Chapter 1604 Sayonara, Have a Pleasant Journey
Luke hung the transparent umbrella next to the door and sat down in front of the counter. He put his hands on his knees and said, “I didn’t ask before – may I know how you were addressed at the High Table?”
The bald chef turned serious. “Zero.”
Luke nodded. “Nice to meet you, Zero.”
The baldie bowed his head again. “Nice to meet you, Boogeyman.”
Luke smiled. “No, please call me John.”
Zero didn’t dwell on it.
In this line of work, people had a lot of quirks.
There were freaks who would kill entire families if their nicknames weren’t used.
He nodded. “What would you like to eat today?”
Luke said, “Noodles are fine.”
Zero: “Please wait a moment.”
Luke took out an old silver lighter and a metal cigar box. He opened it and took out a cigar. “May I?”
Zero smiled. “As you wish.”
If it were anyone else, he naturally wouldn’t allow it.
But… those who were capable always received preferential treatment.
Besides, he was probably the only cook in the world who could make the Boogeyman specially return to eat his ramen again.
If this were more than a year ago, this “honor” might not be much.
That was because at that time, Zero hadn’t thought that he was any worse than the Boogeyman.
In the hitman business, everybody could kill ordinary people. That was nothing to brag about.
Only by killing “professionals” could they truly cement their position. And it was those in the same trade who were professionals.
The elite a.s.sa.s.sins of the Fraternity were all “legends” in the industry.
Sloan had been one of the most mysterious of these legendary killers — to be able to live to 70 and still keep a bunch of elite a.s.sa.s.sins under his thumb was even rarer than being a legendary killer himself.
But it was precisely 18 hitmen and their leader, Sloan, of this top a.s.sa.s.sin organization who had been trapped in their den by the Boogeyman and killed overnight. 100 fully-armed ordinary hitmen had also been killed.
Word of this matter gradually spread.
The Boogeyman went from a “possible” legendary killer to a “possible” G.o.d of killers who had surpa.s.sed the legendary level.
Secondly, superheroes and all kinds of villains had appeared all over the world in the last two years.
In the hitman business, it was acknowledged that the one who could fight these extraordinary beings was the Boogeyman.
That was because everybody suspected that the Boogeyman was an extraordinary being himself.
In front of such a person, what requests could Zero make?
Since the other party had asked him politely, he could only say, “Please do as you wish.”
Luke opened the lighter, lit the cigar, and took a puff. He then placed it on the edge of the table and let it burn slowly.
The wind blew, and the red embers on the cigar flickered as they fell.
Zero focused on making ramen.
This was the most serious he had ever been in years when doing something.
Even so, the hot noodles were served in less than ten minutes.
Luke flicked his finger, and the cigar flew into a puddle outside the door. The last of the embers was instantly extinguished.
He picked up his chopsticks and ate the noodles unhurriedly.
He finished them in two minutes, and even drained the bowl dry.
Putting down the bowl, Luke nodded. “This is the best food I’ve had in Tokyo.”
Delight appeared in Zero’s eyes. “Thank you for the compliment, sir.”
Luke took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth. “Zero, for the sake of this bowl of noodles, let me ask you one last question.”
Zero turned serious. “Please go ahead.”
Luke put the handkerchief back into his pocket and asked softly, “Would you be able to accept focusing on being a promising cook and no longer killing people from now on?”
Zero fell silent.
Staring at the knife on the chopping board for a long time, he finally heaved a long sigh. “I accept. However, I hope you can officially fight me once. Please!”
Luke curled his lip. “You’ll die.”
Zero bowed calmly. “Please give me this chance.”
Luke said, “When and where?”
Zero: “Now, here.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
Zero also smiled. “Yes.”
As he spoke, he picked up a kitchen knife and placed it on the table in front of Luke. “This is your weapon. Is that alright?”
Luke looked at the kitchen knife and nodded. “Fine.”
Zero stretched out his left hand. “Please.”
Luke raised his head. “You go first, or you will never get the chance to pick up the knife.”
Zero’s right hand moved slightly. Next to him was the small knife which he had used to filet the fish.
Compared with the kitchen knife in front of Luke, which was 25 centimeters long, the knife looked old and was only about 15 centimeters long.
To use an a.n.a.logy, Luke’s knife was an adult model, while Zero’s knife was a schoolkid’s model.
But for a professional expert, the best weapon was the one they were most familiar with.
Zero’s eyes flickered as he said in a low voice, “Thank you.”
Things quieted down. Three seconds later, his right hand flashed.
The old knife left a barely discernible gray trail under the light as it slashed at Luke’s neck.
A cold light flashed.
At that moment, the knife finally brushed past Luke’s neck.
The gray blade was less than a centimeter away from Luke’s neck, but that was the limit of Zero’s attack range.
If he took another step forward, his movements would change and the knife would slow down, and he would have even less of an opportunity to touch Luke. Zero completed this near perfect attack until his arm returned to his side.
He looked down at the kitchen knife on the table and smiled bitterly. “How much strength did you use?”
Luke tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Half.”
“Only half.” Zero sighed calmly. “Thank you for the guidance.”
Luke nodded slightly. “Sayonara, Zero-kun.”
A smile appeared on Zero’s face. “Sayonara, John-san.”
With that, he abruptly collapsed on the table top.
Dark red poured out of his neck and spread over the clean kitchen counter.
Luke took out another cigar, lit it, and took a puff.
He didn’t smoke in this life, but he had smoked in his previous one.
Looking at the smoke ring, he placed the cigar on the edge of the table in front of Zero. “Have a safe trip to the underworld!”
With that, he got up, picked up the transparent umbrella hanging next to the door, and slowly walked out into the rain.
There were no longer any sounds in the food stall. There was only the wind every now and then which fanned the cigar in front of the baldie.
Suddenly, there was a strong gust.
The cigar rolled over the table and fell to the ground.
At that moment, it was instantly crushed under a shoe as someone stepped inside. A drunk voice rang out. “Heike-san, we’re here again. Hm, are you sleeping, Heike-san? Ah~~!”