Promotion, Raise, and Return to New York

But…

Lake thought about it seriously. After Maureen, he had made up his mind. He would absolutely not go back to searching for his own tree like he used to.

Why bother?

With such a vast forest and so many trees, how out of touch would someone have to be to only search for one specific tree?

What is that if not madness?

With great power comes great responsibility.

Lake felt that if he had the ability to find several trees, why should he only look for one? He had love to give, and giving it to one tree was love, giving it to several was also love. Why not find more trees?

So.

Lake liked Rachel, and Rachel was also single. If this was a trap, Lake said, he wished there were more. It was just flying back and forth all year round anyway.

But it was good.

This year, Lake didn’t go to Hungary. There was only a rebellious son there, and Emilia was also very busy this year. So, Lake made a phone call and didn’t go.

Seifer?

Seifer had come to New York to find Lake two months ago, but she came and left in a hurry. It seemed she treated Lake like a tool. After venting, she left again. It seemed she didn’t intend for Lake to make any promises, nor did she seem to need any.

Lake felt it was very strange.

Then there was Rachel.

But Lake had already promised Rachel that he would accompany her and her daughter Josie to Los Angeles next month. So, for now, Lake felt that even with two more, he could still handle the situation.

8 PM.

Lake got out of the car, rubbing his slightly weak legs. It had been a five-hour persuasion trip with no time even to drink water. If it weren’t for his excellent physical condition, Lake felt he would have been persuaded back.

Entering the house.

Ross was sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper. "Where did you go?"

Lake closed the door behind him. "You asked me to persuade Rachel, didn’t you forget? Where’s Betty?"

General Ross snorted. "Still at the base."

Lake went to the kitchen first to get a glass, then walked to the living room and spoke first. "My stance never wavers. On the matter of Betty and Bruce, I am on your side."

General Ross put down the newspaper and looked at Lake expressionlessly. "Really?"

Lake nodded. "More real than real gold."

Ross chuckled and picked up the newspaper, which was clearly upside down. "Your actions don’t seem to suggest that."

Lake sat on the sofa next to him. "But Hulk and Bruce are bound together. I think you should have noticed that it seems only Betty can pacify Hulk."

Ross put down the newspaper again, took off his glasses, and looked at Lake. "What are your thoughts?"

Lake spread his hands. "Let nature take its course. It’s dating, not marriage. With Betty’s personality, the more we oppose her, the more enthusiastic she becomes. It’s better to just watch for now. After a while, let Karen take Betty to more parties, maybe she’ll lose interest in Bruce."

It wasn’t impossible.

After all, Bruce Banner couldn’t get excited. If he got excited, Hulk would come out. Even if Bruce found a way to merge with Hulk, frankly, that still wouldn’t work.

And.

Lake thought about the scene, and good heavens, it wasn’t a matter of whether it was eye-watering anymore.

That would directly turn into a horror movie.

After a while.

Lake directly changed the subject and looked at Ross. "What did Pennsylvania say?"

Ross rubbed his temples. "S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and military scientists will jointly dissect and study the monster tomorrow."

There was no other way.

Quantico Base had been forcibly demolished, and reconstruction required funding from Pennsylvania. Coincidentally, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury expressed willingness to help reconstruct Quantico Base, with the condition that S.H.I.E.L.D. would also have a stake in this research experiment.

Lake nodded and looked at Ross. "General, you’d better keep a close eye on Bruce. This newly renamed S.H.I.E.L.D. has a black history of poaching people by any means necessary."

Lake could attest to this.

Look at how S.H.I.E.L.D. poached him. Good heavens, they directly wanted him to be socially dead, and then S.H.I.E.L.D. would step in to take him in, making Lake loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. from then on, devoted to them.

Such poaching methods were simply shameless and despicable.

Ross sneered. "Dr. Bruce Banner is a military scientist. Let alone if they don’t know the relationship between Hulk and Bruce, even if they do, I’d like to see how they’ll capture him."

In fact, General Ross disliked Bruce Banner, but not to the point of disliking Hulk.

At the very least, General Ross saw an invincible future for the military in Hulk. He was impervious to bullets and artillery shells. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Hulk would become a sharp blade for the military. And, from the current perspective, Hulk wasn’t a monster like the Mad Demon, who was mindless and only knew destruction. He seemed controllable.

The next day.

Lake didn’t follow General Ross to Quantico Base. He couldn’t be bothered to meet with S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, let alone deal with them. Lake went directly to the Homeland Building.

