Chapter 38 Chapter 38 I was born ready. ...
"More accurately, 'Holder of the Artifact of Eden,'" Alvin said casually. "Don't overthink it, Elio."
"Alvin, he will become both the 'Bearer of the Piece of Eden' and the 'Bearer of the Ring,'" Galahad emphasized. "This is no small matter."
They exchanged a glance. Elio looked at Galahad, and the Templar returned his gaze, frowning, though his expression was more one of concern than disapproval.
"I know several Ringbearers, and I know one who possesses a Piece of Eden," Galahad said. "With all due respect, Elio, any one of those would be a considerable burden, let alone both."
Seeing that Alvin was about to speak, Elio quickly raised his hand to stop them from continuing the argument centered on him.
"Wait," Elio said, "let me say a few words."
Alvin raised an eyebrow and nodded. Galahad folded his arms and tilted his head to look at him, but said nothing more. Somehow, in this scene, Elio felt a subtle sense of familiarity, but he didn't dwell on it.
"First, I admit I might need the ring," Elio recounted, "but I don't want to keep it for myself, if you understand what I mean. Second, the Brotherhood must have a charter regarding the Piece of Eden, right? I don't know, and I don't need to know, but the Brotherhood must have a place to store or study it, considering we're an ancient organization. Finally, we haven't yet obtained it, or even come close to it, so I think it's premature to discuss this matter."
After he finished speaking, Alvin and Galahad fell into a brief silence. Then, they exchanged a glance in front of him. When Elio raised his eyebrows questioningly, Galahad laughed softly.
"You're right," Alvin smiled, "We have to get to it first."
According to the map provided by Galahad, the ring is located in an underground mine that is being developed. This place is far away from the city, with wide and flat roads. Usually, there will be no vehicles "accidentally" passing by, nor will they be randomly allowed in by checkpoints stationed with Templar agents.
"This is your first obstacle, assassins." Galahad pointed his finger at the map.
"That's not even a question," Alvin commented.
Through observation and searching, they discovered a pattern in the movement of transport vehicles. Alvin randomly knocked out a truck driver and threw him into a roadside toilet. Until the matter was over, he would just drool and dream. The assassin took his work ID, read and uploaded it, and soon, with the remote help of hacker Sean, he obtained a 3D-printed human face mask.
"Do I look like the same person as before?" Alvin asked as he fumbled to put on the mask.
"They're exactly the same," Red Hood, who was adjusting his voice changer, took a moment to glance at him, "just a little shorter."
"You could have just said the first half, you little bastard." Alvin rolled his eyes. "Elio, you say something too."
"It's okay, Alvin," Elio smoothed the edge of the mask that was sticking up at his neck. "You're sitting there anyway, so they can't see it."
Before Alvin could say anything, a chuckle came from the line.
"Rebecca!" Alvin cried in disbelief.
"Sorry, Alvin," Rebecca said, stifling a laugh. "I wish you all the best. If you need anything else, just let us know. Sean and I will always be on the line."
The truck passed the checkpoint without incident. The gate opened, and they entered the industrial site. As planned, Alvin, posing as a truck driver, drove into the warehouse and unloaded the "supplies."
He guessed the truck driver's personality and greeted the warehouse manager with a smile. The latter did not suspect anything and gave him a can of beer. But when he was about to leave the office to register the supplies, the warehouse manager suddenly noticed that the register he had hung on the wall had disappeared in the blink of an eye.
He looked around the office in confusion, "Strange, where did I put this thing?"
"Do you remember the last time you saw it?" Alvin asked with pretended concern, hiding the book behind his back. While he wasn't paying attention, Alvin quickly tapped the headset.
“I’m pretty sure I just hung it on the wall,” the warehouse manager muttered in confusion. “It’s like that every time.”
Behind him and Alvin, the "supplies" in the carriage received the signal, opened the door and jumped out. Elio and Red Hood, who had been hiding there, sneaked past the patrol and successfully got into the well dressing room.
"I imagine our road ahead will be dark," Elio said, closing the door behind him. "Are you ready?"
"Trust me, Assassin," Red Hood raised an eyebrow at him, "I was born ready."
Elio looked at him, smiled, and nodded. Then, in tacit agreement, they searched the dressing room, checking for anything they could take with them. When Red Hood opened the wardrobe, he made a puzzled sound.
