American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

Chapter 70: The Demise of the Gambino Family (8000, 2000 short, will make up tomorrow)

A study in the Gambino Estate.

Elderly Old Gambino sat in a wheelchair, a valuable Persian cashmere blanket covering his legs, his eyes half-closed as he watched the large screen in front of him.

He looked drowsy, his face covered in age spots. No one would have thought that this man over seventy was a ruthless character who, in his youth, dared to shoot a judge in a Court of Law if things didn't go his way.

The surveillance camera connected to the Manor's entrance clearly captured Tang Song's appearance.

Seeing Tang Song reveal that gentle, even slightly shy smile, Old Gambino inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine, a creepy sensation.

"Mr. Gambino, I'm sorry, I couldn't complete your orders. Our people couldn't bring that Asian back to the Police Department..."

Old Gambino picked up the ringing phone with his withered hand, listening quietly to the voice on the other end. His aged face was expressionless. Before the other side finished speaking, Old Gambino directly hung up the phone.

His original plan was to use the police to detain Tang Song for a few days, making him miss the Arms Bidding Conference.

He didn't expect the people he hired to be incompetent, and those police officers who usually took many benefits were also useless, allowing this Asian to come knocking on the door.

It is said that the older one gets in the underworld, the smaller their guts become. Old Gambino had led the Gambino family for forty years.

He had experienced the glory of the Gambino family and the family's predicament after being driven out of New York by Kingpin.

However, the increase in age did not seem to have worn away Old Gambino's courage.

Looking at the Asian in the surveillance video, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Old Gambino's cloudy eyes.

He pressed the red button on his wheelchair, and soon a middle-aged man in a suit, with a pompadour slicked back with a lot of hair wax, walked into the study.

"Father!"

The man placed his right hand on his left chest and bowed to Old Gambino.

"Willie, you are on duty at the Continental Hotel now!"

"Yes, Father!" The man was called Willie Gambino, Old Gambino's adopted son, and the Gambino family's top enforcer.

"Post a 50 million bounty at the Continental Hotel. Don't let this Asian leave Rome alive!"

Old Gambino patted the armrest of his wheelchair and spoke gently to Willie.

"This arms order concerns the future rise and fall of the Gambino family. I don't want the family to perish in my hands.

Willie, the family is mine. Although Paul is my biological son, he cannot support the family. The future of the family is yours! I hope you don't disappoint me!"

"Father!"

Willie seemed touched by Old Gambino's words. He lowered his head, staring deeply at Old Gambino's old face, full of the vicissitudes of time.

"I have no ambition for the family. If it weren't for you, I would have died at the church entrance long ago. The Gambino family belongs to Paul, and I will do my best to assist him!"

"Good, good!" Old Gambino took two rough breaths. Willie quickly squatted down and gently rubbed his chest for him.

"Alright, I'm fine. Go do it quickly!"

Old Gambino waved his hand. Willie stood up, bowed to Old Gambino, gently closed the room door, and exited the room.

The moment he closed the door, Willie Gambino's eyes changed. His previously docile gaze instantly became extremely sharp, like a domesticated dog transforming into a wild wolf.

...

Continental Hotel, Rome branch.

The hotel decoration had a Roman style, resplendent and luxurious. There was a huge panel screen in the Hall.

This was certainly not for watching a game.

Names, avatars, and bounty amounts were displayed on it from time to time.

This was clearly an assassin mission board, like a mercenary guild from the Middle Ages.

However, the Continental Hotel was more like an open assassin guild.

Several assassins sat in the hotel's bar drinking, their eyes occasionally scanning the information on the panel.

A bartender in a white shirt and tie was performing flair bartending behind the bar counter.

The Continental Hotel, spread across the world, could be said to have standardized the entire assassin industry.

These assassins sat openly in the bar waiting to take on business, and less than five hundred meters away was a Police Department.

Clearly, there was a special understanding between the Continental Hotel and the Police Department.

In a corner of the hotel's hall, John Wick, with long hair and sexy stubble on his face, leaned on a sofa, holding a bottle of whiskey, taking sips from the bottle from time to time.

Opposite John Wick, the snake woman Bina was looking around boredly.

"John, I want to go to Milan, will you come with me!"

Bina watched the bartender not far away mix a mojito with flair and said to John Wick somewhat boredly.

