[Dark Group Owner: This is the Darkening Chat Group. Anyone with the potential for darkness may be drawn here.]
[The Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu: I don't really want to turn dark. Being a stylist at the barbershop is just fine.]
Wu Liuqi scratched his foot with his slipper.
Although he had thought about recovering his lost memories at first…
As he gradually got familiar with Chicken Dai Bo and settled down on Chicken Island, his obsession with those blurred memories had faded a lot.
Maybe one day, he could completely let go and live on as Wu Liuqi.
[This Queen Is So Beautiful: Group Owner, why are you adding every Tom, Dick, and Harry to the group? Can a hairstylist even turn dark?]
[The Archaeologist of Ohara: @The Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu, Judging by your name, you should be an assassin or killer type, right? How could you be content as a hairstylist?]
'Oh, right.'
Wu Liuqi looked at his displayed name, feeling confused.
'I was a rookie ranked 17,369th on the Assassin Leaderboard.'
'He hadn't managed to kill any of the targets Chicken Dai Bo asked him to assassinate.
'But in this Darkened Chat Group, I was actually called the Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu?'
'It's utterly baffling.'
[Dark Group Owner: Because you originally are the strongest.]
[Dark Group Owner: I've sent a memory video. You should view it promptly.]
'A memory video?'
Curious, Wu Liuqi clicked on it.
A cliff, a precipice.
A group of top martial arts masters radiating terrifying murderous intent had cornered a black-haired youth in a cloak.
'Isn't that... me?' Wu Liuqi's eyes fixed on the screen, his heart contracting violently.
A sharp pain shot through his head, and a sense of suffocation washed over him.
"I'm taking her away today. Let's see who has the guts to stop me."
Assassin Seven, holding his blade in one hand, said with a dark expression.
His left arm tightly protected the girl in white held against his chest.
Wu Liuqi could feel it.
That woman was someone extremely important to him.
However…
At that very moment, the instant Seven declared war on everyone…
"I'm sorry."
The girl in white parted her red lips and whispered in an extremely faint voice.
The next moment.
"You..."
Seven's pupils contracted sharply, his eyes filled with disbelief.
A sharp blade thrust out from behind and pierced through his chest.
The one he trusted most, the one he protected even at the cost of his life…
Had betrayed him.
All the questions filling his heart turned into boundless fury.
Seven's mind cooled rapidly.
'I was the strongest Shadow Assassin of Xuanwu, with reaction speed and agility surpassing all others.'
Almost instantly, the Thousand Demon Daggers smashed against the cliff, shattering the surrounding rocks to dust.
His body, like a kite with its string cut, fell into the raging river below.
"I... will absolutely... return..."
"Betrayers... die... I swear..."
Word by word, each syllable dripped with blood and tears.
Seven's blood-red eyes stared, as if carving that woman's image into the deepest part of his soul.
The video stopped abruptly there.
Wu Liuqi's eyes reddened.
A tear fell to the ground without him noticing.
[This Queen Is So Beautiful: In our Kuja Kingdom, a woman like that should be drowned in a pig cage. Death by a thousand cuts wouldn't be enough.]
[The Dead-Last Jinchuriki: I can understand the despair of being betrayed. @The Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu, It seems... you've forgotten all of it?]
[The Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu: …]
Wu Liuqi looked at his own palm.
'Yeah.'
'When did I cast aside this bone-deep hatred?'
'I had betrayed my past self.'
'Hiding on the utopian Chicken Island, living aimlessly as if self-hypnotized.'
'Was this kind of life…'
'Really what Wu Liuqi, or rather Seven, wanted?'
[Dark Group Owner: I won't make any choices for you. The intention to turn dark always depends on the choices within your own heart.]
[Dark Group Owner: Are you willing to truly let go, betray the vows you once made, and drift along?]
[Dark Group Owner: Or accept your past and set foot once more on that path of the assassin?]
[The Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu: I...]
Wu Liuqi hesitated.
He glanced at Chicken Dai Bo, the blue-feathered chicken who had saved him.
Treating his amnesia required a large sum of money.
To Chicken Dai Bo, he was a burden.
Without him, Chicken Dai Bo, with his abilities, could live a much better life.
Him leaving wouldn't be a bad thing for Chicken Dai Bo either.
'In that case...'
[The Strongest Assassin of Xuanwu: Group Owner, I choose to accept.]
Hattori smiled.
...
Meanwhile, at the Dai Bo Barbershop.
Wu Liuqi put down his scissors and took a deep look at Chicken Dai Bo.
He didn't have much luggage.
Besides Thirteen, there wasn't anyone else he particularly wanted to see.
He let out a soft sigh.
Pulling up the hood of his white jacket, Wu Liuqi silently walked out the door.
No one noticed, no one made a fuss.
Chicken Dai Bo glanced at him but said nothing.
In his view, Wu Liuqi was just feeling stifled and went out for some air.
But no one expected that once Wu Liuqi left, he never looked back.
'I am not Wu Liuqi. Wu Liuqi is dead. He died on Chicken Island.'
Seven lowered his head, his expression gradually turning cold.
'The blood feud of the past had to be avenged.'
'The lost memories had to be recovered.'
'Everything, everything pointed in one direction…'
"I am the strongest Shadow Assassin of Xuanwu, code name Seven."
He said this to himself.
Alone, with a small boat, he drifted towards the direction of Xuanwu.