The Mad Demon was dead.

Naturally.

The terrorist crisis that nearly caused a nuclear test on home soil has officially been resolved.

Lake spent the entire morning in his office, writing the report for this operation. He didn’t hold anything back, writing down exactly what he saw. After all, before the investigation report was archived, specialized personnel would redact it.

Just like Lake’s own file, eighty percent of the text concerning the operations he’d been involved in was blacked out, making it look impressive and mysterious at a glance.

However…

After finishing the operation report, Lake stayed in Washington for nearly a week. It was a major case, and a joint operation involving multiple departments. After its successful conclusion, there were commendations to be given.

Moreover…

Since he was back, Rachel didn’t want Lake to return to New York so quickly.

In short…

When Lake walked out of New York’s JFK Airport again, he was both exhausted and happy.

Exhausted.

He and Rachel had been going at it all night yesterday. By the time morning arrived, the room was filled with a hazy, intoxicating scent. During their fifth round, they ran out of condoms, but the two of them were still going strong.

Rachel didn’t mind. She only cared if Lake, who was on top of her, felt that the condoms were hindering his performance. So, she decided to go for the real deal, engaging in a passionate, no-holds-barred battle.

Happy.

After getting into the car, Lake smiled at Cassel, who was teasing him, saying, "Look who finally decided to come back, our Deputy Director."

Cassel was slightly taken aback. "You got promoted? Wow."

Lake smiled.

With such a major case finally solved, how could there not be commendations? Coincidentally, using this opportunity, Secretary Kelly transferred Director Carmen, who hadn’t cooperated perfectly but wasn’t exactly in sync with Lake, back to headquarters. After that, the person who took over the Deputy Director position was an old acquaintance of Lake’s, his former partner from the operations department, David.

Yes, that David, who looked uncannily like a Martian from a parallel universe.

Back home.

Skye also arrived home from school right after Lake.

"Hi!"

"Hi!"

Seeing Skye greet him listlessly, Lake blinked and asked, "What’s wrong? Did someone bully you?"

Skye glanced at Lake, then, without a word, ran towards the spiral staircase.

Lake watched Skye, who had tied her jacket around her waist, dash upstairs. He blinked.

What was going on?

Just then.

Alexis opened the door and walked in. "Uncle Lake, where’s Skye?"

Lake wasn’t surprised that Alexis could open his front door. He pointed upstairs. "She’s upstairs. What’s up?"

Alexis didn’t answer Lake’s question. Instead, she zipped past him and headed upstairs, one after the other.

Lake was bewildered.

What were these two girls up to?

Were they being that mysterious?

Lake looked up at the ceiling, hearing occasional noises from upstairs. He suppressed the urge to go check, shook his head, downed his drink, and headed out.

Maybe Cassel knew something.

Downstairs.

Lake entered and saw Cassel watching TV on the sofa. He immediately asked, "What are Alexis and Skye up to? Do you know?"

Cassel looked at Lake. "What?"

Lake recounted how Skye had come in, then Alexis had come in, and then both girls had gone upstairs.

Cassel shook his head. "After Alexis came back, she whispered something to her grandma and then went out. I thought they had gone out to buy pizza."

Lake looked at Cassel speechlessly. "You’re a pretty terrible father."

Cassel opened his mouth, then looked at Lake with a bit of exasperation. "You seem to be doing a great job. It’s your fault I’m being hounded for my manuscript this week."

Lake waved his hand. "So, you don’t know what those two are up to either?"

Cassel nodded.

The next second.

Lake and Cassel exchanged a look. Cassel immediately turned off the TV, caught up with Lake, who was walking towards the door, and then, in a flash, they were upstairs. Standing at the door, they stared at each other.

"You go first."

"You go first."

"Why should I? This is your house."

"Exactly, so the guest goes first."

"……"

As Lake and Cassel were discussing who should go in first, Cassel’s mother, Rogers Martha, emerged from the elevator. Seeing the two large men blocking the doorway, she asked, "What are you two doing, acting so shifty?"

Lake and Cassel immediately turned to look at Rogers Martha.

Upon seeing his mother, Cassel briefly explained the situation with Alexis and Skye. Then, he curiously asked his mother, "What did Alexis say to you just now? Do you know what those two girls are up to?"

Rogers Martha replied to Lake and Cassel with annoyance, "Obviously. If they’re not telling me, are they supposed to tell you two big men?"

Cassel, Lake: "……"