"I don't have money!" John Wick shook the whiskey bottle. "I've spent most of my money avoiding being hunted!"

Although he spoke impatiently, John Wick's eyes occasionally scanned the mission board.

He wanted to take a mission quickly, earn some money, and accompany Bina to Milan.

Although thanks to the multiple mediations by his old friend, the manager of the New York Continental Hotel, and the fact that John Wick was truly not someone to be trifled with.

After completing several missions issued by the High Table, John Wick had barely reached a reconciliation with the Continental Hotel and the High Table behind it.

However, buying firearms and ammunition, intelligence, and asking people for help had almost drained John Wick's retirement fund.

That's why he had no choice but to reappear at the Continental Hotel. As for why he was in Rome and not New York, that's another story!

After all, he had killed more than half of the assassins at the New York Continental Hotel.

If John Wick stayed in New York, even if he was a legendary assassin, it would be hard to guarantee he wouldn't be shot in the back.

Bina also saw through John Wick's tsundere nature and looked at him with a smile.

Just then, a mechanical bell rang.

Several female service staff at the front desk quickly became busy. A service staff took a document from the fax machine.

She handed it to another female service staff at the front desk, who scanned and uploaded it. Another bell rang.

On the panel high up in the Continental Hotel, an Asian face appeared at the top of the list.

At the same time, all registered assassins of the Continental Hotel in Rome had their mobile phones ring.

"Gulp gulp..." John Wick finished the whiskey in the bottle in two gulps. He looked at the face that appeared on the Hall screen and frowned.

"*Country Tang, why is he in New York!"

...

Night. Tang Song stood naked in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, only a bath towel wrapped around his lower body, revealing his six abdominal muscles.

On the large bed in the Presidential Suite, two women slept embracing each other.

The bounty from the Continental Hotel. A cold smile hung on Tang Song's lips. Moonlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling window onto him, as if casting a chilling aura.

Ding dong!

The doorbell rang. Tang Song put on a bathrobe and opened the room door.

"Boss! It's almost time!"

Lane stood at the door, dressed in a butler's tailcoat suit, wearing white gloves. The only slight difference was that he wore a bulletproof vest over his suit.

In the corridor at this time, eight bodyguards were also wearing bulletproof vests, holding ready rifles and handguns. A killing atmosphere permeated the hotel.

Tang Song walked barefoot on the corridor carpet, smoking a thick cigar, looking at the fully armed German men.

"How is it? After I go out, can you hold this place?"

Lane's face showed a relaxed smile: "No problem, Boss. Just a bunch of assassins. I'll make sure they never return!"

Tang Song exhaled a smoke ring, thought for a moment, and took off the black jade thumb ring from his thumb. He exhaled a breath of True Essence.

A rustling sound was heard. A small black snake stretched out its body and flapped its fleshy membrane, darting up and down the corridor.

A moment later, the Little Black Snake landed on Tang Song's shoulder, coiled into a snake formation, lazily flicking its tongue outwards.

Tang Song took out a white jade porcelain bottle from his Five Yin Pouch wallet, pulled out the jade stopper, and poured out a crimson medicinal pill, which he fed to the Little Black Snake.

"When I'm not here, listen to Lane. Kill everyone with hostility!"

Tang Song gently tapped the Little Black Snake's head with his index finger. The Little Black Snake shook its head when tapped, vaguely understanding Tang Song's words. It flapped its fleshy membrane and flew up, wobbling as it landed on Lane's shoulder.

Lane's expression stiffened. He couldn't help but glance at the Little Black Snake on his shoulder.

Hiss hiss! The Little Black Snake flicked its tongue and extended its head towards Lane.

Lane felt the muscles on his shoulder instantly tense up.

Tang Song took out a thick stack of talisman paper from his Five Yin Pouch and took off three bone beads from his wrist, handing them to Lane.

"You decide how to distribute these fifty Vajra Talismans!"

"Skeleton Demon, don't use it unless it's a critical moment. This place is too close to the Vatican!"

Tang Song was unsure of the Vatican's foundation, but a religious influence that had been passed down for so long must not lack supernormal beings.

If this Skeleton Demon were treated as a dark creature and subjected to demon slaying, it would be troublesome.

