The fifth-floor window suddenly burst outward, and four people leaped down one after another. Countless shards of glass shot through the air like daggers and flying knives.
Scenes like this are rare even in Hollywood blockbusters. Fortunately, the area around the Brown Hotel wasn’t too crowded—it wasn’t on a bustling street—so not many ordinary people witnessed it. Before the stunned onlookers could even process what they’d seen, the key players had already vanished.
The bald giant, once known as the “Devil” in the assassin world, and the Vatican ascetic Michael—neither of them had truly left. Instead, they had circled back to the Brown Hotel.
The two of them had joined forces and still failed to take down Jiang Fei. That left a bitter taste in their mouths, and they were furious. This was no longer just about their honor or the promise they’d made to the leader of the Sky Net organization.
Yes, they owed favors, but as long as they’d put in a genuine effort, it didn’t really matter if they succeeded or not. After all, simply agreeing to help was already enough to settle the debt.
But now the most critical issue was this: they had provoked a terrifyingly formidable opponent like Jiang Fei, yet they hadn’t managed to finish him off on the spot. That meant from now on, they’d have a deadly enemy on their hands!
An enemy who would most likely be gunning for their heads for a long time to come.
And if the founder of the Seven Kills Group, the Lion King, also survived this ordeal—since he hadn’t died either—then…
Facing this situation, Augustine might have had it a little easier. After all, he was a barefoot man with nothing to lose—he’d always operated alone and was used to being a loner. His current strength seemed far inferior to Jiang Fei’s; he was completely outclassed. But he could always find a place to hide. The world was vast, and with his skills, it was almost impossible for Jiang Fei to track him down.
At worst, he’d lose some face, but his life wouldn’t be in real danger, and he could continue living freely.
But for the Vatican ascetic Michael, the trouble was much more serious.
From their earlier exchange, as long as Jiang Fei wasn’t an idiot, he’d have easily guessed Michael’s identity. Even if he didn’t know Michael’s name or exact position, he’d definitely know he was from the Vatican—an ascetic. That was absolutely certain!
You can run from the monk, but you can’t run from the temple.
If Jiang Fei joined forces with the Lion King and went straight to the Vatican, Michael would be in deep trouble. No matter how protective the Vatican might be, it would be very hard for them to sweep this matter completely under the rug.
At this thought, Michael completely lost the compassion and consciousness that an ascetic should have—the kind that saves people from suffering and helps the downtrodden—and became incredibly enraged instead.
Or rather, saving people was something he only did when he was in a good mood. If he was in a foul mood, he couldn’t care less about helping others.
So, Augustine and Michael hadn’t really left the Brown Hotel; they’d only left the street and returned inside!
Jiang Fei, the strongest fighter, had escaped, but the other four members of the Seven Kills Group were still in the hotel, mopping up the Sky Net assassins.
These four weren’t weak by any stretch. The least capable among them could easily crush an S-rank assassin and was almost on par with a double-S-rank. The stronger ones—like Jing Zhe, the Lion King’s personal disciple—were formidable even among double-S-rank assassins, and the others could at least hold their own for a couple of exchanges.
Initially, both Augustine and Michael had focused solely on Jiang Fei. They had no interest in these lower-tier Seven Kills members. In fact, after killing Jiang Fei, they hadn’t planned on touching these people at all.
But now that Jiang Fei had slipped away cleanly, their pent-up fury had nowhere to go. Naturally, they decided to vent their rage by slaughtering these ordinary Seven Kills members and finishing them all off.
At this point, every corner of the Brown Hotel was under Sky Net’s surveillance, so they knew exactly what was happening. The Seven Kills members were operating separately, but finding them wasn’t difficult.
Moreover, Jing Zhe, Lie Shou, and the other two were moving exceptionally fast. Ordinary S-rank assassins posed absolutely no threat to them.
Even back when Qiao Qiao and Shou Qiang were rookies, they could take down S-rank assassins alive while making sure they didn’t escape. So for these veterans, who didn’t need to worry about keeping anyone alive and could just go straight for the kill, it was even easier.
So while Jiang Fei was locked in his fierce battle against Augustine and Michael—both at the Dan Jin level—Qiao Qiao, Lie Shou, and the others had already swept through the upper echelons of Sky Net and were preparing to regroup with Jiang Fei. That’s when they caught sight of the three-way fight.
In particular, when they saw Jiang Fei overwhelmed but managing to escape through the window, they all breathed a sigh of relief for him. At the same time, they quickly realized the danger they were now in!
