?64: Chapter 58 It’s Too Hard 64: Chapter 58 It’s Too Hard Paris.

    It didn’t take long to get to Paris from London.

    The Eurostar high-speed train only took two hours and fifteen minutes.

    After arriving in Paris, Gao Yi and Sean had no idea what to do next, but they agreed to figure it out once they were in Paris.

    But once they arrived, they truly didn’t know what to do.

    “Where should we go?”

    “I don’t know.”

    Sean didn’t know where to go, and Gao Yi knew even less.

    He spread his hands and said, “What should we do?”

    Sean didn’t look dejected.

    As a mature assassin’s assistant, he had already grown accustomed to the unexpected events that could cause a mission to fail.

    “There’s so much we should be doing,” Sean began, counting on his fingers.

    “We should find out where Henry is hosting the dinner, why someone suddenly put a bounty on Henry’s head, whether Ditzel will still attend Henry’s dinner, and if the dinner really is tomorrow, who the invited guests are.

    There’s just too much, too much…”

    Near the train station was not an ideal place to make plans, but Gao Yi’s habit was to just start doing something, which he thought was better than doing nothing at all.

    “Well, let’s just go and do what we need to do.

    You mentioned finding out where Henry’s dinner is being held.

    How do we find that out?”

    Sean replied seriously, “Henry owns two castles, one in the Pentrian area north of Paris and another in the Seri area to the east.

    He bought a very large manor in the Seri area, which includes a golf course and a nature reserve.

    He spent six million euros on purchasing the manor and another twenty million euros on its maintenance and renovation.

    So, if Henry is to host a dinner, it can only be at Seri Manor.”

    Gao Yi was stunned for a moment and asked, “How did you get this information?”

    Sean replied in a low voice, “All these details are publicly accessible.

    Henry’s purchase of the castles can be checked online at any time.

    After the renovation of the manor was complete, he even hosted a grand banquet there.

    All this information is publicly available and easy to find, it’s just that not many people pay attention to it.”

    “So this information is definitely accurate.

    Now that we know where the location is, what’s our next step?”

    Gao Yi was clearly the less experienced one, but now, he was the one pushing the mission forward.

    This was a classic case of ‘the ignorant are fearless.’ Sean understood the difficulty of this mission and knew that after the recent complications, the mission had almost become impossible to complete.

    But Gao Yi didn’t care about any of that; the job wasn’t done yet, and he thought they should at least try first.

    Sean thought for a moment and said, “I’ve been thinking about this all the way here.

    Now, let me share my thoughts with you, and then you can make a decision.”

    “I make the decision?”

    “You’re the assassin.

    I provide the intelligence and advice, but the final decision is yours.

    No worries, let’s treat this mission as a real-life training exercise.”

    With a gesture, Sean said seriously, “As long as we don’t physically engage, it will certainly be safe, and the training will be even more effective.”

    “Alright, go ahead.”

    Sean thought for a moment and said, “Firstly, the reason Henry is hosting a charity dinner is also a common process among underworld figures who want to legitimize their identity.

    It’s to tell everyone that from now on, I will only engage in legitimate business and will cease all illegal activities.”

    “Oh…

    I see.”

    “So, this charity dinner is a symbolic event.

    Although he isn’t as influential as Ditzel, it’s a very important event for Henry’s wealth and position.

    Therefore, the standards for his dinner will be very high.

    At a minimum, it must attract celebrities, business tycoons, and stars.”

    “So, the higher the status of the people attending the dinner, the higher the status they confer on Henry.

    Got it.”

    Sean said seriously, “Henry used to be one of Ditzel’s hitmen and is deeply trusted by Ditzel.

    Therefore, Henry still bears Ditzel’s mark.

    This means Ditzel will likely attend this charity dinner to help boost Henry’s value and to prove something to his former subordinates—that as long as they perform well and remain obedient, it’s possible for them to go legitimate too.”

    Gao Yi frowned and asked, “But now that there’s a bounty on Henry, doesn’t that mean Ditzel won’t attend?”

    “Not necessarily.”

    Sean said seriously, “The bounty was issued today, and Henry reacted very quickly by moving the charity dinner up by a month.

    If it was feasible to give the guests enough time, I believe he would’ve moved it to today.”

    Gao Yi, puzzled, asked, “Why does he have to host this charity dinner at all?

    Can’t he just cancel it?”

    “That won’t do because then Henry would be ridiculed.

    The upper world doesn’t know what happens in the underworld.

    Most people wouldn’t know why he canceled the banquet, but the problem is that both Ditzel and Henry rose from the underworld!”

    Gao Yi lacked experience but not brains.

    With the conversation progressing this far, he could roughly draw the correct conclusion himself.

    “I understand.”

    Gao Yi, suddenly enlightened, said, “Let me see if I’ve got this right.

    First of all, Henry can’t just not host the dinner; it’s a matter of face.

    Not having the dinner means he’s still missing a key step demonstrating that he’ll only engage in legitimate business from now on, right?

    Isn’t that what ‘washing one’s hands in a golden basin’ signifies?”

    Sean, puzzled, asked, “Is there a special meaning to washing one’s hands in a golden basin?”