"I understand, Boss!" Lane took the bone beads and clenched them in his palm.

...

All roads lead to Rome.

Tang Song was now walking on the roads of Rome, his feet lightly tapping, each step covering dozens of meters. The gentle wind seemed to be beneath his feet.

Liezi's Wind Riding, how ethereal!

The Rome Urban Area was brightly lit. Tang Song easily surpassed the bustling traffic. The night wind howled, fluttering his clothes.

His sleeve lightly brushed. The Wind Riding Talisman and Invisibility Talisman on the side of his sleeve shone brightly.

...

Gambino Estate. In a two-hundred-square-meter master bedroom, Old Gambino woke up from his bed, wiping his wet forehead.

Old Gambino pressed the alarm bell by the bed.

Soon, two female caregivers in their thirties pushed a tool cart in. One skillfully wiped Old Gambino's body, while the other took a new cotton quilt from the tool cart to replace the wet bedding under Old Gambino.

By the time the two caregivers finished, half an hour had passed.

Old Gambino leaned against the headboard, looking at the dark night outside. Thinking about the vague nightmare he just had, he picked up the mobile phone by the bed.

"Father!"

Willie's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Old Gambino asked, "Willie, where are you?"

"Father, I'm at the hotel!" Busy sounds came from Willie's end.

"Those assassins are about to act. I need to handle the aftermath! Father, is there something you need?!"

"Nothing, just checking how things are going!"

Old Gambino encouraged Willie a few times on the phone and hung up.

He didn't tell his adopted son about his vague nightmare.

Just as a wolf king cannot show fatigue in front of the wolf cubs, once the wolf cubs discover the wolf king is old, those previously docile wolf cubs will not hesitate to bare their fangs.

Old Gambino turned off the lights in the master bedroom but remained sleepless in the darkness for a long time.

...

A Police Department not far from the Bulgari Hotel. The Italian police officer on duty was intent on watching the World Cup match. From his bloodshot eyes, it was clear he had placed a heavy bet.

Ding-a-ling-a-ling! Just then, the phone on the police officer's desk suddenly rang.

The police officer impatiently glanced at the phone. The moment he saw the phone number, he instantly jolted and quickly answered the phone.

"Director, okay, I understand, I know what to do!"

Soon, this Police Department closed its doors.

...

Under the night sky, various cars converged towards the Bulgari Hotel.

In the Executive Suite on the top floor, Lane gently pulled the curtains open a crack, watching the shadowy figures lurking below.

Click click!

Lane chambered a bullet in his handgun and screwed on the silencer.

Meanwhile, at the main entrance of the Bulgari Hotel, several beautiful women dressed as sales staff walked into the hotel carrying bags.

The hotel security politely stopped them.

"Hello, these are the new styles of clothes and bags from our store. We brought them for Ms. Skye to select!"

The security recognized the familiar LOGO on the clothes bags the women were carrying!

He gestured to the women a few times and let them pass directly.

Because Tang Song and his group had refused the hotel's room butler service,

The security did not contact upstairs via walkie-talkie but had the front desk directly dial Skye's room phone! "Hello, hello, Clothes, Bags? Are they designed already? That fast? Let them come up!"

Skye, in a bathrobe, picked up the phone with a yawn.

She hung up the phone and turned around to find Fox in a red dress, playing with two black extended handguns in her hands.

"Fox?" Skye looked at Fox with some confusion.

Fox made a shushing gesture towards her, pointing the two guns at the room door.

Seeing Fox's stance, Skye subconsciously touched a string of beads on her wrist.

Between the azure white jade beads were several white bone beads.

...

Ding! The elevator door slowly opened. Several beautifully dressed saleswomen, with smiles on their faces, were about to step out of the elevator in high heels.

Two dark gun barrels appeared before their eyes at this moment.

The smiles on these women's faces froze. Their hands instinctively reached quickly into the clothes bags they were carrying.

Before they could pull out the handguns hidden in the luxury goods bags.

Puff puff puff puff puff puff...

The silenced pistol fired rapidly, emptying half a magazine. Soon, this group of "saleswomen" fell in a pool of blood.

Two German men walked into the elevator and dragged the women's corpses out of the elevator as if dragging dead dogs.

Carrying the last woman's corpse, the bodyguard glanced at the elevator's camera and fired two shots casually, destroying the camera in the elevator.

