John Wick - Chapter 70: Léon: The Professional and the Settlement (Patreon)

“Long time no see, Léon.”

“Yeah. Must’ve been seven or eight years.”

Léon set down the suitcases he was carrying, and the two men shook hands. The little girl beside him watched them curiously.

Nate knew exactly what was in those cases. Guns. Lots of guns.

Watching John and Léon casually catch up like old acquaintances, Nate still found the whole thing a little unreal.

“It’s been all these years, and now you’ve even got a daughter.”

John noticed Mathilda and smiled at Léon.

“Uh...” Léon froze awkwardly. “She’s my neighbor’s kid.”

Mathilda lowered her head when she heard that.

John noticed and nodded. “You took her in? What happened to her parents?”

Léon sighed.

“It’s a long story. Who’s this?” He gestured toward the young man sitting on the steps.

“My partner,” John said with a smile.

“You have a partner now? That’s good. Good.”

Nate got to his feet and offered Léon his hand.

“Nate.”

“Léon.”

With that, the two were officially introduced.

Mathilda, who had been standing quietly beside them, suddenly looked at Nate and asked, “Mister, are you guys hitmen too?”

Nate’s expression stiffened.

He crouched down in front of her. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen,” Mathilda said, lifting her chin.

“Come on. How old are you really?”

“...Ten... twelve.”

The little girl lowered her head.

“Then don’t call me ‘mister.’ I’m only nineteen.”

“...”

Maybe she was too embarrassed to say anything else. Mathilda stayed silent for a long moment.

Nate stood up and ruffled her hair. Huh. It actually felt pretty nice.

“Forget it if you can’t say it. Everyone here except you is a hitman. Very good ones, too.”

Mathilda immediately looked up, her big eyes shining with anticipation.

“Then can I become a hitman too?”

Nate didn’t answer. Instead, he changed the subject.

“Were those six shots just now yours?”

“Yes!” Mathilda answered proudly, looking as though she were waiting to be praised.

“Hitmen don’t work like that.”

As he spoke, Nate glanced at John.

Then he looked at Léon, who was barely keeping his expression under control, and smiled.

“You’re too young. Ask him. At least for now, he’s the only one who can teach you.”

Mathilda immediately ran over to Léon and tugged at his sleeve.

John looked at the two of them carrying all their bags and luggage.

“Léon, are you moving?”

“Yeah. Thanks to her. After she fired those shots, we can’t stay there anymore.”

“Why not try The Continental?” John asked.

“You know I don’t really like that place.”

Léon picked up his suitcases again as he spoke.

John didn’t try to persuade him.

“See you around, Mr. Wick.”

“Goodbye, Léon.”

After saying goodbye to John, Léon gave Nate a brief nod, picked up his things, and headed south.

Mathilda glanced back at Nate, then hurried after Léon with the potted plant in her arms.

Nate and John watched until the two disappeared at the far end of the street.

“He really is a strange guy,” Nate said. “But he’s probably a good person too.”

The movie was old, and Nate could no longer remember all the details. Faded memories slowly pieced themselves back together in his mind.

What he did remember was how gentle Léon had been with that little girl. So gentle that he hardly seemed like a hitman at all.

Léon helped Mathilda through the grief of losing her family, while Mathilda gave the numb hitman a reason to care about living again.

It should have been a good story about two people saving each other.

Unfortunately, Léon didn’t survive to the end.

The hitman who had finally allowed himself to care was almost out. He was only one step away from escaping when that corrupt cop shot him in the back.

The tragedy was what made the story so memorable. Even after all these years, Nate could still remember some of those scenes.

But this was reality, and Nate didn’t like tragedies.

It really was a shame.

So he would have to change something.

The two got into the car.

“So what are we doing now?” John asked.

Nate checked his phone.

Viggo’s plane wouldn’t land for almost another three hours. Add the drive from the airport to the hospital, and they had more than enough time.

Besides, their next move would require intelligence from Winston, so they needed to return to the hotel anyway.

“First, we follow them and find out where they’re staying.”

John didn’t ask why. “Then what?”

“Have Henry give us another set of faces. Then we finish the job properly.”

They drove after Léon and Mathilda, watching as the pair entered a hotel called Serene Apartments.

Okay. Now he knew where they were.

At this point in the movie, there should still be quite a while before the ending.

No need to rush.

It took them a little over half an hour to return to the hotel.

They parked outside. During the drive back, Nate had placed the two boxes containing the incriminating evidence on the back seat. Naturally, he had already removed everything valuable from them.

The gate opened.

Someone else was on duty at the front desk. It was the young receptionist who had once told Nate to bring a gun on his first mission.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. How may I help you?”

Nate tore off his fake face in one motion, startling the receptionist.

“Mr. Lin, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you. Oh, and the manager is waiting for you at the bar.”

She looked him up and down.

“You’ve changed quite a bit in just a few days.”

“How so?”

“You’re more handsome, and you carry yourself differently.”

The receptionist smiled as she shamelessly flattered him.

Nate smiled back without taking it seriously.

“Is the Sommelier here?”

“She’s always here.”

“John, go see Winston first. I’ll join you in a bit.”

Back in his room, Nate dropped onto the sofa.

This haul was easily the biggest he had ever made.

There were several hundred gold coins alone.

He definitely needed to do more jobs like this in the future.

[Current Resource Points: 5,460 / 16,000]

[Detected...]

“Settlement!”

Nate answered before the System could finish.

He had been waiting for this.

[Settlement complete: Rifles x2 (146) + Submachine Gun x1 (49) + Pistols x17 (387) + Famous Paintings x4 (413) + Artifacts x12 (1,382) + Gold Coins x672 (13,440) = 15,817 Resource Points]

[Resource Points have reached the current cap. 1,600 Resource Points have been automatically consumed to break through the limit.]

“Now that’s more like it!”

[Breakthrough complete. Trait Slots increased by 1. Remaining Resource Points: 19,677 / 32,000]

[Remaining Empty Trait Slots: 2]

Almost twenty thousand Resource Points.

Damn.

Now he could really splurge.

All those little toys he had been too stingy to buy before were finally within reach.

Nate felt a rush of excitement he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

But first, he needed to check his Traits.

System, show Traits.

[Traits Held: 6 | Empty Slots: 2]

(The specific effects and upgrade progress of the upgraded Traits will be listed here, so I won’t take up extra space explaining them.)

[Intimidation (Max Level)]

[Iron Severing (Lv. 5)]

[Flying Star (Lv. 4)]

[Steel Body (Lv. 2)]

[No Traits are currently available for upgrade.]

[Traits with changed upgrade progress: 2]

[Eagle Eye (Lv. 5): Vision increased by 110%. Firearm Proficiency increased by 50%. Firearm kills: 1 -> 9 / 25]

[Early Warning (Lv. 2): Can sense hostility within a 15-meter radius. Receives a visual warning in the mind 2 seconds before Fatal Danger. Fatal Danger survived: 0 -> 1 / 2]

[Remaining Resource Points: 19,677 / 32,000]

Buy, buy, buy!

I’m upgrading!

Nate excitedly swiped through the virtual screen, browsing the System Store.

He was about to go on a serious spending spree.