Chapter 46

"Look out!"

Oliver's keen eyes caught something first. He shoved Walter aside in alarm.

"Bang!"

The bullet grazed past them!

"Ahhh!" Screams erupted throughout the auction hall.

...,...

When Floyd Lawton was young, he lived with his mother and older brother, Edward Lawton. Though they were poor, he was loved by his mother and brother, and little Floyd had been fairly happy and safe.

Until one day, after his vile father once again abused and beat his mother, she finally decided that the brothers should kill him (how ruthless). Edward agreed to their mother's plea and decided to commit patricide, but Floyd refused to go along with it. So Edward and their mother locked him up, leaving the older brother to carry out the task alone.

But little Floyd managed to escape. Hoping to stop his brother, he went outside his father's room and crouched in a tree with a gun, intending to shoot the weapon out of his brother's hand. But the branch swayed, and he accidentally shot and killed Edward!

That incident changed Floyd's life. Whatever happened afterward—how young Floyd escaped and evaded his parents' pursuit, how Lawton wandered from place to place and slowly grew up—eventually, by chance, he joined a secret organization. The group specialized in assassinating politicians and wealthy businessmen. They recognized Floyd's talent with firearms and trained him, honing his abilities in marksmanship, stealth, and hand-to-hand combat.

A few years later, after completing his training, Floyd Lawton's godlike marksmanship made him one of the most feared assassins in the organization—and on the planet. The name "Deathstroke, the man who never misses" resounded throughout the underworld.

Through his scope, Floyd watched with a cold smile as the target in the opposite building was shoved aside by his stepson. Without changing expression, he fired three more shots in quick succession.

Hm? Floyd stared in surprise as a table flew out of nowhere and blocked all three shots, cutting off his view through the window.

He quickly swept his scope across the scene through another window and spotted a tall, handsome white man shouting instructions to the panicked crowd. The target and his family, meanwhile, had disappeared—he had no idea where the police had taken them.

"Damn it." Floyd quickly ran the numbers and regrettably realized he'd lost his chance. He cast one resentful glance at the chaos, gritted his teeth, and withdrew without hesitation.

But he'd only made it down two floors when, with a crash, a figure in green burst through the glass wall of the stairwell.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Without even looking, Deathstroke raised his gun and fired a full burst.

But the newcomer was no pushover. He nimbly rolled out of the way of the bullets and managed to fire a whole quiver of arrows at him. Yes, the same old-fashioned kind of arrows we're all familiar with.

Bang.

The steel arrowhead punched through the wall. Then, with another bang, the newcomer shot out the lights in the hallway.

Deathstroke tensed. "It's you! Vigilante."

The newcomer's voice rang out in the darkness, low and distorted by a voice modulator. "That's right! Lawton, who sent you? Tell me, and I'll spare your life."

Deathstroke, hiding in a corner, sneered. "You think I'd tell you?"

Both men fired a burst of bullets and a volley of arrows toward where they sensed the other was.

"Bang."

"Rat-a-tat-tat."

"..."

The hallway fell silent.

"As a fellow marksman, I have to admit your skill with a bow is impressive," Deathstroke said darkly from the shadows. "But in modern society, firearms are the most convenient and powerful weapons for shooting..."

Thanks to the scope over his right eye, Floyd spotted Oliver first and raised his gun, firing a full burst.

The Green Arrow was crouching low, preparing to ambush him, but his instincts warned him of the danger. He leaped through a door and into an abandoned room.

"All right, so you're not interested in bonding over our shared profession. It's rare to meet another assassin," Floyd taunted, confident that he had the upper hand.

"No. I'm nothing like you." The Green Arrow's voice remained calm from behind the door. "You kill for money. I kill for justice. The people I kill deserve it. They betrayed this city!"

Deathstroke moved quietly, sneering. "Killing is killing. There's no such thing as justice when it comes to murder. What I do and what you do are no different. We both take lives! If there's a hell, we're both on the list of incoming guests! So stop being a hypocrite, hooded man. You're a murderer."

Floyd went down the stairs and entered the floor where the Green Arrow was. He carefully surveyed his surroundings.

"No, we're not alike!"

As the words rang out, Floyd saw a figure flash past the second room on his left. He fired without thinking, but when he took a closer look, he realized it was only a piece of clothing someone had thrown out. His expression tightened, and he immediately leaped into another room.

Bang—a whole volley of arrows.

"..."

"All right," Deathstroke said from behind the door, unable to help himself. "You're the most talented marksman I've ever seen. How about this? We kill the target together and split the money. What do you say?"

"Not a chance." The Green Arrow sneered, blasting through the wall with a special arrowhead before charging in to fight Deathstroke at close quarters.

"Damn it!"

Both men were expert fighters, and both had undergone rigorous training and some physical enhancements. For a while, neither could gain the upper hand.

After exchanging a knee strike and an uppercut, they briefly broke apart. Deathstroke took advantage of his wrist-mounted gun—a weapon fixed to the arm, much like a wrist-mounted crossbow—and fired a full burst without a second thought.

Oliver rolled away in a desperate scramble.

Bang, bang, bang.

Bullets slammed into the walls and floor with loud cracks.

"..."

The two exceptional marksmen faced off once more in the darkness.

...,...

Aeo hovered outside the building, shaking his head as he thought it over. Without any apparent effort, he suddenly smashed straight through the wall and landed in front of Deathstroke. He kicked out, sending the stunned assassin flying.

But Deathstroke was no easy opponent. At the last moment, he somehow managed to fire a shot into Aeo's chest.

Bang, thud.

Deathstroke crashed into the wall. The bullet hit Aeo and did nothing.

The next second, the boy charged again and drove his knee into Floyd's stomach. The immense force sent Deathstroke crashing through the wall.

"..." The Green Arrow stared in shock at his enemy, who had rolled a long way away. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"Oliver Queen," a deep voice called out.

"Who are you?" In the darkness, every hair on Oliver's body stood on end. The sudden turn of events made him deeply uneasy.

.