Brazil: Criminal Empire - Chapter 123: The Gracie Family’s Web of Interests (Patreon)

The apartment where Cunha was staying wasn’t far from the Stone River favela.

He had heard the four explosions from inside the favela.

He also caught the faint sound of gunfire, though it was much less noticeable because all the P90s used by Rock and his men were fitted with suppressors.

In reality, suppressors don’t work the way movies often portray them.

They don’t turn the sharp crack of gunfire into a soft little chirp.

They simply reduce the sound to a certain extent.

That shortens the distance over which the shots can be heard and helps avoid drawing the attention of even more people.

So when Rock and his men opened fire with their P90s, the suppressors reduced the noise enough that by the time it reached Cunha’s position, the gunfire was already faint and indistinct.

Cunha had been wondering uneasily about the four sudden explosions from the favela.

When Rock called, Cunha didn’t quite understand what was happening, but he still had confidence in his own strength.

He also had a basic level of trust in Rock.

After all, whenever Rock received payment, he actually followed through on the deal.

As far as Cunha was concerned, Rock was a business partner with a solid reputation.

If Cunha had known that Rock was also responsible for the other missing $22 million, he might have been furious enough to shoot himself.

For now, however, Rock’s call was enough to preserve that trust.

So after hanging up, Cunha immediately ordered his men to drive into the Stone River favela and announce that Crazy Train had retaken control.

By the time Rock finished his call with Cunha, the armored SUV had already left the Stone River favela.

The phone he had used to contact Cunha was switched off, and the SIM card had been removed.

The deal was over, and there was no longer any reason to stay in contact with Cunha. Both the phone and the SIM card would be completely destroyed later.

Reports from Kaká and the others came through Rock’s earpiece.

From their positions, they could see a sizable convoy rushing into the Stone River favela.

Soon afterward, even through the open window of the SUV, Rock could hear intense gunfire coming from the direction of the favela.

After checking the messages on his other phone, Rock casually opened an app.

A red dot was glowing over the Stone River favela on the map, warning people away from the area.

It was a Brazilian gunfire map app.

A red dot meant there had been a shooting in that location, whether from a street clash, gang violence, or a revenge attack.

Because armed clashes were frequent in some areas, ordinary people who wandered into a firefight could easily be struck by stray bullets.

To help people avoid active conflict zones, some Brazilian programmers had developed apps like this.

Whenever gunfire broke out somewhere, people nearby could mark the location on the map.

Anyone planning to pass through the area would then know to take another route and stay away, reducing the risk of getting caught in the crossfire.

Because of how practical it was, the app had become quite popular.

After all, not every part of Brazil was a wealthy neighborhood. Tools like this gave ordinary people a better chance of avoiding places where gunfire had broken out.

Rock closed the app and issued an order over the radio.

“Ghost No. 3, you can move.”

“Copy that, boss.”

Ghost Squad’s No. 3 was Cassiano’s younger brother, Fabio.

He had been stationed nearby to pick up Kaká and the other two special operations team members.

As soon as Rock gave the order, Fabio drove toward the two office buildings to collect them.

Ten minutes later, the three armored SUVs regrouped.

They formed a convoy and headed toward the Great Rock Wall Favela.

Rock narrowed his eyes as he watched the streets pass by outside the window.

Just as he had expected, both Ieda and Ciro had sent him messages. Even Felício, his brother-in-law, had contacted him.

The Gracie family had approached Ieda’s family elders.

In exchange for certain business benefits, they had persuaded those elders to pressure Ieda over the past few days and demand information about Rock.

Unable to withstand the pressure from her family, Ieda went to discuss the matter with her brother, Felício.

She told him that Rock had left her an address and instructed her to hand it over if her family ever pressured her for information.

Once Felício realized Rock had already prepared for this possibility, he relaxed.

He told Ieda to follow Rock’s instructions and give the address directly to the Gracie family.

However, she revealed nothing about Rock’s identity or background.

At the same time, Felício issued a warning to the Gracie family.

They were not to make any further moves against Ieda. If they did, Felício would make sure they regretted it.

As for what the Gracie family might try to do to Rock, Felício wasn’t worried at all.

An ordinary person might be pressured by the Gracie family or even have their life threatened.

But Rock was different.

He was a newly rising gang boss in Rio de Janeiro.

He already had dozens of men under him, along with a group of hardened former BOPE colleagues who had recently joined his side.

And Rock himself had already killed plenty of people.

Felício had also spoken with Rivaldo before.

Rivaldo’s assessment of Rock was simple.

“His strength is beyond imagination.”

Felício knew exactly how capable Rivaldo had been in BOPE.

For someone as skilled and proud as Rivaldo to give Rock that kind of assessment meant the Gracie family had definitely picked the wrong target this time.

So Felício used his own channels to gather information about the Gracie family’s recent movements and sent everything he found to Rock.

According to Felício’s message, the Gracie family was no longer as powerful as it had once been.

After the family’s undefeated legend, Rickson Gracie, reached the peak of his career, he took much of the family’s core strength to the United States and established himself there.

The branch of the Gracie family that remained in Brazil could now only be considered a side branch.

Most of the benefits tied to UFC events were controlled by Gracie family members based in the United States.

To keep developing, the branch that remained in Brazil had expanded into several other sources of income.

One of those involved underground fights in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Through jiu-jitsu training camps run by the Gracie family, they trained teenagers recruited from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Some of those trainees were then sent into underground fighting venues.

The Gracie family made large amounts of money from the fights themselves and the betting surrounding them.

Meanwhile, Ciro’s message confirmed that the Gracie family had already sent people to the address Rock had left behind.

The miniature camera Rock had asked Ciro to install near the entrance clearly recorded two separate groups visiting the place.

One group slipped an invitation under the door.

Ciro had gang members stationed nearby follow them, eventually tracking that group to a jiu-jitsu training camp on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

The second group managed to shake the tail.

However, they had left someone outside the apartment building to keep watch.

The moment Rock appeared there, his movements would quickly be reported to the Gracie family.

Someone would likely come looking for him almost immediately.

Now that the matter with Crazy Train had reached a stopping point, Rock finally had time to deal with the Gracie family.