John Wick - Chapter 95: Settlement and Winston Acting a Little Strange (Patreon)

Nope. I need to stay away from this unlucky bastard.

With that thought, Nate even slid his seat a little farther forward.

System, can you see his current Luck?

[Yes.]

[Alexander Duggan: Luck (100%)]

One hundred percent?

That wasn’t too bad. Apparently, getting shot in the shoulder had already triggered his [Misfortune] Trait.

As long as Nate could see Charles’s Luck, he could simply keep his distance whenever it dropped too low.

Looking at his other two Traits, though, aside from not knowing how to use poison, Charles was basically a younger Henry.

“Charles.”

“What?” Charles seemed to have regained some strength in the back seat.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six,” the Jackal replied.

So he really was a younger, stronger Henry.

Perfect.

Nate had wanted [Long-Range Shot] for a long time. If he took Charles along on more missions and helped level up the Jackal’s [Long-Range Shot] Trait, he could eventually use a Trait Copy Card to copy it for himself.

That would be perfect.

“How old are you?” the Jackal asked in return.

“Nineteen.”

“What? You became an assassin this young?” Charles stared at him in surprise.

“You’re that young?” John asked too.

“Yep. You’re practically an old man compared to me, John,” Nate said with a grin.

“Watch it, kid!”

After all the trouble along the way, they finally made it back to the Continental.

Nate checked his phone.

It was already 6:30 p.m.

Charles’s legs were still weak, and he struggled even with the steps leading up to the hotel.

The gate opened automatically.

This time, Charon was there.

“Welcome home, gentlemen. Mr. Lin, I see you’ve brought another new face with you.”

Nate slid two gold coins across the counter.

“His name is Charles. Codename, the Jackal. Give him a room, then help him register as an assassin.”

“Of course, sir.”

Charon handed over a room key card.

Nate glanced at it.

Room 714.

“Oh, and he needs medical attention.”

Charon gave Nate an okay gesture, then supported Charles by the arm and led him toward the Administration Department downstairs.

The others returned to their rooms, planning to meet in the restaurant later.

Nate went back to his own room first. He needed to settle the loot and divide up the gold coins afterward.

Room 307, New York Continental.

“Settle.”

[Current Resource Points: 14,995/32,000]

[Settled: Pistols ×24 (575) + Submachine Guns ×6 (286) + Gold Coins ×342 (6,840) = 7,701 Resource Points]

[Legendary Weapon: D’Antonio Family Kimber 1911]

[Effect: Damage increased by 30%]

[Resource Points: 513]

[Current Resource Points: 23,209/32,000]

Not bad.

He was getting close to filling it again.

By the time he returned from Rome, he would probably have another Trait slot. And if everything went smoothly, he would also receive a Trait Fusion Card.

“System, show me the effect of the Trait Fusion Card.”

As Nate tossed the weapons he had collected into a corner, he examined the System interface.

[A Trait Fusion Card can fuse two compatible Traits possessed by the Host, increasing their numerical effects and providing a high probability of creating an Exclusive Trait.]

[Exclusive Traits unlock special abilities.]

“Nice. If two Traits fuse into one, does that free up a Trait slot?”

[No. Trait slots merely represent additional possibilities in the datafication of the Host’s innate talents. They do not physically exist.]

“That’s unnecessarily complicated.”

Nate thought about it for a moment.

“Though I guess it makes sense. If fusing them improved the stats, unlocked a special ability, and freed up another slot on top of that, it would be way too good.”

Nate dismissed the System interface and called Lily, asking her to prepare some ammunition he could use and have a waiter bring it up.

Then he filled two small bags with one hundred gold coins each.

He would give them out at dinner.

After everyone finished eating, Elena went to find Ares and play with the little Border Collie. Lily went to see the Sommelier, John returned to his room to rest, and the Jackal went back to his room for medical treatment.

Nate suddenly remembered that he still had something to take care of.

He returned to the lobby.

Charon was still there.

“Good evening, Mr. Lin.”

“Is the manager around?”

“He’s in the underground bar.”

“Got it.”

“Have a pleasant evening, sir.”

The bar again.

At this point, it was practically Winston’s permanent spawn point.

Nate headed downstairs.

The moment he entered the underground bar, the bartender Addy spotted him.

“Nate, want a drink?”

“Sure.”

“Anything new today? That recipe you came up with last time actually became pretty popular once we added a few things to it.”

Nate still couldn’t get used to alcohol, so he simply ordered what he actually liked.

“Lemonade. Regular sugar, with ice, please.”

Addy paused, then gave him a disappointed look.

“Boring.”

Even so, she carefully prepared a beautiful glass of lemonade for him and thoughtfully added a straw.

Nate picked it up and took a sip.

Sweet, tart, and ice-cold.

“Ohhh... that hits the spot.”

Nate had genuinely loved lemonade in his previous life and used to order it fairly often.

Unfortunately, it had been more than a year since he’d had a proper glass of lemonade.

Maybe once he retired from being an assassin, he could open his own lemonade shop in this world.

Holding his lemonade, Nate walked over to Winston.

As usual, Winston sat in the middle of the U-shaped sofa with a book and a glass of liquor on the table in front of him.

But something was different today.

He wasn’t reading.

He was staring into space.

“Winston?”

“Oh... Nate.”

Winston smiled when he saw him, but Nate could tell the smile was somewhat forced.

“Charon tells me you found me another capable recruit.”

“Yeah. His codename is the Jackal. He’s good with disguises, and he’s an excellent sniper. He can make shots from extremely long distances.”

“Sounds like the same type as Henry. Can he use poison?”

“No.”

“Then he’s still a little behind Henry.” Winston smiled.

“By the way, Nate, how did you resolve John’s Marker?”

Nate briefly explained what had happened.

“That’s actually why I came down here. Was there anything wrong with the way we handled the Marker?”

Winston considered it for a moment.

“The procedure was completely standard. Both parties agreed to it, and John fulfilled the request made by the holder of the Marker. Under the rules, there’s no problem whatsoever.”

“Good. That puts my mind at ease.”

Nate took another sip of lemonade.

“You’re willing to think things through. That’s good. Very good.”

“Well, you can’t solve everything by charging in headfirst.”

Nate paused.

“Unless charging in headfirst works, of course.”

The atmosphere fell quiet for a moment.

Then Winston spoke.

“You haven’t mentioned it, Nate, but I still owe you an apology.”

“Robert was one of my longtime subordinates. What happened was an oversight on my part. I’m sorry.”

Winston lowered his head sincerely.

“No need, Winston. I can understand why he did it. If I were in his position, I might have done the same thing.”

Nate waved it off.

“Besides, he’s already dead. There’s no point holding a grudge.”

The incident had at least taught Nate something.

He needed to be more careful whenever he got into a car.

In terms of combat ability, he was already among the strongest people in this world. As long as he stayed alert and didn’t get taken out by something unexpected, he should be fine.

“You’re a kind person, Nate.”

Winston looked at him.

“Go get some rest. You’ll need your energy tomorrow. You’re heading to Rome.”

“Right. I’ll head back.”

Before leaving, Nate gave Winston another look.

Something about him still felt off today.

So Nate asked one more question.

“Winston, is there something else you haven’t told me?”

Winston smiled.

“No. Go get some rest.”

If Winston didn’t want to talk about it, Nate wasn’t going to press him.

He returned to his room and went to sleep.

...

The night passed quietly.

The next morning, Nate drove to the airport.

Before getting into the car, he carefully inspected it first.

After being delayed for an entire day, the three of them finally boarded their flight to Rome.