Jiang Fei could escape from the combined assault of Augustine and Michael while carrying an assassin he’d grabbed for some unknown reason.
But what about them?
If Augustine and Michael couldn’t catch Jiang Fei and came back to the hotel to deal with them, could they possibly escape those two alive?
These were opponents on a completely higher level. Against them, the four of them probably wouldn’t stand a chance—none of them would make it out!
So the moment they saw Jiang Fei jump out the window, they made a snap decision: get out of the hotel immediately!
Unfortunately, they were just a step too slow.
They rushed downstairs as fast as they could, trying to disappear quickly. But just as they reached the hotel lobby, they saw Augustine and Michael walking in with grim expressions.
“Oh no! Back upstairs!” Jing Zhe ordered coldly, without hesitation.
Neither of these two was a pushover. With their reckless and arrogant behavior, the group had no doubt that even in a crowded public place like the lobby, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Their only option now was to head upstairs, find a place to hide temporarily, or do what Jiang Fei had done—break into a room on the second or third floor, smash the window, and jump out. That was their only slim chance of survival.
Forget about the elevator.
If the elevator wasn’t on the first floor and couldn’t take them up immediately, Augustine and Michael would catch up in no time. If they got trapped inside, they’d be dead for sure.
As elite fighters who could easily demolish S-rank assassins, the four of them sprinted up the stairs at an incredible speed—too fast for ordinary people to even register.
But still, Augustine and Michael sensed them.
“Can’t kill Jiang Fei? Then we’ll kill you lot instead!” Fuming with rage, both men sneered, took a step, and sped toward the hotel’s spiral staircase in pursuit.
“Move, move, move! They’ve spotted us—they’re coming!” Jing Zhe shouted urgently.
As members of the Seven Kills Group, they were all top-tier fighters, renowned across various global factions, and rarely challenged. But the moment they’d joined the organization, they’d already braced themselves for the possibility of sacrifice.
So yes, they were anxious to escape. Nobody wants to die, after all.
Even those who genuinely don’t fear death still don’t want to die—not unless they’ve lost all interest in living.
Still, none of the four felt fear or panic.
And naturally, none of them would blame Jiang Fei for fleeing at the last moment.
First of all, Jiang Fei wasn’t even a formal member of the Seven Kills Group. But even if he were, would it be right for him to recklessly fight to the death against an enemy he clearly couldn’t beat?
A wise man knows when to adapt. To keep fighting when you know it’s hopeless—that’s just foolishness.
A gentleman can wait ten years for revenge. As long as you’re alive, there’ll always be a chance to settle the score.
Besides, Jiang Fei didn’t know their exact situation. If he’d stalled any longer, they might all have died together.
At this point, it was already a win if at least some of them could survive.
The real problem was that the enemy was just too powerful, having sent two fighters on par with the Dan Jin level. Even if their founder, the Lion King, were here, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance either.
“Damn it! Who the hell is backing this godforsaken Sky Net organization, to be able to mobilize two Dan Jin-level experts? No wonder a mere assassin group dared to challenge the Seven Kills!”
“If we really can’t escape, we’ll go down fighting! Even if we die, we’ll make sure those bastards suffer for it!”
As they raced up the stairs, the four couldn’t help cursing, but the distance between them and Augustine and Michael kept shrinking.
“Jing Zhe, should we split up?” asked Lie Shou, the stocky member, in a low voice.
By now, they’d reached the second floor. Heading up would take them to the third; heading inside was the second-floor corridor.
With no time to deliberate, Jing Zhe answered almost immediately: “Split up! Shui Mo and I will keep going to the third floor, then split again later. Lie Shou, you and Dan Qing take the second floor and split in opposite directions—find a chance to jump out the window!”
Four people split into two teams, then into four. With luck, at least two of them could survive. If they stayed together, none of them would escape—the two Dan Jin fighters would kill every last one.
Under these circumstances, saving whoever could be saved was the best they could hope for.
As for who would live and who would die—that was up to fate.
Maybe Jing Zhe would fall. Maybe Lie Shou, Dan Qing, or Shui Mo…
At that thought, all four felt a heavy weight in their hearts. The possibility of losing a teammate here was agonizing. Even though they’d prepared themselves for death, they still dreaded the outcome.
“Take care!”
There was no time for sentimentality. At the second-floor stairwell, they exchanged that one heavy word and immediately went their separate ways.
