After leaving the Head Manger's office, Xiwang made his way back to the ground floor. He had accomplished his purpose in coming here and was quite satisfied. He did not give a hoot about the privileges offered by the bank, though they might prove useful in certain cases. What he really cared about was the connections that the bank could utilize. As he had been absent from China for thirteen years, he had very little presence in the country right now. He needed to start forging his connections steadily.
At present, members of the Intelligence community were probably the only ones in the country who knew a little bit about the real Xiwang. The masses would only see him as a nobody. To the more informed big clans he was a 'bastard'. Practically, he had no power right now. He was certainly a dangerous assassin. But, Xiwang did not simply want to murder his way through everything. He wanted to increase his power base in China bit by bit so that he would be able to play around with the big clans. This would be part of his entertainment. Of course, if he ever got bored of it, he could just switch back to his 'assassin mode' and just kill everyone who pissed him off.
The ground floor was still as busy as before, with many people in business suits coming and going. Xiwang looked around and saw that even the beautiful female clerk from before was also dealing with a client. He smiled lightly when he saw that the woman seemed to be a lot happier than before.
As he was looking at her the beautiful clerk somehow also felt that someone was watching her. She looked around and saw Xiwang. Seeing his handsome appearance again the warm sensation in her heart returned. She blushed heavily and smiled shyly at him before turning back to her client. Xiwang thought that her actions were quite cute. He smiled lightly and just shook his head.
As Xiwang was about to make his way towards the door, there was a sudden disturbance in the bank. Gunshots sounded from outside following which ten well-armed men wearing body-armor rushed into the bank. They were dressed in all-black full-body armor with full-face tactical assault helmets. They were armed to the teeth- each was carrying an assault rifle with several extra clips, grenades, side-arm and a big knife. Their helmets each had unique numbers on them going from 1 to 10.
These men obviously knew how to use their weapons very well. Before the five guards on the ground floor could react, they were gunned down by the armored men. The men wasted no time as seven of them rushed to the upper floors while three of them tried to control and herd the panicking crowd on the ground floor.
Witnessing all this Xiwang just chuckled to himself lightly as he thought inwardly, 'First hijackers and now armed robbers? Violence really does seem to follow me everywhere I go.' It goes without saying that unlike the screaming crowd he was not nervous or worried at all.
Gunshots and explosions could be heard coming from the higher floors. It seemed that the armored men were battling with the guards on the upper floors. On the ground floor, one of the armored men fired the assault rifle he was carrying at the roof and shouted, "Stop screaming and stop running! We will kill anyone who moves."
Following that, as if to prove his point, the three armored men shot and killed five people who were running towards the door. Unlike the hijacking incident blood had been spilt this time. In addition to the dead guards and the five people that were just killed, there were also a few dead bodies outside. Whoever these armored men were, it was obvious that they were not afraid of being caught. They just wantonly killed whoever they wanted.
The crowd became very frightened. They stopped screaming and running and allowed themselves to be herded to one corner where they were forced to sit down. The three armored men guarded them at gunpoint.
Xiwang had also gone along with the crowd and sat down at the corner. The beautiful clerk from before was next to him. Her face was pale and she was shaking due to fear. She was not the only one. Most of the captives, both men and women, were shaking due to fear. They had never seen such violence before. Seeing people killed right in front of them had shocked and frightened them. They found out that day that seeing this sort of thing in the movies was quite entertaining. But personally experiencing it in real life was terrifying.
After the crowd was brought under control, two of the armored men walked off and began setting up explosives in different parts of the ground floor while the remaining man guarded the subdued crowd. Xiwang grabbed the hands of the frightened woman beside him, smiled and said softly, "Don't be afraid. You'll be alright. Just calm down and sit here quietly for a while." The beautiful clerk felt herself calming down after hearing his calm and magnetic voice.
She stopped trembling after she felt his big, warm hands grasping her own securely. The warm feeling in her heart returned in that instant. She was surprised because she did not fell afraid at all now. Instead, she was having very girlish thoughts inside. She blushed again and just sat there quietly, letting Xiwang hold her hands.
After a while the seven armored men returned from the upper floors with several other captives, including the two Chows. One of the armored men dragged a captive forward and said to the man guarding the crowd, "One, look what we have here. This man is the Minister of Public Security. Hahaha! We caught him in one of the rooms upstairs. He had a few bodyguards with him but we took care of them. This new body armor is great. Nothing gets through."
The man identified as the Minister of Public Security appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties. He was wearing spectacles and had stereotypical Asian features- slanty, almond-shaped eyes, slightly flat nose and small mouth. His face was pale and he looked quite uneasy as he was dragged forward.
The man addressed as One laughed loudly, "Hahaha! He doesn't seem to be doing a very good job, does he? All Governments are weak and incompetent. That is why the world needs us to bring order. Minister of Public Security. Cheh! If he was any good at his job, we won't have been able to come this far. But, this is an unexpected bonus. Three, put him in that other corner, separate from the crowd. And the rest of you, listen up. We are members of the New World Order. Today, we're only here for the money but we will not hesitate to kill anyone that gets in our way. "
Xiwang heard the man's speech and was a little astounded. He thought inwardly, 'These cockroaches are everywhere. First the plane and now here as well. Do they have a grudge against me or something? I only killed a few of their leaders. That doesn't mean they have to follow me everywhere I go.'
Indeed, Xiwang had been commissioned by several Governments to assassinate the known leaders of the New World Order and he had done just that. The job was very profitable. But, the problem was that the New World Order had many members and most of its leaders were unknown. In the end killing a few of the known leaders did nothing to change the big picture. There were more leaders in the background and the organization was still going strong.
The man called Three marched the Minister to the opposite corner and told him to stand there. The Minister tried to appear calm but it was obvious that he was very unnerved by the whole incident. He had a VIP account here and had just come here today to deposit something in his safety deposit box.
