37

Chapter 37 - Nine Snakes Pulling Their Hips

"If this mysterious organization turns out to be S.H.I.E.L.D., then we're in for a business without capital or reserve," Locke mused.

After promising, Locke signaled for the waiter to bring him the information on the Roman Brotherhood and the details regarding the mysterious organization.

"It's all prepared," the Red Devils assured him. "Dumby will hand it over to you."

Locke hung up, then turned to Dumby, who appeared serious and unsmiling. Without a word, Dumby retrieved two documents from his jacket and handed them to Locke. "Be cautious, Mr. Wushuang."

Locke accepted the documents with a smile. "If I wanted caution, I wouldn't have chosen the path of an assassin."

With a nod exchanged between them, Locke and Dumby left their table and headed towards the elevator.

Though Locke had never crossed paths with the Snake Shield before, he harbored no fear.

After all, he knew more about S.H.I.E.L.D. than Nick Fury himself.

Exiting the hotel, Locke scanned his surroundings before turning down an alley.

Thirty seconds later, two burly men emerged from the hotel, their gazes locked onto Locke.

Observing their approach, Locke continued deeper into the alley.

Yet, the alley remained empty and devoid of life.

"Where did he go?"

"Did we lose him?"

Suddenly, Locke dropped from above. "Looking for me?"

The two men turned, but before they could react—

*Puff! Puff!*

They collapsed to the ground.

Locke retrieved the documents from their pockets, only to find them counterfeit.

Fake credentials.

Locke chuckled, glancing at the corpses. "Eager, aren't they?"

These two were either assassins or government agents. Locke preferred the former; official agents might possess fake credentials that were legitimate in the system's eyes. Only assassins could have genuine fake credentials.

Later that evening, while showering at home, Locke reflected on the encounter. His thoughts drifted to the two men from the alley. He decided to await news the following day to confirm their identities—if there was any news at all. If so, they were likely government agents; if not, they were assassins.

In recent times, as the societal atmosphere grew more turbulent, many sought a slice of the assassin world's pie. However, most newcomers were merely cannon fodder. Only a handful became renowned killers among the thousands in New York City.

The hierarchy of stepping on others existed within the assassin circles too. Locke himself had risen to power by dismantling the New York Brotherhood.

In his library, Locke opened the documents provided by the Red Devils regarding the mysterious organization and Victoria Knox.

The first page featured a stunning photograph.

"Victoria Knox."

Locke raised an eyebrow. "How did the Red Devils manage to snap this picture of Victoria?"

In terms of mystery, Locke couldn't hold a candle to Victoria Knox. His history was traceable, starting in Texas and culminating in New York with the Brotherhood's destruction.

Victoria Knox, however, remained an enigma. Her origins were shrouded, and even the intel provided by the Red Devils—an authority in espionage—marked her as 'unknown.'

By the time she'd surfaced in public consciousness, Victoria was already a formidable arms smuggler.

Rumors suggested Victoria had a past as an assassin; her skills certainly supported such claims. Others speculated she was a government plant, only to have those claims refuted by Victoria's subsequent escapades.

The prevailing theory was that Victoria had once been an operative for a state agency before defecting.

Locke considered this but then dismissed it.

The Red Devils claimed Victoria had been ambushed in Chechnya recently while dealing arms. A sixteen-year-old girl, disguised as a hostage, had surprised Victoria and incapacitated her. Before Victoria's team could respond, the mysterious girl had spirited her away aboard an organization's plane. Victoria hadn't been seen since, presumed dead.

"A sixteen-year-old girl?"

Locke's thoughts shifted to the possibilities—was it an organization like Agent Chiguo, which trained young girls as assassins?

But he shook his head; the Red Fruit spy organization had been dismantled, allegedly meeting its end on Hong Kong Island.

Was Snake Shield capable of such operations?

Wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. reduced to a mere shadow of its former self, its ranks thinned?

Having watched Marvel movies, Locke knew of superheroes, S.H.I.E.L.D., and its murky operations.

But Hydra had operated within S.H.I.E.L.D. for years undetected; if it weren't for their internal strife, S.H.I.E.L.D. might have succumbed entirely.

In essence, if Hydra were to resurge now, they might indeed stand a chance of world domination.

Yet, Hydra was in decline, biding their time until their inevitable collapse in four years.

...