Chapter 417 - 417: Agent Falcon and The Masked Man

After getting his revenge, Phantom didn't retire. He continued his job as a professional assassin. He became infamous after 4 years. Untouchable and unstoppable. But everything changed when Agent Cedrick Falcon took charge of Phantom's case.

"Elle, I know you've heard about my reputation as an untouchable and unstoppable assassin, right?" Phantom asked Elle to confirm.

Elle nodded, "Yes, I heard of it. That's why you were called as the legendary assassin."

Phantom's chuckle reverberated inside that small room. "My record broke by one man. And that man was your father, Cedrick Falcon."

Elle was taken aback by that remarks. After that, admiration could be seen in her dark eyes. She felt proud of her father. She always knew that her father was a very capable man and one of the best members of the law enforcement department during his time.

"No one could ever track me down except your father. I had fun playing cat and mouse with him. He's a good man. If I was not an assassin maybe both of us could become good friends. How I wish I met him early. How I wish he's the one who took charge of my family murder case." Phantom said, sharing his wishful thinking with Elle.

Elle gave him a faint smile. Just like Phantom, Elle had some wishful thoughts. "Master, how I wish you arrived early on that day. Would you save us? Would you save my father when you saw him being attacked by those thugs? Would you do that even though he was the officer-in-charge for cathing you?"

He felt a pang of guilt deep inside his heart. He came too late. "Of course, I would. For an unknown reason, I already got attached to your father. I didn't consider him as my enemy but a competitor. Competing with each other to know who was the most capable and skilled between us."

"I'm sorry. I came late and I couldn't save them." Phantom apologized to Elle, holding her hand.

Elle shook her head. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your obligation to save us. I was already thankful for giving me second chance."

Phantom smiled at her. "Do you want to hear the story of our first encounter?"

Elle bobbed her head with eagerness. She wanted to hear more stories about her father. Phantom's mind wandered back to the time Elle's father almost caught him. Then Phantom began to tell her the first encounter he had with Agent Cedrick Falcon.

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*** Flashback: 18 years ago ***

"Freeze, don't move or else I'll shoot you." Agent Falcon echoed in the warehouse as he yelled at the masked man who was about to kill the leader of the Stallion Syndicate. That group was one of the competitors of Skull Gang during the leadership of Jorge Arison.

Jorge Arison hired Phantom several times before. The leader of Skull Gang was the only regular client of Phantom. Jorge was his favorite client because he was only targeting his underground syndicates who were trying to sabotage Skull Gang's operation. 

Phantom never got a chance to work with the Dark Night Organization. That organization was so brutal that they didn't even care about hurting innocent people. So Phantom avoided working and dealing with different transactions with them.

"I said, drop your weapon!" Agent Falcon repeated his command as he slowly approaching Phantom who was pinning his target on the ground while holding his dagger with his right hand. He was ready to plunge his dagger but he was interrupted by Agent Falcon.

Phantom cursed inwardly as he stood up while raising both hands. He dropped his dagger before facing Agent Falcon.

"Don't get involved here. This is a fight between two underground syndicates. Just leave Mr. Officer. Why do you want to save this man? He's a bad person too? It doesn't matter whether he dies here tonight or lives. Don't tell me you are one of them? Their police protector?" Phantom said, there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Even though he's a bad person, he still deserves to live. There's a term we called a second chance. Let the law punish him. Who are you to judge who will live or die?" Agent Cedrick spat back at Phantom.

"Such a big word coming from you, Mr. Officer. So do you mean you will grant me a second chance too?" Phantom said mockingly. 

"Oh, by the way, How did you find this place? How did you know that we are here?" Phantom asked him with intrigue.

"I have my ways. Do you think you can hide forever from me?" Agent Falcon sneered at him.

The two men were busy talking when the leader of Stallion suddenly picked up the dagger on the floor, attacking Phantom from behind. Fortunately, Agent Falcon reacted quickly as he fired at the leader who was charging towards Phantom. The bullet hit his hand which was holding the dagger, thus dropping it o the floor.

Phantom turned around and threw a hard kick aiming at the Stallion leader's stomach. He winced and stumbled down on the ground after receiving that hard blow coming from Phantom.

Agent Falcon shot him a sharp glare and scolded him, saying "Hey, Who told you to move? I said freeze! Do you want to receive a bullet from me too?"

Phantom just shrugged his shoulder and said nonchalantly, "Sorry, I just hate people who were attacking people behind their backs. See… he's definitely a backstabber fellow."

Agent Falcon's lips twitched after hearing Phantom's remarks. He was trying his best to suppress his laughter. Actually, he found the statement funny because literally speaking, that person was trying to stab Phantom at his back.

"Oh, by the way. Thank you for saving my ass. I owe you one." Phantom said with a smirk.

"Now, I believe you. You stick with your principles. You do give people a second chance." Phantom added before bursting out laughing. This time there was no hint of sarcasm in his tone. It was genuine laughter. Soon, Agent Falcon ended up joining him as their peals of laughter bubbled up in the warehouse.