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Chapter 106: Five Lives
🕑 Added 2024-12-06 16:55:41 +0000 UTC"Ah!"
"Bang! Bang!"
Gunshots and screams echoed in Ethan's ears, but no matter how hard he tried to start the car, it just wouldn't fire up.
As the gunshots grew closer, Ethan had no choice but to abandon his plan to drive away. He carefully pushed open the door, poking his head out to observe the situation outside.
He saw Fiss hiding behind a vehicle, holding a gun, his face contorted in pain. One of his arms had dislocated from the impact, bleeding profusely, while the other left arm was still intact.
But clearly, after firing several times, he had failed to hit anyone, showing he wasn't skilled at using his left hand to hold a gun.
As for the others, Ethan saw a black man lying motionless on the ground, the window of the driver's side of a truck shattered with a bloodied hand hanging out.
The truck had smashed into Fiss's car, mangling it beyond recognition. The two vehicles blocked the entire road, and Ethan's car had a huge dent in the front.
Ethan then used his rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of the enemy, and to his surprise, there was only one person—a tall figure wearing a bank-robber-like mask, leaving only his eyes exposed. He held a gun and was slowly approaching Fiss.
"Damn!" Ethan could tell that Fiss was done for. The enemy must have hired a professional assassin. Just one man had already taken out Fiss's underlings.
Unless Fiss could channel Keanu Reeves and pull off a bullet-time move to take the enemy out, he was a dead fish in Ethan's eyes.
To ensure his own survival, Ethan quickly circled around his car and assessed the surroundings.
The area near the cemetery was relatively desolate. The ground was flat, with only some weeds and a few solitary trees. There was no way to escape directly.
But luckily, the nearest tree was thick and leafy. If he could climb it and hide his body, he might be able to mislead the assassin into thinking he had fled.
Ethan took off his shoes, carefully placed them beside the car, and then, when the next gunshot rang out, he quickly crouched low and moved in the opposite direction toward the tree.
"Bang!"
"Ah!" Fiss's scream rang out behind him. Ethan took a deep breath, held it, and tried to calm himself.
He didn't look back. He quickly rolled and hid behind the tree, finally breathing a sigh of relief once he pressed his body against it.
Ethan then picked up a broken piece of the rearview mirror and used its reflection to observe Fiss's situation. He saw the gang leader kneeling on the ground, clutching his bleeding hand, cold sweat dripping from his face as he gritted his teeth and stared at the assassin in front of him.
"Who sent you to kill me?" Fiss asked through clenched teeth.
But the assassin didn't answer. He just raised his gun and aimed it at Fiss's forehead.
Fiss was a tough guy. Even in the face of death, he refused to back down. He just stared at the barrel, grinning fiercely.
"FXXKYO…"
"Bang!"
Fiss's face froze, his head dropped, and then he collapsed to the ground.
The assassin nodded and was about to turn to leave when suddenly, a mocking voice came from nearby: "Ooh, look! There's someone hiding here!"
The assassin turned his head and saw his backup, a guy in a floral shirt, holding a gun aimed at Ethan's back, forcing him to move toward the crash site.
"Hey, buddy, he's probably one of Fiss's men, huh? But all he knows how to do is run away?" The floral-shirted accomplice mocked Ethan, glancing at his partner.
Seeing the assassin silently walk over to him, the accomplice smiled and said, "Why not just kill him too? He could join his boss in the afterlife."
Ethan quickly raised his hands: "I need to clarify something. I have nothing to do with Fiss. I was just here for a funeral."
"Is that so?" The floral-shirted man raised an eyebrow.
Ethan immediately closed his eyes: "Hey, guys, I didn't see anything, and I didn't hear anything. I was knocked out after the car crash… is that okay?"
"Hear that? What a good story. I almost want to let you go, but unfortunately…" The floral-shirted man released the safety on his gun and pressed it against Ethan's head, "Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll tell the cops something you shouldn't…"
His eyes flashed with malice, and his finger pressed down hard, clearly intending to leave no survivors.
"Bang!"
The next moment, a gunshot shattered the silence.
"Thud!" Someone fell to the ground, but it wasn't Ethan.
Two seconds later, Ethan opened his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and relaxed his tense body. He turned to look at the floral-shirted man.
The accomplice was staring wide-eyed at the sky, a stream of blood gushing from his neck like a fountain, staining the black asphalt.
Ethan turned his head and saw the assassin, who had killed his partner with a knife at close range. His expression was a mix of emotions: "Tom, didn't expect us to meet like this."
That's right. The sharp-shooting, decisive assassin was none other than Ethan's former neighbor, Tom Brown.
