Encirclement

Charon said, "This bounty was only posted today, but the amount is too low to meet the threshold for notifying you, so you didn't receive it. No one else is interested in taking it."

Hearing that, Meng Zu immediately became interested. "Interesting. Send it over so I can take a look?"

A message soon arrived on his phone. "Bounty target: Leon. Reward: two hundred thousand dollars."

Seeing the bounty, Meng Zu could not help but wonder, Two hundred thousand dollars isn't exactly low. Why is no one interested in taking it? And this name sounds familiar somehow.

Meng Zu set down a gold coin. "Charon, give me the file."

Charon directly opened the folder beside his plate, took out a sheet of paper, and placed it on the counter. Seeing that Charon had kept the file on hand, Meng Zu looked at him in surprise.

Charon naturally noticed Meng Zu's expression and explained, "Everyone who accepted this bounty today gave it up after reading the file, so I've kept it with me."

Alright then. Meng Zu picked up the file and began reading. There was very little information: aside from a photograph, there was only a brief introduction. Leon, a top Italian professional assassin. He had worked as an assassin for twenty-three years and lived alone year-round. Aside from his handler, he never interacted with anyone. He was cautious and highly dangerous.

"So it's that lone wolf. I'd heard before about an assassin with an isolated personality. No wonder the name felt familiar. Charon, which idiot posted this bounty? He wants to deal with a top assassin for two hundred thousand dollars? Is he dreaming?" Meng Zu said speechlessly.

"Charon, how did this bounty get approved? This clearly doesn't match Leon's worth," Meng Zu asked curiously.

Normally, a top assassin like Leon would have a bounty of at least tens of millions of dollars. Naturally, no one was willing to take one worth only two hundred thousand. Charon explained helplessly, "It can't be helped. The person who posted it has some connection to someone on the High Table, so it was approved. Evan, are you interested? If not, this bounty may be withdrawn after tomorrow."

Meng Zu tapped his fingers against the counter as he thought. Becoming a top assassin proved that Leon was highly skilled, and he had worked in the business for twenty-three years. Few assassins could survive in this line of work for so long. His instincts for danger had to be extraordinarily gifted. Even another top assassin would have some difficulty dealing with Leon. Still, the Contract Points for a bounty on a top assassin like him should not be low.

After thinking it over, Meng Zu said, "I'll take it first. I can test the waters. If it doesn't work, I'll abandon the bounty."

"Fine."

Normally, assassins could not abandon a job after accepting it, or they would face punishment. The Continental Hotel was different. Sometimes, assassins accepted a bounty and discovered while attempting to eliminate the target that it was simply beyond their ability. After barely escaping with their lives, they would abandon the bounty, and the hotel would not pursue the matter—unless it was a mandatory mission or involved a blood oath.

Contract Mission: Eliminate the assassin Leon. Contract Points: 200.

Looking at the Contract Mission generated by the system, Meng Zu sighed inwardly. As expected of a top assassin. One person is worth more Contract Points than taking out two members of the Exploding Wolf Gang. (The entire Exploding Wolf Gang was worth 80 points.)

After accepting the bounty, Meng Zu drove home. While sitting on the living room sofa watching television, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong. He immediately got up, moved to the window, and peered outside from the side. Several furtive figures were slowly approaching his house through the darkness. Each of them had one hand tucked inside their clothes. From Meng Zu's years of experience, he could tell from their posture that they were probably carrying guns.

Meng Zu's brow instantly furrowed. It seemed someone wanted him dead.

Keeping low, Meng Zu moved to the power switch and shut it off. All the lights in his house immediately went out, plunging the place into darkness.

Seeing every light in the house suddenly go dark, the gunmen immediately realized they had been discovered. Without another word, they raised their suppressed submachine guns and sprayed the house with bullets.

The instant Meng Zu shut off the power, he ran toward the rear window. He had planned to jump out and circle around for a surprise attack, but there were people behind the house as well. His danger sense instantly reacted, and without a moment's hesitation, he dropped to the floor. Bullets tore through the air just above his head.

Crack! A burst of shattering glass rang out. In the darkness, muzzle flashes flared, accompanied by a series of muffled pops.

Meng Zu swiftly crawled into the living room and overturned two round tables that had originally held vases and tea sets, placing them in front of and behind himself. Meng Zu had specially commissioned those tables. They looked no different from ordinary round tables, but they were actually bulletproof.

Meng Zu crouched behind the two tables, using them to block the barrage of bullets. He took a pistol from his storage space and stayed still, waiting for an opportunity.

Based on what he had roughly seen earlier and the gunfire he had heard, there were at least seven gunmen outside, positioned both in front of and behind the house. Every one of them carried a suppressed submachine gun. Their actions made it abundantly clear that they had come to kill him.

Fortunately, they had not brought grenades. Otherwise, Meng Zu would have already run into the basement to hide. After a while, the gunfire stopped, but Meng Zu did not get up to return fire because he heard footsteps slowly approaching.

He had not prepared night-vision goggles in his storage space beforehand, so Meng Zu planned to wait until the gunmen entered the house before dealing with them indoors.

After all, his house was currently surrounded from both the front and rear. In a small, dark space, he held the advantage.

The seven gunmen had riddled Meng Zu's house with bullet holes. Meng Zu pushed one of the round tables into a blind corner. After the gunmen entered the house, he pulled out a small remote and pressed it. A sound immediately came from the second floor.

The gunmen noticed it at once. They exchanged hand signals and slowly crept toward the second floor, leaving only three gunmen downstairs. This was exactly the moment Meng Zu had been waiting for. He temporarily put away his pistol and approached one of the gunmen from behind through the darkness. Before the man noticed anything, Meng Zu struck the back of his neck with a hand chop, knocking him unconscious.

Meng Zu hurriedly caught the gunman's body from behind, then took the submachine gun from his hands and pulled the trigger at the other two gunmen, who still had not noticed anything.

With two screams, the two gunmen fell dead. The gunmen upstairs immediately noticed the commotion below and realized Meng Zu was downstairs. They did not care about their teammates' safety at all and directly fired through the floor from the second story.

Dragging the unconscious gunman, Meng Zu quickly dodged to the side and avoided the bullets raining down on him. Then, judging by where the shots had come from, he unleashed a furious volley at the second floor.

Several screams rang out, and the gunfire upstairs abruptly stopped. Meng Zu cautiously went up to the second floor and put one bullet each into the two gunmen who were not quite dead yet.

Meng Zu took the only surviving gunman into the basement. After waking him up and interrogating him, he learned that the seven men were from the Ten Rings. When Meng Zu had rescued Tony Stark, he had killed quite a few of their men, causing the leader of the Ten Rings to hold a grudge. Obadiah was also dissatisfied with Meng Zu for saving Tony, so Meng Zu's information had ended up in the hands of the Ten Rings' leader.

All seven men had come to New York through Obadiah. Obadiah had no interest whatsoever in the life or death of a small fry like Meng Zu, but since someone was willing to kill him, Obadiah was naturally willing to provide a little help. Obadiah had supplied the seven men's weapons as well as Meng Zu's whereabouts.

Being ambushed filled Meng Zu with hostility. He laughed angrily and muttered, "Very good. It seems a small fry like me needs to give you a grand gift."

Meng Zu opened the basement storage, packed several weapons into his storage space, and then made a call. "A deluxe dinner for seven. I have something urgent to handle. I left the gold coins on the table in the living room."