95: Chapter 95: Helping to find his long-lost daughter, Afu pledges his unwavering loyalty.
"Where... where did you get this photo from?!"
Afu's bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Qin Yuan.
The muscles on his greasy, aged face twitched slightly due to extreme agitation and restraint.
He gripped the photo tightly, with such force that deep creases formed along the edges of the picture.
In the photo was a young girl, about twenty years old, with delicate features and a radiant smile.
Her brows and eyes faintly resembled Afu when he was young.
Facing this terrifying murderous aura that would suffocate an ordinary person, Qin Yuan didn't even blink.
"How I got the photo isn't important."
Qin Yuan had his hands in his pockets, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.
"What matters is, do you recognize the person in the photo?"
"Haa... huff..."
Afu was gasping for air, his chest heaving violently.
How could he possibly not recognize her?!
This is his daughter!
His only flesh and blood in this world!
Twenty years ago, while carrying out an assassination mission, his identity was exposed, and he suffered brutal retaliation from his enemies.
His wife was brutally murdered, and his daughter, who had just turned a month old, was snatched away by those animals and had been missing ever since.
For twenty years!
He lived under an assumed name, posing as a lowly old mechanic, dodging his enemies' pursuit while using his remaining intelligence network to frantically search for his daughter's whereabouts.
Yet, twenty years had passed.
Like a stone sinking into the ocean, there was no news.
He had even thought countless times in despair that his daughter was no longer in this world.
Until today, until he saw this photo!
That intuition of blood being thicker than water told him that this was his daughter! She was still alive!
"Where is she?!"
Afu lunged forward, grabbing Qin Yuan by the collar of his trench coat.
The speed that erupted in that instant was so fast that even Tanlang, who was hiding in the shadows, didn't react in time!
"Tell me where she is! Otherwise, I'll kill you!"
Afu's voice was hoarse, like the roar of a wild beast, and the veins on the back of his hand holding the wrench bulged.
"Let go."
Qin Yuan looked down at the greasy, dark hand gripping his collar.
His gaze turned cold instantly.
"Afu, or should I call you... 'Shadow of Death'?"
"You'd better figure out who is begging whom right now."
Qin Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but every word felt like a heavy hammer striking Afu's heart.
Shadow of Death!
This name, which had disappeared for twenty years and once made the Western underworld tremble, had been spoken out by the young man before him!
Afu's pupils dilated in shock, and his hand gripping Qin Yuan's collar involuntarily loosened.
He took a half-step back, a flicker of extremely complex emotions flashing in his eyes.
"Who... who exactly are you?"
"I am the person who can reunite you with your daughter."
Qin Yuan straightened his rumpled trench coat collar and spoke unhurriedly.
"Twenty years ago, your daughter was bought by a Mafia family in Europe, and later resold to a scam compound in Southeast Asia."
"She has had a very difficult life all these years."
Qin Yuan's words were like a rusty blade, repeatedly tearing at Afu's scarred heart.
Afu's body began to tremble violently, his eyes red as if they were about to bleed.
"But rest assured, she is safe now."
Qin Yuan changed the subject.
"I not only found her through intelligence from the Dark Web, but I also spent a little money to wipe out that scam compound."
"Right now, she is in the best private hospital in the capital, undergoing a full medical examination and psychological counseling."
As he spoke, Qin Yuan took his encrypted phone out of his pocket.
He tapped the screen, initiated a video call, and then handed the phone to Afu.
"If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
Afu tremblingly reached out with his hands, which were covered in black grease and calluses.
He didn't dare to take the phone, afraid of dirtying the screen, afraid that all of this was just an illusory dream.
The screen flickered a few times.
The video connected.
On the screen was a spacious, bright, and warmly decorated luxury hospital room.
A young girl wearing an oversized hospital gown was sitting on the hospital bed, looking somewhat anxious.
Although her complexion was somewhat pale, her eyes were clear and pure.
It was exactly the girl from the photo!
"Big Boss! I'm taking good care of her!"
In the corner of the screen, Gu Qianqian's little head popped out, chewing on a lollipop.
"Qianqian, give the phone to her," Qin Yuan instructed.
Gu Qianqian handed the phone to the girl on the bed and whispered a word of encouragement.
The girl timidly took the phone.
She looked at the screen, seeing the old man standing on the street corner, wearing a tattered undershirt, face covered in grease, looking at her with a gaze of disbelief and extreme longing.
Her eyes instantly turned red.
Before this, the people Qin Yuan sent to pick her up had already shown her photos of Afu when he was young and told her the whole truth.
"You... are you really..."
The girl's voice trembled, carrying a hint of uncertain probing and twenty years of pent-up grievance.
"Dad...?"
Boom!
This one word, "Dad."
