The Prosecutor and the Killer

Let me put it this way.

If you knew that Anna, the woman in front of you wearing a knit cap with long silver hair, whose figure was more like a model than an assassin, was a drug addict living at the bottom of society five years ago, you would be completely shocked.

It only took Anna one year to go from a drug addict to an assassin, and then, within five years, she became a top female assassin in a certain small circle.

However...

This came at a price.

In the assassin world, your gender doesn't matter, as long as you can kill.

But some organizations in the open tend to favor women when selecting agents of this type, because it's simple: sometimes they need to gather intelligence, not just kill.

Frankly, women have a natural advantage in this regard, unless the target is also a woman.

So...

Anna's rapid growth is astonishing, but the cost was almost what you'd call her sense of shame.

This is why Lake never gets too close to assassins for long; even though there are fewer women like them, who knows.

Lake snapped back to reality, still looking at Anna with suspicion. She had gone into hiding half a year ago, yet here she was, making him curious.

Ever since Anna spread the news of her faked death and disappearance from the KGB and CIA, the assassin world, which had always looked down on such law enforcement agents, chose to protect her.

While the KGB and CIA were searching for Anna all over the world, people in the assassin world, in unison, provided false intelligence to these two organizations. On one hand, it was to toy with them, and on the other, it was a rare opportunity to profit, so why wouldn't they seize it?

The assassin world wouldn't have cared if Anna hadn't betrayed them, but she did, and she had played with two major spy organizations. Therefore, not only did the assassin world look down on the KGB and CIA, but they also largely helped Anna hide her whereabouts.

So.

How did Anna end up here?

Lake looked at Karen curiously.

Karen Ross.

Thaddeus Ross's wife, Betty Ross's mother, Lake's adoptive mother, a woman who had also gone against the grain, coming from the prominent Rockefeller family.

Her profession...

She was now a federal prosecutor!

Was Karen going to make a move against the CIA?

Lake thought about Karen's profession, then considered Anna, the assassin who had played with the KGB and CIA and was now here, as well as the suicide assassins in the small forest just now. He came up with a plausible guess.

If Karen was going to make a move against the CIA, then it would explain why there were assassins targeting Karen.

But that didn't make sense.

Had Langley lost its mind? Did they not know what a huge earthquake assassinating Karen would cause?

Setting aside Karen's status as a federal prosecutor, her maiden name, Rockefeller, alone would have made Langley reconsider before issuing an assassination order.

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

Had Langley gone insane?

If it were thirty years ago, when Karen and Ross had just gotten married, killing Karen might not have had such a significant impact. At most, Langley would have settled it privately with the Rockefellers.

But now, it was absolutely impossible.

After all, thirty years ago, Ross was just an officer, at most a promising one. But now, Ross was one of the military giants. Especially after Ross revealed his high value ten years ago, the Rockefellers eased their relationship with Ross and re-established a certain alliance.

So...

In this situation, if Langley wanted to make a move against Karen, they could. But once discovered, Langley likely wouldn't be able to withstand the military's... let alone the powerful Rockefeller capital.

...Wait.

Lake recalled the scene from earlier, raised his eyebrows, and then looked back at Anna, who was now as quiet as a little white rabbit.

Something was wrong.

These people were targeting Anna, not Karen. They only revealed themselves the moment Anna appeared. If their target was Karen, they would have acted the moment Karen stepped out.

"Lake."

"...Yeah."

As Lake was brainstorming and analyzing the situation, Karen emerged from the safe house. She first surveyed Lake, making sure he wasn't injured, then asked with some suspicion, "Lake, how do you know Anna?"

Lake snapped back and looked at Karen. "You know, I'm a police officer."

Karen immediately called him out: "You're a New York police officer, a local one at that, and Anna has never been to New York."

Lake's smile remained unchanged. "But I have many informants, and my social experience is extensive."

Karen rolled her eyes at Lake.

From childhood to adulthood, in Karen's memory, Lake had always been a unique, independent child, exceptionally self-reliant. He preferred to use the benefits of the K-12 system and attend public schools with a happy education, rather than use their money to attend private elite schools.

But it was fine.

Lake, who had always been in public free schools, didn't get caught up in the recreational drugs prevalent in schools like his peers. Instead, he lived a very regular life.

And then...

When Lake graduated from high school early at sixteen, Karen was very happy. Lake had already been accepted early by an Ivy League university, though it wasn't with a scholarship.

Karen didn't care about that; they weren't short on money, and Karen had already planned to buy Lake a car as a reward.

But Lake chose to enlist, opting for the "freebie" route.

Karen was very angry at the time, but later, Lake was promoted to lieutenant unusually fast. Although Thaddeus Ross had something to do with it, Karen was happy again, saying that the family would soon have two generals.

After that...

Lake chose to retire from the military and go to college.

Karen was numb.

Lake didn't know Karen was lost in thought and looked directly at Karen, saying, "Are you going to make a move on Langley?"

Karen snapped back to attention, "How did you know?"

Lake said, "Those assassins outside, they chose suicide upon mission failure. Also, Anna appeared here. Besides assassins from Langley, the Red Room, or Masada Fortress, I can't think of any other organizations that would come to kill you."

Langley, as the name suggests, is called Langley because the CIA headquarters is located in the Langley area not far away.

The Red Room needs no introduction; it's from the KGB. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, originated from the Red Room.

Masada Fortress?

This is another name for Israel's Mossad.

Because Mossad originated from the last fallen Masada Fortress, it gained the alias Masada Fortress to refer to Mossad.

This is a kind of industry slang.

"Let me guess."

Lake then glanced at Anna, who was standing quietly nearby, like a harmless little white rabbit, and smiled. He said to Karen, "Anna will be an important witness for you, Prosecutor?"

With things having reached this point, Karen no longer intended to hide anything and nodded directly, "Yes."

Lake: "..."

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