Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 388 - 370: Oh Quan

Chapter 388: Chapter 370: Oh Quan

The former Gardener, huh.

Other than the timing of this call really lends itself to a lot of speculation, there’s nothing much else.

After all, he was just the Garden’s former Gardener, not an ex-girlfriend. Gao Yi owed Shaun a favor, not the Garden, and certainly not the former Gardener.

"Uh, what do you want with me?"

"Nothing much, just felt like if I didn’t make this call soon, you would have become a mercenary. I’m right, am I not, Hammer God."

"Uh."

"Oh?"

"Uh!"

"Uh..."

"Uh?"

It’s not that Gao Yi intended to irritate the former Gardener, he just wanted to strike first and gain the upper hand.

"Alright, the reason I’m making this call..."

He choked up, the former Gardener choked up!

All those uh’s and uh huh’s, just see if he didn’t choke up.

After a pause, a moment of thought, and reorganizing his thoughts, the former Gardener finally said, "I’m no longer the Gardener, you are the Gardener, so..."

Gao Yi’s biggest impression of Shaun’s previous subordinate was his fondness for ’uh’s and ’uh huh’s—pure interjections, conveying emotions with a single syllable.

Shaun absolutely detested this.

That’s why Gao Yi had to strike first, to inflict the pain of ’uh’s upon the old Gardener and cure him of this habit.

"Uh?"

This tactic was quite effective; now the old Gardener was starting to actively fix his own bad habit.

"So... alright, to make a long story short, you’re in great danger. Andic Group has placed a bounty on the Dark Web for you, a private mission, offering two hundred million dollars with no time limit, no restrictions on methods, as long as someone can take you out. Only those powerful assassin organizations are eligible to take the contract."

Gao Yi was quite surprised and asked, "A bounty?"

"It’s a task the Dark Web releases to capable collaborators. Your current situation is very precarious. I know you’ve achieved a significant victory, though I don’t know what exactly happened, but I do know that Andic Group is determined to eliminate you."

Having said that, the old Gardener heaved a sigh and said, "You might not realize what this entails, so I must remind you. The value of the Dark Web lies in the fact that employers can use a minimal amount of money to make you pay a hundred or a thousand times more, creating a climate of terror. You can become more vigilant in the short term, you can beef up your security over several months, but feeling that everyone you see could be an assassin is unbearable, it can cause emotional breakdown."

The old Gardener was right; the feeling that everyone could be an assassin was indeed torture.

Gao Yi immediately asked, "Do you know the details of the bounty?"

"Busan, Hammer God, leader of the Warhammer Mercenary Group—the Wind Knight, the Gardener—all these identities are yours. Every identity of yours that has been exposed is within the scope of Andic Group’s bounty. Plus, they have your blurred image. Let’s put it this way, you and everyone around you will be targets, including Wind Vane, a well-known figure in the Mercenary circles with a lot of information leaked about him. Oh, and of course, Bee, also known as Seagull, or Luca."

This situation was indeed quite complicated. After hesitating for a moment, Gao Yi said, "How do you know all this?"

"Uh?"

Gao Yi realized, whoever had the initiative could ’uh’.

The old Gardener probably finished ’uh’-ing and would now have to reveal the actual content, but Gao Yi didn’t want to indulge him in this habit.

So Gao Yi quickly interjected.

"Uh."

Silence, long silence.

Gao Yi had patience, and eventually, the old Gardener took the initiative to say, "I have my own information channels."

"Can you talk about it?"

"Um..."

Gao Yi immediately said, "If you can’t talk about it, that’s fine. Thanks for letting me know all this."

Listening to the sounds, Gao Yi’s tone seemed like he was about to hang up.

Finally, the old Gardener said, "Do you not fully comprehend the seriousness of this situation?"

"Does realizing it make that much of a difference? If you want to say something, then just say it. If you don’t want to tell me, I can’t force you to, can I? Since you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask anymore. Is there anything else to discuss?"

Gao Yi’s rapid, tongue-twister-like response broke the old Gardener’s defense.

"Don’t ask how I know, I’m just telling you, you’re in danger, and you need to realize that. Then you need to figure out how to solve this problem, otherwise you’re definitely going to die. I even know that you’ve gained CIA support, but it’s useless, because the Dark Web and the CIA are two completely different systems."

Gao Yi said without hesitation, "You know what, I don’t despise the profession of an assassin, nor do I find it problematic to suddenly be burdened with the responsibility of rebuilding the Garden, but I can’t stand you people and your annoying habit of not saying everything. I can understand you wanting to hide yourself, but does that stop you from just spilling what you know?"

Gao Yi had no enmity against the Gardener; he just despised their penchant for being cryptic.

It’s all about trying to seem mysterious, acting like they’re important, knowing some great secret but just refusing to spill it. If you want to know, you have to beg, then you just get that dead-end hmm and haw.

