North American detective: From scoundrel to god among men

Chapter 81 High Table Showdown

On Friday evening, preparations officially began for the highly anticipated high table showdown in front of the X Museum in New York.

On the clean marble floor in front of the museum, a metal table nearly 10 meters long and 5 meters wide was placed in the center of the square. Standing in the middle of the metal table was an elderly man dressed in a black uniform and wearing a London gentleman's hat, Bill Skarsgård.

Mr. Bill is the messenger for this showdown, responsible for implementing... cough cough, executing this High Table showdown.

To the left of the metal table sat Titus, and beside him stood his deputy, John Wick.

Seated to the right of the metal table was the French nobleman Vincent de Gramont, with a burly man standing beside him.

With both sides present, Bill began reading the rules of the High Table duel; his voice, aged and weathered, still carried an air of authority:

"First, confirm the qualifications of the challenge initiator."

Titus slammed the Onikiri from his waist onto the metal table. Bill picked it up, examined it for a moment, and then said loudly:

"Confirmed to be the ancestral weapon of the Yakuza organization, the demonic sword Onikiri. Qualification confirmed, representing the Yakuza in battle."

Generally speaking, the initiator of a High Table Duel must be a member of one of the twelve families, as only the twelve families are qualified to initiate such a duel. The usual way for the twelve families to prove their status is through body tattoos, but Titus used a single cut of the Onikiri sword instead of tattoos.

The high table meeting over the first three days saw heated discussion regarding Titus's choice to wear Onikiri instead of his family tattoos.

One side argues that family tattoos are merely for verifying identity, and if that's the case, Onikiri can fully represent the Yakuza, and some details of the old method should be changed according to reality and the times.

The other side believes that Titus is fabricating a pretext to shout "the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed" and accuses the other side of being heretical.

Bilton paused and then continued:

"According to the Old Testament, Jack Vizra challenged Vincent de Gramont to a High Table duel."

"If Mr. Jack wins, he will assume the title of Marquis of Vincent de Gramont and be released from the warrants and expulsions of Jack and John."

"If Mr. Gramon wins, Jack Vizra will be sentenced to death by the High Table, to be carried out immediately, with his deputy John Wick to be executed, and Jack Vizra's identity and sword in the Yakuza organization will be inherited by Vincent de Gramon."

Do the two sides agree to this?

Both sides said in unison:

"I agree."

Bill continued:

"Now, according to the agreement, the details of the duel will be randomly determined by flipping over cards."

He paused, then continued:

"First, the duel time."

On the metal table in front of Titus were ten metal cards, each with a random number from 1 to 100 printed on its front. In front of Vincent were ten cards of the same series.

The two players determine the duration of their duel by flipping over cards and comparing their hands; the player with the higher hand wins.

Vincent didn't rush to flip the card. He leaned back in his chair, tapping the metal card with his fingers, his gaze fixed on Titus, and slowly said:

"Jack Vizla, the Undertaker of the Brooklyn Bridge, you've been on my mind for so long! Tell me, how did you manage to be reincarnated?"

"Everyone knows you were shot through the heart by a high-caliber sniper rifle, and your photo was posted on a hunter website by a mysterious assassin, getting over ten thousand likes. So, are you a mutant... with this level of regenerative ability?"

Titus smiled slightly:

"A mere sniper rifle can't even break my defenses. As for whether I'm the mutant you're talking about... you'll find out when the showdown begins."

"Sunrise at 8 o'clock."

After announcing the time, Titus randomly picked a card and flipped it over; the card number was 14.

Vincent flipped the card while mocking him.

"Mr. Jack, you thought you had found the only way out, didn't you? You painstakingly planned all this, thinking you could drag me down with you, but you didn't."

"What do you want to change? Do you think the Twelve High Table Families would value you? You've gone to all this trouble, and you're just a pawn in their game. Do you know how I see you? A clown jumping around."

4 p.m.

After announcing the time, Vincent confidently flipped over a metal card; the number on the card was 9…

Bill read it again:

"The duel will take place at 8:00 AM. Next, the duel location."

As soon as he finished speaking, Vincent immediately said:

"Monpi Art Center"

Titus said slowly:

"It's right... at John's doorstep. We can duel as soon as we get up, and then go back to sleep afterward."

Vincent couldn't help but chuckle and sneered.

"Mr. Jack is quite interesting. I have a way for you two to rest in peace forever. Would you be interested?"

Titus clicked his tongue in annoyance and replied:

"Flip the card, that's it! Why are you talking so much? Believe me or not, I'll knock your time out and then knock it back into the time slot, and if your time comes again, I'll knock it out of the time slot!"

Titus turned over a metal card, the face of which was 47.

Vincent, sitting opposite Titus, blushed and his eyes twitched slightly as he was humiliated by Titus's rude words. He turned over the card in front of him, which read 23.

Vincent glanced away and rubbed the slightly itchy soft flesh under his nose with his finger.

Bill's voice rang out again:

"Duel location: in front of John Wick's Long Island villa, third item: dueling weapon."

Titus said:

"ax."

Vincent replied:

"unarmed."

The two players flipped their cards again, with Tytus flipping a 9 and Vincent flipping a 17.

A smug and mocking smile immediately spread across his face.

Bill's voice rang out:

"The dueling weapon is an axe, with unlimited slashing power."

"This is the last rule, the duel rules."

Titus and Vincent shouted at the same time:

"Until death do us part!"

Bill nodded. Since the two had been playing through the cards and therefore hadn't yet engaged in the final round of flipping, he read aloud the details of the duel recorded on the paper once more:

"At 9 a.m., in front of John Wick's Long Island villa, there are no weapons for the duel, it's a bare-knuckle duel, the rule is to fight to the death."

"If neither of you has any objections, let's meet at Sunrise Long Island Villa tomorrow."

"Wait!"

Vincent called out to Bill, who was about to leave, and said:

"I will appoint someone to carry out the High Table duel for me."

Bill pondered for a moment, nodded, and looked at Titus's side to explain:

"Under the old law, he had the right to do so, even if he had this idea."

Titus looked at John, who nodded in bewilderment and aloofness. He thought he should bring Winston along, but he knew that although the High Table was corrupt and rigid, it would never lie with old hair.

They are like the noble and decadent pure-blooded nobles of the Middle Ages, who believe in the supremacy of bloodline, and the old laws, rules, and traditions are their purest 'bloodline' over the past few thousand years.

Vincent demanded:

"I will appoint Mr. Bain as my second-in-command and have him carry out the duel for me."

Everyone turned their attention to the burly man behind him.