The Trip Back.
The journey back was smooth. No assassins, no roadblocks. Everything went according to plan.
Dexter didn't go straight back to the Continental. Upon entering the city proper, he took a slight detour to a High Table-affiliated armory.
One gold coin, one service.
A coin could buy a gun, a drink, a bespoke suit... or in Dexter's case, an arsenal.
Dexter chose guns! All kinds of guns.
It didn't take long for him to clean out the armory's stock.
Over seven hundred firearms, hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition...
Enough to sustain a siege after seizing the New York Continental.
Satisfied, Dexter led his army of Death Soldiers back to the hotel.
Near the Continental.
"Scatter and wait around the perimeter. Tomorrow morning, the moment you hear gunfire inside the hotel, breach immediately. We'll hit them from the inside and outside and take this place," Dexter instructed the Death Soldier Captain.
The Captain, expressionless as ever, nodded. "Yes, Boss."
Dexter said no more. He walked into the hotel with Dumb Nine and a few soldiers carrying bags of weapons. He went to his room, showered, and rested.
The night was surprisingly peaceful.
---
Dawn.
The sun rose, heralding a new day.
John Wick woke up. He moved his bruised body slowly, sitting up inch by inch.
Daisy, the beagle who hadn't left his side, wagged her tail excitedly, happy to see him awake.
John reached out and patted Daisy's head, a faint smile touching his lips. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Whine~ Whine~" Daisy nudged him.
John sat quietly petting the dog for a while before gritting his teeth and standing up.
That was when he saw the words written in blood on the floor behind him.
"Iosef Tarasov."
John murmured the name. His eyes hardened instantly, the legendary focus of the Baba Yaga returning. He walked toward the garage.
Daisy trotted happily behind him.
In the garage...
Not only was his prized '69 Mustang gone, but Helen's SUV had been smashed to pieces.
John stood motionless, staring in silence for a long time. Finally, feeling Daisy nuzzling his leg, he looked down and calmed himself slightly.
"You want to go out? Let's go," John said softly.
After taking Daisy out to the lawn to do her business, John returned inside, fed her, and then headed straight for the basement.
Moments later.
John Wick swung the sledgehammer!
Smash! Smash! Smash!
And just like that.
The buried past was unearthed.
About half an hour later.
John Wick, resolutely set on the path of vengeance, showered, put on a suit, slung a duffel bag of weapons over his shoulder, picked up Daisy, and walked out the door.
Inside the New York Continental.
Watching the scene unfold on his phone via the hidden camera, Dexter exhaled a cloud of smoke and smiled. He remembered a line.
"If I don't return from this journey, then I won't return!!!"
He stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and changed into his bulletproof suit. He turned to Dumb Nine, who was visibly eager for action, and grinned. "Dumb Nine, today is a big day. You ready?"
"Woof!" Dumb Nine barked loudly.
Dexter took that as a yes.
He didn't waste time. He summoned the System to open chests.
253,500 Karma Points. He opened twenty-five Gold Chests in a row.
Excellent. Thrilling. Perfect.
Moments later.
Forty Death Soldiers appeared in the room. They were identical—black suits, black sunglasses, standing in perfect formation.
"Boss, who do we kill?"
The forty soldiers asked in unison.
Hearing the words, seeing the scene...
Dexter couldn't help but feel like he had walked onto the wrong set. Like he had jumped from John Wick straight into The Matrix!
Honestly, these mass-produced System soldiers really looked the part.
Dexter gathered his thoughts, smiled, and said, "Once we step out that door, kill everyone you see! There are two people you cannot kill. If I see them, I'll point them out."
"Yes, Boss," the soldiers replied in one voice.
Dexter smiled. "Gear up!"
The soldiers moved efficiently. In no time, they were ready.
Let the feast begin!
Dexter waved his hand. "Kill!"
The soldiers marched out.
About thirty seconds later.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A guest in the hallway looked shocked as he was riddled with bullets and fell dead.
The sudden gunfire echoed through the New York Continental. Many heard it, unable to believe their ears, confused and curious about what was happening.
At the same time.
The Death Soldiers stationed around the hotel perimeter abandoned their cover. Fully armed, they charged the main entrance of the Continental.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In just one minute.
The New York Continental became a war zone. Gunfire erupted everywhere.
By this point.
Almost everyone in the hotel realized with horror what was happening!
Charon stood behind the front desk, stunned.
In the speakeasy below, Winston nearly dropped his drink. He couldn't fathom that the hotel was under direct assault!
"Dexter!!"
Of course. Upon hearing the descriptions of the attackers, Winston immediately knew the mastermind was Dexter!
Winston cursed Dexter's name viciously. He didn't waste a second. He ran for the safe room while calling the control room, ordering the staff to broadcast a message to all assassins in the hotel: Kill Dexter and his crew, and the hotel would provide a handsome reward.
Message sent.
Winston then called the High Table headquarters, reporting the attack on the New York Continental and requesting immediate backup.
"Reinforcements are en route!" The High Table responded curtly.
Winston pocketed his phone, locked himself in the safe room, sat on the comfortable sofa, and let out a long breath. He waited confidently for the attack to be repelled. At the same time, he called Accounts Payable to revoke Dexter's High Table membership.
---
[Congratulations, you have completed the mission: Kill one person inside the New York Continental. Reward of 200,000 Karma Points has been issued.]
In the heat of battle, Dexter didn't have time to check the System interface. Knowing the reward had dropped, he continued firing wildly while opening chests in his mind.
