None of them responded immediately. But the tension that had filled the room began to loosen, like a knot slowly loosening in a rope.
They all knew: the people after Smith the Carrot Killer and Donna were more than just ordinary hitmen. They were after the baby. Behind them was an armed group, and more than that—a congressman pulling the strings from behind the scenes, moving the world from behind a conference table.
Simply put, the congressman was going to use gun control as his main campaign slogan, and the armed group had just released a prototype of a sophisticated pistol onto the black market.
They feared the congressman's policies would disrupt their business and profit streams, so they sent assassins to kill a group of surrogate mothers—unidentified women—whom the congressman had secretly found and hidden.
Because the congressman suffered from a rare and terminal illness, he desperately needed a bone marrow transplant from his own blood relatives. However, since he had no blood relatives, he chose the last resort—finding and recruiting a group of young women to act as surrogates.
The man had waited nine full months, awaiting the birth of these children, the flesh and blood that would save lives through their bone marrow.
Therefore, if the surrogates were killed, there would be no other hope left. The congressman could only close his eyes... and wait for death to slowly come.
Smith, the Carrot Killer, was unwittingly drawn into this mess when he encountered a surrogate mother being brutally hunted. He rescued the woman with deadly speed, but the hunter did not give up. Even after she gave birth—feeling weak and nearly lifeless—she remained a target to be eliminated.
Smith, usually indifferent and living like a shadow devoid of empathy, acted differently this time. He fled with the newborn and searched for someone he could trust—until he found Donna Quintano, who was working as a night warehouse keeper.
From then on, they were relentlessly hunted.
Now, the congressman had abandoned all hesitation and formed a secret alliance with the Armed Forces. None of them would let the baby go alive, for the child held the key—the key to life, the key to death, and the key to chaos. And of the twenty people closest to the congressman, two were spies hiding in the chaos.
Among the vast army of assassins out there was the congressman's personal army, as well as the professional mercenaries of the Armed Forces.
Both of these groups were powerful. They were no ordinary assassins—they were trained, well-armed, and merciless. And now, Smith and Donna had become a thorn in their throats, a wound that could not be healed except with blood.
Even if Lance ordered the Hand and the Fraternity to deal with the assassins targeting Smith and Donna, the congressman and the Armed Forces would not let them escape alive.
The conclusion was simple. Kill them all—without mercy, without a trace.
Let the Hand and the Fraternity clear out the pursuers of John and Jane, while the congressman and the leader of the armed group...
Lance stood at the window on the top floor of the unfinished building. His shadow was illuminated by the dim light of the streetlight, and his eyes scanned the shadowy figures moving in the darkness of the night. They were the best assassins—silent, trained, and bloodthirsty.
In an instant, Lance's shadow disappeared from the window, vanishing like the night wind. The four scouts watching Lance gasped, their pupils dilated with fear.
"Over there!" Smith—who ate fresh carrots daily as a sacred habit—had far more acute vision than ordinary humans. Quickly, Smith spotted Lance's shadow, which had moved elsewhere.
At that moment, Lance stood calmly in front of a convoy of armored black Chevrolets—the assassins' vehicles.
The remaining assassins looked surprised, even hesitant. They began to raise their weapons, waiting for their leader's signal.
But Lance didn't even look at them. Instead, he simply raised one hand in the air—a simple gesture, but one filled with authority.
And suddenly... all the assassins froze.
Their movements stopped. Their breaths seemed to catch. It was like a pause button had been activated in the real world—time stopped for them.
"Get back." Lance's voice was calm yet piercing, and he waved his hand lightly. "Kill whoever sent you."
The assassins simply looked at each other. In an odd silence, they lowered their weapons, got back into their vehicles, without a word, without hesitation, and then simply drove away.
One hypnosis. One sentence. And it was all over.
When Lance returned to the unfinished building, the scent of blood still hung in the air. The battle there was almost over—the gunfire had ceased, and only the remains of chaos remained.
The speed with which the three super assassins—Nobu, Mr. X, and Cross—killed them far exceeded anyone's imagination. Bodies were strewn about like shattered statues, and blood flowed in small pools between the cracks in the cement.
Only a hundred people. All killed in five minutes.
"Amazing..." someone muttered, barely audible.
"Now, you may go," Lance said, facing them all, his voice flat but firm. "Go back to your homes. And don't worry about being chased again."
Smith frowned. His eyes were sharp, wary. "How can you guarantee..."
"You can continue running?" Lance didn't look back, his voice light. Lance then nodded to Nobu, Mr. X, and Cross. "Let's go. Time to get down to business."
Smith suddenly said, "Wait!"
Lance paused, then looked at Smith with a slightly irritated expression. "Do you have other business?"
"I don't owe anyone anything." Smith's face was cold, almost like a stone carving. Smith's expression was exactly like Nobu's—his flatness wasn't due to indifference, but to a habit of living in constant tension.
Lance fixed Smith with a sharp gaze. "So?"
Smith licked his lips slowly, then said: "You're just like those people, aren't you? A witch? I saw a witch once... the person died in front of me. I took something from the person's body."
Smith then raised his hand, revealing something—half a carrot.
------------------------------
[Announcement: A New Novel Has Been Added!
The Puppet Maker in the World of Naruto
A man who is a scientist, researcher, and expert mechanic in robotics dies in a massive explosion that occurs in his laboratory while developing an advanced robot project. However, instead of experiencing death as he thought, the man awakens in another world—a strange place with vast stretches of desert.
There, the man is surrounded by people who can jump high, calling themselves ninjas. The confusion he initially felt grows as he realizes that this world is not unfamiliar to him. This is the world of Naruto! However, there is one thing that surprises him.
"Isn't this Sunagakure? Why am I not in Konoha? This poorest village... Oh my God, this is serious!"
Now, in the midst of a new life filled with danger and uncertainty, the scientist must find a way to survive in Sunagakure, a harsh place full of limitations. With his robotic knowledge, can the man change his fate in this ninja world, or will he fall along with the village?]
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