John Wick - Chapter 69: Let Him Go? Of Course Not. (Patreon)

All that remained in the basement were some U.S. dollars that weren’t worth much by comparison, along with famous paintings and other artworks that were difficult to move.

At the back was a safe that had already been half opened, divided into rows of small compartments. Nate used a knife to pry open the remaining ones, one by one.

Most of them contained scattered gold coins, along with various bottles, jars, and other art objects.

Nate gave everything a quick look. There was roughly another two million dollars in cash, and four famous paintings were lying on the floor.

He took the lot without hesitation, putting everything into his system Backpack piece by piece.

One glance at the Backpack showed it was almost full again, with only a little over thirty kilograms of capacity left.

John stood behind him, watching.

Out of nowhere, he asked, “Nate, are you really that short on money?”

“Not at all,” Nate replied without turning around. He had only been in the hitman world for a few days, and the balance in his bank account had already multiplied several times over. That wasn’t even counting the gold coins, guns, and everything else.

“Then why do you search the place so thoroughly every time?”

“You’ve got to know how to make your money last. There’ll be plenty of things to spend it on later.”

“Alright.”

John fell silent.

As a top-tier hitman, John probably genuinely had no shortage of money. In the movies, he wouldn’t even spare this kind of stuff a glance before burning it all. Just thinking about it made Nate’s heart ache.

Once they were finished, the underground vault was completely empty.

“Let’s go.”

The two headed upstairs.

John suddenly asked, “Are we really just letting Viggo and his brother go?”

“Of course not. We’ve already offended them beyond repair. What if Viggo puts another bounty on your head a few days from now?”

“Then why did you call an ambulance for him...”

Halfway through the sentence, John caught on. Realization appeared on his face.

“You’re waiting for Viggo to visit his brother at the hospital, then you’ll take them both out at once?”

“Exactly!” Nate gave John a thumbs-up. “That’s why you’re my partner. You catch on fast.”

“What if we kill his brother, take all his stuff, and Viggo just runs?”

“I stopped the bleeding, let those three men go, and called an ambulance for him. That’s my way of showing goodwill to Viggo’s brother. Our grudge is only with his older brother.”

“And now that Viggo has canceled the bounty, he should think we have no reason to kill him anymore.”

As Nate spoke, a dangerous smile slowly appeared on his face.

“But when it comes to people like them, do we really need a reason?”

John was silent for a moment before looking up.

“No.”

After gathering the guns from the bodies, the two left the church and walked toward their car. It was a block away, so they still had some distance to cover.

Nate looked around at the street as he casually chatted with John.

“John, do you know what kinds of people are hated most in our country?”

Before John could answer, Nate continued, “Drug dealers, human traffickers, and telecom scammers.”

“Between the two of them, they’ve got the first two covered.”

“Every year, who knows how many people and families are destroyed by that kind of thing? If I never crossed paths with them, fine. But now that I have, I can’t just let them go.”

Nate’s gaze settled on a dim alley nearby. A group of young men and women around twenty years old were clustered together, smoking weed.

Their eyes were vacant as they swayed on their feet, mumbling and waving their arms around.

John looked over as well. To him, this was probably nothing unusual.

He nodded. “I understand, Nate.”

Nate was about to say something else when gunshots suddenly erupted above them.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The two immediately ducked and looked for cover.

Nate didn’t sense any danger. The bullets weren’t aimed at them.

The shots kept coming, loud and rapid.

Nate hurriedly looked up. With his enhanced vision, he saw a small hand sticking out of an apartment window above them, clutching a revolver and firing wildly into the air.

Whose damn kid is that?!

Wait.

This scene. This setup.

Why did it feel so familiar?

Nate had the distinct feeling he had seen this somewhere before.

What movie was it from again?

It definitely wasn’t John Wick, but for the moment he couldn’t remember.

“Nate, let’s go.”

The pedestrians had scattered in panic. Once the gunfire stopped, John patted Nate, who was still crouched on the ground, on the shoulder.

“Wait, wait. I’m thinking!”

Nate clutched his head as his thoughts raced.

Then it hit him.

He remembered.

But something wasn’t right.

“John, isn’t it 2021?” Nate asked, his eyes widening.

“Yeah. What’s gotten into you?” John waved a hand in front of his face.

“But wasn’t that movie from the last century? How can this be happening here?”

Nate’s entire understanding of this world came crashing down.

So this wasn’t just the John Wick world?

“You alright? Want to go to the hospital?” John asked with concern.

“Give me a minute. I just need to sit down.”

Nate sat on the roadside steps, staring expectantly at the entrance of the apartment building about twenty meters away.

Seeing him like this, John sat down beside him.

About five minutes later, Nate saw two figures, one tall and one small, emerge from the apartment building and start walking toward them.

The taller figure was a large man in a black wool coat. His face was stern, he carried two suitcases, and there was a slight unevenness to his stride.

The smaller figure was a bright-eyed little girl with a lively air about her. She carried a potted plant in her arms, her short legs moving quickly as she hurried along behind him.

Oh my God.

It really is them!

Did I end up in some kind of Converged World?

Nate was ecstatic.

He stared fixedly in their direction, and John followed his gaze.

“Léon?” John said.

“Hm?” Nate turned to him in surprise. “You know him?”

John nodded. “Yeah. He’s a strange guy.”

The man and the little girl only walked a few steps before stopping face-to-face and arguing.

“Mathilda, if you fire that gun recklessly again, I’ll blow your head off! Understand?” the tall man said.

Holding the potted plant in her arms, the little girl tilted her head back to look up at him. Her voice was completely flat.

“Okay.”

“I never act on impulse. That’s unprofessional. There are rules in this line of work!”

“Okay.”

Still no emotion.

The man started getting annoyed.

“Stop saying ‘okay’ all the time, will you?”

“Okay.”

“Fine. Fine. Fine.”

The man had no answer for that. He stopped arguing, turned around, and continued walking toward them.

The little girl watched his back, then hurried a couple of steps to catch up.

As the man passed John, he glanced sideways at the two sitting on the steps.

He took another two steps, then abruptly stopped and turned around.

“Mr. Wick?”

The little girl stopped as well and turned to look at them.

John stood up.

“Long time no see, Léon.”