955: Chapter 944 Black Shadow 955: Chapter 944 Black Shadow At home, Gao Yang nearly always left food on his plate at every meal, and encountering a dish he didn’t like, he would rather go without than force himself to eat it.
However, after living a primitive life with the Akuri tribe for three years, Gao Yang never wasted any food again.
Hunger was the norm, with almost all food obtained at the risk of one’s life.
Under such circumstances, it would be strange if Gao Yang squandered any food.
Gao Yang now ate without waste, but he was slower compared to Number Thirteen.
He wasn’t as ferociously voracious either.
Yet, he always felt extremely uncomfortable under Number Thirteen’s unblinking stare while eating.
Holding his knife and fork, Gao Yang eventually lifted his head with resignation and said to Number Thirteen, “You’ve been watching me eat non-stop, which makes me uneasy.
I’m very curious—if it’s convenient for you to answer—whether your impression of hunger is exceptionally profound?”
Hunger is unpleasant, and it’s hard for someone who hasn’t experienced real starvation to imagine the feelings a chronically hungry person might have when seeing food.
Having experienced hunger himself, Gao Yang believed that Number Thirteen must have had a similar, if not deeper, experience.
As expected, Number Thirteen said with a smile, “Since I have clearer memories from my childhood, hunger has always been with me up until I left the training camp.
I fear hunger, I hate hunger.”
Gao Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, “I figured as much.
Normal people don’t like watching others eat.
Buddy, you’ve really had a tough time.
Let me guess, those skills listed on your resume were learned at the training camp, weren’t they?
I’m curious, what kind of training camp was it?”
Number Thirteen shrugged and said, “Obviously, aside from an assassin training camp, no one else would teach these things.
Have you heard of Black Shadow?”
Gao Yang shook his head and then asked in an inquiring tone, “A subsidiary of the Cleaners?”
Number Thirteen laughed and said, “If it were a subsidiary of the Cleaners, I wouldn’t tell you.
Black Shadow is an assassin organization that charges a high price.
Like mercenaries, their main business is killing, but they also do some miscellaneous tasks.
However, unlike mercenaries, Black Shadow’s creed and expertise are making it look like the people they kill died by accident.
So, actually, we had a lot of business, for example, making it seem like some bigshot died of a heart attack or a car accident, as long as no one finds out it was murder.
That’s how it was.”
Gao Yang whistled and said, “Impressive, but how did you end up working for the Cleaners?
Oh, and aren’t you worried about openly discussing what should be big secrets?”
Number Thirteen laughed, “No problem, Black Shadow no longer exists, what issues could there be?
Indeed, Black Shadow sounded and indeed was very powerful.
However, an organization like Black Shadow is only suited to exist in the shadows and also lacks the ability to fight head-on, which is why it was destroyed.”
Spurred by curiosity, Gao Yang said, “Destroyed?
How is that possible?”
Number Thirteen pursed his lips in a helpless gesture and said, “Black Shadow was paid to kill someone, the Cleaners were paid to protect them.
Due to the same target, there were many incidents that neither side could accept, and after that, Black Shadow and the Cleaners went to an all-out war.
These two organizations had different focuses, but in the end, it was proven that the Cleaners were more formidable.
The Cleaners didn’t kill many of Black Shadow’s people, but the targets they chose were too fatal for Black Shadow.
They took out Black Shadow’s controllers and core members.
Although most of Black Shadow’s people actually survived, the foundation for Black Shadow’s existence was gone, so we became free when Black Shadow disbanded.”
Gao Yang let out a sigh and said, “Catch the king first to capture the thieves, right?
But since the Cleaners defeated Black Shadow, why would you work for the Cleaners?”
Number Thirteen quite naturally said, “Black Shadow didn’t bring me any pleasant experiences.
Buddy, my source of suffering was Black Shadow, so when the Cleaners took out Black Shadow’s core members, I was too happy to care.
That’s why some of us, the surviving assassins, or whatever, simply worked for the Cleaners, not joining, but cooperating with them.
That’s how it is.
Some things involving the Cleaners I just can’t talk about.”
Gao Yang sincerely said, “Amazing!
I won’t ask about the Cleaners, but can you talk about any big things you did while with Black Shadow?”
Number Thirteen shrugged and said, “I won’t talk about my own matters, but as for the big things Black Shadow did, well, do you know about that Princess who died in a car accident?”
Gao Yang stared blankly and said, “Are you talking about that Princess?”
Number Thirteen nodded and said, “Alright, telling you a sensational story to shock you is enough.
I won’t say more.
Let’s end this topic here.”
As Gao Yang ate and chatted, by now, he had almost finished his meal.
