Chapter 119: Undercurrents – Part 2

Dean had spent a full twenty weeks at the Brotherhood’s branch office, so he naturally understood their modus operandi very well.

Ruthless, highly capable, and power ful.

Such a description of the Brotherhood was not an exaggeration at all.

Therefore, as Dean looked at the attendant in front of him, a flash of pity passed through his eyes — undoubtedly, the attendant’s life had already ended the moment Dean started selling information about the Brotherhood.

Of course, he himself, having heard the news, was also in considerable trouble.

Undoubtedly, he was now being targeted by the Brotherhood’s people as well.

Dean subtly glanced behind him. Although he found nothing suspicious, he was certain that among the people behind him, there were definitely “eyes” of the Brotherhood mixed in.

Thus, for Dean at this moment, there were only two ways to get rid of the current trouble.

The first was to join them.

The second was to eliminate them.

If he chose the former, he would undoubtedly stand against Marquis Vauban, and even the foundation Tier Territory had just built would be destroyed.

Dean naturally would not allow this.

Perhaps he could do it without leaving a trace, but Dean did not want to take that risk.

Moreover, in his original memories, until Marquis Vauban passed away from illness, there had never been any problems with his private auctions.

This was sufficient proof that the Brotherhood’s operation this time had failed.

In fact, the Brotherhood’s failures were not unique exceptions. At least, their initial assassination attempts on the “Conqueror King” and on “King of City” during the Blood Moon War had also failed.

Of course, even so, the Brotherhood remained a giant in the assassin and killer organization world that could not be ignored.

Even if Dean suspected that the Brotherhood had not exerted its full strength during those two assassination attempts.

Regarding the assassination of the Conqueror King, the era was too distant, so Dean did not know.

However, he was very clear about the assassination of King of City; after all, they had almost sent centuries of treasures accumulated by the Emerald Kingdom to the target back then.

In return, two Gold-rank assassins were sent out.

At that time, the two Gold-rank assassins returned empty-handed and died at the hands of King of City, which made Dean feel a sense of loss.

But as Dean’s Strength improved and through what he saw and heard within the Brotherhood later, he became very suspicious of the Brotherhood’s original arrangements.

However, Dean had no evidence at all.

After all, the deaths of the two Gold-rank assassins were undeniable facts.

But Dean always maintained a skeptical attitude toward the Brotherhood’s credibility.

“Seeking honesty and honor in the Shadow? Kid, stop joking… They are not Knights and do not understand any Knight Code. They prefer Gold Pulton, women, and things that help them get more Gold Pulton and women. Tsk, how naive!”

Dean clearly remembered the mocking laughter from the Old Thief when he asked about his doubts.

This only intensified Dean’s suspicion of the Brotherhood.

Therefore, Dean could guess that even if he joined, he would ultimately end up silenced — given the Brotherhood’s ruthlessness, they would have absolutely no psychological pressure doing such things.

So, Dean quickly rejected the first option.

Naturally, only the second option remained:

Eliminate them!

Of course, not eliminating all of them… Only the “eyes” mixed in among the crowd behind him.

Only by killing the stalkers could Dean ensure he would not be dragged into this trouble. After all, he already had enough troubles and did not need to add another unnecessary one.

However, Dean was still quite curious about the Brotherhood’s participation in this operation targeting Marquis Vauban’s private auction.

He was somewhat curious about what kind of item could make the Brotherhood’s people act.

Of course, it was just curiosity.

Dean would absolutely not involve himself in such trouble for the sake of curiosity.

Creak… Creak…

The ear-piercing sound of stairs sounded again. Dean reached the ground, passed through the tavern door, and moved through the Shadow.

His speed was neither fast nor slow.

He looked relaxed, as if he had finished his business and was in a good mood.

Of course, this was an act.

In fact, after leaving the tavern, Dean had been fully alert to his surroundings — the tavern attendant would not leave, had a special identity, and the Brotherhood needed him to “recruit” more skilled people for them.

Therefore, the Brotherhood’s stalker would definitely be the last to strike.

People like him, whose identity was unknown but who participated in the matter, would be the first targets.