In the surveillance room of the Bulgari Hotel, a security watched the scene in the elevator through the surveillance and felt his legs tremble. He swallowed hard, his hand shaking as he reached for his mobile phone.

Before his hand could touch the mobile phone, a large hand suddenly covered his mouth from behind, and then a sharp dagger slit his throat.

The security's blood instantly sprayed everywhere, staining the keyboard and surveillance screen in front of him red.

A man in a trench coat dragged the security into the corner, sat down in front of the surveillance, and pulled up the footage from the elevator a few minutes ago.

"Vincent, things are troublesome. The target was prepared!"

The man in the trench coat, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, contacted his companion: "Those Poison Spiders have failed! How is it, can you find a suitable sniper position!"

On the skyscraper opposite the Bulgari, a thin man was lying on the rooftop adjusting the sniper rifle in his hand.

"The curtains are all drawn, and the hotel windows are set to privacy mode. I can't find an opportunity for now!"

The man observed the situation of the hotel opposite through the sniper scope. He tilted his head, talking to the man in the trench coat who had infiltrated the hotel via the communicator on his collar.

He was completely unaware that on the rooftop under the night sky, the air seemed to be refracted by high temperature, causing imperceptible wrinkles.

A large hand seemed to appear out of thin air, covering the sniper's mouth. With the same method of death as the security, a sharp dagger slit his throat.

Listening to the sound coming from the communicator, which sounded like rushing water, the man in the trench coat's complexion changed. He couldn't help but touch his neck! He was too familiar with this sound; it was the sound of blood rapidly spraying out after a throat was cut, like the sound of wind.

The man in the trench coat looked at the surveillance screen in front of him, listening to the friction sound of heavy objects being dragged from the communicator. He gritted his teeth, turned around, and left the surveillance room.

Rooftop!

After dragging the sniper aside and concealing him, one of Tang Song's bodyguards adjusted his shoulder armor, picked up the assassin's sniper rifle, and with a ripple in the air, his figure quickly disappeared on the night rooftop.

...

Gambino family Estate. Tang Song stood in the crown of a tall ash tree, overlooking the scene within the Manor.

At this time, most of the room lights in the Manor were extinguished.

Only the small streetlights reserved within the Manor were still flickering, and patrolling bodyguards occasionally walked by under the streetlights, leading two large hunting dogs.

The security patrols within the Manor were very dense. What Tang Song didn't know was that this was because Old Gambino had temporarily doubled the patrol posts due to his nightmare.

But even if Tang Song knew, it wouldn't matter. If a group of security could stop him, Tang Song wouldn't be cultivating immortality anymore.

Tang Song's figure moved, lightly landing in the Manor's flowerbed.

Walking within the Manor, bodyguards leading hunting dogs walked past Tang Song. Neither the bodyguards nor the keen-scented hunting dogs treated Tang Song as if he were air.

In a master bedroom of the Manor, Tang Song directly pushed the door open. The lock inside the master bedroom door was easily vibrated into dust by his True Essence.

On the large bed in the bedroom, a completely naked young man was sleeping soundly, embracing a large-breasted blonde woman.

The quilt had been kicked aside by the two. Tang Song's eyes, which could see in the dark, immediately saw two breasts as large as footballs, fair and...

Tang Song played with a snakeskin wallet in his hand, circulating True Essence. The wallet floated in Tang Song's palm.

Tap! The opening of the Five Yin Pouch wallet opened. From the dark pocket, a chain of black mist extended out.

The black mist formed by the Five Yin Black Fiend Lock wrapped around the sleeping young man like a python, dragging him directly into the pouch.

The young man, who had fallen into the Five Yin Pouch, was instantly turned into a pool of blood before he could even react to what was happening. The restriction seal inside the pouch activated, and as the Five Yin Black Fiend twisted, he was instantly liquefied.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle, the Five Yin Pouch made a sound like an infant sucking on a nipple. This pool of blood was instantly swallowed clean.

Tang Song, who had been observing the changes in the Five Yin Pouch with his Divine Sense, keenly noticed that after swallowing this pool of blood, the space within the Five Yin Pouch had expanded slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Truly an evil artifact, Tang Song put away the wallet, marveling at the cleverness of the Heshan Dao Patriarch.

