Assassins at the Door

After the company closed at seven in the evening, Meng Zu did not go straight home. Instead, he went to a bar with Yang Hai for a drink. By the time they finished, it was already ten at night. After putting the somewhat drunk Yang Hai into a taxi, Meng Zu remembered that the Continental Hotel was not far away and decided to stop by to see if there were any suitable bounties.

When Meng Zu entered the Continental Hotel, he found Charon organizing documents at the front desk. "Charon, you're really dedicated. It's already ten-thirty, and you still haven't gotten off work."

"I'll be off soon. Once I finish sorting these, the next shift will arrive." Charon caught the scent of alcohol on Meng Zu and asked curiously, "Did you get drunk? You actually came here at this hour." Meng Zu had always visited the Continental Hotel during the day before. This was the first time he had come at night, and it naturally piqued Charon's curiosity.

Meng Zu smiled. "I'm not drunk. The place where I was drinking just happened to be close by. I haven't been here in five days, so I came over to see if there were any suitable bounties."

"Then I can only apologize. There still aren't any suitable bounties for you." Charon shook his head, then changed the subject. "But I do have a bit of inside information that might interest you."

Meng Zu reached into his pocket, took a gold coin from his storage space, and placed it on the counter. Charon glanced at it but did not take it. Smiling, he said, "This information has nothing to do with the hotel. We've known each other for two years, so I can tell you for free."

"Then thanks a lot." Meng Zu put the gold coin back.

Charon adjusted his glasses and said, "Your neighbors, the Smiths, were put on another assassin organization's bounty list half an hour ago. John Smith and Jane Smith are each worth five hundred thousand dollars. If you're interested, there's still time to deal with them. As for collecting the bounty, the hotel can handle it for you for two gold coins."

The news that John and Jane had been targeted caught Meng Zu off guard for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal. "Thanks, Charon. I'll buy you a drink next time. I'll be going now."

There were actually many assassin organizations, or assassin guilds. Many of them specifically trained assassins of their own, and those assassins usually completed assignments according to the organization's demands every month. Once an assassin was found to be planning a betrayal or refusing orders, the organization would put out a bounty to have them eliminated.

The Continental Hotel was a neutral assassin guild. Although it had no assassins exclusively under its command, every Continental Hotel trained its own security personnel. These guards did not accept bounty assignments and were solely responsible for maintaining order in the hotel. Above the Continental Hotel stood the High Table, which also had special forces responsible for handling hotel rebellions and assassin organizations that violated the High Table's rules. As a direct branch of the High Table, the Continental Hotel had become the most powerful assassin guild.

An assassin could only join one assassin organization. To switch organizations, they first had to leave their previous one. Otherwise, once discovered, they would end up on the bounty lists of every assassin organization. Each organization had its own bounty channels, and only members of that organization could accept those bounties. Even if an assassin from another organization happened to kill the target, they would not receive the reward. Assassins who had joined the Continental Hotel, however, could obtain the bounty through gold coins, though they would only receive eighty percent of the reward in the end.

Meng Zu drove home. He was not surprised that Charon knew information about him. The Continental Hotel would definitely investigate anyone the day they joined. As for Meng Zu disguising himself every time he carried out a bounty, that was to avoid leaving evidence behind. He was doing an assassin's job, after all. Even if the police suspected him and came knocking someday, they would still need evidence. Suspicion was just suspicion. Without solid proof, he could have a lawyer clear him.

After returning home and parking in the garage, Meng Zu immediately headed for the Smiths' house. He had no interest in their bounty. He had only come to warn them. After all, they had been neighbors for more than three years and could be considered friends.

Bang bang!!

A moment later, the door opened. John was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, though his clothes were splattered with white paint. Looking at the freshly painted white walls inside, it seemed John was still renovating the house. John looked at Meng Zu and asked, "Hey, what's up?"

Meng Zu looked inside but did not see Jane, so he asked, "John, is Jane home?"

"She's home." John turned toward the house and shouted, "Jane!"

