The Reincarnated Hitman

"You seem different," Liam said with a small smile on his face as he looked at the man sitting opposite him, "Dr. Crew."

It was a day after he had taken Dr. Magnus Krell out and had his run-in with Radiance... again.

The doctor now seemed a lot... different; well, that was an understatement, given that he had completely changed his appearance to stay hidden from whoever might come after him next.

He was now a man with blonde hair, glasses and green eyes.

"I guess that’s what having your family by your side does to you," Victor answered with a smile of his own.

"Yeah," Liam nodded in agreement before proceeding to take a sip of his coffee because there was nothing sweet on the menu.

He absolutely hated it.

"So... Bennett," Victor spoke up again, "you said you had a question for me?"

"Mhm," the hitman nodded, putting the cup down and moving it as far away from him as possible. "I had a run-in with Dr. Magnus."

Victor’s hand, reaching for his cup, froze, and he looked up at Liam. "Who?"

"Dr. Magnus Krell," Liam repeated, "goggles, face mask, mad scientist obsessed with turning people into monsters?"

Victor placed a hand on his forehead, massaged it for a while, before he asked, "he didn’t try holding you against your will, did he?"

"He did," Liam answered, "but I had help."

"I see." The doctor let out a sigh of relief. If that madman had managed to use David’s son as an experiment, then Victor would’ve blamed himself.

After all, he was the one who handed that USB to the kid and sent him down that rabbit hole.

Liam watched the doctor’s expression drift for a moment, then conjured a carbonated canned milk with a straw out of thin air, content to wait until the man came back to himself.

"What did you want to ask?" Crew finally managed to calm down and ask, failing to notice that the kid had created a beverage from nowhere.

"It’s about the USB you gave me," Liam answered. "My parents protected whatever is in it with a password and told me to find the one they trusted in the HA."

"Dr. Magnus said one of the people they trusted was you," he continued, "and another person he can’t quite remember."

"Is that so?" Victor placed a hand on his chin as he thought. "David and Catherine were basically friends with everyone in the HA’s research division, but the ones they truly trusted were me and..."

"Huh?" A frown appeared on Victor’s face. "That’s strange, I could’ve sworn I knew their name until a second ago."

’I see,’ Liam finally understood what was happening... Rather than being mind-wiped, it seems like their memories were being tampered with.

It wasn’t that Victor had completely forgotten the person; for a brief moment, he had actually remembered them.

Then, just as quickly, the memory disappeared.

Which meant that this was caused by a Factor that depended on recalling the person for it to trigger.

That didn’t exactly narrow down his search, but it was an important clue that he made sure to remember.

"It’s fine," Liam said as he picked up his carbonated milk again, "Dr. Magnus can’t seem to remember them either."

He then stood up and said with a smile, "Thank you for meeting me, Dr. Crew. Tell your family I said hi."

Victor watched as Liam turned around and began walking away. "Wait."

Liam stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Hm?"

"You’re not going to try putting yourself in danger just to find out, are you?" The doctor asked.

"Don’t worry, Dr. Crew," he responded with a smile, "I believe I’m more than capable of handling myself."

With that, he walked out of the cafe, leaving Crew with a frown on his face. Though it wasn’t as if he could try and stop the kid either.

After all, his parents had trusted him enough to leave that USB for him, so he might as well do the same.

Besides, if he got too involved, he’d simply put his own family in danger again.

"...."

***

Liam walked out of the cafe with a hand in his pocket.

He had gained something from this meeting, but at the same time, he hadn’t.

"I guess we’re dealing with a mind manipulator stronger than Hypnos," he said, looking up at the sky. "How convenient."

Just when he thought he’d learn something, another was suddenly delaying it, forcing him to take the long way around.

Again, he felt as if he was moving on a board that someone else had already laid out for him; after all, everything was too convenient for that not to be the case.

And although he hated it,

"Let’s see where this game of yours leads, shall we?" Liam said, before tossing the can, letting it perfectly land inside a trash bin, "perhaps I’ll find out why I transmigrated into this world in the first place."

With that, he walked towards his car and drove away.

***

[Abandoned City, The Argent Ring’s Base]

"Now then," Dune leaned on the large table before her with both her hands on her cheeks, "I want to explain why our vacation’s cancelled."

In a high-rise building within the abandoned city and on the topmost floor of the Ring’s base, a meeting was being held amongst its most important members.

Dune’s team.

The rest were small fry, not worthy enough of being here.

Dune and the five other members of her team were sitting around a large round table, their attention pulled towards the holographic figure in the center of it.

Well, almost everyone’s attention, the sleepy man was busy with something a lot more important... sleeping.

The holographic figure looked at the six for a while before saying, "I believe you’re aware of this individual, no?"

A holographic image of Zero appeared beside the figure.

"The cute kid that brought down that group.....what was their name again?" Dune tried her hardest to recall.

"The Splinters," the leader of her group said.

"Right, them," Dune nodded.

The holographic figure looked at her for a while before sighing, "In the past year, this mercenary has been accepting jobs that put him in our path."

"In other words," the figure made multiple other smaller screens appear, showing the number of jobs Zero had sabotaged, "he has become quite the nuisance."

The group looked at the screen for a while before the bald man spoke up, "And it falls to us to get rid of the brat?"

"Indeed," the holographic figure nodded, "if not, he’ll cause quite the headache for us."

"Just to be sure," Dune spoke up again, "we’ll be getting an extended vacation after this?"

"Yes," the holographic figure nodded again, "besides, the lab will be quite busy with the crystals you brought in for a while, so you shouldn’t be needed until they’re done."

"Is that so?" Dune suddenly stood up. "Let’s go get rid of this pesky mercenary and get that vacation."

Before she could turn around, though, the holographic figure spoke again, "There’s another reason I called this meeting."

The doors to the meeting room suddenly opened, and in walked a woman in a completely black bodysuit and a mask on her face.

"Meet the new addition to the Ring," the holographic figure introduced, "Quill."