Magic Arts recorded in the Heshan Scripture could all be called unorthodox, with limited potential, not worthy of attention from some renowned sects.

However, these magic arts were truly fast-track magic arts. Take the Five Yin Pouch, for example.

Ordinary Daoist or Buddhist cultivators would need to reach the Core Formation stage at least to refine a high-grade storage bag.

But to refine a Five Yin Pouch, one only needed to cultivate True Qi and have enough materials and blood and gore of living beings to possess a growth-type storage magic tool.

Of course, the Five Yin Pouch was not just a storage magic tool. The Five Yin Black Fiend nurtured within the pouch was extremely yin and evil, specifically polluting flying swords and magic treasures, a hundred or a thousand times more potent than menstrual blood.

However, refining such a magic tool was too easy to become addicted to.

As long as it was refined and fed with blood and gore of living beings, the space within the Five Yin Pouch would become larger, and the power of that Five Yin Black Fiend would become stronger.

Ordinary cultivators simply couldn't resist this temptation. They would often massacre living people to refine the magic tool, and one day they would be cut down by a passing Sword Immortal or Sword Hero.

This was also called Human Tribulation in the Jambudvīpa World!

Of course, Tang Song had no such concerns in the Marvel World. He seemed to transform into a ghost, moving through the various rooms in the Manor, turning each Gambino family member into foul blood.

Creak!

Tang Song pushed open a master bedroom door and walked in, meeting a pair of hawk-like eyes.

"Cough cough!"

Old Gambino coughed, seeing Tang Song's appearance through the moonlight. He coughed repeatedly, concealing his inner panic.

"Mr. Tang, our Gambino family has no intention of opposing you.

I can decide to give you the military procurement for this Arms Bidding Conference.

I heard you have a grudge with Kingpin. Our Gambino family has always wanted to return to New York. We can join forces..."

While speaking, Old Gambino tried to appease Tang Song. His hand hidden under the quilt quietly reached for the alarm bell by the bed.

Tang Song remained silent, watching Old Gambino's performance. Just as his hand was about to touch the alarm bell, an arm-thick black mist chain bound him, hoisting him up,

The Five Yin Black Fiend contracted, directly pulling Old Gambino whole into the Five Yin Pouch.

...

Under the night sky, the Bulgari Hotel was like a giant beast crouching on the streets of Rome. Famous assassins walked in one by one, like pebbles dropped into a bottomless abyss, without causing a single ripple.

As one after another of their colleagues entered the hotel and disappeared right before their eyes,

The remaining assassins became increasingly cautious. It took a full hour before a middle-aged white man who looked like a dwarf walked into the hotel.

"He's Myron Walker, a legendary assassin in Rome, a mutant. He can turn his body into a two-meter-diameter meatball. It's a disgusting ability. Ordinary rifle bullets can't penetrate his skin!"

Not far from the Bulgari Hotel, parked on the street was a black Dodge. John Wick held a silver flat flask, rolled down half the car window, and while watching the hotel's movements, explained the assassin's information to the snake woman beside him.

"Do you think he can succeed?"

Bina lay on John Wick, poking her head out to look at the Bulgari Hotel not far away.

John Wick felt the soft touch on his body, and the hand holding the flask trembled.

The snake woman felt John Wick's physiological change, extended her forked tongue, licked her upper lip, and let out a soft giggle.

"Probably not. *Country Tang is very mysterious in New York. It's said that even Kingpin suffered losses at his hands several times!"

On the other side, after Myron Walker entered the Bulgari Hotel, he didn't go upstairs immediately. He stopped after going up to the second floor via the stairs passage.

He took out his handgun and pulled the trigger at the top of the stairs.

Intense gunfire spread outside the hotel, quickly attracting a group of colleagues who wanted to fish in troubled waters.

A grappling hook shot from a room in the skyscraper opposite into the Rooftop of the Bulgari Hotel. A figure hooked onto the zip line in the night and was about to slide down.

"Puff puff!"

This assassin, who wanted to fish in troubled waters, successfully slid to the opposite rooftop after two silenced pistol shots, hanging on the rooftop like a dripping flag. Blood flowed down the outer wall of the Bulgari Hotel.

"The gunfire is coming from the skyscraper opposite!"

