You’re Not My Father!

Because the Spirit of Destiny of Creation was still within Lake’s passive perception and connected to the Force Seed, Lake did not use any supernatural power as he made his way toward Himiko’s resting place.

Take this so-called Soul Chasm, for example.

Lake took the preassembled wall-climbing claws from his backpack and fired them. Once they were firmly secured on the other side of the Soul Chasm, he swung straight across like Tarzan.

Even without using supernatural power, Lake was undoubtedly someone standing at the peak of ordinary humanity.

So…

Lake had no idea what was happening outside the tomb. Even if he had known, he would not have cared.

Lake’s goal was clear.

The Spirit of Destiny of Creation.

If the Spirit of Destiny of Creation obediently surrendered, that would be ideal. If it refused to submit, then there was nothing more to say—he would beat a confession out of it. As for S.H.I.E.L.D. outside, they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they did not interfere with him.

Outside the tomb.

At that moment, Richard seemed to have found the backbone representing love and justice. After learning from a few words from Barney and Laura what kind of organization S.H.I.E.L.D. was, he immediately demanded that S.H.I.E.L.D. go down and stop Lake.

Richard was still repeating the same argument.

Once Himiko was released, the world would be completely shrouded in darkness.

The Three Feathers of S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly found detailed records of Himiko and Yamatai in various historical sources and the Island Nation’s databases.

Himiko was the first queen of the Island Nation. She was also a powerful sorceress who ruled the entire Island Nation with powerful black magic. She could spread death and destruction simply by touching someone with her hand.

To stop Himiko’s rule and prevent her from committing evil, when the powerful sorceress was preparing to reincarnate once again, one of her maidservants joined forces with a general to imprison her. They then took her to an uninhabited island in the middle of the Demon Sea—the very island where the group now stood.

After that…

To prevent Himiko from rising again, all the maidservants who had once served Queen Himiko were killed along with her. In fact, it was said that the remains of everyone loyal to Himiko filled the entire Soul Chasm.

Of course.

The maidservant who had joined forces with the general ultimately became one of the countless corpses in the Soul Chasm as well. As for the general, there were no records whatsoever.

However, according to an unofficial historical account, that general’s name seemed to have been Izanagi…

S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately realized how serious the situation was.

Regardless of why Professor X wanted to find Himiko, in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s view, even if someone was going to make contact with Himiko, it should be them.

Clearly.

Although Lake had fiercely crushed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s arrogance in the Federation, its overseas brutality and domineering attitude—controlling everything from heaven to earth and even the air in between—still remained.

Barney lowered his head to check the time on his wristwatch, then nodded at Christmas and Yin Yang.

Five minutes had passed.

They should retreat.

Barbara Morse saw this and said to Barney, "Please wait a moment, Mr. Ross."

Barney stopped and looked at Barbara.

Barbara’s expression was solemn. "We hope that you, Mr. Ross, can help us stop this crisis."

Barney smiled.

Taking them along to die, but putting it so elegantly?

When Barney realized that S.H.I.E.L.D. had come after Professor X, he understood one thing: this matter was already beyond the Suicide Squad’s scope of operations. No matter whom they followed, they could not afford to offend S.H.I.E.L.D. Professor X, on the other hand, was someone they could offend—but he was their paying client, and the network behind him was not to be underestimated either.

So…

Barney directly refused Barbara’s request.

Barbara’s expression became somewhat strange.

Hawkeye Barton adjusted his bow and arrows, then looked at Barney. "Then S.H.I.E.L.D. needs you to return with us and cooperate with our investigation."

Hearing this, Barney looked at Hawkeye Barton with mockery. "This is international waters. Even if I killed you, no one would hold me responsible. Once we reach the Federation, I’ve only heard of the Department of Homeland Security. S.H.I.E.L.D.? Never heard of it."

Who were they trying to scare?

Anyone who knew about S.H.I.E.L.D. knew that, over the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been attacked in every possible way by Lake Edwin, the Homeland Bureau Chief of New York State.

And now S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted law-enforcement authority in the Federation?

Heh.

Barney spoke as he looked directly at Laura and Richard Crawford. "Mr. Crawford, we need to leave."

Richard Crawford’s voice was deep as he looked at Hawkeye Barton and Barbara. "I’ve never been underground, but over the years, I’ve made some preparations regarding what lies inside Himiko’s tomb. I’m willing to go down with you."

Barney and the others frowned slightly.

Laura was even more confused as she looked at her long-lost father, Richard. "Daddy, you’ve gone crazy. We should leave."

Richard looked at Laura with an extremely serious expression. "If Himiko is released, then even if we make it outside, the end of the world will still come, Laura."

