Calvino, the leader of the 'Ndrangheta,' had a natural inclination towards torment.

According to Ferrante, one of Aferona's men who had experienced this attack, it felt as if nails were constantly piercing his body, and the pain could drive him insane or kill him in just three minutes.

"Are there any restrictions on its use?" Yang Qinglan asked. "For example, must one maintain eye contact with the opponent?"

“Calvino was indeed watching Ferrante at the time, but it’s uncertain whether that condition was necessary,” Aferona replied.

Yang Qinglan nodded, signaling her to continue.

The leader of the Sicilian "Jiwu" group, Herd, instinctively performs an initiation ceremony.

Here, we should explain the traditional initiation ceremony of the Sicilian Mafia.

Before joining the organization, new recruits must kneel before the leader, holding a holy image (the patron saint or the Virgin Mary) in their left hand.

The leader used a dagger to slit the fingers of the henchman's right hand, letting the blood drip onto the icon.

The leader asked, "Are you willing to swear an oath in blood before the saint to forever abide by the gang rules and never betray the family?"

The henchman clasped his hands together, cupping the holy image in his palms, and replied, "I swear."

Then, the leader set fire to the bloodstained holy image held by the henchmen and said, "The saint bears witness that if you betray this holy image, you will be branded in the mortal world or burned at the stake in hell."

Just as the statue was about to burn its own hand, the henchman placed it on the floor, bowed his head, and clasped his hands in prayer before it.

Finally, the leader would come over and hug the henchman, saying, "The saint blesses you, my brother (my child)."

This tradition has a long history and is deeply ingrained in the hearts of generations of Sicilian Mafia bosses, so when the value game began, Hurd naturally awakened this instinct.

Any subordinate who swore allegiance to him and then betrayed him would suffer the agony of being branded with hot irons indefinitely unless he died.

"They're all quite interesting." Li Changzhou picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth and then his hands before enjoying his post-meal coffee.

Torture and initiation rituals are instincts that exist solely for controlling people, and they can be used to reward Aferona, making it easier for her to manage her subordinates and serve him—now it's about finding herbs, and perhaps in the future it's about finding something else.

This saves him energy and eliminates the need for him to set aside a skill slot to learn a skill for controlling subordinates.

Aferona doesn't need him to worry about her.

Her instincts as a mafia mistress meant she needed to rely on him. If she found a new reliance, such as a new lover, or if she gathered enough powerful and capable subordinates after being tortured and undergoing an initiation ceremony and wanted to rebel, Li Changzhou could simply strip her of her skills or even break her identity card.

"I'm so full." Li Qianxia rubbed her tummy; she was the last one to finish eating.

There was still more than half of the food left on the table.

Just as Aferona was about to order the things to be removed, she saw 'the Lord' raise a hand.

"Hiss... hiss..."

A chilling hissing sound, a coldness like a wet tongue licking upwards from her tailbone.

A four-meter-long king cobra, its majestic and sinister body twisting and turning, slowly climbed onto the dining table, opened its mouth, and began to devour its food.

"This is the Golden Crown," Li Changzhou introduced.

"Golden, Golden Crown, hello." Aferona looked at the enormous serpent body lying before her, resisting the urge to summon her subordinates from the gray mist, and forced a smile.

The golden crown raised its front half towards her, its triangular head holding a chicken in its mouth, its white fangs sharp and pointed.

It looked at her, tilted its head back, and swallowed the whole chicken.

Aferona clearly saw the chicken inside the snake's body, starting from its head, sliding down into its stomach in a spherical shape.

Jin Guan withdrew its gaze and body, and continued eating at the table. Li Qianxia even introduced which one tasted better to it!

“M-My lord,” Aferona said, trying to avoid looking at the king cobra between them, “would you like to see my men? I’ve also recruited some players.”

After a brief pause, she continued, "They are just ordinary people who are unwilling to sell their freedom to the other two families. They are not ruthless enough and their abilities are not particularly outstanding."

“Sure.” Li Changzhou nodded, then asked the other two, “Are you going?”

"Didn't we say we were going to see the sea?" Yang Qinglan asked, puzzled.

So proactive?

"Set the time for tonight," Li Changzhou immediately ordered Aferona. "Give me the address, and I'll go there directly."

"yes."

“Also,” Li Changzhou said, his gaze falling on the golden crown, “take it with you and find someone to feed it all the poisons, poisonous things, and poisonous herbs you can get your hands on. The amount doesn’t need to be much.”

"......yes."

Li Changzhou raised his eyes and smiled, half-reassuringly: "Don't be afraid, it won't hurt you, it will protect you."

Aferona left, with the golden crown beside her.

As long as the Golden Crown consumes all the poisons that Aferona can obtain, they basically don't need to worry too much about being poisoned in Italy.

After she left, the terrace restaurant with a view of the sea became quiet.

"When did we agree to go to the sea?" Li Qianxia suddenly turned to look at the two of them. "I'm giving you a chance to be honest."

Li Changzhou put down his coffee cup.

Before he could speak, Yang Qinglan calmly said, "Your brother is just like you now, with an intelligence of only 6 points. He's not suited to handle official business."

"So you found an excuse to go see the sea?"

"Mm." Yang Qinglan nodded, her expression remaining unchanged from beginning to end.

"Oh, I see." Li Qianxia nodded in realization and looked away.

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