The man was around forty, his whole bearing weathered by the years. A blood-red Defias mask always covered his face, and his cold, merciless eyes held not the slightest attachment to this colorful world, only endless hatred.
No, no-even that hatred had faded considerably.
He was like a wretch abandoned by the entire world, and even more so by himself. Like a walking corpse, revenge was his soul, his only reason for living.
That was what Shawn had thought before.
Now, however, Shawn realized that was not all there was to VanCleef.
Shawn had always believed that VanCleef had abandoned everything for his revenge, including his only daughter, Vanessa.
But judging by how VanCleef had just "rescued" Vanessa, there was still at least one warm, tender place in his heart, a place that existed for Vanessa alone.
That was the only proof that VanCleef still retained his humanity, and it was also his greatest weakness.
It was also the only hope that he might still be saved.
From the very beginning, Shawn had hoped to bring VanCleef to his senses and lead him off the wrong path. Before, that had been nothing more than an unrealistic wish. Now, he saw the possibility of that wish becoming reality.
Shawn swept his Eye of Insight over him and, as expected, could not see VanCleef's detailed information. Whether in engineering, construction, or his abilities as a Rogue-or rather, an assassin-VanCleef's levels were all beyond Shawn's ability to inspect.
Moreover, judging by VanCleef's performance in the fight just now, this extraordinary genius who had once trained in SI:7 seemed to have even greater talent as an assassin than Matthias Shaw.
He was stronger than Mathias Shaw.
VanCleef wore a set of equipment unique to him. Made from carefully selected, rare materials, it had powerful