Prosecutor and Assassin (Happy Fifth Day of the New Year!!)

Put it this way.

If you knew that Anna, the woman in front of you wearing a knitted cap, with long silver hair and a model-like figure rather than a killer's build, had been an unpresentable drug addict living at the very bottom five years ago, you would be utterly shocked.

It had taken Anna only one year to go from drug addict to assassin. Then, over the next five years, she had become a top female assassin within a certain circle.

However...

It had not come without a price.

In the world of assassins, gender did not matter. As long as you could kill, that was enough.

But among certain aboveboard organizations, the operatives they chose for this type of assassin work leaned heavily toward women. The reason was simple: sometimes, they needed more than just a killing. They also needed to extract intelligence.

To be frank, women had an inherent advantage in that regard—unless the target was also a woman.

So...

Anna's lightning-fast growth was astonishing, but the price had almost been her so-called sense of shame.

That was why Lake had never spent extended periods around assassins. Even if there were relatively few female assassins of this type, who knew what might happen?

Lake came back to himself and looked suspiciously at Anna, who had clearly gone into hiding six months ago but had suddenly appeared here. He felt somewhat curious.

Ever since word had spread through the assassin world that Anna had toyed with the KGB and CIA, faked her death, and disappeared, the assassin world—which had always looked down on assassins from law-enforcement agencies—had chosen to protect her.

While the KGB and CIA searched for Anna across the world, the people in the assassin world had tacitly begun providing the two organizations with false intelligence one after another. On the one hand, they could toy with the two groups; on the other, they had finally found an opportunity to fleece them. If they did not take advantage of it, what were they waiting for?

If Anna had not betrayed them, the assassin world would not have cared. But she had betrayed them, and she had toyed with two major intelligence organizations. Thus, the assassin world not only looked down on the KGB and CIA, but also helped Anna conceal her whereabouts to a considerable extent.

So.

Why had Anna appeared here?

Lake looked at Karen curiously.

Karen Ross.

The wife of Thaddeus Ross, the mother of Betty Ross, and Lake's adoptive mother—a woman from the Rockefeller family who could also be considered unconventional.

Her profession...

She was now a federal prosecutor!

Could Karen be planning to strike at the CIA?

Thinking about Karen's profession, then connecting it with Anna—the assassin who had once toyed with the KGB and CIA and had now appeared here—as well as the suicide assassin in the woods just moments ago, Lake arrived at a reasonable deduction.

If Karen was planning to strike at the CIA, that would explain why suicide assassins had attacked her.

But that did not make sense.

Had Langley grown a bear's heart and leopard's gall? Did they not know what kind of earthquake assassinating Karen would cause?

Leaving aside Karen's identity as a federal prosecutor, her maiden name alone—Rockefeller—would have been enough to make Langley think twice before authorizing an assassination.

Not to mention that Thaddeus Ross, one of the military's major figures, was Karen's husband.

Had Langley lost its mind?

Thirty years ago, when Karen and Ross had just gotten married, if Langley had killed Karen, perhaps it would not have caused such a huge impact. At most, Langley could have settled things privately with the Rockefellers.

But now, it was absolutely impossible.

After all, thirty years ago, Ross had only been an officer—at most, a promising one. But now, Ross was one of the military's major figures. In particular, ten years ago, after Ross revealed his own value, the Rockefellers had finally repaired their relationship with him and reestablished a certain alliance.

So...

Under these circumstances, Langley could target Karen if it wanted to, but once it was exposed, Langley probably would not be able to withstand the military's retaliation, much less the Rockefeller financial empire's.

...Wait.

Lake recalled what had just happened and raised an eyebrow before looking again at Anna, who was currently as quiet as a little white rabbit.

Something was wrong.

These people's target had been Anna, not Karen. They had exposed themselves the moment Anna came out. If their target had been Karen, they would have attacked the moment Karen stepped outside.

"Lake."

"...Yeah."

Just as Lake was wracking his brain to analyze the matter, Karen came out of the safe house. She first looked Lake over to make sure he was uninjured, then asked suspiciously, "Lake, how do you know Anna?"

Lake came back to himself and looked at Karen. "You know I'm a police officer."

Karen immediately exposed him. "You're a New York police officer, a local police officer. Besides, Anna has never been to New York."

Lake's smile did not change. "But I have plenty of informants, and I've got extensive experience in society."

Karen rolled her eyes at Lake.

From childhood onward, in Karen's memories, Lake had always been an unusual and fiercely independent child. He had been especially self-reliant, preferring to attend public schools through the K–12 system's free education rather than use their money to attend private schools offering elite education.

Fortunately.

Although Lake had always attended free public schools, he had not become addicted to the anesthetics circulating around schools at the time like his peers. Instead, he had lived a very disciplined life.

Then.

When Lake had graduated from high school early at sixteen, Karen had been overjoyed. By then, Lake had already been accepted early by an Ivy League school—though without a scholarship.

Karen had not cared about that. It was not as if they lacked money, and she had already planned to buy Lake a car as a reward.

But Lake had chosen to enlist and take the path of getting things for free.

Karen had been furious at the time. Later, when Lake had been promoted to lieutenant ahead of schedule, she had been delighted again. Although Ross's connections had played a part, Karen had even said that their family was going to produce two generals.

After that...

Lake had chosen to leave the military and attend college.

Karen had already become numb to it.

Lake had no idea that Karen was thinking about all this. He looked straight at her. "You're going after Langley?"

Karen came back to herself. "How did you know?"

Lake said, "The group of assassins outside chose suicide the moment their mission failed, and Anna also appeared here. Other than Langley, the Red Room, or assassins from Masada Fortress, I can't think of any other organization that would come to kill you."

Langley was so named because the CIA headquarters were located nearby, in the Langley area.

The Red Room needed no explanation. The KGB agent and S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, had come from the Red Room.

Masada Fortress?

That was another name for Israel's Mossad.

Because Mossad had originated from the last stronghold to fall, Masada Fortress, it had acquired that alternative name.

It was a kind of industry slang.

"Let me guess."

Lake glanced at Anna, who stood quietly nearby like a harmless little white rabbit, then smiled and said to Karen, "Anna is going to be an important witness for you, Prosecutor?"

With things already at this point, Karen had no intention of hiding anything. She nodded directly. "Yes."

Lake: "..."

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