Vicente's death.
It wasn't just because he died, but because the government chose an unusual approach to announce his death.
They straight up bragged about it and the decision was made because it was actually just going to help them with the Fishing Net Operation. Not just help them, but finally, they could do what they lacked before.
Not just arrest the mafia bosses, the gangsters, but the corrupt and bribed politicians, those who were deeply connected with the underworld… but every coin has two sides… and yeah, it was working, but on the other side, this whole thing just made everyone furious. The whole underworld became a ticking bomb, one that's going to explode.
And again, the reason for it was how they presented the whole situation.
"Ladies and gentlemen." The director of the DSA said as he stood up to the podium, and in front of him dozens of cameras, dozens of news station reporters and journalists stood. "It is an honor to stand before you today and with absolute bluntness deliver this message. Vicente Lisonda, one of the most notorious underworld figures of our time, is dead."
As he said it, the moment seemed to freeze. Like everybody got a little shocked that it was really true, that he really died. It wasn't just gossip or a false story going all around the capital… but it was real.
But something was more than just shocking, his next words.
"He was shot. He bled out like a dog alone, in pain, in despair." Julian said, with his voice not wavering but getting more tense, more serious as he looked up at the cameras. Even the police chief sitting beside him was caught by his words.
It wasn't just disrespectful, but it was a stark violation of everything in their codex, but he clearly didn't care a single fuck about it.
"He died the way he lived, without honor. He caused suffering to thousands, families torn apart, businesses ruined, communities drowned in drugs, fear, and corruption… and in the end, he suffered just as he made others suffer. This is not just a victory. This is a warning. To those hiding in the shadows, believing yourselves untouchable, take a long, hard look."
He said and gestured toward an agent standing beside him, masked up, with a bulletproof vest and in his hand a picture… a picture which he held up… and it was Vincente's body.
Without any censor. The blood, his body, that face that froze when he died, it was all there.
For some, it was too much. Some news stations immediately switched off the news, back to the studio. Some of them did the opposite, zooming in on the picture, showing Vicente's body all over the nation, to the civilians and to those criminals who were watching it, sending a clear message.
"Vincente thought the same. He had power, money, blood on his hands and none of it saved him. Because in this new era, nobody is untouchable. We are all human. And justice… justice no longer comes with kind words. His fall marks the beginning of the end for the old underworld. For the syndicates, the traffickers, the smugglers. One by one, we will find you. And when we do, there will be no escape.
This isn't a promise. It's a guarantee."
He looked up as he finished at the confused faces, the shocked ones.
"Any questions?"
"Was it a coordinated operation?!" One of the reporters asked immediately.
"No, it wasn't." He replied, and already knew what the next question would be.
"Then what exactly happened?!" Another shot his hand up and asked.
"One of our special agents was transporting a pardoned inmate from the Bastion as a supervisor, and on the road, they were attacked and kidnapped. Both of them were then beaten up and tortured by Vincente Lisonda and his men. But our special agent's training and experience saved herself, as well as the special protocol and GPS tracker we have on agents."
"Where is the inmate right now? Does he roam free on the streets? I mean, the Bastion is only handling the highest-level criminals." Another one asked.
He took some time to find the right words to answer her question, but he couldn't even do that as another reporter spoke.
"Was it Joseph Cassian?"
The question was a loud one, so loud that everybody went silent. Because it carried something more dangerous than everything else, it carried the name and the relentless bloodshed the Cassian family caused decades ago.
"Yes, it was him, and—"
He had no chance to continue it, because everybody just started asking questions, shouting toward him. Everybody exploded because it was something else. In everybody's mind, he was still the Cassian who fucked up the whole underworld and now he was free on his own.
"Joseph Cassian stands no danger!" He shouted into the microphone. "He was pardoned because he was arrested on corrupt charges, charges that were all fabricated against him." He said, and even he himself didn't believe it, as not even a single soul in front of him, nor behind the TV or listening to the radio, did.
Because it wasn't about the charges he was arrested on, but about what happened after his arrest.
"That's it for now." He said again and with it stepped down from the podium, still the reporters shouting for him to answer more questions. But he knew too well that if he did, the lies wouldn't work. And well… they didn't work anyway.
"Was it necessary? Shouting out his name to everybody?" A woman with a gun and a badge on her side asked as Julian went into the DSA headquarters.
"It's better to let them know he's out… at least they will kill each other, and we only need to bring in the bodies."
"Do you really believe he stands no danger after what happened?" The woman asked again.
"I believe he is the most dangerous of all of them." Julian said as he stepped into the elevator. "Just imagine the anger, the hunger he has after ten years." He looked into her eyes. "I fear maybe we don't even need to act."
"What do you mean?"
"He is Cassian. That's what I mean."
She felt it, the way he said it just carried something she had heard years ago in Julian's voice. It was fear, it was worry, it was something that told her something big was truly going to happen.
And he was right, because Joseph woke up… and he already had something in his mind.