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Winston, who was playing a game of Scrabble at the Continental Hotel, glanced at the message on his phone and murmured to himself,
"The show has begun."
At the front desk, Charon noticed that many assassins had gathered in the administrative hall corridor, all checking their phones at the same time.
As soon as the news spread, large numbers of New York assassins began converging on Chinatown.
Even Smith Doyle and Fox, who were still accompanying John Wick, received the bounty notice from the Continental Hotel on the phones they had acquired earlier.
After reading the message, Smith and the others showed little concern.
By now, John Wick had finished stitching his wounds himself and began searching the doctor's medicine cabinet for painkillers.
He searched for a long time but still couldn't find what he needed. There were simply too many bottles and containers.
Seeing John still rummaging through the cabinet, the doctor said, out of respect for Mr. Wick,
"Top shelf. Right side."
"Okay. And the fourth one as well."
"These will help lift your spirits and ease the pain."
Fox stared at the Chinese doctor in surprise. He hadn't expected the man to dare help John Wick at a moment like this.
Following the instructions, John Wick immediately retrieved the medication and took it.
The doctor then walked to a cabinet, opened a drawer, and pulled out a handgun.
"Mr. Wick, they won't believe I stopped the treatment in time."
John looked at him.
"But you did stop."
Holding the gun, the doctor continued,
"They'll find out."
John turned around, straightened his clothes, and asked,
"What did you notice?"
Fox said,
"He told you where the painkillers were."
The doctor nodded.
"Yes. That's right."
Hearing this, John Wick understood immediately.
The doctor walked up to John Wick with the handgun, handed it to him, then moved to a chair and grabbed a piece of gauze, preparing to stop the bleeding as quickly as possible.
John took the gun, stepped closer, and asked,
"Where?"
The doctor lifted his shirt, pointing at his abdomen.
"Here—below the ribs. Don't kill me—"
Before he could finish, John Wick raised the gun and fired.
"Ah!"
The doctor cried out in pain and collapsed back into the chair.
Just as John was about to drop the gun and leave, the doctor called out,
"Wait."
"One shot might not be enough."
He then loosened his collar, exposing his shoulder and neck.
"Don't kill me—"
Before he could finish, another gunshot rang out.
"Ugh… ah… ah!"
The doctor groaned in pain once more.
John stepped forward, picked up his suit jacket, and turned to leave.
Behind him, the doctor looked at John Wick's back and said,
"Good luck, Mr. Wick."
John Wick stopped, turned around, and looked at the doctor who was binding his wounds.
"Thank you, doctor."
After saying that, John Wick did not hesitate and walked straight out.
Fox turned to Smith Doyle and asked,
"Do you think he can catch up to us?"
Smith watched John Wick's retreating figure and said,
"Before the wounds were stitched, he had no chance of surviving. But now, his chances are much higher."
John Wick stepped onto the street. Rain was pouring down, yet the crowds hadn't thinned at all. He immediately broke into a run.
At that moment, a fish vendor was selling fish at a roadside stall. His younger brother came out and spotted John Wick running past.
"Boss, it's him."
The fish vendor tore off his apron, threw away his hat, and said,
"Let's go make some money."
Meanwhile, another group also spotted John Wick and immediately gave chase.
John Wick rushed into a building, sprinted up the stairs, and locked the door behind him.
Inside, he entered a gun shop. He examined the weapons behind the counter and tried to open the glass display cases, only to find them locked. He smashed the glass, pulled out a revolver, and began loading bullets.
As John Wick was assembling the gun, the fish vendor and his brothers arrived.
"Bang!"
The first man through the door was shot in the head and died instantly.
After firing, John Wick immediately moved to cover. The fish vendor and the others rushed inside.
Hearing footsteps, John Wick took the initiative, but his shot missed. Fortunately, at close range, he managed to knock his opponent's weapon away.
A brutal hand-to-hand fight broke out. Despite being outnumbered two to one, the attackers gained no advantage. Both sides noticed the various knives and swords displayed by the windows. Glass shattered as weapons were seized and used.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Grunt.
Once weapons were involved, casualties followed quickly. More assassins swarmed in—each time John Wick killed one, two more appeared.
He grabbed daggers from the counter and threw them like darts. Every throw hit its mark.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
The battle was intense and spectacular. In the end, John Wick scored nine kills, wiping out the entire wave of attackers.
When he exited the building, he immediately became the target of other assassins. Meanwhile, Smith and Fox stepped into the aftermath of the fight.
Smith looked at Fox, who was wearing the combat power detector, and said,
"You've seen their combat ratings. What do you think?"
Fox looked at the bodies on the ground and replied,
"Combat power doesn't fully measure a person's true strength."
"Along the way, you'll face enemies equal to John Wick—and others slightly weaker."
"But after repeated ambushes, only John Wick survived."
Smith nodded.
"When two sides clash, combat power isn't everything."
"Determination, timing, decisiveness in killing—these all affect the outcome."
"One wrong step can change everything."
"But when combat power rises high enough, the result becomes catastrophic."
Fox asked,
"To what level would you need to improve before you could ignore the damage from small-caliber firearms right from the start?"
Smith thought for a moment.
"With a combat rating of 9, you can ignore small-caliber gunfire."
Hearing this, Fox thought about her own rating of 6. It didn't seem impossibly far away—but she also knew the gap between the two levels was enormous.
Increasing one's physical energy by fifty percent—how could that be easy?
"Keep watching John Wick's next move."