Smith's retirement home was rather far away. It took Russell around five days to return to Cross's territory. In the abandoned machine shop, Russell did not choose to wait around like an idiot and called Cross directly.
Upon learning that Russell had returned, Cross arrived as quickly as possible. His expression was terrible, and when he saw Russell, he only managed a stiff smile.
"What's wrong? You look like it's the end of the world!"
Cross's eyes were gloomy as he snapped, "It is the end of the world—my own personal end of the world!"
"What do you mean? Tell me something sad so I can enjoy it." Russell said with an eminently punchable expression, "Let me guess. Did Sloan send you pictures of Wesley after he ate oilfish, getting whipped by a dozen big, hard Black men with stirring rods?"
Cross had not heard Russell's Poison Tongue in a while, and for a moment, he could barely process it. He glared viciously at Russell, only to suddenly realize that his depressed mood had improved quite a bit.
Cross said bitterly, "Wesley. The Brotherhood has trained Wesley into a qualified assassin. The thing I least wanted to see has happened after all."
Russell patted Cross on the shoulder, wanting to offer a few words of comfort, but he was afraid that anything he said would only provoke him, so he kept his mouth shut.
Cross pushed Russell's hand away. "I'm preparing to contact Wesley and tell him the truth. If I wait any longer, it may be difficult for him to turn back."
Russell nodded. Just like Russell's parents, the sooner one escaped the pit of being an assassin, the better. Wait too long, and it would be too late.
Cross briefly explained his plan. "I need your help. I'll find a way to approach Wesley, while you draw away the other members of the Brotherhood!"
Russell did not refuse. His World Quest was to destroy the Brotherhood and personally finish off its leader, Sloan. Wesley was an indispensable source of fighting strength, and winning him over would help complete the mission.
Russell was not worried that Cross would be killed by Wesley as in the original story. Wesley did indeed have the potential to become a top-tier assassin, but Cross was also a genius—and one whose talent had already been fulfilled. It had been less than two weeks since Wesley was taken by the Brotherhood. Even if he was a cheat-enabled protagonist, there was no way he could make up for the more than twenty-year gap between himself and his father.
Cross pulled out a stack of photographs and spread them across the table. "Let me introduce you to the Brotherhood's core members, their preferred methods of killing, and their habits. This is important. For the sake of your own life, listen carefully."
"This is Sloan, the leader of the Brotherhood and our greatest enemy..."
"This is Fire Fox. She is very strong. She was the woman who took Wesley away that night!"
"This is Pesticide, a Russian who specializes in making bombs. I like his rat bombs—they're a very interesting idea. We don't need to worry about him for now. When I was following Wesley last night, he was shot and seriously injured. He's probably done for."
"This is Butcher, a fat bastard who used to slaughter pigs. He is extremely skilled with cold weapons. Do not fight him at close range."
"This is Gunsmith..."
"This is Repairman..."
"This is..."
"..."
After Cross finished, he moved Pesticide's photograph to the side. The rest were their primary enemies. Russell noticed two photographs facedown beside them. When he turned them over, one was Big Slick, while the other showed an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. Both pictures had been marked with a red X, indicating that they were dead.
Russell pointed at the unfamiliar middle-aged man in the photo and asked curiously, "Who is this guy?"
Cross turned the two photographs facedown again, then drew a question mark on Pesticide's photograph. "He was Rift. He was quite capable, but he's already dead."
Russell understood immediately. "You killed him?"
"Of course. Did you think I'd done nothing these past few days?"
Looking at the photographs laid out before him, Russell pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great. The enemy is strong, they've got your son as a hostage, and our odds of winning are excellent."
Cross understood Russell's sarcasm and said bluntly, "I also have some good news. The senator Sloan was connected to is dead. Without official backing, our operation will be much easier. What happened when we pursued Fire Fox that night will not happen again."
Russell froze. The senator Cross was talking about, could it be...
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you haven't watched the news?" Cross said with a smile. "Senator Lattridge, the man most likely to win the election, died in a plane crash. He was the senator Sloan had latched onto. I like this plane crash. If he had become president, Sloan would have become even more unrestrained."
Russell opened his mouth, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "It wasn't a plane crash. That unlucky bastard was killed by Smith. This is what happened... blah blah blah... crash bang clatter... ding ding clang... Do you understand now?"
Cross was the one left dumbfounded this time. He had never expected Russell's trip to be so full of twists and turns. And Smith—he truly was his old friend. Even from a thousand miles away, he had not forgotten to send an assist.
The Brotherhood!
Under brutal training that bordered on abuse, Wesley frantically tapped into the potential in his bloodline and rapidly grew into a qualified assassin.
As the saying went, men and women working together never got tired. With Fire Fox's help and encouragement, Wesley mastered Bullet Time in a single day, something that even a genius would normally need twenty years to master.
Wesley had already surpassed ninety percent of the Brotherhood's assassins. Compared to the remaining ten percent, all he lacked was experience... experience in killing.
Sloan assigned Wesley several assassination targets. Kind-hearted Wesley could not bring himself to kill strangers whose backgrounds he knew nothing about. He hesitated several times, unable to pull the trigger.
At the critical moment, Fire Fox stepped forward again and explained the greatness of the Loom, as well as the tragedies that would result if the targets were not killed on schedule.
Wesley decisively chose to believe the 36 stratagems—no, he decisively chose to believe Fire Fox. Using the techniques he had learned, he successfully assassinated his targets one after another.
Brimming with confidence, Wesley took the initiative to ask Sloan for the mission of assassinating Cross. He could not wait to avenge his biological father, Big Slick.
That was right. According to Sloan, the person who killed Big Slick was Cross.
As for Russell... after examining Big Slick's corpse, Sloan had lowered his threat level by one tier. Besides, the reason he had found Wesley was to deal with Cross. Even if Big Slick had choked to death while drinking water, Cross would still have to take the blame.
Faced with Wesley volunteering for the mission, Sloan agreed without the slightest hesitation. He knew Wesley was not yet Cross's match, but he did not have time to wait for Wesley to grow stronger. Senator Lattridge was dead, and Sloan needed to find a new patron. Eliminating Cross had become urgent.
Sloan sought out Fire Fox alone, told her to partner with Wesley, and gave her the order to assassinate Wesley after Wesley killed Cross.
Fire Fox accepted the mission in silence. Everyone named by the Loom deserved to die. Even if they had not yet done anything harmful to society, they inevitably would in the future.
Killing one person to save more people—this was the purpose of the Brotherhood's existence, and Fire Fox believed in it without question!
An excited Wesley began investigating Cross. He found Old Man, who supplied Cross with custom bullets, and threatened him with death to force him to arrange a meeting with Cross. Wesley and Fire Fox would lie in wait nearby for an opportunity to strike.
In fact, the Brotherhood had already discovered that Old Man and Cross were in contact, but Sloan had not been confident that he could kill Cross, so he had left the lead alone. Now, it was perfect for Wesley.
However, no one, including the Brotherhood, knew that this was a trap set by Cross. He wanted to meet Wesley!
Failure Diary
Don't look at how successful someone else's first book was and get jealous. You have no idea that behind the writing of that book, they did not put in any effort at all.
Before you continue