NOVPUBThe hitman thought to himself, getting punched in the face wouldn’t be the end of the world.
At worst, he’d end up with a black eye or two.
But it wasn’t until the fist connected with his face that he realized how absurd his assumption was.
It was an ordinary punch, but the power it exerted was beyond imagination.
He only felt a moment of darkness before his head buzzed and swayed violently.
Immediately after, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Daniel was disappointed: "That’s it?"
This was his first encounter with a real assassin.
He had imagined them to be as skilled as depicted in movies and novels.
But this one couldn’t even withstand a single punch.
Sure, his punch could knock out a bull, but still.
He looked at the unconscious assassin on the ground who wouldn’t be waking up any time soon.
Glancing around, he found a piece of rope of unknown material, and tied the hitman to a pipe, making a dead knot.
Then he picked up the hitman’s sniper rifle and muttered softly: "System, recycle."
Almost instantly, the sniper rifle vanished into thin air.
The system’s voice echoed simultaneously, "Recycled M200 Sniper Rifle, price 15,000 StellarCoins. Achievement unlocked: Bullseye Shooting Skill."
Just one reward.
Daniel took this in stride.
However, when he read the system’s explanation of the reward, he instantly lost his composure.
The Bullseye Shooting Skill, although termed as a ’skill,’ felt more like a ’talent’ in practice.
Every time he pulled the trigger, he would hit his target 100% of the time, with no penalty.
It was as if he had enabled auto-aim in a first-person shooter game; he didn’t even need to think about aiming.
Daniel was overjoyed: "Jackpot!"
With this skill, as long as he could see the target, he would hit it every time.
If he became an assassin, there wouldn’t be a target he couldn’t eliminate. Undoubtedly!
Back in the apartment.
Rachel walked out from the bedroom and seeing that the living room was empty, she called out tentatively, "Daniel?" When she found no one around, and no sign of Daniel in the guest room, Rachel was somewhat irritated.
"Men are all the same. Hit-and-run!" she muttered. At that moment, her phone rang.
She answered the call and immediately asked, "Joey, what did you find out?"
On the other end of the phone, Joey replied, "Got it. They’re from the Black Hat Gang. They’re not core members, but they’ve been with Lexio for a long time."
"Who on earth is your friend, and how did he cross paths with these guys?" Joey asked.
Rachel frowned, "That’s not your concern, I’m hanging up."
Just as she was about to end the call, Joey shouted, "Sis, you’d better keep your distance from this friend of yours. Lexio is dangerous, if he’s determined to kill someone, he’ll do whatever it takes."
His words were cut off as Rachel ended the call.
Sitting on the sofa, her expression was volatile. She didn’t know what had transpired between Daniel and Lexio, but the situation was grave. She made another call.
The person on the other end picked up the phone but remained silent.
Rachel was quiet for a long time before she finally said, "Dad, I need your help!"
Silence persisted on the other end.
Rachel continued, "If you can do this for me, I’ll do as you’ve been asking."
Only then did her father speak, "Go on." 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
...
Rachel had just hung up the phone when Daniel came in, key in hand.
Upon seeing Rachel, Daniel smiled awkwardly, "You’re okay, right?"
With an air of irritation, Rachel retorted, "Of course, I’m fine. Where have you been?"
Daniel told Rachel about his encounter with the assassin, hoping she might help investigate the assassin’s identity.
But as soon as Rachel heard that Daniel had fought with an assassin, she rushed over to examine him head to toe.
"Why didn’t you call me when you encountered the assassin?" she demanded.
"Even if you didn’t want to involve me, you could have at least called the police! How could you take on such a risk? Are you injured anywhere? Should we go to the hospital?"
Rachel’s worried flurry warmed Daniel’s heart. He drew her into his arms, gently patting her back, soothing, "Don’t worry, I’m fine. There’s no need to be so concerned."
Rachel quickly retorted, "Who’s worried about you? I was just afraid that if something happened to you, Soph would be devastated!"
Before she could finish her words, her lips were sealed with Daniel’s.
His tongue assertively pried open her teeth, stirring up a thick and sweet liquid.
