Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 195 The Da Vinci Code

"..."

The scenery on both sides flashed by like fleeting light, but the ride in the car was unusually smooth, without any bumps or jolting. It was so quiet that one wondered if the car was even moving. The young woman holding the steering wheel was tall and beautiful, but the middle-aged man with a stubble beard sitting in the back seat was bored and completely ignored everything.

"What's this mission? It can't be easy. Is it a vampire? A werewolf? A wizard? Or some kind of ghost?"

Inside the specially modified car, the middle-aged man didn't mince words and spoke directly.

Witchers, or vampire hunters, are often mistakenly considered to be the natural enemies of vampires because they are often at odds with them. In reality, they are more like mercenaries; as long as someone is willing to pay, they are willing to help solve problems for them, regardless of who their opponent is.

"It's news from the European headquarters. You might even have to meet with the elders later?"

Elder?
When Roberts heard the word, he almost thought he had misheard.

"Elders? How could those conservative, old-fashioned, and mysterious big shots possibly meet with a mortal like me?"

Roberts almost laughed. He belonged to an organization called "Brother John," which was said to have originated as a knightly order during the Crusades, but had since become a loose mercenary organization in the underworld. Even its name had changed, but no matter how it changed, it always had a mysterious organization called "The Secret Order" above it.

Few people know the specific name of that "Sect"; it is simply referred to as "Sect." The John brothers often received assistance from the Secret Order in their actions. The reason this loose organization has not disbanded to this day is entirely because the Secret Order does not allow it to disband.

On a very rare occasion, Roberts also met with the "elders" of the hermitage.

It was a figure clad in a black monk's robe, obscuring his face, but exuding a unique, ancient aura. Although they hadn't fought, Roberts could sense the immense power emanating from him—power far surpassing any vampire he had ever encountered. With just a glance, Roberts, who had endured brutal challenges since childhood, felt a profound sense of crisis.

Mysterious, rigid, conservative, and unwilling to interact with ordinary people—that's Roberts' impression of the "elders" in the secret order.

"Don't think you're the only one who received the order. Some people with outstanding past achievements have also received the order. It's said that it's not just the 'John Brothers,' the 'Silver Hand,' the 'Peter Hand,' the 'Gravekeeper'... they've all received the message. You'll find out when you get on the plane with me to the European headquarters later."

Upon seeing the middle-aged man's appearance in the rearview mirror, the young woman couldn't help but speak up.

"Who cares? I just want to finish the mission quickly and then go have a drink."

As he spoke, the man subconsciously reached into his pocket, but didn't find what he wanted...

Before getting on the bus, the young woman had already thrown away all the cigarettes on him. However, the middle-aged man, who was suffering from a nicotine craving, couldn't resist. Even though he knew Wendy wouldn't have missed this, he still started searching his seat.

"Don't bother looking, Roberts, there are no cigarettes in the car... no hookah... absolutely nothing..."

The young woman sitting in front seemed to know Roberts very well, and started talking to her without turning her head. After confirming that she wasn't there, the man reluctantly gave up the search, looked at her, and said...

"No wonder she can't get married..."

"Thank you. I'm so young and I don't plan to get married yet. On the contrary, it seems that a certain 43-year-old bachelor is still unmarried."

But faced with Roberts's malicious slander, the woman in the driver's seat retorted indifferently. Then, the voices in the back seat stopped. The young woman suddenly realized her mistake. She opened her mouth and then tried to explain somewhat uneasily.

"Sorry, I……"

"It's okay, Wendy."

A calm voice came from the back seat, and then the car fell into a deathly silence. In the rearview mirror, Wendy could see the middle-aged man leaning back silently in his seat, gazing out the window as if looking at some extremely distant place.

After hesitating for a moment, Wendy gently tossed her hair, looked at the person in the rearview mirror, and tentatively said...

"But so many years have passed, haven't you ever thought about... trying to find someone else?"

"Wendy, you're too young to understand. Some people, once you've had one, you'll never consider anyone else."

