Chapter 154 Chapter 154 When I killed him, you pretended not to...

It had been a while since Elio had returned to his old job, and he was a little uncomfortable for a while.

He first took a nap, resting the energy drained from his fight with Skylark, then woke up to check his phone and emails. Before bed, Elio, as was customary (thirty years ago), sent Alvin a report requesting the murder of Santino de Antonio. The mentor quickly approved it and congratulated him, "You finally found the last Templar? Pretty quick."

Elio, who had just gotten out of bed, scratched his hair in confusion. Found him? What did that mean?

Alvin replied even more puzzledly, "You made the hit list yourself. Did you forget?"

He sent Elio a list of Templar assassins. Confused, Elio opened it, even more bewildered to find nine stick figures drawn on it. Before Elio could even ask Alvin a question, Alvin sent a new email, "Wrong one. This is a revised version."

Elio carefully studied the clear list:

1. Dr. Blackwood (conducted Hydra experiments and died in the "gas explosion" in Blüdhaven)

2. Dean Neumann (in charge of the human experiment program, died in Brudhaven)

3. Liam Quinn (human trafficking, transporting experimental equipment, died in Gotham.)

4. Dr. Kirk Langstrom (responsible for developing the "Assassin" potion. Batman is imprisoned.)

5. Galahad (Chairman of the Galahad Group, leader of the Chicago syndicate. Alvin's special note: Don't touch him.)

6. Mitchell (Chairman of a biopharmaceutical company, Grand Master of Blüdhaven. Died in The Lord of the Rings.)

7. Farhad Amir (Head of the HAO "humanitarian" organization that spread war and plague everywhere, died in the Middle East)

8. Colonel Moran (member of the Moriarty criminal group and the Syndicate terrorist organization, died in London.)

9. Santino De Antonio (Updated Status: Member of the Italian Mafia, attempted to murder his family to gain power.)

...It seems that this is really the assassination list that Elio made and executed himself.

Ignoring Galahad's unique situation, Elio fell into deep thought, silently recalling his past. He had first feigned captivity, infiltrated the island east of Blüdhaven's Ryne Point (where the Templars and Hydra's joint "Assassin Conversion" program was being conducted), killed Dr. Blackwood, and rescued all the surviving "experimental subjects." Graham, whom he considered a brother, had died there.

Afterward, Elio infiltrated the dinner and silently killed Derek von Neumann, the director of Abstergo Hospital in Blüdhaven. From his memories, Elio discovered more Templars. Then, of course, there was Little Quinn, who was released on bail from Blackgate Prison; Dr. Langstrom, the "Man-Bat," whose research into human modification had affected himself; Chairman Mitchell, who used the power of the Ring to exploit the results of the modification; Farhad Amir, who tried to kill the assassins beforehand but failed; and Colonel Moran, who believed his English manor house would protect him from the assassins.

He had clearly come this far, but now thinking about it seemed like a lifetime ago. Elio sighed for a moment, then began to prepare to assassinate Santino; since this guy was already on his list, Elio should not hesitate.

A subordinate of Yunlark named "Grass Wall" just in time to deliver him the information. Gianna's coronation ceremony is about to begin, and Santino does not stay in Italy to take care of her affairs, but instead flies to New York on his private jet across the ocean. He can't possibly be planning to go there to buy a coronation gift for his sister, after all, John Wick lives there.

"You'd better kill him before he goes to New York," Skylark said, "to avoid future troubles."

Elio thought so too. He quickly equipped himself, hoping to stop Santino's problem in Italy and avoid dragging John Wick into this mess. But as he got in the car and prepared to drive to Palermo Airport, Elio received the latest news that Santino's private plane had begun pre-flight inspections and was ready to pick up Santino and his team.

Elio's first reaction was regret: If he had known this would happen, he would not have slept last night!

Santino might only have half an hour left to board his flight, and that was optimistically. Even skipping security and waiting, the flight from Palermo to Rome would take at least an hour. No matter how you looked at it, Elio was already too late. But after a brief moment of deliberation, he immediately called his assistant and said, "Change my destination. I'm going to New York."

The assistant asked, "Okay. Take off in an hour?"

"Half an hour," Elio replied.

Then he hung up the phone and started driving. The flight from Rome to New York took ten hours, while the direct flight from Palermo to New York only took nine hours. Elio still had time to make up for the time difference and get to John Wick earlier; if he had driven the hour-long, leisurely drive as originally planned, he would probably be too late.

So, just as Elio had planned, he rushed all the way to Palermo Airport, boarded a plane that had just completed pre-flight inspection, and arrived in New York nine hours later. Once outside the airport, a black car, also arranged by his assistant, was waiting discreetly, taking Elio directly to John Wick's residence.