Gao Yi refused to indulge the Gardener in this habit.

Times had changed. When he first took over the Garden, what was Gao Yi? He was just a novice Assassin, clueless and thus at the bottom, forced to listen to whatever anyone said, not even getting a chance to ask for details amidst the vague responses.

But now? Although Gao Yi still didn’t really understand the assassin trade, what necessity was there for him to be an assassin?

With newfound confidence and more options, he naturally had the prerogative not to indulge others’ annoying habits.

It wasn’t that Gao Yi was arrogant, but what was a retired old assassin, even one from a well-known assassin organization, compared to the current Gao Yi?

More importantly, the Garden had been obliterated. What standing did a retired, past-his-prime Gardener, who had watched the Garden be destroyed, have to be vague before Gao Yi?

Now, with the Freedom Wind in a disastrous defeat, Mason’s position didn’t plummet but was still hugely impacted. Then, the Dark Web had been supported and controlled by Mason’s faction, so how could he not make use of the Dark Web as a channel?

Gao Yi had been a target of bounties on the Dark Web not just once or twice. Could it scare him? Could it be that he had not thought of the possibility of being put up for a bounty on the Dark Web?

Whether the Gardener informed him or not, it seemed so important to Gao Yi.

There was also a deeper subconscious dissatisfaction Gao Yi held towards the Gardener.

The Garden had been slaughtered by the Andic Group, the Gardener had retired to enjoy life, leaving behind a decimated Garden. Sean struggled in vain for a few years before his death, and then Gao Yi took over. During the time when it was poorest and most dangerous, the old Gardener had never shown up. Now that Gao Yi was wealthy and powerful, here he came.

So with this attitude, with these words, take it or leave it.

It would not be a big deal to just part ways.

The Gardener truly hadn’t expected this attitude from Gao Yi, much less these words, and was left somewhat flustered.

The silence stretched on this time, and finally, Gao Yi’s impatience showed. He spoke coldly, "Do you have anything else to say? If not, let’s just leave it at that, goodbye."

"Wait!"

The Gardener stopped Gao Yi from hanging up the phone. After a moment of thought, he said, "Right now, I don’t know specifically which assassin organization received the invitation to assassinate you. You need to be cautious and understand this is an invitation from the Andic Group to all competent assassin organizations, a timeless bounty on your head. Any assassin organization could take action upon finding an opportunity, making it difficult for you to defend and counter effectively."

"So, the ultimate target is still the Andic Group. Are you telling me all this because you want me to take down the Andic Group?"

What a move, to use another’s hand to kill. Gao Yi sneered inwardly. These people should take a look at China’s art of war, thinking such simple tricks could deceive him?

Diverting disaster, using others to do the dirty work – isn’t that exactly what’s going on?

The Gardener spoke faintly, "Don’t you want to take revenge for your mentor?"

Gao Yi frowned.

He rarely mentioned it, not even to the people around him, but that didn’t mean Gao Yi had forgotten his mentor; it was just too painful to talk about.

The pain and suffering flooded back at the mere thought.

If Gao Yi had to choose a lifelong goal, it would be to avenge his mentor.

The people who had acted that day were dead, which should mean Gao Yi had no direct enemies left. But knowing those assassins had been sent by the Andic Group made it clear to him that only the complete annihilation of the Andic Group would constitute true revenge.

But here lay the problem: destroying the Andic Group, in other words, eradicating the Dark Web, was something Gao Yi couldn’t do, and he knew he never would be able to.

The greatest torment Gao Yi had faced so far was the constant oscillation between reason and emotion, so he kept his thoughts hidden, his past and desires locked away, not letting anyone know nor touching them himself.

Now, the Gardener was ripping open the scabs of Gao Yi’s wounds.

"You know quite a lot."

Gao Yi’s tone was somewhat somber; he didn’t express strong emotions but only he knew how furious he was at that moment.

It wasn’t really anger at the Gardener, just a pure, impotent rage.

The Gardener spoke faintly, "I know more than you can imagine. Someone like you, who has risen miraculously in such a short time and then poses a significant threat to the Andic Group and its backers, is of course subject to extensive research. Your past, your experiences, your thought processes – they have all been studied. Now, you’re not as hidden as you think you are, which means you’re not as safe as you believe."

Gao Yi was on the verge of hanging up the phone.

The Gardener suddenly said, "Do you really think I, as the Gardener, could retire?"

Gao Yi paused, and the Gardener continued, "I am the old Gardener, you are the new Gardener. That’s not important. What is important is that we have a common goal. So, let’s meet and talk. Even if doing so might mean I have to give up the fruits of my long-held efforts, we need to talk face-to-face."

A meeting, then let’s meet.

Gao Yi thought for a moment, then said, "Fine, where and when should we meet?"

"Ah, I should come to you. I must admit, you really cause a lot of trouble, making the most convenient places now dangerous. Let me think, let’s meet in Dubai."