At the entrance of the Continental Hotel.
The tightly shut doors, with not even a bellhop at the entrance, looked completely different from the other hotels nearby, exuding an "if you want to come, come; if not, don't" attitude.
Furthermore,
Compared to the bustling entrances of other hotels,
The entrance of the Continental Hotel always seemed to be deserted.
Rhodey hadn't been here for a while either.
Just as he was about to push the door open, he heard the sound of brakes behind him, followed by a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Rhodey?"
Rhodey, standing at the entrance, turned his head to look.
From a blue Aston Martin behind him, a man with a long face, wearing a black suit and a black shirt, got out of the car.
"It's you, John."
Rhodey greeted him upon seeing him.
This man's name was John Wick, nicknamed Baba Yaga.
He was the legendary assassin of the Continental Hotel!
However, unlike a freelancer like Rhodey, John was a full-time assassin affiliated with the Continental Hotel.
The advantage of being a full-time assassin like him was that he could get a larger share of the profits.
And for good missions, the Continental Hotel would prioritize informing them.
The disadvantage, however, was that as a full-time assassin, if he wanted to retire, he would need the Continental Hotel's permission to do so.
Unlike a freelancer like Rhodey.
If he wanted to work, he worked; if he didn't, he could rest for ten or twenty years, and no one would care.
Rhodey and John met during a mission.
At that time, Rhodey had just become an assassin for over half a year and was still a rookie.
That mission was an open mission.
An open mission meant that anyone could take the job.
Such missions usually involved targets that were extremely difficult to deal with, so a large number of assassins were needed as cannon fodder to pave the way for the truly top-tier assassins.
Rhodey's position at that time was cannon fodder.
However, he helped John out with a small favor during that mission, allowing him to successfully complete it.
Afterward, John invited Rhodey for a drink, and that's how they met.
In the following years, Rhodey also made a name for himself in the assassin World, and John even asked him for help a few times, and Rhodey did the same.
They helped each other out!
Friendships exist among assassins, unless they encounter the same mission target, otherwise, helping each other is very normal.
But you have to find the right person!
Otherwise, getting stabbed in the back is not impossible.
How to describe John?
He was a bit arrogant.
And a bit stubborn!
His professional ability was indeed strong, but he didn't have many friends in the assassin circle, though the few friends he did have all spoke remarkably highly of him!
In contrast, Rhodey was the type with stronger social skills.
He could chat with anyone and call them brothers.
But frankly, they were all superficial friends.
Ever since Rhodey started coming to the Continental Hotel less, his old good brothers also stopped contacting him much.
Rhodey didn't care; he had a ton of fair-weather friends anyway.
When he wanted to have fun, a single phone call could gather a group of people to have a good time together.
Moreover,
Ultimately, these assassins were all cold-blooded killers, and if they really came knocking, who knew what kind of trouble they might bring!
Rhodey hadn't expected that coming to the Continental Hotel today to investigate information about that group of assassins would lead him to encounter John Wick at the entrance.
The two chatted as they walked into the hotel.
John told Rhodey that he had recently met a woman he loved, so he planned to save up some more money and then retire.
As soon as Rhodey heard him say that, he had a bad premonition.
Assassins who retired because of a woman usually didn't end well!
"John, don't blame me for being blunt, but do you think the High Table will let go of an ace assassin like you to retire?"
Rhodey didn't mince words with John, but John himself should have known this.
But he was just like that.
Once he made up his mind, eight oxen couldn't pull him back!
"I'll handle it!"
John said confidently.
Seeing this, Rhodey knew that this guy had made up his mind and wouldn't change it.
So he could only wish him well and hope he could retire smoothly.
"Alright, as long as you know what you're doing, but if you encounter any trouble you can't solve, call me."
Rhodey said.
After all, John was Rhodey's only truly close friend in the assassin World.
Unlike the others, Rhodey was only superficially polite, but in reality, he didn't take those people seriously at all.
Of course!
Everyone was the same.
"Thanks!"
After John sincerely thanked him, the two agreed to have a drink together later, and then they walked off in two different directions.
Rhodey was here to buy intelligence today.
What John was here for, he didn't know.
But judging by the direction he was going, he was probably here to deliver a mission.
This guy was going to retire, so he was obviously saving up a large sum of money in advance.
Don't think that being an assassin earns a lot of money.
In reality, their expenses were not small!
Many assassins were spendthrifts, and if they didn't take missions for a long time, they might not even have money to pay property taxes.
They'd have to eat the northwest wind.
Therefore,
Although John Wick was the Continental Hotel's ace assassin and earned more than other assassins, he probably didn't have much cash on hand.
...
"Mr. Rhodey, this is the intelligence you need."
The hotel's intelligence officer handed Rhodey a paper document, and Rhodey threw him a gold coin.
Gold coins were the only currency circulating within the Continental Hotel.
Inside the Continental Hotel, everything required the use of gold coins.
The value of a gold coin could not be accurately estimated.
But if another assassin were to buy one from you, it would usually be ten thousand U.S. dollars per coin, a considerable value.
And it could do many things.
From having a drink at the Continental Hotel to allowing you to hide from enemies pursuing you within the Continental Hotel!
These gold coins were also specially made by the hotel.
It was said that no one could counterfeit them.
Rhodey didn't believe this.
But presumably, those who could counterfeit them either didn't dare to, or they had already been eliminated by the Continental Hotel.
Anyway, for the immensely powerful Continental Hotel, there was nothing they dared not do!
Years ago, there was even a bounty for assassinating a certain Prime Minister in the hotel.
And it was completed!
After that, the Continental Hotel merely closed its operations in that country for a period.
Then, after the next Prime Minister took office, the Continental Hotel's business in that country actually improved, with more than a dozen new branches!