"May I come in and sit down?"
Santino asked politely, as if showing great demeanor.
Zhang Jie blinked, then replied very straightforwardly, "No, you may not."
The air suddenly fell silent for a few seconds. Santino's expression showed a hint of embarrassment, followed by a flicker of anger in his eyes.
However, he still said gracefully, "Since that's the case, I won't disturb you further. But since John isn't here, perhaps you, as his new protégé, can help me with something."
Although it was phrased as a request, his tone was beyond doubt.
In his opinion, since the other party was John's apprentice, he should be aware of his existence. After all, if it weren't for him back then, John wouldn't have been able to complete that impossible mission.
Moreover, he was also a member of the High Table. The Italian Mafia family, as one of the twelve seats of the High Table, held the right to allocate resources for a global criminal empire.
As such a prominent force, he didn't believe this young man in front of him wouldn't know.
However, the truth was that Zhang Jie really didn't know, or rather, he didn't know very clearly. He also didn't have time to fill in these strange bits of knowledge.
What's more, as someone who knew the future plot developments, he disliked this guy Santino very much.
Who cares if you're the Italian Mafia? What does that have to do with me?
Heh heh, as if I'd humor you.
So Zhang Jie's way of refusing people was also extremely straightforward.
"No need to ask. I'm new, I don't understand anything. It's useless to ask me." Zhang Jie refused directly without even wanting to listen. Are you kidding? Help you? I don't want to be hunted down by the High Table.
You want me to kill my own sister, Gianna, and then order all the assassins of the High Table to kill me? Do you think I'm stupid?
Besides, your sister's status, identity, and influence within the Italian Mafia are all greater than yours. You can't beat her, so you play dirty? That's a bit much.
Zhang Jie's reply indeed made Santino very uncomfortable, but he didn't show much. He just gave Zhang Jie a deep look.
"In that case, I won't bother you further."
With that, Santino was about to leave.
And Zhang Jie naturally couldn't wait for him to go out, so he directly closed the door behind him and followed him out.
Otherwise, if this guy went crazy later, he might blow up John's house, and wouldn't he have to take the blame for that?
Seeing Zhang Jie also come out, Santino was initially startled, thinking Zhang Jie was going to deal with him. But after seeing Zhang Jie walk towards the yellow camaro outside, a cruel smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"No one can refuse me. Remember, no one."
Santino whispered, and then he saw Zhang Jie start the car. With a screech of tires and a cloud of smoke, he disappeared down the road.
Seeing Zhang Jie disappear, Santino quickly returned to his car and told his subordinate, "Follow him."
Then, he went to the back trunk, opened the box, took out an ARWEN 37 riot launcher, and grabbed 5 modified grenades.
He then sat in the passenger seat, and the vehicle immediately started and followed. Santino, meanwhile, loaded the modified grenades while watching the taillights ahead.
Zhang Jie had already seen this guy through the rearview mirror, so he floored the accelerator and sped away.
Santino's subordinate quickly caught up. Santino paused for a moment, looked at the grenade launcher in his hand, thought for a bit, and said nothing.
Just like that, the two cars began to chase each other on the road. Fortunately, it was already night, so no one paid attention. Soon, the distance between the two cars gradually closed. Santino directly leaned out, extended his body out the car window, raised the ARWEN 37, and pulled the trigger at the car in front.
Bang!
Bang!
With two consecutive sounds, two grenades were fired.
Zhang Jie had already noticed the movement behind him, so he actually swerved the steering wheel to the right.
Boom!
Boom!
Two explosions came from his left.
"F***!"
Zhang Jie cursed angrily. This scoundrel really dared to fire, and at night too, without fear of disturbing the residents.
Then he floored the accelerator again, leaving the car behind far behind.
Santino was naturally unwilling, urging his subordinate to continue the chase, but unfortunately, this idea was quickly thwarted because they couldn't even see Zhang Jie's taillights and could only give up in frustration.
As for John's house, they didn't go back there. He wasn't home, so going there was useless. Even if they burned down his house, he wouldn't know who did it, so what was the point?
Meanwhile, Zhang Jie was actually hiding in an alley, but he had turned off all his car lights. Watching the black Toyota speed past him, he curled his lips.
"This kid is indeed a ruthless person. He's ruthless to his own family and ruthless to others. He's ready to blow me up with grenades at the slightest disagreement. This person must not be kept alive!"
However, before dealing with this hidden danger, he first had to figure out where he hid the blood oath marker.
Normally, he carries it with him. This needs careful consideration.
It seems the conflict has now shifted; Santino isn't going after John but has started to trouble me instead. This isn't a good thing either.
After waiting for a while, Zhang Jie slowly drove home. However, he still had to consider changing the color of his camaro. This bright yellow was really too conspicuous; he should give it a dark night gray.
On the other side, Santino, after losing track of Zhang Jie, was not discouraged. Instead, he returned directly to their headquarters in New York and began to search for information and background on Zhang Jie.
He wasn't unaware that John had taken an apprentice, just like before, but that guy, despite his high talent, was too arrogant and died prematurely. He had thought John wouldn't take another apprentice, but he did.
However, this apprentice seemed to be even more cautious than the last one.
Although he didn't know his identity, his way of refusing him showed that he was extremely cautious, even excessively so.
He refused his request without even listening to it.
Soon, his subordinate retrieved Zhang Jie's information. Santino glanced at it.
He was taken in as a disciple by John in September 2013, completed six months of special training, and then took on many small missions, all two-star or one-star.
His ranking among the High Table assassins was not high, and his level was only a two-star silver. He had only completed a mere 42 missions.
However, his most outstanding achievements were probably the Blackthorn Castle mission and the escort mission given to him by that bitch Veronica, escorting Jin Kaide, one of Mexico's top assassins.
He couldn't be bothered to look at the other scattered details. From this, he could conclude that this guy's strength wasn't very strong; he always relied on others' support, or perhaps he was just lucky.
"He can become John's disciple with just this? He's far worse than the last guy, practically a weakling."
Santino casually tossed Zhang Jie's information aside. Hmph, how ridiculous. He had hoped he would help him complete the mission. Now it seemed the other party was not only extremely cautious but also of mediocre strength.
However, the place he lived made him quite cautious, because it was the Killer's Home of that old woman!
Damn it! He didn't understand. How could such a weak assassin, even if he was John's disciple, live in the Killer's Home?
If you live there, who would dare to make a move?
Santino couldn't figure it out.
Well, that kid's driving skills did seem pretty good.
Back at home, Zhang Jie received a call. He picked it up.
"Hello? What!!!"
—
Wow, I can't take it anymore. After typing for a long time, the tendons in my fingers hurt like hell. If I use voice, I've had a cold and a sore throat these past two days, plus there are too many typos. If I use AI, haha, the text that comes out is like it's made by an idiot… I'll stick to typing.
I'll try to update four chapters every day. Everyone, please help click the little yellow button~
Oh, by the way, how do you like my new cover?
The one I designed myself was called ugly, so today I spent a fortune to make two. I chose the pictures (˵ ¯ ͒ ♦ ¯ ͒ ˵ )
Hint: Next chapter, John is returning…
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