Confirming that any damage to the airport would be minimal, Catherine nodded. "Alright, let's begin."
With a smile, William instructed Sunday, "Go ahead."
A few seconds later, everyone heard a muffled explosion. Soon after, they saw flames erupting from Valentine's plane, parked several hundred meters away. The piercing sound of sirens filled the air as alarms rang throughout the airport.
Within three minutes, four foam fire trucks arrived at the scene and began spraying the flaming plane with foam. Twenty minutes later, the fire was completely extinguished. William, still smiling, turned to the visibly relieved and grinning Catherine and said, "Now, Catherine, let's see if you can make a tidy little profit out of this."
"Don't worry," Catherine replied confidently. "I can guarantee that Valentine won't be able to buy any more of that special material from England within a week. But are you sure a week will be enough?"
"It'll be more than enough. We both know it's impossible to completely cut off Valentine's supply. The real goal here is to force his factory to shut down. Once that happens, the real trouble begins when his workers start protesting," William explained, narrowing his eyes. "If he can't get the materials and his workers are causing trouble, do you think Valentine won't come to England to deal with it personally?"
"Haha, of course, he will." Catherine chuckled, pulling William aside and whispering, "How much do you think we'll make this time? And are you sure you didn't secretly short-sell the stock yourself?"
Seeing William shake his head, Catherine remained skeptical. "You not making money? That's not like you at all."
"Of course I'm going to make money, but if I enter the market, neither you nor Gareth will make any. Plus, if too much money is put into shorting the stock, even an idiot would notice something's off. Today's just an appetizer. The real profit comes later."
Still anxious about the potential profit, Catherine asked Sunday, "It's been over ten minutes since the news broke. Has Valentine's stock dropped yet?"
"The market has just started to react," Sunday reported. "Valentine's stock is currently falling slowly, with an expected decline of over 2%. Ms. Catherine and Mr. Gareth's £20 million investment should yield approximately £30 million in profits."
William turned to Catherine, smiling. "Now that's a return worth taking a little risk for, isn't it? And it's all perfectly legal. No one can find any issues, no matter how deep they dig. Of course, at the upcoming security meeting, don't make things difficult for Valentine's company. Just follow the standard procedures for safety. A week is all you need, and no one will suspect a thing."
"Haha, don't worry. I've got more experience in this than you. You're hiding behind the scenes, so I definitely won't be dumb enough to confront that lunatic Valentine directly," Catherine replied. After a moment of thought, she added, "Since you're concerned about Valentine's retaliation, let's drop the ship-bombing plan. Even if we have a fall guy and a perfect excuse, if both a plane and a ship get blown up, even an idiot will know something's up."
"Hmm..." William hesitated for a moment, realizing she had a point. One incident could be seen as an accident, but two would definitely raise suspicion.
Seeing his hesitation, Catherine continued, "The materials being shipped by sea aren't in short supply. He can easily buy more in a few days. It's not worth the risk."
After a moment of thought, William agreed. "Okay, you're right. Let's just eliminate the targets. Luckily, Bromley already sent a bunch of empty radar crates to Margate Port. After the elimination, we can publicly claim those crates were part of a trap set for the terrorists, and that the wrong people were intentionally arrested to draw out the remaining culprits. That way, we can take them all down in one go."
"Exactly," Catherine nodded. "This way, Bromley and I won't be under suspicion, and Valentine won't focus on us. The only potential problem is Lem Hannes," she added, looking at William. "Are you sure Hannes and that old Asian man won't cause any trouble?"
"As long as Guan Yuming believes his revenge has been fulfilled, there won't be an issue. He'll likely return to his restaurant and live a quiet life after that. As for Hannes," William smirked, "after being betrayed by his wife and his comrades of several decades, the only things that matter to him now are his daughter and his power. With Valentine being such a maniac, Hannes is smart enough not to betray us."
After a pause, William added, "I'll have someone keep an eye on Hannes's daughter. Sunday, notify White Ghost, Barney Christmas, and Yin Yang to return to England immediately."
"Understood, sir. The message has been sent. They should arrive in London within nine hours."
Suddenly, Catherine's phone rang. She frowned as she checked the caller ID and sighed, "See? My troubles have already started. It's a call from Downing Street."
"It's just a meeting," William said casually. "Promise them you'll catch the culprits within three days, and don't reveal anything else. I'll make sure those five bombers are dead before dinner."
Catherine nodded. "Okay, just don't mess this up. Otherwise, my career as Home Secretary will be over."
"So what? I'll offer you a £5 million annual salary to work as an executive at my bulletproof gear company," William shrugged. "Seriously though, once this is all over, you should really consider my proposal."
"Are you serious?" Catherine looked surprised. "If I leave politics, things won't be as easy for us to handle in the future."
"I don't want to be Prime Minister, and I don't trust James, the current PM. Once he steps down, how long do you think you'll last as Home Secretary? Besides, with your experience, MI6 and the Security Council will be more than enough to handle a few people and some issues."
"That's surprising," Catherine mused with a laugh. "I thought you were cultivating connections with me and Gareth to pave your way into politics."
"Heh, even if I had such ambitions, they wouldn't surface for another 10 or 20 years. The Prime Minister's title sounds grand, but in our eyes, it's really not that impressive, especially considering how often they get criticized."
"Haha," Catherine laughed, shaking her head. "William, you're just too young. You haven't yet tasted the real allure of power. Once you get older and gain more life experience, you might not think this way. Anyway, I've got to go. You have plenty of time to mull over these things. Bye!"
"Bye." Watching Catherine leave, William muttered to himself, "Even if I had political ambitions, I'd never show them. This isn't the right time. It's too dangerous to have those thoughts right now. Better to stick with being a wealthy businessman."
After waiting for about ten minutes, Bromley finished dealing with the reporters. William pulled him onto a helicopter, while the twelve special operations members boarded two other helicopters, fully armed.
As William strapped on his pilot's helmet, Bromley, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, asked nervously, "Are you sure you can fly this thing? God, you're not even 20 yet. Where did you learn? I've got three kids, mate. If you're not confident, let's leave this to the professionals."
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