In a soda factory just outside of Leim City, a group of people was having a meeting inside, and with them were their heavily armed guards. 

“This sh*t is just getting worse by the day! What the f*ck are we going to do?!”

A man with several scars on his face pounded on the table as he shouted at the others. This was Reo Manolo the man who controls the largest drug Cartel in the city. 

“Calm down Reo, getting angry and pounding on the table won’t solve anything.”

This time the one who spoke was a middle-aged lady with a voluptuous body wearing heavy make-up. This was Catherine Walker, the person who owns most of the brothels in Leim City as well as the underworld boss that deals with human trafficking. 

“Why the f*ck are we having this little meeting anyway? Shouldn’t we just go and shoot that guy to death. It doesn’t matter if he’s an urban legend, an assassin, or even a martial artist, a lead bullet to the head can kill anything.”

The person who spoke was a rather fat nicely dressed man who was wearing sunglasses despite it being nighttime, he also had numerous guns on him. This was Lucas Jones an illegal and at the same time legal arms dealer. 

“Sure that’s a great idea why haven’t I thought of that, oh right! Because it’s not f*cking possible! If we knew where this guy was hiding, we would’ve smoked him already! Can you shoot what you can’t see, you f*cking moron!” 

The one who shouted at Lucas was a muscular man with a lot of tattoos on his body. This was Booker Williams the last remaining loan shark in Leim City, he had absorbed all the other gangs who were in the same business into his. As Lucas and Booker were having a heated argument the final person sighed as he massaged his forehead. 

“This is getting us nowhere so everyone shut up!” 

A man with an intimidating aura spoke, this man looked rather weak but among the people present he was considered the strongest when it came to actual fighting. This was Takahashi Hiro a lone martial artist. He was what you would call a jack of all trades in the underworld. 

“How low have we fallen, cowering in fear from a single man. We used to rule this city, the police used to be under our pockets and no one would dare cross us, and even the Elite Dragon Brigade had given up trying to bring us down. We used the very laws that protect the ones we harm to our advantage, there was nothing anyone could do. Yet now one by one we’re being killed and none of us could retaliate.” 

When the others heard what Booker had to say the group became quiet. They looked at each other, and they saw the fear and anxiety they had hidden deep within. 

“This guy is good at what he does, he’s very efficient. He doesn’t kill anyone else except for the boss of the group. Even now no one has even confirmed that he truly exists, except for that one video when he made his announcement we couldn’t find any trace of him. Even the Eye of Truth can’t figure out that assassin’s true identity. This guy is like a ghost, how do you fight a ghost?” Catherine asked while taking out a cigarette. The group once again became quiet. 

“So what, are we just going to sit here and wait for our deaths?!” Reo once again pounded on the table while gnashing his teeth. 

“We’re not waiting for our deaths, that’s why we’re here,” Catherine answered.

“Didn’t I already give an answer? Since the motherf*cker is going to come after us sooner or later, we should prepare an ambush. So once he comes to get us we rain down the f*cking bullets into his sh*tty face!” Lucas once again suggested. 

“How many times do we have to tell you that ain’t going to work! Some of the others already tried to do that, and you know what happened to them? They’re f*cking dead!”

Booker answered looking at Lucas as if he was an idiot. The two then started bickering while the others chimed in here and there. As the group’s discussion was heating up, Hiro started tapping on the table. For some reason once Hiro started doing that the others stopped talking and all of them looked at Hiro. 

“How about we hire a ghost to kill a ghost?” Hiro suddenly suggested. 

“A ghost, so another assassin?” 

“Yeah, why didn’t we think of that before. An assassin to deal with an assassin.” 

“Still, there is no assassin in the city that could match up with Fade.” 

“Then we look elsewhere… We should hire an assassin that’s in the Dark Rankings.” 

Hearing Booker’s suggestion the group nodded their heads in agreement. The Dark Rankings was a ranking board with the top five hundred assassins in the world.  It was rumored that those that were in the top ten of the rankings were people that were able to assassinate peak Grandmaster-level martial artists without being seen. Those at the top ten were all legendary figures that had rarely failed to kill their targets, especially the one forever in the number one spot who has a hundred percent job completion rate. 

“Aren’t those guys in the Dark Rankings expensive?” Reo asked while looking hesitant.

“Does it matter? It’s either money or our lives, I choose our lives, so what do you want to pick?” Booker responded while glaring at Reo. 

“If we all chip in, we should be able to get an assassin in the top three hundred.”

“So does everyone agree to this plan?” Hiro asked and the group responded with a nod. “Then we should prepare the cash and contact our killer.” 

“… What should we do if this fails?” Reo who still wasn’t fully sold to the idea asked. 

“If this fails, then we better prepare our coffins..” Hearing Hiro’s answer made everyone else frown as they glared at him.