True Immortal Heart-Chapter 23: Breaking In

"We don’t break promises—just bones."

Viper’s voice echoed as the wall trembled slightly before caving inward. A hidden passage leading upward revealed itself.

She led the way, with Dusk following closely behind. The others climbed up one after another.

"That phrase of yours must have some meaning, huh? Silas said the exact same thing earlier," Dusk remarked. Now that he was getting deeply involved with this mafia organization, he figured he’d better start learning a thing or two.

"That’s the motto of The Crimson Vow, passed down from my grandfather’s time. The meaning is simple—we keep our word. A promise made will never be broken. But the bones of those who defy us? Definitely broken." Viper explained as she climbed.

’Generational violence with a slogan, huh? Still, it’s not a bad motto. At the very least, if I can get her to promise me something useful, there’s a good chance she’ll actually keep her word,’ Dusk thought.

That slogan gave him a small clue on how to act around her in the future. Of course, he also considered the possibility that her grandfather and she might have completely opposite interpretations of the word "promise."

After reaching a certain height, the passage stopped going up and forced them to crawl sideways. After a while, it angled upward again.

A faint light gradually appeared. Dusk felt like he was crawling into a storage room.

"This is the storage room of a nearby hotel. Naturally, the hotel also belongs to me," Viper said casually.

At first, Dusk didn’t pay much attention. But the moment he stepped out of the storage room, he was stunned.

Unlike the plain storage room, the hotel beyond it was extravagantly decorated. The kind of place someone as poor as him couldn’t even dream of staying in legally.

Of course, he could barge into a place like this—but then he’d just get arrested and fined or something.

Seeing Dusk’s poor and wide-eyed expression, Viper couldn’t help but tease him.

"For someone as broke as you, of course you’d be surprised. Places like this are way out of your league. Oops—was that rude? My bad. Hahaha!"

Only the deaf could have mistaken the sincerity in her apology.

Her tone was dripping with mockery.

’Damn it, why the hell is she messing with me? There are so many people here, yet she always singles me out.’

Dusk cursed under his breath. She acted like a proper boss to everyone else, so why did she seem to enjoy stirring him up so much?

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Silas had watched her grow up from a child to the leader she was today, but never once had he seen her tease anyone like this.

Of course, Viper herself was aware of it too. There was something amusing about Dusk’s irritated reactions. For her, he had become a personal source of stress relief and entertainment.

Before long, they arrived at the underground garage, where rows of luxury cars were lined up neatly.

Dusk thought they’d be taking one of the expensive rides—but he was wrong. Viper led him over to a pair of black delivery vans that looked... outdated, to say the least.

"We’re really taking this?" Dusk asked.

"Are you looking down on them?" Viper replied with a smirk. "I thought you were too broke to even own a car. Didn’t expect your standards to be this high."

High standards? Dusk scoffed inwardly. Of course his standards were high—he had stood at the peak of human society in the last life. He’d experienced more luxury than most people could even imagine.

Looking more closely, he began to notice the unusual features of the vehicle.

"Bulletproof glass, right? And the interior’s been heavily modified."

Viper blinked, surprised. She hadn’t expected him to notice that much. In her eyes, his danger level rose slightly—but not to the point of becoming a serious threat.

"Didn’t think you knew a thing or two. Alright, let’s get moving."

Silas drove one of the vans, carrying a man in the front and Dusk and Viper in the back. The other four rode in the second vehicle.

From the rearview mirror, Silas glanced at Dusk and Viper sitting side by side. A strange emotion stirred in his chest—something hard to put into words.

As someone who had served this organization through three generations, Silas saw Viper not just as a boss, but as a granddaughter.

And now that "granddaughter" was getting cozy with a man she’d just met, his instincts screamed caution. His watchfulness toward Dusk deepened.

’Could it be... does she actually like him? No. Absolutely not. There’s no way. That girl’s not the type to fall for someone so easily. I have to believe that.’

Silas gripped the wheel, trying to push away the mess of thoughts in his head. Still, Viper’s behavior today was undeniably strange.

But really, he was overthinking things. A person who had coldly orchestrated the execution of her entire family to rise to power... Someone like that couldn’t possibly fall in love blindly and foolishly. It was impossible.

...

Twenty minutes later, they reached their target.

Viper stepped out of the vehicle and gave orders to the five men accompanying them.

"Split up and monitor the area. Make sure there are absolutely no witnesses."

"Yes, ma’am," they replied in unison.

Their outfits didn’t look much different from casual streetwear—smart camouflage. Better than suspiciously covering their faces and drawing attention.

"You two, come with me." She waved at Dusk and Silas.

Dusk felt awkward. Taking orders from others wasn’t something he was used to. For now, all he could do was watch Silas and mimic him.

The house was locked from the inside. There was no way to open it from outside, but according to intel, the targets were still inside—most likely playing online poker or gambling.

"Silas, you’re old. Stay here and keep an eye on the door. Can you climb?" she asked, turning to Dusk.

Silas nodded. Dusk understood what she meant—but he had no intention of following that order.

Seriously? She wants me to climb into someone’s house for no benefit at all?

As someone practical to the core, he wasn’t about to do something so pointless.

"I don’t—"

Before he could finish, Viper drew her gun and pointed it directly at his head. Her eyes were cold—void of the playful tone from earlier.

"Say that again. My hearing’s not too good lately."

"I really don’t know how, okay? It’s not like everyone’s born a damn climber," Dusk grumbled.

’Hmph. There’s no way she can read my mind. Every word I said is perfectly reasonable. She has no grounds to force me into this.’

He stayed confident in his logic.

But he forgot one crucial detail: the person he was dealing with... was Viper. And she didn’t give a damn about his logic.