As soon as the floral-shirted man had pressed the gun against his back, Ethan's keen eyesight had recognized Tom. He had considered that Tom might help him, but he never expected Tom to just kill the accomplice.
That's one way to be saved, right?
Tom looked at Ethan, who remained calm, and said, "I didn't expect it either."
"So this is how you make your money?" Ethan glanced around at the scene—four dead bodies: the assassin, Fiss, and two of Fiss's underlings, all lying lifeless.
"I'm good at nothing else." Tom paused for a moment before explaining.
"Alright, whatever…" Ethan sighed. "What are you going to do now?"
"I'll collect my payment from Wild Dog, then leave New York," Tom's eyes kept scanning the surroundings, afraid any passerby might witness the bloody scene.
"Then go quickly," Ethan said, suddenly remembering something. He stopped Tom, "Swap your gun for his."
Tom looked at the corpse of the floral-shirted man on the ground and paused for a moment.
"Better safe than sorry." Ethan gave a weak smile, about to get back in the car, but then thought of something else. "Wait… there's one more person."
"One more person?" Tom raised an eyebrow, confused.
Ethan walked over to Fiss's car, carefully opened the door with his jacket wrapped around his hand.
"Screech…" The door creaked open, and a body appeared in front of him. Looking further down, under the backseat of the sedan, they discovered Ashara, hiding behind one of Fiss's dead underlings.
But this woman, who had once been so arrogant, now appeared terrified, drained of color, with her fur coat shredded in several places, exposing deep scratches.
When she saw Ethan, she immediately waved her hands in a panic: "Don't kill me! I didn't see anything!"
Tom approached Ethan, realizing his mistake. He had thought Fiss's group was all dead, but he didn't realize there was one left.
He looked at Ethan, silently asking how he should handle the situation.
"Don't kill me! I really didn't see anything, Ethan! Please! I won't tell anyone about you and the assassin! Please!" Ashara cried, her makeup ruined, looking like a drowned clown, completely stripped of her former arrogance.
Unfortunately, her words only solidified Ethan's resolve.
"How foolish…" Ethan sighed and took two steps back, covering his ears with his fingers.
"No! Ethan! I…"
"Bang!"
Ashara's words were forever cut off at that moment, her expression frozen, a mix of regret and unwillingness as she left the world.
After Tom dealt with Ashara, Ethan walked over, found her phone under the seat, and took it.
The latest model of Nokia.
Opening the gallery, Ethan found several photos: one of Tom killing, one of the floral-shirted man holding a gun, and one of Ethan and Tom chatting.
Ashara must have snapped these shots through the car door's gap.
Luckily, Ethan had been cautious, or if these were found by the police, he'd have a hard time explaining things.
He took out the memory card and tossed both it and the phone into the burning flames, listening to the crackling of the fire as he zoned out.
On the other side, Tom had finished swapping the guns and clearing away any evidence that could turn against him
"I'm leaving." Tom whispered goodbye to Ethan, then returned to the truck and started to leave.
Seeing this, Ethan also took back his shoes, then sat back in the driving seat of his car, hugged the steering wheel with both hands, leaned down, pretending to be unconscious.
How unpredictable the world is. I only came to attend Raymond's funeral, but I witnessed a bloody massacre.
Five lives disappeared before his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, the sound of gunshots lingered in Ethan's ears.
This is America...the America where no one survives, and this is also the irresistible fate of those desperate black people.
Just one minute after Ethan returned to the car, a car came speeding from the direction of the cemetery. It was Budman.
He quickly got out of the car and stood among the corpses like a helpless child. Soon he couldn't control his nausea and vomited.
Ten minutes later, the sound of a police car rang in Ethan's ears. —— "What happened that day?"
"I'm sorry, I can't remember... I was unconscious, officer."
"You have no recollection of this at all? How did the car accident happen?"
"Let me think... I seemed to see a truck rushing over from the side of the road and crashing into the car in front. Then there was a shock and darkness. I heard a lot of gunshots in a daze, but my head was so dizzy that I lost consciousness after a while. When I woke up again, I was already in the hospital bed."
On the next day, Ethan was questioned by the police. He only suffered some skin and bone injuries, which did not affect his speech, so the police were eager to find out from him what happened that day.
Unfortunately, Ethan only said that he was unconscious and did not provide any useful information.
In addition, after the police investigation, they found that Fiss was the leader of a black gang, which made the whole matter even clearer. It must be a rival gang that sent people to kill him.
However, at this time, Ethan learned something from the police.
That is, the wild dog had died on the street two days ago, also by being shot.
So, who should Tom go to for payment?