The entire process was smooth and seamless, without a single hiccup. Elio climbed into the car, breathing a sigh of relief knowing Santino's plane was still in the air. He had considered intercepting Santino at the airport, but Santino's team, presumably anticipating an assassination attempt, had been heavily guarding every entrance and exit. Seeing the massive crowds, Elio abandoned his plan to proceed to the airport.

If a gunfight breaks out, they will definitely not care about innocent people.

But as far as he knew, John Wick lived alone in a beautiful single-family house in a wealthy area of ​​New York City, far away from the city, in the wilderness, perfect for doing things that shouldn't be done.

"Things that shouldn't be done" specifically refers to Elio driving to his home in the middle of the night and finding the engine sound too conspicuous, so he got out of the car and walked into the driveway, preparing to climb onto the roof of their house to wait for Santino's arrival.

But the embarrassing thing is that John Wick has a dog at home.

As a trained assassin, Elio knew how to soothe stray cats and dogs. He could expertly rub a dog's belly and scratch a cat's chin, and he had extensive experience dealing with small animals, but he had absolutely no experience dealing with a combination of dog and owner.

The pit bull squatting at the door stared at him silently, its tail motionless. The Slav, who was probably John Wick, opened the door from the inside and also stared at him silently, one hand behind his back.

"You might be in the wrong place," John said in his heavily accented English. "This is my home."

Elio breathed a subtle sigh of relief.

The legendary "Night Devil" John Wick who killed three people with a pencil did not immediately shout at him to kill, but instead gave him an excuse that was so fake that it couldn't be more fake:

As we all know, there are only two kinds of people in the world who value privacy the most: rich people and criminals. Rich people are usually criminals, and criminals are usually rich people. John Wick, a combination of the two, lives in this wealthy area that attaches great importance to privacy. To get to his door, you must first drive across the community's public road, then pass through the driveway that is dozens of meters long and lined with tall and dense plants on both sides, and then you can press the doorbell to notify the visitor.

Who could have gone so far astray!

"Sorry," Elio said, hurrying down the stairs. "I should have handed over the card first. Are you John Wick?"

"I am," John said. "What do you want?"

"Santino de Antonio is coming with your blood oath," Elio told him bluntly, "and I'm here to stop him from using it."

"By killing me, or by killing him?"

"By killing him," Elio said. "I hate to involve innocent people, but if you try to stop me, I'm afraid I'll have to disrupt this peaceful night."

John and Elio spoke slowly, one probably with the speaking style unique to foreigners, and the other with the slow and thoughtful pace; but the rhythm of their conversation was as fast as thunder. As soon as one finished speaking, the other immediately followed up, without any delay, and got straight to the core of the problem.

Only then did John remain silent for a moment. The grass and trees swayed, casting night shadows on the white doors and buildings.

Their shadows were also dragging on the ground. Elio stared at John without taking any action.

Then John nodded thoughtfully. He slipped the gun he had hidden behind him into his belt and said to Elio, "Come in."

If one could ignore his terrifying reputation as a "Night Demon," Elio would have thought he was a very easygoing guy. This was the first time Elio had been invited in when attempting to invade someone else's territory, which really made the assassin a little uncomfortable.

He followed John cautiously through the door. The brown pit bull, perhaps taking this as a sign of acceptance, sniffed at Elio's legs, even nudging his calf with its head. Elio certainly wasn't about to be nudged by such a small animal, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of irritation, looking down at the wagging tail of the puppy.

"Coffee?" John said.

Elio declined, "Just water, thank you."

John then went into the kitchen and symbolically poured two glasses of water. When he came out with the glasses, he saw his dog sniffing around Elio, while Elio stood there motionless, just looking down at it.

"Water," John said. He held out the glass, and Elio took it, thanking him politely but holding it in his hand without drinking. "Santino's sister, Gianna, is about to take over the leadership of the D'Antonio family and their seat at the High Table. Santino is very unhappy about this and may want you to kill her and seize his sister's inheritance."

"I've retired," John said. "I won't kill for him."

Elio wondered, "But he still has your blood oath."

"yes."

"And you just slaughtered your way through the Tarasov gang."

"yes."

Elio was even more puzzled. "You know what a blood oath means, right?"

John still, “Yeah.”

Elio couldn't help but scratch his hair. Even he, an assassin merely using the Continental Hotel's services and not even considered a High Table member, knew the High Table had two, and only two, rules. One was the well-known "no killing at the Continental Hotel," and the other was "the blood oath must be observed." It was clear and concise, just like the consequence of breaking the rules: death.

"Years ago," John took a sip of water, "I swore a blood oath to Santino to get out of this completely. I'm not going back into it for this."

"Oh," Elio said, realizing something. "That's easy. Just pretend you didn't see me killing him."

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Author's Note: Sometimes it feels like John Wick's speaking style is subtly like a humanoid (scratching my head). Yes, that's all. But when you think about it, it's kind of cute. If you don't mess with him, he'll just sit there like a bear... Of course, if you mess with him, he'll stand up like a bear...