The Ultimate Firepower

Chapter 4: A Match Made in Heaven

Ethan had finally found a way to make money that suited him perfectly, one that seemed almost tailor-made for him.

If Ethan had not truly been suitable to become an assassin, Lucan would not have risked losing a huge amount of money to save him.

Now that Ethan was alive, Lucan’s investment had gained extremely promising returns.

This was what one called a match made in heaven.

“You’ve made a very wise decision!”

Lucan was obviously very happy. The moment Ethan agreed to cooperate, it seemed as if he could already see piles and piles of money.

For Ethan, since he had already decided to cooperate, he had to be more proactive.

First of all, Ethan wanted to know what this Dark Web was all about.

“Since we’re partners now, can you tell me what the Dark Web is?”

Lucan answered without hesitation, “The Dark Web is a trading platform, like AetherMart in the underground world. The only difference is that the Dark Web covers everything you can imagine. Of course, all of it is illegal.”

“Does that include assassin services?”

“Not just assassin services. There are also mercenaries, intelligence, human trafficking, and transactions involving all kinds of illegal goods. Every service you need can be found on the Dark Web.”

“Does that include emergency rescue services, like the one you used to rescue me?”

Lucan became a little more serious. He shook his head and said, “Oh, that’s a little different. The emergency rescue service you chose is a benefit the Dark Web provides to its cooperating partners, or rather, its platform merchants.”

“What does ‘benefit’ mean?”

“The Dark Web charges at least a ten percent service f*e on every transaction, but emergency rescue is free. That’s the benefit.”

“Can anyone use it?”

“Only registered partners of the Dark Web can use this function. Ordinary users don’t get this benefit.”

Ethan glanced at the phone Lucan had placed beside him and asked, “Is it a special phone? Or can an ordinary phone access the Dark Web?”

“An ordinary phone can access the Dark Web. The one you have is a phone registered to a scavenger on the Dark Web. He was a low-level scavenger, so his phone didn’t have an identification function. That’s why you were able to use it to request help. But the phones of some high-level partners and high-level clients are customized. They have functions for identifying the user, and some can even self-destruct.”

Ethan picked up the phone he had taken from the scavenger and pressed a button, but the screen remained black.

Lucan shrugged and said, “Even if you can crack this phone, without the account name and password, you definitely won’t be able to access the Dark Web.”

Ethan put down the phone and smiled bitterly. “Then why did you give me this phone?”

“Of course I have to return the item you were carrying. That’s the basic professional ethic of someone working in the service industry.”

“Service industry...”

Thinking about it, weren’t assassins basically in the service industry too?

Ethan looked Lucan up and down. “Then you’re an assassin?”

“I’m registered on the Dark Web as an assassin, but I’m only a middleman. Or you could call me a broker. That’s fine too. But I never personally take on assassin jobs.”

Lucan was quite frank, and Ethan actually liked frank people.

“Then... can I register an account on the Dark Web?”

“You can register as an ordinary user at any time. But if you want to register as a service provider or supplier, there are only two ways. One is an invitation from the Dark Web, and the other is a recommendation from a high-level registered user.”

Lucan spread his hands and said, “But I don’t recommend that you register. There are police officers and intelligence agencies from many countries fishing for targets on the Dark Web. Once you register, you’ll basically only be able to remain in the underground world.”

That was a problem.

Ethan did indeed want to make a huge amount of money now, but what he wanted was to earn the money and then take it home, return to a legal and public identity, and enjoy his life properly.

After all, Ethan had grown up under the banner of the realm. At least up until now, he had never actively intended to do anything illegal. So becoming a registered assassin in the underground world instinctively made him somewhat resistant.

If he did not register, then he could only accept missions through Lucan. But that was not really a problem either.

Ethan owed Lucan money, and he could only repay that debt after making money through this cooperation. Even if he wanted to register, Lucan would not agree, much less recommend him.

So whether to register could completely wait until after this mission was over.

“All right, I roughly understand. You take an assassination mission from the Dark Web, I complete it, and the two of us split the commission equally. Is that right?”

