Jason swapped in a fresh magazine and circled around to the front, gripping his pistol in both hands and staying alert.
He didn’t recognize the man with the shoulder bag.
But the other man…
“I really wish every gang in New York could see this. The mighty boss of the Russian mob, reduced to this.”
Vladimir struggled to raise his head.
His eyes were bloodshot, his expression bordering on madness.
“Jason! You fucking devil! I’ll be waiting for you in hell—”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Before he could finish, bullets punched through both men’s skulls.
Villains died because they talked too much.
Jason had always taken that warning to heart.
That was why, when it came time to kill someone, he preferred less talking and more shooting.
[1 mobster killed. Gained 100 Villain Points. Current progress: 815/4,000.]
[Vladimir (Story Character) killed. Gained 500 Villain Points. Current progress: 1,315/4,000.]
[Quest Strike First complete. Reward: 500 Villain Points. Current progress: 1,815/4,000.]
Jason opened the shoulder bag.
Inside was a thick pile of green bills.
A quick glance told him there had to be four or five hundred thousand dollars in there, more than enough to pay Mr.
Moran for the C4.
Jason made three trips, throwing all three bodies back into the burning warehouse.
Then he slung the bag over his shoulder and returned to the Mercedes.
He counted out three hundred thousand dollars and handed it to Mr.
Moran.
That left another hundred and seventy thousand.
Jason intended to leave it for Paul’s wife and daughters.
Jason might have been a villain, but he was also a man of his word.
Even though Paul had already been blown into chunks of meat and no longer had any value to him, Jason had never considered breaking their agreement.
“Where are you headed? I’ll give you a ride.” Mr.
Moran cheerfully counted the cash.
He had expected nothing more than a simple transaction tonight.
Instead, he had gotten a piece of explosive gossip for free and even enjoyed a spectacular fireworks show on the side.
Mr.
Moran was in an excellent mood.
“Drop me off on the south side.”
Mr.
Moran gave him a sly grin.
“Oh? So your safe house is on the south side.”
Jason looked at him as though he were an idiot.
“Don’t be stupid. You really think I’d tell you something as important as the location of my safe house? You’d probably turn around and sell it to Kingpin.”
Mr.
Moran laughed without taking offense.
“Cautious bastard. Still, these days, being careful is a good thing. Helps you live longer.”
The Mercedes sped south.
Along the way, Jason passed dozens of police cars and fire engines.
Judging by the scale of the response, at least half the police precincts in Manhattan had mobilized.
Less than twenty four hours had passed since the apartment bombing and the mall shooting, and now another explosion had rocked a warehouse in Hell’s Kitchen, affecting several surrounding blocks.
The cops in Manhattan were probably going to be working overtime for quite a while.
Well, they wouldn’t have to worry about a shortage of material anytime soon.
Jason got out at the entrance to an alley on the south side.
He watched Mr.
Moran’s Mercedes disappear into the distance before slinging the bag over his shoulder and walking toward Paul’s apartment.
He went straight to the fifth floor and knocked on Paul’s door.
Ever since Paul had left, Lisa had been restless.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that her husband was hiding something from her.
And with that worry weighing on her mind, sleep was impossible.
Lisa had been lying sideways on the couch, silently waiting for her husband to come home.
Knock, knock, knock!
At the sound, Lisa immediately sat up in excitement, thinking Paul had returned.
But she quickly calmed herself.
She approached the door cautiously.
“Paul?”
There was no answer from outside.
Lisa peered through the peephole.
The hallway was dark.
No one was there.
Her nerves immediately tightened.
She went into Paul’s study, opened a cabinet, and took out a Remington Model 870 shotgun.
Click!
She chambered a shell.
With the shotgun giving her some courage, Lisa finally opened the door.
There was nobody outside.
But sitting on the floor was a black shoulder bag.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
After leaving Paul’s apartment, Jason walked back to his safe house on the south side.
After being busy all night, he quickly fell asleep on the couch and didn’t wake until noon the next day.
Once he had washed up, Jason sat on the couch eating breakfast and opened the system interface.
Reaching Level 4 had earned him another ten Attribute Points.
Jason first raised Agility and Intelligence to forty, then put the remaining points into Strength.
━━━━━ SYSTEM ━━━━━
Host: Jason Walter
Level: 4 (1,815/4,000)
━━
[Attribute]
✪ Strength: 35 → 38
✪ Agility: 38 → 40
✪ Endurance: 35
✪ Intelligence: 35 → 40
✪ Remaining Points: 0
━━
Notoriety: 37 → 95 (Next recruitment: 100)
Accomplices: None
━━
Credits: 3
[Skill]
𖦏 Combat Mastery (Level 4) New chapters come out on g.com first.
𖦏 Driving Mastery (Level 3)
𖦏 Firearms Mastery (Level 5)
𖦏 Melee Weapons Mastery (Level 2)
[Shop: Click here]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
He had already met the attribute requirements for Firearms Mastery Level 6.
Now all he lacked were 100 Credits.
In other words, one million dollars.
Jason chewed on his bread as he wondered which bank he should hit.
Aside from his Attribute Points, his Notoriety had also soared to ninety five.
He was only a hair away from the hundred point threshold.
Once the news media gave him a little more publicity, he would finally be able to recruit Accomplices.
Speaking of the news…
Jason pulled out his phone and opened CNN’s website.
Unsurprisingly, he had once again seized the front-page headline.
This time, the lead image had been taken from high above by a helicopter.
Dark, low-rise buildings surrounded the frame, while at the center blazed a dazzling sea of fire.
The contrast between darkness and light made the photo incredibly eye-catching.
Jason opened the article.
“Last night, an explosion occurred at a gang base in Manhattan’s Clinton neighborhood.”
“The explosion killed twenty five gang members, injured dozens of local residents, and destroyed or damaged multiple buildings.”
“Following an investigation by the New York Police Department, authorities confirmed that all of the deceased were members of the Russian mob, including wanted crime boss Vladimir.”
“Vladimir was believed to have masterminded the apartment bombing and mall shooting the previous day. Police sources indicate that Vladimir appears to have been shot to death, further complicating the investigation.”
“The FBI’s New York Field Office has formally joined the investigation. The FBI and NYPD will establish a joint task force in an effort to uncover the truth as quickly as possible.”
…
No matter which news website Jason opened, most of the major sections were talking about the same incident.
The articles were all more or less identical, but Jason still read them with enormous enjoyment.
At that moment, he finally understood why some criminals liked returning to the scenes of their crimes.
The thrill of admiring your own handiwork afterward really was addictive.
Jason refreshed the news again and again.
Then an article posted only three minutes earlier completely wiped the smile from his face.
“BREAKING: Joint task force reconstructs events surrounding last night’s attack.”
“Investigators have now determined that the incident was a premeditated suicide bombing. The suspected mastermind is Jason Walter, the missing person connected to the previous case.”
Jason’s photograph appeared beneath the headline.
“What?!” Jason sat bolt upright and continued reading.
The further he got, the more shocked he became.
This joint NYPD-FBI task force was seriously impressive.
Using advanced forensic equipment, they had meticulously examined the traces left at the scene.
Piece by piece, they reconstructed everything that had happened the previous night from the evidence and data available to them.
And they had accurately identified the mastermind.
Jason Walter.
What shocked him even more was what came next.
The FBI and NYPD had already submitted their investigative findings to the Department of Justice.
After reviewing the case, the Department of Justice had decided to issue a worldwide wanted notice for Jason.
The reward—
Ten million dollars!