John Wick was indeed a legendary assassin. The almost inaudible gunfire was heard clearly in his ears.

He looked thoughtfully at the skyscraper opposite the Bulgari Hotel.

"Da da da da da..."

A Hummer had stopped in front of the Bulgari Hotel at some point. A shirtless, bearded strong man lifted a modified heavy machine gun from the Hummer, mounted it on the Hummer, aimed at the target room, and pulled the trigger.

The dense bullets from the heavy machine gun instantly riddled the outer wall of the Bulgari Hotel like a honeycomb.

Generally speaking, although the Continental Hotel was a semi-public assassin guild, it also maintained a certain understanding with the government.

There were rules that some assassins in the Continental Hotel had to follow, such as not using high-ordnance bombs in crowded areas, not causing too many civilian casualties,...

There were many unwritten rules, part of the understanding between the Continental Hotel and the government.

Once one side broke this understanding, then sorry, governments of various countries would definitely put great effort into rectifying this festering sore that was the Continental Hotel.

Many things that happened in the dark could not be brought into the light. Once exposed, even the High Table behind the Continental Hotel couldn't withstand it.

Ordinary assassins were accustomed to using silenced pistols and sniper rifles, at most rifles.

Few people used heavy machine guns during "assassination".

At least John Wick had rarely seen it.

However, a heavy machine gun barely fell within the edge of the rules and couldn't be considered a violation.

The spray fire from the heavy machine gun instantly shattered the outer wall and windows of the target room.

Just as the assassins who were waiting for an opportunity thought they saw a chance.

"Puff!"

A sniper rifle bullet directly penetrated the shirtless strong man's head.

The sound of the heavy machine gun, "Da da da da da," came to an abrupt halt.

This gunfire not only confirmed to John Wick that the target had arranged a sniper in the skyscraper opposite, but many assassins also realized this.

Many assassins lurking near the Bulgari Hotel quickly concealed themselves, looking for blind spots from the skyscraper.

Inside the Bulgari Hotel, Myron Walker took advantage of the heavy machine gun's spray fire to nimbly dart up the stairs from the first floor. When he approached the target floor,

Myron Walker took a deep breath, and his entire body instantly swelled up, as if enveloped in a large meatball, resembling a bloated pufferfish even more.

With a forceful roll, Myron Walker, this seemingly solid meatball, directly knocked the stairwell door flying. He himself crashed directly into the corridor.

"Puff puff puff..."

"Puff puff puff..."

The German men who had reacted quickly aimed at Myron Walker and pulled the triggers.

Myron Walker rolled his meatball body, which nearly filled the corridor, ignoring the shots from these strong men and rolling towards the Presidential Suite.

"Puff puff puff..."

With such a large target, the dense bullets didn't need careful aiming; they all concentrated firepower on Myron Walker.

However, the meatball covering Myron Walker's body was like a bulletproof vest made of fat. Bullets embedded in his surface were instantly bounced out.

"Switch to rifles!"

Lane emptied the bullets in his handgun in one breath, casually threw the handgun aside, picked up a fully automatic assault rifle, and emptied a magazine of firepower at the meatball in front of him.

"Da da da..."

Several German men also discarded their handguns, pulled out rifles from behind, and sprayed fire at Myron Walker.

The meatball on Myron Walker's body instantly burst open with splashes of blood.

However, although rifle bullets could break through his surface, they didn't seem to cause him fatal damage.

In pain, Myron Walker's meatball rolled even faster. The rapidly rolling large meatball was like a meat tank, directly crashing towards Lane.

Lane pulled out a shotgun, aimed at Myron Walker's eyes, and instead of retreating, advanced, pulling the trigger, ready to meet him head-on.

A black shadow suddenly flew off his shoulder, circled once, and landed on the rolling meatball's neck.

Let's call it a neck for now. Amidst the rustling sound of scales rubbing, the Little Black Snake revealed two hollow, sharp fangs and bit down on the fair, greasy neck below.

"Sizzle sizzle!"

A sound like butter melting in a hot pan was heard. With a piercing scream, the fat under Myron Walker's skin seemed to dissolve.

The Little Black Snake's intense toxin instantly corroded his entire body's flesh and blood at an extremely fast speed upon contact with his skin~~~

(End of this chapter)