Assassination Team Goes Online

Late at night, in a cheap hotel in a small town in Italy.

A man with short, neat silver hair, heterochromatic black and red eyes, and a calm and composed demeanor was quietly deep in thought under the glow of his laptop.

He is Risotto Nero, the 26-year-old leader of the Assassination Team under the Passion Organization.

Meanwhile, the laptop in front of him was using the hotel owner's free broadband to host an online conference call that spanned the entire country.

The group chat was with the other members of the Assassination Team, a group of six people: Formaggio, Illuso, Melone, Prosciutto, Pesci, and Ghiaccio, who were scattered throughout the country while carrying out missions for the organization.

They are now scattered across the country, each busy with the killing missions assigned by the organization.

That's right, as the name suggests, the Assassination Team does the dirty work of killing and harming people.

Apart from Pesci, a rookie who had only joined the team two months prior, the rest of the members were all killers who made a living by murder; they were cold-blooded, ruthless, and indiscriminate villains.

But contrary to what most people imagine, the profession of assassin is not cool at all in reality.

Contrary to the carefree image depicted in the poem of "leaving no trace for a thousand miles," Risotto and his companions were instead enslaved by the Passion Organization, becoming pitiful corporate slaves whose surplus value was exploited by the company.

Yes, they only earn about 20 million lira (about 80,000 RMB) for a single deal, and that has to be split equally among the nine people in the group.

Considering Italy's average wage level as a developed country, the income of assassins in the Assassination Team is actually similar to that of ordinary office workers.

A one-in-a-million Stand User, doing dirty work of murder, might earn less than a middle-aged man selling hot dogs at a train station.

This clearly violates the principle of distribution according to work and is a bottomless exploitation of workers.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance. Risotto and others had repeatedly asked their superiors for promotions and raises.

But the boss's attitude has always been the same:

Those who can't work hard are not my brothers.

Ordinary companies can regularly supply the workforce with highly skilled talent, but the Mafia is not a place you can simply leave as you please.

Since they're not brothers, then they're naturally enemies.

If you want to be enemies, you're welcome to try.

And the Assassination Team actually tried it.

A few weeks ago, after enduring much oppression, Sorbet and Gelato, two members of the Assassination Team, finally began to secretly investigate their boss's identity.

They were trying to find a way to defeat their boss and seize the specialty business that made hundreds of billions (lira) in profits every year through investigation.

This investigation was very effective.

Within two days, their bodies were sliced up, soaked in formalin, and embedded in crystal glass. The slices were then sent to Risotto and the others' residence via FedEx, the world's worst express delivery service.

Meanwhile, the plight of those two unfortunate souls was used as propaganda and educational material for the Love Group, and quickly spread to the ears of every member of the organization.

The boss is making an example of someone, and the Assassination Team is that chicken.

After all that commotion, they immediately became completely obedient.

No one in the Assassination Team dared to discuss challenging the boss anymore, nor did anyone dare to reveal their ambition to replace him.

They kept their companion's death to themselves and continued to work diligently for the enemy who had killed their companion.

Just like the pigs raised by the head of the technology team, the Assassination Team is nothing more than the boss's dogs.

Until these last two days, until tonight, until now.

"Boss Risotto!"

"An opportunity! This is an opportunity bestowed upon us by heaven, boss!"

Ghiaccio excited roar came from the laptop.

He acted as impulsively as ever:

"That guy who was supposed to be invincible is now dead in some corner, like a cockroach that's been swatted to pieces by a slipper."

"And the Stand abilities of those who succeeded him— Li Qing, Giorno, and Bucciarati —are already widely known!"

The reason why the boss can become a feared boss is not only because he is invincible, but more importantly because he is mysterious.

No one knows who Diavolo is or what his Stand ability is, so even if they wanted to rebel, they were unsure of themselves.

Now, the newly appointed boss is Li Qing and his team.

Their background had already spread throughout the country along with the wanted notices, and no one was afraid of these young people who had no mystery about them.

"Yes."

Ghiaccio's impassioned speech had just been transmitted across the internet.

In the group chat, even the usually meticulous assassin, Formaggio, couldn't hide the excitement in his voice:

"With such a large-scale specialty product business, why should Li Qing, that unknown guy, be able to swallow this lucrative piece of meat whole?"

