Brazil: Criminal Empire - Chapter 128: The Little Lamb Turns into a Big Bad Wolf (Patreon)

While Ezio was busy setting up his little intimidation display, a van escorted by two SUVs was speeding toward the estate.

The three vehicles carried two clearly separate groups.

Rivaldo and the others were fully armed and spread across all three vehicles, their FN57s trained firmly on the Gracie family henchmen sitting beside them.

Before setting out, Rock had driven one of the SUVs away for a short while. When he returned, the trunk was packed with everyone’s combat gear.

That left the entire Death Squad extremely curious while they suited up.

They could tell that Rock seemed to have another force operating for him behind the scenes.

This trip to retrieve their equipment was a perfect example.

Rock had driven away and returned only a few minutes later.

It was almost as though someone had already been waiting nearby with everything prepared for him.

Back in the underground garage, Rivaldo and the others had already interrogated their captives and learned the entire layout of the estate, along with the armed personnel stationed there.

So as they approached the property, Death No. 5 was dropped off first.

With the M24, he had now fully transitioned into the squad’s sniper role.

He would find a high vantage point outside the estate and provide support for the rest of the team.

Ezio’s estate sat inside a small valley.

Low hills bordered the western and northern sides, while a narrow river wound past not far from the property.

The three-vehicle convoy drove openly through the main gate.

At the entrance, one of the captured gunmen used facial recognition to gain access.

Just like that, all three vehicles were let straight inside.

The moment they entered the estate, Rivaldo and Assault Team Member No. 2 got out and seized control of the gatehouse.

The remaining two vehicles continued a short distance before the SUV stopped again.

Marksman No. 6 immediately sprinted toward one of the small buildings inside the estate, the highest point on the property.

Assault Team Member No. 4 headed toward the servants’ quarters.

Everyone inside needed to be brought under control.

The team had memorized the estate’s layout before they ever arrived.

Now that they had gotten inside without trouble, all that remained was to carry out the deployment exactly as planned.

The van pulled up in front of the estate’s wooden training hall.

Rock and Tarcísio stepped out at an unhurried pace.

Five Gracie family henchmen clustered around them with miserable expressions.

“Sir, this way, please.”

The man who had been watching the apartment bowed repeatedly as he led the way.

Inside the training hall, Ezio was already kneeling in the center in a formal seiza posture, eyes closed as he waited.

Behind him, eight gunmen stood rigidly in a V-shaped formation.

If not for the pistols conspicuously hanging at their waists, the scene Ezio had arranged might actually have made him look somewhat like a martial arts master.

“Boss Ezio, Mr. Locke is here.”

The watcher walked respectfully ahead and reported to Ezio.

Ezio imitated the imposing manner Rickson had once displayed and slowly opened his eyes, preparing to examine the little lamb his men had captured with the dignity of a senior figure in the fighting world.

But the moment his eyes opened, his heart sank.

The scene in front of him was nothing like what he had imagined.

There was no frightened young man being dragged in.

Instead, four of his own henchmen were huddled miserably beside two tall young men.

The man at the front was the very same Asian young man Ezio had watched countless times in videos.

The one who had defeated Silas.

“Tarcísio, take their guns. Looking at them is annoying me.”

Rock glanced toward Tarcísio beside him and gave the order.

“Yes, boss.”

Tarcísio answered in his deep voice and stepped forward to disarm them.

“Porra...”

The gunmen behind Ezio laughed in disbelief.

What kind of idiot thought he could simply walk in and tell them to hand over their guns?

Two of them immediately reached for their pistols, preparing to draw and threaten him.

Clearly, they had no idea what they were dealing with.

“Bang! Bang!”

“Ahhh!”

Two shots came through the doorway and struck both men squarely in their right hands.

They collapsed on the spot, screaming in pain.

“Don’t move!”

Rock and Tarcísio instantly swung the P90s hanging behind them into firing position.

The remaining six gunmen looked at the futuristic-looking submachine guns in their hands and wisely raised both arms.

Tarcísio stepped forward and confiscated every pistol.

With Rock’s permission, the gunmen used a first-aid kit from the side of the training hall to bandage the hands of the two men who had been shot.

Only then did Ezio, still kneeling in the middle of the hall, fully realize that events had gone completely off script.

“Who the hell are you people?”

With Rock’s weapon pointed at him, Ezio didn’t dare suddenly stand.

He could only remain where he was and ask in a subdued voice.

Rock tilted his head and looked at him.

“Weren’t you the one who had your men bring me here? What’s wrong? Now that I’ve actually shown up, you’re pretending you don’t know anything?”

“And judging by that little display of yours, it looked like you were planning to beat me up.”

Rock casually removed the P90 from his body and handed it to Tarcísio, who remained alert beside him.

“Come on. Don’t say I never gave you a chance.”

Rock stepped in front of Ezio and beckoned him forward.

Ezio’s eyes immediately lit up.

He surged forward from his kneeling position, quickly slipping behind Rock and lowering his body for a takedown.

After the family concluded that Ezio lacked real talent for jiu-jitsu, he had spent several aimless years before training in freestyle wrestling for two years.

He believed wrestling could make up for his weaknesses in jiu-jitsu.

And in practice, it really had compensated for several shortcomings in his fighting style.

More importantly, wrestling gave him far more options when transitioning from standing exchanges into ground fighting.

So when Ezio successfully wrapped his arms around Rock’s waist, he thought he had him.

Then he tried to lift.

Instead, Ezio suddenly found his own feet leaving the ground.

A pair of hands clamped onto his shoulders like iron pincers.

With nothing beneath him to brace against, he was lifted like a helpless chick and slammed violently onto the floor.

The impact left Ezio lying there unable to move for quite some time.

All he heard was Rock’s casual evaluation.

“A little stronger than that other guy.”

Ezio didn’t know what to feel after hearing that.

The little lamb he had expected to receive had turned out to be a big bad wolf with fangs and claws.

The gunmen being watched by Tarcísio had seen the entire exchange.

Ezio had moved quickly behind Rock and reached around him for the takedown.

Then Rock turned, locked onto him with both hands, and sent him crashing hard into the floor.

After throwing Ezio down, Rock stopped paying attention to him.

Instead, he focused on the system interface.

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: Intermediate (228/400)

Sure enough, Ezio was roughly on the same level as Silas.

Rock immediately merged this skill with the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu skill he had obtained earlier.

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: Advanced (31/1000)

Thinking about the Gracie family’s connections to underground fighting, Rock couldn’t help feeling a little anticipation.

In places that brutal and violent, there might well be some genuinely formidable fighters.

Using the Gracie family to gain more Skills while making some money at the same time seemed like an excellent opportunity.

Rock walked over to Ezio, who was still lying on the floor and struggling to get up, grabbed him, and hauled him to his feet.

“Call your family. Tell them the arrangements you made earlier can begin.”