The Number One Killer in the Assassin World

Three days later.

Lake was in his office, receiving Tony Stark.

"This wine…"

"Sorry, I can’t afford anything better."

"…"

Tony took a sip of the ninety-nine-dollar bourbon, glanced at Lake, who was sitting behind the desk, and put it down. "Do you need me to send you a few cases?"

Lake’s brow twitched.

Cases?

Lake shook his head, looked at the documents in his hand, and said to Tony Stark, "Biona Industrial Company’s equipment, valued at 8.7 million dollars, is unaccounted for. You should contact the FBI or the New Jersey Police Department."

Tony said, "I’m not worried about the 8.7 million dollars worth of equipment."

Lake: "…"

Good heavens.

Did you come all the way here just to flaunt your wealth?

Tony then said, "I had Jarvis check. Dr. Will Wick took sick leave half a month ago. The very next day, 8.7 million dollars worth of equipment, recently purchased last month, disappeared from the company."

"You suspect this Dr. Will Wick skipped town?"

Lake said, "Is this equipment popular on the market? I’ve seen plenty of people run off with money, but this is the first time I’ve heard of someone running off with equipment."

Tony said, "That’s why I came to you. Dr. Will Wick is missing. Finding people, that should be your specialty, right?"

Lake tapped his desk, flipped through the address of this Will Wick attached to the file, and said to Tony, "I’ll go take a look later."

Tony stood up and left immediately.

Lake escorted Tony downstairs.

Tony put on his sunglasses and said to Lake, "Just have that assistant send me off."

Lake chuckled. "I don’t want to spend more time finding another assistant to replace someone whose body and mind have been traumatized."

Have Tiffany see Tony off?

Heh.

What’s the difference between that and a lamb going into a tiger’s den?

Besides, If someone is going to hurt his assistant’s heart, it should be himself.

This guy is a complete scumbag who only uses his body, not his heart. Rachel even said he’s very similar to Tony Stark. Lake felt that was a complete insult to him.

Tony shrugged and said, "What a pity," then got into his flashy sports car and drove away from the Homeland Building.

Lake returned to his office, immediately summoned Jack, and also called Olivia, who was sulking in the morgue complaining about not getting enough attention. They grabbed their gear and drove to Will Wick’s house in the suburbs of Jersey City, New Jersey.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Jack stepped forward and knocked. "Mr. Wick, DHS. Open the door."

Lake looked at Olivia, who was wearing a hood, and asked curiously, "Are you sure you don’t need an umbrella or something?"

Olivia looked at Lake and revealed her two small fangs. "What is this?"

Lake shrugged. "Vampire fangs?"

Amelia has them too. Especially when Amelia shows her fangs, Lake doesn’t feel scared at all, just finds it somewhat of a cute contrast.

Olivia rolled her eyes at Lake, glanced at Jack, who was knocking in front, then whispered, "I’m a zombie, not a vampire."

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course, there is."

Olivia said, "They’re afraid of UV rays, but I’m not. They suck blood, I eat brains."

Lake stroked his chin. "It feels like zombies are scarier than vampires."

Olivia: "…"

Blood can be replenished slowly.

But brains?

If you eat even a tiny bit of a brain, can it heal and grow back automatically?

Jack, at the front door, turned to look at Lake. "Boss, no one’s home."

Lake snapped back to attention. "Break down the door."

As the words fell.

Boom!

Jack didn’t hesitate and kicked the door down.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The moment the door opened, dust that seemed to have accumulated for a long time billowed out, hitting them directly. Jack covered his nose and looked inside. It seemed like there hadn’t been any human activity for at least ten days.

Lake and Olivia entered the house and surveyed the surroundings.

Did they really run off?

Lake thought to himself as he wandered around the house. By the fireplace, he found some photo frames, a happy family portrait of four.

The smiles in the photos were genuine, truly happy smiles.

Lake stroked his chin, wondering if he should find time to take a photo with Emilia. It would be even better if Emilia and Rachel didn’t mind being in the same picture.

After a while.

Jack’s voice came from the basement: "Boss."

Lake snapped back to attention and walked into the basement with Olivia.

Jack pointed to a corner of the basement and said, "There are signs of disturbance here."

Lake looked at the scattered soil in that corner and the floor tiles that had clearly been moved, frowning.

Jack said, "Should I call for backup?"

Lake frowned and nodded, "Call your people over."

Jack nodded.

An hour later.

The bodies of two children and a pregnant woman were pulled from the soil. Will Wick’s body was not among them.