Usually he would send his secretary to handle such tasks. But, he had some free time today and wanted to do it personally. He never thought that there would be such trouble here today. As the Minister of Pubic Security he knew all about the New World Order and their agenda. He knew how much they hated Governments and Government representatives. He could not be sure that he would be able to live through the day. He deeply regretted his decision to come here today.
The armored men were very efficient and did not waste any time at all. Some of them quickly emptied the vault and safety deposit boxes. Soon, they had many bags filled with money and jewels. From the moment they entered the bank to the moment they finished emptying the vault barely five minutes had passed.
One announced, "Good job! We're ahead of schedule. The nearest Police Station should have responded by now but it seems like the diversion arranged by our brethren has worked perfectly. They will not have died in vain. Alright, the Police will be here in about ten minutes. Let's get out of here. Bring that Minister along. Kill him if he tries to delay."
Three approached the Minister with his gun pointed at him menacingly. He said in a rough voice, "You heard what One said. Follow us and don't make a fuss if you want to live." The Minister felt very helpless. He knew that these men would not hesitate to kill him and had no thoughts of resisting. Before, he still held on to the hope that the authorities would be able to get to the Bank on time and recue everyone. But, all his hopes were now dashed to the ground. Just as he was about to follow the robbers, a calm and magnetic voice sounded from among the crowd.
"Mr. Minister, things seem pretty bad right about now, eh? I wonder, if I were to kill these goons, would I be prosecuted or rewarded?" It was indeed Xiwang. He had stood up and made his way to the centre of the room where he was standing with a calm smile.
The minister looked towards the voice and saw a handsome young man with enchanting deep purple eyes standing there. What he said sounded like a joke. He was talking about killing all these armed men alone and without any weapons.
In any other situation, with any other person, the whole thing would have seemed ridiculous. But, something in his magnetic voice made the Minister actually believe that the handsome young man before him could pull off the seemingly impossible feat. So he answered almost involuntarily, "Of course, you would be rewarded. And I would be in your debt."
Xiwang chuckled lightly and said, "Very well, Minister. Remember those words."
The robbers had been a little stunned at first by the out-of-place conversation to respond immediately. But, now, Three reacted by pointing his gun at Xiwang and shouting, "Fool! You're courting death. Die!" The rest of the robbers who were at the door also raised their guns and pointed them towards Xiwang.
But, as quick as the armored men were the ultimate assassin was still quicker. Before their hands could pull the triggers on their weapons, Xiwang's hands blurred and several projectiles flew with speeds faster than the eye could see straight towards the armed robbers. It could not be known where he got those projectiles from. He did not seem to be carrying anything at all. But, the ultimate assassin was feared for a reason. He was never ever truly unarmed at all.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
The projectiles flew out faster than lightning and in an instant they had already reached their targets. Nine extremely small, extremely sharp blades pierced the only unprotected part of the armed robbers' armored bodies-their necks. And then…There was no more and then. Their lifeless bodies just collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
The whole process had taken less than a second. The shots were precise and fierce and perfectly aimed. The distance was too far for throwing-knives. The target area was too small. The armored men already had their fingers on their triggers. It was obvious that the armored men would be the victors of the clash. Yet, the situation had been reversed and once the dust had settled, it was the lone knife-thrower who was left standing. No one else could have pulled off such an impossible feat-only the ultimate assassin.
As for the leader named One, Xiwang had left him alive, not out of mercy but to be questioned by the authorities. A throwing knife was embedded in his right hand, severing his nerve and rendering the hand useless. He could not pull the trigger anymore with that useless hand.
As he desperately tried to use his left hand to draw his side-arm (pistol), Xiwang moved again. With a 'swoosh', his form disappeared and reappeared before the man called One. In the next instant One's neck was choked with a vice-like grip and he blacked out. The 'sandman's grip' had reappeared once again and brought the fight to a decisive conclusion.
The whole fight had ended before the audience could react. It had happened too quickly. One moment they were staring at the armed robbers and the next instant it was over. The beautiful clerk was stunned by what had happened.
When Xiwang had stood up and walked to the centre of the room she was very afraid for him. She had tried to follow him to pull him back but before she could act everything was over. She stared at the back of the handsome young man who had comforted her and felt her heartbeat racing. She had the impulse to rush out and hug him but was barely able to hold herself back. After all, they had only met today and did not really know each other that well.
Xiwang stood in front of the Minister and said, "Well, Minister, It's all over. I think you can take care of the clean-up. That guy called One is still alive. You can question him when he wakes up."
The Minster stared at the young man before him with amazement. He had really done it. He had taken care of all the armed robbers himself. The Minister had never seen such an impressive young man before. After being dazed for a second, he gave Xiwang an appreciative look and said, "Thank you, young man. That was an impressive feat. You saved all of us today. As I said before, I am in your debt. My name is Zhao Ke. How may I address you?"
"The name is Xiwang. I'm in a hurry so I'll be on my way. I might call on you to repay that debt later. Oh, by the way, I don't think those guys were here just for the money. That was most likely a cover. Their real purpose was probably something in one of the safety deposit boxes, most probably that 'thing' that you were planning to deposit today. It was really dumb putting something like that in a bank. It would be better to contact Hongwu and let them keep it safe. Take care, then."
With that Xiwang left the man and walked towards the exit. The stunned Minister looked up and called after him. "Wait! How do you know about that 'thing'? And how do you know about Hongwu? Just who are you?"
But Xiwang had already disappeared. He was gone all too quickly, like he had never been there in the first place and only the bodies on the ground were evidence that he had passed through there. Once again he had left like a phantom, leaving only dead bodies in his wake. Such was the trademark of the man known as the ultimate assassin.