“Yes. Let me explain something first. According to industry rules, as a middleman, I can charge a maximum service f*e of thirty percent. But this time, we’re partners. I’m not only responsible for taking the mission; I’m also responsible for gathering intelligence beforehand and arranging the extraction afterward. So splitting the commission equally is completely reasonable and fair. Do you agree?”

Lucan only said that splitting the money equally was reasonable, but he did not mention the fact that he had saved Ethan’s life.

From Ethan’s perspective, Lucan had saved his life, advanced the money, and taken the risk. Just based on those things, the two of them should split the money equally.

“I agree. Splitting it equally is very reasonable.”

Lucan nodded and smiled. “When I saw you, I had this feeling that I had to save you. I was sure that after saving you, I’d definitely make a huge amount of money!”

“Uh... actually, you didn’t have to add that last sentence...”

Ethan once again marveled at Lucan’s frankness. Then he said helplessly, “Then tell me about the details of this mission.”

“There’s no hurry. We can talk about that after you’ve completely recovered.”

“But looking at me like this, I won’t be able to take action for at least another two months, right?”

“That’s fine. This is an open mission with a long deadline. Besides, I need to start gathering intelligence on the target now. That will take some time, so it’s perfect for waiting while you recover.”

Lucan seemed unwilling to explain the details right now. Ethan felt that he could not force him, so after thinking for a moment, he asked, “What do you mean by an open mission?”

“An open mission is one that anyone can accept. It’s posted on the assassin trading platform. Whether it’s one of the top-ranked assassin organizations on the Dark Web or a rookie assassin like you who has just entered the field, anyone can accept it. There are no restrictions on the methods and no restrictions on the time. Whoever completes it while the bounty is still valid gets paid. That’s all.”

“Besides open missions, what other types of missions are there?”

“Of course, there are also customized missions that directly contact assassin organizations. For example, the client may require that the target’s death cannot be determined to be murder, or specify that the target must die by drowning, and so on.”

Ethan wanted to ask whether the mission Lucan intended to accept was very difficult, but he felt that asking about that immediately after waking up would not be appropriate.

If Lucan said the mission was extremely difficult and that he might die, should Ethan refuse or continue cooperating?

So it was better not to ask that question for now.

Ethan thought for a while, then suddenly asked, “Anyone can accept an open mission, so how do they determine who killed the target? How do they claim the bounty? When those scavengers wanted to kill me, they had to record it with their phone. Does that mean video verification is required?”

Lucan smiled. “You’re pretty smart. That’s right. Some missions require verification by the Dark Web, and it has to be done using the Dark Web’s built-in recording function. You can’t simply submit a video as evidence. Photos are even more impossible. There used to be incidents where people used forged videos to deceive clients and get the Dark Web to pay them. Since then, neither photos nor videos can be used as evidence.”

Thinking about it, that made sense. A client could not personally verify whether the target was really dead, and modern software was far too advanced. Even the person on the other end of a video call could be fake. Naturally, a single video or photograph could not be used as evidence.

Ethan thought for a moment and said, “So that means you have to live stream it to the Dark Web? Wouldn’t that mean the two people have to act at the same time?”

Lucan shook his head. “Not necessarily. There are many methods, but most open missions really can only be completed through live streaming. Then the Dark Web sends the saved recording to the client and guarantees the authenticity of the video.”

Ethan frowned. “You even have to record it? Wouldn’t that become criminal evidence? Being an assassin is such a hassle.”

“It is a hassle, but what money in this world is easy to earn?”

Once again, Ethan had nothing to say.

After a moment of silence, Ethan finally said, “All right. I’ll act after I recover. Hmm, if someone else kills the target before I recover, then I won’t have to go anymore, right?”

“If someone beats us to it, then we’ll just have to accept our bad luck.”

Lucan glanced at his watch and then said with a helpless expression, “All right, now I have to go settle the remaining payment. If I delay any longer, someone is going to get anxious. Get some good rest. It’s safe here. You don’t need to worry about anything. I hope you recover soon. Goodbye.”