I Want the Money, I Want My Life Too (Brother Zi Mu’s Ten Thousand Reward Bonus Chapter, Seeking Full Subscription!!!)

Yes.

Actually, sometimes having too high a security clearance isn’t a good thing.

When handling cases, the necessary information can be obtained through the security clearance itself, without needing to hack. But when hacking is necessary, like with Stark’s servers or Hydra’s servers, relying on a few technicians at a distance is just a pipe dream.

So…

Lake really hadn’t seen how hackers invaded systems.

"Area 51?"

"Mhm."

Skye blinked her eyes. "Are there aliens in Area 51?"

Lake shrugged. "Who knows."

Skye: "…"

Lake saw the expression on Skye’s face and laughed. Then he said, "I mean, I have the security clearance to know what’s in Area 51, but I just haven’t bothered to find out."
Although Lake’s current standing was within the top three hundred, his security clearance was definitely in the top twenty, basically on par with the Secretary of State.

First, Lake was a member of the military.

Second, Lake’s background was clear, his family history was clean, and with Karen’s status as a bonus, he was considered a natural member of the ruling class.

Skye listened to Lake’s answer, shook her head, and refocused her attention on her computer.

Lake watched.

He couldn’t understand any of it.

But according to Skye’s explanation, the system for the Child Welfare Department was trash. She could hack into it while talking to Lake.

Lake didn’t quite get it. After watching for a while, he found it boring and returned to his seat. "Why are you hacking into this? Is it a task from your master, to test if you’ve graduated?"

Skye shook her head. "I want to find my information, to see who my real parents are."

Lake’s hand, holding the wine glass, paused slightly.

Skye, across from him, seemed to think of something and looked up at Lake. "Sorry, Lake, it’s not that I’m unhappy living with you, I just…"

Lake snapped back to attention. Seeing Skye’s flustered look, he smiled and said, "I understand. You want to know your biological parents. It’s only natural."

Skye felt a wave of relief.

She was afraid Lake would overthink it. In fact, Skye was grateful, and still was to this day, that Lake had adopted her. Without Lake, Skye didn’t know if she could have escaped the darkness where there was no way out. Perhaps her life would only have ended when her body was found in some forgotten corner.

"Oh, right."

Skye looked at Lake cautiously and asked, "Lake, do you know your…"

Lake knew what Skye wanted to ask and directly shook his head. "No."

"Not at all?"

"No thoughts, no interest, no actions."

"…"

Lake took a sip of his wine. "To me, they are just strangers. They don’t stir even the slightest ripple in my heart. Besides, I have a family, Karen."

To have given birth without raising, one can repay with a severed finger.

To have given birth and raised, one can repay with a severed head.

To have raised without giving birth, there is no way to repay.

This was why, at the age of ten, even knowing there was a fifty percent chance the Sorcerer Supreme would kill him, Lake had called out and threatened the Sorcerer Supreme to alter the timeline and ensure Karen’s safety.

Of course.

This was Lake’s own perspective. He didn’t like to impose his views on others, at least not on Skye.

Skye wanting to know who her biological parents were was normal and natural. After all, every orphan probably had the question of why they were abandoned.

So…

Lake picked up his wine glass and walked upstairs. "Call me when the pizza arrives."

Skye said, "Okay."

Returning to the study room.

Lake rubbed his temples.

Skye’s biological parents didn’t abandon her. Skye was stolen by people from S.H.I.E.L.D., which was why Lake hadn’t stopped Skye from searching for her origins.

But Lake knew Skye’s background, yet he had no intention of telling Skye.

The reason?

It was for her protection.

Skye wasn’t exactly human. She was the child of an Inhuman. Moreover, Skye was only fifteen years old. Telling her now that her mother was dissected and her father had gone mad?

That would be considered psychological abuse of a minor.

Forget it.

Lake shook his head. After thinking for a moment, he decided that if Skye was still searching before graduating from university, he would tell her about her background after graduation, when she turned twenty-one and was of legal drinking age.

Disrupting the plot?

Lake never cared about that.

Three days later.

Homeland Operations Center.

"How is it?"

"We haven’t found anything."

"Not even a single clue?"

"That’s right."

Jack pointed to the image transmitted back on the big screen and said, "For the past three days, our agents have been watching John Wick twenty-four hours a day, but his movements have been very normal, as if he hasn’t been affected by the tragedy of his brother’s death. He just called us asking when his brother’s missing, and when the four bodies would be returned to him."

