Chapter 93 Who’s Playing Who?

….. Cheers to keeping your life, mate!" After a brief hush, he looked through the scope, shifting briskly with his right eye, and then continued shooting at Bobby, but clearly this time he was not intending to kill him. Then he tapped on the earpiece in his ear, turned it back on, and said, "I can't take down the target. Now, proceeding to Plan B, over!"

"No.10, hmm, this isn't you. You have never missed and given up on your opponent this easy. What happened?" The assassin No.1 replied in the line.

"The target is a freaking speedster, for crying out loud!" The Sharp-shooter responded as he kept firing at Bobby at the same time.

His words piqued his interest as this was his first time hearing No.10 giving up on his target this easily. So, he further asked. "Hmm, not convincing enough. Literally, considering your expertise with shooting, I know you're always enthralled to take jobs related to speedster targets, always challenging yourself. Then why would you give up so easily after 6 minutes?"

"Alright-man, tell you what this brat is out of my league, bro? It was just a few minutes ago that I used my left eye's sure kill skill, and I was sure I could kill him with those five bullets since he had nowhere to hide, but you know what, that kid stopped himself instantly, standing in the ground stiffed like a tree after moving slightly near your record speed and dodged them. So he wins the bet!" No.10 explained patiently.

"This brat could almost compete with my fastest sprint speed! Oh, nice. This time, I think I'll have some fun." No.1 said with excitement and he hushed, "Hmm, an interesting prey, indeed this time."

"Yeah man, this's the most outstanding stun that could amaze me in my entire career, and I know you'll be happy to hear about killing such challenging prey. So I give up." No.10 said through the line and he wondered inside his head. "And most important of all, I cannot really take him down. It will be pointless trying, anyway."

"Kekeke… No.10, you knew me really well. Thanks for that. But can you do me a favor?"

"I'm listening bro."

"How about trying any expertise you may have in your arsenal and giving me all the possible points you can gauge from the target?" No.1 suggested.

"Whatever for you, bro, consider it done." No.10 replied earnestly, and he then tapped on his AI button and said, "Activate the Raining mode!"

In the following moment, the advanced weapons began to transform as the muzzle retracted, transforming it into a new type of powerful long-range weapon. The only difference this time was that he could fire it non-stop, though its accuracy would really decline.

This means that the previous version of his weapon was one he used all the time to assassinate his targets and the current version was the one he seldom used, which he was preparing to use only when he was cornered behind the enemy's line or when simply gunning down numerous armies.

He then continued shooting at Bobby, running down bullets until the round of the magazine was all out, changed to a new one, and continued firing at him.

In this instance, Bobby found it a bit challenging at first, but eventually, dodging the bullets became as natural to him as walking.

Meanwhile, No.10 continued reporting all the data he deducted for Bobby's ability, both pros and cons; especially pros because he couldn't find anything weakness about Bobby until now as when he considered that he discovered a weakness, his moves were so faint that his conclusion regarding Bobby was that 'He is a freaking sneaky bastard.'

Suddenly he saw Bobby standing still, and he deducted, looking at his mouth's movements. "Eh! What's he planning to do now?... Hmm, now he's standing still, not moving a muscle. And he seemed to say something….um... He's counting down numbers 5,4,3,2,1"

After watching Bobby say '1', he watched him grinning at him, and, then, at the same time, he noticed that the surroundings suddenly grew dimmer, he blinked unconsciously, and the next thing he spotted was that Bobby had vanished, then he continued to look around and even looked at his signature but could not find him.

"I lost him, bro!"

"What did you mean you lost him?"

"Hey, don't blame me? It's the fucking cloud, okay, I just get distracted for the fraction of a second and he was like a puff. Gone…. Wait a minute?!" No.10 responded and suddenly he exclaimed after realizing something. "Brother, I'm afraid we're in trouble right now. The brat has freakish intelligence and is freakishly smart. And I think he's running in my direction at this moment," he said, warning him.

"Trouble!? What the fuck are you talking about? Are you out of your fucking mind?" No.1 scolded him through the line.

"Last but not least, he grinned at me just before he vanished, and a chill ran down my spine. It was like he was the one who had been playing with me all this time. I can guarantee you he knows my location, and I'm pretty sure he knows yours as well." "This brat is very smart. I think the overshadowing from the cloud did not seem random; it was as if he had figured everything outright from the very start, from the clouds' movement to the direction of the sunlight to even the terrain of the woods. I've been played, bro. A big time.... This might sound ?a bit absurd coming from me and but I suggest you honestly; give or take, I considered it prudent for you to confront the boy with extreme caution and to go all out when you confront him later on." No.10 explained in a nutshell, warning him. "And now he's currently on his way to me."

"Alright, then I'm coming to you. Stay alert!" Then No.1 spoke finally, finally showing his new side, which was only known by No.10. "No.10 I have a confession to make. It would be best if you ran away from me as fast as you could if you were to survive this. If you survived, I'm coming after you to take your head."

"Yeah, I know. I came here partly knowing that I might die in your hands. Even if I had the ability, I could not escape your hunt, and it is pretty unlikely that I could kill you, I guess. But believe me, it'll not be an easy task for you to take me down."

"You knew?"

"Bro, nothing can't escape from my eyes. Have you forgotten who used to read all your thoughts when we were just boys? To me, it took just a glance from me to know your intention… In addition, the fact that Master's favorite No.3 is missing, presumably dead, and above all else, today, you were explicitly told to remain after our meeting. That's my last clue that its time, so you do what you do best. Listen, brother, did you still remember what I said to you after our first mission together; it's inevitable and one day, it certainly will be time for us to kill each other. When the time comes, don't even a tad hesitate to kill me, and I'll do the same."

"But why are you telling me all this?" asked No.1.

No.10, the sharp-shooter responded truthfully, and he asked. "The same goes for you. Wouldn't it be fair if I didn't tell you my intention since you were the first to share it? Moreover, do you comprehend the hidden purpose that motivated our master to tag me along with you, even though you alone were needed to take out the target?" Before N0.1 could reply, he answered his own question. "Master knew that no matter how cold and calculating you may appear to be, and whatever skills you may possess, there is something deep inside which is holding you back from becoming the perfect assassin master wished to have, and that something is actually your love for brotherhood which is me. So, this's his last test for you. He'll spare you if you come back killing me, otherwise, we're all going to die in his hands."

"Hmm!" No.1 made a long sighed and responded. "You are the wittiest and cunning one who, among all the batches until now, that I have only witnessed."

"Hahaha…. You praise me too much, brother. Even though I appreciate the compliment, it always feels good to hear that from you," No.10 responded while laughing heartily. "Believe me, brother, you are about to witness someone who can beat my wit today. Maybe I may die at his hands, which will turn out to be a blessing for us as we do not need to kill each other... still, I will do my utmost to survive as we always do. "

Suddenly, he heard something and said, slightly furrowing his brows. "He's here finally. Goodbye, brother."

He then stood up and said, "Come out, boy. I have been eagerly anticipating meeting you. I know you're nearby. "

In the immediate aftermath, a shadow jumped from one tree to another, until finally, a lanky youth wearing sunglasses appeared before him.

"So you're the one who's been playing with me this whole time?... I guess you already know about my good name, but it feels nice to introduce myself in this circumstance." "It was nice meeting you. I'm Bobby Bradford. What's your name?"