    Gao Yi continued, “So, Henry must hold the dinner, but he can’t delay it because delaying would only provide those who want to kill him more time, giving his enemies and assassins more time to prepare.

    So, not only can he not delay, but he must also move it earlier, and as soon as possible.”

    Sean nodded and smiled, “You’re very perceptive.

    Yes, absolutely right.”

    Gao Yi continued, “By reducing the number of guests invited and holding the dinner in a manor castle he has full control over, he virtually eliminates the possibility of outsiders mixing in.

    The fewer the people and the smaller the place, the better it is for security.

    The very short notice disrupts all those who want to kill him; they have no time to react or prepare, just like us.”

    “Exactly, that’s right.”

    Gao Yi thought for a moment and said, “But then the level of guests invited has to be lowered because the truly influential and high-status people are always busy.

    Organizing a dinner and sending out invitations half a year in advance is the norm, or at least a month in advance.

    So unless it coincidences perfectly, not many people will be able to attend the dinner tomorrow, and those who do won’t be very high-status.”

    Sean, serious and not too confident in Gao Yi’s deduction, asked, “Am I right?”

    “Right, of course!

    So, I didn’t interrupt you.

    Please continue.”

    Gao Yi thought for a while and said, “So right now, Henry must be very busy.

    He needs to change his guest list; he needs to invite anyone who can attend.

    Since it’s a charity dinner, there must be some charitable activities.

    Hmm, what kind of activities could there be?”

    Sean, speaking gravely, said, “It’s very likely to be a charity auction.

    Invited guests bring an item to be auctioned, and the funds raised go to some charity organization.”

    “Alright, a charity auction. sea??h thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    So, what…

    will be auctioned?”

    Now entering the area where Gao Yi lacked knowledge, he could only ask Sean.

    Sean thought for a moment and said, “Artworks.

    Henry owns a gallery.

    He could bring out some paintings for the auction, then take the money and give it back to the people who bid, effectively moving money from one hand to the other.

    The invited guests gain both a good reputation and a painting, and so does Henry.”

    Gao Yi, speaking gravely, said, “Then Ditzel must also attend.

    He needs to support his underling, and as long as it’s safe, he will definitely attend and will bid on the most expensive painting.”

    Sean raised his eyebrows, “You seem to understand these social subtleties well.

    “It’s common knowledge among the Chinese.”

    Gao Yi gestured downwards and said, “So, how about we…

    go to Henry’s gallery and keep an eye on it?

    Since he decided just today to move the dinner date up, maybe the auction items aren’t ready yet.”

    Sean curiously asked, “Oh, why do you think that?”

    “It’s simple.

    The original plan was to hold the banquet in a banquet hall in Paris; now that the venue has changed, the original high-status guests require high-quality auction items.

    Now that the guest status is lowered, the quality and price of the auction items must be lowered too.

    There should be a standard, right?

    A hidden rule about who pays how much based on their status, right?”

    Sean nodded, “Yes, exactly right.

    I’m curious; I never taught you these things.”

    “It’s common knowledge among the Chinese.

    So, shall we go and check out the gallery?”

    Sean frowned, “But there’s no use in watching the gallery.

    Even if he needs to gather paintings from the gallery to transfer there, we don’t have any opportunities to exploit.”

    Gao Yi spoke softly, “Then what should we keep an eye on?”

    “Firstly, Henry is hosting a dinner on short notice, so he definitely won’t have enough staff.

    He’ll need to hire more, especially since he knows there’s a bounty on his head.

    He will definitely need to significantly ramp up security, meaning there won’t be enough security staff; he’ll need to find more.”

    “Wouldn’t Henry and Ditzel use their own loyal subordinates to handle security?”

    “Professional security and gang enforcers are completely different.

    Henry has bodyguards, but he couldn’t possibly maintain a professional security team long-term.

    So, he must hire a professional security team temporarily before tomorrow’s banquet, and there are only a few professional security teams in Paris.”

    Waving his hand, Sean spoke softly, “Close protection bodyguards are the last line of defense.

    Security teams are the assassins’ worst enemies, so I’m quite familiar with the few capable security companies in France.”

    Gao Yi, excited, said, “Are you suggesting I sneak into the security team or the server team?”

    Sean looked at Gao Yi, sighed, and then spoke softly, “This is France, where both the hosts and guests are French, and both servers and security communicate in French.

    Do you speak French?”

    Gao Yi paused for a moment, then dejectedly shook his head.

    Sean spoke softly, “The only realistic option is to blend in as a guest at Henry’s dinner, but that’s pointless.

    On your own, you wouldn’t have a chance…

    uh.”

    Gao Yi lifted his hand and said, “Go on.”

    Sean hesitated for a moment and said, “I often forget that you are not like other assassins.

    You can actually handle it on your own, which is a habitual oversight of mine, ignoring your greatest value.”

    Gao Yi smiled, “As long as you’re aware, now think about how you could get me onto the guest list.”

    Sean took a deep breath and said, “In theory, the chances went from one percent to five percent, but how to mix in there, that’s a bit hard, no, it’s very hard…”