"I heard you." Jane walked out from inside wearing slacks and a shirt. Like John, her clothes were covered in white paint. When she saw Meng Zu, she greeted him, "Good evening, Meng Zu."

Once both of them were there, Meng Zu said directly, "I just got word that the two of you were put on a bounty list an hour ago. Five hundred thousand dollars each. I'm guessing assassins will come tonight. You two should get out of here quickly."

"Fuck!" John and Jane's expressions changed at the news. Neither of them suspected Meng Zu was lying. They had not received any bounty notification in the past hour. It looked like their organization had already abandoned them.

"Then I'll be—get down!" Before Meng Zu could finish speaking, his danger sense suddenly reacted. The danger was behind him. He shouted and threw John and Jane to the ground.

Bullets streaked over the three of them a moment later, punching holes through the wooden walls and sending splinters flying everywhere. Meng Zu immediately drew a handgun from his storage space, turned, and fired at the three assassins spraying the area with automatic rifles.

Bang bang bang!!!

One assassin was shot in the head by Meng Zu. Another was standing behind a car, so the bullet only struck his shoulder. He immediately crouched behind the vehicle. Meng Zu swung his gun toward the remaining assassin and put several bullets into his chest.

Seeing two assassins fall and the other one hide behind the car, Meng Zu half-crouched, quickly shut the door, and turned off the lights inside. He then went to the window and looked outside. Frowning at John and Jane, who were gesturing frantically in the dining room, he said, "What are you two dawdling for? Go get your weapons!"

Watching the two of them run deeper into the house, Meng Zu helplessly curled his lips. When he saw another car stop not far away, he could not help complaining, "What a damn disaster. Those two must have tied up the phone lines in their house last night. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to come over and warn them."

The newly arrived assassins saw the two bodies lying ahead and the wounded assassin hiding behind the car. He gestured to the others in the vehicle, and several people quietly got out through the doors facing away from the house.

They took out a four-wheeled robot the size of a backpack and attached two grenades to its handles. One assassin used a remote control to direct the robot slowly toward the house.

Even though it was night, Meng Zu could clearly see the grenades hanging from the robot's handles. He could not help cursing, "These lunatics!"

This was Queens, not Hell's Kitchen. Using grenades would definitely attract serious police attention. That was why gangs in Queens generally did not use grenades when fighting. Otherwise, the police would be checking on them every day.

Bang bang!!

Meng Zu fired several shots at the four-wheeled robot's tires, destroying them and stopping it. However, his gunfire exposed his position. Several assassins immediately opened fire in his direction, but Meng Zu had already run upstairs. The moment he fired, he knew his position would be exposed, so he had rushed for the stairs as soon as he pulled the trigger.

Meng Zu quietly approached a window. Seeing two assassins below poke their heads out, he did not hesitate to shoot them both in the head. He did not remain at the window, instead turning and running back down to the first floor.

By then, John and Jane had come up from the basement with guns. Meng Zu instructed them, "There are still four assassins outside. I'll go out through the back and deal with them. Be careful."

"Yeah." The two of them nodded.

Meng Zu cautiously pushed open a window and climbed out. He suddenly noticed two assassins climbing a tree, apparently planning to reach the roof for a surprise attack. Bang bang! He raised his gun and took them out.

Meng Zu circled around behind the remaining assassins. They were hiding behind a car, occasionally firing at the house, completely unaware that someone had come up behind them.

Bang bang~

With several shots, Meng Zu blew the heads off all the remaining assassins. After looking around and confirming there were no more of them, he walked toward the Smiths' front door. John and Jane saw Meng Zu emerge from behind the assassins through the window and knew the assassins had been dealt with.

Meng Zu entered the room and told them, "They've all been taken care of. Handle the remaining problems yourselves. I'm going home."

After returning home, Meng Zu took a shower and went to sleep. The gunfire had alarmed quite a few people nearby. He had noticed lights suddenly turning on in some houses before immediately going dark again. Those people had definitely called the police. Fortunately, no one had come outside and seen him. Once the police arrived, John and Jane would have to handle everything themselves.