This was why the Heavenly Kingdom Organization had specifically paired him with Monkey, who was agile and skilled at long-range sniping.
But now Monkey was badly wounded and unconscious. Against Lu Hong, whose speed and footwork far surpassed his own, White Bear had undoubtedly become a sitting duck!
He was too slow to escape now, even if he wanted to!
Glancing at the unconscious Monkey beneath the night sky, White Bear's face flashed with a fierce resolve. "I'll risk it!"
He stopped blindly chasing and planted himself where he was, taking up a defensive stance.
"Haha, so the big guy isn't quite as dumb as he looks."
Seeing his opponent stop, Lu Hong halted as well. He held the short spear in his left hand and regarded White Bear calmly.
Beneath the faint moonlight,
White Bear's ragged breathing rang out as he watched Lu Hong slowly close in, fully on guard.
With Monkey, the greatest threat, out of the fight, White Bear was still formidable in a head-on battle. But Lu Hong, who excelled at speed and footwork, was perfectly suited to counter him.
So Lu Hong wasn't worried at all. He planned to use this big fool to thoroughly temper the Master realm he had just broken through into.
After all, even across the entire underground world, there were very few opponents like White Bear who were so suitable for practice.
Since he'd happened upon one, Lu Hong naturally wouldn't waste the opportunity.
Real combat was when progress came fastest.
"You think you've really got me beat, Lu Hong?" White Bear said coldly in fluent English.
"Don't I?" Lu Hong replied in English. "What a shame. The famous Monkey-Bear Duo of the underground world is about to be erased today. If I kill you two, my world ranking might shoot up, and I'll earn a lot more from my next missions. I owe you both a big thank-you."
Lu Hong laughed easily.
According to the underground world's assassin rankings,
the Monkey-Bear Duo ranked fiftieth on the global list.
Lu Hong ranked fifty-second.
Of course,
that was before Lu Hong broke through into the Master realm.
Some time ago, after reaching that realm, he had killed several top assassins ranked in the global top one hundred. If he could also kill the Monkey-Bear Duo this time, his ranking would indeed rise sharply. He might even break into the top thirty in one fell swoop.
Once he reached that rank,
Lu Hong would become one of the most sought-after assassins in the entire underground world!
Because he was still so young!
He wasn't even eighteen yet!
Of course, this was a secret known only to the most powerful assassin organizations.
With potential like his, if Lu Hong returned with such an impressive record, the organization behind him would surely value him more.
Then the bounties for his missions would multiply several times over, and he'd make money far faster than he did now.
"You think you can win just by using us to make a name for yourself?"
White Bear roared.
Lu Hong said no more. He simply gripped the short spear in silence, then charged at White Bear with an uncanny, ghostlike gait.
Seeing Lu Hong rush at him with the spear, White Bear didn't dare waste his attention talking. He raised his massive fists and prepared to focus entirely on defense.
At the edge of his vision, he saw the unconscious Monkey stir ever so slightly.
In an instant, he understood.
It was the kind of unspoken understanding they'd built up through countless missions.
Monkey was awake, but still pretending to be unconscious!
He could still attack!
As long as White Bear drew Lu Hong's attention from the front, Monkey could shoot him from behind. They still had a chance!
Monkey stirred slightly, then returned to complete stillness.
With his mind at ease, White Bear stopped panicking, and even his breathing gradually steadied.
Teng Qingshan, who had been watching everything closely, naturally noticed that something was off about Monkey, lying on the ground.
But he wasn't planning to act just yet.
With his mastery of Flying Daggers, even at night, he could predict the trajectory of an opponent's bullets and throw a dagger to intercept them.
Killing the two of them would take only a few daggers.
And Lu Hong, who was armed with a spear, didn't look easy to kill.
Teng Qingshan decided to keep watching carefully before making a move.
In his excited state, Lu Hong truly hadn't noticed anything unusual about Monkey.
After all, Lu Hong had thrown the short spear with all his strength, completely destroying Monkey's left arm. With an injury that horrific, and the massive blood loss, the fact that Monkey was still barely alive was thanks to his own practice of Internal Martial Arts, which gave him excellent control over his muscles.
But that was all. There was no way he could still attack.
Even Lu Hong himself wouldn't have had the strength to attack after suffering such a severe injury.
But the young Lu Hong had forgotten something.
Under normal circumstances, Monkey really would have been unable to attack again.
But as members of the Heavenly Kingdom Organization, they always kept a specially made capsule in their mouths.
Once crushed, the capsule released a special drug and powerful stimulants that could keep them alive when they were on the verge of death. The drugs could also stimulate their life force, allowing them to slowly recover and deliver one final strike!
That was why White Bear had stopped where he was when he realized he couldn't catch up with Lu Hong, and why he'd chatted with him.
He was buying time!
Though Lu Hong was now supremely confident, he was still an assassin who had carried out many missions.
As his figure flickered forward, he thrust his strongest spear yet at White Bear's face!
"Clang!"
At the last possible moment, White Bear's fist guard, reinforced with special metal, successfully blocked Lu Hong's thrust!
White Bear had also crushed one of the specially made capsules. Under the influence of the powerful stimulants, his nerves reacted a level faster, and in a desperate state, he finally managed to block Lu Hong's attack.
"As expected, attacking with my left hand is still a bit of a disadvantage. If I'd used my right, this big fool couldn't have blocked me!" Lu Hong thought bitterly after his lightning-fast thrust was stopped. Just as he was about to pull back his spear and look for another chance to attack,
a barely audible gunshot rang out.
"I'm done for!!!"
Lu Hong's spear was still trapped between White Bear's fists. For the moment, he couldn't pull it free.
At the last possible moment,
Teng Qingshan, who had been watching from the shadows, finally made his move.
Whoosh!
A dagger reflecting the moon's cold light shot out, aimed at the space in front of Lu Hong's head.
Just as expected,
the next instant,
the bullet in flight was struck by the dagger and split in two, tumbling harmlessly to the ground.
"What?!"
Monkey, who had turned sideways, stared in disbelief. "There's another expert?"
That was the last thought to flash through Monkey's mind. Before he could pull the trigger again, another dagger shot straight into his head.
The assassin, infamous throughout the underground world, died right there.
"Monkey!!!"
White Bear reacted as well. Seeing Monkey with a fruit knife embedded in his brow, his companion—who had fought beside him through countless life-or-death missions—was dead. White Bear completely lost his composure.
"Now!"
Though he didn't know who was helping him from the shadows, Lu Hong knew he couldn't let this chance slip away!
He unleashed all his strength. The short spear in his left hand gathered tremendous force, and he thrust forward again with lightning speed.
Thwack!
The sharp spearhead plunged into White Bear's head.
The tip emerged from the back of White Bear's skull.
"Thud!"
With a fatal wound, White Bear fell to the ground. He twitched once, then lost all signs of life.
And so,
the elite assassin duo sent by the Heavenly Kingdom Organization was wiped out.
Before you continue