Rachel’s eyes became hazy, and she nearly collapsed into Daniel’s arms when he lifted his head, smirking at her, "Now’s not the right time, the assassin is still tied up in the building across from us."
Rachel’s face turned red as she irritably retorted, "I wasn’t thinking about doing anything with you!"
Daniel chuckled and nodded. He quite liked Rachel in this state - a little teasing and she immediately became shy.
Together, they headed towards the rooftop of the building.
Strangely enough, there was no one there.
The place where the assassin had been tied up was now only marked by two cut ends of rope.
Rachel commented, "It looks like he cut the rope and escaped."
Daniel crouched down, examining the clean cut on the rope, "No, he was rescued by a comrade. It seems this is a very professional assassination organization. If there’s no news from an assassin within a certain time, they send someone to check."
Rachel nodded, then said, "I just received a call from a colleague, they’ve identified those gunmen."
"Who are they?!" Daniel asked immediately.
Rachel answered, "Black Hat Gang."
Daniel stared in disbelief.
He had Elkampen’s golden card, and he never had any issue with the Black Hat Gang.
If there was any contention, it was with Joseph’s cousin, a guy named Leo.
Could it be because of that incident?
But Daniel thought it was unlikely, as Leo’s status within the Black Hat Gang wouldn’t be high enough to warrant Elkampen’s wrath.
"Are you sure there’s no mistake?" he asked.
Rachel nodded, "The one interrogating is my cousin, so there’s no room for error." She continued, "Relax, I’m a cop after all, I can handle protecting you."
Daniel shook his head with a wry smile, keeping his doubts to himself.
The Black Hat Gang dared to order a hit on a state senator in broad daylight.
What could Rachel, a mere police officer, possibly do to prevent that?
If they were truly afraid of her, they wouldn’t have planned their move when he was still at her place.
Returning to the apartment, both Rachel and Daniel were noticeably preoccupied. Rachel looked at Daniel, then calmly nestled in his arms, "Daniel, do you love me?"
Daniel gently stroked Rachel’s hair, murmuring softly, "I do, I love you to the point of no return."
"And what if, one day, you find me gone?" Rachel asked.
Frowning, Daniel looked into Rachel’s eyes, puzzled, "Why would you say something like that?"
"I’m just asking," Rachel smiled, "so answer me!"
Without hesitation, Daniel replied, "I would find you, no matter where you are, even at the ends of the earth."
A warmth spread in Rachel’s chest, but she quickly hid the flicker of worry in her eyes.
This was what she feared the most.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Promise me something, if that day ever comes, you mustn’t look for me."
Daniel frowned again, "Are you planning on going somewhere? Why else would you say something so random?"
Rachel quickly shook her head, "Of course not. I just don’t want you to feel sad if something were to happen to me one day. I want you to be happy."
At this, Daniel was speechless.
He never expected Rachel to express such a girly sentiment.
Seeing that Daniel didn’t respond, Rachel persisted, "Jerk, can’t you even promise me this little thing?"
Daniel thought Rachel was still upset from their argument earlier, so he quickly agreed, "Alright, alright, I promise." Only then did Rachel smile satisfactorily.
...
Late at night, at RGB Bar. Lexio was on the phone with Nicola.
The conversation seemed to infuriate Lexio.
He gritted his teeth and held back his rage, "Fine, I got it!"
But before he could finish, Nicola had already hung up.
Nicola had only meant to inform Lexio, not to report to him.
Lexio’s face was livid with pent-up fury.
"Fuck!" he cursed.
"They’re all useless, even Nicola! Couldn’t even deal with a nouveau riche like Daniel. And then some bullshit about an order from the Congress to stop going after Daniel. How could an outsider like Daniel know anyone high up in the Congress? I bet he’s just making excuses for his own incompetence!"
Standing before Lexio was Leo, who had decided to return after Conrad’s death.
He heard Lexio’s rant and had a rough idea of what Nicola had said.
"Lexio, we should hold off on Daniel for now. He’s not ordinary. It’s better to call it off now before the conflict escalates."
Lexio turned around, his eyes burning with intense anger.
If it wasn’t Leo who had said that, Lexio would have already thrown a punch.
