Chapter 88: Returning Home

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Returning Home

"It was a W—"

THWIP!

A suppressed round whistled through the night air, shattering the silence of the alley.

The bullet tore through the back of the mercenary’s head, exploding his skull and painting the damp brick wall crimson before the word could even leave his mouth.

A sniper.

Derrick’s instincts flared.

He lunged sideways in a microsecond, grabbing Cassandra by the waist and pulling her behind the heavy steel dumpsters deep in the blind spot of the alley.

THWIP! THWIP!

Two more silenced shots rang out in rapid succession, precisely executing the two unconscious mercenaries lying on the asphalt.

They were tying up loose ends.

Leaving zero witnesses behind.

Cassandra clung to Derrick’s shirt, her breath hitching as she pressed her back against the rusted metal dumpster.

"Stay down," Derrick whispered, his voice dangerously low.

He activated his skill.

All-Seeing Eyes. 20s...19...

His vision shifted instantly, piercing through the thick brick walls, the surrounding concrete structures, people hiding in their houses and even the reinforced houses in the distance.

Everything turned black and white.

Derrick ignored everything until he caught the shooter.

Eight hundred meters away, perched on the ledge of a commercial high-rise.

A lone figure was lazily lying there with a sniper and casually sipping the milkshake from a carton.

Derrick zoomed his vision in, magnifying the image across the distance.

Through the scope, the assassin glanced down at the alley to confirm the kills.

Derrick’s gaze pierced through his black leather outfit. The first thing he noticed was the tattoo on his hands.

It was a jagged W intertwined with two silver stars.

5...4...3...

Derrick shifted his vision upward, capturing the assassin’s face.

A sharp jawline, a long scar cutting across his left cheekbone, and cold, dead grey eyes.

I don’t recognize him. But that logo... I need to follow his movements.

On the roof, confirming the kills.

The sniper dismantled the rifle with terrifying speed and packing the components into a sleek briefcase.

This was a special rifles created to only be used as a sniper.

Only the pros used that kind of things as their main weapon.

The sniper did not linger to kill Derrick or Cassie. He just turned and left the building.

Derrick pushed his vision further to track the man’s descent, but the golden aura around his eyes suddenly flickered and died.

System Notification: All-Seeing Eyes Time Limit Reached (20/20 Seconds)

Skill Cooldown Initiated: 59 Mins: 59 Seconds.

The world returned to its normal dark hues.

Derrick clicked his tongue softly.

He’s gone.

He could sprint across eight hundred meters and hunt the sniper down, but that meant leaving Cassandra alone in an active kill zone with blood on her clothes and three dead bodies in the alley.

My priority is getting her back.

Derrick looked down at Cassandra. The pale shock on her face was fading, replaced by a quiet, steady trust as she looked up at him.

"We’re leaving," Derrick said softly.

He stood up, blocking her view of the mutilated corpses, and led her out through the back of the alley toward the main road.

Derrick called a cab on the main road, he did not want the location connecting him to the bodies.

He helped Cassandra in the back seat before sliding in beside her.

Fortunately the car was automated so there was no driver to see the blood on them. He even went as far as highjacking the cab’s system with his phone and removed all the footage of him and the place where they were picked up.

Just to be careful, he even did the same for the three people who took the cab before him and left a virus to do that for the five upcoming riders.

The vehicle pulled away into the night, leaving the whole block behind.

Inside the quiet cabin, the hum of the electric engine was the only sound for several long minutes.

Derrick glanced at Cassandra, her clothes slightly rumpled and her face still pale under the passing streetlights.

"Don’t tell Rebecca about any of this," Derrick said softly, keeping his voice low. "It will only worry her."

Cassandra stared out the window, watching the blur of neon signs flashing against the glass.

"We can’t keep living like this, Derrick," she said quietly, her tone heavy with a realization that went far deeper than today’s fight. "Always looking over our shoulders... expecting an attack every time we turn a corner."

"They could target Mom next."

Derrick’s jaw tightened. He simply nodded silently.

She’s right.

It did not take long before they arrived at their place.

They walked through the front door in silence and stepped into the quiet apartment.

Derrick walked into the kitchen and saw a handwritten note resting on the dining table.

It was from Rebecca.

Left late for the night shift at the café. Dinner is in the fridge, make sure you and Cassie heat it up before eating!

Rebecca had recently taken a part-time job at a cozy neighborhood café down the street.

Even though Derrick had tried to tell her she didn’t need to work anymore, she insisted on keeping busy—and honestly, seeing her smile more and live without the suffocating stress of unpaid debts was a relief.

He had even forced a hundred thousand credits directly into her personal account last week, refusing to take a single credit back no matter how much she protested.

Derrick heated up the food and brought a bowl over to Cassandra, but she just stared at it, shaking her head softly.

"I don’t feel like eating," she murmured.

Derrick set the bowl down on the table, his eyes searching her face.

"Are you alright?"

Cassandra squeezed her hands tight in her lap, looking up at him with a raw, vulnerable look.

"I never want to be in that situation ever again, Derrick. Being helpless... watching someone try to use me to get to you."

"I won’t let it happen again," Derrick said immediately.

"Don’t," Cassandra cut him off, her voice firm despite her pale face. "Don’t promise something you can’t keep. Instead of promising... train me. Teach me how to fight like you."

Derrick looked at her determined eyes for a moment before nodding softly.

"Alright."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two of his compressed pills, placing them in her hand.

Cassandra looked at the small objects in her palm, confusion flickering in her eyes.

"Why are there only two pills? Are you short? If so, you should take them."

"No, no, no, nothing like that."

"These are ten times more powerful than the older ones," Derrick explained in his usual deadpan tone. "Take only one every three days. Any more than that and your body won’t be able to handle the energy."

"Got it," Cassandra said, carefully pocketing the pills.

She stood up, her gaze shifting down to his clothes, noticing the faint traces of blood near his cuffs.

"Go take a bath," she said, her voice softening. "You’ve got blood on you."

She gestured for him to follow her as she headed toward the stairs.

"In fact, join me. Let’s both wash up."

The two of them went upstairs together toward the bathroom to clean off the exhaustion and blood from the night.