The Great Demon Lord of the American Comics World

Chapter 32, A Novice's First Bounty Mission
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly.

Li Xingzhou first went to the rooftop of the apartment building where the bodies had been exposed the previous night to check the headless corpses of the two vampires. Seeing that the bodies had turned to ashes in the morning sunlight, he left and drove to Manhattan Island.

After driving around Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, it was easy to find the uniquely designed Continental Hotel.

He found a parking space, turned off the engine, got out of the car, held the Myriad Chance Umbrella in his hand as a cane, and strolled leisurely into the hotel.

In the hotel lobby, several well-dressed men and women sat in twos and threes, some reading newspapers and drinking tea, others chatting quietly. They all looked like refined and polite gentlemen and ladies.

When Li Xingzhou entered, the gentlemen and ladies who were sitting scattered around seemed to pay no attention to him. However, Li Xingzhou's powerful spiritual perception detected him immediately. Almost everyone cast a scrutinizing glance at him as he entered.

Li Xingzhou knew that hotels in mainland China did not accept outside guests; those who could stay in hotels were almost all registered killers.

Therefore, those well-dressed gentlemen and ladies are all professional killers with a lot of lives on their hands.

They cast discreet, scrutinizing glances at Li Xingzhou, merely instinctively assessing his threat level.

Li Xingzhou remained unmoved by the subtle scrutiny, a faint smile playing on his lips. He walked calmly to the hotel reception desk, giving a slight nod to the impeccably dressed, bald, black man in a suit.

"Hello."

The Black man looked at Li Xingzhou, then glanced at the umbrella in his hand, and greeted him with a smile:

Good morning, Mr. Leonard Victor.

Clearly, this receptionist at the mainland hotel was the same person who had spoken with Li Xingzhou a few days earlier.

Li Xingzhou had given him his personal information, and this person was also in charge of customizing the Thousand Chance Umbrella, so he could naturally recognize Li Xingzhou at a glance.

"How should I address you?" Li Xingzhou asked with a smile.

The Black receptionist replied:

“Charon. Mr. Victor, you can just call me Charon.”

Li Xingzhou nodded:

“Mr. Charon, as you can see, I came to register after receiving your notification.”

Charon smiled and said:
"Of course, Mr. Victor, your information has been approved. We welcome such an outstanding talent as you to inject new blood into the mainland hotels. However, for now, you can only be a probationary member of the hotel. You can register as a full member after completing three bounty missions."

As he spoke, he took out a cell phone, placed it on the front desk, and gently pushed it towards Li Xingzhou:
"This is an internal hotel phone that can receive bounty tasks posted by the hotel. Tasks are not mandatory; you can decide whether to accept them. Also, please leave your personal account information so that the reward can be paid out upon completion of the task."

"very good."

Li Xingzhou put away his phone, checked its functions, and then revealed one of his private accounts.

Afterwards, Charon gave him several business cards, all from shops under the Continental Hotel Group, which could provide Li Xingzhou with various mission-related items, such as bulletproof vests, guns, explosives, and so on.

Of course, all of this comes at a price, and the price for pre-members is 30% higher than that for regular members.

After completing all the formalities, Li Xingzhou asked:
"So, are there any ready-made bounty missions right now?"

"There happens to be one."

Karon took out a file folder and pushed it in front of Li Xingzhou.

There's really no such thing as perfect.
The hotel had anticipated Leonardo Victor's arrival to register, so they prepared a task of moderate difficulty for him, both as a welcome bonus for newcomers and to test his abilities.

Li Xingzhou opened the document bag, took out the target document, and glanced at it briefly.

"Barney Ross? A former Navy SEAL... a veteran?"

Charon explained:
"Barney Ross is no ordinary retired veteran. After retiring, he became a black glove for the Charity Church, assembling a team called the 'Suicide Squad' to do dirty work for the Charity Church. Not long ago, he led his team to overthrow and kill the military leader of a small South American country. The leader's son escaped by chance and put all his savings on a bounty for Barney Ross."

"So he's a champion of democracy." Li Xingzhou whistled. "Very good, I like this kind of target the most."

Democracy fighters, in their quest to overthrow dictatorial rulers as they see fit, can disregard the sovereignty of other nations and resort to any means necessary to subvert the regime. Even if the overthrow leaves behind widespread devastation, even if the country's economy collapses and its people are displaced and starving, they can still shamelessly proclaim:
At least, they have democracy and freedom!