"Here are two sets of uniforms." He glanced at them, "The rest are work clothes."
Elio immediately realized what this might mean, and glanced out. At the same moment, Red Hood heard the conversation and approached. The assassin and the vigilante didn't speak or move, simply staring at each other.
"…Everyone else must have gotten off work already," a voice complained, walking into the dressing room first. "If you hadn't been dawdling, we could have caught the bus to work."
"That's my fault alone?" another voice retorted. "Who was scared by the mouse and fell to the ground, breaking the miner's lamp?"
They argued meaninglessly for a few words, muttering something as they changed their clothes. At the same time, the door behind them slowly closed on its own, revealing the assassin and the vigilante behind it.
"Did you hear anything?" A miner suddenly stopped. The assassin had already walked up behind him.
"It must be the wind," another miner said casually. Unbeknownst to him, Red Hood was standing behind him.
"Who left the light on?" the miner asked in confusion. He was about to turn around when the assassin and the vigilante attacked simultaneously. No one could utter a word as the two miners were covered with their mouths and fell to the ground.
Elio and Red Hood released the unconscious miner and high-fived each other.
"Double simultaneous assassination!" Red Hood whistled. "What a shame this doesn't count towards my Dogma points."
"We'll have our chance," Elio said briskly.
With two beeps, they used the ID cards found on the miners to verify their identities and started the electric locomotive that the miners had brought back.
"The tracks are so dark," said Red Hood. "Why didn't I realize this was a great place to kill someone and hide a body before?"
"Remind me," Elio asked cooperatively, "I haven't offended you in any way, have I?"
Red Hood pretended to recall the past, then quickly pointed out seriously, "You did. You took the last cherry tomato."
Elio didn't expect that he actually remembered this, and he was caught off guard and choked.
“…Is it too late for me to start begging for mercy now?” he said.
"It's too late, assassin." Red Hood crossed his arms, "You've offended the biggest zombie that Gotham should never offend, the mafia boss entrenched in the East District, the behind-the-scenes boss of the Iceberg Restaurant, the world-famous outlaw, and—"
"Red Hood," Elio couldn't help but say, "I think this little car is about to be overloaded."
In the call channel, Alvin coughed lightly twice.
"Normally, I'm not responsible for stopping kids when they're playing," he interrupted, "but your signal is going deeper and deeper underground, and I suspect you'll lose contact with the surface soon. Stay safe."
"Roger that," Elio replied, "but what's that noise?"
It sounds like girls are asking "Who's single?" over and over again.
"Oh," Alvin said, pushing the keyboard aside and crossing his legs on the table. "I'm a warehouse manager now—" He lowered his head in that position and casually snatched the ID card of the unconscious person on the ground. "Mr. Patrick. I just discovered that there are a lot of good things in 'my' computer."
"Pride and Prejudice from 2005?" Red Hood immediately recognized what it was. "Good taste, Mr. Patrick."
"Same to you, Mr. Hood."
Alvin's words were accompanied by a crackling sound of electricity. Elio tried to call him several times, but eventually lost contact with the ground completely.
"Looks like we're getting there," he said.
The locomotive stopped. They hopped off, one by one, passing a green sign indicating a maintenance room. A few steps later, a silvery, code-coded door opened before them. But the assassin didn't have to wait long. With a quick glance, his eagle eyes saw the frequently pressed buttons light up, and he pressed them one by one.
With a beep, the password door slid open smoothly.
The Eden Artifact Research Institute, hidden in the underground mines, finally revealed its true identity. The Templar's red cross loomed heavily where they could see it first, but otherwise, everything else was a familiar, gloomy silver-white.
For a few fleeting moments, Elio watched the red cross in the center of the painting drip dark blood across the white wall. The corpse beneath the operating table suddenly rose, screaming and slapping against the transparent window as they passed. Bloody palm prints slashed across the assassin's vision, and pools of blood formed under the closed door, closely following their footsteps.
"Now, our work really begins." Elio sighed.
Red Hood put the gun back on his waistband, "Who said it wasn't?"
From the pool of blood, a twisted monster emerged. The lights in the corridor flickered as it screamed silently, its claws striking at their backs!
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