Hydra’s Contact

Chapter 95: Hydra’s Contact (Bonus Chapter for Rewards, 35, Thanks to Murong Xiaobai HB Brother!)

Sabine Moreau.

A killer, and like Lake, a freelance killer who was a crowdsourced rider. She was skilled, with blonde hair and blue eyes, an eight out of ten appearance. She liked diamonds, favored diamonds, and simply killed for money.

Sabine looked at Lake, blowing smoke rings. "So, are you single now?"

Lake shrugged.

He wasn’t a scumbag. At least, when he was in a relationship, Lake was very loyal.

However, Lake was currently single.

Seeing the teasing in Sabine’s eyes, Lake didn’t bother with pleasantries and asked directly, "Who could afford to hire you as a middleman?"

Sabine’s eyes sparkled. "They gave me diamonds, a very large one."

You’ll die from diamonds sooner or later.

Lake sighed inwardly and asked again, "Who."

Sabine said, "An underground organization from Europe. I’ve taken jobs for them a few times. They somehow heard that I always call you over to warm my bed whenever I come to New York, so they wanted me to help them out."

Lake automatically ignored the phrase "warm my bed." He didn’t have many temporary lovers, and losing one meant one less. He already had the nickname "Looking for love, the deadly kind," and Lake didn’t want another one like "Temporary lover, the deadly kind."

That title wasn’t good.

Sabine said curiously, "What do they want with you? To place an order?"

Lake scoffed. "To place an order? There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of killers mixed in New York. Several top-ranked guys are operating in New York. What am I?"

Sabine shrugged. "Then I don’t know. Anyway, I got their payment, and I gave you your payment. When are you free to meet?"

Lake was a bit speechless. "You call that payment?"

"Don’t you?"

"You were on top, I was on the bottom, you were pinning me down, and you told me not to move. You call that payment?"

"…Understood."

"…"

The next day.

Lake felt drained.

Sabine, on the other hand, was beaming, having not slept all night, showing no signs of fatigue.

Lake slowly got up, putting on his clothes. "Tonight, The Continental Hotel, underground bar."

Fifty thousand could get him five draws.

If Lake had known someone was willing to pay to meet him, he wouldn’t have waited until the event; he would have started making money from it long ago.

Hmm.

It’s not too late, is it?

Should I learn from a certain stock god and start an auction dinner for bids in the assassin world?

…Never mind.

Lake’s thought flashed and he immediately crushed it. Wealthy killers were all top-tier. Poor killers and newbies didn’t have money. If Lake’s current rate of twenty thousand to start a job were to decrease instead of increase, Lake would probably cry himself to death.

Lake already had an idea who wanted to meet him tonight.

At this time, at this point, who else would want to meet the Black King if not Hydra? To sum it up, the only people or organizations that had a grudge against Lake and hadn’t been wiped out were S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.

A combination of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.

As the saying goes.

Lake didn’t want to help Hydra destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., nor did he want to help S.H.I.E.L.D. destroy Hydra. Therefore, this had led to the current situation.

Try it with any other organization.

The Assistance, which didn’t even deserve a grave, was a prime example.

That evening.

When Lake walked into the Continental bar, the first thing he saw was Sabine sitting in the corner.

And… a man.

A handsome old man.

Short white hair, a white beard, wearing a scarf, looking every bit the gentleman.

Lake sat down and looked at Sabine.

Sabine introduced them to each other, then stood up, holding her wine glass. "You two chat. I’ll leave you to it."

She was the middleman. Since both principals had arrived, Sabine had no reason to stay. This was also a rule in the assassin world, a rule formed by the experience gained through blood by senior assassins.

List.

Lake looked at the old gentleman sitting opposite him, recalling the name Sabine had just introduced.

As expected.

Hydra’s.

This List is a doctor, whether he has a doctorate is unknown, but since everyone in Hydra calls him that, he probably does.

Dr. List is a high-ranking cadre of Hydra, likely from Baron Strucker’s faction. In the plot, he is primarily responsible for researching Inhumans and the like. However, with six years still remaining until the plot begins, it’s quite reasonable for Dr. List to be in the Federation instead of his Arctic base at this time.

"So…"

Lake thought this, then snapped back to reality, leaning back in his chair. He looked at List thoughtfully, "Dr. List, why did you go to the trouble of spending five hundred thousand US dollars to meet me? Do you have a job for me specifically?"

List shook his head, "No, we want to be friends with Mr. Black King."

Lake raised an eyebrow, "Be friends? Five hundred thousand just to make friends?"

Damn it.

Why did it feel like other people didn’t consider money to be money at all?

Lake was internally speechless. He was grateful if he managed to save ten thousand by the end of the year, yet these people were throwing around five hundred thousand without batting an eye, and just to make friends.

Mom, I don’t want to work hard anymore.

Cough cough.

Lake controlled his emotions. He couldn’t get on this boat; if he did, he’d be completely tricked.

If Lake wanted to rely on others for support, he could have done it when he was twenty.

A man should stand on his own!

List took out a slip of paper from his pocket, on which was written a string of numbers and a password. He handed it to Lake, "This is the agreed-upon meeting gift."

Five hundred thousand!

Lake’s eyebrows shot up. He let out a laugh and casually put the slip into his bag without even looking at it. Then he looked at List, "Alright, we’re friends now."

Regardless of Hydra’s intentions, after Lake had killed their entire executive family, they were willing to produce five hundred thousand in real money just to befriend him.

Lake felt that this friendship was worth trying.

This had nothing to do with money.

It was mainly about the other party’s attitude and the respect shown to Lake.

Yeah.

That was it.

Seeing Lake accept it, List felt a slight sense of relief. "Mr. Black King, since we are friends now, if we place an order in the future, will you accept it?"

Lake glanced at List, "I only accept high-value targets, only within New York, and only those with direct legal charges. If I have the time and meet these four conditions, I’ll take the job."

Lake couldn’t be bothered with small jobs of ten to twenty thousand.

For big jobs, killing good people made him feel uneasy.

For jobs that fit high-value targets and had a dark history, but were outside of New York, Lake was too lazy to make a special trip, so he wouldn’t take them.

List was silent for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Then, what about an agent who just joined the Department of Homeland Security?"

Lake looked up.

After a pause.

Lake chuckled, "Except for someone who saved my life, I’ll accept any job that fits my rules."

List: "…"