The Assassin Brotherhood.
At this moment, everyone gathered in the conference room. Smith began to speak:
"Tonight someone sent a letter into headquarters, claiming that The Hand is preparing to move en masse into New York."
"I believe the contents of the letter, and it's something that can be easily verified."
He paused and glanced around at everyone.
Hearing that The Hand was moving into New York, everyone's expressions grew serious. Cross spoke up:
"The Hand is a vile organization, already on our list of targets. Since they dare come here, let's make sure they never leave."
Mr. X added:
"This time we wiped out the High Table; perhaps they assume we've suffered heavy losses, so they think they can march into New York like this."
"But what is their actual goal in acting like this?"
Hearing X's analysis, the group began to speculate about The Hand's motives.
Then Smith spoke:
"I suspect they're coming for the Dragon Balls."
Wesley asked in confusion:
"Dragon Balls? Didn't they all fly away?"
Everyone had witnessed the Dragon Balls shoot into the sky last time, vanishing in the blink of an eye. They'd even asked John Wick how he'd collected so many in the first place, and he hadn't hidden it — saying it was all guided by the Boss.
Fox chimed in:
"They probably don't know the Dragon Balls are already gone. After all, most of the global underworld knows John Wick once held two of them."
Everyone quickly understood. After all, that bounty had been posted on the High Table's boards, and every assassin on Earth had been notified.
At this point Smith continued:
"When I took over, you all gave me a list of targets and asked me to choose one for my trial. I said then: not one will remain."
"Since the Russian Mob and the High Table have already been eliminated, the next target is The Hand — and they're delivering themselves to us."
Nobody objected to Smith's words.
Smith went on:
"Regarding The Hand, do any of you have suggestions?"
The Gunsmith spoke up:
"When striking a snake, aim for the seven inches. To destroy The Hand, we need to take out their five fingers."
"Once they're headless, the rest are just rabble and easy to clean up."
Fox added:
"I'll have the intelligence division investigate the whereabouts of the Five Fingers and try to locate them as soon as possible."
The Mechanic, recalling some old files, spoke:
"Everyone knows I like digging through old files and intel. I read before that one of our past leaders shot and killed one of The Hand's Five Fingers — even blew their head off."
"But not long after, that 'dead' Finger appeared again."
John Wick asked in shock:
"Dragon Balls?"
Smith shook his head:
"No, not Dragon Balls."
"The Mechanic is correct: The Hand's Fingers are difficult to kill, but not immortal."
The Exterminator offered his view:
"If bullets can't kill them, then I'll use my bombs and blow them into powder. I don't believe they can come back from nothing."
Everyone looked grave but nodded in agreement. If once wasn't enough, they'd just kill them again and again. Even with the Dragon Balls, reviving someone wasn't so easy — and surely came at a cost.
Smith said:
"The Five Fingers can revive, but they have weaknesses. When the time comes, I'll handle them myself."
"A tiger can still swat mosquitoes. John Wick — what do you think?"
John Wick set down a file on The Hand and spoke:
"Boss, I have an idea."
"You all know I was once a registered assassin at the Continental. Now that the Continental is our asset and being repurposed, I still have all those contacts."
"Our mission is to punish evil and promote good, but so many assassins out there still take contracts to survive. And those little dark-net platforms will just grow. We can't just hunt them all down and kill them — there are too many."
"So why not use this mission and let them help, targeting The Hand's members?"
Some frowned, some nodded at his words. Wesley asked:
"And what do we pay them? Nobody works for free."
John didn't answer, but Wesley was right — they wouldn't risk themselves for nothing, and reopening the Continental was against their mission.
Smith tapped his fingers on the table, thought a moment, then said:
"The registered assassin network is worth using here. Killing The Hand's members can also reduce their own sins."
"As for the platform and the Continental, they're not fit to reopen — but we can keep the good and discard the bad."
"These past few days Fox and I have been brainstorming new revenue streams. One is to promote the Wax Bath. We already have better healing pods, so releasing the Wax Bath won't hurt us as long as we keep its secrets."
"And the Continental's global locations are perfect venues for promoting it. We can retain their no-kill rule and other services — just shut down the contract board."
"The old Continental gold coins are invalid. We'll issue new coins bearing the Assassin Brotherhood insignia. The Continental will be renamed the Brotherhood Hall and used to promote the Wax Bath."
"The message is simple: every registered member will get information about the Wax Bath's benefits. Each Hand member they kill earns them a coin, which they can use for a Wax Bath session."
"One session costs one coin plus $100,000."
Everyone's eyes lit up at Smith's plan. Fox, who handled finances and knew the Continental well, asked:
"How will we promote the coins? And what about issuing them after The Hand is defeated? The Continental issued them through posted contracts."
Smith explained:
"Though we won't run assassination bounties, we can handle intel gathering and sales."
"We'll post the information we need on the board, and tie the coins to those bounties."
"For example, we can put up wanted info on evil targets. If someone gives us real intel and we confirm it, we'll send our own to eliminate them."
"And the coins will reward the informants."
"I believe, with the Wax Bath's effects and the no-kill zone's appeal, plenty of people will join us."
New book, new author — seeking recommendations, votes, and reads!
(End of Chapter)
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