Chapter 1596: Chapter 1596

"Since the mission failed, this is just my bad luck. I know you haven't killed me or called the police because you want to know who hired me. Give it up. I'm a professional with a code of ethics."

The assassin under the lamplight didn't dare move a muscle with the gun pointed at him, but his face was a mask of calm, devoid of fear. The man sent to kill Jenkins was no amateur hired from a tabloid ad; he was a true professional.

"An assassin with a code of ethics?"

Jenkins scoffed, but the other man didn't argue the point.

"Alright then. Do you want to live? We can talk."

"There's nothing to talk about."

The assassin shook his head, but a sudden blur of motion rushed his face. Before he could react, the young writer had dropped the pistol in his left hand and seized his jaw, rendering him unable to control his mouth.

"This is to stop you from biting down on a poison capsule."

Jenkins suddenly commanded in a low voice. The stranger instinctively looked up, his gaze locking with Jenkins's.

"Listen to me. Your employer is actually your mortal enemy. You must go and kill him."

The power of falsehood flowed from his words, spiritual energy transmitted through their locked gazes. The man was merely a mortal, with no hope of resisting a power that could directly rewrite his consciousness and perception.

His jaw shattered, the assassin could only shake his head, as if trying to convey that he had never met his employer—that the client was exceedingly cautious.

While making this gesture, the assassin's face was a mask of pain, but a new understanding had already dawned: he had to go back and get his revenge. The young man with the cat was no enemy.

"You have your ways of communication; I don't believe for a second you know nothing about him. Use every means at your disposal to kill him. It is now the most important goal of your life."

Jenkins repeated, releasing his grip on the man. He then bent down, picked up the assassin's pistol, and handed it back.

"Do whatever it takes."

He repeated the command, then raised a hand to heal the man's jaw. Since the shattered bone hadn't been reset, the healing only numbed the pain; speaking would still be difficult. Finally, without a trace of courtesy, Jenkins plucked a tuft of hair from the man's head. It wasn't easy—the stranger had short, greasy hair.

The man grunted in assent.

The stranger took back his pistol and nodded, unable to speak with his jaw and cheekbones shattered. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and walked away. He quickly crossed the road in front of the apartment, melting into the shadows along the opposite wall before disappearing down the street.

Theoretically, a lie spoken with divine power would hold sway over a normal person for a very long time. Jenkins wasn't worried about the man exposing his secret. Firstly, the assassin was now on a new mission and far more likely to be shot to death. Secondly, he was currently unable to speak. And finally... Jenkins's gaze fell to the lock of hair in his hand.

The lock of hair was concealed in the shadow of his hand, nearly invisible at a glance. He hadn't used the [Disease Curse] in a long time, not since he began to suspect he might have been connected to the winter and spring flu outbreaks in Nolan.

The next day, before Jenkins had even left his apartment, Hathaway and Briny burst in with news that the entire city was on lockdown. The young women had learned the previous day that Dolores Stuart was part of the delegation from the northern kingdom. They had risen early specifically to find Jenkins, curious to see where he had spent the night.

"The whole city is on lockdown? Even with the royal delegation from the north, this seems a bit extreme, don't you think?"

Jenkins asked, bewildered. Still in his pajamas, he motioned for them to sit while his mind drifted to the kitchen, wondering if he had anything to make for breakfast. Thɪs chapter is updated by NovєlFіre.net

A meow echoed from the second floor. A few moments later, a yawning cat appeared at the bend in the staircase. It blinked, bleary-eyed, at the two extra people in the house and immediately looked displeased.

"Something big happened last night."

Briny waved the newspaper in her hand:

"Duke Stani has been murdered!"

"A duke from our own kingdom. You've probably never heard of him. He kept a very low profile and was rarely seen in Bel Diran. He likely only came to the capital this time because of the royal succession."

Hathaway explained as Jenkins glanced down at the paper. The front page was dominated by a photograph of Queen Isabella and King Salsi II shaking hands the day before. The story about the murder was relegated to a tiny corner of the third page. The paper was clearly trying to downplay the incident, likely to control the public reaction.

"Even for a murdered duke, a city-wide lockdown seems excessive, doesn't it? I recall another duke died mysteriously in Bel Diran late last summer. The news caused a sensation, but it didn't lead to this kind of response."

Jenkins was referring to an incident he'd heard about from MrBirchwood during his second visit to Mr. Hood's "legal gathering." MrBirchwood had failed to provide any information during the first meeting Jenkins crashed, so he had offered two pieces of intelligence at the second.

A whole year had passed in the blink of an eye.

"It's not just about the duke being murdered. After the fearless assassin was gunned down in a hail of bullets, everyone who came into contact with his corpse developed a cough, fever, and dizziness. They rushed to contact professors from the Bel Diran Medical College, as well as priests from the Church of All Things and Nature who happened to be in the city. The diagnosis was a particularly nasty strain of flu. The symptoms are almost identical to the winter and spring flus that vanished from Nolan, only this one is far more virulent and contagious. And we all know how devastating the Nolan epidemic was..."

What's more, the Church has always suspected a link between the winter and spring flus and the plague from the Skull Sword. Now, the original wielder of the Skull Sword is dead, and the Believers of Lies just made a pact with the Church a few days ago. They would have no reason to do this. Adding to that, the duke's murder last night is riddled with suspicious circumstances. The Church suspects a new cult has arrived in the city, or that those Believers of Lies have finally lost their minds.

Jenkins hadn't anticipated this outcome. It was easy for him to connect the news the young women brought with his actions the previous night, but he'd never imagined it would spark such panic.

From his perspective, the great flu in Nolan had been the result of his curse interacting with a seasonal illness. As for the man he'd cursed this time, he had already resolved to personally dispose of the body to prevent an outbreak, unless the man died in plain sight. In theory, it shouldn't have caused a repeat of the Nolan incident. Jenkins simply hadn't realized the Church was already in such a state of paranoid panic.