Sorry, We’re Not Interested in Money

Lake had always believed that while one might not be able to devote oneself wholeheartedly to everything in life, wholehearted dedication was essential to getting anything done successfully.

But what about Richard Crawford?

The change had come so suddenly that during the two days Lake spent vacationing on Hong Kong Island, he had been unable to figure out what had caused Richard Crawford’s stance to shift so drastically.

Was it really because he was worried about the safety of the world?

Give me a break.

Lake did not believe a single punctuation mark of that statement.

However…

Richard seemed to genuinely think that way. He said to Lake, "Once Himiko is opened, the world will be destroyed…"

Lake cut him off at once. "Then why were you desperately looking for Himiko back then? Had you got nothing better to do?"

As he spoke,

Lake waved a hand at Richard. "Forget it. If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. I won’t force you. But if you try anything before I take what I want, heh, Lake Edwin and I are friends, but you and I aren’t."

It was the same old story.

Lake had risen from nothing to his current status and strength entirely through his own relentless effort and perseverance. Along the way, he had developed the habit of never entrusting anything to others.

Relying on anyone other than oneself was an utterly foolish mistake.

As soon as he finished speaking,

Lake undid his backpack and took out another item from an ancient culture of the East.

Yin Yang’s sharp eyes caught sight of the object in Lake’s hand. "A compass?"

Lake looked at Yin Yang and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You finally recognize it this time? More precisely, this is the Dragon Seeking Plate. It goes together with the Dragon Seeking Ruler."

Dragon Seeking Plate: Rank B, item type, feng shui system. "Seek the dragon and divide the gold, observe the winding mountains; each winding marks another pass. If the gate has eight perilous passages, the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams form…" By silently reciting the incantation, the Dragon Seeking Plate could decipher ancient tomb mechanisms above and vault passwords below…

The mechanism door to Himiko suddenly shuddered.

Lake looked over nervously, hoping Himiko would have the sense not to make him summon his true body.

Fortunately…

The mechanism door to Himiko only trembled briefly before returning to normal.

Richard, who stood behind him, took it as some kind of warning.

Chattering incessantly.

Lake looked at Yin Yang. "Do me a favor. If Richard Crawford keeps babbling, rip his jaw off. I’ll give you another million dollars."

Richard’s expression changed dramatically.

Lake turned his head and glanced expressionlessly at the now-silent Richard. He sneered, then turned back, picked up the Dragon Seeking Plate, and stared at the mechanism door before silently reciting its incantation.

Seek the dragon and divide the gold, observe the winding mountains; each winding marks another pass. If the gate has eight perilous passages, the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams form.

After a while,

Lake put away the Dragon Seeking Plate and drew a pistol from inside his coat.

The next second,

he fired!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

After the gunshots, everyone looked at the intact mechanism door, feeling as though he had fired at nothing. But the next second, a faint tremor appeared, followed by increasingly violent shaking.

Rumble!

The mechanism door, built at a forty-five-degree angle, began collapsing inward. In an instant, it revealed an entrance leading into Himiko’s tomb.

Richard could no longer hold back. "You can’t go down."

Lake turned to look at Richard.

Richard said solemnly, "I absolutely won’t go down."

"Then don’t."

"What…"

Lake took a rope from his backpack, secured one end, and threw the other end down. Then he said to Barney, "If I haven’t returned in five minutes, you can withdraw immediately."

Barney was also somewhat stunned. "You don’t need us to go down?"

Lake chuckled. "No."

When the great tomb opened, even his Sixth Sense and Force Seed had begun cheering. The Creation Spirit was inside. Lake would not care how many members of Barney’s Suicide Squad died, but neither would he deliberately send others to their deaths.

More importantly,

if Barney and the others went down too, they would slow him down.

Since Laura had already lured out the Creation Spirit, neither Laura nor Barney’s group had any value left as tools.

"Right!"

Lake seemed to remember something. He looked at Richard. "One million Pound Sterling. I’ll have my friend collect it from you. You can choose not to pay, but you’ll bear the consequences."

After saying that, Lake nodded at Barney.

The next second,

Lake grabbed one end of the rope, faced the others, and leaped directly into Himiko’s tomb, which extended somewhat deep below.

Richard was dumbfounded on the ground above.

Richard had originally thought Lake needed his help to enter Himiko’s tomb. The truth, however, had clearly diverged wildly from his expectations.

Barney and the others exchanged glances as well.

Yin Yang folded her arms and looked at Barney. "What do we do now?"