[You opened a Diamond Chest. Congratulations, you received: One Suicide Squad. (Composed of 18 veteran Death Soldiers, fully armed and elite). Do you wish to retrieve them immediately?]
Retrieve!!
The Suicide Squad materialized.
"Kill!" Time was precious. Dexter gave a one-word order.
The squad moved out.
Dexter opened more chests.
[You opened a Gold Chest. Congratulations, you received: Three Death Soldiers. Retrieve immediately?]
[...]
He burned through the reward points and the points earned from the ongoing slaughter in one go.
In that second.
The number of Death Soldiers rampaging through the New York Continental surged to over one hundred and fifty.
"Awesome!!" Honestly, Dexter had never felt this good in his life.
He felt fucking invincible!
This feeling...
Even video games weren't this intense!!!
The gunfire grew denser, the battle fiercer.
Naturally, the body count rose on both sides.
The New York Continental had become a battlefield of extraordinary brutality!!!
The battlefield was terrifying.
So, despite Winston's promise of a rich reward, many surviving guests didn't hesitate to choose flight over fight.
The stupider ones ran for the main entrance.
The slightly smarter ones chose the back door.
The smartest ones broke windows and rappelled down the exterior walls.
...
In a certain room.
Viggo Tarasov, who had gone to great lengths to flee to the "safety" of the Continental the previous night, was currently shivering under a bed, completely bewildered.
Why? Why??
I finally escaped here, and now this supposedly impenetrable sanctuary is under attack?
God, are you fucking with me??
Viggo felt like he was living in a nightmare. He wanted to cry.
He held it back, shivering and praying for the High Table to end this. He comforted himself with the thought that Dexter's membership had been revoked, meaning the bounty on his head was void. Once this was over, he would be safe again...
"Just let it fucking end!!!"
---
Predictably.
News that the New York Continental was under attack—and that the attacker was the same Dexter who had been turning New York upside down—spread through the assassin underworld at light speed.
"Holy shit!!"
"This Dexter is a savage!"
"Absolute madman!"
"How does he dare?!"
"Idol!"
"Newbie legend!"
"..."
Shocked discussions erupted in every corner of New York City.
"What do you think? Go watch the show? This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."
"Good point!"
"Let's go!"
"..."
Countless assassins, not wanting to miss history in the making, jumped into their cars and raced toward the Continental.
---
High Table Headquarters.
"The situation in New York must be handled cleanly and beautifully!"
"Dexter and his men must be made an example of. Their bodies must be displayed publicly!"
"The authority of the High Table cannot be challenged!"
"..."
Unquestionable orders were issued one after another.
New York.
In an nondescript building.
Hundreds of official High Table Adjudicators and Enforcers geared up in silence. Wave after wave, they marched out to the square behind the building, boarding buses and several Black Hawk helicopters.
A minute later.
The Black Hawks lifted off in formation.
A few minutes later.
Dozens of buses sped toward the Continental.
---
New York Continental.
The gunfire inside was thinning out.
A small number of staff and guests had escaped. Some were hiding. The rest were corpses.
Dexter had successfully seized the hotel. He grinned, lit a cigarette, and summoned the System.
[Karma Points: 358,600.]
Still so many points!!!
If he quit the world now and went back to Shameless...
Heh, with this many points!
He could live like a king just lying down.
But go back?
Hell no!
The real show was just starting.
He hadn't played enough yet!!
Dexter didn't hesitate. He opened chests again.
[You opened a Diamond Chest. Congratulations, you received: One Sniper Squad. (15 Snipers equipped with professional rifles). Retrieve immediately?]
[You opened a Diamond Chest. Congratulations, you received: One RPG Squad. (12 RPG Gunners equipped with launchers and rockets). Retrieve immediately?]
Two Diamond Chests. That was enough.
Karma Points remaining: 158,600.
Spend the rest on Gold Chests.
And just like that.
Voila.
Another hundred or so Death Soldiers appeared, along with a massive stockpile of weapons.
"Get ready. We are engaging the High Table!!" Dexter was practically vibrating with anticipation.
"Yes, Boss!" The soldiers responded in unison and immediately moved to positions.
Dexter didn't idle.
The High Table's official forces were formidable. Manpower, equipment, they had it all.
He couldn't be careless. He immediately went up to the roof.
On the roof.
He summoned the System.
Dexter retrieved the Airborne Squad he had won earlier.
Instantly.
Three military attack helicopters materialized in mid-air.
Rotors spun up, whipping the wind into a frenzy.
Through the howling wind, Dexter heard the shouts of the Death Soldiers piloting the choppers.
"Boss, who do we kill?"
"The High Table!" Dexter shouted back.
As the words left his mouth.
He saw them.
To the southeast, dozens of helicopters were approaching at full speed.
Seeing them, Dexter was a little surprised.
That's a lot of birds. Little bit of pressure there.
But, not a huge problem.
RPGs were made for this.
"Get 'em!!!" Dexter signaled the airborne soldiers.
The pilots had already acquired the targets.
In the next second, the three attack helicopters accelerated in unison, flying straight toward the incoming Black Hawks.
Dexter didn't wait to watch the dogfight. He ordered the soldiers around him to bring up the RPG Squad to blow those Black Hawks out of the sky.
Time ticked by, second by second.
An absolutely earth-shattering aerial battle was about to erupt over downtown New York City!!
---
By this time.
Most of the assassins in New York had truly lost their minds!
FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
Who the hell is this Dexter?!!
---