"A domestic violence tragedy?"

"Killed his wife and children?"

"Inhuman?"

"Unspeakable tragedy?"

"…"

Olivia listened to the murmurs of Jack’s subordinates and said irritably, "I’m the one determining the cause of death here, I’m the professional. What do you mean killed his wife and children? It should be accidental death."

"What?"

"That’s impossible."

"Wouldn’t an accident be reported?"

Olivia picked something up from one of the bodies with her gloved right hand and held it up: "See this? What is this?"

Several agents looked.

Olivia checked the other bodies again and confirmed, then asked, "Were any cars found in the garage?"

"No."

Olivia stood up and said to Lake, "Shouldn’t there be a pond behind their house?"

Lake nodded.

Half an hour later.

An agent who had dived into the pond emerged, taking off his mask: "Sir, there is indeed a car. It’s severely damaged. It doesn’t look like the accident happened here."

Olivia looked at Lake: "Then it’s confirmed. Those four bodies should have all died in a car accident."

"Staged?"

"Doesn’t look like it."

Olivia shook her head: "At the very least, the bodies indicate death by car accident. For the specific cause of death, I need to take them back to the morgue for further detailed examination."

Lake nodded.

Jack rubbed his chin: "Then it’s strange. If they died in a car accident, why didn’t this guy report it? And where did this guy go?"

Lake shrugged.

Where did he go?

Either the car accident was also staged.

Or… this guy was hiding somewhere with the eight-million-seven-hundred-thousand-dollar equipment, planning to secretly revive his wife and children through cloning. This was also why he chose not to report it.

If he reported it and the authorities confirmed their deaths, how would he explain his resurrected wife and children later?

Just then.

A handsome man with a beard, wearing a black suit, and a woman walked out of the room. He looked at Lake and the others who were murmuring by the pond and asked, "Who are you?"

Lake and the others turned to look.

Baba Yaga!

The top assassin on the New York assassin rankings, NO.1, John Wick!

However…

Six months ago, John Wick completed a mandatory, life-threatening retirement mission assigned by the organization. He successfully retired, becoming the first assassin in history to leave the profession peacefully and hang up his gloves.

Jack walked forward first, showing his badge. "DHS, Department of Homeland Security. You are…"

John Wick, who had arrived with his new wife, glanced at the badge and came back to himself. "John, John Wick. This is my brother’s place. He… what’s wrong?"

Jack turned to look at Lake.

Lake walked over, shook John Wick’s hand, and said, "Mr. Wick, do you know where your brother, Will Wick, is now?"

John Wick shook his head. "What’s wrong?"

Lake glanced at the expression on John Wick’s face, nodded, and then said to Jack beside him, "Take Mr. Wick to the basement."

Jack nodded.

A moment later.

John Wick emerged from the basement and said to Lake, "Where’s my brother?"

Lake replied, "We don’t know yet. When was the last time you contacted your brother? Do you remember?"

John Wick lowered his head and shook it, thinking. "Uh… it was about sixteen days ago. He called and said he was going to my place, but he didn’t. I called, and Will said Mona wasn’t feeling well, so he postponed. Then, after all these days, my wife and I discussed it, and we decided to come check on him."

Sixteen days ago?

Dr. Will Wick had requested leave from the company about fifteen days ago.

Lake thought to himself, nodded, and handed John Wick his business card. "Alright then, Mr. Wick. If you remember anything else, give me a call."

John Wick took the business card, asked a few more questions, and then left with his wife.

After John Wick left, Jack said to Lake, "Boss, this John Wick is suspicious."

Lake looked at Jack.

Jack said, "When we were in the basement just now, John Wick saw those four bodies. Besides shock, I didn’t see any other emotion."

Lake chuckled. "That’s it?"

Jack said, "A normal person’s first reaction to seeing bodies would be fear."

Lake shrugged. "Perhaps John Wick is just introverted. Solving cases relies on evidence, but killing relies on intuition. However, you’re right, John Wick does seem a bit off."

Of course.

Lake was judging from an evidentiary standpoint.

John Wick had wiped out the entire assassin world for a dog. If he didn’t know about his brother’s situation, he wouldn’t have been able to maintain such composure just now.

Lake looked at Jack. "Dispatch a surveillance team. Find out all communications under Will Wick’s name, and also John Wick’s communication records. Let’s see if they match what he said."

Jack nodded.

In the house opposite Will Wick’s, a phone call was made.