Chapter 1: Prologue

001. Prologue

A cool breeze blew, and the night was as dark as ink; for a hundred miles around, one could only hear the sound of seawater crashing against the shore.

Two agile and slender figures walked through the blind spots of the Mount Bernas Castle surveillance, reaching the top floor of the highest building within the fortress.

Clearing the obstacles inside the room, they slipped inside.

Under the night vision goggles, a three-hundred-square-meter room had been arranged as an exhibition hall. Countless world-class masterpieces hung on the walls; besides them, various world-class antiques displayed on white pedestals under explosion-proof glass covers were dizzying to the eye.

They ignored all of it, walking straight ahead and stopping in the center of the room.

Two pigeon-egg-sized beads, one black and one white, were placed in two separate display cases. The black was a pure black, and the white was as white as snow; they were smooth and lustrous, surrounded by a swirling mist.

Using instruments to open the display cases, they easily retrieved the beads.

They did not know that at the very instant the two beads touched, the ink-like night outside underwent a sudden, turbulent transformation, stained with a bewitching shade of deep purple amidst shifting clouds and winds.

One of them tucked the beads into a black velvet bag and hung it around her neck. Just as she was preparing to leave, the lights in the room suddenly flared to life, bright as day. Simultaneously, the surrounding display cases slowly sank into the floor, and the paintings on the walls were protected by transparent security walls.

On the second-floor gallery, hundreds of men in suits quickly emerged. They held weapons, their dark gun barrels pointing at them blankly.

Standing back-to-back, they looked upward warily, their minds rapidly calculating the probability of escaping from here to the entrance with their lives intact.

What made them feel helpless was that the opponent had too many people, and they were too far from the entrance; even with the help of poison, they only had a fifty percent chance of success.

Fight, and there is a chance to live; do not fight, and death is certain! Even a fool would know how to choose.

Lin Qiao glanced coldly upward. With a slight lift of her left hand, white medicinal powder was inconspensively scattered from her black fingerless gloves.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a familiar magnetic voice suddenly echoed through the room, striking Lin Qiao's heart so hard it felt as if it were shattering—

"Little Cat, it's useless. They have all taken the antidote."

Lin Qiao looked coldly at the man who was as handsome as a deity. "You gave them the antidote."

Everything had gone suspiciously smoothly today; what else was there she couldn't figure out?

Before coming to steal the Black and White Holy Beads, she had been with him. He knew their plans and actions like the back of his hand; he knew the formula for her poison's antidote.

With his intelligence, refining an antidote was not a problem.

The man nodded slightly. "Little Cat, I am the eighteenth-generation heir of the Charles family. Because I greatly admire your and Bai Feng's abilities, I deliberately approached you, with the ultimate goal of recruiting you! Take the Black and White Holy Beads to the Organization to serve as the breach-of-contract fee to exchange for your and Bai Feng's freedom from the Organization."

Ling Mao was Lin Qiao's codename, and Bai Feng was Feng Wuxie's alias.

Lin Qiao was skilled in medicine and poison, while Feng Wuxie possessed top-tier theft skills. Working together, they had never suffered a defeat!

They were the top-tier existences in the assassin world.

And this man was none other than Kane, the man who had proposed to Lin Qiao half a month ago, a person of mixed British and Chinese descent.

His handsome features possessed both the depth of a Westerner and the restraint of an Easterner; combined with his gentlemanly grace and aristocratic temperament, he was noble and charming.

"Little Cat, as long as you agree to join the Charles family, our wedding can proceed as scheduled."

The wedding proceed as scheduled? Was he pitying her, or was he merely offering charity?

Lin Qiao narrowed her eyes as she looked at Kane. His deep blue eyes were like the most enchanting and profound sea, which had once caused her to drown in them; now, they were like a pool of poison, making her afraid to look directly at them.

A beautiful encounter in Hawaii, his persistent pursuit—it had finally moved her heart.

She thought they were mutually in love, but in the end, it was nothing more than a conspiracy.

To think she had even considered giving up her life as an assassin for him, planning to stop after completing today's job. How truly ironic!

"Little Cat, take off the night vision goggles. I like looking into your eyes," Kane's voice carried a sense of enchantment.

Lin Qiao took off the night vision goggles and tossed them carelessly to the ground with a graceful, free movement; Feng Wuxie did the same.

It had nothing to do with his enchantment; rather, being in the midst of a vortex, there was no point in being secretive.

The lights illuminated two exquisitely beautiful faces: one with flowing long hair, lively and spirited; the other with casual short hair, bold and handsome.

Kane gazed deeply at Lin Qiao, a trace of tenderness surging in his blue eyes.

He did not know that it was precisely this tenderness that reminded Lin Qiao of how she had once been played like a fool in the palm of his hand, causing her heart to suddenly shatter into pieces.

What merit did she have to make the heir of the renowned Charles family of Country Y personally take action, using a honey trap to make her jump into his trap without distraction?

Humiliation and rage flooded Lin Qiao's chest like a mountain of waves.

She was the proud Ling Mao, not someone else's doll. Her dignity would never allow herself to be trampled upon repeatedly!

If she could, she didn't mind perishing along with Kane, but Wuxie was being dragged down by her.

"I'm sorry, Wuxie. My eyes were blind, and I've implicated you."

"Who doesn't encounter a person or two of scum in this lifetime?" Feng Wuxie looked coldly at Kane's outrageously handsome face, his tone filled with obvious disdain and mockery.

"Pfft." Lin Qiao actually laughed out loud, and all the gloom was swept away in an instant.

He was just a man; she, Lin Qiao, could afford to lose!

Having made her decision, she looked at Kane, her face devoid of any further emotion. "Let Wuxie go, and I will stay..."

To perish along with you!

Feng Wuxie seemed to see through Lin Qiao's intention and, preempting Kane, said resolutely, "If we go, we go together; if we stay, we stay together. If you feel wronged, I'll accompany you in killing these bastards! In the next life, let us still be partners who entrust our backs to one another!"

Lin Qiao turned to face Wuxie, her eyes warm. She raised her right hand high. "Never forget!"

Wuxie returned a smile, and their two hands clasped tightly together.

As assassins, they had long since set life and death aside. What was there to fear about death?

However, the change happened too quickly, catching them completely off guard.

The bag containing the Holy Beads emitted a fierce, intense white light, surrounding them in the center.

"No—"

Lin Qiao felt her soul leaving her body. The last thing she managed to hear was Kane's heart-wrenching roar before she plunged into darkness.