Chapter 204 – In a Deck of Cards, There’s Never Just One King

Inside the luxury suite.

K stared darkly at the shattered laptop on the floor. After that unprecedented burst of rage, his emotions had finally begun to settle.

Once, someone had taught him…

Anger never brings power, nor does it offer help. It only consumes what little rationality remains in the mind, turning an already dire situation into something even more unmanageable.

Only calm—remaining calm no matter the time or place—could lead to the best solution.

So in these past six years, even when faced with countless exposure crises, he had never panicked. He maintained the calmest judgment, defusing danger each time.

Anger.

Only leads to the fastest defeat. And he… could not afford to lose.

Calm.

He had to completely calm himself down and find the ultimate solution.

K picked up the shattered laptop from the floor. After extracting the most critical data drive, he silently tossed the wreckage into the trash.

Then he sat down in the computer chair, his right fingers tapping lightly on the armrest, eyes narrowed in thought as he reviewed the events of the past two days.

Why… had the Kill Organization he founded—hidden safely in the shadows of Dragon Country for six years—suddenly begun to unravel these past two days?

It was like a flood barrier that had remained intact for years, withstanding even the fiercest storms without collapsing.

Even if small leaks occasionally appeared, they could be patched in time.

But now, in just two short days—two days!—the dam that had stood firm for six years was riddled with holes, on the verge of total collapse.

The breaches that had opened—forget about patching them—just managing to keep them from expanding further was already a rare and fortunate outcome.

What had caused such a drastic change in the Dragon Country police’s investigation speed?

At that moment,

K fell even deeper into silence. He picked up the phone on the desk and opened a photo he had deliberately saved in his album.

The photo showed…

A silver sports car speeding across Liangxi Bridge, its body streaked with flaming patterns, a trail of explosive fire behind it like a dragon. In the driver’s seat, Su Ming’s gaze was steady and calm.

Looking at this photo, even K had to admit—the image was stunning. It didn’t need any effects; it could easily be the poster of a blockbuster film.

But as he stared at Su Ming behind the wheel, K’s eyes grew colder, filled with an uncontrollable killing intent.

Because—

K had become increasingly certain that Su Ming was the true core of the Special Task Force—the real culprit who had shaken the foundation of his massive drug trafficking network.

Even the Butcher, known for his exceptional counter-reconnaissance ability,

Had been so sure he could escape Gusu City’s dragnet, yet ended up being caught on a high-speed train. That was almost certainly Su Ming’s doing.

Otherwise, how could those scentless watchdogs possibly have flushed Butcher out?

If they’d been capable of that, Butcher wouldn’t have committed dozens of crimes and escaped capture every time.

The core.

Su Ming was the true core.

If Su Ming could be eliminated directly, then even if the other leaks weren’t plugged, the police would likely be unable to uncover any more useful leads.

At this thought,

K immediately turned his gaze toward the rooftop of the building. Though the wall blocked his line of sight, he knew very well… that Priest up there might be his only hope.

He didn’t hesitate for a second.

K walked to the pale silver safe in the bedroom suite. After inputting a triple-layered password and fingerprint, the sturdy safe slowly opened.

Inside… there were no valuables or specialized items like firearms—only an old satellite phone and a pure silver ring.

K first took out the pure silver ring and gently caressed the hand-carved character—K—on the top of the band, as if reminiscing about something.

Then,

He took out the satellite phone from the safe. After silently struggling for a few seconds, he finally dialed a special overseas number.

He didn’t have to wait long before the call was picked up.

K didn’t waste a second. Without hesitation, he calmly stated,

“I’m preparing to assign Priest an important mission.”

“This mission will determine whether my Kill Organization can continue to exist, and its level of difficulty will be enormous.”

“Regardless of success or failure, Priest will most likely sacrifice his life.”

“Since Priest was entrusted to me by you, I’m calling specifically to ask your opinion.”

“If you believe Priest’s value extends beyond this, I’ll immediately cancel the mission.”

Although K’s tone was calm, the clenched fists at his sides revealed that his inner emotions were far from light.

After two seconds of silence,

A steady voice, tinged with age, came from the other end of the satellite phone.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on your organization all along. We’re quite aware that the vulnerabilities currently exposed in your Kill Organization are far greater than expected.”

“I also know… you seem to have run out of options in the face of your current troubles.”

“Oh, and don’t doubt Priest. Over the years, he has never revealed a single piece of information about you to me.”

“After all, when I handed him over to you, I made it very clear.”

“Priest belongs to you now. He’s meant to help expand your organization and will follow your orders unconditionally—even if you ask him to assassinate the core figure of the Special Task Force, he wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest.”

“Don’t overthink how I get my information. Gathering intelligence from the internet isn’t all that difficult.”

“Besides, you, J, and Q—you three are my proudest students. Each of you is a born leader, capable of building massive organizations from scratch. It’s only natural that I’d keep tabs on you from time to time, isn’t it?”

Upon hearing this,

K showed no change in expression. In fact, this outcome was already within his expectations.

Given that person’s abilities, even being abroad wouldn’t prevent him from acquiring all kinds of critical intelligence from within Dragon Country by various means.

But K didn’t mind that. In fact, this call was meant to seek help in the first place, so he pressed on immediately,

“So, sacrificing Priest shouldn’t be a problem?”

“Of course not,” came the calm, aged voice again from the other end, spoken with earnest seriousness.

“But… it’s not worth it.”

“Because the moment Priest pulls the trigger on the Special Task Force’s core figure, it means your Kill Organization can no longer hide in Dragon Country. You’ll have to abandon everything you’ve built.”

“So the only thing you gain from this decision is that you and the rest of the organization won’t be hunted anymore—but you’ll also lose your most important market, won’t you?”

“Is that truly an equal trade? What’s more important—this market, or the other members of your Kill Organization?”

“And even if every other member is captured, will you be exposed?”

“My most prideful K, who learned everything from me—surely you wouldn’t have left many traces. You’ve long since made caution a lifelong principle, haven’t you?”

“If there truly is no way out, then put on that ring that belongs to you, and come back.”

“In a full deck of playing cards, aside from the King known as K, there are also the twelve cards from A to Q, and the most unique of all—the two Jokers…”