Such fighters, killing one after another on sight, would surely accumulate a great deal of merit.

"Are you sure you want to accept this bounty? As you know, the mission is not mandatory, and although Barney Ross is just an ordinary person with no superpowers, he is, after all, a battle-hardened and experienced veteran."

Li Xingzhou looked at the file showing Barney Ross's expressionless face, which bore a striking resemblance to Sylvester Stallone's, and smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I confirm. Barney Ross may be a good old soldier, but... as long as he's human, he'll die if he's killed."

He flicked the document lightly. "Barney Ross's bounty is mine." Charon nodded in acknowledgment.

"Then, have a pleasant hunt."

……

Back in his car with the document bag, Li Xingzhou was about to carefully review the documents when his phone rang.

Upon seeing the caller ID and recognizing Mariko's number, he pressed the answer button and said with a smile:

Good morning, Mariko.

"Leonardo, is it true that if I don't call you, you'll never contact me first?"

Mariko's tone sounded a little agitated.

"How could that be? I've just been very busy these past few days. I spent three whole days staking out a remote place, just to get rid of my boss's biggest worry. I just got back from my business and ran into a vampire... This is true, not a joke, vampires really exist. Haven't you heard the saying, 'Hell is empty, the devil is in New York'?"

Mariko was amused by him, but quickly suppressed a laugh and forced a serious tone:

"Can you guarantee you haven't been chasing girls these past few days?"

"Of course. I swear to God."

Although he met with Selena last night, he only told her a story and drank two bottles of wine with her; they didn't even kiss, let alone have sex. This clearly doesn't count as picking up girls. Therefore, Li Xingzhou has a clear conscience.

"Swear to God?" Mariko asked skeptically. "Aren't you American? Don't you believe in Jesus?"

“If someone is a bad person, they should indeed believe in Jesus.”

Li Xingzhou spoke earnestly:
"Jesus bore the sins of the world and redeemed them with his blood. Even the sins of the wicked were borne by Jesus and washed away by his blood. So, as long as you repent before you die, even the worst villain has nothing to fear about falling into hell. Look at those politicians, businessmen, and big capitalists. Why do they dare to do whatever they want and commit any crime? It's because they believe in Jesus. They are not afraid of even the most heinous sins. But I am not a bad person, so why should I believe in Jesus?"

Mariko finally couldn't help but burst out laughing:

"Leonardo Victor, you are a complete blasphemer! Don't let the believers hear these words, or they will definitely launch a crusade against you!"

Li Xingzhou smiled and said:
"Of course. But you wouldn't tell anyone else what I said, would you?"

"If you want me to keep this a secret, you'll have to bribe me with a suitable price."

"Given our friendship, why would I need to bribe you? Mariko, you've hurt my feelings."

"Why don't you call me first? You have to bribe me, or I won't forgive you."

"Okay, what price do you want me to offer?"

"A new superhero movie is coming out today, and I want you to come with me to see it, and then..."

After hearing Mariko's request, Li Xingzhou readily agreed, started the car, and went to pick her up.

As for the bounty missions...

Anyway, the mission only has a one-month time limit, and Barney Ross isn't going to die anytime soon, so what's the rush?

However, the journey was not without its challenges.

He had only gone halfway when he encountered a bank robbery.

Police blocked the intersection and confronted the robbers who were hiding inside the bank, armed with heavy weapons and holding hostages.

The streets were filled with people cautiously peeking out from behind cars, flowerbeds, and other cover, taking photos as they went. Several fearless reporters even rushed to the police cordon, disregarding the possibility of being hit by stray bullets, to begin their on-site reporting.

Li Xingzhou had no interest in watching the crowd, and seeing that the road ahead was blocked, he wanted to turn around and take a detour.

However, the area behind them was completely blocked by cars that kept arriving...

Hearing the cacophony of horns behind him, Li Xingzhou followed suit and honked twice, then sighed helplessly.
"Okay, usually around this time, the city's superheroes should make their appearance..."

I wonder if his mouth is blessed.

The joke had barely left his lips when cheers erupted outside:
"Look, it's the Spider Woman!"

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(End of this chapter)