John Wick - Chapter 112: Catching Pokémon and Future Plans (Patreon)

Nate looked at Fox.

She was crying, and the sight of her tear-streaked face was genuinely heartbreaking.

Nate could understand what she was going through.

Having everything you believed in collapse was already painful enough. For someone who genuinely wanted to do good and believed she was fighting for justice, only to discover that her hands were stained with the blood of innocent people, the contrast was almost impossible for any normal person to accept.

“Your names are probably already on that list,” Nate said.

“Stop talking... just kill me!”

Fox screamed hysterically.

She tried to bite her tongue to kill herself, but Nate noticed what she was doing and dislocated her jaw before she could.

This was different from the movie.

There, she had been able to coolly curve a bullet around before taking her own life.

Now, she didn’t even have the ability to kill herself.

Helplessness, shame, and guilt crashed together until her emotions completely broke down.

Unable to speak, she could only make hoarse sounds through her throat, every one of them filled with frustration and despair.

That was exactly why Nate had restrained her so thoroughly.

He had been worried that once her faith collapsed, she would immediately put a bullet through her own head.

Nate turned toward the other captive.

“What about you, Mr. Gunsmith? What do you think?”

His worldview had clearly taken a beating too, but unlike Fox, the Gunsmith wasn’t desperate to die.

He lowered his head and muttered to himself for a moment before suddenly shouting at Nate.

“No! I can’t die! Fuck the list, and fuck the Fraternity!”

He hurriedly continued, “I can work with you! I know things. As long as you don’t kill me, I’ll do anything you want!”

Nate looked at him helplessly.

Just as expected.

He really was that kind of person.

Nate could understand wanting to survive, but he couldn’t trust someone who changed sides that easily.

If the Gunsmith joined them and Nate’s side ever became the weaker one, putting the man’s life in danger, he would betray them without hesitation.

Fox couldn’t speak.

All she could do was glare furiously at the Gunsmith through tear-filled eyes while making muffled noises.

“All right, all right. Calm down, Ms. Fox.”

Nate stepped forward and wiped the tears from her face.

“I genuinely respect people who are willing to risk everything for what they believe in. Bob too.”

“But wouldn’t dying like this be a waste?”

“In my eyes, killing the wrong people wasn’t really your fault. Your leader deceived you.”

“So at the very least, you could kill the leader who lied to you and set the organization back on the right path. Or wipe the organization out entirely.”

Nate looked at her.

“That would still be doing something good for the world, wouldn’t it?”

Fox gradually calmed down.

Slowly, she raised her head and looked at Nate.

“Looks like you don’t hate the idea.”

Nate reached over, took hold of her face, and popped her jaw back into place.

Fox looked at him without saying anything.

“Since we’ve reached an agreement and I’m willing to cooperate, can you let me down now?” the Gunsmith hurriedly asked.

Nate glanced at him and raised the gun.

“What I just said didn’t include you.”

He slowly aimed the muzzle at the Gunsmith.

“Sorry. Those who beg to live die. Those who ask to die live.”

The Gunsmith stared at him in disbelief.

“You fucking...”

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Blood burst from the Gunsmith’s forehead.

The bullet punched through his skull, pierced the cross behind him, and buried itself in the wall.

Nate blew the smoke from the muzzle, then removed the magazine and took a closer look.

The ammunition seemed to be custom-made.

Even the bullets had patterns engraved into them, and their penetration was far greater than that of ordinary .45-caliber rounds.

Fox watched the Gunsmith die.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them again, her gaze was firm.

“What do you want me to do?”

Nate pulled out his knife, cut through her restraints, and freed her.

“No rush. Sit down. Let’s talk.”

Julius led everyone into a private room.

They sat down together.

Fox’s clothes were still soaked, so Nate found a coat and draped it over her shoulders while Elena handed her a cup of hot cocoa.

“Do you know Cross?” Nate asked.

“You even know about him?” Fox asked in surprise.

“At The Continental, this can get you access to all kinds of information.”

Nate handed her a gold coin.

Fox picked it up and examined it.

