John Wick - Chapter 111: Recruiting Fox (Part 1) (Patreon)

Nate sat in a chair, examining Fox’s gun with interest.

The heavy 1911 had been modified more extensively than anything he had ever seen. It was chambered in .45 caliber, fitted with a 12-round extended magazine and a muzzle brake, and had an ivory grip that felt excellent in the hand.

Most striking of all, the entire gun was covered in intricate, beautiful engravings, making it look more like a work of art than a weapon.

The Gunsmith still hadn’t woken up.

Fox had regained consciousness first, probably because her physical conditioning and training were superior to his.

[Poisoning] really was absurdly effective when it came to catching people off guard. Being able to alter both the effects and form of a toxin however he wanted was ridiculously overpowered.

What Nate had used earlier was an anesthetic altered to leave their bodies weak and limp.

He had finally gotten a small taste of the fun Henry must have had back in the day.

Julius and Elena stood off to the side, while Cassian was still on his way.

After waking up, Fox slowly scanned the room.

Her gaze lingered on the exit for a few seconds before finally settling on Nate.

She said nothing.

She simply stared straight at his face.

Nate chuckled and decided to start the conversation himself.

“Ms. Fox, this is a pretty nice gun.”

“Is that so?”

Fox raised her chin and gave him a wild smile.

“I’m pretty nice too~”

“Let me go, and I’ll cooperate with you~”

Her expression turned seductive, and her voice took on an unmistakably suggestive tone.

“Really, Ms. Fox?”

Nate leaned forward, his voice full of anticipation.

“And how exactly are you planning to cooperate with me?”

Elena was already starting to lose her patience.

She looked ready to intervene, but Julius stopped her.

Fox shifted slightly in her chair.

“Exactly the kind of cooperation you’re thinking about.”

She smiled sweetly at Nate, who was sitting barely two meters away.

Nate stared back at her.

He had to admit, despite the sharp lines of her face, she actually looked quite attractive when she smiled.

Then Nate leaned back in his chair and chuckled.

“All right, Ms. Fox. You can stop laying on the charm now.”

He paused.

“Oh, and could you stop working on the rope behind your back? It’s getting painful to watch.”

Nate had noticed long ago that Fox was using a small blade hidden in her bracelet to cut through the ropes.

She had already gotten halfway through them.

His expression turned serious.

Nate stood and pointed the gun at Fox’s head.

“I really don’t want to shoot you, ma’am.”

Fox froze.

Then her expression instantly turned cold.

The veins on her forehead bulged as she suddenly flexed both arms.

Snap!

The ropes around her body tore apart.

Fox exploded out of the chair with astonishing speed.

In an instant, she was directly in front of Nate, reaching for the gun in his hand.

Her fingers were just about to touch it when the weapon suddenly vanished.

Fox froze for a fraction of a second.

Then she felt an icy killing intent lock onto her.

Her speed involuntarily dropped.

Before she could react, a heavy impact struck her jaw.

Her vision shook.

Everything went black.

Fox was knocked straight back the way she had come and collapsed into the chair.

Nate shook out his hand.

He had hit her hard under the chin.

Since he had been worried that a lighter blow might not knock her out, he hadn’t held back much.

The noise startled the Gunsmith awake.

He opened his eyes and looked around, still completely confused about what was happening, when Nate spoke.

“Oh, you’re awake. Sleep well?”

“Huh?”

The Gunsmith looked completely lost.

“Guess not. Go back to sleep, then.”

Thud!

Nate walked over and punched him under the chin.

The Gunsmith immediately went back to sleep like a baby.

“You... didn’t hurt him too badly, did you?” Elena asked worriedly.

“No.”

It didn’t actually take that much force to knock someone unconscious with a hit to the chin.

Besides, Nate remembered how brutal the Fraternity’s training had been in the movie.

Compared to that, this was nothing.

He had only hit a little harder because he wanted to make sure the man actually stayed down.

“Manager, could you have them restrained differently? Rope clearly isn’t enough.”

Julius understood immediately.

He ordered the attendants to bring in two crosses, then had Fox and the Gunsmith secured tightly to them.

Cassian arrived shortly afterward.

The moment he saw the Gunsmith, who looked almost exactly like him, he froze.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Nate grinned at Cassian.

“So? Recognize him?”

Elena looked back and forth between the two men in amazement.

“There really are people who look this much alike. He’s basically just a younger, slimmer Cassian with a beard.”

Even Cassian looked stunned.

A rare expression of genuine shock appeared on his normally expressionless face.

It took him several seconds to recover before he finally answered.

“I don’t know him.”

“I thought you might have a twin brother.”

Nate rubbed his hands together.

“Since you don’t, I don’t have to worry about holding back.”

The Gunsmith’s faith didn’t seem nearly as strong as Fox’s.

Nate would test him again.

If that didn’t work, then there was nothing else to do but kill him.

Nate gave Julius a look.

Julius nodded and ordered an attendant to dump a bucket of water over the two captives.

Fox and the Gunsmith woke up again.

Nate remained seated in his chair, smiling as he watched them.

Fox was completely soaked.

Water dripped steadily from her hair.

She had stopped pretending now.

Her expression was icy as she stared silently at Nate.

The Gunsmith looked equally hostile.

He wasn’t much of a talker either.

For a while, no one said anything.

Eventually, Fox broke the silence.

“Where’s Bob?”

“Dead,” Nate replied.

After a brief hesitation, he added, “I killed him.”

“You!”

Anger burst into Fox’s voice.

After a moment, she forced it back down and spoke calmly.

“Then why haven’t you killed us?”

Her tone turned contemptuous.

“Are you just playing with your prey?”

Nate ignored the question and changed the subject.

“You two are from the Fraternity, aren’t you?”

Fox’s expression flickered with surprise.

“How do you know?”

“Was it Bob?” the Gunsmith asked from beside her.

Then he immediately shook his head.

“No. That doesn’t make sense. Bob was completely loyal to the organization, and his will was incredibly strong. He would never betray us.”

He stared at Nate.

“So how do you know?”

“The reason I haven’t killed either of you is because of Bob.”

Nate glanced toward Julius.

“Watch this.”

Julius gestured to one of the attendants.

A projector turned on.

The screen showed the complete surveillance footage of Nate and Bob inside the execution room.

“I hope you can handle what you’re about to see.”

Nate folded his arms and turned his attention to the screen.

Fox watched the footage of Nate shooting Bob’s fingers.

Hearing Nate’s warning, she still couldn’t help asking,

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll understand if you keep watching,” Nate said.

On the screen, Bob spoke.

“We follow the guidance of fate and assassinate the evil people fate reveals to us.”

The Nate in the recording answered,

“Don’t kid yourself. That thing only gives you a name...”

Time passed.

Nate watched the expressions of the two people in front of him gradually change.

Disdain became confusion.

Confusion turned into disbelief.

Then came pure shock.

Fox reacted the strongest.

Her eyes reddened.

Her body trembled.

She looked as though her soul had been torn out of her.

Bang!

The Nate on the screen fired.

Bob died from the shot.

The recording paused there.

“Being lied to doesn’t feel very good, does it?”

Nate stood and walked toward Fox.

“Please...”

Fox raised her head.

Tears were already gathering in her eyes.

“Please kill me!”

She knew now that she had killed people who never deserved to die.

Her faith.

Her efforts.

Everything she had devoted herself to.

It had all been built on a lie.

Everything she believed in had collapsed.