After clearing the leftover food on his plate and wiping his mouth, Gao Yang looked around and noticed that although no one was nearby, there were still a few people in the coffee shop.
Gao Yang smiled and said, “Discussing such unsavory matters in a place like this doesn’t seem quite appropriate.
How about we change the location to continue?”
Number Thirteen shook his head, then suddenly asked, “Are you a second-tier client?”
“Oh, yes, someone from the cleaners mentioned that before.”
“That’s fine, I can tell you there’s no safer place than this.
This store is the cleaners’ contact point in New York.
Everyone here is an associate of the cleaners.
If you have any business in the future, you can come straight here and look for the boss.
After all, this is New York; a lot of big business happens here.
So, this is one of only two contact points in America.
Ah, this secret is exclusively for second-tier clients.
If you leak it—well, I don’t need to say more, do I?”
As Gao Yang suddenly came to a realization, he shook his head like a rattle drum, saying repeatedly, “Rest assured, I will absolutely not mention this to anyone, absolutely not!
F**k, a head of an assassin organization was caught and killed by the cleaners, who could be more secretive than the core members of Black Shadow?
I’m not that foolish.”
Number Thirteen let out a slight smile and said, “Smart man.
Alright, now that you’ve finished eating, let’s talk about my business.
Actually, what I’ve just mentioned is related to my wish.
Now let’s get down to business.
If you can help me, I can offer you money, or help you with anything.”
Gao Yang perked up and said, “Go on.”
Number Thirteen tapped on the table and spoke softly, “It’s like this—I’m looking for someone.
If you can help me find her, I’ll give you a lot of money.
If my money isn’t enough, I’ll do something for you.”
Gao Yang didn’t speak because he knew Number Thirteen would have more to say.
Sure enough, Number Thirteen took out a photograph from his suit pocket, placed it on the table, and slid it over to Gao Yang.
The photo was obviously a copy, but it was still fairly clear.
The background of the photo was in front of the Pyramids.
There were three people in the photo—a middle-aged man with blond hair, looking to be in his thirties, and two children, one boy and one girl, around four or five years old.
The girl looked slightly older with two braids, and the boy seemed to be Number Thirteen.
Gao Yang looked at the photo and said, “The boy in there seems to be you.
As for the other two, whom are you looking for?”
Number Thirteen spoke gravely, “The man is my father.
He’s already dead, so the girl I’m looking for is my sister.”
Gao Yang nodded and said, “The girl looks older than you; I hadn’t expected she was your sister.”
“We are twins.”
“Oh, now I understand.
So, tell me more in detail.”
Number Thirteen spoke slowly, “I’ve been looking based on this photo for a long time.
The photo was taken in 1988.
My father was East German but had joined the KGB to work for the Soviet Union.
He worked as a journalist for the East German National News Agency and spent many years working in Egypt at their office.
I found his name and work history, which are most likely aliases, and his files have been destroyed, or I haven’t found the correct ones.
So, my leads come to a halt, and I can’t find much useful information.
Not long after this photo was taken in 1988, my father was killed in Egypt.
He died in a car accident, but I think the cause of his death was not that simple.
According to my memory, I was a beggar in Egypt for a long time.
I forgot how I ended up on the streets because organized begging groups, after getting their hands on children suitable for begging, would use many methods to brainwash them, making them forget who they really are.
So, my memories of being a beggar are clear, but I know nothing of what happened before, as if I was born a beggar.
Later on, when I was thirteen years old, I was taken away by a woman while begging.
She took me to Europe and sent me to an orphanage in Amsterdam.
As you’ve likely worked out by now, it was one of Black Shadow’s training bases.
After about six years in Amsterdam, I was able to go out on my own.
So, I returned to Egypt and found the group that had controlled my begging.
Before wiping them out, I questioned them about my origins, but they couldn’t give me the answers I wanted.
From those scumbags, I learned that a man had been running through the streets of Cairo with me late at night but that he was dead, killed by gunfire.
Those who controlled the child beggars found me.
They took away both me and the corpse.
A lot of money, a gun, and twelve passports were found on the body, and this photo was found with me.
Regrettably, those people laundered the money found on the body, dumped the body along with the gun and the passports into the Nile River in sacks.
Fortunately, they confirmed the corpse was not the man in the photo, not my father.
Another stroke of luck was that originally, they meant to discard the photo, but someone placed it somewhere and then couldn’t find it again.
After extracting the aforementioned information, I turned over the beggar boss’s house again and again.
Then, in the corner under his bed, I found this photo.
If I’m to find my sister, perhaps my story will be one of the clues required.
There, that’s all I know so far.
If you have any questions, you can ask now.
I’ll give you detailed answers.” (To be continued.
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