“It’s beautifully made. Does your organization use these for everything? Is it pure gold? How do you even determine what one is worth?”

Nate gave an awkward laugh.

“To be honest, I still haven’t figured that part out either. We just use them.”

He quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, back to Cross. As far as I know, he used to belong to the Fraternity too. Why do you think he’s hunting your people?”

Fox immediately understood.

“Could it be... he discovered the list was fake?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s why he’s been killing members of your organization. But there’s something I don’t understand.”

Nate looked at her.

“You all trusted your leader that completely? Out of everyone in the Fraternity, Cross was the only one who figured it out?”

The question caught Fox off guard.

She remained silent for quite a while before finally answering.

“We were only allowed into the room with the Loom of Fate once, on the day we joined the Fraternity. So...”

“Right.”

Nate didn’t even know what to say to that.

He moved on.

“What was your next mission supposed to be after this one?”

Fox hesitated.

Her expression became complicated before she slowly answered.

“A while ago, we located Cross’s son.”

“We were going to train him into the best assassin possible, then send him to kill Cross.”

Even saying it aloud was difficult for her.

After fighting for so long, discovering that she had actually been one of the villains was hard to swallow.

“You were going to make a father and son kill each other?”

Nate shook his head.

“Your Fraternity really is fucked up.”

Elena nodded repeatedly beside him.

Fox lowered her head in embarrassment and stopped talking.

Realizing he might have gone a little too far, Nate changed the subject.

“Is Cross really that strong?”

“Extremely.”

“He’s already killed more than ten of our people. Fraternity members keep getting their heads blown apart by bullets coming from places no one can even identify.”

That ridiculous long-range sniping.

Nate remembered it clearly from the movie.

Those bullets were practically rockets. They could even separate into multiple sections.

He continued.

“How many people are left in the Fraternity?”

“Less than fifty now,” Fox replied.

“And how many of them are on your level?”

Fox thought for a moment.

“In terms of combat ability, I’m in the top five.”

“As for loyalty... before all this, I would’ve been in the top three.”

“That makes things easier.”

Nate stood up with a solemn expression.

“Then I’ve got a mission for you, Agent Fox. Time to play double agent.”

Fox stared at him for a moment before standing as well.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Go back to the Fraternity.”

“Find Cross’s son. Protect him. Train him. Turn him into an excellent fighter.”

“And when the time is right, tell him the truth.”

Nate’s expression turned serious.

“When that happens, I’ll bring Cross and my people over, and together we’ll tear that fucking organization apart.”

Fox understood.

She extended her hand.

“It’s a deal, then. We’ll stay in contact.”

“My name is Fox. What’s yours?”

The young man reached out and shook her hand.

“Nate.”

The atmosphere between them had become surprisingly friendly.

Elena smiled as she watched the two shake hands.

Then, after a moment, Fox said something that ruined the mood.

“But the Gunsmith is dead.”

“How am I supposed to return to the Fraternity without Sloan becoming suspicious?”

Nate gave her a mysterious smile.

“Easy.”

“We put on a show.”

He paused.

“It might hurt a little, though. You’ll have to endure it.”

Fox didn’t seem bothered.

“That’s nothing. For gunshot wounds, our orga...”

She stopped herself.

“I mean, the Fraternity has a special medicinal bath. It can heal wounds pretty quickly.”

...

Half an hour later, gunfire erupted inside the Rome Continental Hotel.

A tall figure smashed through the front doors and sprinted toward a red supercar parked by the roadside, moving faster than an Olympic sprinter.

She was incredibly fast, although her running form looked slightly off.

There were two bullet holes in her shoulder, and blood had soaked through her clothes.

The car’s engine roared to life.

It shot away from the curb.

Only then did a group of hotel security guards rush outside, firing their pistols wildly at the back of the fleeing car.

One of its tires blew out.

The car didn’t slow down.

The bare rim scraped across the pavement, spraying sparks everywhere as the vehicle disappeared into the distance.

Watching from upstairs, Nate followed the red car with his eyes until it vanished from sight.

“Well then.”

“Good luck, Ms. Fox.”