Chapter 45: Controlling the Brotherhood

Wesley and the others had no idea what had happened.

After a moment of blankness, they only heard three sharp crackling sounds, followed by slow, deliberate gunfire.

By the time their vision began to return, all but Sloan were lying in pools of blood.

Cohen, in a calm and composed manner, placed his pistol back in his waistband.

"What... happened?"

Carlos, rubbing his aching eyes, looked at the scene in disbelief.

"The enemies have been eliminated, Mr. Carlos," Cohen replied.

"You... how did you do it?"

As the others slowly regained their vision and saw the situation, they whispered among themselves, shocked. Only Fox's face remained calm, seemingly having anticipated this.

Cohen walked over to Sloan, who stood frozen, staring at the corpses around him.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Cohen Wang, the Knight of God's Wrath. I'm glad to personally rid the world of you."

He grabbed Sloan's neck as if holding a chicken about to be slaughtered.

Approaching a looms machine, with its densely packed threads, the shuttle moved at an incredibly fast pace.

Everyone guessed what he was about to do.

Just moments ago, Sloan was their unchallenged leader!

Cohen turned around. "The next scene is quite gory, so don't look, good children!"

With a strong arm, he pressed Sloan's head down. "Pffft!"

The shuttle instantly pierced into his temple, and the white silk threads were dyed a celebratory bright red.

Those who witnessed this scene wore complex expressions, some even with tears in their eyes.

No matter what, they were once comrades who fought side by side.

Cohen clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Everyone, instead of feeling sorrow for him, think about yourselves.

They are dead, but the Brotherhood cannot become history along with them.

Go cleanse the stains from the Brotherhood, and through killing, achieve your own redemption!"

...

Later, Cohen sat in Sloan's former office, checking his loot.

There was no doubt that Sloan was a silver-tier target, and the silver loot box progress was now 1/5.

The black iron and bronze-tier loot box progress had reached 3/37 and 17/31, respectively.

He opened a new black iron loot box and got 3 attribute points, saving them.

He also triggered an achievement.

[Congratulations, you have received the "Spread of Beliefs" achievement reward: Special Achievement Loot Box.]

Cohen frowned. "Spread of beliefs?"

This belief seemed clearly designed for those who were guilty and seeking redemption.

If it were to be widely spread, would this world turn into a path of slaughter?

"Join my cult, and you will need a weapon, a few heads, some hearts, and a few skeletons..."

Too brutal!

He opened the loot box.

[Congratulations, you have received the reward: Master-level Skill Upgrade Card.]

Cohen looked at his advanced skills. First, he dismissed Trap Mastery.

Then there was Basketball, but he certainly wasn't going to compete in that league—he was too invincible. How could that Akron gorilla still be a contender for GOAT?

As for Swimming and Underwater Swimming Mastery... well, if he wasn't competing with the league, should he go after Phelps instead?

The only valuable skill seemed to be Assault/Rifle Mastery.

This ability wasn't limited to just mastering submachine guns and assault rifles, but also all similar automatic weapons. Light and heavy machine guns and long rifles counted too.

After some consideration, he didn't immediately use the upgrade card.

There wasn't any special need at the moment. Perhaps the next time he opened a box, it would give him a more useful skill. He decided to wait.

That night, the Assassin Brotherhood went through an unprecedented transformation.

Cohen's words, "Through killing, gain redemption," though initially only lightly entering people's hearts, would gradually become the Brotherhood's true creed over time with Fox's implementation.

Night fell, and Cohen naturally stayed the night.

The next morning, he woke up feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep.

While having breakfast and reading the news, a piece of good news caught his eye.

Stark had finally flown to his fated Afghanistan!

He had been planning his big money scheme for quite a while now!

With the previous 16 million he had earned, plus profits from striking at gangs and occasionally picking up discarded papers, his total assets amounted to 20 million USD.

Through David's meticulous operations, the money was divided into several small accounts, leveraging as much as possible and short-selling Stark Industries stock.

To avoid drawing attention, David had spent several days completing these operations.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the news of Stark being injured or missing, and he could make a big profit.

But that wasn't the end—this deal could earn him many profits.

Stark went missing, Stark Industries' stock plummeted.

Stark returned, stock surged.

Stark announced the closure of the weapons research and production division, stock fell.

Stark revealed he was Iron Man, stock surged.

Stark transformed the company into a green energy company, and stock kept rising.

As long as he timed everything right, a new billionaire would be born.

A kick opened the supermodel door—no more early mornings for kings!

...

In the evening, Cohen met with the Black Widow again at their previous meeting spot.

Coulson had called him out to explain things over the phone earlier.

Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Coulson were all there.

Natasha looked weary, clearly not having had a good couple of days.

Hawkeye also looked downcast, as Fury had initiated an internal investigation as soon as he found out Dreykov was still alive.

Their authority as senior agents had been severely restricted.

"F*ck, we're clearly innocent!" they muttered.

Just as Cohen stood, a deep, special voice came from behind. "I don't know which name you prefer, Iron Man... or Demon Face?"

Turning around, a tall, imposing black man in a black trench coat slowly walked towards him.

Upon seeing him, Cohen was deeply shaken.

This... this was the legendary Nick Fury?

A diamond-tier big shot?

According to his system knowledge, above gold-tier wasn't diamond-tier, but platinum-tier. This man was two levels higher than Black Widow!

If he could take him down, would he be able to skyrocket?

At least get some Asgardian bloodline or a full set of Spider-Man abilities?

That would be the ultimate rise!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, his eyes shining with eager anticipation.

His hands were itching!

On the other hand, seeing Cohen's shock, Nick Fury was quite pleased with his carefully designed entrance.

This was the effect he wanted—Demon Face, kneel and serve me!

But when he walked up to Cohen, he found the latter was eyeing him with an extremely excited gaze, as if appraising some precious treasure.

Something didn't feel right.

What was worse, Cohen grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go, as if he was reluctant to part with something precious.

F*ck, something was definitely off!

Sure enough, from those eager eyes, for a brief moment, Fury felt a strong, almost tangible, murderous intent.

In an instant, he was frozen with cold fear!

(End of Chapter)