Chapter 65: A Trap in the Dark

Location: Marco's Gang's Secret Hideout - The Basement of the "Venosa" Café

The room was silent after Valdiano's name was revealed. Everyone realized that they were involved in something bigger than they had imagined. Marco was sitting in his chair, puffing on his cigarette in deep thought, while Columbo was still staring at the laptop screen.

Salvo (crossing his arms): "If Valdiano is the mastermind, what does that mean for us? Are we just ants in an elephant war?"

Franco (laughing sarcastically): "If we are ants, then I want to be an armed ant!"

Luca Ferri (seriously): "It's not a joke. This guy isn't just a gang leader... he's the ghost pulling the strings from behind the curtain. If he decides to eliminate us, we'll be gone before we even know how it happened."

Marco (looking at Columbo): "Can you track anything else?"

Columbo (slightly nervous): "I tried… but I found something strange. There are files encrypted so strongly that I've never seen anything like them before. It's like they're protected by an unbreakable wall."

Rocco (looking at him in disbelief): "You hacked into government systems and military files, and now you're telling us that this is difficult for you?!"

Columbo (swallowing his saliva): "I'm not kidding, this protection seems… unnatural. It's like a mix of artificial intelligence and old software. Something that's not usually used in our world."

Lucino (with a sarcastic smile): "You mean this guy is not only a criminal, but also a programming genius?! That's great! We're not just fighting a gang, we're fighting Dark Vader in an Italian version!"

Lucchini (calmly): "But that also means he has a weakness… If he's using this technology, it means he's afraid of something."

Marco (slowly smiling): "Exactly… And if he's afraid of something, we need to know and exploit it."

The plan begins

Marco decides to divide the tasks:

Colombo will continue to hack Valdiano's systems and try to access any information that might help them.

Franco and Salvo will try to find anyone who dealt with Valdiano in the past, even if it means searching other gangs.

Luca Ferri and Rocco will lead their teams to secure the "Venosa", as they are certain that Valdiano will not leave them without an answer.

Marco himself will try to devise a plan to force Valdiano to appear.

Salvo (looking at Marco): "Okay, but what if he is already watching us?"

Marco (smiling confidently): "That's why we will make it look like we don't know anything... while we are setting a trap for him."

The trap turns on its creator

A few hours later, while everyone is working on their tasks, something unexpected happens...

Colombo (freaking out as he looks at his screen): "Wait... What...?!"

Franco (approaching quickly): "What's wrong? Did you hack the system?"

Colombo (staring at the screen in shock): "No... he hacked us."

Marco (standing up quickly): "What?!"

Colombo (trembling as he points to the screen): "There's a virus inside our systems... It's starting to mess with everything... All the data we've collected is being automatically deleted!"

Rocco (screaming angrily): "Damn it! He knew we were trying to get to him!"

Suddenly, a message appeared on the laptop screen:

"You're trying to hunt the devil... But the devil can't be hunted."

"See you soon, Marco."

Everyone looked at each other anxiously, realizing that Valdiano wasn't just a legend... He was a real monster, and now... He knew more about them than they knew about him.

Marco (deadly calmly as he puts out his cigarette): "If he's coming... Let's give him a proper welcome."

End of chapter.