"That's a huge business with net profits of tens of billions of lira every year!"

Even through the computer screen, one can imagine Formaggio's expression at that moment, swallowing hard:

"As long as we can defeat Li Qing and take over the organization, we'll become rich immediately."

"I don't need to use the hotel's free broadband to access the internet, I can go to the restaurant and order milk instead of just saving money, I don't need to ask Ghiaccio to cool it down when it's hot, and I can turn on the high-powered air conditioner whenever I want."

He spoke of his wonderful vision, which made his companions involuntarily excited.

Diavolo, however, was very well prepared.

To encourage everyone to actively cause trouble for Li Qing, he even arranged a shocking treasure for the traitors:

Even if taking over the organization is very difficult, there's still the boss's 'legacy' to rely on.

"That bank account holds the organization's accumulated cash surplus over the years, probably amounting to hundreds of billions of lira!"

"If we could get this money."

Then everyone spontaneously launched into a second round of imaginative thinking.

Only Pesci, the newcomer who had been unconsciously overlooked by everyone, hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up timidly:

"But."

"The boss has already issued a clarification announcement on the internal network."

"The boss said it was fake news spread by a traitor. For example, if we go to Venice now, wouldn't that be betraying the organization?"

"Just a few weeks ago, Senior Sorbet and Senior Gelato had just..."

Upon hearing this, the previously lively discussion immediately stalled.

The horrific deaths of Sorbet and Gelato have become a persistent nightmare in everyone's minds.

"Shut up!"

Ghiaccio angrily cursed through the computer screen:

"Pesci, you cowardly coward, a rookie who doesn't even dare to kill a person."

"The boss is dead!"

"He's dead! He's dead! You idiot, can't you read?"

"Do you want me to crawl up the internet cable, grab your stupid hair that's as thin as a cabbage stalk, and teach you to recognize our elegant Italy by word?!"

Amidst the barrage of insults, Pesci, the newcomer with no status, obediently shut her mouth.

However, Prosciutto, who had remained silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

He was the "mentor" responsible for introducing Pesci to the work of an assassin, and he had criticized and corrected Pesci's endless mistakes countless times.

But this time, Prosciutto surprisingly sided with Pesci:

"Pesci is right."

He showed no trace of his companions' enthusiasm; his voice was as cold and sharp as an icicle.

Is that last message really credible?

"Are you so sure this is an opportunity, and not a trap?"

"This is a game where you have to risk your lives. I hope you can calm down before making a decision."

Prosciutto poured cold water on everyone's enthusiasm.

Then, he handed over the decision-making power and the authority to Risotto, the true leader of the Assassination Team:

"Boss Risotto."

"What exactly is your opinion?"

Risotto remained silent throughout, simply listening.

Everyone was now silent, waiting for him to speak. Finally, he made a move:

"This is indeed an opportunity."

"Regardless of whether the suicide note is true or false, yesterday's Naples turmoil, the death of executive Polpo, and today's internal network turmoil and the boss's suicide note all directly illustrate one point:"

"The boss's rule is being challenged."

Risotto astutely saw through the situation:

First, Li Qing's direct attack through Naples was followed by "anonymous rebels spreading rumors on the internal network," which shows that the boss is indeed not as invincible as the legends suggest.

After these two days of twists and turns, even if the boss is still alive, his fighting force must have suffered some losses due to the successive rebellions.

"If you want to rebel, now is the best time."

Risotto stated his judgment calmly.

Pro-war figures like Ghiaccio and Formaggio immediately became excited and wanted to voice their support.

But Risotto suddenly changed the subject:

"But."

"No matter who our enemy is, this battle will not be easy."

"To achieve great things, one must have great awareness—"

"Formaggio, Illuso, Melone, Prosciutto, Pesci, Ghiaccio."

Risotto, in an extremely serious and deep voice, pronounced his companion's name word by word:

Are you prepared to sacrifice your lives for this?

A moment of silence, then

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The loudspeaker emitted a burst of laughter from everyone.

"Stop joking, Boss Risotto!"

"Are there any among us who are afraid of death?!"

"I"

Pesci, a rookie who had only been in the team for less than two months, mumbled something listlessly.

The barely audible voice was quickly drowned out by the united shouts of battle:

"Onward to Venice!"