The voice from the back seat reached her ears, and the unusually gentle voice made her feel dissatisfied. She bit her lower lip and unconsciously tightened her grip on the steering wheel with her slender fingers, her knuckles turning slightly white.

What do you mean she's still young? It's as if she's still that little girl from back then... But when she secretly looked at the silent man in the rearview mirror, she just couldn't get angry.

"How is Qiong?"

Finally, the man broke the silence, his voice tinged with concern when he spoke the name.

“Joan? She’s still in school… You’re really something, she’s in high school in Boston, and you’ve come all the way to Texas, it’s like you’re avoiding her. She rarely sees you, and sometimes she even complains to me…” Wendy became more interested when talking about Joan, and started rambling on and on.

"Someone like me wouldn't dare to have much contact with my daughter."

The man's self-deprecating voice rang out. How could someone like him, who walked the line between life and death every day, possibly openly take care of his daughter? Only in this specially modified car could he dare to talk about Joan without fear.

Then he continued.

"Over the years, I haven't been able to show my face, and I'm so grateful to you for taking care of Qiong for me,"

There was no echo from ahead, but he could see the woman's upturned lips in the rearview mirror. He knew that his partner had received his thanks. He wasn't a talkative person, so he didn't say anything more.

Only occasionally, when he looks out the window at the couples and spouses together, a hint of loss appears in his eyes.

"Betty..."

I can still almost see that young, curious, energetic, and quirky figure before my eyes.

……

After getting off the plane, the two went straight to headquarters and eventually met the person they were looking for in a secluded little church, following the coded message.

"A brat? What value could he possibly have in being hunted down?"

Looking at the young man in the photo, Roberts frowned. It was a front-facing photo of a young man with a thin face and thick, indelible dark circles under his eyes, indicating extremely poor lifestyle habits. However, Roberts could still tell that he was just an ordinary person, probably not even twenty years old.

Roberts looked up and asked the monk in front of him.

Opposite him stood an old monk shrouded in black robes, his face aged, his pupils deep and unfathomable. Facing Roberts's questioning, his gaze remained unchanged, cold and lifeless.

“Child, this is not something you should be asking… Just find him, and the Hermitage will handle the rest.”

With lowered eyes, the old and slow voice spoke.

His tone had an inexplicable strangeness, slow and lyrical, making Roberts feel vaguely uncomfortable.

However, he didn't care about any of that. In the end, he was more like a mercenary. He shouldn't ask questions he shouldn't ask. Since he was asked to find this person, he couldn't be bothered with the story behind it.

Then he flipped through the documents in his hand, which listed his information in detail, including his height, weight, blood type, school, and coffee preference, but Roberts keenly noticed that some information seemed to have been deliberately omitted.

For example, it is mentioned above that he fled Amsterdam, where he lived and studied, a few months ago, but he did not explain why he fled, as if someone deliberately erased the information and did not want people to know.

However, such things do happen. In some highly confidential situations, employers obviously wouldn't reveal such information to mercenaries.

"Extremely skilled in mathematics and programming, a genius hacker..."

Ultimately, Roberts's extremely ordinary resume revealed little about her; she was born, grew up, and studied like any other person, and was described as "aloof, dull, and unremarkable" both on campus and in the eyes of others…

Aside from the seemingly deliberately emphasized "hacker".

“Umberto Bruni…”

Looking at the name, Roberts unconsciously murmured it.

……

Meanwhile, in a manor somewhere in Europe, a large group of men and women bowed to a person shrouded in darkness. The person sat on a throne, and one could vaguely see that he was wearing ancient royal attire. His cold and stern face gazed at the group of men and women before him.

One of them was respectfully speaking to him, and one could vaguely hear words like "hacker" and "Brownie" mentioned in the conversation.

After a long while, he issued a series of commands in a deep voice. The numerous men and women transformed into bats and dispersed. Then, the ancient king, sitting on his throne, rested his head on his hand and murmured something.

"The code left by Leonardo da Vinci...did he really unlock the key to the world?"

(End of this chapter)