CHAPTER 434: CHAPTER 266: THE REAL AND FAKE KING? HAHA, KILL THEM ALL!_2

Catherine flicked her fingernail and said casually, "So, you might as well change your condition. Whether it’s money, status, or some international male and female superstars, I can satisfy you."

Upon hearing this, Dean fell silent.

Things weren’t that simple.

Catherine was avoiding the important issues.

Since she could obtain such detailed information while he was asleep, it meant that even if Catherine wasn’t as capable as Monsef, according to the information, she wouldn’t be afraid of him either.

Eliza was just a little girl.

Not an irreplaceable rare treasure.

A trade-off of benefits.

Getting someone to let go of a little girl would be effortless.

There must be some other reason Catherine was reluctant to mention, something she was powerless to do anything about.

However...

None of that concerned Dean.

This instance’s mission. The first task is survival. The second is to identify the King’s identity.

Considering the panel’s typical way of defining completion criteria.

As long as he confronted Monsef directly, like apprehending a criminal, and either verbally exposed his title as King or killed him, that should count as completing the task.

After Dean had sorted these thoughts, he slowly raised his head. "I know you have reservations and find it difficult, so let’s change the condition."

At his words, Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. The more readily she had agreed before, the more embarrassed she felt now. She still cared about her reputation, after all. Luckily, Dean before her was tactful enough to give her an out.

Catherine nodded. "Go ahead."

"I have three conditions, none too demanding.

"The first condition: I hope you can arrange for someone to take good care of my employer, Sofia, allowing her to live an ordinary life until she can live independently."

Rescuing Sofia’s sister, Eliza, wasn’t actually part of the panel’s tasks.

Dean raised this point mainly to maintain this body’s persona and to lay the groundwork for the subsequent conditions.

Catherine nodded. "I agree to this one!"

"The second condition: I want your help to hire a group of elites to attack Monsef’s manor!"

Before Catherine’s brow could even furrow, Dean immediately added, "These people will mainly be used to draw fire. Beyond that, your people don’t need to get involved. You’ll just need to spend a little money and go through special channels to hide your identity. That way, you can manage this!"

At his words, Catherine nodded.

If that’s the case... it wasn’t impossible.

The underworld has its own rules.

It was precisely because she had learned some new information during her investigation that she was unwilling to ask Monsef for a seemingly insignificant little girl.

But if it was just about hiring a band of desperadoes, that was not a problem.

Yet, this condition also aroused Catherine’s curiosity.

She batted her eyelashes. "What are you planning to do?"

"Kill Monsef and rescue Eliza!"

Dean raised his head, meeting Catherine’s curious gaze. He spoke nonchalantly, yet an oppressive, cold aura emanated from him, completely at odds with his appearance. It pierced Catherine’s heart as their eyes met, stirring ripples within her.

She couldn’t help but continue, "Although your marksmanship is good, infiltration and assassination aren’t that simple, and the likelihood of you dying there is much higher. Is a low-paying mercenary job really worth it?"

Dean chuckled lightly. "To me, a promise is more important than life!"

Mysterious, intriguing.

Catherine had to admit that Dean, all of a sudden, seemed to don a veil in her eyes, making her want to lift it and discover what kind of person he really was.

As they locked eyes, she seemed to recall something. A hint of seductiveness flashed in her eyes as she covered her mouth with a giggle. "You’re not like this in the beds of those employers’ wives."

Dean: "..."

Talk about hitting below the belt!

He couldn’t keep up this charade any longer.

This absurd business was something this body had been involved in; it had nothing to do with him!

Seeing his expression freeze, Catherine burst out laughing. Although the man was plain-looking, he was one of the rare few who could stir something in her heart.

She wiped away the tears from her laughter. "Alright, you can state your third condition now."

Dean, somewhat chagrined, said, "I want you to help me get Monsef’s exact whereabouts."

If he weren’t worried about affecting the mission.

He truly wanted to put this woman in her place, to have her kneeling before him, singing "Conquest"!

