Manhattan, in a corner of Wall Street, sat an unremarkable hotel.
On this land where every inch was worth its weight in gold, the hotel entrance was quite deserted—it would be half a day before a single guest entered.
Many bored people had even placed bets on when this hotel would go out of business.
But even after so many years, this hotel without any reputation continued to stand here.
The disguised Leo emerged from a dark alley and entered the hotel entrance.
In the lobby, there were quite a few people in suits holding wine glasses and chatting, but when they saw Leo, their voices unconsciously lowered considerably.
Many people even showed fear on their faces and hurriedly left the lobby.
Ignoring the gazes around him, Leo walked straight to the front desk.
The black manager standing at the front desk smiled: "What a lucky day this is—not only has an old friend returned, but Mr. Tao Pai Pai has also graced us with his presence."
"Such a special day should be recorded in the Continental Hotel's log."
"Long time no see, Charon."
Leo nodded, asking somewhat curiously: "Old friend—can you tell me who it is?"
Charon maintained his professional smile: "Sorry, Mr. Tao Pai Pai, you know the rules, but I believe you'll also be happy to see this old friend."
Leo shrugged. If he wouldn't say, Leo would find out himself.
Searching the entire hotel for ki signatures, he indeed found a familiar feeling, quickly recalling the person's identity, and also smiled.
"You're right, it is quite surprising. Help me call him down for a drink later."
"Your will, sir. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Leo handed over several pure gold coins.
"Find me some suitable jobs—same as usual, difficulty doesn't matter, the closer the better."
"Also, I need to commission some custom equipment."
Charon accepted the coins and operated on the computer for a while before saying: "Room 820. You can rest for a while—the equipment department still needs some time."
Leo took the room key and turned to enter the elevator.
After he left, someone finally couldn't contain their curiosity and asked: "Who exactly is this guy? Why did Trevor and Old Mac all run away?"
The person next to him looked at him disdainfully: "You don't even know Tao Pai Pai and you're still mixing in New York's assassin circles? You might as well go back to Texas and farm."
"What? He's Tao Pai Pai?"
The questioner couldn't help but exclaim, his eyes filling with indescribable fear.
Tao Pai Pai—New York's most famous assassin in recent years.
Having taken action dozens of times with no record of failure whatsoever, any target he set his sights on could be declared dead immediately.
Most terrifying of all, Tao Pai Pai never used any firearms, relying purely on powerful fighting techniques and close combat abilities to achieve this level, making him even more unpredictable.
...
Well, Tao Pai Pai was naturally Leo's alias.
He chose this name as a tribute.
Life was hard, Leo had to make a living.
Supporting a Saiyan wasn't a simple matter.
Just eating alone cost Leo tens of thousands of dollars a month, plus medicinal baths, nutritional supplements, and training equipment.
"Poor literature, rich martial arts" wasn't just a saying.
After going through many twists and turns, Leo finally found the most suitable profession for himself several years ago.
Cleaner.
And this place, the Continental Hotel, was a mission posting platform where any registered member could receive or post missions.
At the same time, no one could execute missions within the hotel—the hotel would protect every guest's safety, equivalent to a neutral safe zone.
What was special was that the Continental Hotel's universal currency wasn't US dollars, but custom-made gold coins.
To enjoy any service, one had to pay with gold coins.
For Leo, the best thing about the Continental Hotel was the abundance of missions, diverse connections, and good service.
They could also help him commission special equipment.
Like the training equipment at home, it all came from the Continental Hotel.
The reason for coming here this time was also simple—Leo had once again eaten himself into poverty.
Apart from over ten million dollars in stocks, his cash on hand was already less than one hundred thousand dollars.
Money was hard to earn, shit was hard to eat.
To avoid starving to death.
After half a year of retirement, Leo had no choice but to come out of retirement and become a miserable assassin again.
...
The hotel staff's efficiency was extremely high, and suitable orders were quickly delivered.
"Kidnapping... too troublesome and time-consuming."
"Assassination... in Washington, too lazy to go."
"This one... related to drugs, go to hell."
One A4 paper after another was fed into the shredder—Leo wasn't satisfied with any of these missions.
He didn't accept just any mission.
He didn't take time-consuming ones, didn't take low-paying ones, and didn't take jobs involving minors.
As for whether the mission targets were good or evil, innocent or not...
What the hell did that have to do with him.
Finally, when flipping through the last few pages, Leo found a decent mission.
[Eliminate Hell's Kitchen Russian Brotherhood's two leaders: Big Boss Vladimir $2,000,000, Second Boss Anatoly $1,500,000.]
Below were some details about the targets' living habits and activity areas.
Two people totaling $3.5 million—this price wasn't low, enough for Leo to use for a while.
The only problem was...
Looking at the two people in the photos, Leo's face blindness kicked in.
These damn Russians all looked the same—if a bunch of Russians were mixed together, he couldn't tell who the targets were at all.
Although he could kill them all, the mission only asked him to kill two people. Wouldn't killing everyone be a loss?
However, after reading the materials and confirming that these two mission targets were fat sheep from whom he could probably extract considerable extra income.
Leo still decided to take the mission.
Note: This incorporates some worldview elements from John Wick. The scope won't be very large—I just want to make the world more exciting and give the protagonist a place to earn money.