It was as if it pierced through twenty long and dark years, piercing through countless desperate days and nights.
In an instant, it shattered all the defenses and strength of this once merciless and cold-blooded King of Killers!
"Yes!... Yes!!"
Afu burst into tears!
He could no longer control his emotions, and like a child, he began to wail on the street corner!
"It's me... it's Dad... Nannan... Dad is sorry, I'm so sorry..."
He reached out with his trembling hands, wanting to caress his daughter's cheek on the screen, but he was afraid of dirtying the screen, so he could only let them hang in mid-air, at a loss.
"Dad..."
The girl on the screen was also sobbing, tears the size of beans rolling down continuously.
The father and daughter cried together across the screen.
At this moment.
Whatever international King of Killers, whatever peak of martial arts, all were thrown to the back of his mind by Afu.
He was just an ordinary old father who had searched for his daughter for twenty years, filled with guilt and regret.
Qin Yuan did not disturb them, just standing quietly to the side.
A full five minutes passed.
Afu's emotions finally began to calm down.
He looked at his daughter on the screen with reluctance, and instructed in a hoarse voice: "Nannan, be good and listen in the hospital. Wait for Dad... wait for Dad to finish his business, and I will come to see you."
"Okay... Dad, you must come to pick me up..." The girl nodded while crying.
Qin Yuan reached out and hung up the video call.
The surrounding air became quiet again.
Only Afu's heavy breathing remained in front of the repair stall.
Afu lowered his head, staring fixedly at the large wrench in his hand, stained with black grease, which had accompanied him for twenty years.
Suddenly.
He gritted his teeth hard!
He gripped both ends of the wrench with his hands.
"Haa!"
Accompanied by a low roar.
"Snap!"
The heavy wrench, forged from high-carbon steel and incredibly hard, was snapped in two by his seemingly thin hands!
He casually threw it onto the pile of scrap metal nearby.
This meant that he had completely severed the disguise of the "old mechanic" of the past.
And he had also completely severed the muddled avoidance and survival of the past twenty years.
"Thud!"
This uncrowned king who had once made the entire Western underworld tremble.
This tough guy who had never bent his spine even when facing hundreds of gun barrels.
Without hesitation.
He knelt heavily on both knees on the curb, which was covered in oil and mud.
His graying head bowed deeply, pressing against Qin Yuan's spotless leather shoes.
"Boss."
Afu's voice no longer held any feigned old age or weakness, but instead revealed a resolve and ruthlessness like clashing metal and stone.
"Your great kindness is beyond repayment."
"From today on, this old life belongs to you."
"Whoever you tell me to kill, I will kill. Even if it's the gods and Buddhas in the nine heavens, I will drag them down for you!"
Qin Yuan looked down at the King of Killers kneeling at his feet.
In his mind, the system's notification sound rang out clearly.
[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully subdued the hidden SSR-level character 'Shadow of Death'!]
[This character's loyalty: Die-hard (Cannot betray)!]
[Obtained 50,000 favor points!]
A look of extreme satisfaction curled the corners of Qin Yuan's mouth.
He did not go to help Afu up.
Because he knew that for a peerless killer of this level, offering pity was an insult to them.
Only by letting him repay this favor with knives and blood could he stay by his side with peace of mind.
"Get up."
Qin Yuan instructed indifferently.
"I don't lack desperate men to die for me, but I lack a sharp blade that can cut the enemy's throat for me in the shadows."
Afu stood up, his originally hunched back instantly straightening up.
A cold, tangible murderous aura revived from within his body, even sharper than before!
"Boss, what do you need me to do?" Afu's eyes were like unsheathed sharp swords.
"First, go take a shower and change your clothes."
Qin Yuan looked at his greasy, tattered undershirt with disdain.
"Then, go help me take over the 'Assassination Department' of the Shadow Empire."
"Although those two girls, Nightingale and Night Butterfly, are not bad, they still lack a master who truly knows the ropes to train them."
"Yes!" Afu accepted the order respectfully.
Qin Yuan turned and walked towards the Maybach, opened the car door, and prepared to get in.
Just then, his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the encrypted message sent by Gu Qianqian on the screen, and his footsteps paused slightly.
Then.
He turned his head and looked at Afu, who had fully entered the state of the "King of Killers."
A cold arc curled at the corners of his mouth.
"By the way, Afu."
"Before you go to report to the Assassination Department, do a small favor for me, just to stretch your muscles."
"I just received news that there is a Wang Sicong, who calls himself the 'National Young Master' and is usually extremely high-profile on the internet."
"He seems to be very dissatisfied with my moves to take over the entertainment industry in the capital recently."
Qin Yuan sat in the car, the window slowly rolled up, leaving behind the last casual, yet murderous instruction.
"Go, teach him."
"Who is really in charge in the capital."