"No problem. That was essentially included in your second condition anyway." Catherine shook her head, disappointed. "I thought you might have some interesting conditions, but you’re surprisingly uninspired."

Whoa~

She’s really asking for it!

Dean grinned, a hint in his voice. "Perhaps you’d also like to experience my ’marksmanship’?"

Catherine raised an eyebrow and firmly responded, "If you’re better than me, why not?"

The two arrived at the shooting range.

Catherine pointed to the targets ahead. "Stationary, moving, and simulated targets – they’re all here. Which kind do you want to try?"

"All these are too boring!"

Dean shook his head, walked up to the gun table, picked up a pistol in each hand, and lazily fired a couple of shots to familiarize himself with the guns. Then, with a sudden flick of his wrists, he began firing with both hands.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

In less than a breath’s time, more than thirty bullets had been fired, the magazines emptied.

It wasn’t until he set the pistols down that the continuous reports of hits echoed from the nearby scoring machines.

All fixed targets, from twenty to fifty meters out, were hit dead center!

Catherine’s eyes widened as she witnessed all of this. She almost thought she was hallucinating!

"How’s my marksmanship?"

Catherine, looking at Dean who had walked up to her, finally snapped back to reality. "Are you some kind of monster?"

Hitting the bullseye of a stationary target wasn’t hard. She could do it easily too. But to do as Dean had, firing rapidly based purely on his feel for the guns while ignoring the recoil—it was truly unscientific, beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person!

This meant Dean’s feel for firearms had reached an incredible peak. Furthermore, each time he fired, he could instinctively use the recoil to reset his aim without compromising accuracy.

No wonder this guy managed to forcefully shoot his way out of a heavily guarded prison by himself!

An average squad facing him would be nothing more than target practice.

Dean’s tone was confident. "My ’little brother’s’ marksmanship is just as monstrous. Care to witness it?"

This woman had interrupted his moment. If he didn’t deal with her properly, he wouldn’t feel satisfied!

This body might be average.

But it wouldn’t hinder Dean from executing his Ah Di’s Seventy-Two Techniques!

Catherine, intrigued, failed to grasp the gravity of the situation.

She licked her lips. "Let’s go!"

A night of wild abandon.

The second night continued the wild abandon.

The third night... The ’hardware’ was too lacking; Dean was almost at his breaking point.

「The fourth day.」

Catherine finally brought good news, though she seemed reluctant to part with him.

Monsef was returning to the ’Palace’ tonight.

This allowed Dean to finally breathe a long sigh of relief.

If that bastard didn’t return soon, he would fail the mission and be sent back.

He couldn’t take it. He really couldn’t take it!

「Evening.」

The ’Palace’, which resembled a park, was quiet. Security guards patrolled ostensibly as usual, only ducking into corners to slack off when out of sight.

It couldn’t be helped.

The master of this estate was returning tonight.

Serving here was undoubtedly a bittersweet duty.

As for the reason... one only needed to hear the sultry music drifting from the brightly lit main building to understand.

On a mountaintop several miles away, Dean lowered the binoculars and took out a pager. "We move in ten minutes!"

He tossed the pager aside. Dean took a deep breath, grabbed the glider beside him, and leaped off the peak. Like a bat in the night, he vanished into the darkness, gliding towards his prey.

In exchange for his ’favors’, Catherine had provided Dean with exceptionally detailed intelligence.

Tonight, Monsef was entertaining his key subordinates.

Monsef was debauched yet cautious. He always feared being assassinated while frolicking with a crowd. So, every time he entertained his men and they all enjoyed themselves, he would make everyone present wear the same King masks.

This, however, didn’t affect Dean’s plan.

If he couldn’t tell the real one from the fakes, then he’d just kill them all! Simple.

As for his client’s sister, Eliza...

Dean could only hope she wasn’t in the crowd. If she was, then apologies would be all he could offer.

He wasn’t about to compromise his own interests for an NPC in a parallel world, a mere character in events that had already transpired!