Laura froze slightly. "Daddy, what did you call me?"

Richard looked at Laura suspiciously. "What?"

Laura said nothing more. She merely stared deeply at her father before saying to Barney, "I’m going with you."

Barney and the others became even more bewildered.

But…

Barney and the others did not refuse. Under the protection of the mercenaries who had come over, Christmas and Yin Yang gave the people from S.H.I.E.L.D. a look that said they were on their own, then headed toward the aircraft camp under guard.

Soon.

On the beach.

The Suicide Squad’s aircraft was powering up.

"Wait, Mr. Ross!"

"…"

Barney turned around helplessly and looked at Laura, who had called out to him this time.

Laura’s expression was serious. "I want to ask Mr. Ross and your companions to take me over to that cliff to have a look. Is that possible?"

Barney and the others no longer knew how many times they had been left bewildered.

Laura opened her backpack, took out the Dragon Seeking Ruler that Lake had forgotten to retrieve, and found a notebook in her pack. She wrote her father Richard Crawford’s name on it, then imitated Lake by placing the name on the Dragon Seeking Ruler before rotating it.

The Dragon Seeking Ruler spun rapidly.

Round after round.

After five rotations.

The Dragon Seeking Ruler stopped spinning. Its dragon head pointed toward a certain direction.

When Barney and the others saw the direction indicated by the Dragon Seeking Ruler, they became confused, because it was pointing north.

But…

The place they had just come from was to the east.

This…

Laura looked thoughtfully at Barney. "After my mother died, my father never called me by my name. Especially when I didn’t want him to do something but he insisted on doing it, he would never call me Laura."

My love.

Laura still clearly remembered what her father, Richard Crawford, had called her on that day in 1998.

Barney was shocked. "This…"

Yin Yang said from the side, "Barney, I think we should help her."

Christmas shrugged. "Although I really want to oppose Yin Yang, I agree with his suggestion this time."

In another four months, if nothing unexpected happened, Laura would inherit all the assets of the Crawford Foundation. And now, an apparently fake Richard Crawford had suddenly appeared?

If they simply went back like this, who knew what might happen?

Most importantly…

They were also very curious. If the real Richard Crawford was in the north, then what was the Richard Crawford who had just spoken with them?

Besides, building a good relationship with the future heir of a major financial group might give them a way out.

The fact that Barney and the others had refused to enter the ancient tomb showed that they were intelligent people.

As for the Dragon Seeking Ruler’s abilities, after these two incidents, no one was very inclined to doubt it anymore.

Seeing that both his second-in-command and his most capable colleague had said so, Barney nodded as well. He looked at Yin Yang and said, "Bring the ropes. This time, we’ll go take a look inside that cave."

Soon.

They hurried along the way. The journey that had taken an hour the first time was shortened to half an hour this time, and Barney brought Laura back to the cliff where they had found Richard Crawford.

The Dragon Seeking Ruler began spinning in place once again.

Whoosh!

After the rope was secured, it was thrown down.

Barney grabbed Laura, who seemed ready to climb down. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Laura looked at Barney. "I’m going down."

Barney frowned.

Laura said solemnly, "If my father really is down there, I have to confirm it myself. Besides, I’m not some pampered young lady. I can protect myself."

Yin Yang whistled at Barney from the side.

Barney released Laura’s right hand and said, "Fine, but we’ll go in first, okay?"

Laura nodded and thanked Barney.

Soon.

Yin Yang and several mercenaries stayed behind to guard the top, while Barney and Christmas protected Laura in the middle as they began rappelling down.

Soon.

Above the cave.

Barney directly stopped Laura’s rope. "You can come down only after we confirm that it’s safe."

As he spoke.

Barney exchanged a glance with Christmas beside him.

The next second.

In the blink of an eye, just as Barney and Christmas were about to land at the cave entrance, they released their ropes and nimbly entered the cave.

The cave was not large, no more than ten meters long. Under the light of their tactical flashlights, nearly everything inside could be seen at a glance.

A minute later.

Laura was lowered into the cave as well. Just as she untied the rope and took out the Dragon Seeking Ruler again, the ruler, which had been spinning in place, fixed its angle once more and pointed deeper into the cave.

Barney and Yin Yang exchanged a glance. The two of them led the way and slowly advanced into the cave, which was only about ten meters deep. After walking roughly five meters, the Dragon Seeking Ruler in Laura’s hand suddenly gave a sharp whoosh and pointed straight to Laura’s right. Then the directional lock completely fixed itself.

Laura followed the direction indicated by the Dragon Seeking Ruler.

It was a wall.

But…

It was obvious that the color of this wall differed slightly from the others. It seemed that the soil had been filled in afterward.