Tristan found Pierce peeking out of the hallway from inside of one of the apartments on this floor. There was a bloody gash on his temple, but otherwise, he looked healthy.


    He also looked strange in fullbat gear instead of a suit, but that was another story. Pierce''s eyes were still visible through the goggles and easy to recognize, although he was wearing contact lenses instead of sses today.


    At the sight of Tristan, Pierce narrowed his eyes and mouthed something from his cover.


    "I can''t hear you. A shbang. The coast is clear, though, you cane out," Tristan said, carefully not raising his voice despite not hearing himself.


    There were no enemies in sight, but Tristan still held his guns at the ready. He was tense, but did his best to y it off as being prepared for the appearance of more enemies. He had to be ready for those, anyway. They could be anywhere.


    He just wanted Pierce to show himself from behind his cover. In this moment, if Tristan acted, Pierce had a good chance to close the metal door shut in front of Tristan and be safe.


    However, the suspicion in Pierce''s eyes didn''t lessen after Tristan''s words.


    Andrew Pierce didn''t live as long as he had, in a position he had, with hobbies he had, because he trusted people easily.


    Pierce''s own remaining grunt had lost consciousness from blood loss a minute ago. Tristan''s teammates were nowhere to be seen, either. Even if they all fell during the fight with the elite squad, the fact of Tristan''s survival was impressive.


    Tristan didn''t even have any major injuries, only a few scrapes here and there.


    "You have really risen in ranks and skills quickly, Hayes. Too quickly for your own good. Geniuses like you fare better in lesspetitive fields than organized crime."


    Tristan tilted his head slightly. He didn''t hear the words, but he saw the look in Pierce''s eyes. First there was quiet contempt and annoyance, and then—a sh of realization.


    Tristan frowned.


    "I said that I can''t hear you! Come out, we have to hurry before any more reinforcementse!"


    Meanwhile, Pierce was thinking hard. The pieces of suspicions and information Pierce gathered for thest months were finally crystallizing into a theory.


    Although that theory was utterly oundish, Pierce knew not to dismiss theories just because of that.


    There were too many incidents with Hayes and Gemello hanging in the same circles, living around the same ces, and, of course, never appearing together.


    All these instances could be exined, but some exnations were flimsier than the others. The very first time Pierce met Hayes, for example.


    Back then, Hayes stepped in to protect his "cousin" from some nobodies, but why did he only do that after Gemello ran away?


    Not only that, but the clothes they wore—from the description of witnesses Pierce talked with back then—were identical.


    If Hayes and Gemello didn''t look so different, Pierce would''ve thought they were the same person much earlier. Their faces were not at all like each other''s, despite them having simr bone structures and hair.


    But for all Pierce knew, it was all makeup.


    When that realizationpletely solidified in Pierce''s head, Tristan suddenly felt dizzy and weak in his knees.


    A red notification window shed in front of him.


    [User, your double identity has been discovered! As a penalty, all your attributes and skills are decreased by 10% for each living person who knows about your double identity.]


    Tristan''s eyes widened.


    Ten percent out of everything he had… He felt like someone punched him in the gut and cut half of his ligaments.


    Although the dizziness passed quickly, the weakness stayed, because Tristan physically became weaker and frailer. His hands, too, became less steady on the weapon.


    ''Pierce, even if I didn''t already want to kill you, by outing me like this, you left me no choice!''


    Even if Tristan adjusted to living with a 10% penalty, as soon as Pierce told this to anyone else, 10% will be 20%. And after that, 20% could be 100% in an instant! For Tristan, this will mean death, whether from his own system or from the gangsters.


    At the same time, Pierce had no idea why Tristan suddenly stumbled like that—but he recognized his opportunity.


    Like a predator, Pierce knew that this was the ideal opportunity to strike, and he took it.


    He threw the door open and charged at Tristan like a bolt of lightning with two knives shing in his hands. There were only a few meters separating Pierce from Tristan, and Pierce was crossing them in a blink of an eye, with a smirk on his face!


    Pierce had already gruesomely killed plenty of people in this building. Although he didn''t like risking his life inbat, Pierce was an expert knife fighter!


    He was the only one to survive unwounded from his group, because of his incredible catlike reflexes, which let Pierce cut down some of the enemies ambushing him before they could even shoot. Then, he used their bodies as cover as he retreated.


    When Pierce raised his hand to throw a knife in Tristan''s throat, he knew it willnd much sooner than Tristan would aim at him and press the trigger of his guns.


    Just a moment ago, Tristan was frozen with shock because of something he saw in Pierce''s face. Now Pierce recognized the murderous look in Tristan''s eyes, but it was toote for him.


    However, while Pierce was assured of his victory, for Tristan he still moved so slowly that if he could read thoughts, he''d have time to read his entire internal monologue!


    ''Bullet time, you are the most useful talent I bought so far,'' Tristan thought with an internal smirk.


    As soon as Pierce lunged, it activated.


    Although Tristan moved even slower than Pierce, he needed almost no time to aim his guns at Pierce''s head.


    Even with his reaction speed, Pierce was too slow to realize that his death was almost there.


    Tristan pressed the trigger.


    ''Adios, Andrew.''