“Natasha, you haven’t had dinner yet, have you? Come on, I’ll treat you to dinner.” Dustin did not answer her and changed the topic instead.
“Now that you mention it, I am feeling a bit hungry. Father, shall we go grab a bite?” Natasha turned around to ask Rufus.
“Don’t worry about them. We’ll go get dinner, just the two of us,” Dustin insisted.
“Well…” Natasha paused. She could sense that something was off between the two.
“Natasha, go ahead and enjoy your meal together. We, old folks, won’t tag along and ruin your fun. Run along now.” Rufus smiled and nodded at her.
“Alright, Father. We’ll be quick and buy some food back for you.” Natasha did not try to pry further. After she made sure they were alright, she left with Dustin.
All was quiet in the car before Natasha broke the silence. “Your father… Did you have a fallout with him?”
“A fallout?” Dustin laughed dryly. “If only it was that simple, things would be much easier.”
“So then what is it? Can you tell me?” Natasha coaxed softly. She had never seen such a melancholy expression on Dustin.
“Say, if a man’s wife and son were harmed, and he did absolutely nothing about it, do you even still consider him a man?” Dustin did not straight up tell Natasha what had happened between him and his father, but he threw her a hypothetical situation instead.
“Well, could it be possible that the man had his dilemmas too?” Natasha asked warily.
“As long as he puts his mind to it, there isn’t anything that he can’t do. Dilemmas? They’re just excuses.” Dustin shook his head.
“As I have not experienced what you’ve been through, I’m not in a position to offer you any advice. However, I do believe that one day, all truths will come to light.”
“Forget it. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Where do you want to have dinner tonight?” Dustin changed the topic yet again.
“Shall we go to Hillview Restaurant?” Natasha suggested with a smile.
“Sure!” Dustin nodded. Then, with a step on the accelerator, they sped off towards Hillview Restaurant.
As the car went around a bend, there was suddenly a loud bang. They seemed to have hit something.
“Oh no! We’ve run someone over!” Natasha paled. She saw clearly through the rearview mirror that an old lady was groaning in pain in the middle of the road.
“Are you alright, ma’am?” The moment Dustin pulled the car over, Natasha rushed out of the car and hurried over to check on the old lady. But just as her hand touched the old lady’s shoulder, the old lady leaped up and pulled out a dirk, intending to stab Natasha with it.
1/2
Utterly shocked by the turn of events, Natasha failed to duck in time. Just as she thought that would be the end of her, a hand reached over and grabbed the blade of the dirk. With a forceful jerk, the dirk snapped into two.
“Who sent you?” Dustin stared icily at the old lady, chucking the blade away as it clattered to the ground.
“You have a bounty of a hundred billion on your head, and she has ten billion on hers. What a waste! I was just inches away from having ten billion dollars in my pocket.” The old lady cackled maniacally, showing off her yellow teeth.
“A Bounty Killer.” Dustin squinted. Edwin Hummer had offered a bounty of a hundred billion dollars to have Dustin killed. Though they had put an end to the Hummers, Edwin Hummer was still alive, so the bounty had yet to be called off.
The old lady sniggered evilly. “Since you know that I’m a Bounty Killer, then you should understand that today is the day you meet your maker!”
“You wish to kill us? Just you alone?” Dustin asked contemptuously.
“There’s such a huge bounty for you! Of course, I’m not the only one after you! Look around you!” The old lady lifted her chin to the side.
Dustin looked in the direction she signaled to find that they had been surrounded. He could see that eight figures were closing in on them. Though there weren’t many of them, they were all adept assassins.
“I know you’re gifted, young man, so I deliberately sent for the Eight Giants today. Skilled as you may be, you stand no chance against them! The more you struggle, the more suffering you’ll put yourself through, so don’t even think about escaping,” the old lady taunted.
“The Eight Giants? Are they powerful?” Dustin was unfazed.
“Hah! Are they powerful? Truth be told, young man, once the Eight Giants have their eyes set on someone, not a single one of their targets has ever escaped alive!” She announced confidently.
The moment she finished speaking, Dustin flicked his wrist, and a loud whooshing sound was heard. Immediately, the Eight Giants stopped in their tracks and crashed heavily to the ground. On closer inspection, there was a silver needle buried smack in the middle of each of their foreheads.
All eight of them died right then and there.
