A few days later, William attended a live-ammunition test and found himself at a reception hosted by a wealthy patron.
Unexpectedly, the venue turned out to be a place that would become infamous years later due to certain revelations. William got a firsthand taste of the treachery of society.
However, William had no qualms about eliminating anyone who posed a threat to him.
He patted the shoulder of the person who invited him, embedding a curse of misfortune into his body, and then ignored the wealthy host. Without further ado, he drove away.
With nothing else to do, he found a nice-looking bar, where he watched a Chelsea game while drinking. Fortunately, the people in Washington seemed used to dealing with prominent figures, or perhaps the bar had a low-key vibe. Though most patrons raised their glasses to him in acknowledgment, few disturbed him.
That didn't stop some women from attempting to strike up conversations. Unfortunately, none caught his eye. After rejecting two, the others gave up.
At 11 p.m., he returned to his hotel. Sunday suddenly reported, "Sir, Alexander Dunning, whom you asked me to monitor, met with Robert Meehan in Montana today."
"Robert Meehan?" William thought for a moment before recalling, "The son of the deceased Senator Charles Meehan?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did they discuss?" William asked with interest.
"Their conversation revolved around Dunning and his backers wanting Robert Meehan to run for senator of Montana. They even promised that when the time was right, they would fully support him in ascending to the presidency."
"According to Benjamin, Charles Meehan was a wolf, but Robert Meehan is an idiot." William smirked. "Let me guess, that fool Robert agreed without much thought, didn't he?"
"Exactly, sir. Robert Meehan quickly agreed without much hesitation."
Still willing to get involved with someone like Dunning at this time showed Robert Meehan's lack of intelligence. William dismissed him as unimportant and didn't want to involve himself in political matters. He simply passed the information along to Benjamin.
After finishing the call, William asked, "Have we identified all the people behind Dunning?"
"Well," Sunday hesitated for a few seconds before answering, "the only confirmed connection is Dunning's primary weapons supplier, Brown Hammer. However..."
"However, what?" William asked curiously.
"While having dinner with his family tonight, Mr. Brown mentioned... things that concern you."
"Just spit it out," William said, intrigued. "I'm genuinely curious what Mr. Brown said to make an AI like you hesitant."
"Apologies, sir," Sunday finally said. "Brown cursed you as a bastard and made derogatory comments about Lady Lena. He also declared that, given the chance, he would personally send you and Lady Lena to meet God."
With a crackle of electricity, William's hand suddenly sparked, shattering the glass he was holding. "Looks like someone is in a hurry to die."
Shaking off the glass shards, William narrowed his eyes and asked with a grin, "Where is our dear Mr. Brown right now?"
"At his Long Island estate, sir."
"Perfect. Notify the hotel front desk and concierge that I've gone to bed. No visitors or interruptions until tomorrow."
After issuing the command, he drew a golden portal in midair. Stepping through, he arrived at his home in New York's Upper East Side. Using his private elevator, he descended to his underground garage.
"Erase all traces of my movement from cameras and other electronic devices," he instructed.
"Understood, sir."
Donning his helmet, he mounted a motorcycle. With the roar of the engine, he sped toward Long Island.
In just over 20 minutes, guided by Sunday, he reached Brown's estate. Tossing dozens of spider robots into the property, he parked his motorcycle in the bushes and approached the estate's wall.
With a leap powered by strength ten times that of an average human, he cleared the three-meter-high wall. Lifting the visor of his helmet, he put on smart glasses.
Navigating the estate with Sunday's guidance and mental scans, William avoided detection entirely, moving like a ghost.
He reached the edge of Brown's study and overheard him on the phone. What he heard made William's blood boil.
The old man was negotiating a price for the lives of William and his mother. From the video feed transmitted by the spider robots, William saw that Brown wasn't alone—his two sons were also present.
Initially planning to kill only Brown, William now smirked coldly. "Does dear Mr. Brown have any other children?"
"No."
"Good, that saves me some time. Track down the person he's speaking to."
"Understood, sir." A few seconds later, Sunday replied, "The other party is using an unknown number, but I traced the signal to a textile factory in Brooklyn."
Moments later, a satellite image appeared on William's smart glasses. The factory, resembling a castle, gave away the other party's identity. Just as William prepared to have the spider robots subdue Brown and his sons, he overheard Brown laughing after ending the call.
"F you, idiot! Claiming your organization isn't an assassin's guild, yet you still quoted $10 million for killing William Devonshire?" Brown scoffed.
"Father, is it really wise to target William Devonshire and his mother at this time?" one of his sons asked hesitantly. "Besides, our finances are already stretched thin."
"An extra $10 million won't change much," Brown snapped. "This isn't about money; it's about Benjamin Arthur. Will he let us off the hook? And when will Speaker Eli finally kick the bucket?"
"Still, keeping more cash on hand is better than running out," the son argued.
"Enough! Shut up!" Brown roared. "I'm still the head of the Hammer family, and I don't need you telling me what to do. Tomorrow, both of you take the children and head to Switzerland."
He handed them two boxes. "These contain the keys and codes to the bank vaults. Once you're in Switzerland, you can change the codes yourself.
And remember this—if I hear of either of you dying unexpectedly after tomorrow, I'll donate all my wealth to charity. Got it?"
"Understood, Father," the two replied.
They clearly understood his warning. Brown feared that one might kill the other amid the family crisis. But once they reached Switzerland and secured their wealth, they would no longer have a reason to harm each other.
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