Barney came to his senses and glanced at his watch. "The client said five minutes, so five minutes it is. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks."

Christmas nodded beside him in agreement. "I agree."

Mercenaries worked for money and followed rules. Since the client had told them to wait five minutes, they would never take it upon themselves to run down and investigate. At the very least, there were no idiots like that among the Suicide Squad.

Hearing Barney and the others’ conversation, Richard returned to his senses and looked at Barney. "Once Himiko’s curse is released, the entire world will suffer. I’ll pay you to stop this crisis."

Laura could not help saying, "Daddy…"

Barney, Christmas, and Yin Yang exchanged glances, then laughed in unison. "Mr. Crawford, your offer is tempting, but we refuse."

"Why?"

"We don’t know what’s down there. Besides, we were hired by Professor Xavier. Your objective conflicts with his. Sorry, but we won’t accept this job."

Barney explained their rules for accepting contracts to Richard. Then he could not help showing a trace of mockery. "Mr. Crawford, the world is tougher than you imagine. Humanity could go extinct without taking the world with it. As for us, we’ll die sooner or later, but I won’t risk my brothers’ lives for something meaningless."

The Suicide Squad had its own sense of justice and its own bottom line.

But…

What did the safety of the world have to do with the Suicide Squad? Besides, from Lake and Richard’s conversation just now, Barney and the others had silently agreed that Richard’s brain had to be malfunctioning.

After all, resurrection from the dead was already something out of a fantasy.

Not to mention that Richard had gone from searching for a way to resurrect his wife to somehow veering onto the grand and righteous cause of protecting the world. Wasn’t that proof that something was wrong with his head?

So…

Barney watched the time ticking away on his wristwatch. "Withdraw in five minutes. Tell the plane."

Christmas nodded.

They did not ask what would happen to Lake if they left. The question was meaningless. In Barney’s view, Professor Xavier knew Lake, and from what Barney and the others understood, if Lake wanted to, he could at the very least arrange for a regular Navy SEAL unit to parachute onto the island.

Therefore, how Professor Xavier would leave was not something Barney and the others needed to consider.

Just then,

a buzz rang out!

Barney and the others looked up at the suddenly darkened sky above the island. A highly futuristic-looking fighter jet had suddenly appeared there.

Thud!

Thud!

Two cables shot directly into the mountainside. Then seven or eight heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents descended from the sky and landed on the ground.

The team was led by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Hawkeye Barton and Barbara Morse!

The air grew tense.

Barney’s group and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents aimed their guns at one another.

Hawkeye Barton took out his credentials and held them toward Barney and the others. "Put down your weapons. We’re with S.H.I.E.L.D. Barney Ross, leader of the Suicide Squad mercenary group and military contract holder?"

Barney frowned.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers.

Operations Center.

Natasha watched the S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite come online. After capturing Hawkeye Barton’s position from above, she turned and said to Nick Fury, "Director, Barton has arrived at the scene."

Nick Fury nodded. "Is the communication link still incomplete?"

"It’s being deployed."

"Good."

Nick Fury said, "This Professor X suddenly appeared there. He must have a reason."

Whether it was Lake Edwin, the Black King, or Professor X, they were all on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar system. Professor X was especially notable, having appeared three times and made major headlines each time.

The first time Professor X appeared, the location of the Agent Academy was exposed. That day, S.H.I.E.L.D. had deployed agents across Washington, and even with the help of other agencies, they had failed to find Professor X.

The second time was during the Daniel Whitehall incident. It was then that S.H.I.E.L.D. found Charles Xavier’s entry records. Professor X, or X, could be an abbreviation of Charles. Moreover, Charles Xavier’s forged résumé showed that he was a professor.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken no action that time, instead closely monitoring Charles Xavier’s information.

And now,

S.H.I.E.L.D. had finally gotten its chance.

However, because Hong Kong Island belonged to the East Kingdom, they had only learned yesterday that Charles Xavier had entered Hong Kong Island. After spending some time investigating, they had finally managed to rush over.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was very interested in Professor X, but it was even more interested in why Professor X had appeared on this island.

Inside Himiko’s tomb,

Lake stood at the edge of a cliff. From all directions, roars like cries from souls turned into howling winds that continuously reached his ears.

Looking down from the cliff, he saw a chasm.

A chasm littered with bones.

The wind howled beside his ears like demonic music.

Was he being targeted because something was wrong, or did Himiko think Laura had taken too long to come down and intend to create an accident that would force Laura and the others to descend?

Lake wondered to himself.