Chapter 1067: Agreed “Physically,” and the High Table

An hour later, Selina drove to the lab in Nassau County.

After entering, she quickly went to the workshop.

Gold Nugget went to a corner and looked at a gray, square-headed dumb mutt. “Hm?”

The dumb mutt stared foolishly at this new superior, then took a cautious sniff and barked.

Pleased, Gold Nugget stretched out a paw and patted the dog’s head with a smile.

While the two dogs were establishing their master and minion positions, the workshop was already sealed shut.

But the protective screen hadn’t been activated, and one could still see into the workshop.

Selina activated the comms unit. “He agreed?”

She couldn’t help but turn around to take a look. What the hell, he even brought the dog back with him! Wasn’t he afraid that the dog lover would blow up his head in the future?!

Luke was directing the medical A.I. program, Osiris, to use a robotic arm to cut into John Wick.

He shrugged. “Physically, he agreed.”

Selina was confused. “Physically?”

Luke coughed. “I subdued him and injected him with a tranquilizer.”

Selina looked at him in disdain. “Isn’t that just beating him up… I can do that too.”

Luke said, “It was too much effort. If he still refuses to accept my proposal after he wakes up, he can just die.”

Selina thought that was to be expected.

They had already investigated John Wick earlier on. After years in the hitman business, the number of innocent people who had died at his hands weren’t a lot, but weren’t few either.

He wasn’t a complete madman, but shooting him dead wouldn’t be an injustice.

But after some consideration, Luke left him alive.

Last time, Luke had killed 126 elite hitmen in one go. He had a lot of experience and credit.

If John really went to the Continental Hotel to report V, he would automatically take the same role as the bartender, Weasel, in the slaughter of the hitmen previously.

If more hitmen died after this, how the hotel dealt with John would have nothing to do with Luke.

Luke wasn’t a petty person.

Just now, John had rejected Santino’s assassination request because he wanted to live a peaceful life.

If he chose to cooperate with Luke, he would become a completely different person and spend the rest of his life under a new identity. No one would ever look for him to kill people again.

The two paths were there.

It was up to John to decide whether he wanted the easy life or the painful death.

As he watched the robotic arm work, Luke said to Selina, “I’ll be going to Rome in two days.”

Selina wasn’t too surprised. “So, when I’m free, I need to drive your car around New York?”

Luke said, “Yep. I’ll try my best to come back as soon as possible. You just have to pass by some police surveillance cameras. However, the torso part of the Thousand Faces System hasn’t been completed yet; the problem with body size hasn’t been fixed. This will also be your first time pretending to be me, so it’s fine not to do too much.”

Selina asked, “What mission did John Wick accept this time, that he has to fly to Rome?”

Luke said, “Behind the Continental Hotel is the High Table. Do you know that?”

Selina nodded. They had found some clues about the High Table before, but not much.

They only knew that the High Table was similar to a “board of directors,” and the Continental Hotel was just one of the properties under the High Table.

“The head of the Camorra family, one of the twelve seats at the High Table, is dead. He left the seat to his elder daughter, Gianna D’Antonio. His younger son, Santino, wants the seat, and wants the Boogeyman to kill his sister,” said Luke. “His sister will be holding a formal ‘coronation’ ceremony in Rome in five days, after which she will receive official recognition from the other members of the High Table. If Santino kills her after that happens, the other members will probably find trouble with him. It will be very difficult for him to become one of them if that happens.”

Selina pursed her lips. “What sort of life is that? They don’t hesitate to kill their families for power and money.”

Luke said, “They’re the bosses of the underworld, not politicians. The rules of their trade are far more relaxed than the law. The higher the position, the more power there is, and the less restrictions there are. Once they lose reverence for external forces and their own hearts, it’s only a matter of time before they lose their humanity.”

A lack of scruples wasn’t a good thing.

Perhaps there were people who could be unbridled for decades. If they met a stronger and more unbridled person or group one day, they would die even quicker.

Santino had a big “dream,” but if he really succeeded, he would still be derided and suppressed when he joined the High Table.

Besides, his father had chosen his sister, Gianna. Presumably, Gianna’s ability and influence weren’t inferior to Santino’s. In fact, she might even be stronger.

Even if Santino got that seat, wouldn’t Gianna’s loyal subordinates retaliate?

A public counterattack would be getting off lightly; it was more likely that many people would be biding their time. If they didn’t stir up something a few years down the track, that would be strange.

Of course, Santino had to do this.

If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to become the head of the Camorra.

For some, the only optimal outcome was power for themselves.

Sister or whatever, just die.

…

It took less than an hour for the plastic surgery on John to be completed.

Unlike the nanomask, this surgery involved implanting nanomaterials under the skin, or even close to the bone, in order to change the facial features and body contours inside out.

John Wick still looked handsome, but at first glance, he looked nothing like his original appearance.

The lines of this face were even more distinctive; it was a stereotypical Western handsome face.

After the surgery, the general anesthesia was still in effect for some time. Luke gave John a medicine + hypnosis + Mental Communication package.

Half an hour later, John’s psychological defenses were breached, and Luke handed the questioning to Sponge.

The A.I. program would ask John for all the information he knew in order of priority, and file the information.

This task would be done in two days, just in time for Luke’s “private job” in Rome.

Previously, Luke hadn’t known much about the High Table behind the Continental Hotel.

From Santino’s commission to John, however, Luke sensed a brand new underworld.

The Continental Hotel wasn’t the main body; it was only an entrance into this world.

Initially, Luke had only wanted to reap a harvest from the hotel.

However, the information he now had proved that the Continental Hotel itself was only a small bit of wool.

The true fat sheep was the High Table.

But when he learned more information from John Wick, Luke was even more surprised and delighted.

This was because he once again realized that the twelve members of the High Table couldn’t be considered the fat sheep; at most, they were the fattest among the countless fat sheep.

Put simply, the High Table and the Continental Hotel had formed a relatively complete economic system in the underworld.

Just like how the value of banknotes wasn’t related to the paper it was printed on, the value of the gold coins used at the Continental Hotel wasn’t in the gold itself.

Each coin actually represented a “credit” or an “interpersonal relationship,” which was a form of currency used in this underworld.