However, the other side would definitely confirm whether he had the “sincerity” to join.

If he joined, his death would naturally be delayed.

Conversely, if he refused, he would die without even having a burial place.

Dean’s steps gradually stopped. His body stood in the Shadow, appearing and disappearing. Even without seeing Dean’s expression, one could feel his hesitation just by looking at his posture — in front of him, the street split, one path leading to the location written on the cowhide paper, and the other leading elsewhere.

Undoubtedly, Dean was now putting on a look of hesitating whether to join the Brotherhood’s operation.

As for his true purpose?

It was naturally to determine how many stalkers were behind him.

After leaving the tavern, Dean could confirm that one person was following him. Although the person’s steps were light and speed was fast, Dean, who was familiar with the movement style of Thieves, found it not difficult to spot the other person.

However, out of caution toward the Brotherhood, Dean did not believe that only one person was sent.

One overt, one covert. A double insurance.

This method of operation clearly suited the Brotherhood, an Assassin and Killer organization, better.

In fact, most organizations within the Shadow were used to doing this.

The Brotherhood just did it the best.

At least, up to where he had walked before, Dean had not found the stalker hiding in the dark.

Therefore, Dean needed to use “skill” to “force” the other person out.

And undoubtedly, under the current circumstances, he could only choose to compete in “patience” and “probe”.

The competition of “patience” had already begun after Dean stopped walking.

However, the stalker hiding in the dark clearly had considerable experience and did not show any flaws.

This forced Dean to “probe” the other person.

Of course, such probing carried certain risks —

After all, besides the stalker hiding in the dark, there was another stalker behind Dean.

This meant that if Dean did not grasp the degree well, he would naturally provoke an attack from the other stalker; and once the attack started, Dean would no longer be able to determine where the hidden stalker was, and he would have to be even more vigilant.

After all, at that time, the other party’s strike would be determined.

So, Dean’s next moves were very careful —

Standing in place, Dean’s feet showed no sign of moving. He slightly twisted his upper body and looked in the direction of the Brotherhood’s temporary base.

After maintaining this for about two seconds, Dean suddenly turned to look in the other direction, and his feet seemed ready to move.

However, in the end, they did not move.

Because, with the rapid change in emotion, a slight breathing sound slowly appeared, right after Dean stopped again.

This was the stalker whom Dean had already discovered earlier.

As for the other stalker, they still had not been exposed.

And this situation left Dean with no more choices — he could not repeat the previous behavior. In fact, if the first attempt was useless, Dean did not believe the second would be very useful either; it might even cause more suspicion.

So, gritting his teeth slightly, Dean took a step in the direction opposite to the Brotherhood’s base.

Instantly, the breathing sound that had just appeared was interrupted. Obviously, the overt stalker was preparing to strike.

And another killing intent locked onto Dean — behind his left side.

Undoubtedly, this was the hidden stalker.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Dean suddenly turned around and pulled the trigger of his Hand Crossbow repeatedly.

Thwack!

The crossbow bolt aimed at the first discovered stalker penetrated their chest without any obstruction — Dean, who had already sensed their presence, plus the sudden attack, made it impossible for any error.

However, the other bolt missed its target.

Clack!

Such a sound only appeared when hitting thick, unpenetrable wood.

Dean narrowed his eyes, staring into that Darkness. The hidden stalker had “disappeared” again.

Undoubtedly, the other party possessed sufficiently skilled stealth and hiding techniques.

Even Dean, who knew everything about Thieves, could not find any flaw in them.

However, even if he could not find a flaw, Dean was no longer anxious as before — after all, before he was facing two opponents, with one hiding in the dark, making it impossible to determine their position.

Now, it was one on one. Although the opponent was hiding in the dark, Dean could roughly determine the range.

Moreover, Dean currently had an advantage that the opponent did not have —

The opponent had a mission to kill him.

He did not. He only needed to leave the opponent’s line of sight to be “successful”.

Even though he also had the determination to kill the opponent…

At least, the opponent did not know this. The opponent would only think so!

And that was his chance!