Lake stroked his chin and looked at John Wick on the big screen, who was walking out of his house and enjoying coffee from his own cup. "Call him and give him the bodies."

"Should we issue a notice?"

"Yes, do it."

Lake said to his assistant, Tiffany, "Send a notice to all local police departments, customs, airports, the FBI, and the Coast Guard. I want to put out a nationwide alert for this Will Wick."

Tiffany nodded.

After a pause.

Lake said, "Wait, change the content of the notice. Designate Will Wick as a suspect and issue a warrant for his arrest. Have law enforcement agencies apprehend him alive. I want him alive."

Tiffany nodded. "Anything else?"

Lake thought for a moment and shook his head. "No."

Assistant Tiffany then turned to leave, preparing to send the notice to law enforcement agencies across the country.

Soon.

After John Wick hung up the phone on the big screen, he took action. It looked like he kissed his wife goodbye and was driving over to receive the bodies.

"Should we follow him?"

"No."

Lake said, "What about the satellite?"

"It’s coming online."

"Good."

Lake looked at the satellite that had come online and nodded. "Have the agents monitoring him make a move and search the place."

Jack said, "We still need to apply for a search warrant!"

Lake said, "Go in and ask about the situation. It’s not a search."

Going in to rummage through everything would require a search warrant.

But…

Going in for a cup of coffee and discussing a case, what kind of search warrant would that need?

Ten minutes later.

Two monitoring agents were politely shown to the door by John Wick’s new wife.

They got into the car.

The two agents said, "Sir, there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual. His wife doesn’t know much about Will Wick’s affairs, and it’s unlikely anyone is hiding in their house."

Lake stroked his chin. "Has the power company’s data come in yet?"

"It’s here."

"Show me."

"Yes."

Lake looked at the power consumption data transmitted by the power company for John Wick’s house. The electricity usage over the past month had been regular, with no significant fluctuations.

"What about the phone?"

"We’re monitoring all of them."

"Anything?"

"No."

Lake shook his head. "He definitely has another phone. Have the intelligence department set up a new surveillance team. After John Wick takes the bodies, monitor any signal source coming from that house."

Just then.

Lake’s phone rang.

He took out his phone.

Lake glanced at it, then looked up and gave instructions to Jack, who was present, before walking out. He took the elevator back to his office and then made the call.

"Emilia!"

Lake said to Emilia, who had just called him, "What’s up?"

Emilia, standing in her bedroom, asked with some suspicion, "Someone just came to see me and said they want to give us Cartier Group, the tenth most valuable company in Europe, and Jefferno Group, the twelfth most valuable."

Cartier?

Jefferno?

The former was in the jewelry industry, and the latter… seemed to be a pharmaceutical group.

"Why?"

"They said they hope you can do them a small favor."

"What favor?"

"Cancel your protection of Lake Edwin!"

"…Huh?"

Lake let out a disbelieving laugh. Have him cancel his own protection?

The next second.

Lake’s eyebrows shot up, and he snapped back to attention, "Hydra?"

Emilia on the other end hummed in confirmation, "What do you think, should we refuse?"

Lake’s eyes flickered.

Well, well.

Hydra is probably planning some snake-like scheme again, likely targeting Lake Edwin.

Very good.

Don’t blame me for starting a war without declaring it. You brought this upon yourselves. Don’t come crying to me later when your entire clan is wiped out, asking why.

"Why should we refuse?"

"What?"

Lake regained his composure and chuckled, "This time, after you fully took over the VAM Consortium and renamed it the Immortal Consortium, the construction of those two headquarters towns must have cost a lot, right?"

Money delivered to my doorstep, why wouldn’t I take it?

I want the money.

But…

That doesn’t mean I won’t take lives too.

"The Black King takes the money, Lake takes the lives."

Emilia frowned, "Have you thought this through?"

Lake smiled, "Yes. Tell him, it’s the Black King speaking. The moment these two assets are merged into the Immortal Consortium, the protection agreement will be canceled."

Emilia acknowledged him. As she was about to hang up, she asked curiously, "What are you up to in New York again?"

Lake shrugged, "I’m not causing trouble. It’s obvious they are causing trouble, but they’re foolish this time, trying to get ahead of me."

Emilia shook her head, "Be careful yourself."

Lake hummed and then hung up the phone.

On Emilia’s end.

In the grand hall of Immortal Castle.

Emilia said expressionlessly to the envoy, who called himself Daniel Whitehall, "The moment the assets are incorporated into the Immortal Consortium, the Black King’s protection of Lake Edwin will cease to exist."

The envoy’s face lit up with joy.