“You look like her! You look so much like
her!”
Karl circled around Nora. “If I didn’t know who you were, I’d have been convinced that you were Black Cat.”
Nora: “…”
Actually, it wouldn’t hurt even if she told him the truth, but she was currently in the open while Barbarian and the rest were hidden in the dark. She didn’t want them to find out too many of her different identities.
Thus, she didn’t say anything.
After circling around her twice, Karl said to Black Panther, the assassin ranked second in the Assassin Alliance, standing next to him, “If anything happens, you are to handle it. Don’t let Ms. Smith do it, lest it expose her identity.”
Black Panther glanced up and down at Nora, curled his lips, and said, “Fine.”
Karl then smiled again. “But there’s no fear even if she has to fight. Ms. Smith is no delicate, sheltered young lady. She’s the Big Sister of Quinn School of Martial Arts in the States… Her moves are not any worse than Black Cat’s!”
Black Panther was not happy to hear that, though. He sneered and said, “Now, I don’t like the sound of that, Boss. How are her moves on par with Black Cat’s? Even if the two are more or less equals in their fighting abilities, Black Cat is still an assassin. She is an existence that people can’t even begin to guard against. If Black Cat and Ms. Smith have to face each other in a fight, Ms. Smith would probably be killed before she even realizes what’s going on!”
“What nonsense are you saying?”
Karl gave Black Panther a push and then looked at Nora and apologized. “Don’t take what he says to heart, Nora! Black Panther is a diehard fan of Black Cat and is a huge supporter of her. Don’t hold it against him…”
Nora would never hold it against Black Panther, of course.
Because of her, Black Panther had even changed his codename as an assassin, saying that he wanted to be part of the same series as her. He even made a big hoo-ha about this in the Assassin Alliance, such that the codenames of all the members of the Assassin Alliance were now things like “Black Bear”, “Black Ram”, “Black Hound”, and so on. The place had pretty much become a zoo of large black animals.
Nora nodded.
Only then did Karl breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, he spoke again. “Nora, don’t mind me if I talk a bit more, okay? Uh, don’t tell Tanya what I do outside of the States, all right…? She’s a delicate and proper young lady raised in a well-to-do family. Let’s just let her stay at home and try for a second child with peace of mind. Don’t let her know what we men are doing outside, lest it worry her…”
Nora was surprised. “… She wants a second child?”
“Yeah!” Karl said, “When I was on a video call with her, she said that you have already given birth to three children while she has only one, so she must hurry to catch up with you and strive to have three children too!”
II
11
Nora’s lip corners spasmed. Tanya probably wanted more children only because her relationship with Joel was really good!
But she kinda understood how she felt.
Neither Tanya nor Joel had many whom they truly considered their kin, so they must feel especially lonely.
She could still remember what Tanya had once said. She actually had a dream when she was a child: to have many children and treat them especially well.
Since she didn’t have a mother who treated her kindly, she would give her children a good mother, instead.
At that time, Tanya and Joel had already broken up and she was living abroad.
Her only child had also gone missing.
Nora had asked her why she wasn’t having children right away-after all, with another child, her guilt towards her missing child would lessen and she would also be able to start a new lease of life.
Tanya’s answer at that time was that she hadn’t yet met the person whom she was willing to bear children for.
Now that she had met Joel, Tanya must be planning to kick off her grand baby-making plans, right?
While she was thinking, Karl asked secretively, “By the way, you’re a doctor, right? Do you have any way of helping Tanya have a multiple pregnancy?”
Nora: “?”
Karl sighed. “She’s my only daughter; I don’t have any descendants apart from her. In the past, I gave all the money I made to the people of the United States, only to find out in the end that Johnson had withheld all of it without authorization. All of it was recovered later, though, and Captain Ford of the special department has also returned it all to me. You can say that I am now a person with substantial financial assets, in which case I would need someone to inherit them, right? If Tanya can give birth to a few more children and let me pick one of them to take over my business, that alone would make me content!”
Nora’s lip corners spasmed. “How many are you planning for Tanya to have?”
“Two at the very least, I suppose. Mia is definitely not going to be suitable to take over my business. Besides, judging from the crazy extent of how much Joel dotes on and spoils her, he’s definitely going to want another child so that they can inherit the Smiths’ business and work to support Mia. In that case, Tanya would have to give birth to at least two more! Three would also do, but four is the most ideal!”
Nora: “!!”
Did that guy think Tanya was a sow?
And think that she could produce four in a litter?
The corners of her lips spasmed and she rolled her eyes, wondering to herself how come Karl had become so unreliable these days…
She didn’t entertain the topic any further but asked, “What is the route like for the security assignment this time?”
The Assassin Alliance’s front was actually a security agency, so they took on security management gigs for some events.
Upon Nora’s words, Karl finally came back to his senses. He explained, “I’ll give you a quick explanation about the job. We are protecting the Queen of the UK this time, but it’s not the Queen herself who engaged our services, It’s the Swiss authorities.”
Nora raised her brows.
Karl went on. “Her Majesty will be bringing her own guards while we are responsible for the security of the outer boundaries. By the way, I heard that Her Majesty brought a little princess with her. Her name seems to be Lucy? Didn’t she visit your home previously?”
Nora: “?”
Wasn’t she Cherry’s little buddy?
She was here too?
While Nora was thinking, Karl went on. “The Swiss authorities have not only hired us to protect Her Majesty but also approached the Hitman League. The workload is actually not a lot, but it’s a good opportunity for our company to do some publicity…”.
After going abroad this time, Karl had gradually cleaned up the company’s act.
Taking on assassination missions all the time would make the organization shadier and shadier. Now that he had a daughter, he wanted to make the organization a clean and aboveboard one.
This way, at least he wouldn’t be registered as a person banned from entering the country when he wanted to return to the United States to visit his daughter.
Of course…
Even if he used to be the local police’s informant, he was ultimately still an underground overlord now, so he would have to undergo strict checks when entering the country.
In other words, if Morris didn’t give the relevant authorities a heads-up, someone like Karl would not be allowed entry into the country at all.
American soldiers were all men of firm and unyielding character. They didn’t fear the Assassin Alliance at all.
Therefore, the organization would indeed have to take on security jobs from now on.
All the members of the organization were on board with it. Karl had also sent a message to Black Cat to notify her of it, and she had agreed to it as well. Therefore, everyone would be going into the light from now on.
After saying this, Karl took out a few photos. “By the way, this is a photo of the captain of the Queen’s personal bodyguards. Here, have a look. I heard he’s extremely formidable and mysterious, so let’s try our best not to get into a clash with him.”
Nora took the photo from Karl. She had only taken a glance when she froze.
She broke into a frown.
She had never imagined that this guy could turn out to be the captain of the Queen’s personal bodyguards?
