After the gunshot, the bar fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone sat staring blankly as the ping-pong-sized hole in Corin's chest healed at high speed until it vanished, leaving only a torn hole in his clothes.
"what the f*ck!"
Although the smell of gunpowder had overwhelmed the cigar smoke, it did not dispel the shadow in Baring's heart.
He unconsciously opened his mouth wide.
He had expected his large-caliber pistol to blast Corin away or even blow his chest apart.
But he had never imagined anything as inexplicable as what was happening now.
The agents in the bar were stunned beyond words.
They had seen countless scenes of bullets passing through the human body, bloody, brutal, but within reason.
A scene like this, as if from a sci-fi movie, made no sense at all.
Corin glared at Baring in reproach, displeased with his sudden action, and unfolded the letter as if the one who had just been shot was not himself.
There was only one sentence on the paper, "Kill the brat who delivers the letter to you."
After reading the contents, Corin asked curiously, "Respected Mr. Baring, the mission you personally handed me, why would you ask the receiver to kill me?"
"Could it be… you betrayed the organization? Or are the lives of agents expendable for your plan?"
Scorpion Baring, shamed and enraged, finally showed his sting. He fired his gun and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? KILL HIM!"
The roar of bullets bursting from gun barrels instantly filled the cramped bar.
The wall where the door stood was soon riddled with holes.
Excited at the prospect of a tense showdown, Corin licked his lips.
A run of more than ten kilometers had been only a warm-up. He crouched low and vanished like Death in the night.
Every time the figure flashing among the crowd paused, a living life was snuffed out.
A fully enhanced body plus healing that ignored bullets plus Jeet Kune Do mastery, what kind of power did that unleash?
The answer was obvious.
In an instant, the agents lay on the floor in various shapes.
The light ones, facedown with their noses towards their buttocks.
The heavy ones, noses toward buttocks, with dozens or hundreds of bullet holes.
When he finished off the agents and looked at Baring again, the scorpion had lost all commanding presence and lay slumped on the ground.
His legs instinctively pushed the ground to retreat, even though his back was already pressed tightly against the bar.
Several gunshot wounds on his body, caused by stray bullets, were now gushing blood.
"Oh, right, Mr. Baring, there's something I forgot to tell you—"
Corin squatted in front of Baring with a casual expression and used his tie to wipe blood splattered on his hands.
"You're Fired."
———
In years he has lived, old Baring had not been so happy as he was today.
Because he had obtained information from the Hell's Kitchen local bosses about a vibranium deal. [T/N: Gordon Ramsay on side-mission]
The higher-ups in the organization had promised him that if he could find the source of vibranium, his agent rank would be promoted and entry into the upper echelon would be imminent.
"I knew it!"
The organization would never let an opportunity to seize vibranium slip by.
So when he first heard that there was news of vibranium in Hell's Kitchen, his not-so-bright bald head mulled for two nights before coming up with a plan.
Find an unlucky soul to enter Hell's Kitchen's core area first, no matter what he did there.
At the same time, spread word that Hydra had a traitor with vibranium information.
That way, he could openly send forces into Hell's Kitchen's core area, and the vibranium trade would inevitably be disrupted.
Stir the water first, then fish in the muddy water.
This was Hydra's most common method of infiltrating various circles of society.
Unexpectedly, the Crowley Organization was not a solid, unified block either.
Just as his plan began, those greedy guys under Crowley stepped forward and shouted, "Fresh vibranium intel, reasonable price!"
In the end they easily sold the intel for a mere $500,000, and Corin naturally became a spent pawn.
But he did not expect that this damned Corin would return like a demon to ruin the plan.
What was worst was that the guy who had almost wiped out most of his core men was asking only to be fired?
'Just fired?'
'Brother! Hydra is not some regular company. Is resigning such a trivial matter worth making such a fuss over?'
'Is it necessary?'
'Even though I ordered people to kill you, aren't you fine?'
'Is an apology not enough?'
Baring's heart teetered on the edge of collapse.
"Corin, my brother, let's talk reasonably! Resignation, fine, I'll let you go!"
Looking at Baring's face full of desperate longing, Corin decided the fierce scorpion persona he remembered suited that face more.
As if remembering something, he looked expectantly at Baring.
"Mr. Baring, since you agree to my resignation, can we discuss compensation?"
Whether carrying out missions or ordering hits, it was all Baring's scheme, so Corin felt he deserved compensation. This was not blackmail. It was plain and simple extortion.
Poor old Baring watched his right leg gradually lose feeling and mentally cursed.
But his hands moved obligingly as he picked up his phone and began to act.
"Corin, my brother, your request is very reasonable. I plan to give you $500,000 as severance pay…"
"On one condition, take me to the hospital immediately!"
Corin showed no reaction.
"One million!", Seeing Corin silent, Baring bit his teeth and doubled the price.
Corin at this time was calculating in his head how long it would take him to earn $500,000 delivering food. The answer, never in his lifetime.
No way, he had just crossed over and his thinking had not adjusted yet.
Just as Corin was reeling from the shock of $500,000, Baring shouted a new number.
"Two million dollars!"
"Corin, my brother, my liquid funds are only this much. If you don't send me to the hospital now, I will die! For God's sake!"
"How much? Two million?"
Responding, Corin's eyes lit up, but the crafty style he remembered in Scorpion Baring warned him not to trust easily, unless the transfer was immediate.
"Deal."
Corin smiled and agreed.
"But, I want it now. Otherwise you won't be going anywhere."
Forced, Baring had no choice but to comply. He made a call and ordered his men to transfer the money to Corin immediately.
The wait was agonizing; midnight banks were not all open.
Baring felt very cold and thought that no matter what connections his men used, whoever completed this would become his new favorite.
Clink!
Minutes later, the sound of coins colliding rang in Corin's ears as the system prompted:
[Transfer received! Account balance: 2,001,380 dollars.]
Corin felt as if in a dream, 'So much money, obtained so easily?'
'If I was delivering food—'
'Nope! Get out of it, you dumbf*ck!''
The lingering smell of blood and the corpses in the room made him realize he was no longer the delivery rider who woke early, worked late in all weather and still had to humbly endure others' faces.
'What am I now? A Hydra agent?'
Not quite. After all, he had just fired his boss and received a huge severance.
Thinking of this, an image of a blonde, blue-eyed beauty flashed in his mind.
Although he did not know her name, the profession of bounty hunter seemed to match his current situation very well.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers and decided.
From now on his new profession, bounty hunter.
Lost in thought, Corin did not hear Baring's cries for help until the man's voice became weak and he could barely speak, face ashen.
Corin finally reacted.
"Oops!"
"Sorry, Mr. Baring, almost forgot you. I'll take you for treatment right now!"
At first Baring thought Corin had taken the money and would turn on him, just as he had done many times before. He despaired.
Suddenly hearing Corin's words he lit up with hope. His lips trembled and he could barely speak, nodding fervently as if begging Corin to transform into Superman and carry him to the hospital.
"Thank—"
"He killed boss Baring!"
"FINISH HIM OFF!!"
The returning agents, seeing the bar's carnage, made their decision.
"HAIL HYDRA!"
The light in Baring's eyes was extinguished, 'Hail my ass!'