"Heh," William sneered. He didn't believe for a second that Philip would be so generous as to give him Kingsman for free. Even if he did take it over, could he truly control it? Not only did William not believe it, but probably even Philip himself didn't believe it.
"Don't be in a hurry to refuse," Philip continued. "I know you don't believe I'd let go of Kingsman, but the truth is, I have no choice. Even if I wanted to hold onto it, I can't. You dislike being constrained, and Kingsman has a high degree of autonomy. It's perfect for you."
After a moment of thought, Philip added, "To be honest, I can't think of anyone else besides you who has the ability to both control and expand Kingsman.
You might not understand the current situation of Kingsman. Everything started in 1849. From its inception, this organization served only us. But by 1919, the war changed everything. Our group lost many, many people. A number of nobles even died in battle alongside their heirs.
This meant an unimaginable amount of wealth was waiting to be claimed. Unfortunately, the situation was no longer in our control, and there was a risk of that wealth being legally seized.
So, that immense fortune was injected into Kingsman and remains there to this day. But times are changing, and the growth of wealth from properties like land and real estate can't keep up with Kingsman's expenditures. Over the years, we've had to sell off a lot of our past assets just to provide stable funding.
Now we're faced with a very real problem. Wealth alone is not enough. We need someone who can protect and grow it, and no one is more suited for that role than you."
After listening, William smirked and said, "Not interested. At the end of the day, you just want me to work for you, making money while supporting your enforcers. I've already given up the power that rightfully belongs to my Devonshire family. Why would I jump into another pitfall?"
"Don't you want to think it over?" Philip smiled. "Take this situation, for example. If you were the head of Kingsman, you wouldn't need to worry about Catherine's opinion. You could do everything your way."
"Kingsman, the King's Gentlemen, is ultimately an organization that serves you. I have no interest in serving anyone else, even if that person is the King."
"No, to be honest, Kingsman is almost out of my hands. I'd rather hand it over to you than let the authorities take it. At least you wouldn't be on the opposite side of us, and you'd indirectly strengthen my position. As for whether you can fully control it, that's up to your ability."
"I call all the shots?" William squinted.
Philip smiled slyly. "Of course, as long as you have the ability."
"I'll think about it." The benefits were considerable, but so were the downsides. Then William recalled that in the future, a crazed woman would use over a dozen bombs to wipe out all the top agents. That thought made him hesitant—it was just too much trouble.
"No problem, but don't take too long. I won't interfere with your product launch. Lastly, Wilson, I'm proud of you. Goodbye, children."
Children, my foot! I'm not one of your descendants, William grumbled internally.
As he left the meeting room and entered the hall, he spotted Commander Richard Bromley of the Counterterrorism Command, waiting with five or six of his subordinates.
When the trio entered the hall, Bromley instructed his men to stay put and walked over to greet them, shaking hands. "We need to talk, Your Highness Wilson, Mr. Devonshire."
"Talk about what? If you have questions, ask Wilson. He's today's hero. I'm just a bystander on the bus, enjoying the scenery," William said, clearly not eager to cooperate.
"Apologies, Your Highnesses. I need to speak with William privately. As for the details of the bus incident, my colleague will take down Your Highness Wilson's statement."
"Go ahead," Charles nodded, taking Wilson over to Bromley's men.
Pulling William aside, Bromley asked in a low voice, "Why did Catherine order me to cooperate with you?"
"Cooperate with me?" William asked, surprised. "So, you're my temporary subordinate now?"
Looking helplessly at William's teasing grin, Bromley replied, exasperated, "Yes. I've been ordered to assist you in any actions for the next three days. If you don't catch the perpetrator of this bombing in that time, or if you do catch them, I can return to my duties."
With free enforcers at his disposal, William's attitude toward Bromley softened. He didn't mind sharing some of the credit since it didn't really matter to him anyway.
After a moment of thought, he said, "Alright. The first thing is to use safety protocols to divert Catherine and her group's flight to the cargo terminal for boarding tomorrow. Also, assemble a special unit on standby at the airport."
"Understood," Bromley nodded without questioning why. "Anything else?"
William thought for a moment, then took out his phone and pulled up a photo of Maggie, asking Sunday to find a woman who resembled her.
A few minutes later, Sunday provided a name and address for a woman named Selena. William smiled and said, "Arrange for this woman, Selena, to be hidden away immediately. At the same time, release her photo to the public, claiming she's the perpetrator and has been apprehended."
"You want to use the real perpetrator for something else," Bromley, as expected of a Counterterrorism head, immediately grasped William's plan. "Don't mess this up. If we let the real culprit escape, we'll be in big trouble."
"Relax, I've got all their movements under control," William said confidently. "The third thing: secretly deliver some radar crates to Margate Port today."
"I don't need to find anyone for that. I'll have radar crates shipped from the warehouse to Margate Port within three hours. As for Selena, I'll quietly leak the information to the press and release her photo soon. The plane switch? I'll handle that with a single phone call," Bromley replied.
"Alright, for now, those are the three tasks. If anything else comes up, I'll call you. And make sure the special unit members are secretly vetted using Catherine's detector."
"OK. I've already vetted everyone in the command center over the past two days. So far, no suspicious individuals. I'll get to work."
William warned, "Be careful. If you're exposed, you could be assassinated."
"I know. Keep in touch."
Half an hour later, Bromley received word that Selena had been secretly picked up. As he exited Kensington Palace with his team, he deliberately slowed his steps, allowing the waiting journalists to swarm him. Dozens of microphones were shoved in his face, the reporters practically frantic for answers, refusing to let him leave without a statement.
"Calm down, calm down," Bromley shouted, feigning helplessness. "I'll share what I can, but after I finish, you must let me go. My time is tight."
Upon hearing that Bromley was willing to speak, the journalists, aware of the seriousness of the situation, immediately quieted down, eagerly awaiting his words.
"First thing, we've already apprehended the female perpetrator responsible for the bombing an hour ago."
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